22 September 2001
Copyright © 2001 World Expertise LLC – All rights
reserved
A periodic electronic newsletter for engineering education leaders,
edited by Russel C. Jones, PhD., P.E.
Colleges outside the United States that are identified as
American have tightened security in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the
United States, according to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education by
Burton Bollag. American embassies are telling such colleges that there does not
appear to be any increase in threats of terrorist attacks abroad, but many
institutions are trying to keep a low profile to avoid being potential targets
of any anti-American acts. Similarly, various efforts are being made to reassure
the parents of young Americans studying abroad, indicating that there appears to
be no particular danger to them at the moment. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001091703n.htm
Kabul University in Afghanistan is preparing for even more
isolation, according to an article by Daniel del Castillo in the Chronicle. After
decades of invasion, war, neglect, and most recently the calamitous reign of the
Taliban militia, the school has been struggling to survive. Now with the threat
of war hanging over the country, the many faculty and students at this
university who long for contact with the outside world are likely to become even
more isolated. The only department that seems to be functioning currently is the
medical school, recently rebuilt and supported by Loma Linda University in
California. The Taliban regime has expelled most women from the university, and
limits instruction based on its conservative religious beliefs. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001092105n.htm
New reports are adding to a picture of corruption in
Chinese college admissions, according to a report in the Chronicle by Jiang Xueqin.
New accusations of corruption are feeding a furor over how bribery and political
influence are tainting the process of selecting Chinese students to be allowed
to go on to higher education. Entrance into a university is seen as the only
route to a good future in China, creating an obsession over admission processes
such as the national college entrance examination. The latest accusations of
corruption have come from an investigative underground reporter who observed a
massive bribery scheme where parents paid to have high school teachers
responsible for assigning students to colleges get their children on the right
lists. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/09/2001090706n.htm
The United
Kingdom’s largest biomedical charity has proposed guidelines and procedures
for handling allegations of scientific misconduct, according to an article in
the 24 August 2001 issue of Science
by Robert Koenig. The draft rules
from the Wellcome Trust go beyond U.S. government standards in the definition of
misconduct, and offer relatively little protection for whistleblowers. Language
similar to the U.S. standards covers plagiarism, fabrication and falsification
of data, but the Wellcome Trust language goes on to introduce deviation from
accepted practice as misconduct. See http://www.sciencemag.org
The government of
Oman has announced that the first private university in the country will open
later this month, according to a note in the Chronicle by Daniel del
Castillo. Sohar University, in Oman’s second largest city, will offer
undergraduate degrees in engineering, business, management, and information
technology. The for-profit school has established ties with the University of
Queensland in Australia, and will base its courses on that institution’s
curriculum. Oman has one public university – Sultan Qaboos University – and
six government run colleges. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/09/2001090707n.htm
Sixty-four
Canadian universities have banded together to establish nationwide site licenses
for online scholarly journals, according to a note by Janice Paskey in the Chronicle.
The $ 30-million National Licensing Project will provide 650 journals
and numerous citation indexes to its members. The three-year licensing agreement
is expected to create a more level playing field between big and small
universities. Major funding is being provided by the Canada Foundation for
Innovation, with the remainder coming from the Universities involved and their
Provincial governments. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001091401t.htm
Israel’s cabinet
has adopted legislation to allow all students who earn a high school diploma
admission to the country’s public universities without having to take a
standardized test, according to a note in the Chronicle by Haim Walzman.
The action came in response to the urging of a cabinet minister who argued that
the currently used psychometric exam is culturally biased and discriminates
against young people from underprivileged areas. The minister of education
opposed the move, and university administrators have long expressed concern that
open admissions would reduce their institutions from high quality centers of
research into mediocre institutions engaging in remedial education. The Knesset
must approve the legislation before it takes effect. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/09/2001090504n.htm
Kuwait’s deserts
are still drenched in crude oil ten years after the Gulf War, according to an
article by Ben Shouse in the 24 August 2001 issue of Science.
The country is about to tackle the ecological calamity, caused by oil
spilled by Iraqi invaders as they beat a hasty retreat, with a belated $
1-billion effort. It is one of the largest environmental remediation projects
ever attempted, involving oil spills 20 times as large as that of the Exxon
Valdez in Alaska in 1989, covering one-third of the land area of Kuwait. Major
funding will come from reparations granted by the United Nations Compensation
Committee from UN-controlled Iraqi oil sales. Removal of the oil from soil is a
difficult process – adhesion and weathering make crude oil stubborn, and
desert dryness deters natural degradation. In one pilot project conducted in
Kuwait, the soil is excavated and washed with kerosene, piled up, then pumped
with air and water to nourish oil-eating microbes. See http://www.sciencemag.org
Sweden plans to
create a virtual university by compiling online courses offered by many state
universities, according to a note by Burton Bollag in the Chronicle.
