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August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew

Education News
Roundup
comment’s exquisite logic and well documented arguments?
Articles posted by five reliably interesting sources of “Hmm, according to this anonymous comment, our librarians
news about higher education. don’t have anything to do now that all research can be done
with Google. Why did we let them have tenure in the first
place? Maybe we should rethink that.” I’m sure that’s how
Is A Response Even Worth Our it’s going to go down. Didn’t this article convince us that our
Time academic administrators really do like us and that they have
our backs – or are we going to let our inferiority complex get
Source: http://acrlog.org/2010/08/18/is-a-response-even-worth-our-time/
the best of us once again?
By StevenB on August 19th, 2010
My preference is to just ignore this negativity all together.
A Facebook friend messaged me to say “ACRLog needs to take
Rather than taking the time to write an impassioned essay
this on”, in reference to this comment associated with a Slate
defending an academic librarian’s right to tenure (which has
piece on why tenure should be abolished. Andrew Sullivan who
already been done anyway) or justifying why we deserve to
blogs for The Atlanticshared a few paragraphs from the Slate
have our jobs, I suggest we all put our effort into doing
piece with his readers. It generated a fair number of comments
what we do well every opportunity we have which is making
in favor of and against tenure. No one in the academic librarian
a difference in our academic communities in service to our
community seemed to care much about the original piece or
students, faculty and staff. If we do that well I think we’ll have
the bulk of the comments until one of them attacked our right
no reason at all to constantly allow ignorant fools to push our
to have tenure.
buttons and manipulate us into responding just the way they
My personal inclination is to ignore this comment completely. know we will. So get your panties untwisted and get back to
What I would like to take on is why academic librarians get work.
their panties in such a twist about this sort of thing? This is an
off-the-cuff comment to an opinion piece. It’s not like it’s a well
researched, well thought out essay in The Chronicle that might Nowhere near critical mass
actually dignify a response. For all we know the comment is Source: http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=53144
from a disgruntled librarian who got turned down for tenure August 19th, 2010
and now holds a grudge against librarians who have tenure.
Are we so insecure about our professional status and our right
to claim tenure status that we have to defend it against every
feeble critique. And what’s the point of doing so anyway? Is
there anything any of us could write that would change the "Regrettably," writes David Porter, "it feels like we are no
commenter’s mind – or the mind of anyone who’s against closer to critical mass and sustainability on the OER front
tenure? We’ve all seen dozens of impassioned arguments for than we were this time last year." He is calling on people
and against tenure. Have you ever read a single response or to help find ways to change this. "If the best way forward is
comment along the lines of “What you had to say actually made to give away knowledge for free, then maybe this is a good
me change my mind on this issue”? I sure haven’t. time to demonstrate a similar approach to marketing an open
educational resource future, by identifying and promoting new
You answer, “but Steven, we should respond not to change advocates who are closer to the problem for which OERs are
this writer’s mind, but to make sure that all the other people the solution." David Porter, Conviviality, August 18, 2010 [
who read it know that tenure for librarians is a good thing Link ] [ Comment ]
– and that we conduct really valuable research and that we
are really, really busy helping faculty and students and that
we really deserve tenure – and that if nothing else we have to Can You Hear Me Now?
correct misstatements and attack outright lies”. I understand Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/19/cellphones
that argument – we want the truth to be known. But who is August 19th, 2010
it that we are so worried will read this tripe and believe it?
Our faculty colleagues? Our academic administrators? Do we As a professor, how do you get dropout-prone college students
have so little faith in their ability to think critically about the to stay in school? Give them your cell phone number. How
issues that we feel the overwhelming urge to offer up a counter- do you get professors to promptly field student text messages,
argument? Do you think your provost will be swayed by this

1
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
calls and e-mails from students? Buy them smart phones and example, Georgia Gwinnett faculty are not required to hold
pay for the service plan. office hours — the idea being that a big bulk of outside-of-
class communication with students can be handled via the
That is the logic Georgia Gwinnett College employed when it
mobile devices, allowing faculty to deploy their energies on
decided to offer its more than 300 full- and part-time faculty
other things. Also, the desktop phone bills are down and inter-
members cell phones and encouraged them to respond to any
faculty communication is up, Harvel says. “A cost analysis
calls or texts from students within 24 hours.
demonstrates that the program saves more money than it
Under the program, professors are offered a state-of-the- costs,” Harvel says (though he adds that the benefits are “only
art smartphone and a Sprint data plan that includes the valid if the institution is intent on expending resources on
most sophisticated wireless Internet coverage. It is part of a student engagement”).
several-tier effort by Georgia Gwinnett — a public, four-year,
A Burden on Professors?
noncompetitive-admissions college founded in 2005 — to defy
the historically low retention rates typical of colleges that set So the cell phone program appears to be a boon for student
such a modest bar for admission (Georgia Gwinnet admits any engagement, but is it a threat to faculty sanity? Does giving
Georgia high school graduate). students such access and pledging a prompt response invite a
deluge of text messages — sometimes at odd hours, sometimes
And so far, they say, it is working. The retention rate
inane or easily answerable elsewhere — that might leave
for returning sophomores at Georgia Gwinnett stands at
professors feeling held hostage by the technology?
75 percent. That is about double the average rate for
noncompetitive-admissions colleges in Georgia, according to Apparently not, according to a handful of professors contacted
Tom Mundie, dean of the school of science and technology at at random by Inside Higher Ed.
Georgia Gwinnett, and on par with many public institutions
“I’ve never known a professor to keep business hours,
that have competitive admissions. In engagement surveys, anyway,” says Brigitte Clifton, an English professor. “…Yes,
Mundie says, students have reported “feeling that faculty care I've talked a student through a research assignment on my cell
about and are accessible to them.” in the grocery store while contemplating a bag of beans, but
These plaudits and retention numbers are not driven solely by several folks in the aisle around me were doing the same thing
invitations to call or text professors and expect a reasonably in their own lines of work.”
swift response, Mundie says. Other aspects of the college’s Tee Barron, an associate professor of mathematics, says she
retention effort probably contribute as well, including small sometimes gets texts from students asking questions that they
class sizes and a mentoring program that arranges for could easily have answered by consulting a classmate or the
professors to advise students on academic, career, and syllabus, but that can be corrected with a benign rebuke.
personal matters. But professors and administrators at the “I’ll sometimes text back, ‘Hahaha by the time it took me
college seem to believe there is a substantial correlation to e-mail or text me you could have found this out yourself
between the cell phone program and the young institution’s and now you’re going to have to anyway,' ” Barron says. “I
impressive retention numbers -- enough that the college, think after the first couple times the [students] who are high-
which has grown its student body and faculty by leaps and maintenance and try that — they start getting it.” She said she
bounds since its founding five years ago, is preparing to spend is contacted "daily" by students via her phone, but has hardly
$350,000 on faculty cell phones and data plans this year. been overwhelmed.
