Recently in Higher Education Category

Source: Ann Mari May, Elizabeth A. Moorhouse, and Jennifer A. Petersen, Industrial & Labor Relations Review, Vol. 63, No. 4, July 2010
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From the abstract:
The authors investigate the impact of unionization on the representation of women faculty at public Carnegie Doctoral/Research-Extensive institutions in the United States from 1993-94 through 2004-05. Using institutional-level data from the American Association of University Professors and controlling for institutional characteristics that influence the gender composition of faculty, the authors find that significant differences exist in the proportion of women faculty in total and by rank in unionized versus non-unionized settings. Specifically, unionized public research universities have a higher proportion of women faculty overall and more women at the ranks of associate and full professor than do non-unionized schools. The authors suggest that this issue is better understood using a segmented labor market approach since previous studies conducted on the subject may have obscured differences by rank. This study reflects the historical priorities of the faculty union in formalizing tenure and promotion procedures, especially important for women faculty.

Source: Delta Cost Project, July 2010

From the press release:
A national trends report and cost-comparison tool released today by the Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs, Productivity, and Accountability provide significant insight into how thousands of the nation's colleges and universities are spending their resources, with implications for what that means for ―the new normal in college spending.

The report - Trends in College Spending 1998-2008: Where Does the Money Come From? Where Does It Go? What Does It Buy? - examines national college spending and resource trends in the years leading up to the current recession. Focusing on the period from 1998 to 2008 (the most recent year for which data is available), the report highlights several ongoing patterns in how institutions get and spend their money. TCS Online, a new web-based application of the Delta project database, complements the national trends report with easy access to institution and state-level details.

Source: Inside Higher Ed, June 9, 2010

...The library will be "recycling" much of its print collection, and storing other books offsite; faculty and students will be able to send away for the hard copies via snail mail -- like Netflix.

The model Roderer and her staff are pursuing is distributed not only in the sense that every researcher's computer can access the library's website and its vaults of electronic journal articles and e-books, but in that library personnel are embedded in various departments to work with researchers on their own turf. These staffers are no longer called librarians; they are "informationists." (Roderer did not invent the term, but she prefers it to "librarian," which she says evokes envoys from a faraway building rather than information experts whose skills are applicable anywhere.) ...

...Different sorts of libraries serve different sorts of patrons, and for that reason, Schonfeld cautions against holding up the Welch as an example that can be replicated across many institutions. "Any library specialized around a certain field or discipline has the increased flexibility to serve the needs of that field only," he says, "whereas a general library has a broader constituency that it has to balance its resources across."

Source: Jamie P. Merisotis and Stan Jones, Washington Monthly, Vol. 42 nos. 5, 6, May-June 2010

Millions of unemployed Americans need to upgrade their skills, fast. Community colleges aren't up to the task, but with help from Washington, they could be.

Source: Darryn Cathryn Beckstrom Published in Minnesota Law Review, Volume 94 No. 4, April 2010

From the abstract:
In 2006, the Supreme Court held in Garcetti v. Ceballos that public employees are not entitled to First Amendment protection for speech arising from their official duties. The Court declined to address whether Garcetti's holding applied to academic speech, and consequently, lower courts are unclear about whether academics employed by public universities are entitled to First Amendment protection for speech arising from their official duties. This Note argues that given the principle of academic freedom and the purpose of the modern public university, applying the public employee speech doctrine to academic speech is inappropriate because a public university is more similar to a forum for the dissemination of ideas than a traditional public employer, which the government created for the purposes of disseminating a coherent government message. This Note proposes using the public forum doctrine to regulate academic speech instead of the public employee speech doctrine. Using this doctrine would balance the interests of the public university in regulating academic speech and academics' free speech rights. This approach would also uphold the principle of academic freedom, and a public forum approach is more consistent with First Amendment jurisprudence.

Source: Diana A. Drysdale, William Modzeleski, Andre B. Simons, United States Secret Service, United States Department of Education, Federal Bureau of Investigation, April 2010

On June 13, 2007, based upon the meeting discussions as well as other input, the Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy was issued. This report presented a series of findings, common themes, observations, and recommendations, one of which stated: "The U.S. Department of Education, in collaboration with the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Justice, should explore research of targeted violence in institutions of higher education and continue to share existing threat assessment methodology with interested institutions." To that end, representatives from the U.S. Secret Service (Secret Service), the U.S. Department of Education, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initiated a partnership in pursuit of this goal.

The three entities began by asking fundamental questions, such as: How prevalent are the incidents of targeted violence that affect institutions of higher education (IHEs)? Who are the perpetrators? Are they affiliated with the affected IHE? There was limited previous research on these issues, so the initial framework for the project became clear to the three agencies, which began a comprehensive effort to identify, through open-sources, incidents of targeted violence that have affected IHE communities.

This report provides an overview of these incidents and the involved subjects, discusses initial observations regarding behaviors of the subjects, and offers preliminary considerations regarding the data that may have relevance to threat assessment. While the participating agencies are aware of the limitations of an open-source descriptive review, this preliminary effort will be complemented by a more in-depth study to be conducted by the Department of Education and the FBI.

Source: David F. Shaffer and David J.Wright, Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, Higher Education, March 2010

From the press release:
Universities and higher education systems across the country are taking leading roles in their states' economic development efforts -- and a report released today by the Rockefeller Institute of Government says this trend seems likely to strengthen as the nation moves into the era of an "innovation economy."

The study found that higher education's increasingly important role builds on, but goes well beyond, the research strengths of universities -- incorporating efforts as wide-ranging as job training, business consulting, housing rehabilitation and even securing seed money for new businesses.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

The 45th in a series of publications initiated in 1962, the Digest's primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest contains data on a variety of topics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to educational attainment, finances, and federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons.

Source: Education Commission of the States, 2010

The following summary includes policies enacted in 2010. Summaries are collected from state Web sites, state newsletters, StateNet, LexisNexis and Westlaw. Descriptions often reflect the content of bills as introduced and may not reflect changes made during the legislative process. To assure that this information reaches you in a timely manner, minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) or format. To view the documents, click on the blue triangle next to the topic of interest. To view all, press the button located at the top labeled "Expand All."

Source: New America Foundation, Federal Education Budget Project, Issue Brief, February 2010

The president's 2011 budget request marks the second time the Obama administration has submitted funding recommendations for every federal education program and a comprehensive list of new education policy initiatives. The administration has proposed a $49.7 billion budget for education programs subject to the annual appropriations process (excluding Pell Grants), up from $46.2 billion in fiscal year 2010. This issue brief provides a summary and analysis of the president's fiscal year 2011 education budget request.