University System News

USG NEWS:
www.gwinnettmagazine.com
http://www.gwinnettmagazine.com/content.cfm?StoryID=5689
Georgia Gwinnett College names president
The University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents has appointed Stanley “Stas” Preczewski, Ph.D., as president of Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC). Preczewski has served as interim president for the last year.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2014-05-24/many-uga-majors-graduate-programs-low-producing-study-says
Many UGA majors, graduate programs “low-producing,” study says
By LEE SHEARER
One in three graduate programs and one in five undergraduate degree programs at the University of Georgia are “low-producing,” according to a University System of Georgia study.
Statewide, the study identified nearly 400 of the state public colleges’ 2,900 degree programs as low-producing. …According to the system-wide study, 27 of 123 undergraduate programs and 71 of 210 graduate programs are low-producing. Of the graduate programs, 43 were master’s degree programs.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2014-05-23/enrollment-doubles-uga-online-summer-courses
Enrollment doubles in UGA online summer courses
By LEE SHEARER
Enrollment in a set of high-demand University of Georgia summer courses has nearly doubled in the second year the university has offered them. “Enrollment was 1,096 last year, and it’s almost 2,000 this year,” said Keith Bailey, director of UGA’s Office of Online Learning.

www.13wmaz.com
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/local/2014/01/01/9375253/?storyid=9375253
Central Ga. colleges wage battle against sexual assault
Sitarah A Coote, WMAZ
In April, The White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault released its first report. The task force was created by President Obama in January to find ways that schools could prevent sexual assaults from happening and finding better ways to handle it when it does. The task force released a list of 55 schools that are under investigation for mishandling sexual assault complaints. No colleges in central Georgia made the list. In fact, some colleges here say they are trying to make a difference. In April, Georgia College and State University held their annual Take Back the Night program. GCSU students who are survivors of sexual assault, shared their stories with fellow students.

USG VALUE:
www.johndruckenmiller.com
http://johndruckenmiller.com/june-2-14-georgia-highlands-100-black-men-team-up-for-annual-foundation-camp/
June 2-14: Georgia Highlands, 100 Black Men team up for annual Foundation Camp
Posted on May 25, 2014 by hometownheadlines
Media release: The annual Foundation Camp at Georgia Highlands College has been making a difference in the local community for nine years, thanks to the partnership with the 100 Black Men of Rome-Northwest Georgia, and donations from people local businesses and citizens. This year, June 2-14, GHC will give 120 boys and young men, ages 10-14, a positive experience on the GHC campus in Rome all at no cost to the campers. At the Foundation Camp, campers spend time on the Georgia Highlands campus, in academic classes taught by college professors, and in personal development sessions conducted by area leaders. They play sports using the campus facilities, and college students work with them as their camp counselors. …Through the Foundation Camp, at-risk young men see that high school graduation and college are possible and even likely, if they follow the right path.

GOOD NEWS:
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/exchange/2014-05-23/business-savannah-brief#.U4SgKSgRseU
Business in Savannah in brief
Savannah State OK’d to offer new degree (2nd article)
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents has authorized Savannah State University to offer the bachelor of interdisciplinary studies degree. The new degree, which was approved during the board’s meeting on May 20, becomes effective immediately.

www.coosavalleynews.com
http://www.coosavalleynews.com/np107114.htm
Regents Approve New Bachelor Program at GHC
Ton Potts
Dr. Renva Watterson, interim president of Georgia Highlands College, announced Wednesday that the Board of Regents has approved a new Bachelor of Science degree in Dental Hygiene to be offered at GHC. Beginning Summer 2015, students who have earned an associate?s degree from an accredited dental hygiene program and hold an unrestricted license to practice dental hygiene in the United States may be admitted to the GHC program. This bridge program will accept up to 40 students each year. It is available 100% online with the exception of an internship course that can be completed in the student?s local community. Applications for this program will be posted on the GHC website this fall. ?We are so very proud to announce this addition to our outstanding academic offerings at GHC,? stated Watterson. ?To be able to provide students the ability to continue on and earn their baccalaureate-level degree at an institution with our reputation for excellence is not only an asset for the students but also for the communities we serve.?

www.valdostadailytimes.com
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/schoolnews/x1396858661/VSU-Selected-for-National-Competency-Based-Education-Initiative
VSU Selected for National Competency-Based Education Initiative
Valdosta State University
VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University has been selected as one of 14 universities, colleges, and higher education systems nationwide to participate in the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Competency Based Education (CBE) Jumpstart program.