The Net University is expected to open next fall, initially with 2,350
places for degree seeking students. Like conventional education at state
institutions, enrollment in the Net University will be free. The project is
aimed at making the universities open to groups of students who traditionally
have had limited access to higher education, such as people who live in isolated
areas in Sweden’s artic north and people who want to study without giving up
their jobs. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001092001u.htm
Several
universities in southern Africa and the University of Virginia in the U.S. have
teamed up to create a distance-learning program in environmental science,
according to an article by Michael Arnone in the Chronicle.
The program, which will start with
basic courses and later expand to graduate level offerings, will help to improve
science education in Africa. It is an experiment using the Internet to give
Virginia students access to African experts and to enable African students to
work with American instructors, without the costs and difficulties of
international travel. It is hoped that such programs will allow African students
to get quality university educations in their own countries, thus avoiding the
extended foreign study periods that often result in a permanent ‘brain
drain’. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001090701u.htm
Pakistan’s
Ministry of Science and Technology has announced plans to establish a virtual
university, according to a note by Daniel del Castillo in the Chronicle.
The driving force for its establishment is a shortage of manpower for
the IT sector in the country. The Virtual University will initially offer
undergraduate degrees in computer science and other IT fields, and plans to
begin master’s programs in the same fields within three years. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001091401u.htm
Many U.S. colleges
cancelled classes after the terrorist attacks on September 11th,
according to a report in the Chronicle
by Dana Mulhauser. Colleges closed,
in the words of one president, “out of respect and grief for the magnitude of
this loss”. A number of institutions set up emergency centers for students –
such as that at the State University of New York at Buffalo, which has 4,000
students from the New York metropolitan area. Other colleges nationwide reported
setting up special programs to help students and to discuss the attacks. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/09/2001091201n.htm
After a day of
closings, most U.S. colleges resumed classes on Wednesday, September 13th,
according to a note in the Chronicle
by Dana Mulhauser. The colleges of
lower Manhattan, however, were just beginning to assess the damage and loss from
the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. As classes resumed across the
country, class time was largely devoted to discussing the terrorist attacks; but
many professors hoped to return to regular subject matter as quickly as
possible. Some universities warned instructors to be sensitive to the feelings
of students of Middle Eastern descent. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/09/2001091301n.htm
Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University in Florida has received harassing phone calls in the
wake of the terrorist hijacking of jets, according to an article by Julianne
Basinger in the Chronicle. In
the wake of news reports that some of the hijackers might have received flight
training at the campus, callers have accused the school of ‘training
terrorists’ and have asked it to expel its Middle Eastern students.
Embry-Riddle trains more than a quarter of the commercial airplane pilots in the
United States. Some 12 percent of its 4,800 students come from 108 foreign
countries. Public attention was focused on Embry-Riddle after it was reported
that the FBI had subpoenaed student records from the university. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001091403n.htm
The collapse of
the two World Trade Center towers was probably due to the fires that were spread
by spilled jet fuel, according to an article in the September 12th New
York Times by James Glanz. Though the buildings contained insulation and sprinkler
systems designed to prevent normal fire damage, the fires that raged after the
plane impacts were greater than could have been anticipated or designed against.
Experts believe that any building, regardless of its design and construction,
could never withstand an attack such as the one that occurred on September 11th.
See http://www.nytimes.com
At least four
racially motivated assaults on Middle Eastern and Asian college students have
been reported in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington,
according to an article in the Chronicle
by Ron Southwick. Some foreign
students are leaving the country, either out of concern for their safety or at
the behest of worried families. Federal officials urged university
administrators to work actively to protect Muslim students and those of Middle
Eastern descent. Officials at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington said that
about 20 college students in the US have asked for assistance in returning home,
and that the embassy will provide free airfare for such students. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001092001n.htm
Students at more
than 140 colleges have rallied for peace, urging the U.S. to combat terrorism
without killing civilians, according to an article by Dana Mulhauser in the Chronicle.
Rallies took the form of speeches, town meetings, and letter writing
campaigns to Congress. The largest rallies were in California and in the
Northeast. One speaker said: “We’re searching for justice, and we want
action. We just don’t want violent action”. A spokesman for the College
Republican National Committee said, “Most college students understand that
military interventions are not revenge. They are about protecting ourselves.”
