When Valencia College became the first recipient of the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence last month, an unsung sector earned uncommon recognition. Now that the speeches are over and the prize money has been awarded, the Aspen Institute is sharing early lessons from its yearlong effort to determine the top community college in the…

Drexel University is offering laid-off workers a 50-percent discount on tuition at its new graduate campus in California. Davis & Elkins College reduced its price by nearly $15,000 for residents from its home county and six surrounding ones to match the tuition of the state's flagship West Virginia University. And Southern Illinois University at…

This article discusses the educational achievements of Benjamin B. Bolger, who, at age 32, just earned his 11th advanced degree, a doctorate in design from Harvard University. Bolger distributed a news release for the occasion, proclaiming himself the most credentialed person in modern history. The release, entitled "The Boy Who Couldn't Read Gets…

Who needs college credit when one can have a makeshift diploma from a superstar professor? One such example is David Wiley who taught an online course at Utah State University recently and let anyone fully participate, even if they were not enrolled. The unofficial students paid no tuition and got no formal credit, but they did end up with…

Academic Analytics is a for-profit company, owned in part by the State University of New York at Stony Brook, that compiles annual Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index. Its Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index is a ranking of graduate programs at research universities based on what purports to be the first objective measurement of per capita…

This article discusses a new standard for measuring graduate programs in the United States. The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, produced by Academic Analytics, a for-profit company, rates faculty members' scholarly output at nearly 7,300 doctoral programs around the country. It examines the number of book and journal articles published by…

The Charles A. Dana Foundation is trying to bring attention to innovations that improve the quality of undergraduate education and those that prevent disease and promote health. It is especially interested in ideas that can be copied on other campuses or in other communities or medical institutes. (MLW)

The American Institute of Architects honored five recently completed university buildings whose architects solved the difficulties of site and scale: Columbia University's Computer Science Building, Dartmouth's Hood Museum of Art, Emory's Museum of Art, Princeton's Lewis Thomas Laboratory, and the University of California at Irvine's Computer…

A profile of Ralph Ketcham, CASE's Professor of the Year, is presented. Although he is a historian of American political thought, his most recent book focuses on the role of the citizen in society. (MLW)

As the ultimate symbol of excellence, the Nobel Prize has had a tremendous effect on scholars, institutions, and national pride. Topics discussed include: recruitment and fund raising, salaries and other perks, "raids" from other institutions, students seeking out winners, publication declines, etc. (MLW)

Reviews the activities and research projects in education supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Foundation's current emphases are on the humanities, campus diversity, granting fellowships, and working with premier institutions. Recent publications by Mellon staff have increased the visibility of the Foundation's activities. (DB)

Winners of a contest run by the EDUCOM Software Initiative, a project to promote development and dissemination of instructional software for higher education, are identified. Criteria included the appropriateness of the software for use in higher education, its reliability, appeal and ease of use, etc. (MLW)

Winners of a national contest for cost-cutting in campus maintenance, institutional planning, and program administration and the nature of their innovations are reported. (MSE)

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This July 2, 2004 issue of "Chronicle of Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "The Provost as Gatekeeper: A Former Provost Offers Advice on Managing the…