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Ruth Heflin was an associate professor at Kansas City Kansas Community College, which has a main campus in Kansas City and a satellite campus in Leavenworth.

Until 2007, Heflin had an office on the Leavenworth campus. That changed when the college provost told her that her assigned work and office location would be at the main campus in Kansas City.

Heflin resisted the move, insisting she was entitled to keep her office in Leavenworth – even though, by the fall 2007 semester, she wasn’t teaching any classes at that location. Her proposal was to meet with students “in or near” classrooms at the Kansas City location.

Heflin sued after she was eventually suspended and fired, but a court upheld her termination. It was reasonable to require her to hold office hours in Kansas City, and her refusal to do so was insubordination.

Cite: Heflin v. Kansas City Kansas Community College.

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About one in two students who starts college never finish. Now a multi-state alliance, Complete College America, has formed to fight these disappointing completion rates through policy changes and ambitious plans. The goal: ensure 60% of students hold an associate or bachelor’s degree by 2020, bringing the numbers up from the current 38%.

There’s some question of whether these efforts can succeed against the cuts to state funding for public higher education. But the leaders behind Complete College America expect that a federal incentive program could provide money for successful states, as part of a bill calling for government to replace private lenders in the student loan business.

Also on the agenda: addressing the gap in degree completion between white students (half of whom earn a degree) and African-American and Hispanic students (one-third of whom earn a degree).

Funding for Complete College America comes from several charity groups, including Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has donated $12 million in startup funds. The states involved are Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.

Tell us how your school has combated low graduation rates in the comments section below.

Several colleges now accept YouTube videos as part of the application process. But are these videos really adding anything — and are they fair? Take a look and see what you think.

The idea began last spring at Tufts University.

Lee Coffin, dean of undergraduate admissions, saw one teen’s well-made video and thought there was merit in including these made-at-home movies as a supplement to the regular application.

Speaking with The New York Times, Coffin said, “…This is all about a conversation between a kid and an admissions officer. You see their floppy hair and their messy bedrooms and you get a sense of who they are…The videos let them share their voice.”

About 6.6% of Tufts applicants decided to submit videos – with 60% of them coming from women.

So far, George Mason University, the University of Chicago and a handful of other colleges have also begun to accept videos from applicants.

But some educators worry a video supplement will favor applicants coming from higher income families. The concern is that admissions officers might favor “Cecil B. DeMille” extravaganzas vs. low-budget productions.

Yet Tufts administrators say two-thirds of their application videos were submitted by students seeking financial aid.

So the question is: Do these videos really add anything to the college application process?

Here’s what the editors of this blog think:

Tom’s take:  Just what we need – another unfair advantage for families with the means to come up with a slick video portrayal of their precious young candidate. Let’s spawn yet another cottage industry, this time one of video consultants who cater to those who can afford their services while burdening the less well-heeled with yet another distinct disadvantage. Admissions officials should be working to level the playing field for applicants – not make it more uneven than it already is.

Carin’s take: I think it’s a great idea. Just as not all students perform well on one type of test, not all applicants present themselves well in one kind of format. This is another vehicle to help students let admissions officers know who they are. As for critics who claim it favors the rich, the playing field has never been equal when it comes to the college application process – what with SAT courses and coaches to prep those who can afford it. I trust admissions officials will see through any video glitz and focus on what applicants are trying to express.

Take a look at a few of the videos – and then let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Under Alabama law, no member of the board of trustees of Alabama State University can serve on the board past September 30 following his 70^th birthday.

Joe Reed, who was set to hit 70 before his term on the board expired, sued the governor and chair of the board to block his removal. He said the age limit was unconstitutional because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

No dice, the Eleventh Circuit appeals court said. Relying heavily on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Gregory v. Ashcroft, 502 U.S. 452 (1991), it said the mandatory retirement provision was constitutional because it satisfied rational basis review.

Cite: Clark v. Riley.

How old is too old to serve on a college board of trustees? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Yale University will also be reducing graduate student numbers, limiting funding for research programs and even keeping the thermostat set to 68 degrees, in their efforts to close a $150 million budget gap.

Last year, the school’s endowment dropped from $22.9 billion down to $16.3 billion, forcing 100 staff layoffs, with more to come – though faculty positions won’t be affected. Meanwhile, new graduate student intake will be reduced by 10-15%.

Another cost-cutting step: Staff earning more than $83,000 will have to pay for part of their Yale Health Plan coverage.

How is your school working to cut costs? Let us know in the comments section below.

