The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Southeastern IHEs Spending Less On Faculty Salaries

Tennessee and Georgia colleges have contributed less to faculty salaries in the past decade than most states in the Southeast. Studies show at the same time, fewer tenured faculty members -- who usually receive the highest salaries -- are being hired and replacements are cheaper, part-time adjunct instructors. Over the last few years, landing better-paying jobs in higher education has been increasingly difficult as the percentage of tenured faculty shrinks. "(Adjuncts) are cheap labor," said Dr. Shela Van Ness, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and vice president of the UT faculty and staff union. "The university saves a lot of money, but the students are not getting the same thing they would with people with (doctorates)." Read more at:
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2009/jun/29/college-ranks-split-over-part-time-less-costly/?local

Grandparents University Idea Is Catching On

By the time the diplomas at Grandparents University were handed out Friday afternoon, Dale Gregoriew had experienced some of the classic aspects of college life – sharing a dorm room, eating mass-produced cafeteria food and attending a lecture that required computer skills that were largely over his head.Besides filling up classrooms for a few days in the slack season, educators say, Grandparents University brings back some people who haven't been on campuses in years, accompanied by those too young to be thinking seriously about college at all. Read more at:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/DN-GrandparentsU_27met.ART0.State.Edition2.4bd5171.html

China's IHEs Need To Know What Employers Want From Their Grads

The Chinese government issued a circular earlier this year urging universities and colleges to strengthen their efforts in preparing students for the workplace. In Britain, the government has set up its own internship scheme to help graduates find work during the recession. But what are the skills employers want and how much do they differ between the two nations? The Chinese employers said the person who could complete a job and get things done was highly prized. Next they sought creativity. Read more at:
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20090626123202617

Jobs Held That Require A College Degree At Lowest Point In Many Years

The tough economy and tight labor market have tarnished the luster of a bachelor's degree for young college graduates seeking employment. New monthly survey data from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston finds that during the first four months of 2009, 49.9 percent of the nation's 4 million college graduates age 25 and under were working in jobs that required a college degree. That's down from 54 percent for same period last year. "I've never seen it this low and we've been analyzing this stuff for over 20 years," said center director Andrew Sum. Read more at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1117735.html

Less Pain For Those Repaying Student Loans

Repaying a student loan could soon be a little less painful. Starting this week, anyone with a federal student loan can apply for a program, run by the Department of Education, that caps monthly payments based on income, and forgives remaining balances after 25 years. Those choosing to work in public service could have their loans forgiven after just 10 years. Monthly payments would amount to less than 10 percent of income for most of the estimated 1 million people expected to enroll. Read more at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31596618/ns/business-personal_finance/

If It Was The Right College For Obama...

Is it an Obama bump? Is freshman enrollment at Occidental College skyrocketing because a certain young man from Hawaii started college there 30 years ago? Whatever the reason, Occidental College, a liberal arts school in Eagle Rock, is expected to enroll a freshman class of about 560 this fall -- up 100 students, or 21% -- from last year. Many people at the campus and in the wider college admissions world cite the publicity Occidental has received in the last year as the school where President Obama, then known as Barry, studied for two years before transferring to Columbia University. Read more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-oxy27-2009jun27,0,1770618.story?track=rss

Getting Scholarship Aid Will Be Tougher

Students looking for college scholarships are going to have a harder time this year as providers, hammered by falling investment returns and declining philanthropic support, cut back. The recession has led foundations, corporations, state governments and colleges themselves to reduce their support of providers of scholarships, and in recent months programs have been reduced or canceled outright. Companies that administer and track scholarships say that a downward trend is clear. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/education/27scholarship.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Florida's IHEs Hit By Funding Crisis

Happy conclusions are not the norm this year. Like other US sunbelt states, including Arizona (see Nature 458, 14–15; 2009) and California (see Nature doi:10.1038/news.2009.553; 2009), Florida has learned the hard way that real estate and tourism are not stable economic anchors in a recession. Florida's 11 public universities have already endured years of severe budget cuts (see 'Marine biologists say save our subs'), and the fiscal year that begins on 1 July will be worse. Stimulus funding will become even more important to universities in the immediate future. Read more at:
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090624/full/4591042a.html

German Universities Fall On Hard Times

Thousands of less coddled students recently staged protests across Germany against their conditions. “Back education, not banks”, demanded protesters fed up with overcrowded lecture halls, crumbling campuses, tuition fees and a chaotic conversion from the traditional diploma to a European two-tier degree system. German universities are underfunded by international standards (see chart). Professors juggle scores of students; at top American universities they nurture a handful. In switching to the bachelors-masters degrees prescribed by Europe’s standardising “Bologna process”, many universities tried to cram bachelors degrees into just six terms. Only six German universities are among the top 100. Read more at:
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13914669

When Manufacturing Plants Close College Is The Next Best Option

In the tight-knit, middle-class communities surrounding Dayton, many members of the class of ’09 knew exactly what they would do when they grew up. They would get a good-paying job at the General Motors factory or at one of the Delphi auto parts plants, get married and start families. But the deep recession and the downsizing of American manufacturing have bulldozed those plans, leaving many of these young people confused and rudderless, with some contemplating a path that might be new to their families: college. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/business/26grads.html?_r=1&th&emc=th