ACUHO-I News Blog

Jennifer Weiler, a freshman at Green Mountain College in Vermont, has sued the Vermont Department of Public Safety because Green Mountain offers co-ed bathrooms in her residence hall. Weiler contends that public buildings, including residence halls, are required by state law to offer bathrooms for men and women, and thus the state is remiss in policing its own policies. While the co-ed bathroom has private shower and toilet stalls Weiler says that men would often disrobe in the middle of the room. After she complained, the university designated one bathroom as female-only, but men kept using it anyway.

The suit echoes other bathroom issues nationwide, as students dispute if co-ed bathrooms are acceptable, if transgender students need their own washrooms, and so on. Our very own Communications Director, James Baumann, is quoted.

This week in Inside HigherEd, comparing two cities’ higher ed enrollment; community colleges gain students; Russian is the new hip language; a federal judge refuses a college’s request to allow a Supreme Court ruling to limit faculty speech; and Penn fires their basketball coach at an odd time. Plus, lots of Quick Takes for those of you in a quiet office.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES: Dissecting fall enrollments in Pittsburgh and Dallas, we find that public colleges boomed and independent institutions mostly held on, thanks to rising tide (and more merit aid). 

DEFINING THE ENROLLMENT BOOM: New study documents extent of the gains at community colleges, which are seeing particularly large increases in full-time students:

RUSSIA(N) IS BACK: Whether it’s Putin or Pushkin, student interest is sending language enrollments to levels unheard of since the Cold War:

FIRST AMENDMENT IN THE CLASSROOM: Federal judge rejects college’s request to apply Supreme Court ruling in way that would limit free speech rights of faculty members at public colleges:

JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE? Penn fires its men’s basketball coach midseason — an unusual step for any college, let alone an Ivy League sports program:

The public radio program This American Life is visiting Penn State, this year’s “#1 Party School,” according to the expert party-evaluators at the Princeton Review.

This American Life notes that the first place ranking (a prize, perhaps, for some students; a booby prize for administrators) rotates regularly. The University of Florida, West Virginia University, the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the State University of New York-Albany, the University of Colorado-Boulder, Indiana University and Ohio University (Athens) are other recent “winners.” The University of Florida won “Best Career School” this year, so perhaps all that party networking does one good. The only constant is the year’s most “Stone-Cold Sober” institution, which is always Brigham Young University.

The methodology may not be academic journal-worthy, and given the lack of consistency, the rankings may not mean much (Indiana went from unranked to #1 in a year) but the party school ranking always gets a lot of press. This American Life decided to check out Penn on a football weekend to see what there is to be seen.

The story is on public radio stations nationwide this week; check your local public radio listings to see if they carry This American Life. (See the right sidebar on the This American Life website to locate a public radio station near you.) Next week, the broadcast will be available on the This American Life website.

This week on Inside HigherEd, the Supreme Court will soon decide whether religious student groups at public colleges and universities can ban gay members; more institutions find that what seems like an awful time for class is a great time for some prospective students; Lincoln University backs off requiring a health class for obese students; the GRE is redone again and Pell costs go boom.

CONFLICTING RIGHTS: Supreme Court will decide whether public colleges can apply anti-bias rules — including bans on anti-gay discrimination– to religious student groups seeking recognition or funding.

IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR: Community colleges that started offering sections in the middle of the night are finding the strategy worked, and such scheduling is spreading to other institutions.

LINCOLN U. ENDS OBESITY RULE: Faculty members vote to keep health class that set off national debate, but to make it optional.

THE NEW GRE, REDUX: Key test for graduate admissions will lose antonyms and analogies, replace some geometry with data analysis, alter scoring, and let test takers move among questions. ETS calls shifts significant; critics see cosmetic changes.

PELL COSTS EXPLODE: With demand booming, U.S. says grant program’s price tag will soar by $18 billion through 2011. Democrats see no impact on student loan reform.

In the news at Inside HigherEd this week, defining fitness, defining free speech, and re-defining access, as well as other stories:

STOPPING SHORT OF NO MORE FRENCH FRIES: As Lincoln U. debates fitness requirement for obese students, other institutions search for less controversial ways to deal with the issue.

TUFTS DEFINES SPEECH LIMITS: Trustees approve a policy that applauds free expression, but says it’s not an “absolute” right on campus.

