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Are college presidents being paid what they’re worth? You be the judge …  Taking a look at the average salary package for a public university president, there was a 5% increase to $441,392 for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

And the median base salary increased 2% to $373,800.

This is according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, which analyzed the salaries of 212 presidents at more than 190 schools.

Here are some of the more interesting findings:

• Four presidents have salaries higher than $1 million
• Last year, that number was three
• This generally occurred because of a high base salary in combination with a bonus and deferred compensation, severance or retirement payments.

“There’s been a continual trend where we see more presidents crossing that million-dollar mark — the rich are getting richer,” said Chronicle reporter Jack Stripling.

Fun fact: The president with the highest pay was Graham Spanier, whose salary package totaled $2.9 million for fiscal year 2011-2012.

You’ll remember, of course, that Spanier was fired from Penn State two years ago because of his alleged mishandling of the sex abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky.

But let’s move on to the list of the top 10 earners among public college presidents. Counting backwards from lowest to highest:

10. Francisco Cigarroa, University of Texas System Chancellor, $815,833

9. Bernard J. Machen, University of Florida, $834,562

8. Mark Yudof, University of California System President. $847,149

7. Charles W. Steger, Virginia Tech President, $857,749

6. Mary Sue Coleman, University of Michigan President. $918,783

5. Jo Ann M. Gora, Ball State University. $984,647

4. Alan G. Merten, George Mason University President, $1,869,369 (stepped down)

3. Gordon Gee, Ohio State University President, $1,899,420

2. Jay Gogue, Auburn University President, $2,542,865

1. Graham Spanier, Pennsylvania State University System President, $2,906,271

Just for the heck of it, let’s compare those numbers to the salaries of presidents at private colleges (no drama here; let’s go from highest to lowest):

1. Constantine N. Papadakis, president* Drexel University, $4,912,127
2. William R. Brody, president* Johns Hopkins University, $3,821,886
3. Donald V. DeRosa, president* University of the Pacific, $2,357,540
4. Henry S. Bienen, president* Northwestern University, $2,240,775
5. Nicholas S. Zeppos, chancellor Vanderbilt University, $1,890,274
6. Charles H. Polk, president, Mountain State University, $1,843,746
7. Shirley Ann Jackson, president, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, $1,771,877
8. Alfred H. Bloom, president* Swarthmore College $1,756,293
9. Richard C. Levin, president Yale University, $1,627,649
10. James L. Doti, president Chapman University, $1,542,270

Presidents at 36 private colleges earned more than $1 million in 2009, up from 33 the previous year, according to time.com

Why so high a salary? Is the job that tough or is just that the money is so available?

“The job of college president has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, as have the demands,” David L. Warren, the president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, told The New York Times.

“There is just a small pool of candidates who possess the skill set that is required and are willing to take on the stressful 24/7 nature of the position.”

According to Warren, private college presidents are facing an increasing amount of pressure in a variety of areas.

These include: budgetary challenges, uncertainty about the sustainability of the traditional financial model, calls for further regulation, greater competition, growing student financial need, and consumer concerns about rising tuition.

The Council of Independent Colleges conducted a study last year and learned that less than one in four chief academic officers at private colleges planned to pursue a presidency.

As for public universities, it doesn’t look too great when presidents are raking in such high-level salaries while coping with huge state budget cuts and tuition hikes.

Jack Stripling, a senior reporter at the Chronicle of higher Education said, “Boards and presidents are at pains to defend this type of compensation … and in the grand scheme of a university budget this [pay] is usually a drop in the bucket — and for better or worse, this is the market rate.”

In fact, many schools are relying on private funding, such as donations, to pay their presidents’ salaries — instead of drawing on public funding — like donations – to pay their presidents rather than relying on public funding, he said.

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The public university system he sued was immune to his suit.

The court acknowledged this result didn’t seem fair and quoted an earlier decision: “[S]overeign immunity is a harsh doctrine, not an equitable one.”

Coach Conditions Scholarships on Fistfights
Jerome Pellham was recruited to play football at Georgia Southern University (GSU). He was told he’d be eligible for a scholarship if he played on the team.

Pelham enrolled at GSU and became a defensive end on the varsity football team.

During spring training in late March 2008, the team was working out in full pads when head football coach Christopher Hatcher had players form two lines facing each other.

After pitting smaller players against larger ones, he said he wanted to see “who was tough enough to be on the team[.]”

Hatcher said he’d walk down the line. When he stopped and blew his whistle, he wanted the pair in front of him to fight with no holds barred and keep fighting until he blew the whistle again.

He warned assistant coaches not to intervene and told players their fight performance could determine if they got a scholarship – or even got to stay on the team.

Student-Athlete Gets Permanently Injured
Hatcher approached Pelham and his opponent. He blew the whistle. Pelham followed football’s rules for physical contact. His opponent didn’t.

Pelham grabbed his teammate’s shoulders like a defensive lineman trying to fend off an offensive lineman. His opponent grabbed Pelham’s face mask and jerked his head from side to side. Then he grabbed Pelham’s jersey and used his leg to trip Pelham to the ground. Pelham landed with his right leg outstretched. Then the opponent jumped on top of him, severely and permanently injuring Pelham’s knee and leg.

Pelham sued the coach and the athletic director for negligence and punitive damages. Those claims were settled.

He also sued the board of regents of the University System of Georgia, as GSU is one of its state schools.

The court dismissed the suit, finding the board was immune to it on the basis of sovereign immunity.

Pelham appealed, but the appeals court affirmed.

Legal Doctrine Bars Lawsuit
As Black’s Law Dictionary explains, sovereign immunity is a doctrine based “on the ancient principle that ‘the King can do no wrong[.]’” The doctrine bars negligence suits against state entities unless the legislature has waived immunity to the suit.

The Georgia Constitution gives all state departments and agencies sovereign immunity from lawsuits unless a state law specifically waives the immunity and spells out the extent of the waiver.

Pelham argued sovereign immunity didn’t apply to his suit because he brought it under Georgia’s anti-hazing law. The appeals court disagreed. First, the hazing law is a criminal law not intended to be used as the basis of a civil suit for damages. Second, the legislature didn’t include a waiver of sovereign immunity in the law.

The only law Pelham could bring this suit under was Georgia’s Tort Claims Act. It provides the “exclusive remedy for any tort committed by a state officer or employee” – but if one of 13 exceptions applies, the state’s immunity has not been waived.

The assault-and-battery exception applied here because that was the conduct that caused Pelham’s injury. This meant the board’s sovereign immunity to the student’s lawsuit was not waived – so the appeals court affirmed the suit had to be dismissed.

Pelham v. Board of Regents of the Univ. System of Georgia, No. A13A0027, 2013 WL 2151011 (Ga. Ct. App. 5/20/13).

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The University of Kansas (KU) has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the operator of @KUBoobs — a Twitter account operated by fans.

Basically, the Twitter profile is dedicated to retweeting boob shots submitted by KU fans.

The blurb says, “Join the boobment! We wear crimson & blue PROUDLY across our chests for the whole world to see. Not affiliated with The University of Kansas.”