See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001092102n.htm
The Department of
Education has advised colleges that they may provide data on specific students
to the FBI without running afoul of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act, according to an article in the Chronicle
by Andrea Foster. That act bars
colleges from releasing student’s personal information without their written
permission. But the law allows for several exceptions, including a “health and
safety emergency”. The Department of Education is using that exception in
telling colleges that they may release student information as requested by the
FBI. Normally law enforcement officials would need to have a subpoena to gain
access to student data. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001092101n.htm
Congress needs a
mechanism for systematic analysis by experts on complex issues in science and
technology, according to an article in the 14 September 2001 issue of science by
Morgan, Houghton, and Gibbons. For questions such as ‘what is the best way to
evolve a reliable and effective air-traffic control system’, Congress and its
committees need more than bare facts and brief interactions with technical
experts. They need balanced analysis and synthesis that sorts, integrates, and
analyzes information to frame the issues and extract knowledge and insight.
Since Congress unwisely closed its Office of Technology Assessment in 1995, it
has not had such comprehensive analysis capabilities – although some inputs
have been available from the National Academy of Sciences and from Congressional
Science and Technology Fellows supported by the major science and engineering
societies. The authors argue that major efforts from scientists, engineers,
their societies, the business community, and individual citizens will be needed
to stimulate Congress to rebuild an appropriate mechanism for balanced
nonpartisan advice and assistance for today’s high tech world. See http://www.sciencemag.org
A new report on
federal research support for science and technology concludes that money for
research in certain physical science and engineering fields is significantly
down, according to a note by Andrea Foster in the Chronicle. The fields of
physics, geological sciences, and chemical, electrical, and mechanical
engineering received 20% less federal research money in 1999 than in 1993, as
reported in a study by the National Academies’ Board on Science, Technology
and Economic Policy. Several fields received increased support over that period,
including aeronautical research, biological and medical sciences, computer
sciences, and oceanography. The report also found that federal money for
research in the aggregate started to increase in 1998 after five years of
stagnation. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/09/2001091007n.htm
Senators Lieberman
(D-CT), Bond (R-MO), and Frist (R-TN) are introducing a “Tech Talent” bill
aimed at increasing the number of scientists, engineers, and technologists in
the United States. House Science Chairman Sherwood Boehlert will introduce a
companion bill in the House of Representatives. For more information, see http://lieberman.senate.gov
Library advocates
are criticizing a federal report on digital copyrights, according to an article
in the Chronicle by
Andrea Foster. The recently issued report from the U.S. Copyright Office
recommends against revising copyright laws to assure that libraries and
consumers can archive and lend software and other electronic materials that they
purchase. The report states “given the relative infancy of digital rights
management, it is premature to consider any legislative changes at this time”.
The Microsoft Corporation has stoked libraries’ concerns by configuring its
new Windows XP operating system so that one copy cannot be used on different
computers. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/08/2001083101t.htm
Congress has
grilled the National Science Foundation on its selection process for major
facilities support, according to an article by Jeffrey Mervis in the 14
September 2001 issue of Science. A
Congressional hearing was stimulated by a report from the NSF inspector general
that faulted the agency’s management of large facilities under construction.
One revelation was that the science board does not prioritize its choices after
screening for scientific merit. Critics were concerned that this left decisions
on which projects to fund to the Office of Management and Budget and the
politicians. NSF has partially responded to such concerns by setting up an
office for large facilities, to assure that funded projects are built on time
and on budget. See http://www.sciencemag.org
Salaries of
engineering faculty members continue to rise, as reported in the Spring 2001
issue of Engineers. Data
from ‘Salaries of Engineers in Education 2000’ compiled by the Engineering
Workforce Commission indicate that engineering educators have been enjoying
another cycle of salary growth. Full professors median salaries at all
engineering institutions are reported at $ 87,655, with associate professors at
$ 68,312 and assistant professors at $ 60,169. Average annual increases since
1998 have been 3.6 percent. Engineering educator’s salaries still trail the
salaries of their counterparts working in industry. See http://www.aaes.org/ewc
The National
Academy of Engineering has named honorees for two top awards, according to a
note in the Chronicle by
Michael Blasenstein. The NAE Founders Award, given for ‘lifelong contributions
to engineering’, will go to Chang-Lin Tien, former chancellor of the
University of California at Berkeley. The Arthur M. Bueche Award, which
recognizes ‘statesmanship in the field of technology’, will go to Ian M.