That works out to about $1,000 per faculty member — a The key is defining boundaries at the outset, they say. While
significant investment, and one Lonnie D. Harvel, the Georgia professors say the college encourages a 24-hour response time,
Gwinnett’s vice president for instructional technology, is they say it is a guideline more than an enforced rule, and
hesitant to divulge, given the eagerness of Georgia legislators that they have the autonomy to lay out expectations — and
to find anything to cut. Georgia Gwinnett sprung for some limitations — to students on a class-by-class basis. The idea is
pretty sophisticated gadgets: for full-time professors, it offers not so much to turn professors into a 24/7 support service as
Motorola Evo smartphones with Google’s Android operating much as establishing a connection with students that ventures,
system and 4G coverage. For part-time professors, it offers a to a reasonable extent, into the world of real-time, person-to-
Sprint’s HTC Snap smartphone, which is lighter-weight but person interchange.
still retails for several hundred dollars. The college offers the
professors regular upgrades. Professors can make the college- “Even those students with perhaps unreasonable expectations
funded phone their only phone, and there is no ban on using for communications will learn that the professor is not at
it for nonwork purposes (Georgia Gwinnett's deal with Sprint their immediate disposal, but that we are readily available
allows additional activity on the network without added costs). for questions outside of class,” says Clifton. “In my real-
If the professors do not want the phones, the college offers to world experience, bosses have much more rigid expectations
pay the bill on their existing cell phones as long as they put the of access and response outside of office hours.”
contact number on their syllabuses. Engagement, after all, is a two-way street, says Mundie,
Harvel says that if state legislators try to frame publicly funded the technology and sciences dean; faculty are expected to
Georgia Gwinnett’s cell phone giveaway as wasteful, he’s be responsive to the needs of students, just as students
“ready to fight that battle.” He says the college has observed are expected to be responsive to the expectations of their
a bump in faculty productivity as a result of the phones professors.
equivalent to “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in labor. For

2
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
And if a student skips a few class sessions, he says, “They might August 19th, 2010
even get a call on their cell phone.” Students have sued Auburn University and two University of
For the latest technology news from Inside Higher Ed, follow Alabama campuses over mandatory meal plans, The Opelika-
IHEtech on Twitter. Auburn News reported. While the university says that the
meal plans represent a savings for students, the suit charges
Montclair State is New Jersey's second largest university.
that students are being forced to pay more than they would
It offers the advantages of a large university - a broad
like to for food -- and that they should not be required to pay
undergraduate curriculum with a ...
anything for non-educational services.
Location: El Centro College A full-time (Some Evenings
and Weekends) position in the AV Technology Department-
Paramount Location. Duties include but ... Back to Elementary School
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/08/19/johnson
August 19th, 2010
Just Around the Corner All around the country, it’s already or nearly back-to-school
Source: http://acrlog.org/2010/08/18/just-around-the-corner/
time. Lists are being made and checked off. And as back-
By Maura Smale on August 19th, 2010
to-school time arrives, earlier, it seems, each year, I realize
It’s the middle of August, which means that the Fall semester is that my entire life has been structured by the school year.
coming up fast. Posts about beginning the new academic year With 13 years of K-12 schooling, four years of college, two
on the right foot are starting to pop up all over the higher ed years for my master’s, four years of elementary teaching, four
blogosphere. Here’s a couple that have caught my eye recently: years of doctoral study, and one year as an assistant professor
1. Earlier this month Tenured Radical* encouraged us to of elementary education, I’ve never experienced any other
“conjure–for a second–a week in mid-semester.” What will our timeline. Summers to me have always meant closure, cooling
days (and nights) look like? How stressed out will we be? What down, some boredom sprinkled with part-time work (or is it
plans can we make now to minimize our stresses later? vice versa?), and the rush of readiness throughout August.

While her post focuses on faculty who teach full-time rather Why bring this up? Well, as is also customary during summer
than academic librarians, there’s lots of good advice here for us transitions, one year drawing to a close ushers in a period
too. A central thread of her post is know your limits, and know of reflection. What went right, what went wrong? As an
when to say no. Of course, saying no can be difficult–I often elementary teacher, it meant erasing the names of the prior
return to Emily Ford’s excellent post How Do You Say No? at class and spreading butcher paper over the furniture. I noticed
In the Library with the Lead Pipe when I need a refresher on throughout my first year as a professor and teacher educator
strategies for declining with grace. that the actual public school experience from which I needed
to draw was fading. I could no longer recall the names of
*(Tenured Radical’s post was also published at Inside Higher students from my final year class photo. When I supervised
Ed.) pre-service teachers as a graduate student, my time in the
2. And here are a few tips from the good folks at Prof Hacker: classroom felt fresh, invigorating the wisdom I could offer my
undergraduates. Now it’s getting harder and harder to find
• Before the summer winds down, why not take some time to a relevant example from my own teaching. This can cause a
get your CV in order? Even if a job change isn’t on the horizon teacher educator to defer to the cooperating teacher’s wisdom
for you, it’s a good idea to have an updated CV in case you’re rather than my own vision.
asked for it–for example, many grant applications require a
CV. On worse days, it feels like my doctoral training went to
waste. The valued currency in academe is knowledge, more
• How do you keep track of your plans for the new semester? theoretical and conceptual than practical, although not in
Creating a checklist of things you need to do is a great way all cases. As a teacher educator, I have one foot in higher
to prepare for the start of school. Again, many of these are education and the other in elementary schools, so my situation
teaching-specific, but librarians need snacks and supplies, too! feels a bit different. My intellectual identity is divided between
• And while it seems almost impossibly far away, the holiday the realms of the academic or conceptual and the practical. We
season is sooner than we think, and the winter holidays arrive always seek that moment of praxis like an addict chases that
when many of us in higher ed are at our busiest. Some advance initial high. Often it’s never realized.
planning now can help make a smoother end to the calendar As summer approached, I felt a strong desire to reconnect to
year. my practical roots, so to speak. I needed to legitimize myself
What advice do you have for getting the new school year off to as an actual teacher rather than someone taking notes and
a good start? Please share any strategies that work for you! barking advice from a calm, comfortable place in the back of
the room. I also thought my expertise could actually help, you
know, students. But I had nowhere to turn. School systems
Alabama Universities Sued are largely closed to people like me. My certification was
Over Mandatory Meal Plans long expired and it didn’t seem worthwhile to go through any
process of renewal. As I’ve become more familiar with the
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/19/qt/
education blogosphere over the last year or so, there has been
alabama_universities_sued_over_mandatory_meal_plans

3
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
considerable traffic devoted to new kinds of schools. What do public schools, how can I profess if I no longer put my own
you call them? Yes, charter schools. abilities to the test? So, I stand by my new rule: if you’re
going to tell young people how to teach, then do it yourself.
I write that with a hint of sarcasm, but public school teachers,
The opportunities are out there. This all depends on how
and administrators alike, are slightly suspicious of charter
flexible both the universities and the local school systems are.
institutions. Some of which is justified because the charter
In my case, I was only responsible for a six-week graduate
movement is not turning out to be the panacea that reformers
course on campus, affording me great flexibility. However, the
had hoped. Yet, the more successful models do offer public
local school systems are not flexible with whom they allow to
K-12 schooling and institutions of higher education examples
teach, which is understandable. Yet, my certification expired
of how to do things a bit differently, which is great. Traditions
because my former county did not consider earning a Ph.D.
can be stifling. Charter schools also do not necessarily adhere
in an educational discipline to be a method of maintaining
to the strict certification requirements of most school systems,
credentials. There should be policies within local school
for better or for worse. One Washington D.C. charter school
systems to allow professors of education to do at least some
was willing to give me a shot for its four-week summer
teaching in local schools.
program. I could not have been happier, but could have used
something to calm my nerves. My second major epiphany: institutions of higher education,
especially colleges of education, ignore charter schools at
My return to the classroom consisted of 20 days teaching
their own peril. Like it or not, these schools are here to stay
a combined fourth- and fifth-grade class for roughly four
and the Obama administration values them highly. Stores of
hours, split between language arts and math. I was given daily
private cash are moving into charters while the remainder
objectives for both subjects, but also had absolute control of
of “traditional” public schools struggle with less each and
how I addressed them. Most of my teacher resources from my
every year. We ignore them at our peril; well, what is our
days as an elementary teacher are in several 20-gallon tubs in
peril? Relevancy, perhaps? Currency or legitimacy? I wonder
my parents’ garage back in Pittsburgh. I did possess numerous
if schools of education can be taken as seriously regarding
picture and trade books in my office that could be used, as well
efforts to reform education or improve student outcomes given
as resource books for multiple subjects.
