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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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February 7, 2008
Polytechnic U. Board Postpones Vote but Says Yes to Merger With NYU
The Board of Trustees of Polytechnic University agreed today to delay for no more than 30 days a vote on whether to merge with New York University, but also left little doubt that it intends to say yes.
“We feel very comfortable about this agreement” to merge, said Craig Matthews, chairman of the board, in an interview with The Chronicle. Also, he said, the trustees took a “sense of the board” vote that showed more than 75 percent of the members “affirmed the board support for the merger.”
He said the trustees had decided to delay the formal vote because they had received a letter from an influential New York State senator, Kenneth P. LaValle, who noted that the Senate Higher Education Committee had learned of allegations about the planned merger that merited investigation.
Mr. Matthews said he didn’t know what Senator LaValle was concerned about, but during today’s board meeting, members spent several hours reviewing allegations of conflicts of interest that had been raised in a letter from two current and one former trustee.
He said the trustees “discussed at length” five specific charges — which he declined to specify — and said that, in each instance, the board found no conflict. All 35 trustees attended the meeting.
Nonetheless, he said, the trustees agreed that it would be prudent to withhold a formal vote until after they had resolved issues with Senator LaValle. To do otherwise, said Mr. Matthews, would be “a slap in the face of the senator.”
The trustees also released a letter, signed by nine department heads, that called on the board to proceed with the merger as a way to encourage greater “cross fertilization” among the disciplines at Polytechnic and at NYU. “Cutting-edge science, technology, and engineering can no longer live in isolation from biology, medicine, dentistry, economics, finance, business, and the world of digital media and entertainment,” they said in the letter. —Goldie Blumenstyk
Posted on Thursday February 7, 2008 | Permalink |
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