Instead of jostling for places at mid-range American universities, which now have the luxury of admitting fewer and fewer students, applicants can apply to top-flight European institutions as a coveted international student. Perhaps most important, universities abroad can be dramatically more affordable than private colleges in America. A typical top-tier U.S. liberal arts college costs about $55,000 to $60,000 a year, including room and board. Even taking into account the increased cost of living and higher tuition rate for non-European Union students, American students would pay roughly $25,000 less a year to attend a university of equivalent stature in Britain. And students can still avail themselves of U.S. federal loans, even while studying outside the U.S. The real kicker is that most British bachelor’s degrees typically require only three years instead of four for graduation, saving both time and money.

Read full article [here].
by Aaron Rosen, The Los Angeles Times.

Posted: August 20th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

There’s a growing stench of political corruption — or, at the very least, hidden agendas aimed at subverting popular will in favor of entrenched corporate interests — emanating from the Mayor’s Office these days. And it’s undermining projects and institutions that are vital to the future of San Francisco. In the last week, a pair of important developments illuminated the shady way business gets done in San Francisco. The first instance concerned City College of San Francisco, which had its accreditation rashly revoked last month, prompting Mayor Ed Lee to enthusiastically support the disbanding of the locally elected Board of Trustees and the takeover of City College by state-appointed outsiders bent on shutting down community-based facilities and classes.

Read full article [here].
by The Editorial Board, San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Posted: August 20th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

The company’s most ironic idea, considering the news that came down this week: Syngenta entertained offering to “cut him [Hayes] in on unlimited research funds,” presumably if he iagreed to lay off on the atrazine research. Rather than basking in unlimited research funds, Hayes now finds himself with no funds at all. He sees a possible link to the Syngenta controversy, the Chronicle reports: “Mr. Hayes said he believes some Berkeley officials, including Graham R. Fleming, vice chancellor for research, may have joined in efforts to penalize him out of a desire to protect a $25-million, five-year research agreement between Berkeley and Novartis, a parent company of Syngenta.” Berkeley officials deny this allegation—and they claim that the university hasn’t moved to cut funds from Hayes at all.

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by Tom Philpott, Mother Jones.

Posted: August 17th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

The U.S. Department of Education has warned the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges that it is out of compliance with several federal regulations and could face a possible sanction if the problems are not corrected within 12 months… But it’s unclear if there will be any impact on the commission’s decisions regarding the Community College of San Francisco. Fred B. Glass, communications director for the union and an adjunct faculty member at the college, said the department’s findings imply that the decision itself was faulty and should, at least, serve as the basis for appealing the decision with the commission. Leaders of the California Community Colleges system, however, do not share that view.

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by Eric Kelderman, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Posted: August 13th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

For nearly three years California’s community colleges have been working with the California State University System to comply with a state law requiring guaranteed transfer pathways for graduates of the two-year institutions. Now some state lawmakers want to nudge the process along.

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by Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed.

Posted: August 8th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Kim A. Wilcox, a former top official at Michigan State University, was appointed as the ninth chancellor of UC Riverside at a special meeting of the UC Board of Regents on Thursday. The board voted unanimously for the appointment, with regents praising Wilcox’s commitment to top-tier research and student diversity. But his compensation of $354,000 drew strong objections from Gov. Jerry Brown, who questioned the propriety of such a salary when so many in California and elsewhere are struggling. It represents a $29,000 — or nearly 9% — pay raise over the salary received by the previous chancellor, Timothy P. White, who left in 2012 to head the California State University system.

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by Carla Rivera, The Los Angeles Times.

Posted: August 8th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

Sen. Darrell Steinberg, the leader of the State Senate, quietly decided to put his online-education bill on the back burner last month. The bill, introduced with fanfare in March, originally aimed to push public universities to award academic credit to students who succeeded in some massive open online courses offered by outside providers. But now that the universities have promised to expand their own online courses, the senator sees no immediate need to let outside providers through the door, says his spokesman, Rhys Williams… it’s starting to look as if what they have to offer to universities may be technology tools and services that are more helpful than revolutionary.

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by Steve Kolowich, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Posted: August 8th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

In the years since the recession, what we have seen is the ever-increasing disparity between the rich and poor within the UC system itself. Students have been asked to pay a greater share of their tuition, low-level employees have experienced layoffs, furloughs and salary cuts, and even the faculty has been asked to sacrifice… A public system is supposed to eschew the practice of individuals accumulating large sums of wealth, and yet we have a system that has spiraled out of control and has no ability to control itself anymore. How long before Sacramento finally says enough, and cracks down, passing Leland Yee’s legislation? Or perhaps even worse?

Read full article [here].
by David Greenwald, The Davis Vanguard.

Posted: August 7th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

UC Davis officials are making an expensive investment toward improving the college’s image. The university hired Luanne Lawrence, formerly of the University of South Carolina, as associate chancellor for strategic communications earlier this year. She will make an annual salary of $260,000, more than any other campus communications chief in the University of California system, according to a survey by The Sacramento Bee… Administrator pay has been a touchy subject across the UC system during the past few years as student tuition has sharply increased. The UC Board of Regents recently approved the hiring of a new president, Janet Napolitano, at a salary of $570,000 – about $21,000 less than the departing president. Last year, pay for UC top managers and executives increased by 7 percent from 2011, higher than the 4 percent increase among academic personnel, according to figures released last week by the system.

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by Phillip Reese, The Sacramento Bee.

Posted: August 5th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.

A primary problem, the paper said, is that the magazine essentially is conducting an opinion survey. This results in wild swings in a medical school’s year-to-year standings… The UC Davis research paper, titled “Short-Term Stability and Spread of the U.S. News and World Report Primary Care Medical School Rankings,” was highly critical. It called one of the magazine’s assumptions “likely spurious.” The paper is not the first to question the rankings’ reliability. It turns out the lists – which rate colleges, law schools, medical schools and graduate programs – have attracted widespread skepticism.

Read full article [here].
by Cynthia H. Craft, The Sacramento Bee.

Posted: August 4th, 2013, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.