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It plays on our vanity to reduce research to a popularity contest.   from The Chronicle of Higher Education http://bit.ly/317HYRk

Last night, at the end of the final round of the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, a record eight students were still standing, having calmly rattled off the correct spellings of words like “psammosere,” “choumoellier,” and “Logudorese.” The eight—Rishik Gandhasri, Erin Howard, Saketh Sundar, Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodali, Christopher Serrao, and Rohan Raja—now share the title of co-champion. It’s a confusing result in a competition that usually crowns one individual champion, or—as has been common recently but rare historically—two. Scott Remer, the author of Words of Wisdom: Keys to Success in the Scripps National Spelling Bee and the spelling coach of two of last night’s co-champions, Padhy and Serrao, explained to me just after the competition came to a close why the final round resulted in an eight-way tie. According to Remer, preposterous as it may seem to the average spellers among us, last night’s words were simply too easy, and America’s top spell...

Master the skills presidents and senior administrators need to lead their institution to success in today’s difficult environment. This Chronicle issue brief outlines troubling trends in higher ed, examines how leadership roles have changed, and breaks down five essential skills leaders must have to be successful. Purchase your copy in The Chronicle Store.  from The Chronicle of Higher Education http://bit.ly/2W1OxAV

An international science research partnership that has grown stronger over 40 years suddenly seems to be decaying as Washington intensifies its focus on college campuses. from The Chronicle of Higher Education http://bit.ly/2wxWWBK

NorQuest College, in Edmonton, Alberta, typically spends roughly $300,000 to start a new academic program, which on average takes two years from conception to launch. At a time when students and employers are seeking new programs in emerging fields at an escalating pace, and government support for the public institution has stagnated, says Norma Schneider, the college's vice president of teaching and learning, "we have to be more inventive about how we reach more students." The situation looks much the same at Bow Valley College, 180 miles to the south in Calgary -- so much so that Laura Jo Gunter, the president there, describes NorQuest as Bow Valley's "sister." The two institutions have on occasion adopted courses from each other, with one paying the other for the rights to the curriculum. Each arrangement was a little different, requiring renegotiation along the way. Last fall the two institutions took things to what they saw as the logical next stag...

To many students, parents, taxpayers and politicians, a key way to measure colleges' success is their graduation rates. A new book, The College Completion Glass -- Half-Full or Half-Empty? (Rowman and Littlefield), challenges much of the way college completion is talked about. The book argues that other measures matter as well, and that completion rates need context to be understood. The author is Tiffany Beth Mfume, assistant vice president for student success and retention at Morgan State University. She responded via email to questions about the book. Q: Many discussions of colleges' performance focus on graduation rates. You suggest that there are problems with these rates. What are the problems? A: I continue to challenge federal guidelines for retention and graduation rates. Unlike the National Student Clearinghouse, which tracks enrollment and awarded degrees to explore the six-year outcomes of a cohort of first-time-in-college degree-seeking students to include ...

Graduation and commencement speeches have frequently been an outlet for speakers to advocate for political positions, but a recent speech at New York University that expressed support for the controversial Israel boycott movement has now sparked debate over free speech on college campuses. While BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) debates are hardly new, the discussion has focused on the reaction to the address -- and giving the talk at commencement -- as much as its substance. Steven Thrasher, who earned his doctoral degree and gave the student address at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study graduation event, said he was proud of the NYU student government for supporting the BDS movement -- a movement which calls for organizations to discontinue involvement with Israel. “I am so proud, so proud of NYU’s chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace … and of the NYU student government and of my colleagues in the department of social...

WASHINGTON -- International students may be more reluctant than other students to seek mental health counseling for a wide variety of reasons, including stigmatization of mental illness in their home countries and common (incorrect) myths that seeking treatment could result in a notation on their transcript or the revocation of their visa, panelists told attendees Thursday at a session focused on international student mental health at the annual NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference. A study published in the Journal of American College Health in 2010 found that while international graduate students were about as likely as domestic graduate students to report “an emotional or stress-related problem that significantly affected their well-being or academic performance within the past year,” the international students were less likely than their American peers to be aware of available counseling services. Just 61 percent of international graduate students surve...

More and more research institutions are cutting their ties to Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications powerhouse, either officially or unofficially. And institutions have reasons to be wary of research money from the world’s largest supplier of telecom equipment, given that Huawei’s been accused of serious crimes in the U.S. It’s also hard if not impossible to separate Huawei from the Chinese government. But professors on a number of campuses are growing increasingly restless with blanket Huawei funding bans, especially on research they say poses zero threat to U.S. national security. Some professors see these bans as an infringement on academic freedom, given that research funders and topics are generally things individual scholars decide. And critics see universities as moving quickly to satisfy political demands -- without faculty input. At Stanford University , for example, Huawei-backed professors are urging their institution to design a formal funding policy that consider...

