At least one House Republican is seeking to block the Obama administration’s efforts to develop a federal college ratings system. Representative Bob Goodlatte of Virginia wrote in an email to his fellow lawmakers last week that he hopes to insert a provision into upcoming spending bills that would prohibit the Education Department from moving ahead with the ratings system. Read more...

Northwestern University on Thursday released an independently prepared report on one of its founders, John Evans, and his links to mistreatment of Native Americans when he was governor of the Colorado Territory. The report concludes that there is no evidence Evans helped plan the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. The study was commissioned in part because Native American students and others said it would be inappropriate for the university to continue to honor someone linked to that massacre of Native Americans. Read more...

Senator Clare McCaskill on Thursday stepped up pressure on a top higher education lobbying group to turn over copies of a presentation that advised colleges on how to respond to her survey on campus sexual violence. The Democratic lawmaker sent a letter to the American Council on Education on Thursday that said the group should either provide the webinar materials she previously requested or offer a legal justification for its refusal to hand over the documents. Read more...

Higher Education Productivity
Canberra, Thursday 12 June, 5:30-7:30PM.
Drinks and canapes from 5PM
Australia has a hugely productive higher education system. What steps are possible to further increase the system’s productivity and contribution?
Join Robert Griew, Beth Webster, Andrew Norton and Peter Dawkins to discuss. Chaired by Hamish Coates.
Australia has done well over the last few decades to build what in many respects is a world-leading higher education system. With international competition growing, ongoing thought is required on how to innovate the system to do better, cheaper.
How can Australia’s universities further boost their social and economic contribution? How can institutions provide education better and cheaper? What change strategies are feasible, and what are the implications? What proven approaches are there for improving higher education productivity?
How can Australia’s universities further boost their social and economic contribution? How can institutions provide education better and cheaper? What change strategies are feasible, and what are the implications? What proven approaches are there for improving higher education productivity?
Has Australia the imagination and will to create and maintain international pre-eminence in higher education? Key issues must be tackled across the next few years if an excellent higher education system is to be designed and built.
The 2014 Policy Seminars address contemporary debates, providing a forum for leaders from across Australia's education and government sectors to discuss issues of national significance.
Visit website for further information and online registration:www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/heps.
Enquiries:
Should you have any queries, please feel free to contact Molly McKew: molly.mckew@unimelb.edu.au
or tel: +61 3 8344 4605 (business hours).
Please note: these seminars are free to attend but registration is required. Onlline registration is below.

By Paul Fain. Up to 44 percent of students at for-profit colleges could lose access to federal financial aid under proposed “gainful employment” regulations, according to a new report from the sector’s trade group. And many of those students lack other educational options in their academic field or geographical area.
“The impact will be very large” if gainful employment is enacted, the report said. Read more...

By Michael Stratford and Paul Fain. As the public comment period for the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed “gainful employment” regulations ended last night, the department had received thousands of comments, most of which argued either that the rules go too far or that they don't go far enough. Read more...

By Colleen Flaherty. Criticizing humanities doctoral programs is easy. They take too long, they continue to emphasize training for tenure-track faculty positions in an era when such positions are scarce, they encourage the book-model of dissertation at a time when books are hard to publish, even full funding isn’t always “full” – the list goes on. Read more...

By Elizabeth Redden. The main sources of dissatisfaction for international undergraduate students at U.S. institutions relate to finances, according to new research on retention released today at the annual NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference. Read more...

By Jack Grove for Times Higher Education. Academics at the University of Surrey are considering a vote of no confidence in their vice chancellor, Christopher Snowden, over a new teaching evaluation method based on student satisfaction scores. Read more...