• 1.3 million students who should have graduated with the class of 2008 dropped out of high school.
• If half that number had remained in school, they would have earned another $4.1 billion by the middle of their career.
• Their spending and subsequent investments would have helped add another 30,000 jobs nationwide.
• This would have boosted the economies in their region by a total of $5.3 billion.

Getting a diploma — even better, diplomas — pays off, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With the unemployment rate hovering around the 10% mark, the percentage was:

• half that for students with college degrees.
• 9% for those who had some college education.
• 10.5% for students with high school diplomas
• 15.3% for high school drop-outs.

Getting a diploma is more essential than ever. What’s the key to keeping students in school?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Charitable contributions to U.S. colleges and universities fell by nearly 12% last year, according to a survey by the New York-based Council for Aid to Education.

Stanford University was not immune to the sting of tighter purse strings: It collected about $140 million less in 2009 than it did in 2008, a decline of more than 18%.

Yet Stanford still headed the CAE’s list of top fundraising institutions for the year, taking in $640.11 million.

Rounding out the top five were Harvard University, Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University.

Of the 1,027 survey respondents, the top 20 fundraisers collected more than 26% of all 2009 gifts. Two-thirds of the schools that participated in the survey in 2008 and 2009 reported a year-to-year decline in support.

CAE also said gifts for capital purposes sharply declined and alumni participation fell to 10% — the lowest level ever recorded in the 40-year history of the survey.

For more information, including information on how to order full survey results, click here.

Will the downward trend continue? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Learn more about these programs

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• “Had a good day today, didn’t want to kill even one student Now Friday was a different story …”
• “Does anyone know where I can find a very discrete hitman, it’s been that kind of day.”

A student told the university’s administrators about the comments, and the school acted swiftly: Gadsden was suspended indefinitely for making threats.

Marilyn Wells, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, gave the following statement: “Given the climate of security concerns in academia, the university has an obligation to take all threats seriously and act accordingly.”

But according to The Chronicle for Higher Education, the professor believes her complaint of racial harassment against the school last month is at least partially to blame for her current suspension.

Do you think the school took the appropriate action? Let us know in the comments section below.

University of Oregon wide receiver Jamere Holland has been booted from the team, following the student athlete’s post to his Facebook page.

Following the arrest of a fellow athlete, Holland posted, “I wish I could block whites as friends and only have blacks LOL, cause apparently I’m misunderstood.”

Soon after, he was dismissed for violating team rules.

When asked by reporters if the violation was related to Holland’s Facebook post, coach Chip Kelly told The Oregonian, “I won’t get into the specifics, but you’re smart enough to figure it out.”

The University of Oregon has had to deal with a series of recent off-the-field errors by the school’s student athletes, including assault, harassment and driving under the influence.

But this is the first instance of an athlete being dismissed for offenses related to social networking.

Damaging posts to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites have sent many schools scrambling to develop a system to avoid embarrassment – including the University of Mississippi’s decision to employ a company to monitor their students’ pages for inappropriate content.

Do you think the school overreacted, or was the student’s Facebook blunder inexcusable? Let us know in the comments section.

In fact, cheating in computer science classes accounts for 23% of Stanford’s honor code violations.

Researchers revealed how cheaters do it:

• unpermitted collaboration (43%)
• plagiarism, uncited work from the Internet (31%)
• copying from classmates (11%)

Regardless of the reasons for cheating, Stanford has had a significant increase in the number of violations.

One professor uses a “collective incentive” to deter students from cheating: He adds five weight percent points to the final exam for each honor code violation.

For more information on the study, go here and here.

Have you noticed a cheating spike among students? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

Male college enrollment and graduate rates have stabilized at 43% overall, says an American Council on Education report (available for purchase here). The gap had grown steadily during the 1980’s and ‘90s.

Nationally, the gender gap was most pronounced for low-income students, older students (over age 25), and minorities. Why? Economic, cultural and educational factors.

Since wages for men with a high school diploma are (slightly) better for women, there’s more incentive to stick with their job than enroll in college.

But cultural aspects come into play as well. While women may be comfortable going back to college later in life, there is a social stigma that for men, enrolling later admits vulnerability.

For male minority students, who have continued to fall further behind female peers, this stigma starts at high school, where, for example, Latino graduation rates are also lower than average.

How do these numbers compare to enrollment at your school? Sound off in the comments section below.

Winter break gave many students a chance to earn money. In fact, even during the school year, nearly half of students in four-year colleges work more than 20 hours a week.