ACCESS TO WHAT? Nevada chancellor mulls whether community colleges, strained by recession and budget crises, should limit enrollments to ensure success for more students.

THE BIG ADMISSIONS SHIFT: While everyone obsesses over the Ivies and Berkeley, Cal State — the largest university system in the United States — moves from being non-competitive to competitive on who gets in.

REDEFINING ACCESS AND SUCCESS: 24 public college systems develop new way of counting enrollments and completion rates — which show they have long way to go to close achievement gaps for minority and needy students.

This week’s headlines are filled with rich information on the topics of students studying overseas, engagement on community college campuses, and a campus requiring a fitness test before graduation.

MIXED OUTLOOK FOR FOREIGN ENROLLMENTS: 2008-9 academic year saw record number of international students in U.S. and 2007-8 saw record numbers of Americans studying abroad. But more recent data suggest the years of big increases may be ending.

ALL EYES ON PITTSBURGH: Mayor pushes 1 percent tax on tuition, stirring up anger at the city’s colleges and worries elsewhere that
other localities might try similar approaches.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF TEST: One college takes “sound mind, sound body” to a new level, requiring students to lose weight or take a fitness class to graduate.

THE PART-TIME IMPACT: Annual survey of community college engagement identifies obstacles posed by having both students and faculty members who are not around full time.

THREAT TO BLACK COLLEGES: Mississippi governor proposes merging three historically black institutions into one. Will the recession lead to more such proposals?

This week’s headlines from InsideHigherEd.com show the benefits of transparency, discuss a First Amendment controversy in Maryland, and analyze levels of student engagement among others. Read on to learn more.

SPOONFUL OF SUGAR: When pressing students to pay a $1,000 surcharge, Wisconsin-Madison promised them a say in how the money was spent. That’s made the hike easier to swallow, students say.

MORE ENGAGED: Annual survey of student engagement finds notable gains across sectors, and offers new analysis on gaps between science and non-science students, the transfer experience, and impact of learning management systems.

HUMANIST CHAPLAINS: A group of non-religious students at Tufts want an institutionally appointed spiritual guide, just like the Christians, Jews and Muslims have. Is this the next wave of campus clergy?

PORN, WITHOUT PROTECTION: Citing First Amendment, Maryland’s public universities defy legislature’s demands for a policy barring the use of public facilities for the display of obscene materials.

It’s a day late, but our headlines get better with age! This week, technology is a hot topic: professors over-estimate the effectiveness of their use of digital tools; Twitter as a teaching tool and what is a library without (tangible) books? Also, the U.S. government releases a study on assessments and what happens after affirmative action.

TECHNOLOGY GAP: Professors think they are doing a better job with digital tools than their students believe is the case, survey suggests.

BOOKLESS LIBRARIES? Technology leaders and librarians consider how the digital age changes the physical space and role of one of higher education’s oldest institutions.

TWEETING IN CLASS: Should Twitter be viewed as a teaching tool or a distraction?

ASSESSING THE ASSESSMENTS: U.S.-funded study finds that results on three measures of student learning outcomes are comparable to one another.

THE POWER OF RACE: New research on admissions at elite colleges shows the role of affirmative action, the extent and limits of cross-racial interaction among students, and significant gaps in academic performance:

At Inside HigherEd this week, online education is in the news; one institution is moving all its intro Spanish courses online; other institutions admit they don’t know if their online courses are effective or make money. Also, the source of loan monies is shifting, custom e-textbooks, and architecture students get the Renaissance experience.

TUITION IS UP, LOANS ARE SHIFTING: Percentage increase is highest at community colleges and lowest at private four-year institutions.Lending moves from private to federal programs.

ONLINE EDUCATION’S GREAT UNKNOWNS: Survey finds many colleges don’t know if their programs make money or improve learning outcomes.

NEW BLUEPRINT FOR ARCHITECTURE: Undergraduate programs are being revised to embrace more liberal arts courses and ­ in some instances– to ease students’ workloads.

ADIOS TO SPANISH 101 CLASSROOM: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is moving introductory Spanish courses completely online. Some students are worried, but department officials are not. 

CUSTOMIZED UNIFORMITY: A Wisconsin business school gets a grant to write custom e-textbooks aimed at keeping students on the same page.

In the news at Inside Higher Ed this week, health plans and students, out-of-state students helping to balance institutional budgets, and a student blogger is sued by his school.