that alternative kinds of schooling — independent, home,
The week prior to the start date, I was out purchasing or charter — are rarely afforded a second thought. There
notebooks and pencils for the students. It was not that the are ideas out there worth considering. Being a professor of
school would not provide those, but teachers certainly have education in a major metropolitan area, both the ideas and the
their own ways of doing things, and I preferr hard-backed opportunities to practice them are there.
composition books. I defaulted to my previous methods,
I can additionally take issue now with the myth that teaching
acquiring a wealth of odds and ends from a dollar store to stock
at the college level somehow approximates instruction in
my own repository. Objects of desire — jump ropes, lollipops,
the elementary classroom. It’s possible that the parallels in
bouncy balls, playing cards, snacks — could be purchased
secondary education and leadership or administration are
with “sheqels,” my denomination of choice because of its
more visible. But I have been told at various points in
alliteration with the name of the summer school program.
my experiences that teaching undergraduates is a way to
Other privileges, like lunch bunches or wearing a fedora hat
practice my chops. Furthermore, my instruction in the college
for the day, were available. Over time, I got a kick out of these
classroom models for pre-service teachers what they should be
kids asking me for “sheqels,” something that was unlikely to
doing for their elementary students. All right, I can see that,
ever be a part of their vocabulary.
though it’s a stretch.
I will spare readers with the details of my day-to-day teaching
Part of my job in teaching social studies methods, for instance,
— the spontaneous outburst of a Michael Jackson dance party
is modeling innovative strategies. I perform them for students
when I played a video of his on the Promethean board or
so they can see how they’re done; however, I am rarely
unusually harsh tongue lashing a gifted third-grader doled out
under the impression that the connections to the elementary
when she was teaching the class how to add fractions. Rather,
classroom are as explicit. In fact, some of the strategies
I should get to the point: What can a professor learn from a
I’ve relied upon in the past simply did not work so well
return to a public school classroom? In particular to teacher
when applied in the charter school. For instance, a four-week
educators, does our responsibility to public education extend
program does not allow much space for making tremendous
beyond where we supervise to the larger profession as a whole?
progress with new students. But in teacher education, my
First, and this will be my strongest opinion of all: Teacher
mentors and I both encouraged undergraduates to use
educators and education professors are not worth their salt
inquiry, cooperative learning, and other so-called “hands-on”
if they do not return to the classroom with some regularity
strategies. Fine. But these students were having none of it. I
during their tenure. I plan to do so every summer that I can.
had to strip the activities down to their essence. That is, rather
Something changed in my mind when I became an actual than actually implementing centers or a Jigsaw, I spent the
assistant professor. I supervised pre-service teachers as a first few weeks simply rehearsing rotations, getting in and out
graduate student, which is part of my job now. However, of groups, and reading directions.
I feel like the pressure to be an “expert” on teaching and
By the latter part of the third week and into the fourth,
learning is greater as my previous memories of being an
we were able to get through some simple group activities
actual public school teacher evaporate. The initials behind my
without students trying to switch groups or complain about
name confer some kind of status that I take very seriously.
their partners. Rotations went somewhat smoothly, without
As a teacher educator spending a good deal of my time in
4
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
too many “management casualties.” But I remember telling August 19th, 2010
my undergraduates, “You can’t always assume that students
know how to work together; thus, you have to rehearse these • Rafael L. Bras, a professor and dean of the Henry Samueli
strategies first.” This was usually a throwaway comment on my School of Engineering at the University of California at
part, but now I am reminded of how difficult it can be to set up Irvine, has been selected as provost and executive vice
parameters for group work. It is ultimately struggles like these president for academic affairs at Massachusetts Institute
that will benefit my own pedagogy and the impression that I of Technology.
can make on my pre-service undergraduates. They need to see
me as an actual teacher and not some kind of demagogue who Institute for American Universities
seems out of touch with practical realities. THE POSITION AND QUALIFICATIONS: The President/
I’m sure more examples of my awakening abound. As I begin Executive Director is the chief executive of the Institute and
a semester anew with a fresh cohort of pre-service teachers, reports directly to the Board of ...
more evidence will emerge of my newfangled confidence and The American University of Rome
wisdom. In all seriousness: I think I’m a much better professor
The American University of Rome (AUR) seeks a President
and a much better teacher as a result. All I needed was a
to succeed Dr. Robert Marino who retires in July 2011 after
little jolt to both my intellectual and professional identities
nearly a decade of distinguished ...
to give me new purchase on the teaching of teachers. Beyond
the effects on my academic efficacy, I’ve established a valuable Kaplan Higher Education Campus
new relationship with this school that I hope continues CAMPUS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR<br />CHI Institute -
throughout the year and next summer. I feel for the hard Franklin Mills Campus<br />Kaplan Higher Education<br /
work that these younger folks who are running the school have ><br />Position yourself at the ...
ahead of them. I appreciate the close commitment they have
to the community and the personable relationships they have Alcorn State University
with parents. Also, who can deny that their students, even the Founded in 1871 as a comprehensive land-grant institution,
most troubled ones, have a unique story to their lives, relevant Alcorn was the nation's first state-supported institution for the
to success in the classroom and respected by all in the school higher education of ...
who care very much about all the students’ well-being?
Mid-State Technical College
As an aside, there was one student, the strict third-grader
College President Transforming Lives Through the Power of
I referred to earlier, who became obsessed with these little
Teaching and Learning Mid-State Technical College (MSTC) is
energy cubes from a health food store that I snacked on
one of the Wisconsin ...
throughout the day. She was such a great person and did such
great work that I sneaked one to her from time to time. I Peralta Community College District
wanted to give her a bag at the end of the program as a gift, but The District was founded in 1964, and serves six cities in
alas, the store was sold out. I’ve since bought her a bag and am the East Bay Area, including Albany, Alameda, Berkeley,
off to the post office shortly to send it to her. At the moment I Emeryville, Oakland, and Piedmont. ...
write this, I’m reminded of why I got into this profession. I’m
reminded of what makes me good at what I do and it’s been a
shame to be out for so long. Now that I had a brief return to
elementary teaching this summer, I challenge both education
Appeals Court Rejects Speech
professors and those in other disciplines to do the same. Code
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/19/qt/
Job Description: This is a part-time (.75 FTE, 10-month) EPA
appeals_court_rejects_speech_code
non-faculty position. The preschool assistant teacher will work
August 19th, 2010
in the preschool ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Wednesday
Summary of Duties This position is located in Mansfield,
rejected as unconstitutional several parts of the code of
OH. Performs a variety of duties related to administration of
conduct for students at the University of the Virgin Islands.
student teaching and early ...
Specifically, the court rejected bans on "offensive" speech and
Montclair State is New Jersey's second largest university. on language that causes "emotional distress," finding that
It offers the advantages of a large university - a broad such regulations were far too broad, and could easily limit
undergraduate curriculum with a ... legitimate freedom of expression. The ruling was consistent
The Department of Counselor Education at The University of with other federal appeals courts rulings, which have generally
Montana, Missoula is accepting applications for a tenure track barred public universities from regulating similar categories
assistant professor to ... of speech.