Here are some more results from the study by Public Agenda:

• In community colleges, 60% work more than 20 hours a week — and more than 25% work at least 35 hours a week.
• 23% of college students have dependent children.

The study surveyed young adults 22 to 30 to learn their views on higher education.

In doing so, it dispels some myths about attending college today in the U.S.

For instance, if you think students leave college before graduating because they don’t feel like working hard, the young adults surveyed said it’s actually because it’s hard to devote time to studying when they’re working so many hours.

To see the full report, click here.

Do you think it’s tougher for today’s college students to remain in school and get that diploma? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

• 60% think today’s colleges are like most businesses, focusing mainly on the bottom line — this number is 8% higher than in 2007
• 60% believe colleges could “take a lot more students” without sacrificing quality or increasing costs.
• Only 40% believe the quality of education would suffer if colleges cut their budgets.

The skyrocketing cost of attending college is also a concern to the vast majority of those polled:

• 83% think students have to borrow too much to pay for their education — up 5% from 2007.
• 69% say many qualified applicants are denied the opportunity of getting a college education — up 7% from 2007.
• 65% believe college costs are increasing at a faster rate than other things — up 7% from 2007.

Is the public’s perception of higher education accurate? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

In 2006,  23-year-old frat pledge Bradley Swearingen was at the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house at the University of North Texas.

The linoleum floor was covered with soapy water, and Swearingen slid into a door frame, fracturing three vertibrae in his back.

His injury required surgery. After the initial procedure, Swearingen developed a staph infection — and required two more operations.

Swearingen wound up spending about a month in the hospital and missed nearly two semesters of school. He suffered permanent damage — a loss of range of motion in his neck, and he can’t play contact sports anymore.

He sued the fraternity and its officers, claiming his injuries were caused by hazing.

The fraternity settled, but its officers fought the charges in court. They claimed that frat members weren’t hazing — they were just having fun. They pointed out two key factors:

• active members — not just pledges — participated in the activity, and
• no one was forced to participate.

The jury rejected Swearingen’s claim and found no damages.

Did the jury make the right call? Tell us what you think in the comments section.

Other recommendations: limiting how often students can change majors, reducing the student-faculty ratio and improving academic advising, so students can check out subjects outside their major without delaying graduation.

Would the school actually kick students out if they exceed 10 semesters? That’s currently under debate. The more likely solution would allow students to retain the right to appeal for extra time, depending on extenuating circumstances like illness or family emergency.

Does your school have a policy on students with seemingly never-ending college careers? Tell us more in the comments section.

Ed O’Bannon was a star basketball player at UCLA between 1991 and 1995. He led the team to a national championship in his final year, but a pro career fizzled.

O’Bannon says he and all other student-athletes were forced to sign forms giving up all rights to the commercial use of their images, even after graduation.

Now O’Bannon is suing the NCAA for using his image without providing him compensation. His federal lawsuit alleges an antitrust claim and a claim of unjust enrichment.

O’Bannon received some good news when the court rejected the bid of the NCAA and co-defendant Collegiate Licensing Company to have his main claims dismissed. The court said he has pleaded facts sufficient to avoid dismissal with respect to his claims.

It’s still early in the proceedings – but the case has the potential to forever change the way collegiate licensing fees relating to athletics are distributed.

Cite: O’Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Should college athletes receive a portion of licensing fees? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

• In 2007-08, the number of students jumped 8.5% compared to the year before.
• The number increased a drastic 77% compared to 1987-88.

And what are the students getting from the experience of traveling overseas?

Michael Cowan, executive director of the University of California’s Education Abroad Program, told the Wall Street Journal that a student can “really come to terms with how he or she navigates an unfamiliar world, particularly in places where a different language is dominant.”

Taking a student out of his or her comfort zone can result in an experience that encourages growth and maturity.

But there is a downside to traveling abroad — namely, the cost.

• There’s the extra expense that goes hand-in-hand with travel
• The value of the dollar doesn’t always hold up against foreign currencies.
• Specific cities — such as Paris or London — can be very costly to live in.

Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

It may not have the impact of the “Best U.S. Colleges” reports — but here’s the latest report on “College Food Trends.”

Here are the top five items on a list is provided by Sodexo, a food distributor to college campuses:

• Apricot-glazed turkey
• Meatloaf with frizzle-friend onions
• Vietnamese Pho (rice noodle soup)
• Vegetarian lentil shepherd’s pie
• Chicken adobo (Mexican stew with chilies)

To view the full list, which includes regional preferences, click here.

Anything you think should be added to the list? Let us know in the comments section below.

