Trump has indicated one of his most controversial proposals — eliminating the Education Department — may also be one of his urgent priorities. “I say it all the time, I’m dying to get back to do this. We will ultimately eliminate the federal Department of Education,” he said during a campaign rally in September. Congress would need to approve eliminating the agency. But it’s unclear if there is enough political will among lawmakers to do so. “So far, it hasn’t looked like even a lot of Republicans in Congress want to do that,” said Jonathan Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations and national engagement at the American Council on Education, the higher education sector’s top lobby. Sweeping regulatory changes, meanwhile, are all but certain.
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by Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive.
Posted: November 6th, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Amid a rise in anti-diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) legislation, students may face more challenges with fewer avenues of support. In a recent BestColleges survey of 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1 in 3 report witnessing or experiencing more discrimination against marginalized groups this year. Simultaneously, about 1 in 10 college students (12%) report DEI office closures at their schools. DEI offices, which increasingly face closures and cuts in federal funding, have the primary responsibility of protecting the interests of students from underrepresented groups. Just under half of students (48%) say they would consider transferring if their college were to abolish DEI initiatives. Another 52% of students say if a college they were considering had abolished DEI initiatives, it would have impacted their decision to enroll.
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by Jane Nam, Best Colleges.
Posted: November 6th, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Compared with 2008, at the height of the Great Recession, students by 2022 paid a larger share of their higher education costs while states’ proportion decreased significantly. Those two shifts are the largest in the SHEEO’s study. Students’ share of the total peaked in the last decade at 41.8% in 2013, after which the figure remained above 40% until 2020. Even with the subsequent decline, it still remained 2.7 percentage points above 2008 levels in 2022. The share from states, on the other hand, was nearly 10 percentage points lower in 2022 than it was in 2008.
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by Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive.
Posted: November 5th, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
A federal judge has permitted pro-Palestine student activists at UC Berkeley to present their arguments in a lawsuit filed against the school alleging antisemitism. Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a Jewish advocacy group, filed the lawsuit in late 2023 for what it calls the “longstanding, unchecked spread of antisemitism” on campus, Daily Cal reports. The group argues UC Berkeley failed to protect students and faculty against antisemitic discrimination and harassment because it did not stop demonstrations or clear a pro-Palestine encampment that called for Israeli divestments. UC Berkeley has argued that interfering with the protests would have violated its students’ constitutional rights. In June, the university filed a motion in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California to dismiss the case. A decision is pending.
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by Amy Rock, Campus Safety Magazine.
Posted: November 4th, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Per the letter, there are “several critical issues with these rate increases,” including that they are “too high,” “unnecessary,” “unethical” and lack transparency: Too high: These increases far exceed annual inflation and follow massive, unprecedented premium hikes in 2024, where one health plan saw premium increases of almost 200%. Unnecessary: The UC is one of the wealthiest university systems in the country, bringing in billions of dollars every year. It pays its health center directors as much as $2 million per year, while many UC workers struggle to get by in an increasingly expensive state. Unethical: UC is increasing rates by more than it needs right now in order to avoid State rate caps that will go into effect next year. Lack of transparency: UC’s healthcare premiums are negotiated and set in secret with no direct input or participation by the employees most impacted by these decisions. When UC negotiates UC Health premiums, it is negotiating with itself, and there is no consumer protection.
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by Monica Stark, The Davis Enterprise.
Posted: November 2nd, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
United States District Court Judge James Donato granted permissive intervention to a group of six UC Berkeley students involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy efforts on campus on Oct. 25. This makes them defendant-intervenors with UC Berkeley in a lawsuit filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law alleging that campus failed to fight antisemitism. The court’s decision in allowing these six students to intervene will allow them to present additional defenses that “UC Berkeley may not raise,” according to the judge’s order.
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by Melody Seraydarian, The Daily Californian.
Posted: October 29th, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
The 2024-25 California State Budget outlines the state’s intent to cut the UC system’s state general fund by approximately 8% beginning in fiscal year 2025-26. According to the budget, the cut is part of a multi-year strategy to address a $46.8 billion state deficit. While the state has yet to adopt a budget for fiscal 2025-26, this year’s budget includes future planning adjustments aimed at placing the state on a “fiscally responsible long-term path,” the budget states.
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by Alexa Vasquez, The Daily Californian.
Posted: October 29th, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
A recent survey of Jewish and Israeli community members at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that two-thirds of students, faculty and staff reported antisemitism as a problem, and nearly three-quarters believed it was treated less seriously than other forms of hate. The report, which was commissioned by UCLA interim chancellor Darnell Hunt and conducted by the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, highlights a rise in antisemitic incidents on campus since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, sparking an ongoing war in Gaza.
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by Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed.
Posted: October 24th, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
As protests unfolded at scores of college campuses last spring, students were not the only ones punished for participating. Faculty members also faced consequences for supporting the students in their protests or for expressing views that were construed as antisemitic or, less commonly, for pro-Israel activism. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has intensified what many faculty members and their allies believe is part of a growing assault on the ideals of academic freedom, a principle that most American colleges and universities hold dear.
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by Anemona Hartocollis, The New York Times.
Posted: October 23rd, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
In September, a group representing University of California faculty filed a complaint alleging the system sought to chill their academic freedom and keep from teaching about the Israel-Hamas war “in a way that does not align with the University’s own position.” To some professors, the protest restrictions are also a labor issue. Colleges have been granting tenure to fewer professors, and facing pressure in some areas to do away with it altogether. Legislatures in several states have taken an interest in how topics around race, gender and history are taught. Protest guidelines handed down by administrators are another way the faculty’s say in university affairs is being diminished, some professors say.
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by Annie Ma, The Associated Press.
Posted: October 22nd, 2024, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
