Marketing, Reputation, and Image Update

Are our public universities, plagued by plunging state support, racing toward privatization? Data suggest that this is the case, but the experts are not of one mind. Per capita state funding for higher ed, particularly when inflation is taken into account, has undergone a precipitous decline over the last five years. Some say this is cyclical, others catastrophic. What does it all mean to administrators who have to the balance the books long term?

• New York Times

What gives at Harvard? While the school has long been the standard against which all other colleges and universities were measured, a new book pulls the curtain back on the Ivy of the Ivies. But what does the questionable selection process say about higher education in general? Are there lessons for us all here in this new tome?

• MSN.com

What can we learn from American University's public bloodletting? Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the campus of the Washington, DC, institution whose president resigned -- mega-golden parachute in hand -- thus ending years of egregious spending practices. Now the US Senate, just down the road, is asking for documents and threatening an investigation. Lesson one, and a key to managing a crisis, is to contain the story and not allow it to drag out. Remember folks like Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and Martha Stewart? That was their fatal PR flaw. Now AU seems destined to remain on the front pages as student anger rises and little has proven successful in quelling the controversy.

• Washington Post
• Washington Post
• Washington Post
• MSNBC.com

Campus Crises in the News

Indiana University president facing vote of no confidence: Two years after his arrival, the president is teetering on the verge of a faculty crisis.

• IndyStar.com

While the rest of country breathes a state support sigh of relief, storm clouds are rising over Missouri: The Show Me state seems poised to stick it to higher ed.

• News-Leader.com

Ave Maria School of Law imperiled by the institution: Should this ever have happened?

• University Business

Florida Atlantic University pummeled by Hurricane Wilma: Damage is expected to top $7 million, crippling parts of the campus.

• University Business

Will justice prevail at Southern Illinois University? The US Department of Justice is threatening to sue Southern Illinois over scholarship practices they deem discriminatory.

• Newsday.com

Light at the end of the tunnel for the University of Colorado: Is the long controversy at CU finally ending? One last blemish is a recently released state audit of the CU Foundation's finances.

• Denver Post

New York University grad students poised to strike: Picket lines formed, a strike is looming in the Big Apple.

• Inside Higher Ed

Compliance officer fingered at Arizona State University: National Collegiate Athletic Association imposes two-year sanctions after a university official hired to keep AS clean breaks the rules.

• Inside Higher Education

The end in sight for the closure of New Orleans colleges: Months after Hurricane Katina lambasted the Big Easy, area colleges are set to reopen.

• VOAnews.com