The problem is, @KUBoobs has nearly 55,000 followers. And operators recently started selling wristbands that read: “I <3 KU boobs” on an affiliated website, www.kuboobs.com, which has since been shut down. (It’s worth mentioning that the bracelets sold for $5 each, and $1 of each sale went to breast cancer research, according to reports.)

This is what prompted the university to send the letter, which accuses the operator of infringing on the school’s trademark.

It also demanded the operators must advise the university — in writing — of their compliance with the order as well as include a list outlining:

• each item manufactured and sold by the company
• each item held in inventory
• the number and price of each item sold, and
• the profit of the items that were sold.

Responding to the cease-and-desist order, KU fans and @KUBoobs followers have created a hashtag #saveKUBoobs to protest the university’s action.

Associate Director Of Pubic Affairs with KU Athletics Jim Marchiony clarified: “We’re not trying to shut @KUBoobs down. It’s one thing to have a Twitter account. It’s another thing to sell items with ‘KU’ on it, which is what they’re doing. That’s our federal trademark, which we always have to protect.”

Now, the latest “Save the ta-tas” movement has spread from Twitter to YouTube, where fans of the page explain the importance of not violating KU’s trademark to save the Twitter account.

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She sued, claiming the decision amounted to retaliation.

A grad student at Hofstra University, Lauren Summa applied for a job as the football team’s manager. Her boyfriend was a football player on the team.

She was hired and received an email letting her know that team managers earn $700 for the fall season and $300 in the spring season.

As part of the job, Summa traveled with the team on the bus.

From the start, the players made her uncomfortable with remarks like saying:

• she should have sex with her boyfriend on the bus
• she should sit with another player if she wanted a “real man”
• women shouldn’t be managers because they don’t “get” sports, and
• inappropriate things when she used the bathroom on the bus.

Harassment on Facebook
In September, Summa found out the players created a Facebook page had a picture of her boyfriend in a “Missing Person” photo. The “joke” was that Summa had kidnapped him.

And the caption under his photo warned that he may have lost weight due to “excessive sexual activities.”

The page included Samma’s photo in a “Wanted” poster for the supposed kidnapping. They listed inappropriate aliases for her, including:

• Miss Piggie, and
• The Wannabe Big Boss Man, F.B. Manager.

Summa complained to Head Football Coach David Cohen, who ordered the players to take the page down. They did.

On the bus
After the last game of the season, the assistant coach played “Shadowboxer” — an R-rated movie — on the way home after the game.

After one of the players turned to Samma and made a vulgar remark to her, she burst into tears and asked the coach to turn off the film.

He did, but the players wanted it turned back on, chanting, “We want boobies!”

The player who had made the initial vulgar remark cursed at Samma for getting the movie turned off.

Keep it on the down low?
When they arrived back at school, Summa reported the incident to Cohen. He asked her not to report it to Hofstra’s public safety department, fearing it would draw attention to the football program.

But she did anyway. The school’s Equality Officer said the incident “offer[ed] an opportunity for educating the coaching staff and all of the athletic staff about the University’s Harassment Policy.” The school provided the training eight months later.

Meanwhile, Cohen investigated. And because it was the player’s third behavior incident, he was kicked off the team. Cohen reported the decision to remove the player to his supervisor and Summa.

Replaced for ‘spring ball’
Summa believed she was returning for “spring ball” and left a voicemail in March asking about the schedule. In response, Cohen left her a return voice mail, saying they hired someone else for the job because they hadn’t heard from her.

Summa filed a complaint with the state civil rights agency, alleging the school retaliated against her for reporting sexual harassment by replacing her as team manager.

The university asked the court to grant judgment without a trial. The judge did, but Summa appealed to the Second Circuit.

It reversed for two reasons:

1. Summa reported sexual harassment, which Title VII protects from retaliation, and
2. a reasonable juror could conclude she was replaced as team manager in retaliation based on the time of her replacement as well as the email that outlined the salaries for both seasons.

So the Second Court found the case shouldn’t have been dismissed without a trial. Summa stated a valid claim of retaliation, so a trial is needed.

Cite: Summa v. Hofstra Univ.

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Cooper Union’s recent decision to abandon its tuition-free structure for the first time in 154 years in favor of a $19,000 annual tuition for incoming students in the fall of 2014, has prompted a harsh response from its outgoing student body.

During its graduation ceremony, many students refused to shake hands with President Jamshed Bharucha when receiving their diplomas on stage. Student commencement speaker James Allister Sprang wore a red square on his gown – a symbol for student protests against tuition increases.

“We may be one of the final classes to have a mission statement that will never be forgotten,” Allister said in his speech, referring to founder Peter Cooper’s intent to provide a college education gratis.

When President Barucha spoke at the ceremony, about half the graduates stood and turned their backs to him in protest.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the commencement speaker, refused to weigh in on the tuition issue, saying only that he understands students’ frustrations. He also suggested that alumni “donate what you can.”

Meanwhile, 15 to 25 students continue to occupy the president’s office at Cooper Union, protesting the school’s decision and gaining the support of many, including the art faculty, which signed a petition and released this statement:

“Out of deep concern about the direction of the Cooper Union under President Jamshed Bharucha, the full-time faculty of the School of Arts adopts a resolution of a vote of No Confidence in President Jamshed Barucha.”

While an alumni trustee publicly claimed that a shutdown scenario was never taken eriously, an investigation by the Village Voice revealed that such a drastic response had actually been discussed at a recent trustee meeting.

The transcript also shows an option to shutter the entire school for five years, reopening it in 2018 when rent on the Chrysler building – the school’s primary asset – would jump.

The institution’s endowment, built largely around the Chrysler building rental, is under strain as a result of spending outpacing revenues – most obviously displayed by the recently built campus building Cooper Square, which remains without a sponsor after the school spent $150 million to build it.

What should the school – and the student protesters – do next? Share your views in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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Looking for ways to keep their rate of recidivism down, many states are offering prisoners a chance at a new way of life – through higher education. 

The statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics are grim.

But first, let’s define what we’re talking about.

Any criminal act that results in the rearrest, reconviction or return to prison (with or without a new sentence) in the three years that a prisoner has been released, is considered recidivism.

And here’s what we’re looking at:

In 2007, 1,180,469 persons on parole were at-risk of reincarceration. Of the people who were under parole supervision or those entering parole during the year, about 16% were returned to prison.

Of the nearly 300,000 prisoners released in 15 states in 1994, 67.5% were rearrested within 3 years. This number was estimated at 62.5% in 1983.

In 1994, 272,111 people were released from prisons in 15 states. Of these, about 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years. In addition, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% were returned to prison for committing a new crime.

The total number of arrest charges accumulated by these offenders came to 4.1 million and there were 744,000 more charges within 3 years of release.

The highest rates of rearrest for released prisoners with the highest rearrest rates were for robbers (70.2%), burglars (74.0%), larcenists (74.6%), motor vehicle thieves (78.8%), inmates who owned or sold stolen property (77.4%), and inmates who owned, sold or used illegal weapons (70.2%).

2.5% of released rapists were arrested for another rape within 3 years, and 1.2% of those who’d been imprisoned for homicide were arrested for homicide.

Enter the world of higher ed.

Some states, like Michigan, are hoping educating inmates so they can earn a college degree will be a successful initiative to keep former prisoners from returning to prison.

