For the second year in a row, Radar Magazine names the University of Bridgeport the worst college in America http://tinyurl.com/6yvtwb. 
From UB Buzz at http://blogs.universitybusiness.com/ubbuzz/:EduComm 2009 Call for Speakers
Planning is under way for EduComm 2009, which will take place June 17-19 at the Orlando Convention Center. The EduComm Conference is a 2-1/2-day event specially designed to address the needs of college and university educational technology, financial, and academic decision-makers, and facilities planners. The program is focused on solutions for maximizing higher education using the latest technology (in the classroom, across the campus, and through distance learning) and giving attendees actionable ideas to save money, increase satisfaction, and improve educational outcomes. Digital content creation, capture, presentation, storage, sharing and collaboration are all important issues to be discussed. Session tracks will focus on "Classroom Technology," "Internet & Web Technology," "AV/IT Facilities Planning & Design," and "Strategies for Success."If you're interested in presenting an education session or how-to workshop, offering a case study, or leading a panel discussion let us know. Submitting a session idea is easy with the online speaker proposal form. And if you have questions about EduComm or about the session tracks, please contact Tim Goral, EduComm Conference Program Chair.
On June 5, 2008, the six teams redesigning courses as part of the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Course Redesign Initiative met in Nashville, TN, to report on the first of three pilot implementations. With support from the Fund for the improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), the TBR initiative focuses on the redesign of developmental math and English curricula using technology-supported active-learning strategies. Each of the redesign plans is available at http://www.thencat.org/States/TN/TN%20Project%20Descriptions.htm.
ProEd's 31st Annual Conference
1. Request a formal written proposal.David Donathan in University Business at http://tinyurl.com/5caoel
2. Send the proposal to a committee.
3. Schedule meetings to discuss the concept.
4. Lose the proposal.
5. No money in the budget.
6. "Have you talked to _____ about it?"
7. "We don't, haven't, won't, can't..."
8. "Sounds exciting, but I'll need more details."
9. "Yes, but..."
10. Quote Nancy Reagan and "just say no."
But a least I'm not reading something like this:Tennessee State University has developed a disregard for student services and its academic reputation that will require "a cultural shift of seismic proportions" to fix, a consulting group hired by the school wrote in a report.
Here's a look at some atypical courses.
The 2008 Council for Adult and Experiential Learning Conference.
More brochures are featuring BIG pictures on inside pages, a new brochure trend, reports LERN brochure expert Nancy Hulverson. She’ll be doing a session on new brochure trends at the LERN conference. http://lern.org/
T. Maxwell alerted me to the fact that credentialing for adjuncts (I mentioned last week at http://tinyurl.com/6hvlzp.) was not necessarily seen as a good thing. Read about it at The Adjunct Advocate http://adjunctadvocate.com/blog/archive/10204/. Here's a sample comment:I am not against certification, per se. I am against this particular form of certification, because it's just a way for SoCafe's owners to make $395 from adjuncts who hope employers will give a rat's tail about such certification.
57th Annual Adult & Continuing Education Conference
There are numerous others, and I’m sure our marriage is typical. Indeed, I would think that the minimization of transactions costs is a major source of economies in marriage/partnership; those marriages/partnerships that are successful are those that are better able to reduce the transactions costs inherent in living together. 
Continuing education programs often rely heavily upon adjunct faculty. Now there is an organization that certifies adjunct faculty, the Society of Certified Adjunct Faculty Members or SoCAFE. Here is an exerpt from their website:To assist adjunct faculty in becoming more effective educators, SoCAFETM offers a knowledge-based certificate.
Through research, we have identified 10 Core Competencies adjunct faculty need to be effective educators. We have developed a certification process that provides adjunct faculty a mechanism to demonstrate mastery of these competencies. Successful candidates will earn the designation of Certified Adjunct Faculty Educator (C.A.F.E.).
The C.A.F.E. certification is a portable and marketable credential that corroborates your teaching skills and dedication to the profession. http://www.socafe.org/
I've mentioned earlier that I've reached the stage in my career where I'm old enough or well-known enough to serve as a mentor for new continuing educators http://tinyurl.com/5nds6r. In addition to working with TACHE, I'm also a Regents Academic Leadership Institute Mentor (RALI). In a recent email from Gary Filan, Executive Director of the Chair Academy and member of the Leadership Academy Faciliation Team, he lists some "Overlooked Mentoring Guidelines" that were valuable enough to share:Get off on the right foot – Avoid creating situations of power and authority by declining offers to sit on the mentee’s committees. Divert barriers by sitting at the same table, next to each other during meetings rather than behind a desk with your arms crossed. Share a few laughs and personal stories to open the relationship, keep good eye contact and be honest. This will create a solid foundation of positive rapport and trust for the mentoring relationship.
Establish boundaries for the relationship – Both you and the mentee must find this relationship beneficial in order for it to be successful and effective. Discuss what you both need and expect from the relationship and what you are both willing to give.
Create a safe environment for the mentee to share freely – When the mentee begins to share, actively listen and validate feelings by giving verbal and nonverbal cues. Give the mentee your undivided attention. After listening to your mentee’s concerns and experiences, paraphrase what you have heard. This gives the mentee confidence you are listening and ensures you and your mentee understand each other.
Always ask permission before giving advice or feedback – Permission allows the environment to be more open to suggestion rather than creating a defensive barrier that can inhibit valuable dialogue. If given permission, be clear and concise with your comments.
Reflection – Throughout your relationship, be sure to set aside time to reflect on goals that have been accomplished and those which still need to be achieved. Have the mentee assess how you are doing and what they might need that is different from what you are currently providing in terms of support, meetings, and feedback/advice.
USNews.com's Four Reasons Textbook Costs Will Drop at http://tinyurl.com/54tfc9.
The Chronicle of Higher Education has a follow-up article (see an earlier post at http://tinyurl.com/588qz5) on teaching credentials for community colleges (and it applies to four-year schools as well) at http://tinyurl.com/5kdz3b.
Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, argues that institutions have more flexibility than they realize:
In 2002, she said, the regional accrediting agency abandoned the 80 or so "must" statements it had previously used to assess institutional compliance in favor of about 40 broad-based "principles."
"Of course, institutions can still use the 18-hour rule if they want to, but they're no longer required to do so," she told me. She went on to say that SACS, like other accrediting agencies around the country, has relaxed its standards for evaluating faculty credentials.
"If you have a banker, for instance, who doesn't necessarily have the academic credentials but has successfully run a business for 20 years, an institution could probably make a good case to justify that person's teaching an intro-to-business course," Wheelan said.
Queen's Brian May publishes his dissertation: A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud (Springer and Canopus Publishing Ltd., 2008). 
Almost half of ETSU enrollment is "non-traditional." Here's an excerpt from the Johnson City Press at http://tinyurl.com/5bt8lg:Our division paid for the survey.According to the 2007 Adult Learner Inventory survey done on the campus of ETSU, 36 percent of undergraduate students were considered non-traditional adult students, who are defined as being 23 years of age or older. When ETSU’s graduate programs are added in to the figures, the total student body is composed of 46 percent non-traditional students, or 5,872 students.
Of those, the ALI indicated that 42 percent work 40 or more hours a week; 52 percent have dependents; 64 percent are full-time students; 71 percent are pursuing a different career; and 81 percent attend class at the main Johnson City campus.
Stopped by Bogart, Georgia--just outside Athens--to see Kyle and Cindy. We went to downtown Athens and I ate at my first vegetarian restaurant: The Grit. I evolved to be a carnivore, but my chili cheese dog was pretty good. Here's a picture of an Uga statue and a sign in the restaurant.
