Cornell University professors, trustees, and alumni recently convened to consider whether rising costs threaten the notion that higher education can help anyone in America succeed. The exclusive Cornell Club may have seemed a venue at odds with the sober tone of the discussion. According to economics professor and higher education expert Ronald G.…

Being rowdy and impulsive is a time-honored tradition among college students. Documenting that behavior online is a recent phenomenon that still vexes administrators. When social-networking sites first became popular, many colleges and universities watched them closely. Since then, a consensus has emerged that institutions should not actively…

On February 5, a tornado carved a deep gash across the aorta of the dormitory complex at the Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. Along with the university's president, David Dockery, and another dean, this author was among the first administrators to arrive at the disaster, a mere two minutes following the direct hit. As the dorms lay in…

Gregory A. Love, then a student at Morehouse College, in Atlanta, was beaten in 2002 with a baseball bat by a fellow student in a dormitory shower after Love made what his attacker perceived as a homosexual advance. The attacker was later convicted of aggravated assault and battery. Love sued Morehouse, arguing that the institution was liable for…

This essay regards the licensing of digital content in universities. The author states that the academic community has overwhelmingly adopted course-management software systems such as Blackboard to distribute electronic course materials to students. She argues that such use presents a significant problem: the absence of any institutional…

Reports of gross misconduct like plagiarism and the falsification and fabrication of data in the hallowed halls of academe and research laboratories are becoming increasingly common in the US. Researchers suggest that the higher education institutions need to become more involved than they have been on educating graduate students about ethical…

The National Collegiate Athletic Association endorses rules requiring coaches to report all athletics-related income to their institutions, prohibiting institution name or logotype use for personal gain without permission, requiring institutions to control collection and distribution of manufacturer contract income, and prohibiting personal gain…

In almost half of the Department of Education's biennial audits of colleges receiving federal financial aid, institutions are found to have made mistakes in aid distribution, and each year the department asks colleges to return $25-million in aid money. Better oversight methods are urged. (MSE)

A review of court decisions indicates that colleges generally had not been held liable for injuries arising from use of alcohol in dormitories or fraternities. Sexual harassment perpetrators are becoming more sophisticated and the incidents are less blatant. (MLW)

The little attention given to ethics and ethical behavior in computer science is seen as part of a larger problem, student ignorance of the profession. (MSE)

Four Carleton College (Minnesota) women have sued the college for negligence in dealing with their allegations of on-campus rape. Across the country, female students say college administrations are not taking adequate steps to ensure student safety and are ill-prepared to prosecute rape. Accused men are also taking colleges to court. (MSE)

Legal experts doubt that special contract clauses will be able to protect institutions in negligence cases. (MSE)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's presidents' commission, viewed initially as a limited-authority advisory panel, has taken a dramatic leadership role in keeping the management of intercollegiate athletics within the institutions and facing the challenge of irresponsible outside interests. (MSE)

Although security officials argue a campus is not more dangerous than other places in the community, many say increased and sometimes exaggerated press coverage of campus crimes has caused them to take more time to calm parents. The federal Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act requires disclosure of crime statistics. (MSE)

Incidents of point-shaving and placing and accepting bets are evidence that professional gamblers are influencing college sports and campus life. Because of student athletes' competitive nature, they may be more likely to engage in gambling. The National Collegiate Athletic Association and individual colleges are examining and addressing this…