The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Privacy Concerns About Sharing Of Student Data

Privacy concerns have touched off a debate this summer about whether schools should change the practice of sharing student contact information with outside sources. School districts and colleges nationwide are allowed to sell or share student lists that contain information such as the names, ages, phone numbers and home addresses of students. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 lets schools decide how much student information they designate as public record for use in school directories, yearbooks and other school publications. Read more at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-08-23-Student-privacy-data_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

IHEs May Face Congressional Anger If They Don't Fix This Mess

A growing body of evidence suggests that doctors at some of the nation’s top medical schools have been attaching their names and lending their reputations to scientific papers that were drafted by ghostwriters working for drug companies — articles that were carefully calibrated to help the manufacturers sell more products. Experts in medical ethics condemn this practice as a breach of the public trust. Yet many universities have been slow to recognize the extent of the problem, to adopt new ethical rules or to hold faculty members to account. Those universities may not have much longer to get their houses in order before they find themselves in trouble with Washington. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/health/research/19ethics.html?_r=2&hp

We Pledge Not To Be Greedy

When a new crop of future business leaders graduates from the Harvard Business School next week, many of them will be taking a new oath that says, in effect, greed is not good. Nearly 20 percent of the graduating class have signed “The M.B.A. Oath,” a voluntary student-led pledge that the goal of a business manager is to “serve the greater good.” It promises that Harvard M.B.A.’s will act responsibly, ethically and refrain from advancing their “own narrow ambitions” at the expense of others. What happened to making money? Read more at: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html?th&emc=th

Its Who You Know In Admissions In Illinois

At a time when it's more competitive than ever to get into the University of Illinois, some students with subpar academic records are being admitted after interference from state lawmakers and university trustees, a Tribune investigation has revealed. Hundreds of applicants received special consideration in the last five years. The records chronicle a shadow admissions system in which some students won spots at the state's most prestigious public university over the protests of admissions officers, while others had their rejections reversed during an unadvertised appeal process. Read more at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-college-clout-29-may29,0,2769925.story

College: Where Students Learn How To Go Into Debt

At universities that have credit card deals with banks, the more students who take the banks’ credit cards, the more money the university gets. Under certain circumstances, Michigan State even stands to receive more money if students carry a balance on these cards.Hundreds of colleges have contracts with lenders. But at a time of rising concern about student debt — and overall consumer debt — the arrangements have sounded alarm bells, and some student groups are starting to push back. College campuses are one place that young Americans are introduced to credit and the possibility of spending beyond their means, a problem now confronting the nation as a whole. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/business/01student.html?_r=1&th&emc=th#

Semester At Sea Expulsion Case Highlights Plagiarism Confusion

Two students were expelled from the Semester at Sea program for violating the University of Virginia's honor code. The expulsions raised questions for some students about whether the school's more than 150-year-old tradition is too harsh -- and for others, whether students have a different understanding of plagiarism and research now that online resources make it easy to find information. The debate is partly generational: those who grew up with the Internet vs. those who didn't. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/09/AR2008080901453.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

Defining Political Correctness and Its Non-Impact

A major new study of the political correctness of faculty members may challenge assumptions. For those who deny that there is an identifiable group of PC professors, the study says that there is in fact a group with consistently common perspectives, largely based on their views of discrimination (that it exists and matters). Read more at: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/07/25/pc

Cheating on Standardized Tests Carries Penalty

A group of students at a Los Angeles high school is suspected of cheating on the ACT college entrance exam by paying a former student, who used fraudulent identification, to take the tests. The testing agency recently began investigating the claims, which could result in cancellation of scores provided to colleges.
But those colleges will not be told why the scores are invalid, nor will the students' high school be clued in. The agencies say their only concern is the integrity of scores, and that it would be impractical to expose student cheaters or try to exact punishment, such as barring them from retaking the test or noting infractions on transcripts. Read more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-cheat14-2008jul14,0,7627490.story?track=rss

Teaching Students What Plagiarism Is And How It Happens

In the academic world, students would benefit greatly by learning the definition of one word, plagiarism, the act of taking ideas, writings, etc. from another and passing them off as one's own. With the ease and availability of the Internet, how tempting is it for high school and college students to "cut and paste" information without citing the source for their term papers and homework assignments? "It is extremely easy for students to make the mistake of cutting and pasting from the Internet," said Catharine O'Connell, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean at Defiance College. Read more at:
http://www.crescent-news.com/news/article/3624292

Making Sure Students Are Engaged Global Citizens

Motivated in part by concerns about student cheating and broader ethical lapses in society, colleges and universities are increasingly exploring ways to prepare students to be moral exemplars and socially responsible leaders. As the world becomes more interconnected, they're also stepping up efforts to turn out graduates who are engaged global citizens. Civic, ethical, and moral development "should be no longer optional" for college students, says Caryn McTighe Musil, the AAC&U project director. "We argue you cannot function in the world without this heightened sensibility." Read more at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0823/p14s02-legn.html