The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Reacting With Uncertainty To President Obama's Call For College Affordability

In a campus visit Friday morning, President Obama outlined his plans to keep college tuition costs in check, getting a wildly enthusiastic response at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Out in the world, the reaction to the president’s proposals — tying colleges’ eligibility for certain federal aid programs to their affordability and outcomes — was far more tempered. Most people stressed that they, too, wanted to make college education more affordable. But when it came to the particulars of the plan — and paying for it — there was no consensus. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/education/obamas-plan-to-control-college-costs-gets-mixed-reviews.html?_r=1

Catholic IHEs Seek To Resist Ruling On Prescribing Birth Control

Many Catholic colleges decline to prescribe or cover birth control, citing religious reasons. Now they are under pressure to change. This month the Obama administration, citing the medical case for birth control, made a politically charged decision that the new health care law requires insurance plans at Catholic institutions to cover birth control without co-payments for employees, and that may be extended to students. But Catholic organizations are resisting the rule, saying it would force them to violate their beliefs and finance behavior that betrays Catholic teachings. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/health/policy/law-fuels-contraception-controversy-on-catholic-campuses.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23

The Type Of Publicity That Colleges Don't Want

"Undergrads," the USC-centered Web reality series, focuses on a bacchanal a la "The Hangover": Amorous, good-looking young people hooking up, wild parties, run-ins with the law and booze. Lots and lots of it. This is all happening at a school that for years has attempted to move away from a perception of being the so-called "University of Spoiled Children" — a culture centered around a hard-partying Greek system where wealthy young people lead a pampered existence. Greek life, however, remains prominent at the school. So a show centered on coed hijinks has rankled many on campus. Read more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/education/la-me-usc-reality-20120127,0,96645.story

NJ Governor Proposes Major Restructuring Of Three Research Universities

Gov. Chris Christie unveiled a dramatic restructuring of New Jersey’s university system Wednesday that would break up the state’s medical university while creating a major new public research campus at Rowan University in South Jersey. Rowan — a once sleepy state college in Gloucester County — would gain stature, essentially taking over the Camden campus of Rutgers University, including its law school. Christie framed the reorganization as crucial to economic and job growth in already successful pharmaceutical and biomedical industries in the state. Read more at:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/dramatic_restructuring_of_njs.html

Prospective College Students Less Likely To Attend Their First Choice

College freshmen entering school last fall were less likely to attend their first choice of college, a function of both competition and cost, than at any other time since 1974, and fewer received financial aid through grants or scholarships, according to an annual survey of nearly 204,000 high school students. The survey also indicated that more students are focusing on academics and that more freshmen say they have adopted liberal social views. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/education/survey-finds-that-dwindling-financial-aid-contributes-to-fewer-college-options.html?_r=1&ref=education

Publishers Were Already Working To Prepare Textbooks To The iPad

For most of the past six months, Vicky Shen, an editor at textbook publisher Pearson Education in Boston, has been living with a secret. Just a few blocks away in the Back Bay, Bethlam Forsa, executive vice president of global product development at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Inc. was working on the same undercover project. Both were preparing electronic editions for last week’s launch of an initiative from Apple Inc. to put textbooks on its iPad tablets. Read more at: http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-26/business/30663246_1_digital-textbooks-ipad-sarah-rotman-epps

New Jersey Sends More Students To Out Of State Colleges Than Any Other State

The state is packed with applicants who have high SAT scores and well-off parents, but it has a relatively lean higher education system. More than half of New Jersey high school graduates who enroll at four-year colleges choose one that’s out of state. Many of these students land in the Washington region. New Jersey’s outflow of students is the largest of any state. It’s not that New Jersey students don’t have options at home. But those schools don’t have the capacity for all of the state’s college-bound teenagers. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/new-jerseys-student-drain-is-gain-for-district-colleges/2012/01/19/gIQAkjiAMQ_story.html

Incoming Freshmen Are More Studious

This year's college freshmen are more studious than their counterparts of the past few years, says an annual survey released today on their high school academic habits. More of them took notes in class, did homework and took more demanding coursework as high school seniors, and fewer said they drank alcohol, partied or showed up late for class. Those and other trends point toward an entering college freshman class that has a better chance of succeeding academically. Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-01-26/college-freshmen/52795436/1?loc=interstitialskip

Udemy Introduces The Faculty Project That Offers Free Online Couses

On Thursday, Udemy introduced the Faculty Project, which consists of free online courses taught by university professors. The flagship group of academics includes Irwin Weil, a professor emeritus in Northwestern's department of Slavic languages and literatures. He will be teaching a Udemy course called "Select Classics in Russian Literature."  The professors, who hail from institutions such as Yale Law School and Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, will upload a series of 10- to 30-minute video lectures over the next four months. Read more at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-northwestern-profs-featured-in-udemy-initiative-20120125,0,6395487.story

Myths And Realities Of Graduation Rate Data

Dropouts.  Lost. Vanished. According to the federal formula for calculating the graduation rates of colleges and universities, close to a majority of all college students are dropouts or lost to the system entirely, even if they have earned degrees. The collegiate graduation rate may well be the most poorly constructed and misunderstood statistic in all of higher education. What’s wrong with the current graduation rate data?  Consider these myths and realities. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/college-grad-rates-are-bad-data/2012/01/26/gIQAfmdKTQ_blog.html