Ross, president emeritus of Bell Laboratories. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/08/2001082905n.htm
Distance education
is harder on women than on men, according to a report by the American
Association of University Women. As reported in the Chronicle by Scott Carlson,
distance education classes often add a ‘third shift’ to a woman’s workday,
after a first shift of a full-time job and a second shift of homemaking and
childcare. Women compose the majority of online learners, according to the
report, because it allows them to stay home with children. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001090501u.htm
Many colleges
charge distance education students for campus-based services that they do not
use, according to an article by Dan Carnevale in the Chronicle.
Students who take online courses from institutions that offer both
traditional and online programs often end up paying for athletics, student
organizations, parking, and day care availability. Administrators acknowledge
that such charges are not fair, but they have trouble differentiating between
students who live on campus and those far distant, who take the same online
courses. As online education expands, however, online students are getting
pickier about what they are willing to pay for. With competition for online
students growing, colleges are being forced to rethink their fee policies. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001091001u.htm
The American
Federation of Teachers has released a report warning that quality could suffer
as universities create a business culture for the development of
distance-education courses, according to a note in the Chronicle by
Dan Carnevale. The new report, ‘A Virtual Revolution: Trends in the Expansion
of Distance Education’, says that too many distance education courses center
on teaching a collection of facts rather than giving students a broader
understanding of a topic and different ways of thinking about it. The report
complains that the traditional role of the professor is being ‘unbundled’ by
online course creators, with parts doled out to technology experts and
instructional designers. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/08/2001083101u.htm
Market forces have invaded the academy, leading to a new
competitive arena, according to an article in the September/October 2001 issue
of Change by Frank Newman and Lara Couturier. The authors point out that
American higher education has always viewed itself as competitive, particularly
as compared to systems elsewhere in the world. But market forces today are
pressing higher education to address its flaws (such as large classes, too much
lecturing, too little faculty contact), to keep costs down, and to improve the
quality and excitement of teaching. Competition to traditional colleges is
coming from a rapidly growing number of new
sources – including over 650 for-profit degree-granting universities. There
has also been an explosion of virtual or online courses available from virtual
institutions, virtual arms of traditional institutions, for-profit universities,
and consortia. Altogether there are several thousand American institutions
providing virtual courses enrolling well over a million students. The authors
argue that every institution will need a competitive strategy, and that the rate
of change requires that the strategy be dynamic, not a one time effort. See http://www.heldorf.org,
and the Futures Project Web site at http://www.futuresproject.org
Several countries
have announced the creation or enhancement of virtual universities. Jordan’s
Hashemite University has announced the establishment of a new distance learning
university, scheduled to begin operation in November 2002. It will have
satellite branches in other Arab countries, such as Yemen and Kuwait. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/08/2001082701u.htm
The government of Uzbekistan is creating a virtual university with the
assistance of the University of Maryland at College Park. Existing University of
Maryland courses will be offered, plus new courses created specifically for
Uzbek students. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/08/2001082901u.htm
A new online university in Indonesia, inaugurated in
August, will offer online courses in information technology and business
administration. It will lure students with relatively low tuitions. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/09/2001090401u.htm
More students are deciding that college can wait, deferring
enrollment for a year of travel or service, according to an article by Eric
Hoover in the Chronicle. As competition at selective institutions grows
more intense, many students are leaving high school with a high-achievement
hangover – and choosing to take a break from essays and exams after college
admission as a remedy. Other students are delaying the admissions process by
taking a year off for pursuits that might add luster to their applications.
There is now an array of options for students who want to defer college. A small
industry of “time-off consultants” is available to guide such students. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i02/02a05101.htm
The 31 August 2001 issue of Science contains a major
section on Trends in Undergraduate Education. Major articles include
“Reintroducing the Intro Course”, “Making Room for Diversity Makes
Sense”, “Europe Seeks to Harmonize its Degrees”, “Student Research: What
is it Good For”, “China Broadens Training for Elite Students”, “Online,
On Campus: Proceed with Caution”, “Are We Having Fun Yet? Joys and Sorrows
of Learning Online”, “Open University: A Pioneer Presses On”, and
“Online Science is a Stretch for Asia”. See http://www.sciencemag.org
Demand for cross-disciplinary training is leading
professional schools such as law and medicine to cooperate in new educational
programs, according to an article by Katherine Mangan in the Chronicle. The
number of combined degree programs has soared over the past decade. The
nation’s 125 accredited medical schools, for example, now offer more than 80
such programs in league with other professional schools. The creation and growth
of such programs has been stimulated by the vagaries of supply and demand. Joint
degrees include M.D./M.B.A., M.D./J.D., Pharm.D./M.B.A., M.S.W./J.D., and many
others. Such cross-disciplinary programs carry their own set of challenges –
who controls the budget, who sets the agenda, and who gets top billing. But
these differences can be smoothed out by the ever-growing number of faculty
members with dual appointments. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i03/03a01401.htm
Several ingenious new engineering programs that stress
teamwork, creativity, business and society are highlighted in an article by
Caitlin Kelly in the September 2001 issue of IEEE Spectrum. Programs
described include those that infuse engineering with a social conscience,
provide engineering with a creative edge, grasp how real engineers do it, and
incorporate the business of engineering. See http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
Professors will increasingly delay retirement, according to
a new report by the National Bureau of Economic Research. As reported in the Chronicle
by Piper Fogg, the elimination of mandatory retirement in 1994 is
significantly reducing the retirement rates of 70- and 71-year old professors.