New President or Provosts: Ups and Downs in Grad


Barclay College, Lewis Admissions
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/19/presidents Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/19/grad

5
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
August 19th, 2010
--Education +8% +0%
Admissions offers by American graduate schools to
international applicants increased by 3 percent from 2009 --Engineering +8% +2%
to 2010, reversing a 1 percent decline the previous year, --Life sciences +2% -5%
according to a report being released today by the Council of
Graduate Schools. Offers to Americans, meanwhile, fell by 1 --Physical and +10% +5%
percent in the last year, although that figure may not be final. earth sciences
The figures are from the latest surveys conducted by --Social sciences +11% +3%
the council, which closely tracks trends in the fluid and
increasingly competitive world of attracting top graduate Bell generally found much about the data to be encouraging.
students. While the declines in admissions offers to those from India and
South Korea were disappointing, those declines were smaller
As is increasingly common in reports on international than those of a year before -- when both countries saw drops
enrollments in recent years, China is the driving factor behind of 14 percent.
the numbers. Offers of graduate admission to applicants from
China are up 16 percent, the fifth consecutive year of double- Further, the large increase (9 percent) in international
digit gains. Generally, Chinese students are most likely to applications returned that figure to one of healthy growth and
apply to and be offered admission to institutions that already brings applications totals higher than those of 2003 for the
have large graduate enrollments from outside the United first time since then.
States, so the largest gains will be seen at universities with The survey found that large institutions with large
large international enrollments. Those in the top 10 admitted concentrations of graduate students are seeing some of
30 percent more Chinese graduate students this year. the largest percentage increases this year. Patrick Osmer,
Nathan Bell, director of research and policy analysis for the graduate dean at Ohio State University, said that international
council, noted that the growth in applications and admissions applications were up 15 percent this year and admissions offers
from China reflects the continued capacity shortfall in China up 19 percent.
for those seeking advanced degrees. Another factor, he said, About a quarter of Ohio State's graduate students are from
may be the increasing numbers of Chinese students who enroll outside the United States, Osmer said, so attracting the best
as undergraduates in American colleges and universities -- and applicants is a major priority for the university. While the
who may be particularly strong candidates for admission to university has stepped up recruiting, especially in China, he
graduate programs in the U.S. noted that graduate admissions is highly decentralized, and
Among the top countries sending students to the United that much depends on the efforts of individual graduate
States, the picture is far from uniform. While China's numbers programs.
boom year after year, India has been relatively flat. By field of Among American students in the Council of Graduate Schools
study, applications were up across the board, but the changes survey, there was a 9 percent increase in applications. The
in admissions offers were minimal except in business and the number of offers was flat at doctoral institutions, but down 6
physical sciences. percent at master's institutions.
Shifts in International Applications and Admissions Offers to The report cautions that while the figures are probably final
U.S. Graduate Programs, 2009 to 2010 for international students, that may not be the case for
Americans. "[I]t is important to note that the figures for U.S.
Change in Change in citizens and permanent residents are not as final as those
Applications Admissions Offers for international students," the report says. "Some colleges
Total +9% +3% and universities continue to admit students throughout the
summer, particularly for master’s-level programs. Given the
Country / region time it takes to secure a visa, international students are less
likely to apply at this late stage than are domestic students, so
--China +20% +16% it is possible that final figures on offers of admission will show
--India +1% -4% less disparity between international students and U.S. citizens
and permanent residents."
--South Korea +0% -7% Job Description: The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
--Middle East / +20% +10% Foundation is looking for a Project Director to be responsible
Turkey for the implementation and ...
The College of Education at Georgia Southern University
Field of study is interested in receiving applications for the following
--Arts and +9% +1% administrative positions: Chair, ...
humanities We seek candidates who are at the associate professor level.
The successful candidate will assume leadership of expanding
--Business +11% +8% the curriculum for and ...

6
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
The Post Doctoral Associate will participate in a two- CASE does not track how campaigns finish relative to goals,
year program of study linked directly to on-going research but surveys have already shown how tough it’s been out
activities, supported by ... there since the recession. About 33 percent of colleges
extended campaigns beyond previously scheduled end dates
The Faculty Program Coordinator works directly with the
in 2008-9, compared with 22 percent in the previous year.
Program Director to ensure that all the technology programs
Of those colleges that extended campaigns, nearly two-thirds
at CityU deliver a high quality ...
(64 percent) “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that the dismal
economic climate was the primary reason for prolonged fund-
Over the Top raising efforts.
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/19/campaigns Not surprisingly, private giving to colleges and universities
August 19th, 2010 has also declined. The most recent data compiled by the
In the spring of 2008, there was an electric mood at Council for Aid to Education found an 11.9 percent drop
Colby College. A capital campaign that had gone public in contributions during 2009. A number of colleges have
three years earlier was going better than anyone at Colby still managed to meet or exceed their goals even in this
had planned. Indeed, trustees had already recalibrated environment, but many have relied more on bequests or less
expectations, moving the goal from $235 million to $370 typical gift arrangements that allow donors to stack their
million in the wake of a major and unexpected gift of art. payouts toward the end of a gift given over several years.

As everyone now knows, however, the fund-raising landscape Colleges customarily conduct exhaustive feasibility studies
changed dramatically in September 2008, when a cascade of before beginning a campaign, but a rule of thumb is that
horrible economic events drained the assets of wealthy and institutions raise about 40 percent more than normal during
modest prospective donors alike. campaign periods, Lippincott said. That rule may have been
less applicable during a downturn as long and deep as the one
“There was discussion at the board level of sailing well past the U.S. has experienced, however, and reaching a goal that
[the goal] in the spring before the terrible fall,” recalls William was set years before anyone saw the collapse coming was a feat
Adams, Colby’s president. “Sailing past was on people’s minds, in itself, Lippincott said.
but [expectations] quickly went the other way.”
Since colleges often look toward recent economic trends
The conversation at Colby shifted dramatically, Adams said. to determine future goals, some are likely to temper their
In a series of meetings, administrators and trustees turned expectations for future campaigns, Lippincott added.
from unbridled optimists to subdued realists -- talking openly
about not meeting the goal on time or at all. With two years “I think folks should go into it optimistically, but with an added
remaining in the campaign, Colby had raised $321.5 million -- dose of realism that we’ve had brought to the fore with this
87 percent of its goal -- and still had $48.5 million left to come economic downturn,” he said.
up with in less than two years. Trusting in Trustees
“I, like many other presidents and development people, The recently concluded campaign at Carleton College met its
became instantly rather nervous about our capacity to $300 million target only with a needed boost from board
conclude,” Adams said. “We were still a significant distance members. Around the midpoint of the campaign, which
from the end.” started its quiet phase in July 2004, trustees agreed that they
Meeting the goal didn’t happen without some perspiration, but would personally contribute one-third of the total campaign
Colby did reach the finish line on time. In July, the college goal. Much depended upon the board fulfilling its pledge,
trumpeted exceeding its campaign goal by $6 million -- buoyed because a sitting trustee’s family agreed to contribute an
by a $5 million “capstone gift” that put Colby a few million additional $15 million – on top of $10 million already donated
dollars beyond its previously determined endpoint. – only if the rest of the board stepped up and met the challenge.

While Colby’s celebration is surely warranted, it marks a “This donor said, 'I’m not going to do it unless we change
departure from pre-recession years, when colleges were often the culture of philanthropy,' ” said Gayle Keller McJunkin,
breezing past their goals well before deadlines, spending the Carleton’s associate vice president for external relations and
last year or so collecting gravy dollars. A couple of other director of development.
colleges have similarly ended campaigns this summer by The other trustees delivered in the final months of the
getting just over the hump with a big final gift campaign, which concluded at $300.4 million in contributions
“I think maybe the difference is what used to be a ‘wow’ is -- just over the top of the goal. Among those gifts, as promised,
now a ‘phew.’ Now it’s a sign of relief that we made it, as was $15 million from the family of Wallace Weitz, a trustee
opposed to a loud cheer that we vastly exceeded the goal,” said and investment guru who co-chaired the campaign committee
John Lippincott, president of the Council for Advancement along with his wife, Barbara Weitz.
and Support of Education (CASE). Relying in part on trustees to help push a campaign across
Pace University, for instance, recently celebrated the the finish line is certainly not unique to Carleton. Indeed,
conclusion of its seven-year capital campaign by hitting $101.1 trustee support comprised more than half -- 55 percent -- of
million -- just over a $100 million goal. Similarly, Carleton the gifts made at Colby, where fund raisers approached board
College wrapped up a projected $300 million campaign in July members for a second round of gifts in the last 18 months of
with a total of $300.4 million. the campaign.
