ACUHO-I News Blog

That’s what I’ve started calling the Beloit College’s Mindset List. It’s supposed to be a helpful tool for those who work in colleges and universities, but really its true purpose–and effect–seems to be to make anyone who isn’t 18 or younger feel old. Old. Older every year. Perhaps Beloit’s counseling services get a little bump after the list is released, thanks to middleagers who had a crisis after realizing they clearly remember the car they were driving when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister; the day they traded in a tube for a flat screen, or watching Saved by the Bell. This writer is too old to even have a Mindset List of her own; the first produced was for the class of 2002. (Ohio University, BSJ, 2000)

Yes, even our cheerful computer-girl up there seems to be saying “Ha ha! I’ve never used a card catalog to find a book!”

In a way, it’s funny that our culture reveres a lack of perspective and ignorance of societal touchstones (Jack Kevorkian, the KGB, a unified Korea), that this naivete is actually honored in our society, but this isn’t a sociology or philosophy blog, so take a big breath –sigh!–and read the list. 

After that, women can cheer themselves up by watching the excellent Sarah Haskins take on advertising’s view of aging women (men will likely find Sarah amusing too). After all, there’s only one alternative to getting old, and it’s not a good option.

The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill is confusing. The Montgomery G.I. Bill works the same for each recipient: $1,321 per month, per veteran, regardless of where he or she goes to school or what he or she is studying. This system is imperfect in many ways, but one of its strengths is its simplicity. It’s very easy for a veterans to calculate their benefits and select an institution based on that.

The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill attempts to fix some of the flaws in the Montgomery plan (a public undergraduate degree in New York state will probably cost more than the same from South Dakota), but of course, this makes it more complicated as well. This Inside HigherEd article gowes through some of the details, and what the military is doing to counsel students-to-be. The Department of Veterans Affairs has a website to explain the benefits as well.

Have you ever wondered how your institution’s compensation and benefits for live-in/live-on pros–hall directors and the like–compares to that of other institutions? Where are domestic partners welcomed? Who allows pets? Which pets? Are their meals covered? All these answers and more are in Rich Horowitz’s Live-In/Live-On Report, an annual survey of young professionals’ benefits and compensation.

Do you have invaluable resources for research or benchmarking? Let us know what they are.

At this time each year, the Supreme Court releases its docket for the next session. They usually do not give a reason why other cases were refused. The justices prefer cases in which a precedent has not been set–and thus the Supreme Court can provide that guidance–and cases in which conflicting rulings have been issued by lower courts.  Thus advocates for Christian student groups and advocates for non-discrimination rules at high schools and in higher education found themselves united on at least one subject: They were surprised the Supreme Court did not take on the question of public institutions, student groups and the rights those groups have (or don’t have) to exclude certain people as members.

Public high schools and public colleges and universities say anti-discrimination rules (which usually include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation) should be applied evenly to all student groups receiving student activities funds. Christian students say such rules limits their right to free assembly and forces them to accept student members who don’t profess the same beliefs.

One case that has been used as precedent is Truth vs. Kent School District. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit backed a high school’s right to deny official recognition to a Bible study group whose members did not want to adhere to the district’s policy that all student groups must accept any interested students as members. The court found that since the district applied the anti-discrimination rules to all student groups, the Bible study group was not being treated any differently.

Truth vs. Kent School District was cited twice more, to uphold the right of higher education institutions not to recognize student groups that do not follow a similar anti-discrimination code of conduct.

However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ordered Southern Illinois University to recognize a chapter of the Christian Legal Aid Society.

This all leaves higher education uncertain of what their next move should be, and the Supreme Court will be silent on the subject, at least until 2010-2011.

A federal appeals court reinstated a sexual harassment lawsuit against the University of Georgia by a female student who alleges that Tony Cole, a basketball player with a full scholarship, encouraged two other athletes to rape her in Cole’s residence hall room in 2002.  Before coming to UGA, Cole had already been booted by two other schools for serious disciplinary infractions. Employees in the athletics department of a community college accused him of sexually assaulting them, and another college team cut him because of discipline issues. The suit alleged that officials at UGA had not only known about Cole’s unsavory reputation, they had not monitored his behavior at UGA or warned him to  behave himself.  Ultimately, the whole men’s basketball program was sanctioned by the NCAA for academic fraud, improper gifts and conduct issues.

The case goes beyond the University of Georgia, which has since  rebuilt the basketball program under new leadership, said speakers at the National Association of College and University Attorneys‘ annual meeting in Toronto. Judges seem to be developing a stricter, more proactive conception of prevention, they said, and if this continues, institutions could be held liable for incidents which could have been prevented by institution action, even if the institution did not have a direct role in the event itself and acted appropriately afterward.

