Edward Waters College, a small college in northern Florida, announced revisions to its employee confidentiality rules this month, making them the strictest of any institution in the region, according to The Florida Times-Union. The new rules prohibit disclosure of any on-campus material, including employee records, college policy documents and even in-class information unless it has been approved for release by the college administration. All college contracts bind employees to the agreement, and staff may be subject to a daily fine of $5,000 and vulnerable to further legal action if they violate the policy. The college's general counsel, Michael Freed, told The Times-Union that no specific incident affected Edward Waters' decision to revise its confidentiality policy. The main intention of the revisions, according to officials at Edward Waters College, is to prevent former employees particularly those who have been laid off from leaking private information in order to "embarrass" their former employer, The Times-Union reported.
In response to both the rising importance of international university rankings and growing criticism of ranking methods, several organizations are seeking to create an improved international ranking system for universities, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported Sunday. The European Union and the London-based Times Higher Education magazine have both attracted international attention for their plans to develop more complex rating systems, which would focus on teaching and public service at colleges and universities in addition to peer reviews and scientific and medical research, according to The Chronicle. University enrollments worldwide have increased by 50 percent in the last decade, meaning that rankings have grown increasingly important among institutions of higher learning, The Chronicle reported.