The study’s findings suggest that a significant percentage of faculty members
currently entering their 60s will remain at work into their mid-70s, with the
rise in that figure highest in private research universities. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/09/2001090502n.htm
Service learning links student learning with off campus
experiences, often drawing upon socially complex learning environments. The lead
article in the September 2001 AAHE Bulletin discusses how to prepare
students for service learning, drawing upon insights from the AAHE Campus
Compact Consulting Corps. See http://www.aahe.org/bulletin
The University of Virginia is trying a new way to warn
students about misusing computers, according to an article by Andrea Foster in
the Chronicle. UVA is showing new students a video, created and produced
at the university, that humorously parodies a 1999 Monster.com commercial,
“When I grow up …”. The short video features mock interviews with children
earnestly describing all the computer rules they want to break when they go to
UVA. The video is only part of the university’s training for new users of its
network. A handbook helps prepare new students for a quiz that they must pass
before they are granted network access. See http://chronicle.com/free/2001/08/2001083001t.htm
The number of minority students attending college and
earning degrees continues to rise, but the rate of growth is slowing, according
to a report released by the American Council on Education. As reported in the Chronicle
by Stephen Burd, minority enrollment rose 3.2%, to 3,891,000 from 1997 to
1998, slightly less that the 3.7% increase in the preceding year. The number of
bachelor’s degrees rose 5.3% to 243,555 from 1997 to 1998, and the number of
master’s degrees awarded increased by 8.8% to 69,669. Modest gains also were
posted in graduation rates for most minority groups, except for black students.
From 1997 to 1998, the percentage of black students who graduated within six
years of the time they enrolled dropped by three percentage points to 37
percent. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/09/2001091704n.htm
In a major blow to affirmative action, a federal appeals
court has ruled that the University of Georgia unconstitutionally used race in
admissions by giving an arbitrary advantage to nonwhite students. As reported in
articles by Ben Gose and Peter Schmidt in the Chronicle, the court also
questioned whether the Supreme Court’s 1978 ruling in ‘Regents of the
University of California v. Bakke’ provided any meaningful justification for
using race in admissions decisions. The Bakke case has guided most colleges’
affirmative action policies. Advocates of affirmative action are trying to
demonstrate that the educational benefits of diversity provide a compelling
interest. That defense has been made most thoroughly in two lawsuits challenging
the University of Michigan’s use of racial preferences in law school
admissions. Those two cases, plus the Georgia case, are seen as the lawsuits
that stand the best chance of being taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court. See http://chronicle.com/daily/2001/08/2001082801n.htm
and http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i02/02a03601.htm
From the Chronicle of Higher Education:
Ø Santa Clara University, Dean, School of Engineering, 8/31/01
Ø University of California at Davis, Dean, College of Engineering, 8/31/01
Ø University of Colorado at Denver, Dean, College of Engineering/Applied Science, 9/5/01
Ø North Carolina State University, Department Head, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 9/14/01
Ø Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, VPAA/Dean of Faculty, 9/7/01
Ø University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Dean, College of Engineering and Technology, 8/31/01
Ø University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Provost, 8/31/01
Ø University of Toledo, Provost, 8/31/01
Ø Clemson University, VPAA and Provost, 8/31/01
Ø Old Dominion University, Provost and VPAA, 8/31/01
Ø Arizona State University, President, 8/31/01
Ø Florida A&M University, President, 9/7/01
Ø American University of Paris, President, 9/7/01
Ø Case Western Reserve University, President. 8/31/01
Ø University of Tennessee at Knoxville, President, 9/14/01
Ø
Texas A&M University, President, 8/21/01
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