Forensic science still has a fallibility -- people. In today's Academic Minute, Montclair State University 's Jessica Henry explores what can be done about forensic misconduct. Henry is an associate professor in the department of justice studies at Montclair. A transcript of this podcast can be found here . Section:  Academic Minute File:  05-31-18 Montclair - Foresnic Misconduct.mp3 Event's date:  Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 4:15pm School:  Montclair State University from Inside Higher Ed http://bit.ly/2MlAYNf

Blog:  Conversations on Diversity Who counts as a person of color? Which voices of color are heard and magnified? What portrayals become representative? Who claims the power to do the representing? As regular readers of this blog know, I am concerned that the dominant narrative about people of color in certain circles is the narrative of marginalization. Stories about black, native or immigrant life that emphasize other experiences (say, strength, gratitude or faith) are too often scoffed at as counterfeit, dismissed as coopted or quite simply ignored.   Scott Shigeoka’s recent piece in Medium about the high profile Weave Conference, hosted by David Brooks and the Aspen Institute a few weeks back, is a striking case in point. The piece reads like a lot of diversity progressive critiques: The powerful people who ran the conference created a culture which marginalized some people; The people who felt marginalized were people of color; The category “people ...

Category:  Conditionally Accepted Stop maligning community colleges, writes Susan Muaddi Darraj, and treating their students and faculty members as not as good as their peers. Job Tags:  FACULTY JOBS Ad keywords:  faculty Section:  Community Colleges Topic:  Working at Community Colleges Show on Jobs site:  Image Size:  Thumbnail-horizontal Is this diversity newsletter?:  Is this Career Advice newsletter?:  Disable left side advertisement?:  Trending:  from Inside Higher Ed http://bit.ly/2JJU8du

A former Babson College soccer player faces federal criminal charges for sending death threats to college and professional athletes. Addison Choi, 23, was a frequent gambler on sports and lost much more frequently than he won, according to prosecutors. And when he did lose, he would allegedly take to Instagram to send death threats to athletes, often in vile and racist terms. He allegedly posted on one athlete’s account that he would find the athlete’s family members and “skin them alive.” Choi also apparently targeted accounts of those close to athletes. He allegedly posted threats to at least 45 different Instagram accounts between July 2017 and December 2017. Choi has pled guilty to a federal count of transmitting threats in interstate commerce. “There is a difference between free speech -- even hate speech -- and intentionally putting others in fear for their lives,” United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said in a statement . “Mr. Choi crossed that line … we take seriou...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Enrollments in intensive English programs in the U.S. fell for the third straight year, according to new data from the Institute of International Education presented Thursday at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference. The number of students enrolled in intensive English programs fell by 10 percent from 2017 to 2018, following on declines of 20 percent and 18.7 percent the previous two years. Intensive English programs are an entry point for many international students who plan to pursue undergraduate or graduate study in the U.S. The largest declines were seen in students from sub-Saharan Africa, down by 21 percent, and the Middle East and North Africa, down 18 percent. The declines in numbers of students from the Middle East have been driven largely by reductions in the size of the Saudi Arabian government’s overseas scholarship program. The percentage of Saudi students as a share of total intensive English enroll...

Today on the Academic Minute , Jessica Henry, associate professor in the department of justice studies at Montclair State University , explores what can be done about forensic misconduct. Learn more about the Academic Minute here . Is this diversity newsletter?:  Hide by line?:  Disable left side advertisement?:  Is this Career Advice newsletter?:  Trending:  College:  Montclair State University from Inside Higher Ed http://bit.ly/2MlAXJb

The University of Illinois at Chicago has announced that it will offer in-state tuition to students from any of the 573 tribal nations recognized by the United States. The savings, compared to state universities in eligible students' home states, could be as much as $14,000 a year. Currently, only eight of the university's 20,000 undergraduates are Native Americans, although some with Native American heritage may be among the 600 students who report that they are from two or more races. Ad keywords:  diversity Is this diversity newsletter?:  Hide by line?:  Disable left side advertisement?:  Is this Career Advice newsletter?:  Trending:  from Inside Higher Ed http://bit.ly/2HMC3sY

Dannel P. Malloy, former governor of Connecticut, was on Thursday named the next chancellor of the University of Maine system. He served two terms as governor before opting not to seek re-election in 2018. Is this diversity newsletter?:  Hide by line?:  Disable left side advertisement?:  Is this Career Advice newsletter?:  Trending:  from Inside Higher Ed http://bit.ly/2MlAV41

A long-awaited report on higher education financing in England recommends reducing the maximum undergraduate tuition fee from 9,250 pounds (about $11,664) to £7,500 (about $9,458) and calls for the government to increase grants to universities to replace the lost fee income in full. Other proposed changes include the reintroduction of “maintenance” grants of at least £3,000 (about $3,783) per year for living costs for low-income students, establishing a lifelong learning loan allowance for adult learners and increasing funding for the further education college system ( further education is defined as any education after secondary school that is not part of higher education -- that is, not part of an undergraduate or graduate degree). The report also recommends changes to England's income-contingent loan system: specifically, it recommends lowering the repayment threshold at which graduates start repaying loans and extending the repayment period from 30 to 40 years, with the ...