• 704,000 students took AP exams in 1999 — and 36.5% failed.
• Last year, 1.7 million took the exams, with 41.5% failing.
• More than 48% of students failed in the South (defined as Texas to Delaware).
• Statewide, the highest failure rate was Arkansas’s 70.3%.

Overall, more students clearly are passing the exams than failing them. And experts say it’s expected that grades will drop as more students take the exams.

But the rising failure rate is cause for some concern: Are poorly trained teachers sending students into the exams with inadequate preparation?

It might even be that many students – who normally wouldn’t enroll in AP classes — are being pressured into taking them because of the increasing competition in the college admissions game.

Why do you think more students are failing AP exams — and are these courses really worth the extra effort and cost?

Let us know in the comments section below.

Lansing Community College just announced a new incentive, “Get a Skill, Get a Job or Your Money Back,” aimed at students in short-term training programs.

If students who successfully complete training can’t find a job in the field within the year, the school promises to refund their money.

The offer will apply to four occupational programs: pharmacy technicians, customer service call center workers, certified quality inspectors and home technology integration technicians.

“Why spend money and take time to learn when you may not get a job?” LCC president Brent Knight told the Lansing State Journal.

More details are on the way next month, and the college expects to start its guarantee in May.

Crazy, or just crazy enough to work? Sound off in the comments section.

Three female high school wrestlers chose to attend the University of California, Davis, so they could participate in the school’s wrestling program.

UCD didn’t have separate wrestling teams for men and women. The females practiced with the men and enjoyed the various benefits of varsity status, but they competed only against other females and wrestled under different rules.

When UCD eliminated all women from the team during the 2000-2001 academic year, the females wrestlers protested. UCD’s response: You’re welcome to come back to the team – as long as you can beat male wrestlers in your weight class, using men’s rules.

That didn’t sit too well with the female wrestlers, who sued under Title IX for alleged denial of equal athletic opportunities. They also claimed an equal protection violation.

A lower court ruled against the female wrestlers, saying the Title IX claims failed because the wrestlers sued before giving UCD notice and a chance to fix any alleged program deficiencies.

But a federal appeals court reversed, concluding that prior notice wasn’t required. Importantly, it also said UCD failed to prove it had “a history and continuing practice of program expansion” that demonstrated Title IX compliance. The appeals court also reversed the lower court’s decision to reject the equal protection claim.

The case was sent back to the district court for further proceedings.

Cite: Mansourian v. Regents of the University of California.

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An assistant athletic director for the University of Mississippi has signed on with UDiligence.com, a Vermont firm that scans social network profiles of its athletes for over 500 keyword references to drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, racial slurs and profanity.

It was an efficient alternative to the usual practice of getting an intern to monitor Facebook, MySpace and Twitter pages for comments or pictures that could paint the students and/or school in a negative light.

The company’s services don’t come free – costs range from $1,350 to $5,000 per year, depending on the amount of students a school wants monitored.

Is this monitoring system a smart way to protect students’ and colleges’ reputations – or is it an invasion of privacy? Voice your opinions in our Comments Section below.

An average of one in three students need remedial help in at least one core subject, according to an annual report by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. More findings from the research break down the numbers:

First-year students enrolled in two-year schools needed remedial help in:

• Math (41%)
• Writing (37%)
• Reading (27%)
• All three core subjects (17%)

Freshmen students enrolled in four-year universities needed remedial help in:

• Math (16%)
• Writing (9%)
• Reading (6%)
• All three core subjects (3%)

Has your school noticed an increase in the number of freshmen who need remedial help in core subjects? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

When officials at Texas A&M University got word that members of a student group called the Parsons Mounted Cavalry might be hazing recruits, it initiated disciplinary proceedings against several group members.

The members sued the school in state court, claiming constitutional violations. After a state trial court ruled in their favor and blocked the school from pursuing disciplinary action, they filed another suit against the school – this time in federal court.

That’s when things really got interesting. While the federal suit was pending, the state trial court’s decision was reversed by a state appeals court. The appeals court said the students didn’t suffer an injury because the disciplinary process was never completed.

The federal court then ruled for the school as well, similarly concluding that the students never really suffered an injury. By that time, the students had all graduated.

The students filed an appeal in the federal case, saying they did suffer an injury in that they paid attorneys’ fees. The threat of discipline left them no choice but to sue, they argued.

A federal appeals court rejected their appeal. Parties who voluntarily sue and lose cannot later sue to recover their attorneys’ fees as a compensable injury, it decided.

Cite: Hole v. Texas A&M University.