A federal appeals court has ruled that the First Amendment protected an adjunct instructor’s public complaints about how her employer, an Illinois community college, deals with people in her position. In a decision handed down on Thursday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit unanimously held that the First … Continue reading
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‘Landmark’ Student-Data-Privacy Law Enacted in California
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Monday a sweeping measure aimed at restricting the use of students’ educational data by third-party vendors, marking one of the most aggressive legislative attempts to date to balance the promise of digital learning technologies with concerns about the privacy and security of children’s sensitive information. The Student Online … Continue reading
Active Consent Bill Signed in California
California has become the first state to require students on college campuses to receive active consent before all sexual activity. Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed into law a bill that will impose this new standard for consent at all colleges that receive state funding, including all public universities and many private institutions where students … Continue reading
College Men Accused of Rape Say the Scales Are Tipped Against Them
Caleb Warner drives a delivery truck and may never finish college. Joshua Strange moved home and enrolled at a branch campus of the University of South Carolina after he was kicked out of Auburn University, his dream college. Zachary Hunt lost a $30,000 scholarship and his place on Denison University’s football team. All three young … Continue reading
Education Dept. Tells Ratings Skeptics Their Concerns Are Valid
A key Education Department official said on Tuesday that she shared education researchers’ concerns about the potential unintended consequences of a federal college-ratings system. Responding to several studies presented at a Congressional briefing she attended, the official, Deputy Under Secretary Jamienne S. Studley, said the researchers had raised “very appropriate” questions about the risk that … Continue reading
Oklahoma State University Mandates Sexual Assault Prevention Course
Oklahoma State University has implemented a new online course for students to teach them how to prevent sexual assault, months after the federal government announced the school was one of 55 colleges or universities across the country facing a Title IX investigation over the handling of sexual abuse complaints. It’s mandatory for institutions to do … Continue reading
Accreditors Are Urged to Help Safeguard Academic Freedom Abroad
Scholars at Risk is best known for its work to help scholars persecuted in their home countries find temporary academic positions abroad. So Robert Quinn, the advocacy group’s director, would seem an unlikely speaker at a meeting of accreditors. Yet Mr. Quinn’s presence on Wednesday at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation’s Summer Workshop is … Continue reading
New Alliance Aims to Answer Authors’ Questions About Rights
In theory, digital networks make it easy for authors to share their work with readers far and wide. In practice, writers sometimes don’t know what they’re allowed to do with their own books and articles. What’s permitted under the terms of their publishing contracts, some of which were signed long before digital distribution? Who controls … Continue reading
Colorado Sociology Department Rebels Against Its Chair
The sociology department at the University of Colorado at Boulder has been thrown into upheaval partly as a result of dissatisfaction over how its chairwoman acted last fall against a professor who staged a classroom skit on prostitution. The department’s faculty moved last month to replace its chairwoman, Joanne E. Belknap, who has responded to … Continue reading
White House Raises the Bar for Colleges’ Handling of Sexual Assault
The Obama administration unveiled stringent new guidelines on Tuesday designed to help colleges combat sexual assault and provide victims with a “road map” to file complaints against institutions that fall short in their responses. In 20 pages of recommendations, the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault provides practical instructions for colleges … Continue reading
