Veterans, Less Engaged but Satisfied

By David Moitz

Military veterans attending four-year colleges in the United State spend more time working at jobs and caring for dependents than their non-veteran classmates, but spend just as much time studying. And while the veterans appear to be less academically engaged than other students — even other undergraduates with comparable demographic traits — they are just as likely to report overall satisfaction with their college experiences. These insights come from the latest National Survey of Student Engagement, released Thursday.

This year’s release marks the first time that the 11-year-old survey, based on the responses of about 362,000 freshmen and seniors at 564 colleges and universities in the United States, specifically recognizes students who were in the armed forces. Therefore, in addition to updated information about the study and classroom habits of all students, the perceptions of veterans on campus are among the assessment tool’s more revealing findings this year.

Continued at: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/04/nsse

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Preparing Professors to Teach

By Allie Grasgreen

Graduate education’s supporters and critics alike have long called for doctoral students who are better trained to teach, as tenure-track positions become increasingly scarce and the competition for those jobs intensifies. Efforts by universities to focus on the teaching skills of the would-be professors they turn out have developed in fits and starts over the last 15 years.

But in recent years a flurry of new programs at leading universities — in some cases overflowing with grad students — suggests that institutions and doctoral candidates are recognizing a need for future faculty who can not only conduct research at top-tier universities, but also be effective in the classroom at a liberal arts or community college.

Teaching certificate programs are filling that need at dozens of public and private institutions across the country, and the programs continue to expand. Administrators say the certificates not only give students an edge in the job market, but also teach the skills Ph.D. candidates need to be effective teachers and faculty need to be lifelong learners.

Continued at:   http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/postings.php

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Hirings Rocket at For-Profits

By Dan Berrett

Surging enrollments at for-profit colleges have driven increases in staffing at those institutions, according to federal data released Wednesday.

Between 2008 and 2009, the for-profit sector posted double-digit percentage gains in the numbers of total employees, full- and part-time faculty, and executive staff, the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics’ “Employees in Postsecondary Institutions” annual survey revealed. Growth in the sector was such that for every two hires made in higher education during the past year, one was at a for-profit college.

Meanwhile, employment in the overall higher education sector edged up 2 percent between 2008 and 2009. To a large extent, this growth trend reflects the fact that there are far fewer for-profit colleges and staff members to begin with, and any fluctuations are likely to appear large when expressed as a percentage. The number of employees at public institutions remains approximately 10 times that of the for-profit institutions. On the other hand, the trend also reflects soaring enrollments at the colleges, which experienced 21 percent growth between 2007 and 2008, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Continued at: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/04/nces

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