For a long time, Michigan didn’t have funding that would allow prisoners to take advantage of higher education. But a current $1 million project is changing that.

“We want to build the evidence that investment in postsecondary education is a cost-effective intervention and a wise use of public dollars,” Fred Patrick of the Vera Institute of Justice, an independent, nonprofit research and policy group, told the Associated Press.

“We also want to show it succeeds at reducing recidivism, supports families and contributes to the economic base of communities,” he said.

Michigan has about 42,000 inmates in its state prisons. Approximately half enter prison with a high school diploma or GED certificate.

“Educational opportunities are very important to help these inmates not recidivate,” said Kenneth Romanowski, Macomb Correctional Facility warden.

He added: “We found it’s one of the many factors to stay out of trouble in the future, besides housing, strong family ties, staying away from drugs and having access to mental health services. The higher the level of education, the less chance a parolee has of getting involved in criminal behavior.”

Case in point: Quantrez Sawyer used to be a Detroit security officer. Because his low earnings forced him to live in his mother’s home while supporting his three kids, Sawyer robbed a McDonald’s and was sentenced to five years at the Macomb Correctional Facility.

He is slated to be released from prison in 2015. In the meantime, he has been taking a new entrepreneurship class. The goal of the class is to help inmates learn skills that will enable them to launch a business once they are released from prison. This will ultimately improve their earnings in the future and hopefully, reduce the chance that they will be imprisoned again.

Sawyer’s plans? To start a print shop and tattoo parlor.

“I want to show my kids that, even though their father made a mistake, he can still be a productive person and they don’t have to go down the road I went down,” he said.

The numbers also look promising in Missouri.

Reincarceration rates there “were nearly cut in half for former inmates with a full-time job compared to similar inmates who are unemployed,” according to forbes.com

Whenever a prisoner leaves the correctional systems, the state saves an average of $25,000 a year. Looking at national stats, more than 650,000 people were released from state prisons in three years ago.

If the reincarceration rate were to be cut in half, $2.7 billion per year could be saved.

In addition, former inmates with jobs don’t depend as heavily on public assistance, and are able to contribute more to society, as consumers and taxpayers.

According to the Missouri study, the chances of an inmate finding full-time employment go way up if they’ve completed an education while being imprisoned.

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In 2007, Adam Roberts moved to Vermont from out of state and enrolled as an undergraduate student at the University of Vermont. His plan was to earn an undergraduate degree there and then enter the university’s medical school. For his first three years at the school, Roberts paid the out-of-state tuition rate.

Before the start of his senior year, Roberts applied for in-state tuition status. He said that although he initially went to Vermont to attend school there, he had since decided to become a permanent resident.

First Application Denied
The university denied the application, relying on its regulations governing eligibility for in-state tuition rates. One defines “domicile” as an individual’s “true, fixed and permanent home.” Another creates an in-state rate presumption against anyone who enrolls at the university within a year of their move to the state, and a third creates the same presumption against individuals who live in the state but get “financial support” from out-of-state family.

Roberts was determined to get the in-state rate. A second application, submitted in December of his senior year, was denied.

Accepted to Medical School
A third application was filed in March 2011, one month before Roberts was accepted to attend the university’s medical school. In that application, Roberts said he had chosen to stay in the state so he could work at an in-state airport. He also claimed he was not getting financial help from family and that he was closing on the purchase of a house located within the state.

In denying the third application, the university said Roberts had failed to rebut the presumption that he decided to move to Vermont – and stay there – for an educational purpose. It also found that Roberts’ father had provided him financial support, noting that the father was listed as a co-purchaser of the house.

Fourth Time Not a Charm
Roberts submitted a fourth application in August 2011, in connection with his enrollment at the medical school. This time, he cited part-time employment at the in-state airport and his payment of state income tax.

He also produced evidence of banking and financial relationships in the state, and he noted that he had registered to vote in Vermont and had a Vermont driver’s license. He again pointed to the home purchase and claimed he had become financially independent.

The school denied his application again, finding that he came to the state with the plan to attend the university as an undergraduate and then a medical student. It also noted that his education trust fund had gone from $3,000 to $50,000 and that his father had co-purchased the Vermont home – at a cost of $416,000.

Trial Court Rules for School
A trial court upheld the school’s determination, finding that Roberts had established a domicile in the state but only for the purpose of attending the university. Roberts filed an appeal.

The state’s highest court upheld the university’s decision to deny Roberts the in-state rate.

The court noted that the state legislature authorized the school to set rules for in-state tuition rates, and it pointed out that the standard of proof for establishing eligibility for in-state tuition is higher than the standard for proving domicile.

The high court decided that there was enough evidence in the record to support the university’s determination that Roberts did not show, by clear and convincing evidence, his entitlement to the in-state rate. Specifically, there was sufficient evidence to support the school’s determination that Roberts was in Vermont for educational purposes.

Decision Was Supported
Roberts admitted that he went to Vermont with the intention of getting an undergraduate degree and medical education there, and he enrolled as a medical student within a year after completing his undergraduate work.

There was also support for the school’s conclusion that Roberts never stopped getting financial help from out-of-state family. His yearly income of about $15,000 was not nearly enough to fund his trust account and the house purchase.
Much of Roberts’ evidence was consistent with an intent to stay in Vermont, but it was not enough to prove entitlement to the in-state rate.

Roberts v. Univ. of Vermont, No. 2012-206, 2013 WL 1920933 (Vt. 5/10/13).

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With universities across the country looking for new fundraising streams, some are turning to crowdfunding websites to encourage donations from alumni and non-affiliated donors.

Some recent examples:

The University of Virginia launched a crowdfunding site in a six-month pilot initiative. The goal: tap into crowd interests and give potential donors the opportunity to advance projects that interestthem.

For projects that are monetarily successful and remain popular, the university plans to continue its crowdfunding efforts on a larger scale.

The University of Utah has seen multiple crowdfunding successes since starting a site last December. Three initial projects featured on the site raised a total of $32,000, with over 210 donors to date.

The University of Vermont launched its crowdfunding site, UVM Start, last September, debuting two research projects that have brought in 65 donors and $3,350. So far, all featured projects have reached at least 50% of their total dollar goals and are expected to hit their total dollar goals.

Key to success: social networking. Donors are gained initially through faculty and team members’ social networks, along with interested groups and organizations, to bring people together with one goal in mind.

Those interested parties then spread the word using their own social network contacts. And as they saying goes, “They tell two friends, then they tell two friends ….”

Does your school use social networking as a fundraising tool? Tell us more about it in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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Take a look at these iPad apps that’ll boost the device’s educational value. 

Put these on your must-have list:

1. Articles: Even though Wikipedia isn’t a “scholarly” source of information, it still provides a great starting point for students. This app allows users to access Wikipedia articles right from their tablets.

2. Audiobooks: This free app allows students to listen to more than 5,000 classic books. It is perfect for students who need to study on the go, as well as those who struggle with reading.

3. Aweditorium: This free music app allows students to check out up-and-coming artists while they’re studying.

4. Barefoot World Atlas: An interactive 3D globe allows students to take a virtual tour of many regions around the world.

