Category: Higher Education/System

The ABC investigative producer who appeared on the networkââ?¬â?¢s Primetime ââ?¬Å?Radioactive Road Tripââ?¬Â ââ?¬â? a broadcast last Thursday night that portrayed this universityââ?¬â?¢s reactor facility as unsafe ââ?¬â? said yesterday the university did not disclose the safety measures surrounding the campus reactor when the reporters were compiling the report.

As the numbers of college-going males dwindle, gender is a consideration in maintaining diversity. But admissions officials are cautious in their approach. At Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., admissions officials gave a nudge to males on the margin for several years, which helped increase the male share from 36% in 1999 to 45% in recent years, says Robert Massa, vice president for enrollment. At the same time, it tried to boost its male applicant pool by marketing to males, playing up sports opportunities and even choosing bolder colors in recruitment brochures.

In May, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education posted the inevitable culmination of a trend: Last year for the first time, women earned more than half the degrees granted statewide in every category, be it associate, bachelor, master, doctoral or profess.

Public four-year colleges have managed to rein in the escalating cost of tuition at their institutions, according to the College Board’s annual tuition survey, released on Tuesday. But thanks to colleges’ increasing use of merit-based aid instead of need-based aid, and the stagnating value of Pell Grants, needy students found it more difficult to finance their higher education.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 – Average college tuition grew more quickly than did overall inflation again this year, although the rate of increase slowed after a period of explosive growth, according to an annual survey released here Tuesday by the College Board.

For a recent comparative literature class paper, Brendan Draper wanted to quote a phrase from a novel he’d read, but he couldn’t remember what page it was on. He typed ââ?¬Å?nervous conditionââ?¬Â into Internet search giant Google’s index of books. Within seconds, he found the phrase and page number of the book. ââ?¬Å?It was extremely helpful,ââ?¬Â says Draper, 20, a student at the West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Taxpayer support for public universities, measured per student, has plunged more precipitously since 2001 than at any time in two decades, and several university presidents are calling the decline a de facto privatization of the institutions that played a crucial role in the creation of the American middle class.

Quoted: John D. Wiley, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Admission is free to a public lecture and symposium that coincide with this week’s 30th anniversary celebration of the University of Wisconsin women’s studies program.

It all began in 1975 with three courses, three instructors and 241 student enrollments. Today, the academic core remains, but about three dozen other courses have been added and enrollment has spurted to 2,000.

These classes are taught by 17 faculty, 29 affiliates and a dozen nonbudgeted appointees whose services are rendered free. The students will one day go on to become lawyers, social workers, arts administrators, architects — you name it.

The University of Wisconsin women’s studies program, among the first in the nation, celebrates its 30th anniversary this week. It is a story of growth and stability, myth shattering and issue awareness.

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni announced on Wednesday a campaign to urge trustees to guarantee military recruiters’ access to their campuses, even if university officials have sought to block the recruiters.

States that offer broad-based merit scholarships appear to raise their residents’ college-completion rates significantly, an economist has reported in a working paper. Previous studies have demonstrated that such programs can increase a state’s college-attendance rate, but this appears to be the first study that measures the actual completion of degrees.

The University of Nevada Board of Regents has come under fire due to accusations about board members using their position to obtain favors from university employees.

Regent Howard Rosenberg said ethical concerns began when former Regent Doug Seastrand accepted an administrative position at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas before resigning from the board.

(Quoted: Doug Bradley, UW System)

Earning tenure is cause for celebration � and a few universities honor that milestone in a way that combinesacademic values: They invite newly promoted professors to pick out a book to be added to the library.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison started such a program last year, at the suggestion of Peter D. Spear, the provost, who got the idea from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Gordon Leversee is stumped. He is standing, arms folded across his chest, in front of the Science Center at Keene State College on a sunny afternoon, his gaze distant and his brow furrowed. He is trying to remember exactly what the center looked like before its recent renovation.

When the 19 members of the Education Department’s new commission on higher education meet for the first time next week, the watchful and somewhat wary eye of academe will be upon them.

While advocates are delighted that the administration is at last turning its attention from elementary and secondary schools to colleges and universities, some say they worry that the panel’s work will increase federal intrusion into higher education.

The median amount of financial aid given last year at 41 public flagship universities rose 2.4% from the previous year, a USA TODAY survey shows. But the percentage of students getting aid held steady for a third year.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will speak to about 200 University of Wisconsin-Madison computer science students on Oct. 12, according to Liz Beyler of the University Communications Office. However, the university will not release any other information about this stop on Gates’ national college tour at this time.

Discussions of storms and professional ethics dominated the annual conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling here in late September.

As Hurricane Rita raced toward the Gulf Coast, admissions deans and high-school counselors discussed the long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on higher education. Although attendees left with more questions than answers, the association vowed to continue helping colleges deal with the disasters, and it created an ad hoc committee to develop recommendations for aiding displaced students.

(MADISON) University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley says he�s looking forward to serving on a new National Security Advisory Board. He�s one of sixteen chancellors and university presidents who will advise the FBI on the best way to preserve academic freedom while complying with new Homeland Security regulations. (Eighth item.)

The cost of attending a public four-year institution rose by 22 percent between 2001-2 and 2004-5 and tuition and fees for in-state students at the institutions grew by 33 percent, more than for any other sector of higher education, according to a U.S. Education Department report issued Thursday.

Top University of Wisconsin-Madison administrators will undergo mandatory sexual harassment training to improve the campus climate toward women, Chancellor John Wiley said Wednesday.

Wiley, under fire for missteps in handling sexual harassment allegations against a former top aide, also said the school would re-examine policies on sexual harassment and consensual relationships.

His announcement came less than one week after a report by UW-Madison law professor and former judge Susan Steingass showed that many women on campus were afraid to report allegations of sexual harassment against an administrator for fear of retaliation.

Sexual assaults and sexual harassment have created a legal tinderbox for colleges and universities, resulting in an “amazing increase in litigation,” a risk-management expert told people gathered here this week at the national conference of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.