Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Meddling trustees, Kaplan whistle-blowers, and general suckitude

Accreditor Places Peralta District Campuses on Probation (Inside Higher Ed)
The community college commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges has placed the four campuses of the Peralta Community College District on probation, citing concerns about the "fiscal solvency and stability" of the two-year institutions, the Contra Costa Times reported. The newspaper said that the letter from the head of WASC's Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges raised concerns about meddling by trustees and other leadership issues as well as financial problems in citing the four Peralta colleges: Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College and Merritt College….

Justice Department Weighs In for Whistle-Blowers in Cases Against Kaplan (Chronicle of Higher Education)
The U.S. Department of Justice weighed in Tuesday on the side of several whistle-blowers who have alleged in lawsuits that various colleges owned by Kaplan Higher Education defrauded the government of hundreds of millions of dollars by paying incentives to recruiters and lying to obtain accreditation….

'Brutal Toll' on State Budgets Will Have an Impact on Higher Education (Chronicle of Higher Education)
A new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures is another reminder of how the recession has taken "a brutal toll" on state revenues and of how states have relied on federal stimulus money to prevent major cuts in higher education in the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years. In addition to an overview of state appropriations, the report provides short state-by-state descriptions of legislation and policies that will have an effect on higher-education finance.

'Low-Income Students and the Perpetuation of Inequality' (Inside Higher Ed)
With a lingering recession sending Americans (back) to college in record numbers, and an administration determined to improve the country's record on degree attainment, higher education, more than ever, has plenty of public attention. But a new book argues that higher education in the United States is falling ever more short on a variety of fronts – particularly when it comes to those students who, theoretically, should stand to gain the most from it.

In Low-Income Students and the Perpetuation of Inequality: Higher Education in America (Ashgate), author Gary Berg uses both quantitative data and information gleaned from personal interviews with students and professors to show how students from poor families are shortchanged at every stage of their postsecondary education, from admissions practices that discriminate against them, to the numerous obstacles they face getting through college, to the lesser benefits they reap after graduation. There is a great deal to be done on each of these fronts, Berg argues, if higher education is ever to live up to its promise – to disadvantaged students, and to society at large….

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Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...