Quick Takes
Swedish Poet Wins Nobel in Literature
Tomas Tranströmer, a Swedish poet, was this morning named winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was honored, the Nobel citation said, "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality." A list of his publications (including those in English translation) may be found here.
Brown Program Seeks to Broaden Graduate Education
Brown University on Wednesday announced a new program in which doctoral students will receive an extra year of support to pursue a master's degree in a secondary field. While many Ph.D. students earn a master's degree in their own discipline, the aim of this program is to provide a broader experience for doctoral students. Funds for "Open Graduate Programs" -- as the effort is being called -- are coming from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Massive Building Campaign Suspended in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Community College District has suspended all new construction projects that are part of a mammoth $5.7 billion bond program, The Los Angeles Times reported. The district acted so it could study whether it has plans to maintain the facilities being constructed. The move will halt or suspend 67 projects planned by the district's nine colleges.
Western Governors University Inks E-Textbook Deal With Major Publishers
CourseSmart, an e-textbook retailer operated by a consortium of five major publishers, announced on Wednesday that it has teamed up with Western Governors University, the fast-growing online institution, to supply WGU students with electronic texts. “The university will integrate CourseSmart’s digital library into its online student portal, creating a comprehensive, single sign-on, platform where students and instructors can access their eTextbooks anytime, anywhere,” CourseSmart said in a news release. The nonprofit Western Governors has seen booming growth in recent years, and has been endorsed by Indiana, Washington, and Texas as an official supplement to the state higher education systems there.
U.S. Releases Data on Online Education Growth From 2000-2008
The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday released an analysis of online education among U.S. undergraduates between 2000 and 2008, based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics. The study noted that the percentage of undergraduates taking at least one online course increased from 8 percent to 20 percent over that time, while the proportion enrolled in full distance programs rose from 2 percent to 4 percent. The rates among students studying computer science and business were higher in both cases (27 and 24 percent for individual courses; 8 and 6 percent for full programs). Adults with jobs and dependents also enrolled in online courses at a slightly higher-than-average rate, as did students with disabilities.
Academic Minute: How Plants Reproduce
In today’s Academic Minute, Chris Martine of the State University of New York at Plattsburg discusses the pros and cons of the different reproductive strategies that exist in the plant kingdom. Find out more about the Academic Minute here.
For-Profit Provider Files Motion to Dismiss U.S. Lawsuit Over Compensating Recruiters
Education Management Corp. today asked a federal judge in Pittsburgh to throw out a whistleblower lawsuit in which the U.S. Justice Department has alleged that the company violated federal law by providing financial incentives for admissions officers. The department's complaint states that EDMC, a large for-profit college company, was ineligible for $11 billion in state and federal financial aid it received from students over eight years. The company, in its filing, said that the government's claims are "legally flawed and factually insufficient," and that the government is attempting to use "overblown criticism of lawful recruiting actions" to distract from those deficiencies.
Bonnie Campbell, a lawyer and former Iowa attorney general who represents the company, said in a written statement that the "narrow legal issue" in the case is whether the sole basis for compensating admissions officers was enrollment numbers.
"Federal regulations issued in 2002 expressly permitted companies to consider enrollment numbers when determining admission officer salaries, as long as compensation was not based solely on enrollment numbers," Campbell said. "The company’s compensation plan complied with the law by requiring the consideration of five quality factors along with enrollments to determine salaries, and the company took a number of steps to ensure that the compensation plan was properly followed."
Mumps at Berkeley
The University of California at Berkeley has reported several cases of mumps among students. Outbreaks of mumps have been relatively rare on campus, but there were several outbreaks in 2006.
