The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Bookstore Manager Claims Students Were Overcharged For Textbooks

 Bob Stubblefield started this war. For two years, the manager of St. Petersburg College's Clearwater bookstore beat his head against the wall and got nowhere. He accused his bosses at Follett Higher Education Group, the largest textbook seller in North America, of systematically overcharging SPC students.  Bob Stubblefield started this war. His bosses never told him he was wrong; they just ordered him to stop complaining. When he kept on, they fired him for insubordination. Book by book the overcharges ranged from less than $1 to more than $14. Multiplied by thousands of students across seven years, the overcharges totaled more than $800,000. Follett spokesman Tom Kline said the company investigated Stubblefield's complaints and determined them to be unfounded. Read more at:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/student-books-cost-extra-at-spc-clearwater-campus/1055174

Study Abroad Increases In Both Directions

The number of U.S. college students studying abroad – and the number of international students in the USA – are at all-time highs, show data released today. But those increases do not reflect the impact of the recent economic downturn.  A record 262,416 U.S. students studied abroad in 2007-08, the latest data year available. That's up 8.5% over the previous year. A record 671,616 foreign students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities in the 2008-09 academic year, the latest year data available. That's up 8% from the previous year, the largest percentage increase since 1980-81. Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-11-16-opendoors16_ST_N.htm?csp=34

University Presses Are In Jeopardy

University presses are more likely to give voice to stories that might not otherwise be told, such as those involving minority perspectives. But opportunities are shrinking. As extensions of their parent schools, academic presses rarely reap profits, experts say. Many rely on school subsidies to survive. Factor in substantial budget cuts to education in many states recently, with schools downsizing a variety of programs in response, and that leaves some presses pinched — or even out of business. The number of academic presses that have died this year or are on life support isn’t known because such reporting is voluntary. Read more at:
http://diverseeducation.com/article/13181/publishing-in-peril.html

Fixing Study Abroad At The University Of Washington

As UW college students return to class last week, those intending to go abroad and the professors who advise them found a rapidly changing academic landscape. In the wake of several negative overseas episodes, officials are busy raising awareness about the positive impact the UW is having worldwide and taking steps to improve communications, regulation and emergency preparedness for its students abroad. Compared with two years ago, international education officials are more closely tracking who, where and what study-abroad programs involve. The university has new rules:. No program money can be used to buy alcohol, just for starters. Read more at:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/410702_knox05.html?source=mypi

Why Faculty Should Not Run Study Abroad

Rebecca Moorman says the first clue that something was amiss with her field trip to Chile came when her professor at The Evergreen State College insisted her payment of more than $3,000 be deposited into his bank account. A subsequent audit by the Olympia university, aided with information that Moorman gathered, revealed that she and 14 other students paid $70 a day for dormitory-style beds and food that should have cost just $14 a day. Some of the money went to a Chilean sanitation company, owned by relatives of the professor, that provided the accommodations, the audit said. The audit released earlier this year also found that the professor, Jorge Gilbert, can't account for at least $50,000 he collected from students and Evergreen for other Chilean trips since 2005, and that students first began raising concerns about his trips' finances in 1998. Read more at:
 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2010021166_chile08m.html

Why Not A Cash Rewards Credit Card For IHEs

What college student couldn't use a couple extra bucks? The same thinking applies to colleges. Ohio's 14 public universities and 23 community colleges could earn an additional $6.5 million in cash-back rewards from a new agreement with JPMorgan Chase to provide purchasing cards. These 37 institutions currently spend about $250 million a year with such cards, the equivalent of a company credit card, through a series of individual contracts. Banding together gave the schools additional leverage to negotiate a better cash-back deal. Read more at:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/09/13/Purchasing_cards.ART_ART_09-13-09_D1_C6F1K92.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101

Going Beyond Study Abroad To Diploma Abroad

A new internationalism is spreading across American campuses, with an increasing number of colleges now offering their students degrees in conjunction with a partner institution in another country. In some cases, students get two separate (dual) degrees; less frequently they get a single shared (joint) degree from both schools. But whatever the definition, it is clear that many educators and administrators see these programs as the new shape of higher education. Read more at:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/210907

Using Plastic To Pay Tuition Will Probably Cost More

Across the nation, a growing number of universities are making it harder — and costlier — for students to use credit cards. Starting Wednesday, students at the University of Southern Maine who pay tuition using plastic will face a 2.75% processing fee. The movement comes as colleges face budget shortfalls and look to trim costs wherever they can. Traditionally, colleges have borne these costs themselves. But they're increasingly rethinking these policies — and passing costs along to students — amid the difficult economy. Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/credit/2009-06-30-credit-card-fees-college-tuition_N.htm

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

No Hazy Lazy Days Of Summer For IHEs Seeking Extra Revenue

In recent years, empty campuses have been recognized as potential cash cows, and colleges have tried to fill those once-sleepy weeks with enrichment workshops, for-credit courses, day camps, conferences, private parties and film shoots. That is especially true this summer, as financially battered schools seek to wring all the value they can from venerable halls and shiny athletic centers. But while colleges may be working harder to derive revenue from campuses this summer, some are running headlong into the weakened economy. Read more at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/education/22campus.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss