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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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June 26, 2008
Cuomo Hopes to Have Investigation of Colleges' Credit-Card Deals Finished by Fall
Washington — Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York hopes to have completed by this fall an investigation into the relationships between credit-card companies and college officials, according to Benjamin Lawsky, deputy counselor to Mr. Cuomo, who previously investigated questionable ties between lenders and financial-aid officials.
Mr. Lawsky testified at a hearing today of the House consumer-credit subcommittee in which members considered various ways to reduce students’ credit-card debt and misuse. Panelists, including Mr. Lawsky, sketched a scenario in which students are taken advantage of by predatory companies, who offer free gifts and withhold important information about payments and rates to students who apply for credit cards.
Another panelist, Kenneth J. Clayton, managing director of the American Bankers Association’s Card Policy Council, said such a portrait obscured the responsibility of students. “Credit-card companies don’t give students an open check,” he said.
Members of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit discussed various ways to improve the situation, including making uniform the standards for underwriting credit, limiting exclusivity agreements between colleges and credit-card issuers, and adding a co-signer option.
Mr. Lawsky spoke in favor of curbing excessive marketing to students, including college-branded credit cards and colleges’ practice of selling personal data about students to credit-card marketers.
“Students trust their schools,” said Mr. Lawsky. “There is an opportunity here for schools to play an important gatekeeper role.” —Ingrid Norton
Posted on Thursday June 26, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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Anyone walking across a college campus on what I call “sucker days” has been appalled by the proliferation of credit card companies — and others— offering free credit, etc. to unsuspecting naive students. Of course, students should have been prepared by their high schools and especially their parents about the mature way to handle credit long before they became college students. But far too many haven’t been. Sorry to say that their parents need some consumer eduation as well.
Hopefully, this public investigation will cut back on abuses and help educate thousands of unsuspecting students. How about a bit of education for their parents as well?
— Gustavo A. Mellander Jun 27, 12:09 PM #
I wish someone would investigate my college. The school apparently gave everyone’s information to a credit card company, and now if we want a financial aid refund check we have to arrange it through the company. I really could not care less that students are being marketed to excessively; what concerns me is that no one is stopping abuses of privacy like what’s going on at my school.
— CL Jun 27, 12:35 PM #
And what became of Cuomo’s windfall of millions from the student loan controversies? When will we see that money invested into really making a difference – after it accrues enough interest to support the pursuit of his next victim?
— The Larch Jun 27, 07:14 PM #