Reports that women are now provosts at four Ivy League colleges and are holding an increasing number of the chief academic positions at major colleges and universities. Discusses implications for increasing the number of women who hope to become presidents of these institutions. (DB)

Reports on controversy Brown University (Rhode Island) as Gordon Gee leaves to become chancellor of Vanderbilt University (Tennessee) after only two years as president of Brown, and notes feelings of betrayal in light of large compensation offered Gee by Vanderbilt. Reports average tenures for college presidents and quotes Gee as saying that he…

The upwardly mobile economy has propelled earnings on college endowments into double digits for the sixth consecutive year, with average returns on investments of 18.2%. The range was 5.6 to 38%, with the highest performer having 85.1% of investments in stocks and 13.6% in domestic bonds. On average, large endowments performed better than small…

Introduces Gordon Gee, the new president of Brown University (Rhode Island), noting his previous presidencies of three large public universities and his relatively conservative background. Quotes trustees, faculty, and students who praise his enthusiasm but raise questions about his announcement of a new program prior to faculty consultation. (DB)

A federal report finds that in 1995, 13% of colleges did not publish annual security reports required by federal law, and an equal number did not use the definitions of crimes prescribed by law. Common offenders were trade schools and colleges enrolling under 200 students. Among reporting institutions, 26% reported violent crimes, and 44% reported…

A small consulting firm, the Registry for College and University Administrators, places retired college presidents in interim positions, usually after an administrator has left suddenly. Interim presidents have been placed at 19 institutions in seven years, mostly at small, private colleges. Almost always, the underlying mission is to lay a strong…

Officials of religious colleges find fund raising particularly difficult. Some donors will contribute only for secular expenses, such as computers, or for favored programs. The colleges are most successful with individuals who share the college's religious philosophy. Few development officials, little high-profile research, limited prestige, and…

A proposed law barring public social services to illegal immigrants poses a dilemma for California colleges. It calls for state and local agencies, including colleges and universities, to report suspected violators. Opponents see the law as sanctioning racism. Fairness to students and burden on the institutions are major issues. (MSE)

States are enacting new laws and policies that require colleges and universities to demonstrate efficiency, quality, and sound stewardship of public money. School accountability is regaining prominence in a period of shrinking state budgets and taxpayer concern about rising costs. (MSE)

A proposed plan to form a public corporation of Oregon's public colleges and universities, designed to increase institutional autonomy and loosen state regulatory ties by establishment of an autonomous governing board, has been defeated, due to characterizations of the plan as a threat to state government and the legislature's power to guard…

Saint Mary's College (Maryland) is a small state liberal arts institution that has extensive control over its budget, property and assets, and decisions about borrowing money. These conditions, in effect since 1992, affords it substantial freedom from regulation, efficient spending, and greater opportunity to fulfill its mission as an honors…

A highly publicized controversy over a Colorado State University administrator's paid leave of absence has stirred public suspicion about paid leave for faculty and administrators, and state legislation to abolish administrative leave and regulate faculty sabbaticals has been introduced. Scholars insist sabbaticals are necessary to scholarship.…

In answer to sweeping reform of public schools in Oregon, the state's colleges and universities are adopting proficiency-based admissions, designed to measure how much applicants know instead of how many courses they took in high school. Observers praise the higher education community's cooperative response to school reform efforts. (MSE)