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2014/05/25/3115967/education-notebook-bibb-countys.html
Education Notebook: (4th article)
MGSC to help veterans with out-of-state tuition waivers
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs designated Middle Georgia State College as a Yellow Ribbon School for the 2014-15 academic year. Participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program means Middle Georgia State can charge in-state tuition for up to 50 non-resident veterans.

www.gainesvilletimes.com
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/100040/
Class Notes: Gainesville professor honored by regents
By Carly Sharec
Susan Easterbrooks, a professor at Georgia State University and a Gainesville resident, has been named a Regents’ Professor of Educational Psychology and Special Education.
Easterbrooks was selected by the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents. Regents’ professorships are given to “outstanding” faculty members following recommendations from a university’s president, chief academic officer, academic dean and three members of the faculty.

www.cartersville.patch.com
http://cartersville.patch.com/groups/schools/p/georgia-highlands-professor-named-teaching-fellow
Georgia Highlands Professor Named Teaching Fellow
Posted by Kristal Dixon (Editor)
Thomas Harnden, associate professor of biology at Georgia Highlands College, was selected as a Governor’s Teaching Fellow for the 2014 Summer Symposium Program. As one of 14 faculty members from institutions of higher education across the state, Harnden was selected after a highly competitive application and selection process. The Governor’s Teaching Fellows Program was established in 1995 by Gov. Zell Miller to provide Georgia’s higher education faculty with expanded opportunities for developing important teaching skills.

RESEARCH:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/business/2014-05-24/uga-researchers-find-social-media-patterns-might-help-businesses
UGA researchers find social media patterns that might help businesses
By ALLIE JACKSON
It turns out the way people interact on social media is similar to that of real life — in communities. Researchers at the University of Georgia narrowed it down further and after months of research, determined there are six distinct categories. It’s research they believe will help business owners better understand clientele.

STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2014-05-22/georgia-businesses-need-buy-each-other-says-state-chamber-official
Georgia businesses need to buy from each other, says state chamber official
By LEE SHEARER
Georgia businesses should buy more products from each other, Georgia Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Chris Clark said Thursday in Athens. A “Georgia2Georgia” campaign the chamber launched in January encourages businesses to increase in-state purchases by just 2 percent, Clark told an audience of about 60 people at an Athens Technical College meeting room. “This is going to be a commitment of our organization. We have to do business with each other” for the state to become No. 1 for business, he said.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2014/may/24/move-ahead-or-fall-further-behind/
Move ahead or fall further behind
ALBANY HERALD EDITORAL: A collaboration of educational institutions in Dougherty County is critical to the communitys future
By The Albany Herald Editorial Board
If anyone wonders how important the collaboration that the presidents of Albany State University, Darton State College and Albany Technical College and the superintendent of the Dougherty County School System are working on really is, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle may have placed it in perspective last week. Meeting with The Albany Herald Editorial Board before attending an event at Merry Acres to recognize Bo Henry and Stewart Campbell’s Stewbo’s Group for its innovation in business, Cagle covered a wide range of topics before we made an observation and posed a question.

www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/column/2014-05-24/tom-barton-georgia-board-regents-need-better-glasses#.U4SgdSgRseU
Tom Barton: Georgia Board of Regents need better glasses
Tom Barton is the editorial page editor of the Savannah Morning News.
He’s going to be a senior next year at Armstrong State University. She’ll be a sophomore. He’s majoring in pre-med/biology and wants to go to medical school and become a family practitioner. She’s majoring in political science. Her plan is to go to law school. Yair Muñoz, 21, and Marisol Estrada, 20, would make any Georgia parent proud. They’ve worked hard. They’ve made good grades. They’ve stayed out of trouble. They’ve got big plans for their futures. They ask only one thing — that the State of Georgia give them a fair shot.
…The Georgia Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s university system, has the authority to grant DACA students in-state tuition privileges. Indeed, Georgia’s in-state tuition policy requires a student’s “lawful presence.” What would this change mean for Muñoz and Estrada Instead of paying $9,106 per semester, they would pay $3,005. That’s huge, too. But so far, the Regents haven’t budged. Is it a money issue? Perhaps. More likely, it’s the fear factor. The Regents are afraid of being hammered by Georgians — including some in the state legislature who hold the purse-strings — who believe “illegals” are moochers and deserve a one-way trip to Tijuana.

