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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
Nevada Regents Vote Out UNLV President After 8-Hour Public Grilling
David B. Ashley contended that the regents had focused on issues irrelevant to his performance as president.
California's Public Universities to Cut Salaries and Enrollment in Budget Crunch
The University of California and California State University systems released budget plans this week in the expectation of the largest cut in state support in several decades.
Key Republican Says 'Fight Is Not Over' on Student Loans
Republicans haven’t given up hope on saving the bank-based guaranteed-loan program, Rep. John Kline of Minnesota said today.
Domestic National Guard Members Are Left Out of Expanded GI Bill
More than 75,000 members who were not deployed overseas will not be eligible for benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill unless Congress passes corrective legislation.
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Names Interim President
Joan Crissman, the group’s executive vice president, will serve while Philip R. Day is facing criminal charges.
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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May 16, 2008
Australia Nearly Doubles Endowment for University Infrastructure
Australian universities received a windfall this week when the government announced that it would nearly double the higher-education infrastructure endowment, to 11 billion Australian dollars, the newspaper The Australian reported. The amount equals about $10.5-billion.
The increase fulfilled a campaign promise by Australia’s recently elected prime minister, Kevin Rudd, to invest substantially in education. In making the announcement, Education Minister Julia Gillard said the fund was intended to help universities rebuild their campus infrastructure after 11 years of “government neglect” under the previous prime minister.
Academics have complained in the past that cutbacks in education spending were hurting Australia’s competitiveness.
The government also announced several other changes to encourage scientific research. New students entering mathematics and science programs will pay practically no tuition. A thousand midcareer Australian and international researchers will be awarded fellowships. And the number of Commonwealth scholarships for undergraduates will double, to 88,000, over the next four years.
Carolyn Allport, president of the National Tertiary Education Union, said the amount allocated for higher education exceeded her expectations.
“The education revolution has started,” she said. —Martha Ann Overland
Posted on Friday May 16, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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What a country!
— Gabrielle Watling May 16, 04:06 PM #
Yeah, Baby! First Fosters, then AC/DC, and now this. What a friggin country indeed.
— Jon May 16, 07:02 PM #
I hope that Australia invests these funds wisely in the ‘greenest’ technologies possible.
— BK May 18, 02:43 PM #
It won’t fix the basic problems of a system that, on the one hand, is supposed to be dedicated to providing a meritocratic, open education, and that, on the other, is being driven ideologically into an American-style grab for profitability. As an ex-patriate Australian now working as an academic in the United States, I wouldn’t ever want to work under the conditions I hear about firsthand from faculty back home, even though America is hardly a picture of health and inspiration.
— PM May 18, 09:57 PM #