5. Bento: Busy students will keep their projects and assignments organized with this app.

6. Berlitz English: Perfect for ELL and ESL students, this app helps students boost their English language skills.

7. Blackboard Mobile Learn: Many teachers use Blackboard, so it makes sense for students to use this free app to access courses at their convenience.

8. BookBargain: This free app will help cash strapped students find the best deal on textbooks.

9. CNN: Students can stay up to date on breaking news with this free app.

10. Dictionary: This free app provides a basic tool for students. It was listed on Time’s top 10 “Back to School Apps” list.

11. Yelp: After all that studying, students can use this app to find something fun to do in the area.

12. Dragon Dictation: This free app eliminates the need to invest in a separate keyboard. It includes voice recognition to transcribe messages to text. The developer’s bold claim: It’s up to five times faster than typing on a keyboard.

13. DocsAnywhere: Students can safely transfer their documents to their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with this app.

14. Dropbox: With this free app, students can access documents they’ve saved in cloud on their iPad.

15. Evernote: This free app allows students to take and organize notes on their iPad. Bonus: Evernote includes an audio function that lets students talk their way through notes.

16. Flash My Brain: Students can use their iPad to create flash cards with this app. Features allow users to shuffle decks and share them with friends.

17. Friendly Plus for Facebook: With this app, students can access their Facebook profile on their iPad and view photos, chat with friends, upload photos from their tablet and more.

18. WordPress: Students can access, manage and edit WordPress blogs from their iPad with this app.

19. GoodReader: This app handles larger PDF and TXT files, so students can access and highlight in larger files on their iPad.

20. Hello Hello English: This app allows ESL and ELL students to practice real-world practical conversations, including ordering food in a restaurant, asking for directions and much more.

21. History Maps of the World: With this app, “history and geography collide,” according to Edudemic, which put this app on its 50 must download apps for life-long learner’s list.

22. Howcast: Students can learn “how to” do many things with videos on their iPads with this free app. The instructional videos include a variety of lessons.

23. textPlus Free: This app allows users to text from their iPads.

24. iAnnotate PDF: This app allows students to edit PDF files on their iPads.

25. iBooks: Never again pay for a book you won’t read. This free app allows students to sample several pages before making the purchase.

26. TED: Students can access presentations from a variety of sources, including business people, tech gurus and more.

27. IM+ Pro: There’s a wide variety of IM services available. Regardless of which students prefer, this app will help them stay connected. It services Facebook, Skype, Google Talk and others.

28. iMovie: This app allows students to take their editing skills to the next level, creating movies with sound effects, music and more.

29. inClass: This free app will help students stay organized, share notes with classmates and more.

30. Instapaper: This app allows students to save web pages for later off-line reading. It’s particularly useful for longer articles and blog posts.

31. Pulse: Using this app, students can create a customized news feed that features their own interests.

32. iSource MLA: An English student’s best friend, this app helps students make sure they’re citing correctly according to style of Modern Language Association.

33. iStudiez Pro: Students can use this app to organize their schedules, set reminders for assignments, track grades and more.

34. Juno’s Piano: This free app introduces students to the basics of piano and reading music.

35. NewsRack: This app allows students to stay on top of current events.

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In September 2006, Shawn James attended a back-to-school dance on the campus of Duquesne University. The dance was hosted by the Black Student Union, a registered student organization.

When the dance ended at 2:00 a.m., James left with some of his basketball team teammates and began walking toward a dormitory area. One of his teammates began talking to a female. Another group became upset that the female was talking to the man in James’ group. There was a confrontation between the groups, and James was shot.

He sued the university, claiming that his injuries resulted from the university’s negligence. He said the university owed him a duty to provide better security relating to the event, such as by:
• using handheld metal wands to screen attendees
• providing security training to students who assisted with provision of security at the event, and
• using more officers and/or security guards.
At the district court, the university filed a motion for pretrial judgment.

No Duty to Prevent Harm by Third Parties
The court granted the motion because the university did not have a duty to prevent the harm James suffered.

The general rule in the jurisdiction where the case was filed is that a person is not liable for the criminal acts of third parties. James tried to overcome the force of the rule by arguing that the university undertook to provide security for the event and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent a crime there.

But the generic contention that the university had a duty to provide security to people on its campus was not enough to avoid application of the rule, the court said.

James tried to rely on past incidents involving violence on the university’s campus. But only two involved a handgun; they occurred more than a year apart from one another; and the most recent one took place more than a year before the dance. Moreover, there was no evidence of past similar criminal assaults at on-campus events such as dances or sporting events.

Because the university did not owe James a duty to protect him from the harm he suffered, its motion for pretrial judgment was granted.

James v. Duquesne Univ., No. 2:08cv853, 2013 WL 1327217 (W.D. Pa. 3/30/13).

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College students who communicate with their parents exercise more and eat more fruits and vegetables, according to a study from Penn State University.

The research team studied the habits of 746 full-time freshmen, and learned:

“When students communicated with their parents for 30 minutes or more, they were 14% more likely to consume fruits and vegetables and 50% more likely to engage in 30 minutes or more of physical activity.”

Colleges have been hoping to counteract students’ unhealthy habits – from bad eating habits to more serious health risks such as substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases – with healthy eating and exercise habits.

It would appear that encouraging communication with Mom and Dad may be one way to improve their healthy habits.

Just why students who spoke with their parents have better habits isn’t totally clear, though. Since researchers didn’t document the actual content of the conversations between students and parents, it’s unknown why the conversations positively affected their behavior.

The researchers say the design of their study tells them the association is stronger than simple correlation. The next step in their research is to establish the mechanism (e.g., parents giving health information or motivational messages).

What do you think is the connection between parental communication and student health? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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A failing grade can be a heavy blow to a student. But failing the class again – and having to tell your parents? That can be downright agonizing.

Perhaps that’s why Aftab Aslam decided to stage his own kidnapping, instead.

After receiving his second “F” in English at Gwinnett College in Georgia, the 19-year-old student decided avoiding the issue with his family. Instead, he bought a burner cellphone from Target and, claiming to be a criminal gang, texted his parents that their son had been kidnapped.

The text warned them not to contact the police, or Aslam would be killed.

His parents – perhaps sensing something wasn’t quite right – called the police anyway. The police brought in the FBI, and one intensive investigation later, the phone Aslam had used to send the text was found.

Once they learned he was the one who bought the phone, his case was downgraded from suspected kidnapping to missing-person investigation.

In fact, Aslam was camping out in a field, but bad weather forced him to return home, where he stuck to his story, telling his parents the “gang” had drugged him and held him prisoner.

As you might have guessed, his story quickly fell apart, and Aslam eventually confessed the truth.

While he may have hoped that his safe return would overshadow his parents’ anger at the failing grades, the results were less positive. The police arrested him and charged him with:

• falsely reporting a crime
• making false statements
• tampering with evidence, and
• making terroristic threats.

He was released the next day on $9,000 bail.

Let that be a lesson to other students embarrassed by bad grades: When it comes to bad grades, it’s better to just admit it to parents … than to get the FBI involved.

What do you think? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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No argument here that a college degree is worth it. But keep in mind: Not all degrees are created equal … 

Surveys show that the median salary for college grads tops what those holding a high school diploma earn by more than $20,000.

