The average salary for continuing faculty members increased by only 1.4 percent in 2010-2011, a rise that is lower than the inflation rate, according to a study released by the American Association of University Professors. The report, "It's Not Over Yet," also concluded that there is a growing gap between faculty salaries at public and private institutions. Other issues of concern raised in the study's findings include salary discrepancies between academic departments, a decreased reliance on tenured-track faculty members and the failure of senior faculty members to earn significantly more than new professors, Inside Higher Ed reported. The study may even overestimate salaries due to the existence of furloughs, or leaves of absence that cut into faculty salaries, AAUP public policy and research director John Curtis said in an interview with Inside Higher Ed. The cited data does not account for regional differences of living costs or possible retirement incentives offered to higher-paid faculty, according to Inside Higher Ed.
A study of 15 universities found that many students enrolled in first-year writing courses fail to display a solid understanding of their academic sources, Inside Higher Ed reported. Researchers examined 164 research papers from a variety of institutions including private colleges, four-year public universities, Ivy League institutions and community colleges. The researchers classified the 1,832 examined citations as exact copying, paraphrasing and "patchwriting" when a student copies the original text with minimal changes and substitutions, according to Inside Higher Ed. Summary, the form of citation that demonstrates the highest level of understanding, constituted only 9 percent of citations. Students often cited each source only once and frequently drew citations from the first few pages of sources, suggesting that students are not adequately reading sources used in their papers. The data represents the initial stage of a study conducted by the Citation Project to examine how college-level writing is taught to students, Insider Higher Ed reported.
A compromise budget agreement to keep the federal government running will protect current levels of education spending, President Barack Obama announced in a speech on Friday, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Although the agreement will cut $38.5 billion from the budget of the previous fiscal year, the federal need-based Pell Grant maximum will remain at $5,550, according to The Chronicle. By maintaining this level, the bill ensures that universities will not have to rescind financial aid offers already issued to families. Obama did not explain what cuts were made in order to maintain the Pell Grant maximums, but cuts totaling $500 million were made through changes to the grant program, the Associated Press reported.
