CollegeNET, a business that provides a number of admissions-related services to colleges, has announced an antitrust lawsuit against the Common Application. "Common Application has orchestrated a sea change in the student application process, turning a once vibrant, diverse and highly competitive market into a straitjacketed ward of uniformity," the suit says. Read more...

Many faculty members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign believe that James Kilgore, an adjunct who has been told he will not have his contract renewed, is being treated unfairly. Kilgore had strong reviews, and indications that he would be renewed, but that changed when a local newspaper published an article identifying him as a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, who has served jail time before coming to the university (and informing superiors of his past). Read more...

The Modern Language Association on Tuesday voiced its support for regulations that ensure all traffic on the internet is given the same priority in an open letter to Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Read more...

Last fall, the author of The Exorcist contacted the Vatican, alleging that Georgetown University – his alma mater and the backdrop for his book and subsequent film of the same name – wasn’t Roman Catholic enough. And it appears his prayers have been answered, the National Catholic Register and Washington Post reported. Archbishop Angelo Zani, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic education, reportedly wrote to William Peter Blatty that his canonical petition against the university constituted “a well-founded complaint.” Read more...

The Modern Language Association announced this week a new way of organizing disciplines and information. Dozens of new "forum" categories replace current divisions and discussion groups, in an attempt to simplify, democratize and update areas of study within the organization, MLA leaders say. Starting in 2016, the forums also represent guaranteed sessions at MLA's annual conference. MLA has published a "Frequently Asked Questions" page to assist members with the change, and is currently recruiting executive committee members for each forum. Read more...

Connecticut's Board of Regents for Higher Education is "deeply dismayed" at the recent promotion of Ravi Shankar, an associate professor at Central Connecticut State University, to the rank of full professor, it said in a statement Thursday. "We believe that faculty and staff must be held to the highest standards inside as well as outside the classroom."
Shankar, a professor of poetry, was promoted by the board earlier this week, following a recommendation for promotion from the university, the Hartford Courant reported. But the board was unaware that Shankar is serving a two-week portion of a longer, pre-trial jail sentence. Read more...