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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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January 14, 2009
U. of the District of Columbia Creates Community-College Division
Washington — In a sweeping overhaul of its operations, the University of the District of Columbia has decided to create a two-year community-college division and may be pursuing a merger with Southeastern University, a private four-year college in the district, The Washington Post reported today.
The decision to establish a community-college division, reached by the Board of Trustees yesterday, follows the appointment as president of Allen L. Sessoms last fall. Mr. Sessoms, who became embroiled in a conflict with the faculty senate within a month of his appointment, pledged to shake up the university when he arrived, in September, the Post reported.
The Post cited unnamed sources in reporting that the university hoped to merge with Southeastern.
The trustees also voted yesterday to offer severance packages to faculty members with 30 or more years of service if they resigned before the end of the year. Those faculty members will be offered half of their salary or $45,000, whichever is less, the Post reported. —David Shieh
Posted on Wednesday January 14, 2009 | Permalink |Comments
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Few cities need low tutition public higher education more than Washington, DC. Yet, this institution has had a troubled history from the very beginning.
It’s time to pull together and provide the high quality public institution the city needs and deserves.
— Gustavo Mellander Jan 14, 02:40 PM #
UDC was established in the 1970s by uniting the Washington Technical Institute (a 2 yr. college) with Federal City College and (I think) DC Teachers College. Looks like the past is the future again….
— FDW Jan 14, 03:56 PM #
To FDW: Your knowledge of UDC’s origins is fragmentary at best. Your understanding of its future is nil!
Here’s the general gist of UDC’s future. Think of UDC as a miniature university system similar to SUNY, which comprises 32 four-year institutions and 32 two-year institutions. UDC intends to serve the citizens of the District in both roles, both as a welcoming open-admission community college, and as a selective high-quality four-year institution serving the talent requirements of our nation’s national capital. UDC is our Nation’s only urban land-grant university and intends to pursue that mission.
— Don Langenberg Jan 14, 05:25 PM #
#2, the terms “open admissions” and “high quality” are like oil and water, and any publicly-funded college in DC will surely become victim to the hopelessly corrupt and incompetent city administrators that make up DC’s “government.” I commend the effort, but it will be an administrative and academic disaster.
— Bob Jan 14, 06:28 PM #
I don’t have all the facts here but the approach seems to be quite simplistic and the results will surely follow accordingly. A community college division in a school called a “university?” Been there and done that too many times. Don’t!
Isn’t anybody interested in higher education or institutional quality? An approach like this seems so ill suited to the nation’s capital. You folks need to check with Obama…
— Bob S. Jan 14, 09:25 PM #
Close it down, inferior education, send students to Howard
— mathew Jan 15, 06:08 AM #
Bob S. seems biased about the buzzwords “community college.” Many students these, days, even university students, opt to take some electives at CCs because the tuition is cheaper, the credits transfer and the quality of the classes is just as good, or better than what their own 4 year program has to offer. I say good luck to UDC
— Nancy Jan 15, 09:43 AM #
“trustees also voted yesterday to offer severance packages to faculty members with 30 or more years of service if they resigned before the end of the year” Has anyone noticed that UDC just hired Grae Baxter who was responsible for firing the tenured faculty at (now defunct) Mount Vernon College? This is only the beginning —first come offers, next come terminations of faculty.
— MH Jan 15, 12:48 PM #
Nancy is right on the money. There are a number of similar successful models. I am at an institution that could be described as a comprehensive university with a community college embedded within it. Faculty (in all disciplines and technical areas) are tenured on this campus and interact well. Students like the campus very much. We do not call our lower division or technical mission a community college, but it behaves that way. It works well here. Good luck UDC
— Rich Bebee Jan 15, 01:24 PM #
DC should have had a free standing Community College before the decade of the ’60’s came to an end. The failure to establish a CC in DC is a public tragedy, with the victims of that tragedy being the tens of thousands of residents who needed and deserved the benefits of a full service CC. No other model will really work in DC. The best solution to providing affordable access to the educational services the citizens of the Disrtict really need, is the real thing – A Comprehensive Community College.
— Bill Jan 15, 08:20 PM #