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August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
“We couldn’t have completed the campaign on time or on spurned by one honor society for being too much like two-
budget if we hadn’t done that here,” Adams said. “I guess you year institutions and another for being too much like four-year
would find that the board [members], who have the most at universities, the bachelor-degree granting community colleges
stake besides the president and the development office, would seemed finally to have found a society that was "just right."
be critical in this environment.” But the story has gotten complicated again: The association
While it’s understandable for colleges to approach their now finds itself in the awkward position of having two honor
biggest supporters at crunch time, it’s important not to create societies vying to represent its members' students.
the impression that big donors will be pressed for the “gift of a Looking for a Partner
lifetime” on multiple occasions within a single campaign, said
Bruce Flessner, a consultant with Bentz Whaley Flessner. The search for an honor society that would accept community
college baccalaureate students was far from easy.
“The next time you go out [on a capital campaign], some of the
board members -- instead of stretching at the beginning -- sort Beth Hagan, executive director of CCBA, said the quest started
of wait and say, ‘We may get a couple of chances to do this,’ “ two years ago, at the request of some member institution
Flessner said with a chuckle. officials who bemoaned the lack of such opportunities for their
baccalaureate students. She asked the Association of College
According to a CASE campaign report published in 2009, Honor Societies who might be an ideal fit for these students
trustee contributions made up 11 percent of contributions and their unusual institutions.
made toward surveyed institutions in 2008. That percentage
can be deceiving, however, since trustees who are also alumni She was told that the Alpha Chi National College Honor
-- of which there are many -- are counted as alumni and not Society might be a good match. Alpha Chi has among its
trustees in the survey. Alumni giving made up 33 percent of members some nontraditional institutions, including national
contributions among survey respondents. online for-profit institutions and a few brick-and-mortar
branch campuses of those institutions that offer both two- and
It's understandable that this environment will force colleges to four-year degrees.
work extremely hard just to meet campaign goals, and failing
to deliver has real consequences, Flessner said. In April 2009, after discussion between the two parties, Alpha
Chi rejected CCBA’s offer to form an affiliation that would give
“It’s a huge issue,” he said. “You’ll start to see [donors] are their baccalaureate-granting community college members a
much more reluctant to go into a big campaign next time. chance to join the honor society. In a letter to Hagan, Dennis
That can live with you for a decade or more, so it has lots of Organ, executive director of Alpha Chi, wrote that the honor
implications if you don’t do well.” society was addressing “the broader question of the kinds of
Reporting to the Associate Dean of the School of Tourism and institutions that are appropriate for affiliation” with it. He also
Hospitality Management and working with the Assistant Dean wrote that “depending on the evolution of higher education
for Development and Alumni ... in coming years, eventually our two groups may find common
ground, even if it is not possible in the immediate future.”
Yale University offers exciting opportunities for achievement
and growth in New Haven, Connecticut. Conveniently located Hagan said she did not take the rejection personally, but
between Boston and New York, ... she noted that it was possible to “read between the lines”
and perceive it as a slight. Given that community college
baccalaureates are still in their nascent stage at institutions
Transition at Jesuit College around the country, she chalked it up to a simple lack of
Group understanding.
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/19/qt/ “A lot of people don’t understand that these degrees are just
transition_at_jesuit_college_group as good as baccalaureate degrees at four-year institutions,”
August 19th, 2010 Hagan said. “We’re at the beginning stages of something very
important with the community college baccalaureate.”
Rev. Charles L. Currie announced Thursday that he will step
down as president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Organ explained Alpha Chi’s lack of interest in community
Universities in June, at which time he will have served 14 college baccalaureate students quite differently. He noted
years in the position -- the longest tenure of any leader of that officials from some of the honor society’s longstanding
the association. He will be succeeded by the Rev. Greg Lucey, member institutions have expressed concern at the changing
former president of Spring Hill College, in Alabama. makeup of its membership in recent years. He spoke, for
example, of the addition of the for-profit Strayer University
and a pair of branches of DeVry University.
Seeking Honorable Mention “We didn’t know what we were getting into,” said Organ, who
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/19/honors is also the dean or arts and sciences at Harding University,
August 19th, 2010 in Arkansas. “The more we know about these trends, we’re
The Community College Baccalaureate Association's wondering, do we want to become known as the honor society
announcement this summer that it would affiliate with the that caters to these schools in addition to others? We’re afraid
Golden Key International Honor Society seemed like the we might lose some traditional schools if they perceive this.…
happy ending to a Goldilocks-style story. After having been Still, some of our traditional school members have been taken
over by for-profits, and we’re not about to kick out somebody
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August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
that’s been a member in good faith all this time. There’s just in working with their institutions, I really couldn’t find any
a concern about what the nature of Alpha Chi’s image and real reasons why not. We didn’t say, ‘Oh, well, you’re not quite
reputation is going to be in the eyes of our longstanding like us,’ or anything like that. If an individual is continuing
members.” to work toward a baccalaureate degree though an accredited
community college, then I’m more than happy to provide that
At the time Alpha Chi was considering whether to open
individual with a chance to be recognized for [his or her] hard
up its membership to baccalaureate-granting community
work.”
colleges, Organ noted, it was also weighing whether to
admit a “for-profit school affiliated with a larger nonprofit After news of the new partnership spread, and much to
umbrella education group” that was primarily known for Hagan’s surprise, Phi Theta Kappa finally broke its silence
awarding associate degrees but had recently begun offering and announced last month its “plans for a fall launch of
baccalaureate degrees. Organ noted that had also Alpha Chi a new honor society to serve community colleges offering
turned down this institution, which he would not name, baccalaureate degrees.” In a widely distributed letter, Phi
bowing to concerns from other, member institutions. Theta Kappa officials noted that “this is a result of earlier
discussions with” CCBA and that “many indicated that Phi
“Our commitment to being a junior- and senior-level honor
Theta Kappa should design this new society.”
society at four-year schools is so strong that the idea of letting
in a community college, which is essentially a two-year school Upset at the move, Hagan said she has sent a “cease and desist”
which maybe has some students in four-year programs, would letter to Phi Theta Kappa, noting that its announcement
change the nature of our group to some extent,” Organ said. had sowed confusion among CCBA member institutions who
“That’s a sticking point for sure.” had just heard about their provisional affiliation with Golden
Key. Though Hagan noted that she would not be against
Alpha Chi, however, has convened an ad hoc committee “to
her member institutions belonging to both Golden Key and
develop and recommend policy with regard to institutions
any new Phi Theta Kappa society specifically for community
that are transitioning from two-year to four-year programs.”
college baccalaureate students, she expressed discontent at
That group has not established a set of minimum admission
feeling passed over.
rules yet, Organ noted, but it is considering requiring that
any community college seeking admission must have at least “We see ourselves as very connected to the colleges that confer
50 percent of its students enrolled in baccalaureate-degree baccalaureate degrees,” Hagan said. “I guess Phi Theta Kappa
programs. perceived they didn’t need us.”
Introducing a Competitor Rod Risley, executive director of Phi Theta Kappa, confirmed
via e-mail that his organization is going ahead with its plans to
When CCBA struck out with Alpha Phi, Hagan then asked the
start a new honor society for community college baccalaureate
ACHS what it would take to start a new honor society just for
students, noting that he had received “overwhelming support
these students. Given the heavy lifting required to get such
from college presidents, administrators and students.” He
a new organization off the ground, Hagan naturally thought
noted that he was not “convinced that an honors organization
about teaming up with Phi Theta Kappa, the largest and most
exists today that meets” the unique needs of students in these
well-known honor society for community college students.
programs.
