On Campus Blog

MPR’s Elizabeth Dunbar reports today on a twist to the story on the Supreme Court ruling that medical residents be considered employees rather than students, and must pay Social Security. A number of medical-resident reps applauded the ruling, because they hope it will allow them to gain more federal labor protection — like disability pay…
Fortunately, it looks like the financial situation at St. Cloud State University isn’t quite as dire as once thought. First came the news in November that students voted to increase student fees to buy another two years for a number of athletic programs, including football, which were slated for elimination. Now the St. Cloud Times…
What Minnesota House higher-ed pols said about textbooks
Either he’s grandstanding, or state Rep. Joe Atkins has had some bad experiences with textbooks and costs — I assume during some period of teaching he said he’s done. At a state Office of Higher Education (OHE) presentation on textbook costs today, he told the other House higher education committee members: College textbooks “are an…
U of Minnesota sixth in money gained from tech licensing
The University of Minnesota is sixth — out of 153 universities — in the amount money made through the  commercialization of university research, according to a study written up in MedCity News. Ziagen (Abacavir) — used in the treatment of HIV — is a huge source of licensing income for the U.  According to the…
Are too many med students lacking altruism?
What makes a good, caring medical student? Back in August, an MPR Midmorning program explored whether allowing qualified students to ditch the pre-med path might make them better, more well-rounded physicians. Now a med-school blogger on KevinMD.com points to recent writings indicating a problem with burnout and unprofessional conduct among med students, and wonders, among…
In her blog post Gotcha! How Open is too Open? professor Lee Elaine Skallerup frets over how candid she should be with her students after suspecting one of them used an iPhone to record her political comments during an informal meeting: The take-away from the rise in technology in higher education? Don’t be yourself. Sorry,…
Getting Into Harvard Easier Than McDonald’s University in China It has a selection rate of less than 1 percent, lower than Harvard University’s record low acceptance rate last year of about 7 percent. (Bloomberg) Kaler eyes U from behind the scenes The University’s next president is making quiet monthly visits to the school this spring. (Minnesota Daily)…
Tuesday I posted a Gustavian Weekly piece about “limited immunity,” the school policy that gives some protection to students who are on alcohol or drugs when they call for help in an emergency and need help from safety or health staff either for themselves or someone else. (In other words, they won’t face campus judicial…
Faculty members: It looks like it’s up to you to shoulder a larger part of the workload in bringing down the cost of textbooks. And that means a lot of planning, organizing, gathering info — and doing it all early. A new report by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education says the large number of…
Obama to spare higher-ed spending
The Chronicle of Higher Education offers this take on the higher-ed angle of President Obama’s State of the Union address. It highlights an analogy Obama uses to defend his decision to spare education and research from budget cuts and a five-year freeze on discretionary spending: “Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and…