Senior scholars, the A-list of academic publishing, seem to submit fewer unsolicited manuscripts to traditional humanities journals than they used to. The journal has become, with very few exceptions, the place where junior and midlevel scholars are placing their work. Technology and changing habits have called into question the nature of the…

Conduct officers have been moving away from the legalistic disciplinary systems that colleges built in the latter half of the 20th century on the belief that they'd lose lawsuits without them. Confident now that judges won't expect those systems to conform to the rules of criminal procedure, colleges are making hearings less like trials, and more…

Educators and librarians are concerned that, if fair use principles for copyright of electronic data are not resolved soon, traditional scholarly and educational communication will be seriously disrupted. The Clinton Administration's Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights has been searching for common ground with copyright owners in an…

The institutions making efforts to study and change faculty salary disparities for men and women are finding that determining what constitutes a fair salary review and adjustment is difficult. Other institutions are resisting making changes. (MSE)

Despite Democrats' and educators' concern over the first Republican-led reauthorization of the Higher Education Act this year, Republicans supported the bill. Some observers feel the support is a G.O.P. survival strategy, and will not continue; some conservatives feel the party is caving in to higher education interest groups' demands. (MSE)

A variety of trends in state colleges are viewed as privatization, including increased institutional responsibility for meeting costs, financial aid shortfalls that keep many students away, pressure for more institutional autonomy, recruitment of private colleges to provide some state-subsidized programs, payment of private colleges to accept…

Increasingly, lawmakers are treating proprietary institutions like traditional colleges. Only six years ago, the for-profit trade schools were battling to avoid being thrown out of federal student aid programs. As reauthorization of the Higher Education Act approaches, signs suggest the schools may be treated as members of the higher education…

A survey of 17,592 college students on 140 campuses indicates considerable alcohol abuse, which is adversely affecting the social and academic environment for nonabusers. Results also show variation by region, student age, and institution. The study suggested that students' drinking was not affected by differences in school policies. Some schools…

In the 36 gubernatorial election campaigns in 1986, many candidates are stressing the role of higher education in promoting economic development and creating new jobs, and have declared public education a top priority along with other basic state issues. (MSE)

A report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy finds higher education institutions have received $88.9 million from 12 conservative foundations in 1992-94, with $51.3 million going to just 16 universities seen as committed to influencing public policy. Limited evidence suggests liberal foundations are not taking a similar approach.…

Under pressure from governors and legislators to heighten academic rigor, technical colleges in several states are becoming part of higher education, whether they want to or not. With business leaders calling for better-educated workers, technical colleges are seen increasingly as stepping-stone institutions within higher education and key cogs in…

Reports that Harvard University Medical School is considering policy changes that would ease financial restrictions in its conflict-of-interest standards for faculty researchers. Supporters argue that such changes are necessary to attract and retain top researchers, but ethicists warn that as collaborations between industry and academic medicine…

Princeton University (New Jersey) is planning to replace loans with grants for students with annual family incomes under $40,000, and will stop considering the value of the family's home in determining need for most families with incomes under $90,000. The move will likely give the institution a competitive advantage in attracting low- and…

The average rate for research overhead charges at major universities has declined nearly a point to 51% in the last three years, in the wake of stricter federal rules and intense political pressure. Largest reductions are at private institutions with the highest rates. (MSE)

Over a dozen states are trying to force their public colleges to be more accommodating to transfer students, urging use of common course numbers and titles and in some cases mandating that the institutions accept credits earned elsewhere. The effort is designed to make community colleges less expensive and more attractive to students and taxpayers…