And when you look at the unemployment rate, someone holding a bachelor’s degree is twice as likely to find a job compared to those whoh don’t.

But there are bachelor’s degrees … and there are bachelor’s degrees.

Here’s what PayScale says are the degrees undergrads might want to steer clear of (if earnings are the big motivator):

And by the way, if a paycheck is what drives you, stick with engineering. As always, it’s at the top of the pile when it comes to salary.

But now let’s look at the degrees that attract undergrads who are driven by love, not money:

Drama:  Starting salary: $35,600; mid-career salary: $56,600

Fine Arts:   Starting salary: $35,800; mid-career annual salary: $56,300

Hospitality and Tourism:  Starting salary: $35,800; mid-career annual salary: $56,300

Education:  Starting salary: $36,200; mid-career salary: $54,100

Horticulture: Starting salary: $37,200; mid-career salary: $53,400

Spanish:  Starting salary: $37,200; mid-career salary: $53,400

Music:   Starting salary: $34,000; mid-career salary: $52,000

Theology:  Starting salary: $34,800; mid-career salary: $51,500

Elementary Education:  Starting salary: $33,000; mid-career salary: $42,400

Social Work:   Starting salary: $33,400; mid-career salary: $41,600

Interestingly, check out these “keep your eyes on ‘em” career trends from just four years ago — are they turning out to be the big wage earners?

From the University of California San Diego Extension:

1)     Casual Game Development: About 200 million people play casual games online every month. It’s one of the fastest growing areas of the video game industry.

2)     Clinical trials design and management for oncology: Specifically, pharmaceutical drug and medical device development.

3)     Data Mining: For businesses in every industry, it’s all about information – who’s using which services and products. Analyzing this data, gives businesses a compass for their own offerings.

4)     Computer Software Engineering: This is expected to be one of the fastest growing careers for the next seven years.

5)     Web Feature Writing: As newspapers are vanishing, online publications are growing.

6)     Geriatric Healthcare: As Baby Boomers get older, there’s a greater need for nursing and home healthcare.

7)     Graphic Design for Mobile Media: 10% of Americans use the Internet or video via a mobile device every week. Web site design is big.

8)     Occupational Health and Safety: Careers in this field are expected to increase 9% over the next few years.

9)     Specialized Spanish/English Translation: Law, medicine and business are looking for people bilingual in Spanish and English.

10)  Sustainable Business Practices and the Greening of all Jobs: This is about meeting compliance and regulation changes as well as growth opportunities in going green.

11)  Teaching Adult Learners: With the economy down, adult education is up. Private education was one of only two industries that’s seen job growth recently.

12)  Teaching English as a Foreign Language: There’s an availability of teaching jobs abroad as well as at home for those who can teach English as a second language and English as a foreign language.

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But imagine Shasten Snellgroves surprise — and dismay — when she found out her roommate at NYU was a mom with a four-year-old toddler.

And because of the school’s lenient guest policy, the child could be in the room every day, according to the New York Daily News.

“What [if] the child slips in the hallway or bathtub and sustains a serious injury?” Snellgroves wrote on the school’s student-run blog.

“Who is going to stop the child from opening the refrigerator and drinking my bottle of wine?”

According to university housing policy, guests are allowed to check in every day as short-term visitors.

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Richard Hershey is a vegetarian advocate who spends a lot of his time distributing free, educational booklets espousing the alleged benefits of a plant-based diet.

On May 16, 2011, Hershey decided to hand out leaflets on the campus of Lehman College, which is part of the City University of New York college system.

Hershey began by stationing himself on a main public walkway in the middle of the campus. A campus public safety officer told him that he needed permission from the college’s administration before he could hand out materials.

Request Is Denied
The officer escorted Hershey to the school’s executive assistant to the vice president of student affairs. Hershey said the assistant told him he needed to file a written request for permission to hand out leaflets on campus and that he could not respond to a written request that day. He also said he was told to leave the office and that he could hand out his leaflets on the sidewalk outside any of the college’s gates.

Hershey then began handing out leaflets on a public sidewalk outside the school’s main gate, frequently crossing a driveway entrance to campus.

After about 10 minutes, a public safety officer told Hershey he had to move away from the area of the main gate. He refused to comply, and he was arrested and issued a summons for trespass. Later on the same day, Hershey went back to where he was arrested and called the New York City police. A responding officer allegedly told him he could hand out leaflets from that spot, and he did so for about 90 minutes.

Suit Raises Variety of Claims
Hershey sued several individuals associated with the school, raising claims including:
• violation of the First and Fourth Amendments
• false arrest
• false imprisonment
• assault and battery
• malicious prosecution, and
• abuse of process.

At the district court, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case. First, the court granted the motion as to Hershey’s claim that the defendants violated his First Amendment rights by banning his on-campus leafletting.

The campus was a limited public forum, and the college’s policy of restricting leafletting by outsiders was reasonable. However, the court denied the dismissal motion with respect to Hershey’s First Amendment claims based on his off-campus leafletting.

Different Standard for Public Sidewalk
A public sidewalk is a traditional public forum, where speech restrictions must be content-neutral and narrowly tailored. In addition, they must “leave open ample alternative channels of communication.”

Under this standard, Hershey sufficiently alleged that the school lacked a good reason to restrict his off-campus leafletting. Video footage supported his allegation that he was arbitrarily moved from his spot near the main gate.

The court granted the motion to dismiss Hershey’s malicious prosecution and abuse-of-process claims. He could not prove malicious prosecution because he did not allege that a criminal proceeding against him was resolved in his favor, and the abuse-of-process claim failed because he did not claim the officers possessed harmful intent or an “illegitimate collateral objective.”

Because Hershey adequately alleged that the officers who arrested him acted unreasonably, the court denied the motion to dismiss the claims of excessive force and assault and battery.

Negligence Claim Is Dismissed
A negligence claim was dismissed because state law did not recognize a negligence claim arising out of an arrest or prosecution.

The court dismissed a constitutional tort claim, finding that it duplicated other claims. It further dismissed claims alleging supervisory liability because they did not sufficiently allege personal involvement by the accused supervisory personnel.

Finally, the court found it was too early in the case to decide whether the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity. The defense motion was granted in part and denied in part.

Hershey v. Goldstein, No. 12 Civ. 3853(PAE), 2013 WL 1431422 (S.D.N.Y. 4/9/13).

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According to local police, Meg Lanker-Simons created the post, which included comments like:
• “I want to hate (f-bomb) Meg Lanker-Simons so hard.”
• “That chick runs her liberal mouth all the time.”
• “One night with me and shes [sic] gonna be a good Republican bitch.”

The post has been removed.

University officials confirmed its police department had “obtained substantial evidence verifying that the offending Facebook post came from Lanker-Simons’ computer.”

Lanker-Simons was issued a citation from campus police, which read: “Subject admitted to making a controversial post on UW Crushes web page and then lied about not doing it.”

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What’s the easiest and quickest way to turn a D average into an A? Here’s a hint: It ain’t studying harder.  It’s called Adderall, although really, any attention-deficit drug will do.

Here’s a survey that looked at more than 700 students at Skidmore College during the 2010-2011 year, from troyrecord.com:

• More than 24 percent of students said they’d used some type of attention-deficit disorder drug, such as Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta, etc. They did this without a prescription or used it other than they’d been directed to by a doctor.