Among the initial concerns expressed about letting community
“The research administrators and students both wanted
college baccalaureate students into the existing Phi Theta
opportunities for recognition of completion of coursework at
Kappa honor society, Hagan explained, was that this would
the junior and senior level, not just an extension of recognition
mark a break from its founding mission. After conferring with
as a Phi Theta Kappa member,” Risley wrote.
Phi Theta Kappa officials about the possibility of teaming up,
Hagan said, she never heard from them again. Risley noted that a survey Phi Theta Kappa developed with
Hagan and distributed to CCBA member institutions showed
During the radio silence, CCBA struck a deal with Golden Key,
that “numerous survey respondents identified Phi Theta
which has more than 375 chapters at four-year institutions in
Kappa as the organization that should pursue developing such
more than 190 countries, and more than 2 million members.
an honor society.” He added that “there were no discussions
As the affiliation between the two is still at an early stage, it
of establishing a formal agreement” between Phi Theta Kappa
is unclear how many baccalaureate-granting institutions will
and CCBA.
seek to found chapters. There are about 100 or so of these
community colleges throughout the United States and Canada. “As to the suggestion from CCBA that we no longer create
Their concentration is particularly high in Florida, where an honor society, Dr. Hagan in her communication to us
changes to state law have encouraged community colleges to has requested, and I quote, that we ‘stop these efforts to
offer a plethora of four-year degrees. Acceptance of them is compete with us,’ ” Risley wrote. “This isn’t about competition
also on the rise in populous states such as Illinois and Texas. -- this is about serving students. We feel no other organization
understands community college students and their needs as
For Golden Key officials, this is a natural partnership.
comprehensively as Phi Theta Kappa. Our organization has a
“We’ve always been associated with four-year, accredited, track record dating back nearly 100 years, based on our success
degree-granting institutions,” said John Mitchell, chief in proving quality and innovative programs and services to
executive officer of Golden Key. “But the landscape across the community colleges. We stand on our record and integrity as
country is changing, and there are a lot more nontraditional an organization.”
students. So, when [CCBA] asked us if we would be interested
9
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
If there is any indication on what the future will hold for even longer than they already have. In some cases, replacing
Phi Theta Kappa and Golden Key’s runs at baccalaureate- old and inefficient equipment with new and more efficient
granting community colleges, consider the response of Ali equipment may even redound to some savings in ongoing
Esmaeli, associate dean of baccalaureate programs at South energy expenses, which is all to the good.
Texas College and a CCBA board member. But saving permanent staff requires long-term money. It
“I think it benefits students to have a choice,” he said. requires sustained, predictable, don’t-mess-with-it, long-term
money. For colleges without huge endowments -- that is, for
University of North TexasAcademic Advisor IDepartment
every community college I’ve ever seen -- that makes short-
OverviewThe College of Arts and Sciences' mission is to
term infusions look like good candidates for saving.
promote and provide, through diverse ...
If we really want to save permanent jobs -- and I absolutely
believe we should -- we need a structural change. We need
Saving Stimulus dedicated, long-term, predictable, don’t-mess-with-it funding
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/ that the institutions themselves control. Right now, by default,
confessions_of_a_community_college_dean/saving_stimulus that usually means tuition. This is actually one of the drivers
August 19th, 2010 of the cost-shift to students: tuition is much less subject to the
By Dean Dad August 18, 2010 9:34 pm whims of state legislators than state aid is. When your costs are
This is one of those “individually rational, collectively insane” mostly fixed and your funding maddeningly variable, you’re
moments. up against it any time the state has an issue. Cost-shifting
to students equates to sustainability, from the institution’s
The New York Times reported that some of the federal perspective, even if it’s severely damaging from a social justice
stimulus money that was supposed to save the jobs of teachers, perspective. If we want permanent staffing and low tuition
police officers, and other public employees is instead being at the same time, we need a hugely different funding model.
squirreled away by states and school districts, in anticipation Stimuli are great, but on the ground, institutions will do what
of even lower tax revenues next year. The quote that jumped they need to do. If you want to change what they do, change
off the screen for me was: their needs.
“We’re a little wary about hiring people if we only have To play by the intended rules of the stimulus -- that is, to blow
money for a year, but we know that’s the intent of this it all quickly in the name of ginning up local demand -- would
bill,” said Jeff Weiler, chief financial officer for Clark County be institutionally suicidal. Yes, it would (at least arguably) be
schools. of great collective benefit, at least in the very short term, but it
Exactly so. And yet, the whole point of a stimulus is to be spent would require a level of denial bordering on negligence.
quickly for maximum impact. I’m only surprised that this is news.
We’re facing something similar here. We have some ARRA
money for this year, and it has certainly helped us deal
with the fallout from disappointing state revenues. But the Open Access and the Library's
ARRA (stimulus) funding will go away next year, whether the
recession goes away or not. (Even if it does, education funding
Missing Mission
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library_babel_fish/
typically lags recoveries by a year or two.) Given that the open_access_and_the_library_s_missing_mission
federal fiscal year overshoots the state fiscal year -- don’t get August 19th, 2010
me started -- there’s a pretty good argument to the effect that
it’s prudent for the college to save what it can, while it can; if By Barbara Fister August 18, 2010 9:15 pm
we’re going over a cliff a year from now, any cushion is better Dorothea Salo has an interesting post at the Book of Trogool.
than none. She wonders about the mission of academic libraries, and
about one paradox in particular: Can libraries support the
Short-term funding can work when the emergency itself is open access movement by reallocating funds from paying for
short-term, or when the projects being funded are short-term. content to providing support for open access publications, or
It’s great for abrupt emergencies, like natural disasters, or for does that somehow go against the library's mission to support
one-off tasks, like replacing a furnace. But it’s a terrible fit for its local clientele?
staffing, and a ridiculously terrible fit for tenured staffing.
I should back up a moment and define some terms. Most
If you have a realistic expectation of having to let somebody go academics are now familiar with the Open Access movement,
next year, how eager will you be to hire this year? Especially an effort to make scholarship free to all rather than intellectual
in cases in which they get tenure this year? The termination property owned by publishers and only available to those
costs alone... who can pay for it or are affiliated with institutions that will
I don’t mean this as an anti-stimulus argument. I’m convinced purchase it on their behalf. Many libraries have supported
that it has made things somewhat less bad than they otherwise open access by providing the technical infrastructure and
would have been, and to the extent that we’re able to buy human support for archiving materials in institutional
time, it’s at least possible that revenues will rebound enough repositories. These local archives make various kinds of digital
(and quickly enough) to avoid catastrophe. If it tides us over, publications created by the institution's faculty, staff, and
great. And it has allowed us to address some lingering capital students available to the world. Salo, author of a famous
needs on campus that probably would have gone neglected article about why institutional repositories fail to thrive (with
10
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
the memorable title, "Innkeeper at the Roach Motel"), has access to walled gardens planted by publishers who decide
challenged libraries to be more strategic about repositories, what grows there. This is not sustainable. It's not a responsible
rather than operate on the "build it, and they will come" use of resources. We need to work with those who create
philosophy. We know from experience that doesn't work. knowledge to find a model that serves all of our needs and not
just locally, but globally.
She is frustrated when she hears librarians say that if they had
to cancel a journal to put funds into open access, they would I'm looking at you, faculty. Are you ready to help us figure this
be betraying their clientele, because the library's mission is out?
to serve their community, not the world. The political reality
is probably more of a hurdle. Canceling a journal to support
a new initiative will cost a library significant social capital, The Beloit College 'Mindset'
even if the journal is rarely consulted. But many journals are
now bundled into "big deals," so canceling a single journal
List
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/digital_tweed/
isn't even an option. It's all or nothing, even if most of the
the_beloit_college_mindset_list
journals in the big bundle are of no interest to anyone at a given
August 19th, 2010
institution.
