Post-Secondary News Digest for October 29, 2009
Canada
Atlantic colleges playing key role in economy:
(Times Transcript) A Statistics Canada report says 232,800 jobs were created for graduates between 1991 and 2007, while 70,000 jobs were eliminated for workers without post-secondary education. Further, the report suggests that younger workers are obtaining more education – with the amount of university-educated workers between the ages of 24-44 rising by nine percentage points. These figures explain the rise in Atlantic university enrolment after several years of decline.
York social work students get full funding:
(MacLean’s) Social work students at York University can breathe a sigh of relief. A few weeks ago, the university informed the students that they’d only receive $6,600 of their promised $10,000 funding. Amidst student protest, the school has reversed its decision, honouring students with the full package. Initially, the school argued the funding for social work students was pro-rated – paying on a per-semester basis. This wasn’t mentioned in student acceptance letters.
York receives bomb threats:
(The Excalibur) York University has received two bomb threats over the last week – an exam week for students. The school was forced to evacuate three buildings after fire and police departments were called. Bus routes were also re-routed around the suspected bombsites. The threats proved to be hoaxes, but Alex Bilyk, a spokesperson for York, says they waste valuable resources. “These police officers need to be in the community; these fire trucks could be on call,” he said.
Ont. cracks down on phony colleges:
(CBC) Illegal Ontario businesses masquerading as legitimate career colleges can expect to face a stiff fine of up to $250,000 for taking advantage of students. The fines come in response to Bestech Academy, which closed its doors last year leaving their staff and students behind. The province is also launching a PR campaign aimed at helping students choose government-approved private college programs.
U. Vic students pursue guerrilla gardening:
(U. Vic Martlet) Students unhappy with the University of Victoria’s sustainability plan have taken action into their own hands. Students for a Democratic Society have turned to guerrilla gardening - turning unused spaces on campus into gardens. They plant seeds at night to avoid confrontations with the law. “Why are we spending all of these resources manicuring lawns?” asked the society’s representative Matt Loewen. He says the university isn’t following up on the plan’s goals of pursuing “techniques that demonstrate [the university’s] commitment to environmental sustainability.”
Students get lesson in space travel:
(Metro News) Mount Saint Vincent University is giving students a taste of outer space. Sixteen students, parents and teachers from across Nova Scotia gathered on the campus in Halifax on Oct. 28 to have a live chat with Canadian Bob Thirsk and three other astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Students prepared questions for Thirsk throughout the week, ranging from how to boil water in space to his dinner plans.
U.S.
Florida academic resigns over allegations of affairs with students:
(Inside Higher Ed) A University of Florida department head has resigned in the face of charges he had romantic involvement with students or sent them explicit text messages while they were enrolled in his classes. Michael Garret, a tenured professor in the school’s education department, resigned amid the internal investigation, says Janine Sikes, a university spokeswoman.
U. of Akron requires DNA swab, faculty member resigns:
(Inside Higher Ed) The University of Akron is not just requiring criminal background checks, it is are now asking new employees to submit a DNA sample. The requirement was added quietly and is now receiving attention. Matt Williams, an adjunct faculty member at the Ohio college, quit, saying “It’s not enough that the university doesn’t pay us a living wage, or provide us with health insurance, but now they want to sacrifice the sanctity of our bodies. No,” said Williams.
Swine flu leads to closure of more than 600 schools:
(MSNBC) Sick high school students are packing normally quiet school nurses’ offices and the number of students staying at home is multiplying. The federal government has urged schools to close only as a last resort but schools are still closing by the dozens. Officials say the are being hit so hard and so fast by the H1N1 virus that they feel shutting down for a few days is the only feasible option.
Va. university charges student reporters:
(MSNBC) Two university students are facing trespassing charges after entering a student dormitory to conduct an interview. The Virginia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is calling for the charges to be dropped, saying officials acted “beyond reason.” They had been asked to leave by a residence adviser after interviewing a student about a peeping tom incident on campus.
The Faculty Key to Transfer:
(Inside Higher Ed) The State University of New York may put faculty in charge of student transfers. Community colleges have complained that their graduates get the run-around when they try to transfer credits to four-year institutions. Two weeks ago, a special committee recommended the college “enable students to transfer seamlessly among SUNY campuses without replicating courses taken at other SUNY institutions.” SUNY is a 64-campus system with two-year and four-year campuses.
Stem cell agency awards $230M in grants:
(San Francisco Chronicle) California’s stem cell agency announced Wednesday US$230 million in grants for research. The University of California, San Francisco will get US$20 million for stem cell “missiles” that attack brain tumours, and US$19 million will go to scientists studying implantable sacs of stem cells that make insulin. Stanford University is receiving US$52 million in grants for stem cell research involving leukemia and stroke and epidermolysis bullosa, a deadly skin-blistering disease. The grants are the first to demand scientists be prepared for human clinical trials, with FDA approval, in the near future.
World
St. Petersburg profs must get approval to publish or present overseas:
(The Chronicle of Higher Education) Faculty at Russia's St. Petersburg State University must submit their scholarly work to administrators for approval to publish it abroad or present it at foreign conferences. Administrators defend the new policy as protecting Russia's intellectual property and national security. But some professors say the policy is academic censorship akin to Soviet-era restrictions and said certain outspoken colleagues might be targets for the new rules.
Higher grants for 75,000 students:
(BBC) The Scottish Parliament has allocated an extra $53 million to students in the next academic year. Scottish education secretary Fiona Hyslop said the grants would increase the income of more than 75,000 students. There will be a rise for the poorest students of up to $2,160. They will also introduce a new grant for mature students with their own families to support, to ensure they get the same help as other students, she said. Upfront tuition fees were abolished in Scotland in 2000.
Australian state needs 10,000 more students:
(The Australian) The Australian state of Victoria will have to increase the number of undergraduates completing their degrees by about 10,000 to meet the federal government's 2025 participation targets. The federal government wants to increase the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds with a bachelor degree or higher qualification from 32 per cent to 40 per cent by 2025. Beginning in 2012 it will uncap enrolments to encourage universities to expand.
Faculty vanity hurting social sciences – prof:
(The Times Higher Education) Scholars at a conference in Brussels on the future of social sciences and humanities, warned they were on a self-destructive course. Sasa Bozic, associate professor of sociology at the University of Zadar, Croatia, said those who get to the top tend to be "highly competitive, image-oriented, substance-avoiding, ultra-innovative, quotation-obsessed individualists," he said. Elizabeth Sundin, professor in business administration and management at Linkoping University, Sweden, said she feared she could be witnessing "the suicide of the social sciences."
U.K. council names some troubled colleges:
(The Times Higher Education) A list of universities at risk of financial failure four years ago has been partially disclosed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The council withheld the names of those institutions in the most trouble to provide protection for the majority of full-time undergraduates, while giving institutions time to address the problems they faced. No institutions were left in the highest-risk category by the end of 2005. According to sources at the funding council, the number of at-risk institutions could rise to 30 next year as a result of the economic downturn.
Manchester worst city for crime against U.K. students -- study:
(The Independent) Manchester has the highest numbers of burglaries, robberies and violent crimes outside London. Students are particularly vulnerable to being burgled because of their laptops, sound systems and other equipment. Students often live in houses with others, in rundown areas and burglars can lay their hands on a tidy haul. Bernard Kingston, founder of the Complete University Guide, which compiled the results, says: "While these crimes are the three most commonly perpetrated against students, the figures relate to all victims, not just students.”