• Adderall was the most common drug used, with 94.7 percent claiming they used it, followed by Ritalin at 44.4 percent.

• 88.1 percent of these students in the survey (about 21 percent of the overall student body) said they used them in the past year; 43.4 percent said in the past month; and 22.1 percent had used them within the past week.

• The biggest way to use the drug was actually not for improving grades and studying harder: 25.6 percent said they used them as party drugs, and 74.4 percent said they used them as study aids.

In spite of the stats, Adderall is known as the study drug.

Originally developed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD, it’s gained hugely in popularity with young adults who have no such diagnosis.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, as many as one in five college students say they’ve used Adderall without being diagnosed with ADHD, according to drugwatch.com

So what does Adderall do exactly?

Well, students say it gives them a heightened sense of motivation, focus and concentration (think: all-nighter), as well as provide an added boost before a test.

Does Adderall make you smarter? No. But it does get rid of distractions and allow students to stay focused.

And it’s quite easy to obtain Adderall.

Students review the symptoms of ADHD and then present themselves to a doctor who prescribes the drug. Some students have reported that all they have to do is show anxiety about tests and their ability to focus, and they can go home with a prescription for Adderall.

The problem, of course, is that there are risks in using the drug.

According to the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, well over 10 percent of people ages 12 to 25 said they’ve used these drugs for nonmedical reasons in the past year — and college students were twice as likely to abuse Adderall.

And it’s a pretty easy drug to get addicted to.

But here’s why that’s not such a great idea. Harmful side effects include:

• Low blood pressure

• Depression

• Headaches

• Irritability

• Dry mouth

• Rapid mood swings

• Loss of appetite

• Insomnia

In short, they’re basically FDA-approved methamphetamines, and come with the side-effects expected of such stimulants: nervousness, agitation, insomnia, appetite suppression and more.

Even worse, some research shows the drug isn’t good for learning. The actual GPA of students using the meds as a study aid aren’t any better than their non-drug-taking peers – and may actually be worse, according to a 2005 Harvard University study.

Here’s what a college student says about his own addiction to Adderall, which has also led to a reliance on Ativan to sleep at night:

“Look, I am in a culture that constantly justifies the means to an end,” he told the New York Times.

“So how do we persuade people not to take it? All you hear is how impossible it will be to get a job when you get out, and you are going more and more into debt, and you think without this I won’t be top of the class.

“With other drugs you know you are ruining your life. But Adderall manipulates you into thinking you are doing what is needed to have a great life.”

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College students judge professors based on their Facebook profiles, according to a new study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking. The research shines new light on how faculty and students use the social network to communicate with each other.

In the study, “Professors’ Facebook Content Affects Students’ Perceptions and Expectations,” researchers worked with 110 undergraduates – 77 female and 33 male – to gauge their responses to a 39-year-old male professor’s Facebook page.

Unbeknownst to the students, the professor and his Facebook pages, were fictional.

Each student randomly viewed one of six different (fake) profiles, designed to represent the professor as being either:

• Politically conservative
• Politically liberal
• Religious
• Family-oriented
• Socially-oriented, or
• Professional.

Students were then asked to rate the professor’s skill, friendliness, popularity and appropriateness based on what they saw in the profile. They were also asked to rate their own likelihood of taking the professor’s class, how difficult they thought the class would be and how much they respected him.

Here’s how the students responded:

Professors with professionally-oriented profiles were viewed as the most skilled, while socially-oriented and politically conservative professors were seen as least skilled.

Social professors were judged to be least likely to be difficult, while conservative professors were assumed to give tough courses.

On both ends of the political spectrum, students had little positive to say: they were seen as least friendly and least respectable, based on how they wore their politics on their sleeve.

There was also little respect for the social professor, while the family-oriented version was seen as very respectable.

But students were most interested in the professional information on the professor’s profile – though said that information was least influential when forming an opinion about the instructor.

The takeaway: Students form perceptions of faculty based on what they disclose. So make sure instructors remember they need to be just as careful on Facebook as they remind their students to be.

How does your faculty interact with social networking? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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Attorney Roy Den Hollander filed a class action lawsuit against several New York state education officials, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Secretary of Education to challenge the provision of public funding to Columbia University.

Columbia maintains an Institute for Research on Women’s and Gender Studies, and it also has a Women’s Studies Program.

Calling feminism a “modern-day religion,” Hollander claimed that the defendants violated the Establishment Clause by providing funding to the school. The funding “promote[d] and favor[ed] the religion Feminism while inhibiting other contradictory viewpoints,” he alleged.

Earlier Challenge Was Rejected
The allegations in this action mirrored those presented by Hollander in an earlier – and unsuccessful – suit. In the earlier case, a federal appeals court determined that Hollander lacked standing to pursue his claims. It found that his “claims of harm amount[ed] to the kind of speculative harm for which courts cannot confer standing.” It further found he did not meet the requirements necessary to establish taxpayer standing.

In his latter case, Hollander sought declaratory and injunctive relief, again asserting that he had standing to pursue his claims as a taxpayer and as an alumnus of the school whose “direct contact with the offensive religion” of feminism made him “very uncomfortable.”

A federal district court dismissed Hollander’s latter complaint. Hollander asked the district court to vacate its judgment and allow him to amend his complaint, saying he had found two new plaintiffs who could show they had standing. The district court denied his request, and he filed an appeal.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling. It upheld the district court’s determination that collateral estoppel barred the present action because Hollander had previously litigated the issue of whether he had standing to pursue the claims he filed.

Issue Was Already Decided
In the prior action, the issue of whether Hollander had standing to assert an Establishment Clause claim based on the defendants’ provision of public funding to the university was fully litigated and decided. As a result, he could not proceed with the latter lawsuit.

The appeals court also upheld the district court’s decision to deny Hollander’s request to vacate the judgment and amend his complaint. A motion to vacate can be granted when there is:
• an intervening change in controlling law
• new evidence
• the need to correct a clear error, or
• the need to prevent manifest injustice.

In this case, Hollander supported his motion with a claim that he had located two new plaintiffs. But new plaintiffs are not “new evidence,” and he did not otherwise show that the motion should be granted.

Finally, the court reminded Hollander that attorneys who file complaints are thus certifying that their allegations have evidentiary support and are not frivolous. It warned him “to consider carefully” whether his conduct meets this test before filing another similar complaint. The district court’s ruling was affirmed.

Hollander v. Board of Regents of the State of New York, No. 12-2362-cv, 2013 WL 1442551 (2d Cir. 4/10/13).

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New York’s Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art has provided tuition-free education to students going all the way back to 1859. But that’s about to change.

The school recently announced that, beginning in fall 2014, it would start charging about half the cost of tuition for undergrads, up to $19,000 a year (tuition increases won’t affect current students).

The board of trustees’ stated reason for the change: a $12 million annual budget deficit.

In the past, funding has been provided by various investments, including real estate in the Chrysler Building and throughout Manhattan. Unfortunately, those investments have fallen short of covering Cooper Union’s long-term costs.

