FLOSS In School - Open Source Software in the Education System

As policy debate rages about for-profit colleges' value, their enrollments continue to soar, nearing 12 percent of all students.

Abuses by for-profit colleges mask a larger problem: inadequate information about which college programs will help students in their careers, Anthony Carnevale and two co-authors argue.

A course on gay marriage is scheduled to start Tuesday at Seton Hall University, despite the opposition of the archbishop of Newark, The Star-Ledger reported. The course is being taught by a tenured gay professor who is a staunch advocate for gay rights. In May, the Rev. John J. Myers, archbishop of Newark, denounced the course for seeking "to promote as legitimate a train of thought that is contrary to what the [Roman Catholic] church teaches" and called for a special review of the planned course. While university officials haven't released details on that review, the Star-Ledger reported that the course is in the university's schedule, has a meeting place assigned and students enrolled. W. King Mott, an associate professor of political science, who created the course, said: "The class is happening. I've never heard that it wasn't."

New project aims to track down students who have enough credit to earn associate degree but, for whatever reason, were never awarded one.

American University unveiled a new branding campaign this week -- around the word "wonk" -- and not all students are thrilled. A website explains the idea behind the campaign, noting that the letters in "know" can be rearranged to create the word "wonk" and that a wonk is an "intellectually curious person; expert in a field" or a "knowledgeable Washington insider" or "someone focused on an issue and passionate about creating meaningful change," all definitions that suggest a new one, "American University person in the know." A video on the website also features students, alumni and American university officials talking about longstanding frustrations that the university hasn't been sufficiently branded for its strengths and associations with Washington.

Students and others quoted in an article in The Eagle, the student newspaper, weren't entirely sold on the concept. While some noted the positive associations with policy experts, many others posted comments about the nerdish associations with the word, or noted that outside of Washington, many would not want to be called a wonk or even know what it means. The first comment: "Wonk sounds like a sexual term. Example: I just got sexiled because my roommate and her boyfriend are in the room wonking. ...exactly."

Criticism from librarians prompts JSTOR to promise changes to its recently redesigned database portal.

Thomas Ross, president of Davidson College since 2007, is expected to be named today as the next president of the University of North Carolina System, The Raleigh News & Observer reported. Prior to being named to the Davidson post, Ross's career was outside of higher education. He worked as a lawyer, judge and foundation leader. Ross would succeed Erskine Bowles, whose career also was outside of higher education until being named UNC president.

Community college chancellor kills agreement that let students from overcrowded institutions take courses from the for-profit and transfer them back.

Three national groups are teaming up to create an online portal where adult students with previously earned academic and work force credits can have that "prior learning" assessed by independent faculty evaluators to facilitate the acceptance of that work by colleges. The portal will be a joint project of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, the American Council on Education, and the College Board, and is being established with $2.2 million from the Lumina Foundation for Education and the Kresge and Joyce Foundations.

The University of Colorado at Boulder on Wednesday announced two reviews -- one on possibly eliminating its School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and the other on creating a new program in information and communication technology. Officials stressed that no final decisions had been made, but that they believed -- and a previous review had suggested -- that significant changes are needed in the university's approach to journalism and communication education. "We want to strategically realign resources and strengths currently existing on the CU-Boulder campus to ensure that course and degree offerings meet the needs of students, the labor market, our campus mission and the communications needs of a rapidly changing global society," said a statement from Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano.

International study doubts correlation between increasing number of STEM graduates and economic growth, while finding link between total graduates and economic growth.

Carnegie Mellon University has suspended a master's program in information networking that it has run in Greece since 2002, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. University officials cited the impact of the recession, in Greece as well as in the United States.