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/may/26/reed-lends-voice-push-state-tuition-immigrans-brou/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Atlanta mayor pushes for in-state tuition for immigrants
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is offering moral support to the 39 plaintiffs suing for in-state college tuition for immigrants who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children. A Fulton County judge is expected to release a ruling shortly on the lawsuit, which was filed last year. …“I have many of my city’s citizens who are being denied the right to attend the Georgia college of their choice and the right to pay an otherwise deserved instate tuition rate, simply because of an intentional misreading of the law of ‘lawful presence’ by the Board of Regents,” the mayor said in his letter. “I am deeply concerned by this seeming contradiction in interpretation.”

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2014/05/25/3114573/no-time-to-relax-community-must.html?sp=/99/203//
No time to relax; community must help Robins stay the course
There was weeping and gnashing of teeth in Middle Georgia when retired Maj. Gen. Robert McMahon announced his departure from the 21st Century Partnership back in April. McMahon was and is a fixer. When McMahon came to Robins Air Force Base in 2010, the base was on the Department of Defense’s top 40 list of worst installations for lost civilian production days. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration had issued 39 citations against Robins. And yes, there was labor unrest. McMahon fixed it. When he went to the partnership, he was looked on as a savior. He had connections at the Pentagon that other installations would die for. Now he’s gone. He’s not gone far as he heads up the C-17 program at Robins, but still, he’s not at the head of the partnership or the installation. But there is good news. …As valuable as McMahon was and is, the base’s biggest asset is the Middle Georgia communities that have stepped up to the proverbial plate and hiked the level of community support for the base. It’s noticed at the Pentagon. It’s noticed that the encroachment issues on the south end of the base are well on the way to resolution. …Having Middle Georgia State College a few blocks from the base entrance is noticed.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/64495/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=c9d5039d52b04b70af76deef2beee8a2&elqCampaignId=173
Being Intentional About Defining “College Life”
by Brian C. Mitchell
Dr. Brian C. Mitchell is president of Brian Mitchell Associates and a director of the Edvance Foundation. He is a retired president of Bucknell University and former president of Washington & Jefferson College.
America’s colleges and universities define themselves partly by the company that they keep. As they seek to improve the quality of their institutions, most higher education officials look at some combination of inputs ― including the number of applications, acceptances, and admissions ― and outputs ― persistence and graduation rates ― to determine how much they have improved.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Help-Struggling-Students-and/146711/?cid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en
Help Struggling Students and You’ll Help Their Classmates, Too
By Mark B. Schneider
Mark B. Schneider is associate dean of Grinnell College.
What would we think of health professionals, or landscapers, or barbers who could do the least for those who needed their services the most? Amateurs, at best—probably downright incompetent. So what should we think of ourselves as educators? Shouldn’t the success of the students most in need of our efforts be the true measure of our success? In the Spring 2013 issue of Liberal Education, Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, makes a strong case for the continuing value of liberal education. She argues further that the compulsion in academe to follow pedagogical fads (MOOCs, for instance) runs counter to the transformative, life-changing education offered by selective liberal-arts colleges.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Sometimes-Hand-Holding-Can/146723/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Sometimes ‘Hand-Holding’ Can Be a Good Thing
By Monique 
Kluczykowski
Monique Kluczykowski is an assistant professor of English at the University of North Georgia.
We’ve all heard professors grumble that students shouldn’t need to have their hands held as they navigate the perilous shoals of freshman year. “I did it without coddling,” these professors boast to their colleagues. “Let them sink or swim on their own.” To my lasting shame, I once found myself saying the exact same thing. But when my own two daughters attended college, I quickly re-evaluated my attitude. There are excellent reasons a good number of students need “hand-holding,” at least for a brief time: First-generation college students often have no other mentors or role models. As a professor of composition, literature, and creative writing at the University of North Georgia (formerly Gainesville State College, and before that Gainesville Junior College), I have had first-year students from many different backgrounds in my classes. Most have been the first in their families to attend college.