Outraged students have begun protesting, saying the change in cost undermines a tradition of meritocracy that sets the school apart from other private colleges. Protests included a demonstration by architecture students, who painted a lobby black, and an impromptu sit-in.

“Impromptu,” because the initial plan was to simply present a letter citing a vote of “no confidence” to president Jamshed Bharucha. But Bharucha exited the building before being confronted by protesters, leaving an empty office for students to sit in.

50 of Cooper Union’s nearly 1,000 students occupied the office.

In response, students were threatened with expulsion – a threat that’s currently being reassessed.

Similarly-minded schools

Cooper Union’s not the only tuition-free school out there. But the school’s policy change means other such colleges may consider following its lead.

Other tuition-free colleges:

• College of the Ozarks (students attend free in exchange for 15 hours of on-campus work)
• Berea College (students attend free in exchange for 10 hours of work)
• Curtis Institute of Music (students audition for enrollment and full scholarships)
• Alice Lloyd College (free tuition for Central Appalachian residents)
• Webb Institute (full scholarships for all enrolled students)
• Deep Springs (students must work on the school’s cattle ranch and alfalfa farm to receive free tuition)
• United States Military Academy (students must serve in the military and play on a sports team each semester)
• United States Coast Guard Academy (post-graduate service is required)
• United States Naval Academy (post-graduate service is required)
• United States Air Force Academy  (post-graduate service is required)

What should the school – and its students – do next? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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You have the good grades and the teacher recommendations. But how do you actually land that dream internship?   And once you get it, how do you turn it into a full-time job?

Good news: The people who interview and hire interns have come clean with insider tips that every college student should read.

Firms still hiring interns

Leaping into the “real world” – even if it’s only temporarily for an internship – might seem daunting.

But it’s clear that employers still see a lot of value in bringing on college students to learn the ropes and contribute to their companies. And even though the economy is still recovering, the opportunities appear to be vast for qualified students.

Proof: Nearly 80% of companies will be hiring interns this summer, according to an exclusive survey of 98 HR pros conducted by Progressive Business Publications.

How to land that stellar internship

Now, we know what you’re thinking: Landing an internship is easier said than done.

There’s no question competition for internships has increased in recent years.

Plus, finding, applying and interviewing for internships that wouldn’t start for months can seem a little less important than studying for next week’s test.

But taking a few, key steps while you’re still in classes can help secure an internship that might set you up for a successful post-college career.

Here’s the best advice HR professionals have for college students who are just starting to look for internships, courtesy of our exclusive survey:

Don’t wait until the end of the semester to start looking.

Write a letter of introduction that sets you apart from others.

Be persistent in your search.

Be proactive – research the companies you’re talking to.

Don’t be so specific in what you want to do. Be flexible – you’ll have to be in “the real world job.”

Learn to prepare a professional resume and dress professionally.

Know what you want to achieve in your internship.

Do something besides going to class. Get involved on campus and build some leadership experience. If every story you tell in an interview is a classroom-based story, you are missing a huge opportunity for what you can learn in college.

Connect with potential employers at job fairs and look online for local companies who hire those with your major.

Especially in this job market, students should be aware of what the Department of Labor says about unpaid internships. If you’re expected to do work that benefits a company in any way, you should be paid at least minimum wage. Don’t be taken advantage of!

Ask questions of the potential employer about assignments and which department you’ll be assigned to. And ask about the evaluation process of your work.

Network with people you know to see if there are internships at their companies.

Be sincere in your application and do what you say you will do. Show up for work and learn all you can.

If you put an objective on your resume, make it specialized to what you’re applying for. Cover letters explaining why you want to get an internship are very valuable.

Make good choices! We were very disappointed to have to eliminate an intern candidate for failing his drug screen.

Look for the culture that fits you.

How to make that internship count

Landing that stellar internship may seem like the end goal, and there’s no doubt it’s hard work.

But put in great work during your internship, and you just may end up with a job come graduation.

In fact, nearly 60% of 2012 college graduates who had a paid internship received at least one job offer.

That’s according to the 2012 Student Survey conducted by The National Association of Colleges and Employers.

But what should you do during your internship to ensure you get that offer?

HR pros were forthcoming with on-the-job tips for future professionals who are getting their glimpse of the “real world” via an internship.

Listen, watch and learn.

Treat the internship as if it were your “job” – an internship is a long-working interview.

Be on time and take your job assignments seriously.

Take advantage of the shared knowledge and business atmosphere and see if you feel [a potential job] could be right for you.

Draft proposal ideas of your own that relate to a potential employer’s mission or goals.

Come in with an attitude of wanting to learn and challenge your mentor to share with you as much as possible.

Be adept at catching on quickly.

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Ball State University students Jacob Zimmerman and Sean Sumwalt did not get along with their roommate, who is referred to in the court’s ruling as “Target.”

While living with Target in an off-campus apartment, Zimmerman and Sumwalt placed a sandwich in Target’s bedroom during a school vacation and locked the door, leaving the sandwich to rot.

The pair also played an elaborate “Catfishing” prank on Target, creating a phony Facebook page of a fictitious high school sophomore and initiating an online relationship with him. They also enlisted the help of a 15-year-old girl to pose as the fictitious girl in cell phone and text message conversations.

The prank culminated when the pair helped set up a meeting between Target and the girl at a movie theater and videotaped their revelation of the hoax to him. They also posted the video on YouTube under a title that called him a pedophile.

Victim Asks School for Help
Target became a “nervous wreck.” He sought medical attention and began having trouble with his coursework. He also filed a complaint with the school’s Office of Student Rights and Community Standards.

After investigating, the school charged the pair with violating honor code provisions banning harassment and invasion of privacy. Both accepted responsibility by signing a document that acknowledged their violations of the honor code.

Both were suspended for one year. They were also told they would be placed on probation upon their return and would need to “take part in activities to raise awareness of fellow students regarding the responsible use of social media.”

The students appealed the sanctions, arguing they were too harsh. The sanctions were upheld.

Zimmerman served the suspension and re-enrolled. Sumwalt chose not to return, and he completed his degree elsewhere.

Suit Challenges Authority
Zimmerman and Sumwalt sued the university’s board of trustees and individual defendants, claiming violations of the First Amendment and due process requirements.

They claimed the school lacked the authority to regulate the challenged conduct because it took place off campus. They sought a variety of relief, including damages and an order requiring the school to remove references to the incident from their files.

Both sides sought pretrial judgment, and the plaintiffs also asked for an emergency hearing on a preliminary injunction.

First, the court concluded that all claims for monetary damages against trustees in their official capacities were barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Also, claims against trustees in their individual capacities could not proceed because they were entitled to qualified immunity. The students did not adequately allege a violation of a clearly established constitutional right.

As to the students’ due process claims, it was clear that they were provided with the requisite notice and an opportunity to be heard. A substantive due process claim could not proceed because the students did not allege that the defendants acted in a way that shocked the conscience.

Under state law, state universities such as Ball State can govern the conduct of students to prevent “unlawful or objectionable acts” that threaten the school, violate its reasonable rules and standards, or present a serious threat – regardless of where the conduct takes place.

Because the statute makes the location of the conduct irrelevant, the court rejected the argument that the conduct could not be regulated because it occurred off campus.

