The probability that a college freshmen will withdraw from a university increases significantly when large, introductory courses are taught by part-time, adjunct professors, according to a study presented at this year's meeting of the American Education Research Association on Wednesday, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The study, which focused on the transcripts of approximately 30,000 students at four public, four-year universities, concluded that having graduate students or full-time, non-tenure track professors teach introductory courses did not have any significant impact on the likelihood that a student would withdraw. Audrey Jaeger, a professor at North Carolina State University and the lead author of the paper, hypothesized that reliance on part-time professors, as opposed to graduate students, can be detrimental because the professors often travel among several campuses, which allows little time to meet with students.
Jane Mendillo will assume the position of president and chief investment officer of the Harvard Management Company, which administers Harvard University's endowment. She will replace Mohamad El-Erian, who left last fall, the university announced Thursday, according to The New York Times. Prior to becoming Wellesley College's chief investment officer in 2002, Mendillo worked for the Harvard Management Company for 15 years and has served as its vice president of external investments. Mendillo will be one of five women to oversee one of the nation's 25 largest university endowments. Harvard's $34.9 billion endowment is the largest in the country.
Some directors of study abroad programs fear that economic decline, high fuel surcharges and the weakening of the dollar may decrease the number of students who choose to study abroad, although no such reduction has occurred to date, according to Inside Higher Ed. The economic decline and diminishing value of the dollar relative to the Euro may increase the costs of study abroad programs or encourage students to consider studying in non-European countries, which have traditionally been less popular, many administrators told Inside Higher Ed. The number of students who study abroad has risen continuously over the past several years.
