Advertisement

News, Views and Careers for All of Higher Education

Sept. 13, 2007

Quick Takes: Bridgepoint Buys Another College, $100 Million for Baylor College of Medicine, Iowa University Chiefs Call for Arming Police, Hawaii Coach Alleges Gender Bias, Explosive Decision at Nebraska, Probe in NJ, Sexual Health Rankings

Looking for a job?
See all 211 new postings
Browse all job listings:
Faculty: 3,532
Administrative: 1,671
Executive: 168
FEATURED EMPLOYERS
Post a job
  • Bridgepoint Education, a growing for-profit higher education company, announced Wednesday that it has purchased the Colorado School of Professional Psychology, which is located in Colorado Springs and offers master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology. The institution, which has been nonprofit, will be renamed the University of the Rockies and additional degree programs will be added. Bridgepoint’s purchase comes at a time that for-profit purchases of nonprofit colleges appear to be on the rise.
  • Baylor College of Medicine announced Wednesday that it has received a $100 million gift from a Houston couple to help it recruit scientists and doctors. The gift from Robert and Janice McNair — he is a trustee of the medical college, and together they run a foundation — will expand their McNair Scholars scholarship program for students (not to be confused with a federal program with a similar name) to include faculty members for the first time.
  • The presidents of Iowa’s three major universities recommended Wednesday that police officers on their campuses be armed for the first time, the Des Moines Register reported. Gregory Geoffroy of Iowa State University, Sally Mason of the University of Iowa and Benjamin Allen of the University of Northern Iowa jointly urged the Iowa Board of Regents to agree to let certified officers carry guns, arguing such a move was necessary to protect the safety of staff and students. Faculty leaders at Iowa and Iowa State endorsed such a move in close votes Tuesday, but the Faculty Senate at Northern Iowa opposed it, the Register reported.
  • A University of Nebraska at Lincoln professor who brought explosives to class last fall has agreed to resign under a settlement with the institution, the Associated Press reported. John Belot Jr., an associate professor of chemistry, had been arrested after passing a bag of explosive devices around to students in his class, but the charges were eventually dropped. A university investigation called his firing, but a faculty panel backed him. “This settlement is best for all concerned,” the university’s chancellor, Harvey Perlman, said in a prepared statement.
  • State investigators in New Jersey, who have been conducting a probe into the management of public four-year colleges, are now seeking information from community colleges about buyout deals and vacation time for top executives, spending in various categories, and other financial practices, The Record reported.
  • The women’s track coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has filed a lawsuit charging the institution with violating federal sex discrimination laws by financially shortchanging her team and women’s sports generally and by retaliating against her for complaining about inequities, the Honolulu Advertiser reported.
  • Trojan, the condom company, has issued its second annual rankings on sexual health on college campuses. A revamped methodology, featuring more data and more categories, resulted in significant changes in the rankings. Institutions in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association were evaluated on such factors as sexual health education, condom availability, testing services for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, student health center hours of operation and other factors. The University of Minnesota topped the list, with a series of improvements leading it to jump to that spot from the 54th position last year. Also making a significant improvement was the University of Wyoming, going from 92nd to 2nd place. Rounding out the top five are the University of Washington, Rutgers University and Purdue University. In bottom five institutions (starting from last) are Louisiana Tech University, University of Louisiana, Arkasnas State University, the University of Arkansas and Villanova University.

— Scott Jaschik and Doug Lederman

Got something to say?


Want it on paper? Print this page.
Know someone who’d be interested? Forward this story.
Want to stay informed? Sign up for free daily news e-mail.

Advertisement

Comments

Armed Officers

Sally Mason was formerly Provost of Purdue University where campus officers have been armed for decades. I was a student at Purdue in the late 70s/early 80s, and I’ve lived in the area since graduating. I cannot remember an incident involving the discharge of a campus officer’s weapon. With proper training, there is no reason campus officers should not carry sidearms.

