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Without admitting wrongdoing, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln has agreed to pay $40,000 to a former employee who says she was fired after the university learned that she is a witch, The Lincoln Journal Star reported. The woman formerly directed a youth program at the university.

The new community college at the University of the District of Columbia needs independence from the university to be "credible and legitimate," according to a report being released today, The Washington Post reported. The study praises the establishment of the community college in a city that had lacked one, but says that UDC has lost the confidence of the business community, a situation that would hurt the development of the community college. Officials of the college said that their institutio... [read more]

The Ku Klux Klan is planning a rally at the University of Mississippi Saturday to protest the university's ban on shouting the final line of a fight song: "The South shall rise again," The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported. The university has been discouraging the last line -- going so far as to change a song commonly performed at football games -- because the line is offensive to many who see it as a link to the university's racist past. The Klan sees the issue in a different way. "This is not... [read more]

1.4 percent increase in number of degrees awarded in 2008 is smallest since 2003; growth in biology doctorates accounts for most of the uptick, and humanities continue to dip.

Jeff Schemmel resigned Thursday as athletics director at San Diego State University after the university determined that he had sought reimbursements for expenses from a cross-country trip related to a tryst he had with an Alabama woman, not university work, The San Diego Union Tribune reported. Both Schemmel and the woman are married to other people and the situation became public in part because of the woman's divorce proceedings.

The University of Nebraska's Board of Regents is scheduled to vote today on whether to limit embryonic stem cell research at university facilities to studies that would have been permitted under the Bush administration's more restrictive policy. The resolution (see Page 4 at this link ), which is backed by several regents supported by Nebraska Right to Life, would put the university out of the mainstream and at odds with policy changes made by the Obama administration, which has cleared the way ... [read more]

Medical faculty members at the University of Connecticut Health Center have voted to unionize and to be represented by the American Association of University Professors. According to the AAUP, this is the first time that the faculty at a free-standing medical school will have collective bargaining.

The Hope tax credit is designed to help middle class families pay for college -- but not this much. A Treasury Department audit released Thursday found that several hundred thousand taxpayers sought credit in 2006 and 2007 for more than half a billion dollars more than they were supposed to by claiming the tax credit for a third or even a fourth year; it is limited by statute to two years. The agency's inspector general for tax administration found that the IRS system is not set up to flag taxpa... [read more]

Adam Kotsko questions the idea that small discussion-based courses are the ideal form of undergraduate education.

As students protested outside, the University of California's Board of Regents on Thursday reluctantly approved a 32 percent increase in "fees" (what the rest of higher education calls tuition) for 2010-11. "We're being forced to impose a user tax on our students and their families," Mark Yudof, the UC system's president, said during a committee hearing Wednesday. "This is a tax necessary because our political leaders have failed to adequately fund public higher education." Under the budget, whi... [read more]

Think you don't know anyone outside higher ed who can help your job search? Sabine Hikel says you do.

One college takes "sound mind, sound body" to a new level, requiring students to lose weight or take a fitness class to graduate.

Case Western researchers explore whether high-speed networks can improve health care, public safety and graduation rates in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods surrounding its campus.

Colleges and businesses often work together, but they’re not always allies on tax policy. A downward economy could test their ties.

THE new tertiary regulator will call Melbourne home, following an agreement today by education ministers.

Oronte

Joshua Kim

Rosemarie Emanuele

Dean Dad

Colleges and universities reported a 27 percent drop in the number of new cases of likely H1N1 flu, but the closely watched weekly survey by the American College Health Association included the first two deaths attributed to the outbreak. The ACHA survey of 263 campuses found 6,373 new cases of suspected swine flu, with 95 percent of campuses reporting new cases, down from 98 percent the week before. The institutions cumulatively reported 21.3 cases per 10,000 students, down 27 percent from the ... [read more]

A federal agency report expected to be issued today finds that most universities do not report their researchers' financial conflicts of interest to the government as required, The New York Times reported . The report by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services examines how National Institutes of Health grantees complied (or not) with federal rules governing researchers' financial conflicts, and concludes that most institutions do not report conflicts and that when th... [read more]

Instead of trying to turn themselves into something they're not -- a center of fundamental learning -- campus libraries should focus on their traditional core mission of supporting education and research, writes Johann Neem.

Jessica Goode, 23, a student at Ferrum College, was shot and killed Tuesday, and another student was shot in the hand, when a hunter mistook the students for deer, The Roanoke Times reported. The students were collecting specimens for a biology class. The hunter has been charged with manslaughter, reckless handling of a firearm and trespassing.

NCAA study finds continued progress in athletes' graduation success.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops held a closed-door meeting Wednesday to discuss, among other things, relationships between the bishops and Roman Catholic colleges and universities, the Associated Press reported. Plans for the discussion started in the wake of the controversy over the invitation to President Obama to be the commencement speaker at the University of Notre Dame.