Student athletes are not the only ones who can behave badly, of course. Legal scholars warn that schools may be responsible for the behavior of students who have previous convictions or had serious discipline problems at another college or in high school. It’s a lot to keep in mind, but it may be necessary.

Duke’s Smart Home, the first LEED certified platinum residence hall, will not be easily replicated, said Duke’s dean of residence life and executive director of housing services, Eddie Hall. And that’s okay. Hall’s presentation, with his colleagues Gary Thompson, director of facilities planning and operations, and John Duncan, manager of apartment operations, is meant to serve as more of an inspirational story than a paint-by-the-numbers book. They discussed the Smart Home on Monday at the ACUHO-I Annual Conference and Exposition. Inside HigherEd reported on the session.

Hard work, dedication to the project and a common vision helped, but there was also serendipity and opportunity involved. The trick wasn’t the specific circumstances, but recognizing a benefit when it presented itself.

A Duke student’s graduate thesis, based on the concept of a sustainable residence hall, attracted the attention of a member of Duke’s Board of Visitors, who also sat on the board of Home Depot. This happy circumstance set the planning process in motion. The Smart Home came for free, but it won’t stay free. There’s a lot of new and experimental technology in it with which the facilities department will have to familiarize themselves. The appliances were donated, which is great, but that also means they didn’t come with warranties.

The home also includes two laboratories where residents can innovate further. Their first innovation? It concerns an issue that is heavy on the hearts of all college students: beer theft. Students developed a thumb-print identification censor for kegs. Many smart projects have come out of the Smart Home, or are in process. Students have been toying with ways to improve the home’s function, appearance and utility. A list is available on the Smart Home’s website.

Hall, Thompson and Duncan advised session attendees to do what works best for their schools and what is most sustainable for them, rather than aiming for a specificLEED rating.  As The Chronicle of Higher Education reported last year, sometimes the LEED rating has its own financial and environmental costs. They acknowledged that the Duke Smart Home could not be easily replicated elsewhere. The important thing is to know the resources and technology available, and be open to opportunities.

John Buck, the Associate Dean of Students at Webster University, presented “It’s Like I’m Watching TV in My Head: How CHOs Manage Crisis Situations,” on Sunday at the ACUHO-I Annual Conference and Exposition. Buck studied twelve housing officers who have been praised for handling crisis, interviewing them about their experiences. In the session, he shared the results of this project. Buck began his interviews at the 2008 Annual Conference and compiled the data last year. The resulting paper is Buck’s dissertation, as well as an excellent resource for the profession.

Inside HigherEd  and The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on the session.

Here’s another study that proves what college housing officers–and anyone who works at a college or university–likely knows already. Establishing the national drinking age at 21 twenty years ago has not prevented or limited underage binge drinking among college students. The study was conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis by a team headed by Richard A. Grucza, Ph.D. The results appear in an article in the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

There is good news; binge drinking has dipped substantially among other groups. Males 15 – 17 years old binge drank 50 percent less in 2006 than they did in 1979. Males 18 – 20 years old in all groups (both college-going and otherwise) binge drank 20 percent less, and males 21 – 23 years old binge drank 10 percent less.

Now the not-so-good news: Men and women in college both binge drink at considerably greater rates than their non-college-attending brethren. Men ages 18 – 20 who were not in college binge drank 30 percent less during the study period. The rates of men the same age who were in college were unchanged. Similar results played out for men 21-23; men not in college binge drank 10 percent less during those 20 years; the rates for men in college were steady.

For women, the story is even less encouraging. For all females aged 15 – 20 years old, binge drinking was unchanged since 1979. Women 21 – 23 years old binge drank 40 percent more than they did in 1979. Male minority members binge less than they used to, but female minorities do so more. Overall, males make up the majority of binge drinkers but rates of female binge drinking has been increasing.

Researchers speculate that a higher drinking age has made it harder for high school students to obtain alcohol, thus driving down binge drinking among that group, while college students are more likely to mingle with those 21 and over. Non-students in their early 20s may also be more likely to have responsibilities that take precedence over partying, such as spouses, a full-time job, or children. Overall, they feel that while the result isn’t ideal, binge drinking is down among the population in general and teenagers especially, so a higher drinking age should be maintained.

Colleges and universities hoping to save a few pennies (or a few hundred thousand) can read an article in last week’s New York Times’ Education section for inspiration: For Colleges, Small Cuts Add Up to Big Savings.

Schools are finding savings through attrition of products and services that are no longer popular (phone lines and voicemail), letting the cleaning slide a bit or providing fewer cushy services to students. Some of the money-saving changes might have been made anyway– cutting orientation by one day, challenging students to an energy-saving competition, eliminating cafeteria trays or providing admissions materials online–but they’re also saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Some of the money-saving ideas are more quirky than others. The article mentions a “virtual swim meet” between Dickinson College and Bryn Mawr College. The teams swam in their home pools, then compared times. Not meeting face-to-face saved $900.

