AlcoholEdu, an online alcohol safety instruction program, has considerably decreased instances of binge drinking and sexual violence among participating college freshmen, The Boston Globe reported. The results were released in the July Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs in a report written by M.J. Paschall of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. The results also showed that the program's effectiveness was reduced after the students' first semester, and it did not have any impact on incidences of drunk driving or aggression while under the influence of alcohol. The program costs $16,000 per campus, and schools who choose to require all of their incoming freshmen to complete it can be held less liable for student deaths, The Globe reported. Thirty colleges across the country took part in the study. AlcoholEdu employs surveys, video footage and quizzes about alcohol consumption tendencies and takes approximately three hours to complete. Last Summer, the College replaced its AlcoholEdu program with the online alcohol education program MyStudentBody, The Dartmouth previously reported.
The U.S. Justice Department recently joined the prosecution side of a False Claims Act lawsuit against the for-profit Education Management Corporation, in which the company is accused of breaking federal laws governing "incentive compensation" for recruiters, Inside Higher Ed reported. This decision may indicate that the government will continue to get involved in similar lawsuits, such as the case against Corinthian Colleges Inc., which was reinstituted by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. False Claims Act cases involving for-profit higher education institutions generally involve the illegal practice of paying recruiters more or less money based on their success rates in enrolling students. The False Claims Act is meant to shelter student aid programs from abuse but does not prevent recruiters from being fired as a result of poor performance, Inside Higher Ed reported.
A 2010 whistle-blower complaint obtained by the Chronicle of Higher Education revealed that former Roger Williams University president Roy Nirschel resigned last summer amidst a storm of allegations of sexual harassment and favoritism toward female co-workers. The university's board of trustees hired a third-party law firm to investigate the charges. The complaint was signed by four employees, one of whom charged Nirschel with making "suggestive advances" toward her on a business trip to Vietnam, the Chronicle reported. Other charges included the discovery of pornography in the former president's office and a very close personal relationship spanning six years with a University administrator. At the time of his resignation, Nirschel was earning $537,000 per year, the Chronicle reported. He is currently listed as the president of the American University of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City.
