Student group files lawsuit challenging race-conscious admissions policy at Yale University

March 12, 2021

ABA JOURNAL — Students for Fair Admissions has filed a lawsuit challenging race-conscious admissions policies at Yale University less than a month after the U.S. Department of Justice dropped a bias suit that it filed against the school during the Trump administration.

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New report highlights gender pay disparity among highest research university salaries

March 2, 2021

INSIDE HIGHER ED — Women are 60 percent of all professionals in higher education and have been earning the majority of master’s and doctoral degrees for decades. Yet women represent just 24 percent of the highest-paid faculty members and administrators at 130 leading research universities, according to a new study.

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Pandemic drives transition to digital college course materials over textbooks

March 2, 2021

INSIDE HIGHER ED — For the first year on record, more faculty members used learning management systems than print course materials when teaching classes, according a new report released Tuesday from the National Association of College Stores. The 2020 Faculty Watch report is based on a survey of 968 faculty members.

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Colleges see decline in student use of counseling centers amid pandemic

March 2, 2021

INSIDE HIGHER ED — “Dramatically” fewer students on average sought treatment from their college counseling centers during the coronavirus pandemic compared to before the pandemic, according to the Center for Collegiate Mental Health, which published a new blog post about students’ help-seeking behavior at 63 different colleges.

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American University Washington College of Law adapts offerings for international students amid COVID-19

February 26, 2021

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW — American University Washington College of Law, ranked 4th in the nation in international law, is known for its breadth of offerings in international and comparative law, and for being a welcoming environment for international students. However, this past year presented new opportunities.

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Opinion: UCLA Law dean Jennifer Mnookin argues college student and faculty vaccinations should be a national priority

February 25, 2021

LOS ANGELES TIMES — The fall semester and higher education remain in jeopardy, despite the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine. Faculty, staff and students need to be given access to the vaccine sooner rather than later so that a full university life can resume in the fall. We aren’t arguing that students should be at the front.

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COVID-19 cases at universities rise again

February 25, 2021

INSIDE HIGHER ED — COVID-19 cases are on the decline nationwide. College campuses are another story. Though the large, mostly public universities that set records for their high case counts last semester are actually doing better than they did last term, other campuses — including those that kept cases low in the fall — have rising numbers.

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Approach to vaccinating faculty varies by state

February 25, 2021

INSIDE HIGHER ED — As states continue fine-tuning their plans for prioritizing scarce doses of COVID-19 vaccines, some in higher education who expected to be vaccinated along with other educators have found themselves pushed farther back in line. Some states are prioritizing vaccinating teachers and staff in pre-K-12 over college faculty members.

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Hispanic college student enrollment drops due to the pandemic

February 25, 2021

THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION — This week, Katie Mangan talked to an expert about one of the most troubling flips in the college-enrollment scene: the decline in Latino/a students, a population many see as key to higher education’s future. For years, Latina/o students have been the fastest-growing segment of undergraduates.

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States set different agendas for higher education funding

February 25, 2021

INSIDE HIGHER ED — Many states slashed higher education funding last year, fearing the pandemic would torpedo state revenues. The higher education sector, no stranger to steep cuts during economic recessions, braced for further budget reductions in the 2022 fiscal year. But many public higher education officials’ worst fears have not been realized.

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