The court also rejected the students’ argument that their conduct was not “objectionable.” In addition, the conduct violated honor code provisions that were designed to protect the academic community from serious threats.

No First Amendment Violation
Nor did the school’s actions violate the students’ First Amendment rights. The students’ creation of the Facebook page and fictitious postings were not protected speech, the court found. Even if they were, the defendants would be entitled to qualified immunity on the First Amendment claims raised against them.

The defense motion for pretrial judgment was granted.

Zimmerman v. Board of Trustees of Ball State Univ., No. 1:12-cv-01475-JMS-DML, 2013 WL 1619532 (S.D. Ind. 4/15/13)).

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Bowdoin College tops the list of the healthiest colleges in the country, according to fitness and health website Greatist’s recent list. It unseats last year’s top school, UCLA.

How does the site rank these schools? It starts with nominations from readers through social media and responses to the previous year’s list, then hunts for info on schools with great food, fitness facilities, health programming and other signs of a healthy student body.

Using that as a starting point, it also consults student surveys from the Princeton Review and College Prowler on more than 100 schools. Then each school gets scored on:

• Dining services (including dining hall menus and sustainability of ingredients)
• Fitness facilities (including club and intramural sports)
• Health services (such as class offerings and accessibility)
• Happiness rankings (including campus acreage and dorm satisfaction), and
• Health and fitness initiatives.

Here are the top results, along with some of their healthiest features:

1. Bowdoin College – Also #1 on the Princeton Review’s “best Food” list, and it offers a wide range of health and fitness classes, seminars and workshops on subjects such as integrative medicine, acupuncture and yoga.
2. Stanford University – Ranked the happiest school in the U.S. by Newsweek and College Prowler, the school’s dining halls feature foods free of artificial preservatives, colors and flavors and a 10 Weeks to a Fitter You program.
3. Virginia Tech – Health features include an incentive program based on exercise routines created by personal trainers and healthy options like grilled salmon at the dining hall.
4. Rice University – Princeton Review’s pick for the school with the happiest students, the school offers creative intramural sports such as inner tube water polo.
5. Washington University in St. Louis – The Studio40 kitchen gives students a hands-on program including healthy eating cooking classes and chef demonstrations, as well as a fitness center open more than 100 hours per week.
6. Brown University – Trojan ranked this school highly for having accessible sexual health resources and a positively reviewed health center.
7. Wheaton College – Free shuttle services bring students to and from off-campus medical appointments, and the cafeteria makes sustainable choices in its servings, as well as locally sourced foods.
8. Cornell University – The school uses an “eating well” apple icon on menus to alert students to healthy menu options at its 30 campus eateries.
9. University of Massachusetts, Amherst – Students can sign up for UFIT, a 10-week class designed to help them lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
10. Bryn Mawr College – Topping Princeton Review’s “dorms like palaces” list, students can attend sustainability dinners and an annual Cycle-a-thon benefit.

Check out the complete top 25 list here, and share your school’s health-promotion options in the comments section.

The post The top 10 healthiest U.S. colleges appeared first on Higher Ed Morning.

Syracuse, Johns Hopkins and Rochester Universities are part of a growing trend among higher education: Schools that help their outgoing students clean up their Internet reputations. The schools are offering online tools to help students scrub embarrassing materials.

The free tools don’t remove undesirable photos of drunken frat parties or dumb pranks – that’s just not possible. But they do make sure a flattering, professional profile of the graduate is the first thing potential employers see when they do a Google search (as two in five hiring managers say they do).

BrandYourself – developed by Syracuse alumni – charges $10 a month for an account that helps search engines find and boost the ranking of students’ LinkedIn accounts and other preferred pages. The company was started after co-founder Pete Kistler learned that being confused for a drug dealer with the same name was keeping him from being considered for internships.

About 25,000 people have access to the service, including Syracuse students and alumni, who are offered accounts free of charge.

Other schools that don’t offer such a service still make sure students understand the importance of cleaning up their online footprints before starting a job search. As University of Colorado-Boulder career services director Lisa Slavery told CBS:

“The first item on our ‘five things to do before you graduate’ list is ‘clean up your online profile. We call it the grandma test – if you don’t want her to see it, you probably don’t want an employer to, either.”

How does your school help students put their best foot forward online? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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Not all master’s degrees are created equal. Just take a look at this list of the best paying degrees — and the worst.  We’ll start with the good news. Here are the top 10 best-paying graduate degrees, according to monster.com:

1. Master’s in Electrical Engineering: The median pay is $121,000. Possible jobs include a senior systems engineer, with a salary of $124,000, a software developer at $112,000 and a senior electrical engineer, at a salary of $108,000.

2. Master’s in Finance: The median pay is $120,000. Possible jobs include a vice president of finance, at a typical salary of $170,000, finance director at  $154,000 and a senior financial analyst with a salary of $83,500.

3. Master’s in Chemical Engineering: The median pay is $117,000. Possible jobs include a process engineering manager, at a salary of $148,000, a senior chemical engineer at $124,000 and a chemical process engineer with a salary of $102,000.

4. Master’s in Economics: The median salary is $114,000. Possible jobs include a marketing director with a salary of $150,000,  an economist at $107,000 and a senior financial analyst with a salary of $104,000.)

5. Master’s in Physics: Median pay is $113,000. Possible jobs include a senior software engineer who’s paid $112,000, a physicist at $93,400 and a secondary school teacher at $70,000.

6. Master’s in Computer Science: Median pay is $109,000. Possible jobs include a software architect at a salary of $124,000, an IT project manager, earning around $109,000 and a software developer at $96,100.

7. Master’s in Mechanical Engineering: The median pay is $105,000. Possible jobs include a senior mechanical engineer with a salary of $100,000, a project engineer at $88,300 and a mechanical engineer at $86,800.

8. Master’s in Civil Engineering: Median pay is $97,100. Possible jobs include a construction project manager with a salary of $97,100, a structural engineer at $86,600 and a civil engineer at $84,800.

9. Master’s in Physician Assistant Studies: Median pay is $96,200. Possible jobs include a physician assistant at $96,500

10. Master’s in Management Information Systems: Median pay is $95,000. Possible jobs include a senior software engineer $105,000, an IT manager at $92,600 and a systems analyst at $82,400.

And now for the low-paying jobs:

1. Master’s in Counseling: The median pay is $52,300. Possible jobs include guidance counselor at a salary of $59,000, mental health counselor at $48,800 and social worker with a salary of $47,300.

2. Master’s in Social Work: The median pay is$56,900. Possible jobs include a clinical services director at $64,700, social worker at $54,200 and a clinical therapist with earnings at $50,900.

3. Master’s in Music: The median pay is $56,900. Possible jobs include a secondary school teacher with a salary around $55,300, an elementary school teacher at $44,700 and a music director with a salary of $43,000.

4. Master’s in Library and Information Science: The median pay is $57,100. Possible jobs include an elementary school principal at $74,300, a secondary school teacher at $54,700 and an elementary school teacher at $53,800.

5. Master’s in Education: Median pay is $60,000. Possible jobs include an elementary school principal at $74,300, a secondary school teacher at $54,700 and an elementary school teacher at $53,800.

The post The Best – And The Worst – Master’s Degrees appeared first on Higher Ed Morning.