ACUHO-I News Blog

It’s a short work week in the U.S., as many of us had the luxury of a Monday off to recover from Independence Day celebrations. That’s why your news from Inside HigherEd is a day late…but just as informative!

PAMPERING OR PRIORITY? George Washington U. drops maid service for freshmen, drawing some student complaints. But other colleges cling to the practice, even in tough times.

NEW VENUE FOR ANTI-BIAS DEBATE: Supreme Court decision shifts the conflict over discrimination by religious student groups from the courts to the campuses.

ALL EYES ON INDIA: Proposed legislation would provide a clear legal framework for foreign institutions to offer degrees, but the terms might deter otherwise interested universities.

STEP TOO FAR ON TEXTBOOK COSTS? Bill passed by Pennsylvania Senate decried as attack on academic freedom for requiring professors to select “least expensive, educationally sound” option.

TEMPERING TUITION HIKES: Private colleges hold increases to 4.5 percent, falling again below pre-recession averages. But rates still exceed inflation.

George Washington University used to provide cleaning services for its freshmen students in suites; no more. Now students must clean their personal spaces; common spaces are still cleaned by staff, of course. A few other institutions offer cleaning services for private student spaces–most often bathrooms. Some cite the basic cleanliness issue: dirty bathrooms are nasty things, and can spread illnesses–such as staph infections–which already burden campuses. Some students find the maid services a selling point; others are neutral on the issue. In addition to the expense, some institutions have had complications with maid services; sometimes students’ rooms or bathrooms are too dirty to be cleaned. What then?

But wait…I have a disclaimer.  I didn’t have a maid in college. Or any other time. I actually worked as a maid, for a little while, between other jobs. All things considered, it was a nice job. I listened to music on headphones and I cleaned private homes, which were usually not particularly dirty. But still, the idea of having a maid is foreign to me, especially having a maid in college.

I’m probably just saying this as an Old Grumpy Person, but I think it was useful to see how appallingly dirty a space can get without enough cleaning. I realized, sometime during my junior year while evaluating my bathroom before a parental visit, that there was nothing inherently clean about precious me.  The bathroom was disgusting, it reflected badly on me, and I had to do something about it, lest I make my mother cry. In my late-teens and early 20s, I gradually became a tidier person. When I had to clean my own space, I tended to be more respectful of it and more careful not to mess it up again. I’m far from a tidy person right now (just ask my ACUHO-I colleagues, who have seen my office), and my husband and I have a dog whose primary avocation is shedding hairs that corkscrew themselves into our rugs and clothing. But I think learning to clean, by learning about not cleaning, was useful.

That said, I understand about the staph infections. My housemates and I are probably fortunate we were not killed by our own bathroom, though we found our ancient and thunderous washer quite fearsome. Our worries were probably misplaced.

Editor’s Note: Stacy Oliver has turned over her blog to the interns again. This week’s post is from Dillon Wyatt, a graduate student at Western Carolina University, who is interning at Indiana University South Bend for the summer.

Graduate students usually take an internship for the summer to experience a new place, a new institution, and to learn how things are done elsewhere. Along the way we usually learn a few things about ourselves, the area of student affairs, and how to work better/smarter/faster, gain new skills, or some combination of the above list. These are great opportunities for grad students because internships can exponentially increase our knowledge of the field.

However, those of you that supervise grad students during the academic year or who have grad students working for your department can benefit a great deal as well. When your grad comes back, be open to hearing about their internship. Ask them what they learned and if they notice how things were done differently where they were for the summer.  Think of issues you may be facing at your institution: Did your grad experience similar things over the summer? How did their host institution deal with them? Remember, your grad interacted with a whole different department of people for eight or so weeks. Ask them if they have any ideas on how to improve things at your institution or if they saw any good practices that might work at your institution.

A lot of places are experiencing budget cuts, travel freezes, or some other type of financial limitations that may have kept your department from attending professional development opportunities. Or if it didn’t affect your department perhaps it kept another department from attending an event you were at where you could have learned a thing or two from them. Your grad gaining experience at another institution is a great way for you to gain some professional development by seeing what they have learned. In the end, remember that listening to their ideas and thoughts doesn’t mean you are promising to change things but it does expose you to new ideas.