An unknown error occured formatting this story.
These Big Deals are a huge headache. True story: we recently
faced a $12,000 increase in cost for one journal database when
its publisher decided in the middle of an academic year to
discontinue a Not So Big Deal. We had to go with the Giant
Motherhood After Tenure:
Economy Size Deal that cost close to $40 K or cancel our Feeding our daughters
subscription entirely. We asked what it would cost to subscribe Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/mama_phd/
to just the handful of journals we really needed. They came motherhood_after_tenure_feeding_our_daughters
back with a quote of $90 thousand. I am not making this August 19th, 2010
up. Since we really needed those journals, we ended up with
Like many who enjoyed Elizabeth Gilbert’s travel memoir Eat,
the Giant Economy Size Deal, even though we really couldn't
Pray, Love, I’m excited to see the film, but wary, since my
afford it.
pleasure in reading it derived less from the plot and more
The fact is, in the Big Deal era we aren't really using from Gilbert’s prose and her skill in interweaving personal
our resources to build a collection around what our local with factual. I particularly enjoyed the first section of her
community needs. We're accommodating those expressed journey, which describes her travels in Italy and the intense
needs by subscribing to journals we don't want or we're pleasure of eating as Gilbert let go of the usual restrictions
buying one article at a time for users, with the library white middle class American women impose on themselves.
getting nothing out of the transaction but the bill. The most I routinely teach the section of Eat, Pray, Love where
recent Ithaka survey of faculty confirms that libraries are Gilbert describes eating “the best pizza on the planet” with
increasingly being seen as the purchaser of information, but near religious imagery. Gaining weight is a presented as an
not a communal resource or a cultural institution. We are important positive first step in Gilbert’s personal journey to
in danger of becoming no more than a purchasing office for fulfillment. A very radical idea, since most women I know are
disposable goods. continually in the process of trying to shed 10 pounds.
Salo questions the short-term wisdom of building an
institutional repository, then starving it of staff and adding to This is an interesting contrast to a recent article in the
it only things that are easy to acquire but which won't help New York Times about the difficulties of finding plus-sized
solve the financial crisis caused by escalating journal prices. clothing. Despite the fact that most American women wear a
As she puts it, "we can keep feeding the same broken system size 14, major clothing stores usually stock few size 12s or 14s
in hopes it will become less broken. ... Or we can place some and clothes larger must be purchased at specialty stores (or
longer-term bets, with the explicit understanding that some of online). More revealing, however, are the readers’ comments
them will turn up losers." Her conclusion: "I’d rather place the about the article, many of which expressed an overwhelming
longer-term bets, myself." hostility toward larger women. Clearly, the debate about
weight is not just a health issue. After all, a skinny outward
I agree. It's hard to take any access away from our students appearance is no guarantee of good health. Fat people, women
and faculty. But hey, they're used to it. At my college, we've in particular, symbolize many things: greed, a rejection of
had to sit down with the departments three times in the last conventional beauty norms, and unregulated desire. Since lots
ten years to decide which journals to cut. That's what happens of the negative comments came from people who were once
when your budget doesn't keep up with increasing prices and overweight, I wonder if fat also represents the part of us we
you've already cut all the fat. hate, or fear becoming?
The fact is, we're no longer in control of our mission. We can't
tailor our collections to the specific needs of our clientele; When I was in college in the 1980s, anorexia and bulimia
publishers won't let us. Rather than wait for the whole thing were hot topics. As a graduate student I lead discussion groups
to come crashing down around us, we need to take a good on the body image and eating disorders that flourished at
look at where we're putting our resources. Right now a huge the body conscious University of Florida. Since then, public
percentage of our library budgets go to renting temporary attention has shifted from anorexia to obesity as cause of

11
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
concern: according to government surveys, 64% of American refrain from any detailed comments about Irvine, as he does
women are overweight and 1/3 is obese. While these two not wish to get sued, except to note that Irvine University
health concerns seem like opposites, I think they address is not accredited by any agency recognized by the U.S.
the same central problem: using food for something other Education Department or the Council for Higher Education
than healthy self-nurturing. As body image guru Geneen Roth Accreditation, meaning that its students do not qualify for
points out, overeating and restricting one’s eating are both federal financial aid and that some state governments would
eating disorders: one responds to anxiety by stuffing and the not accept its graduates' degrees as meeting the states'
other by attempting to gain control -- and by focusing on the educational requirements for employees. One would look in
perfect future self. vain to find Irvine University on any of the commonly used
rankings—not even at the very bottom.
But eating too many processed, high fat foods is also a class It seems that VNU-H has dropped its links with Irvine
issue. My college students in Wisconsin (most of whom are recently and most, but not quite all, mentions of Irvine have
less affluent than the students in Florida) are heavier and seem been removed from the VNU website. VNU-H has many
less self-conscious about their pudgy middles. In my culture international linkages -- 88 according to its website, including
of food class, most report eating fast food, convenience foods, 19 with American universities, 27 with Japanese institutions,
and items purchased at gas stations; few cook routinely and including several major corporations such as Fujitsu, 2
the majority of students do not exercise regularly. Many of our with British schools, and so on. This is an unrealistically
students work full-time in addition to attending college, and large number of partners. In this VNU is not unusual.
their unhealthy habits are often a result of an untenably busy, Many universities worldwide seem to collect meaningless
hectic lifestyle. The healthier options at the university cafeteria memoranda of understanding (MoU) or other partnership
cost more, they point out. agreements that are no more meaningful than the pieces of
paper on which they are written. But they look good on a
As a mother of a young daughter, I feed her nutritious food, website and seem to be a sign of internationalization and an
encourage her to cook, and talk about the dangers of fast food indication of the range of global engagement. But in fact, many
and the importance of exercise. But at the same time I don’t of these “linkages” do not mean much to either side.
want her to fall into the pernicious trap of constantly trying to
improve her outward appearance. If you think this sounds like One does not wish to unfairly criticize Vietnam National
an extreme fear, consider how often women include wanting University, since many universities in developing countries
to lose 10 pounds or “get in shape” as their #1 goal. How make odd choices of collaborators due to lack of information,
many of your female friends are not trying to change their blandishments offered, or personal connections of various
appearance? One of my friends in graduate school, a feminist kinds. And many developing countries, particularly those at
scholar, admitted she spent two hours every day at the gym. As the top of the national hierarchy or with strong government
feminist scholar Susan Bordo argues, this emphasis on fitness connections, such as VNU, are subject to many requests for
with its false sense of empowerment, siphons off potential partnerships from overseas universities and are reluctant to
subversive energy that could be used to challenge norms of say no. And the cost of saying yes is not high.
beauty or, change the world. But there are lessons here. The first is that it is easy
to jump into inappropriate relationships. These ties can
I suppose that so many things my daughter will learn what harm the reputation of the university and, more important,
I model, not necessarily what I preach. Therefore renounce harm students and professors by linking them with foreign
losing weight as a goal. I have a lot more important things to partners who have little standing or reputation at home
accomplish. or internationally. Having too many foreign ties can create
problems of quality assurance and management as well as
reputation. And a university with too many partners looks
The Company We Keep: A irresponsible or at least thoughtless.
Cautionary Tale Fortunately, these problems are easily solved. Having one or
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/the_world_view/ more senior staff member who knows the international higher
the_company_we_keep_a_cautionary_tale education scene is probably a key element. Taking time to
August 19th, 2010 do research and explore the implications of partnerships is
By Philip G. Altbach August 18, 2010 3:38 pm also important. And having a clearly articulated international
In international higher education, we are judged by the higher education strategy, a kind of foreign policy, which
company we keep. Thus, it is of great importance that outlines both broad strategies and specific plans, provides a
universities choose their partners carefully, make sure that “road map” for international links. For developing countries,
their “brand” and reputation is protected, and that the perhaps the most important element is a commitment to serve
partnership provides benefits to all sides. the best interest of the university and the country rather than
say yes to every invitation from the outside.
