A trio of distance education advocates is pressing the U.S. Department of Education to scale back its proposal that would require online programs to be overseen by regulators in each and every state in which they enroll students. In a letter sent Friday to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the groups warn that the Department of Education’s most recent draft of a “state authorization” rule would, if enacted, lead to “large-scale disruption, confusion and higher costs for students in the short-term” with no long-term benefit. Read more...

By Wendy Purcell. Universities, as seats of learning and powerhouses of research, are stepping up to assume a new role. In the wake of a global financial meltdown and consequent challenges to the fabric of many societies, universities are emerging as powerful catalysts and indeed drivers of socioeconomic growth – not only through research or technology transfer, but by assuming responsibility for preparing students for jobs in delivering today’s highly skilled workers and tomorrow’s innovators and leaders of industry. Read more...

By Charlie Tyson. Academics often bemoan what Marc Bousquet, an associate professor of English at Emory University, called “the qualifications ratchet.” To be competitive for entry-level faculty jobs, Bousquet said, aspiring professors – particularly in the humanities – must have accumulated a body of work that generations ago would have won them tenure.
A job listing published Tuesday by Santa Clara University’s English department struck some observers as the latest occurrence of this brand of publication inflation. Read more...

By Scott Jaschik. Affirmative action remains a hot topic of political and legal debate. Some advocates of diversity have suggested the class-based affirmative action may be the best approach going forward. A new book, Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America (Beacon Press) argues that place-based affirmative action in college admissions is the best path to help the disadvantaged and promote diversity. Read more...