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"Some college administrators seem so distracted with fund raising, academic infighting, and community initiatives that they set up their emergency communications departments very poorly. Training is poor to nonexistent, secretaries are pressed into service with tremendous responsibilities for running 'notification systems' 24/7 and on weekends because no one else knows how to do it and the administration won’t pay for additional staff. Procedures are seat-of-the-pants and dependent on HIPPO (highest paid person’s opinion), except when something like Virginia Tech happens and there is some sort of scramble to do something different." --Donna
Most Colleges Avoid Risk Management, Report Says
Jill Biden Shines a Global Spotlight on American Community Colleges
Speaking at a Unesco conference in Paris, the vice president’s wife stressed the importance of two-year institutions to the nation’s educational goals.
Connecticut Public Colleges Lose 200 Professors to Early Retirement
Administrators are scrambling to plug holes in their course schedules for fall, with most expecting to do so by hiring more adjuncts or increasing class sizes.
U. of Georgia Paid 2 Fraternities $2.4-Million to Relocate, Contracts Show
The two were among five with houses on property where the university plans to build new academic facilities.
New Allegations in Admissions Controversy at U. of Illinois Suggest Ex-Provost Played a Role
Linda P.B. Katehi, the incoming chancellor of the University of California at Davis, has insisted she knew nothing of the admission of politically connected applicants at Illinois.
Sonoma State U. Foundation May Lose $350,000 on Loan to Former Board Member
The foundation will be forced to issue fewer scholarships in the 2010-11 academic year because of a diminished endowment, a university official said.
College Suspends Student for Working in Gay Pornography | 58
President Obama's Visit to Notre Dame Carries Barely a Hint of Controversy That Preceded It | 58
Drug Sting Nabs 21 Students at U. of Illinois | 57
Faculty Members and Union Protest Staff Layoffs at Temple U. as 'Cruel' | 57
North Dakota Board's Vote Puts 'Fighting Sioux' Mascot on Thinner Ice | 57
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April 18, 2007
Questions Abound for a Homeless Engineering Department
Blacksburg, Va. — While investigators comb through what used to be their building, the top minds of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering are working out of a nondescript conference room in Durham Hall. Associate deans, papers, computers, and a single telephone share a long rectangular table with bowls of M&M’s and mixed nuts.
At one end sits Richard C. Benson, the dean, staring at a laptop computer and scrolling through hundreds and hundreds of unread messages. The messages, with subject lines like “Thinking of you,” “Deeply moved,” and “Prayers,” have come from engineering colleges as far away as Russia and Japan.
Mr. Benson’s office was on the third floor of Norris Hall, where the shootings happened. He and his colleagues have a lot to figure out because Norris Hall’s classrooms — renovated just last summer with new carpeting and desks — are now a crime scene. It’s anybody’s guess how long the investigation will last.
Some engineering students and faculty members say they never want to return to Norris. Others are impatient for their belongings: When can they get their cell phones, drivers’ licenses, purses, and keys, all of which they left behind when they fled the building?
And everyone has questions. Will they need new laptops so they can start trying to get back to work? Where will the department’s faculty and administrative offices go?
Mr. Benson says things will work out. At the convocation on Tuesday, he says, several deans offered “anything you need.” —Robin Wilson
Posted on Wednesday April 18, 2007 | Permalink |Comments
Previous: Sovereign Immunity Will Protect Virginia Tech From Lawsuits
Next: Violent Threats on Other Campuses Prompt Evacuations, Investigations
Regarding 3/30/07 about reminbursement to students for fraudulent loan practices, why is THE NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY in New York City NOT included in this? They directed me to a private loan and then took hundreds of dollars for themselves off the top which I have to repay.
— Nanette Rayman Apr 19, 01:58 PM #