Former Pennsylvania State University President Graham Spanier was charged with covering up allegations of child abuse against Penn State's former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Prosecutors accused Spanier and two other university officials of perjury, obstructing justice, failing to report a crime and endangering children, calling their actions a "conspiracy of silence." Spanier denied knowledge of Sandusky's abuse of children in university shower rooms, saying that he thought Sandusky was only "horseplaying around." Evidence suggests, however, that Spanier knew what was happening, The Chronicle reported.
American universities are increasingly establishing "American culture centers" at Chinese universities in an attempt to expose Chinese students to American culture, Inside Higher Ed reported. The new centers are funded by the State Department and differ from existing programs in that they do not stand alone but rather work in collaboration with Chinese universities. The centers operate under the direction of American universities with the universities determining individual programs. The centers are in part a reaction to the Chinese sponsored "Confucian institutes" at American universities, which expand resources for the study of Chinese language and culture, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Teaching hospitals have recently begun granting faculty titles to physicians who spend little time teaching or doing research, which negatively affects the quality of education for medical students, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. As medical centers struggle with budget cuts, they have been pressuring professors to bring in more revenue from patient care, leaving them with less time for teaching and research. Physicians granted faculty titles also have fewer promotion opportunities because they do not have the publications or reputations necessary to advance through academic ranks, according to The Chronicle. A panel organized for the Association of American Medical College's annual meeting expressed concern that these trends will cause a wide gap in the quality of medical teaching once older medical faculty retire, The Chronicle reported.