www.theguardian.com
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/25/higher-education-true-purpose-of-universities
Higher education: for too long, we’ve avoided debating the true purpose of universities
It’s time we discussed the worth of degrees and how they should be funded
Observer editorial
The Observer
What is the value of an ivory tower? Universities have long argued against a purely utilitarian measure, rightly challenging the notion that it can be measured in pounds and pence. But when a version of the question was put to several thousand undergraduates in research published last week, one in three said they were getting poor value for money for their degree.
Such a standard has never been central to the debate about our universities.

www.baltimoresun.com
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-ehrlich-0525-20140525,0,4252788.column#ixzz32rVDA4s3
College: where kids become leftists [Commentary] Today’s campuses are increasingly, and disturbingly, progressive
Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
The former Maryland governor and member of Congress is a partner at the law firm King & Spalding and the author of “Turn this Car Around” and “America: Hope for Change” — books about national politics.
I’ve been thinking a lot about college lately. It’s not as though it’s staring me in the face, either. The oldest is finishing his freshman year in high school. The youngest is still in elementary school. Still, what’s occurring on America’s college campuses is on my front burner. First and foremost is the ever-escalating cost of a four-year degree — the cause of many a sleepless night for moms and dads. Tuition, fees, room and board for many private colleges has now hit $60,000 a year. Middle income parents usually qualify for some aid, but how much? And will they be able to set aside enough for their other kids? The same challenge applies to public colleges, where the price tag is lower but nevertheless represents a huge commitment from everyone other than wealthy families. Another concern is the value of a liberal arts degree in today’s society.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/05/27/essay-defends-haverford-students-who-protested-commencement-invitation#sthash.uVVZgTEg.dpbs
Defending Commencement Protest
By Michael Rushmore
In his commencement speech last weekend at Haverford College, the former president of Princeton University, William G. Bowen, attempted to shame some students at Haverford for challenging the invitation to the former University of California at Berkeley Chancellor, Robert Birgeneau, to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree. Bowen did not scold us for protesting, but rather for protesting incorrectly. As a new alumnus involved in those efforts as a then-senior at Haverford, I stand by our actions. Bowen should too.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/05/27/essay-why-college-presidents-need-consider-their-role-gun-control-debates#sthash.IuVl2ilb.dpbs
Again and Again
By Lawrence Schall
Lawrence Schall is president of Oglethorpe University.
It’s Memorial Day. Few of us are working. Most colleges and universities have gone into summer mode. And yet, tragedy has landed on our doorsteps once again. …Eighteen months ago, hundreds of college and university presidents came forward together and called for saner gun laws in this country. There are at least two things remarkable about that activism. First, it represented a rare moment for the leaders of institutions of higher education — one in which we chose to speak out collectively on an issue of public importance only tangentially related to our primary mission of education. Second, at the national level and in many states like my own, Georgia, it didn’t appear many legislators listened. As just one example, churches in Georgia have now been given the ability to welcome parishioners into their sanctuaries armed, locked and loaded. We presidents have been largely silent since Newtown, on the issue of gun regulation and on most other significant issues facing our country – at least those issues not directly related to college budgets. The gun safety movement sparked a good bit of discussion among my colleagues on a president’s role in the public discourse.

www.stltoday.com
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/paying-colleges-for-performance-good-policy-or-passing-fad/article_31de2321-e67c-5d04-98c1-11fae60ec19c.html
Paying colleges for performance: Good policy or passing fad?
By Koran Addo and Alex Stuckey
Just as parents sometimes resort to paying their children for good grades, a number of states are taking the same approach with their public colleges and universities. Increasingly, they are offering extra tax money for showing improvement in key areas such as graduation rates and job placement. It’s called performance funding, and many of the state’s educators, from Harris-Stowe State University to the University of Missouri system, appear to be on board with the concept. But there’a a growing body of research that suggests that while cash-for-performance programs sound like smart education policies, they don’t necessarily deliver on the promise of improved results.

