Hello everyone, I’m Sarah, and this is the Daily Dose.
U. of Illinois at Springfield Offers New ‘Massive Open Online Course’The University of Illinois is offering a Massive Open Online Course. The course is not for credit and plans to examine online education and the direction of e-learning. Almost 500 people from 2 dozen countries have registered so far, and 1,000 are expected to enroll by the time the course begins next Monday. There’s a fair amount of debate on whether MOOCs are the answer to higher education’s problems, or if they are limited in their appeal.
Moral, but Lawful?The Catholic University of America is transitioning to single-sex only housing beginning next year. However, CUA officials were recently served with an Intent-to-Sue notice earlier this week. A professor at George Washington University says eliminating coed residence halls would violate the Human Rights Act of the District of Columbia, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and commercial space, and public accommodations on the basis of sex and other factors like race, religion, and marital status. He likens the move to single sex residence halls to “separate but equal,” which would not be lawful.
Objecting to More LawyersA few law schools are assessing the job market and limiting enrollment, apparently listening to critics who claim law schools admit too many at too high a cost, leaving graduates with student loan debt they can’t pay off. It begs the question: What is the role of colleges to inform students about job prospects and to find employment? Is this a shift to “right-sizing,” or a way to protect the value of a degree from these institutions?
A Debate ReopenedAre graduate instructors employees or students? An Inside Higher Ed article tackles this issue. Over the last decade, the National Labor Relations Board has tried to determine whether graduate and research assistants have the right to unionize. It gets very tricky to determine how the dual academic/economic relationship the graduate assistants have with the university impacts their legal ability to organize into a union.Again, I’m Sarah, and this is the Daily Dose.
