The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Judge Coaches Not On Victories But Athletes' Academic Success

Win-loss records shouldn't be the only measure of a coach, the NCAA's top policymaking board feels. It plans to compile individual academic progress rates illustrating how well their players fare in the classroom. The Division I Board of Directors, made up of university presidents and chancellors, asked an academic committee Thursday to draw up a formula for the first-of-their-kind individual APRs, which would become part of a coach's career record. They'd be available for recruits, their parents and prospective employers to evaluate along with wins and other competitive and personal criteria.

Read more at: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2008-10-30-ncaa-board_N.htm  

If Yale Is An Indicator The Ivies Are Not Hurting For Donations

By all accounts, September was not a good month for the American economy. Stock prices plummeted, and 159,000 jobs were lost, the worst such decline in five years. But at Yale, it was a record month for fundraising. Figures obtained by the News show that the University raked in over $28.25 million in donations last month, more than double the $14 million raised in September last year. Most of Yale’s most generous donors are not facing unemployment or foreclosure; some are so wealthy that even the most dramatic downturn has a negligible effect on their ability to give. Read more at:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/26093

Wayne State Retools Strategies To Lure More Students

Faced with a substantial one-year enrollment drop and subsequent budget shortfall, leaders at Wayne State University pledged Wednesday to retool their strategies to lure more students to the university next year and keep them here. Expanding recruiting efforts beyond Metro Detroit, galvanizing alumni, beefing up marketing, launching unique academic programs and strengthening the pipeline of community college students were among the ideas discussed at a special Wayne board of governors meeting Wednesday. Read more at:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081030/SCHOOLS/810300364

Students Losing Interest In College Yearbooks

Student government put out the word and staff members posted fliers, but fewer than 60 students showed up last week to take a studio portrait for the Cactus, the University of Texas' yearbook. Student government put out the word and staff members posted fliers, but fewer than 60 students showed up last week to take a studio portrait for the Cactus, the University of Texas' yearbook. Student government put out the word and staff members posted fliers, but fewer than 60 students showed up last week to take a studio portrait for the Cactus, the University of Texas' yearbook. Read more at:

http://abcnews.go.com/OnCampus/story?id=6097005&page=1

How The Candidates Would Handle College Affordability

While both presidential nominees say they are sensitive to the economic crisis that is crimping the college plans of American families, Mr. Obama portrays himself as the candidate who has endured the same heartburn over student loans as many voters, and he is offering more direct help to students and parents than Mr. McCain is. Yet Mr. Obama’s proposals also come with some asterisks attached. As president, Mr. McCain would take a bully pulpit approach to student aid, aides say. Rather than propose any new federal money, he would jawbone and publicly try to coax colleges to slow their rate of tuition increases. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/us/politics/30tuition.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

Facts Suggest US Higher Education Is Not Recession Proof

Higher education in the United States has been viewed as recession-proof, but the global financial crisis is already having an impact. Here are some facts about enrollment, endowments, and finances at the nation's colleges universities. For the nation's public universities, which educate three out of four students, state subsidies covered a little over half of their budget costs last year, down from two-thirds in 1998. Read more at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2451525120081030

Students Appeal To State Legislators To Act On Loan Debt

Students and educators this morning urged state officials to address the growing debt of college students, which averages $23,000 for a graduate of a Pennsylvania college. "Now I sit here today $42,940.72 in debt with still another year of school until I graduate," said Ashley Lovejoy, a junior at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. "I have had to take time off from school because I could not afford the difference between the cost of tuition and the amount I was receiving in loans." Lovejoy, 23, of Tioga testified at a public hearing convened by the State Board of Education's Council of Higher Education. Read more at: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_595811.html

College Tuition Just Keeps Going Up

The continuing rise in the cost of higher education comes at a time when financial turmoil and recession is prompting more families to consider public colleges instead of pricier institutions. The pace of the increases is not quite as sharp as last year's, when tuition and fees at public and private colleges and universities rose at more than double the rate of inflation. This year, they were just slightly above the consumer price index. Unfortunately, the new interest in public schools comes just as beleaguered state governments are under the gun to make hefty budget cuts, with the result that many public colleges and universities may need to hike tuition even further. Read more at:
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/oct2008/bs20081028_629823.htm?chan=rss_topEmailedStories_ssi_5

Hard Times Have Students Lowering Their Expectations

While many parents and students have long emphasized getting into a top school over financial considerations, families in recent months have seen the value of their homes decline, their investments dramatically shrink and sometimes monthly incomes lost due to layoffs. Other students who in the past would have taken on thousands of dollars in debt, are being stymied as lenders tighten access to loans amid the global credit crunch. Many college-age kids are setting their sights on less prestigious and lower-cost colleges or adding "financial-safety" schools to their lists as a backup. Read more at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122532196647782053.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us

Maryland's HBCs Far Behind Other State Schools In Graduation and Retention

Maryland must spend more on its historically black colleges and universities if they are to make up a wide gap in graduation rates and campus facilities compared with other public universities, a state panel has found. There are many ways in which Maryland's four public historically black colleges have fallen behind other state schools - in science and technology labs, buildings, and retention and graduation rates. The state faces its worst budget outlook in years and little new money will be available. So black colleges will be asked to find inexpensive ways to boost their graduation rates. Read more at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.panel28oct28,0,800378.story