Education News
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/partnership-fuels-lab-to-market-success/nf47J/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1#a19fe975.3566685.735380
Partnership fuels lab-to-market success
By David Markiewicz – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There were smiles all around one recent morning as Tim Fox told board members of the Georgia Research Alliance the story of the medical software company he co-founded, Velocity Medical Solutions. Incubated at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute where Fox worked, Velocity had hit it big. And though it was acquired in March by a larger firm, Velocity is expected to stay and grow in Georgia, with two dozen high-tech jobs now and possibly many more in the future.

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2014/05/23/3112544/gmc-opens-17-million-kidd-center.html?sp=/99/148/198/
GMC opens $17 million Kidd Center in Milledgeville
BY LIZ FABIAN
MILLEDGEVILLE — The Georgia Military College community got its first look inside the $17 million Kidd Center for health and wellness Friday. …The 56,000-square-foot building offers modern fitness equipment, an elevated track, classrooms, a spacious band room with practice areas, plus an athletic health care and training lab complete with a hydrotherapy suite. “We’re very proud, very excited about this,” said Bert Williams, GMC’s athletic director and head football coach. “We can handle just about any type of physical training activity we need to target.” He sees it as a major recruiting tool.

www.businessweek.com
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-23/brown-university-gets-into-the-mba-game
Brown University Gets Into the MBA Game
By Patrick Clark
Brown University’s governing body voted Friday to begin issuing a master’s in business administration for the first time in its history, carving out a decisive, if small, claim to the business school landscape. The move builds on steps the school has already taken to expand into business education: Since 2011, the Providence (R.I.) university and Madrid’s IE Business School have collaborated on an executive MBA program. Previously, however, graduates of the 15-month program received only a degree from the Spanish school. Now completing the program will earn students degrees from both institutions.

www.utahpulse.com
http://utahpulse.com/index.php/features/technology/942-colleges-now-recognize-robotics-as-activity-for-entrance-credit
Colleges Now Recognize Robotics as Activity for Entrance Credit
Beginning in August 2015, students applying to colleges through the Common Application, a standard entrance application being used by many universities, will be able to select robotics as an activity category that will now receive entrance evaluation credit for their participation in a recognized extracurricular learning activity. This recognition by the Common Application directors is partly thanks to the persistence of For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology or FIRST Headquarters who produces the FIRST Robotics competitions nationally.

www.azstarnet.com
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/college/ua-law-school-to-undercut-peers-with-deep-tuition-discounts/article_670765a2-b51b-51cd-9cfb-642f410aecf5.html
UA law school to undercut peers with deep tuition discounts
By Carol Ann Alaimo
The University of Arizona’s law school is turning up the heat on its competitors as demand for traditional law degrees continues to dwindle. In a second round of tuition-slashing set to take effect this fall, the UA plans to undercut the nonresident tuition rates of more than a dozen peer law schools nationwide by offering steep discounts to students from other states.

www.buffalonews.com
http://www.buffalonews.com/business/advocates-seek-to-help-trade-school-students-20140526
Advocates seek to help trade school students
Focus is on those duped into bad education deals
By Jamie Smith Hopkins
Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE – Janice Peete-Bey didn’t stay long at the Baltimore trade school where she enrolled 25 years ago, leaving after the class seemed useless. But the student loan debt from her non-education haunts her to this day. Her wages have been garnisheed, her tax refunds seized. Those payments total more than $13,500 on a loan that was originally $5,600, according to the Reisterstown, Md., woman’s pro bono attorney, due to interest and collections fees that mounted for years. And the school? It closed long ago, and its CEO pleaded guilty to defrauding the government and students by concealing its dropout rate so federal student aid kept flowing. As debate rages about the country’s spiraling levels of student debt, some advocates want more focus on making sure people don’t get suckered into bad educational deals – and on helping those who have already been scammed. The debt is a hole some might never dig out of, they say.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/05/27/gainful-employment-will-hit-profits-and-their-students-hard-industry-study-finds#sthash.g6e2fN82.dpbs
Nowhere to Go
By Paul Fain
Up to 44 percent of students at for-profit colleges could lose access to federal financial aid under proposed “gainful employment” regulations, according to a new report from the sector’s trade group. And many of those students lack other educational options in their academic field or geographical area. “The impact will be very large” if gainful employment is enacted, the report said. “And the alternatives for the students impacted will be very limited.”

