The National Science Foundation awarded Dartmouth, John Hopkins University, the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan $10 million to improve cybersecurity for health care information, the College announced Thursday. The grant will go toward the Trustworthy Health and Wellness project, a five-year program that seeks to strengthen cybersecurity as health information relocates to mobile devices and cloud-bases services. To create a health system that can protect individual privacy, the project will develop new authentication for clinical staff, more secure health networks for small clinics and methods to detect problems with medical devices. The project is headed by computer science professor David Kotz. The other principle investigators are Lisa Marsch, head of the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at the Geisel School of Medicine, and Eric Johnson, a Tuck School of Business professor.
Public colleges continue to face financial difficulties and enrollment stagnancy, according to a report by Moody's Investors Service cited by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Using data from 2012, the report showed that expenses at public institutions increased by over 3 percent, outpacing revenue growth of under 2 percent in fiscal year 2012. Such a discrepancy between costs and spending is unsustainable, said Emily Schwarz, assistant vice president at Moody's. Analysts concluded that public colleges must cut costs, particularly given pressure to avoid dramatically increase tuition. Though private, nonprofit universities are in a better state than public institutions, they face similar tuition and enrollment challenges.
The American Association of University Professors named Julie Schmid its first executive director, demonstrating an increased focus on organization, Inside Higher Ed reported. The position, previously held by Martin Snyder, used to be called the general secretary of the AAUP, a title openly criticized by members for lacking clarity. Schmid, who has served as chief of staff for the American Federation of Teachers in Wisconsin, said the recent increase in online courses and decrease in university budgets has led to an increase in the number of adjunct professors hired. The organization, which has 45,000 members nationally, needs to target other schools on a local level to increase membership, Schmid said.
