Blackboard Inc. announced that the private equity firm Providence Equity Partners purchased the software company for $1.64 billion, Inside Higher Ed reported Friday. Both the software and leadership structure of the company will remain unchanged, though some officials expressed concerns that the company's decisions may now be financially rather than educationally motivated, according to Inside Higher Ed. Ray Henderson, the president of Blackboard Learn, denied that the company would eliminate its less profitable offerings, such as Blackboard Mobile and Blackboard Analytics, and said that the company's "key strategies" will remain intact, Inside Higher Ed reported. Blackboard products are used by more than half of nonprofit colleges and universities, including Dartmouth.
Stanford University created a Faculty College intended to increase emphasis on undergraduate classes taught by professors instead of graduate students, Inside Higher Ed reported Friday. The new college aims to provide a more interdisciplinary approach to undergraduate teaching while also focusing on wholistically improving undergraduate education. Other universities, including Portland State University and Indiana University, have recently established similar programs that cater to undergraduate students, Inside Higher Ed reported. It is "unusual" for a university like Stanford to significantly invest in a program specifically designed for undergraduates, according to Inside Higher Ed. The university has created financial incentives for faculty members to participate in the new college with the goal of attracting more established, tenured professors, Inside Higher Ed reported.
The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has reached a voluntary settlement with the University of Notre Dame regarding the university's policy on instances of reported sexual assault, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported Friday. According to the terms of the settlement, the university is required to disclose filed reports of sexual assault, and cases must now be closed within 60 days of a filed complaint, according to The Chronicle. Historically, students have criticized the university for its lack of initiative in pursuing sexual assault claims and lengthy delays in sexual assault investigations, The Chronicle reported. The Office for Civil Rights' decision follows an investigation into whether Notre Dame violated Title IX, a federal law concerning gender discrimination in the allocation of federal funds for colleges and universities. The invesitgation came after the Office for Civil Rights sent out a letter clarifying Title IX policies to colleges and universities in April, according to The Chronicle.