MOCKING THE HOLOCAUST: At Reed, a satire imagining the murder of Jews at another college leaves many students angry. Was the betrayal the article — or that it was shared with someone who isn’t at Reed?:

BELIEVING IN GOD AND EVOLUTION: A new movement is encouraging Christian colleges to embrace the teaching of evolution — without giving up professors’ or students’ faith:

STUDENTS MISSING IN HEALTH PLANS: Legislation moving through Congress seems to forget college students in its provisions:

OUT-OF-STATE DREAMS: Can more non-resident students (who pay higher tuition) balance budgets of flagship universities? A growing number of institutions think so. Some experts doubt the plans will work; others fear a shift in values:

UNIVERSITY SUES STUDENT BLOGGER: Butler U. says anonymous critic engaged in libel and defamation. He turns out to be an undergraduate writing about his stepmother’s removal as department chair:

This week on Inside HigherEd, read about how colleges and universities are attempting, with mixed success,  to social-network for money; how fewer students are coming to the United States for higher eduation; and how students’ paid affects their lives.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA MAZE: Colleges are eager to leverage Facebook and Twitter to boost recruiting and fund raising, but many still don’t have a coherent strategy for how to do it.

WILL WORK FOR BEER: Economists find evidence that college students choose to take jobs not to pay tuition but to cover other expenses and, unless they work a lot, those jobs don’t do much to harm their academic performance.

INTERNATIONAL ‘LEAPFROGGING’: Study examines impact of decline in share of world’s college students who are educated in the United States.

COURSE HERO OR COURSE VILLAIN?: Professors worry that new companies might be making money from their copyrights while encouraging plagiarism among their students.

DARWIN, FROM THE CREATIONISTS: Anti-evolution group plans to distribute 100,000 copies of Origin of Species next month — with an introduction designed to undercut the book and promote a literal view of the Bible.

This past weekend The New York Times real estate section wrote a glowing story about the first residence hall to open at Queens College in New York City. In the story, the residents of room 302 serve as an example of the students Queens College hopes to attract and retain with this new hall. The descriptions of the suite-style hall with its 642 square feet, two bedrooms, two bathrooms (with a tub nonetheless), air-conditioning, carpeting, and kitchen will sound familiar; as will the descriptions of student decor.

Queens College has also created a flashy Web site showing the hall’s features. You can check it out here.

This week, Inside HigherEd features articles on the growth in Chinese applicants; students from virtual high schools and an analysis of which student aid programs really work.

EVALUATING ONLINE APPLICANTS: With the growth of virtual high schools, new issue surfaces for admissions officers.

‘THE CHINESE ARE COMING’: Colleges in U.S. see dramatic increases in undergraduate applications from world’s most populous nation — and face ethical issues raised by the way students are recruited and coached.

FORWARD INTO THE CLOUD: With more students auto-forwarding e-mail to private accounts, even colleges  that have not outsourced their e-mail find it difficult to keep correspondence on their own servers.

WHAT WORKS FOR THE NEEDY:Analysis of which financial aid programs most help low-income students says that simplicity often trumps targeting and finds promise in aid tied to academic performance and support services.

GROUP CHEMISTRY: U. of Maryland Baltimore County uses classroom technology and shifts student roles to boost grades, attendance, and retention in chemistry courses.

More than half of eligible veterans are waiting for their educational benefits. Some institutions have allowed veterans a longer grace period; some students are relying on family to help pay the bills.

This week’s items from InsideHigherEd.com discuss what “college ready” really means, budget cut protests in California, and what the libraries of the future will look like.

’60s TACTICS, NEW CAUSE: With an approach reminiscent of the protest movement, University of California students, faculty and staff plan walkouts and teach-ins today in response to budget cuts.

THE LAST STOP: Among last to start classes in California, community colleges on quarter system struggle — amid severe budget cuts and overcrowding — to serve students being turned away elsewhere.

DEFINING ‘COLLEGE READY,’ NATIONALLY: State school officers and governors, with higher education’s help, develop “common standards”designed to align high school and college curriculums.

WHEN LESS IS MORE: Changes in essay requirements to apply to MIT and Penn reflect sense among admissions officers that students don’t need to write a book (or even 1,000 words).

LIBRARIES OF THE FUTURE: What will they look like? Prediction about vanishing physical infrastructure intrigues some college librarians and frustrates others.