Tougher Enforcement of Ban on Recruiter Bonuses
The Obama administration has instructed regulators at the U.S. Department of Education to more aggressively pursue colleges found violating the federal ban on paying bonuses to recruiters. Read more...
German University Abandons Plans for Confucius Institute
Stuttgart Media University, in Germany, has scuttled plans to establish a Confucius Institute due to stated concerns over finances, the Stuttgarter-Zeitung reported (in German). The university had signed a contract to found a Confucius Institute with Hanban, the Chinese government entity that oversees and funds the overseas institutes for Chinese language and culture study, in August of 2014. Read more...
'Science' Offers New Advice After Uproar on Column
Assuming “Bothered” is still interested, Science Careers is offering new advice to the postdoc who asked what to do about a professor who tries to look down her shirt. The original advice offered by Science Careers columnist Alice Huang, a senior faculty associate in biology at California Institute of Technology and former president of Science’s publisher, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, attracted widespread criticism last week for being “sexist.” Read more...
Corinthian Debt Strike Grows Larger
The group of former Corinthian Colleges students refusing to repay their federal loans and pressing the Education Department to forgive their debt announced Friday that their membership had again grown. Read more...
Objections to the OECD's AHELO
The American Council on Education and Universities Canada have reiterated their longstanding opposition to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s AHELO (Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes) project, an effort to measure teaching quality globally that is often described as a higher education equivalent of the K-12 level Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Read more...
Barnard College Will Admit Transgender Women
Barnard College, the women's college associated with Columbia University, will begin admitting transgender women in fall 2016. The Barnard College Board of Trustees approved the new policy at its June 3 meeting following "a full year of conversations" about the issue. "As expected, a wide range of passionate and deeply held beliefs were discussed and debated," Debora Spar, Barnard's president, and Jolyne Caruso-FitzGerald, chair of the Board of Trustees, said in a statement. Read more...
Bill Gates on College Completion
Bill Gates is among a group of rich college dropouts people often cite when questioning the value of a college degree. He isn't buying that argument.
“Although I dropped out of college and got lucky pursuing a career in software, getting a degree is a much surer path to success,” Gates wrote on Wednesday. Read more...
UVa MOOC Nominated for Emmy Award
Analyst, electoral forecaster and University of Virginia Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics Larry J. Sabato looks to continue his streak at the Emmy Awards this year, as his massive open online course The Kennedy Half Century has been nominated in the Best Instructional Programming category. Read more...
U of Sydney Shifts to 4-Year Undergraduate Degrees
The University of Sydney on Monday announced plans to shift undergraduate degrees from three to four years as part of a major overhaul of instruction, The Sydney Morning News reported. University officials said that more time was needed to promote critical thinking and other key skills. Read more...
Supreme Court Delivers Narrow Ruling in Facebook Threats Case
The Supreme Court on Monday delivered a narrow ruling in a case concerning threats made on social media, dodging the larger questions about the First Amendment implications of online speech. In a 7-2 vote, the court ruled threats made online can't land someone in prison merely if a "reasonable person" -- a common legal standard -- takes them seriously. Read more...