A cautionary tale has emerged from Vietnam. It seems that
the Vietnam National University in Hanoi (VNU-H) in Hanoi,
one of the country’s top institutions and one that is trying to OMG !!!
become a “world class” university, has had a formal linkage Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/getting_to_green/omg
with Irvine University in the United States. This blogger will

12
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
August 19th, 2010 and the economy being what it is, they didn’t have anything
By G. Rendell August 18, 2010 3:15 pm comparable to my current position to offer me.
I was thinking, over my second cup of coffee, just how blunt, We agonized over the decision. Do we live apart for a year? We
accusatory, vehement, vituperative, vicious is the verbiage have two small kids who adore their father – something I am
used by many climate change deniers. If you go with the theory very grateful for and I didn’t want to spoil those relationships
that apparent anger is usually an expression of inner fear, a for the sake of my career. I teach English, possibly the
lot of people must be really threatened by the idea that human most employable (and lowest-paying) discipline. I found some
activity has consequences. adjunct work, quit my job, and we moved yet again.
And I was thinking that such a large amount of fear must The past year has probably been one of the most difficult of my
be rooted not just in a simplistic world view, but in a real life. When we first arrived, my youngest was at an age when life
need for an unarguable simplistic world view. Something was still dictated by naps and feedings. Most mothers worked
that goes well beyond John Stuart Mill's observation that and when we would go to the park, it was deserted. Every
"conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid mother I did meet was typically ten years younger than I was
people are conservatives," to the same degree that the term and had lived here her entire life. Most of the faculty (or faculty
"conservative" has taken on a creedal dogmatism it never had wives) had older kids. I felt incredibly alone and isolated.
in Mill's day.
Professionally, I felt like a failure. I had devoted my
As the caffeine began to invigorate my nerve endings, I entire adult life to becoming a professor, and here I was,
wondered how much of a net disadvantage it might be to the underemployed and staring down a mountain of debt. I was
cause of sustainability that its advocates express themselves, raised to be independent, and here I was unable to pull my
on average, more fully and more moderately than its attackers own weight in the household. I hate housework, I can’t cook,
do. And then, ... and I ended up resenting every time I had to make dinner or
And then, ... clean up. This was my job now. Ugh. And I desperately missed
teaching. For some, a job is just a job. For me, I am a teacher
And then, I read Mark Morford's column from the San as much as I am a mother and a wife.
Francisco Chronicle. And I rolled on the floor, laughing.
Meanwhile, my husband was in his dream position, complete
with all of the insane hours that came with it. We lived within
Confessions of a Trailing walking distance of the university, so he was able to come
home most days for lunch and dinner, but being close by also
Spouse meant that he would often go back to work in the evenings to
Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/university_of_venus/ keep working. He was incredibly supportive, giving me time to
confessions_of_a_trailing_spouse keep working on my own research interests and encouraging
August 19th, 2010 me to start my own business and blog. But he couldn’t create
By Guest blogger, Lee Skallerup, writing from a friend or teaching opportunity out of thin air.
Kentucky in the USA August 18, 2010 9:15 am This fall, however, is looking up. I was offered a full-time
Last winter semester, I didn’t teach. It was by choice, but it instructor position for this upcoming academic year. It offers
was a choice that dates back to 2001 when I first met the man twice the money as adjunct teaching, but half the money as
who would eventually be my husband. I was just starting my being a professor. I’ll take it. A new faculty hire and her family
PhD and he, after some time off school, had his sights firmly have just moved in two houses down from us, and they have
set on grad school and a PhD. We agreed that if we were to a son the same age as my youngest. We’re already scheduling
stay together, we were not going to have one of those academic play dates. I feel extremely fortunate and hopeful. But, as a
marriages where one lived in one city while the other lived in trailing spouse, even by choice, I still wish I had more control
another in order for both to have the tenure-track job; why over my life and career.
bother even getting married, we reasoned. Getting married, to
Lee Elaine Skallerup has a PhD from the University of
me, meant having a spouse around most of the time, not just
Alberta in Comparative Literature. She has taught in
some weekends, holidays, and extended summer vacations.
two Canadian provinces and three States, and is now
Secretly, I figured I wouldn’t be the one who would have branching out as an Edupreneur. You can visit her blog at
to sacrifice. I was four years ahead of my husband and collegereadywriting.blogspot.com and follow her on Twitter
mathematically reasoned that my chances of getting a tenure- (@readywriting).
track job first were better. And, that is exactly what happened;
before my husband had even written his qualifying exams,
I was hired as an assistant professor. We moved across the County fair!
country together, as a family, even though he had virtually no Source: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/mama_phd/county_fair
hope of landing an academic position close by. August 19th, 2010
And then, he got a job, too. His job was one of those once-in- I’ve come to the end of a three-week writing retreat. My
a-lifetime opportunities for a young professor: low teaching husband and I have both been working on writing projects as
load, primarily graduate students, lots of external funding, and visiting scholars at the Whiteley Center at the Friday Harbor
travel support. The trade-off? I would have to leave my tenure- Labs on San Juan Island, Washington. Over the years the
track job in a mid-size city and move to a small, rural town, labs have become more than an academic setting for us; it’s a
13
August 19th, 2010 Published by: philosophyandrew
second home for our family. Although we’re only seasonal and
short-term residents, we’ve come to know people at the labs
and in the community with whom we renew ties every year.
One of the biggest community celebrations here is the San
Juan County Fair, and we try to plan our work time on the
island to catch at least one day of the fun. It’s by far the
best fair I’ve ever been to. As with other county or state fairs,
there are 4-H competitions and lots of cows, sheep, goats,
pigs, and llamas to pet. I hear there are even rabbit races
this year, in addition to the Zucchini 500 (giant zucchinis on
wheels). There’s the quilting and knitting barn with exquisite
handiwork. Artists of all ages and talent display original
artwork and photographs. I especially love the fruit and
vegetable exhibits—how can a judge possibly choose a blue-
ribbon tomato or pick out the “Best in Show” broccoli? There
seems to be a category for everyone to enter the competition,
and it’s fun to look at the entries and recognize the names of
people we know. It really does feel like an event where the
whole community participates. While we were in line at the
grocery store yesterday, the clerk asked my children what they
were going to enter in the fair. My son felt a bit panicked
because although he’d tossed around a few ideas, he hadn’t
yet come up with a plan. After a scramble this afternoon, we
found a quick and easy solution. While I looked on and offered
bits of advice here and there, he prepared our family-favorite
brownie recipe, just in the nick of time, ten minutes before
the entry deadline! It’s definitely not a health food, but it’s
easy enough to whip up when we’re having a chocolate craving
(I feel it’s important to instill in my children an appreciation
for quality chocolate desserts, in moderation of course!). And
my daughter entered a painting she called “Bubbles” to be on
display in the junior art barn, right next to the pony rides. We’ll
have a great day tomorrow wandering through the exhibits,
watching puppet shows, petting animals, braving a ride or two,
and of course looking for our entries on display, maybe with
ribbons?
Melt chocolate & butter in top of double boiler (or melt slowly
and gently, directly on the stove, stirring frequently). Stir to
combine, and cool until comfortable to touch.
While butter and chocolate melt, butter an 8” square baking
pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt
until well combined. Whisk in chocolate, and then stir in flour.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 375o until set but
slightly soft in the center, about 21-23 minutes. Cool, but for
ultimate enjoyment eat one while still a bit warm!

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