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/05/27/protest-napolitano-gives-commencement-speech#sthash.9qegFTPP.dpbs
Protest as Napolitano Gives Commencement Speech
Some students at Laney College — a community college in Oakland — protested before and during commencement because the main speaker was Janet Napolitano, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. Napolitano is currently the president of the University of California system, but the protest focused on what students said were hostile policies toward immigrants when she was U.S. secretary of homeland security.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/05/27/uc-santa-barbara-students-killed-shooting-rampage#sthash.o6fRMuMQ.dpbs
Deadly Rampage
By Scott Jaschik
Six students at the University of California at Santa Barbara were killed by a man who went on a rampage Friday night. Authorities have identified the killer, who left various video and written manifestos saying that he was seeking to kill sorority women and others at the university as revenge for the way women had rejected him. The killer — who subsequently shot himself — has been identified as a student who enrolled but frequently dropped out of classes at Santa Barbara City College.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/05/27/unc-fires-professor-jailed-argentina#sthash.M5M8ZFS6.dpbs
UNC Fires Professor Jailed in Argentina
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has fired a tenured professor of physics, Paul Frampton, who has been serving jail time in Argentina on drug charges, The News & Observer reported.

www.npr.org
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/05/25/315837245/educators-not-satisfied-with-revised-kansas-social-media-policy
Educators Not Satisfied With Revised Kansas Social Media Policy
by JUANA SUMMERS
The clash between academic freedom and state oversight in Kansas last week continues, as the state Board of Regents revised its policy on what faculty and staff at the state’s colleges and universities can post on social media. Following harsh criticism of a policy adopted last year that severely restricted social media postings by faculty, the Board added language that is supportive of free speech and academic freedom. But it still allows administrators to suspend and fire faculty members or staffers for social media posts that are “contrary to the best interests of the employer.”

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/05/27/look-hacking-scandal-higher-ed-tech-company#sthash.SmkEc4dN.dpbs
Hacking the Competition
By Cory Weinberg
During the summer of 2010, Symplicity Corporation knew it wasn’t keeping up with the competition. Trying to stand out in the small world of technology companies that supply colleges with software to track student disciplinary cases, Symplicity CEO Ariel Manuel Friedler noticed more colleges and universities picking its main competitor, Maxient, because its software “feels like a website,” he emailed to employees. “We are bleeding … we have lost close to a dozen [clients] this year.” To win back colleges, Symplicity’s top leader and two other employees hacked their way into Maxient’s servers to stock up on the competitor’s product design, new features and software layout.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/05/27/democrats-push-campus-debit-card-crackdown#sthash.rb7NpZAh.dpbs
Democrats Push Campus Debit Card Crackdown
A group of Congressional Democrats last week introduced a new legislative push to crack down on campus banking products, including student debit cards. Representative George Miller, the top Democrat on the House education committee, and Senator Tom Harkin, the chair of the Senate education committee, along with 63 other Democrats introduced a bill that would ban revenue-sharing agreements between colleges and student debit card providers.

www.nytimes.com

Colleges Rattled as Obama Seeks Rating System
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
WASHINGTON — The college presidents were appalled. Not only had President Obama called for a government rating system for their schools, but now one of his top education officials was actually suggesting it would be as easy as evaluating a kitchen appliance. “It’s like rating a blender,” Jamienne Studley, a deputy under secretary at the Education Department, said to the college presidents after a meeting in the department’s Washington headquarters in November, according to several who were present. “This is not so hard to get your mind around.” The rating system is in fact a radical new effort by the federal government to hold America’s 7,000 colleges and universities accountable by injecting the executive branch into the business of helping prospective students weigh collegiate pros and cons.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/NIH-Interference-Cited-in/146793/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
NIH Interference Cited in Federal Efforts to Protect Research Subjects
By Paul Basken
The federal agency charged with protecting patients in medical trials is being challenged over its effectiveness and independence, in new fallout from an experiment suspected of endangering hundreds of premature infants. Government email records obtained by a private watchdog group depict the agency, the Office for Human Research Protections, or OHRP, as yielding to pressure from the National Institutes of Health—including from the NIH’s director, Francis S. Collins—to halt criticism of the NIH and university researchers involved in the infant study.