Hello everyone and welcome to the July 5th edition of the Daily Dose.
Mich. Ban on Race in College Admissions Illegal
A federal appeals court has determined Michigan’s ban on the consideration of race and gender in university admissions to be unconstitutional. Voters approved the amendment in 2006, which forced public institutions to change admissions policies to give minorities preferential treatment.
In educational technology news, Blackboard has recently been sold to Providence Equity Partners. Universities who use the technology are worried about the transition from a publicly traded company to a private equity holding, and the implications that may have on the budgetary bottom line. Blackboard Learn, the company’s learning-management system, does not expect the ownership change to affect pricing in the foreseeable future.
A brief filed by the U.S. Justice Department makes it apparent to researchers that they have no right to expect courts to respect confidentiality pledges made to interview subjects, and states academic freedom is not a defense to protect the confidentiality of such documents. The court case specifically deals with Boston College, which is a private school, but it would be important for public institutions to check state open records requirements to see if they can protect interview subjects.
An interesting article from Inside Higher Education unpacks a recent survey of career center officials about how the unpaid internship debate is playing out on their campuses. When the recession hit, employers began to take greater advantage of unpaid internships. The U.S. Labor Department has since clarified six guidelines unpaid internships must satisfy. An interesting side effect came to light in an ethical dilemma for students from low-income backgrounds. They often don’t have the network to gain a paid internship and can’t afford to take unpaid internships, which may actually have a negative effect when those students graduate and compete for full time employment.
Thanks everyone, that’s it for today’s edition of the Daily Dose for BreakDrink dot com.
