The Supreme Court appeared to support state laws against affirmative action at public universities in a hearing on Tuesday, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The deliberations focused on the Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action case, in which affirmative action supporters have challenged Michigan's ban of race-conscious admissions at public universities. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court appeared to be in favor of upholding the state's ban with the support of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is widely regarded to have the swing vote. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, however, criticized the Michigan measure. A decision to uphold the ban would preserve similar measures adopted by California, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Washington. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case by June 2014.
A research paper published by University of Southern California higher education professor Adrianna Kezar proposed several cost-effective ways for universities to better support adjunct faculty, Inside Higher Ed reported. While increasing the salary and benefits of adjuncts is costly, other efforts such as increasing data collection efforts to track adjunct employment and the incorporation of adjuncts in curricular discussions and governance can be implemented at little to no cost. The report suggested that redirecting funding from administration to academic programs could improve instruction and faculty support.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has decided to offer free courses to 46 students who took fraudulent classes that were apparently never taught, Education News reported. The students' degrees are at risk unless they complete these courses, and the university is offering the students options to take a new class, pass a special exam or have prior work evaluated by faculty to compensate for the credits. The university identified 384 students and alumni who, from 1997 to 2009, took 39 fraudulent African and Afro-American studies courses, which the instructors denied teaching. UNC blamed the fraud on department chair Julius Nyang'oro and department manager Debbie Crowder, who have both since been fired.