In an attempt to help veterans further their educations in the long-term, lawmakers may have, ironically, significantly disadvantaged current veteran students.

When the Higher Education Act was renewed last year, Congress changed it so veterans’ military benefits would not count against their eligibility for unsubsidized loans and institutional aid. This change was made effective for 2010-2011, but the additional GI monies are available this year. So some veterans may be required to return all or some of their student aid, thanks to this glitch.

The House attempted to mend this error with a technical corrections bill passed in March but the Senate has not yet voted on it, even as the 2009-2010 school year rapidly approaches.  The University of California is urging their senators to pass the bill to avoid disrupting the educations of veterans as well as creating a logistical and bureaucratic mess.

According to an article in Career Journal, the Wall Street Journal’s career site, a subtle transformation is taking place among millennials, AKA Generation Y. As jobs disappear and companies are ravaged by the slumpy economy, some recent graduates are endeavoring to show their employers or potential employers that Gen Y doesn’t always denote a sense of entitlement and the expectation of Fridays off. Of course, this transformation might have taken place with or without an economic crisis; it’s a part of young adults’ adjustment to becoming self-sufficient post-college. Perhaps, however, the economy will bring out the acknowledged talents of Gen Y, making us all better in the end.

Hiring from within can be an economical solution to the need to fill an empty position in tight economic times, if the other circumstances that go along with internal hiring are right for your institution.

According to an article in Inside HigherEd by Lucy Apthorp Leske, internal searches work best when:

• The usual hiring protocols are followed when the decision to hire internally is made, and the reasoning is clearly explained to all constituents.
• It’s important for the hire to have a quick understanding of the issues as only an insider can.
• An insider offers skills or experience that are uniquely suited to the position.
• A quick transition time is desired.

If these conditions apply, an internal hire can easily save $10,000 and a lot of time, thanks to a shortened interview period and avoiding the expense of visiting candidates and relocation expenses.

An internal hire is less attractive if the department needs a fresh perspective, internal politics would compromise the hire’s effectiveness, or if the options for hiring internally are limited.

A selection of college housing and student affairs headlines from InsideHigherEd.com. Look for these on a weekly basis in the ACUHO-I news blog.

WHY NOT GO GREEK? Study analyzes why some undergraduates decide not to join fraternities and sororities, suggesting how student affairs officials might be able to help chapter recruitment and retention:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/04/01/greek

TRANS-ITION: A number of universities have expanded health care benefits in recent years to cover sexual reassignment surgery for transgender students and employees, a move some see as an obligation for institutions with nondiscrimination policies that cover the population:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/03/30/trans

REVOLT AGAINST OUTSOURCED COURSES: Students at small state university — discovering that their university awards credit for classes taught by online, for-profit company — set off debate on what college instruction should be:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/03/31/forthays

NEW STRATEGY AT WISCONSIN: Faced with revenue declines and dwindling faculty numbers, Madison may raise tuition on all but its neediest students, mirroring a model private institutions often employ:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/04/01/madison

FOLLOWING THE MONEY IN NEW MEXICO: Questions about administrative growth, use of resources, perceived corporatization, and shared governance are at root of faculty-administration conflicts:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/04/02/unm

The University of Toledo, already known for research on solar energy, wants to found a campus centered around sustainable energy of all kinds. The spot university administrators have in mind, UT’s Scott Park Campus, is just a few miles from the main campus. Right now, there are several academic buildings at Scott Park. The sole purpose of the sustainable campus would be “to do nothing but work on renewables, alternatives, and sustainable energies,” according to Chuck Lehnert, UT’s vice president for facilities and construction in an Associated Press story. The university has requested $75 million in federal stimulous monies to fund the project.

Virginia Tech calls Pritchard Hall the largest all-male residence hall on the East Coast. While there isn’t a Guinness Book record for such things, their claim may likely be true; Pritchard is home to more than 1,000 men. It may be the largest all-male hall in the US, for that matter. But starting in the fall of 2009, Pritchard Hall will simply be a very large co-ed residence hall when 400 women move in. The university is prepping the building for its new tenants, renovating bathrooms and student rooms. Men and women will occupy seperate wings.

The mingling of the sexes at Pritchard has gotten a flurry of local and national coverage. National Public Radio story’s headline is “Virginia Tech’s Pritchard Hall Allows Women,” which implies women were clamoring to live in Pritchard. Given legendary pranks such as filling the hallway with three inches of wood chips, that seems unlikely, even though many college women aren’t particularly tidy themselves. Housing officials, including ACUHO-I president Norb Dunkel, who is quoted in the NPR story, maintain that men tend to be better behaved–and less inclined to experiment with high-velocity apples–when young women are around.