Tom McCool, at 7:30 am EDT on September 13, 2007

Armed Campus Officers

The officers at my community college have long carried weapons. None has ever been discharged on campus and that is ultimately the point. The weapons are a deterrent to other weapons being discharged and there are a lot of weapons in the local culture in general. I live in a state with among the highest per capita ownership of weapons but also with a very low homicide rate.

Having arrived on a Western campus from the Northeast, where few community colleges allow officers to carry weapons, early in my tenure as president I set out to disarm our officers. Students immediately mounted a campaign to keep our officers armed and the only parents who weighed in supported the student position. Our local police department was on the fence regarding the issue. My board was split on the issue and ultimately left the decision up to me.

As I soul searched for the wisdom of Solomon on this one, I looked around my new community and saw a very liberal stance on the ownership of weapons, as I mentioned above. Since a community college should reflect its community’s values, I decided to leave the policy as it had been for years.

I was content with my decision the day after I had made it, suggesting (at least to me) that I had made the right decision. More than a year later when the Virginia Tech incident stunned us all, I was absolutely certain I had made the right call. Trained campus security officers (maybe not all) should be armed.

I am actually shocked at this dramatic turnaround in my own thinking but it is time, unfortunately. Our campuses, especially community college campuses, are every open environments and intentionally so. We also proudly serve a fair number of mentally disturbed individuals. Erring on the side of caution is a good strategy today.

KED, College President, at 12:10 pm EDT on September 13, 2007

Campus Police

While the solution may or may not apply to them, residents of crowded metros, especially in the northeast, would benefit from understanding the mentality of the Open West. Like it or not, folks out here are comfortable with guns and they don’t shoot people. Most retired police officers in the west have never drawn their gun in an actual situation. Crowded metros in the east guard their banks with relatively untrained armed guards. Why would they value the security of thier children less, especially with POST-trained and certified campus police. I feel better knowing that my campus police are armed, even though most of them will never use thier gun outside of thier required monthly training.

Justim Baldwin, at 2:25 pm EDT on September 13, 2007

Advertisement

 Jobs Related to Quick Takes: Bridgepoint Buys Another College, $100 Million for Baylor College of Medicine, Iowa University Chiefs Call for Arming Police, Hawaii Coach Alleges Gender Bias, Explosive Decision at Nebraska, Probe in NJ, Sexual Health Rankings

or search for jobs directly.

Student Teaching Supervisor (PL)
Eastern Kentucky University

Eastern Kentucky University, located in Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky near the Heart of the Bluegrass, is a ... see job

Assistant Professor of Archaeology
Sweet Briar College

Sweet Briar College invites applications for a one-semester replacement at the assistant professor level in archaeology for ... see job

Philosophy and Religion ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR (TENURE-TRACK)
American University

American University is an independent liberal-arts university located in Washington, DC with 12,000 students. The faculty are ... see job

U.S. Foreign Policy ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR (TENURE-TRACK)
American University

American University is an independent liberal-arts university located in Washington, DC with 12,000 students. The faculty are ... see job

Dean of Learner Engagement
Johnson County Community College

A career at Johnson County Community College is more than a job. We believe it’s important to invest in our employees and ... see job

Assistant Professor of English: Creative Writing — Poetry
University of Colorado

Posting Description: The University of Colorado at Boulder Department of English announces a tenure-track ... see job

Asst./Assoc./Full Professor of Music
Wartburg College

Wartburg College seeks applications for the Patricia R. Zahn Chair in Choral Conducting to direct the premier 80-voice vocal ... see job

Senior Director, Undergraduate Teacher Preparation
Loyola Marymount University — CA

Loyola Marymount University Center for Undergraduate Teacher Preparation Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts Senior Director ... see job

Database Administrator, SQL Server
Lone Star College System

Located just north of Houston, Texas, our five campuses serve 1,400 square miles. Our student enrollment is nearly 50,000 in ... see job

Summer Camp Director
NC State University

Join the Pack! A community with nearly 8,000 faculty and staff, and 30,000 students. NC State is one of the largest employers ... see job