Monday, September 29, 2014

Inside Higher Ed's annual survey of HR directors finds...

J H Miller as Ancient Mariner
J H Miller as Ancient Mariner (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Colleges don't do enough to get old timers on the faculty to retire, and adjuncts are unfairly compensated.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/adjuncts-retirements-and-sexual-harassment-survey-campus-hr-leaders

Do either of these findings surprise anybody out there?  Does anybody disagree (who isn't a 75-year-old prof)?

Defining consent in California

Cobalt milkweed beetle (Chrysochus cobaltinus)...
Cobalt milkweed beetle (Chrysochus cobaltinus) taken in Lodi, California (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The law was signed by Governor Brown yesterday.

http://chronicle.com/article/California-Shifts-to-Yes/149057/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Here's what it looks like:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB967


Here's what the pundits think it means for colleges and universities:

http://chronicle.com/article/What-California-s-New/149059/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

And here's a college where it's claimed to already work:

http://chronicle.com/article/How-Yes-Means-Yes-Already/149055/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Friday, September 26, 2014

America's wealthiest 400 people are now worth Two Trillion Dollars.

P Roman empire
P Roman empire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Here's how CNBC helps us wrap our minds around that number:
  • "$2 trillion is more than the combined net worth of half of all Americans. The bottom half, of course.
  • $2 trillion is more than the annual GDP of Italy, Mexico or Canada.
  • $2 trillion is equal to the Federal Reserve's holdings of publicly traded U.S. Treasurys.
  • $2 trillion is the estimated size of the underground economy, mostly unreported income.
  • $2 trillion would fund all government spending through July of this year [2014].
  • $2 trillion is equal to about two-thirds of all taxes to be collected in the U.S. for 2013.
  • $2 trillion would pay for all of the existing home sales in the U.S. in 2012 AND 2013..."   

IPEDS found to be falling behind

English: Online Learning
English: Online Learning (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The higher ed data giant is being criticized for failing to capture the dizzying variety of educational activities and technologies that are delivering curricula out there.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/09/26/ipeds-survey-misses-thousands-online-students-often-counts-too-many

From "Vast Wasteland" to tele therapy...

Cobalt Teletherapy Unit historical research. C...
Cobalt Teletherapy Unit historical research. College of Medicine - University of Saskatchewan U of S Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
the little screen has been calming anxiety for generations.
http://chronicle.com/article/College-Counseling-Centers/148991/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

The best tele therapy may still be falling asleep on the couch in front of the TV.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Ninth Circuit agrees to expedite the O'Bannon Appeal

English: National Collegiate Athletic Associat...
English: National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) logo. Source: http://www1.ncaa.org/eprise/main/Public/mlp/promotions_special_events/pe_web/promo_manual/memos/identity.pdf Converted by User:King of Hearts from :Image:National Collegiate Athletic Association logo.png using Inkscape. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2014/09/24/ncaa-lawsuit-case-appeal-ed-obannon-expedited-peter-shaw/16154997/

Big bucks at stake for the NCAA and former Division I athletes.

College loan default rate dips slightly, according to the DOE

President Barack Obama walks to stage to discu...
President Barack Obama walks to stage to discuss student loans in the Diplomatic Reception Room. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/09/25/default-rate-federal-loans-ticks-down-slightly-21-colleges-face-sanctions-high-rates

Nonetheless a trillion-dollar bubble ought to make us all very nervous.  By the bye, Forbes recently reported that the world's 400 wealthiest now control two trillion dollars… up from $1.7 trillion a year ago.  Maybe they should get together and pay off the bubble.  Fat chance, eh?


The more things change, the more they remain the same

English: Diagnothian Hall, immediately north o...
English: Diagnothian Hall, immediately north of Old Main.. Part of the NRHP site "Old Main, Goethean Hall, and Diagnothian Hall" listed since July 30, 1975. On the Franklin and Marshall College campus, in the College Park neighborhood of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Chronicle reports a new wave of crackdowns on fraternities.
http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Crack-Down-on/148999/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

We've seen it all before.  At my alma matter, Franklin & Marshall College, 1200 male students supported 11 fraternities when I was there in the sixties.  In the seventies the college withdrew recognition.  What happened?  The frats went underground.  Eventually the school woke up and realized that it had lost any and all control it ever had on the frats and so brought them back from above ground.

The "sexual assault" hysteria will subside.  Heck, it may even do some good.  Some frat houses will close.  And then, because the Greeks still play a role in student recruitment and retention, as well as alumni loyalty, they will rise --- Phoenix like --- yet again.  Count on it.