University Business - May 2008 - (Page 24)

BEHIND the NEWS Conflict of Interest Counsel IN DEVELOPING A CONFLICT OF interest policy, it’s important to ask the right questions and consider the right topics. With that in mind, the American Council on Education formed a working group this past fall to help guide college and university presidents, trustees, administrators, and faculty in strengthening policies and practices related to conflicts of interest. “Many campuses already had policies, but given the current climate it was an opAda Meloy portune time for campuses to review them and possibly update them,” says Ada Meloy, general counsel at ACE and chair of the working group. “There’s a renewed interest in making sure that ethical practices permeate the institution, down to every level.” That renewed interest is, of course, at least in part a reactive one. The media has made the public well aware of issues uncovered in the nationwide investigation of financial aid lenders. The working group, which included both higher education association and campus leaders, collaborated to publish a working document online. It proposes basic principles and identifies questions and criteria to guide review of policies and situations that may raise ethical concerns. “The most complex and difficult area is the area of institutional conflicts of interest,” says Meloy. While medical schools and hospitals have traditionally looked at these issues with relation to their research activities, individual conflicts of interest tended to be the focus. Now there’s a better understanding of the need to pay attention to conflicts of interest in all areas and at all levels on the organizational chart, she explains. To view the working paper, visit www .acenet.edu and click on the Papers & Proposals section of Government Relations & Public Policy. —M.E. U B E T W E E N the L I N E S How the University Works: Higher Education and the Low-Wage Nation By Marc Bousquet New York University Press, 2008; 281 pp.; $22.00 WITH TUITION INCREASES OUTSTRIPPING inflation, the public is taking a closer look at the salaries and pay packages of college coaches and presidents. But such concern isn’t usually expressed about faculty pay. In How the University Works, Marc Bousquet points out that this is because many faculty are working for “fast-food wages.” He argues that the administrative side of higher ed has been bloated at the expense of tenure-track positions. A reduction in these positions often results in a “disposable” workforce of graduate students—resulting in students teaching students. The book also examines a study on faculty prospects by former Princeton President William Bowen and then-student Julie Ann Sosa and the idea of a “job market” in academic labor. Bousquet discusses a partnership between some Kentucky IHEs and a major shipping company that is supposed to provide onsite education benefits to students— minimum wage, part-time employees on the night shift who have a 40 percent dropout rate. The school accepts the situation in part because of tuition revenue. In pointing out disparities in academic salaries and benefits, often based on age and gender, the book provides food for thought on a possibly uncomfortable topic. —A.M. No Room at the Ivy MORE THAN 1,000 STUDENTS HAD THEIR HOPES DASHED IN MARCH when Harvard administrators announced that no transfer students will be accepted for two years, to give the institution a chance to get an undergraduate housing crunch under control. According to a letter posted on the university’s website, transfer students are not allowed to live off campus because residential life is such an integral and important part of the experience. Spokesman Robert Mitchell says that although the housing committee was formed a year ago, their report was only recently received. Students aren’t the only ones to lose out because of this decision. As Josh Wyner, executive vice president of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, which provides scholarships to transfer students and other support for transfer initiatives, points out, “Students at the top of their classes at community colleges can excel at Harvard, or any selective institution, and bring a new perspective to a campus.” Research by the foundation has shown that less than one out of 1,000 students at the most selective private colleges started at community colleges. Any college that makes this decision will close down an opportunity that is already limited, Wyner asserts, as well as limit diversity on campus. But at the same time, Wyner could see the other side of the coin and respect the decision. “They are saying they won’t let students in the door who they can’t serve well. They are trying to figure out how to serve them well in the future.” —A.M. 24 | May 2008 universitybusiness.com http://www.acenet.edu http://www.acenet.edu http://www.acenet.edu http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2008

University Business - May 2008
Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
People Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Money Matters
Financial Aid
Human Resources
Community Colleges
Art Appreciation
HR Directors Speak Out
Marketing: The Big Questions Answered
Top 5 Reasons You Should Attend EduComm 2008
What's New
Calendar of Events
End Note

University Business - May 2008