http://trivalleycentral.com/articles/2012/08/21/casa_grande_dispatch/top_stories/doc5033b47b6b6d5936267988.txt
Why is my friend, a smart woman with no money, spending nearly $2000 to attend a conference she cannot afford? She is looking for a way out. In America, academic hiring is rigid and seasonal. Each discipline has a conference, usually held in the fall, where interviews take place. These interviews can be announced days or even hours in advance, so most people book beforehand, often to receive no interviews at all. The American Anthropological Association meeting is held annually to showcase research from around the world, and like thousands of other anthropologists, I am paying to play: $650 for airfare, $400 for three nights in a "student" hotel, $70 for membership, and $94 for admission. The latter two fees are student rates. If I were an unemployed or underemployed scholar, the rates would double. Read more at: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/2012820102749246453.html
High unemployment and battered household finances have colleges working harder to tie their classroom offerings to job offers. From creating courses to accommodate a new industry to customizing a curriculum to a specific employer’s hiring criteria, schools are pushing to narrow the gap between academia and the real world. It’s a long-running trend that has accelerated during the recession and limp recovery, at a time when many employers refuse to hire candidates without the exact skills needed for a position. Read more at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/19/v-fullstory/2958784/colleges-offer-more-courses-aimed.html
If you hope to land a job at Penn State, you will have to undergo a background check. That is the bottom line of a new policy that’s among the changes the university has been rolling out in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The changes apply to all new hires, regardless of whether the person works around children. While the previous policies covered some positions, such as administrators, faculty and some non-academic appointments, the updated plan includes students who have wage payroll jobs, graduate assistants, visiting scholars and adjunct faculty. Read more at:
http://www.centredaily.com/2012/08/09/3292849/psu-to-demand-more-from-new-hires.html
New York and up to 25 other states are moving toward changing the way they grant licenses to teachers, de-emphasizing tests and written essays in favor of a more demanding approach that requires aspiring teachers to prove themselves through lesson plans, homework assignments and videotaped instruction sessions. t is also a reaction to a criticism of some teachers’ colleges, which have been accused of minting diplomas but failing to prepare teachers for the kind of real-world experience where creativity and flexibility can be the keys to success. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/nyregion/with-new-standards-going-beyond-paper-and-pencil-to-license-teachers.html?ref=education
Once the bills for consultants, meals, meetings and other expenses were added up, the price tag for Rutgers University’s latest presidential search came in at $226,532, campus officials said. Campus officials said the cost of the search was a relative bargain compared with Rutgers’ last presidential search a decade ago, which cost nearly $50,000 more. But the university still spent lavishly to wine and dine prospective candidates. Read more at:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/07/price_tage_for_rutgers_6-month.html
The 21-year-old is among nearly 200 students working at public sector and nonprofit organizations that are getting a boost from an influx of idealistic young workers who benefit from an unconventional arrangement financed by the prestigious western Massachusetts college. For Buzbee, her eight-week internship involves helping organize a school supply drive for low-income children and working on a project that lists community and school programs, activities and services available to students. The Amherst internship program, which annually spends about $500,000 endowed by alumni, is unusual. Read more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/education/articles/2012/07/22/amherst_college_paid_interns_help_nonprofits/
The University System of Georgia has added more than 5,000 employees since the start of the Great Recession, pumping up its payroll while the rest of state government eliminated 10,000 jobs. The hiring spree unfolded during the past five years even as the state was cutting nearly $300 million from University System funding. When staff gets larger at the same time state funding gets smaller, the system turns to students to pay for its hiring. The result: Some schools increased staff by 30 to 45 percent while students endured even larger increases in tuition and fees.Colleges say they needed to hire faculty and staff to keep pace with increasing enrollment. Read more at:
http://www.ajc.com/news/campus-jobs-rise-in-1478321.html
Michelle Amaral wanted to be a brain scientist to help cure diseases. She planned a traditional academic science career: PhD, university professorship and, eventually, her own lab. But three years after earning a doctorate in neuroscience, she gave up trying to find a permanent job in her field. That reality runs counter to messages sent by President Obama and the National Science Foundation and other influential groups, who in recent years have called for U.S. universities to churn out more scientists. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-pushes-for-more-scientists-but-the-jobs-arent-there/2012/07/07/gJQAZJpQUW_story.html?hpid=z1
As Congress worked on a compromise this week on federal student-loan interest rates, students and college administrators in Washington state say loans are one of their many concerns about the cost of college. Higher-education officials in Washington state see their students' financial positions growing less and less tenable as education costs rise, jobs grow scarcer and more and more students must rely on student loans to get an education. Read more at:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018536157_studentloans27.html
I am the Associate University Librarian for Research and Instructional Services at Temple University.
Recent Comments