BrickBerry

Bluster.
BlackBerry can handle a Verizon iPhone - Mar. 30, 2010

iPad fever

Top reasons to not buy (or buy) the iPad - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

Seton Hill Offers All Students an iPad

Why the iPad will Change Everything

Apple's iPad: The Mothership Prepares for Launch

Survival

of the Fittest.
LERN’s Summer Institutes
June 7-10
Baltimore

Click here for more information and to register online, or contact Debbie at 800-678-5376 or send email to debbie@lern.org.

The utility of attending conferences

Even if you don't work full-time.  From the New Faculty Majority.
Conferences, surveys and videos

Humanities and general education courses

Do generate a lot of money, even when taught by full professors.  Unfortunately, many of them, because they are lower division, can be taught cheaper by low paid adjuncts and graduate students. And the pressure is to produce the profit at the lowest possible cost.
The Humanities Really Do Produce a Profit - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Good advice

For new online learners.
8 Big Mistakes Online Students Make - US News and World Report

What happens when you get nasty comments

On your university Facebook page?  One experience described at .eduGuru.com.
Negative Facebook Comments

Social notworking

A Collection of Social Network Stats for 2010 « Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang Social Media, Web Marketing

God help me I do love Top 10 lists

Top 10 Time-Travel Movies  Although serious time travel moves do wear me out.  I'm always reminded of Scott's question in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me:  If you've got a time machine, why don't you just go back and kill Austin Powers when he's sitting on the crapper or something?  Exactly.  Or go back and kill his parents...

Off to chair

An academic audit at Northeast State.  My team includes an English professor and another continuing educator from Cleveland State Community College.  We're reviewing the HVAC certificate program.  This is my second audit; first as chair.

That's my story

And I'm sticking to it.  'Male Brain': Why men obsess over sex - CNN.com

All that testosterone drives the "Man Trance"-- that glazed-eye look a man gets when he sees breasts. As a woman who was among the ranks of the early feminists, I wish I could say that men can stop themselves from entering this trance. But the truth is, they can't. Their visual brain circuits are always on the lookout for fertile mates. Whether or not they intend to pursue a visual enticement, they have to check out the goods.

To a man, this is the most natural response in the world, so he's dismayed by how betrayed his wife or girlfriend feels when she sees him eyeing another woman. Men look at attractive women the way we look at pretty butterflies. They catch the male brain's attention for a second, but then they flit out of his mind.

And in a related story, a continuing educator just shared this joke with me: The Old Pilot and the Lesbian.

Today is

Take a Walk in the Park Day.  While not exactly the park, I am walking out of the office today, chairing an academic audit visit to Northeast State Community College.

Continuing education salaries

For Mid-level Administrators.  I think it's interesting that the community college salaries for conference coordinator are the highest among the various types of institutions.  And certainly competitive for the continuing education specialist as well.

Median Salaries of Midlevel Administrative Workers by Job Category and Type of Institution, 2009-10 - Administrator Data - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Academic affairs

Conference/workshop education coordinator, continuing education
All                        $43,115
Doctoral               $43,470
Master's               $42,130
Baccalaureate       $36,240
2-year                  $46,132

Continuing-education specialist
All                        $50,071
Doctoral               $53,565
Master's               $49,786
Baccalaureate       $45,490
2-year                  $49,903

It's all fat

I got an email Friday asking me if I could meet on Tuesday when my scheduled academic audit ended. I tried to type "It's all day" on my iPhone, but--unnoticed by me--Ivanna changed "day" to "fat." And I must confess, I did this while at a traffic light.

A few hours later the person emailed me back and said, in essence, "I give up. What does it's all fat mean?

It's my new catch phrase.

What do you do

With a  B.A. in English? Or philosophy?

Disappearing Disciplines: Degree Programs Fight for Their Lives - Curriculum - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Faculty advocates worry about provosts acting unilaterally, but they are also uneasy about another process: Statewide commands to scrutinize all academic programs according to a single measure, such as the number of graduates or the average cost per student.


The 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (which does not include the Pennsylvania State University system) have been ordered this spring to review all of their "low completion" programs—that is, those with fewer than 30 graduates during a five-year period. The campuses are being encouraged to consider consolidating or suspending those programs.

"With the limited resources we have, we want to be sure that our academic programs are appropriate to our universities' needs and to the needs of the commonwealth," says Kenn Marshall, a spokesperson for the system. "We are looking long-term, to make sure that we can operate within a balanced budget."

Several of the small departments that have come under scrutiny are philosophy programs.

Tennessee hopes to race to the top

Delaware, Tennessee Win Race to the Top Grants

Hear me roar

Interesting.  A Symposium on Male Studies at Wagner College.  And here's a term I hadn't come across before: misandry.  I love academics.

A gathering of academicians drawn from a range of disciplines  will meet on April 7, 2010, at Wagner College, Staten Island, New York, to examine the declining state of the male, stemming from cataclysmic changes in today’s culture, environment and global economy. The live teleconferenced colloquium will be chaired by Lionel Tiger, PhD, Rutgers University Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology. It will encompass a broad range of topics relevant to the study of boys and men in contemporary society ranging from their roles in the family and workforce, as well as their physical and emotional health, to the growing problem of misandry—the hatred of males, an unacknowledged but underlying socio-cultural, economic, political and legal phenomenon endangering the well-being of both genders.

The goal of the April colloquium is to consider the nature and structure of male studies programs designed for institutions of higher education. It follows on the current experience of the On Step Institute (OSI), which supports graduate fellowships at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Human Development. It will seek to generate a cross-disciplinary community of scholars in male studies and establish a series of networks enabling scholars to become acquainted with each other’s work. The Chair of OSI, Edward Stephens, MD, who has organized the consortium, finds that while a handful of schools now sporadically offer courses dealing with males in traditionally unrelated departments – for example, literature, history, anthropology, psychology and sociology – the courses are unequal to providing effective insight into the immense problems confronting males in the 21st century which requires an integrated approach incorporating a multiplicity of academic disciplines.

Will online education level the playing field?

This prediction may be a stretch--we've been predicting the end of small, private colleges for decades--but it's clear that online learning will change higher education. 

"DIY U": The end of university prestige

Kamenetz doesn’t advocate leaving the university behind, but she envisions a future where the 80 percent of American college students who attend non-selective schools (mainstream public universities and community colleges) create their own personalized course of study. Some American universities are already making classes available for free online, and using blogs, YouTube, Facebook and, yes, Twitter, to move toward this new model for higher education.

I had the right to remain silent

But not the ability.  Karen Burns lists things that you should never say to your boss and never say to your employees.

7 Things Never to Say to Your Boss - On Careers (usnews.com)

7 Things Your Boss Should Never Say to You - On Careers (usnews.com)

Bring it on

Big Apple!

New York City vs. Nashville tennessean.com Nashville Living The Tennessean

Extension pains

Chattanooga Times Free Press Cuts to UT extension hurt outreach

Proposals still being accepted

AAACE 2010 Conference
Leading and Learning: Meeting Today's Challenges
October 26 -29, 2010
Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort
Clearwater Beach, Florida

Call for Proposals

Important Dates:
Proposal deadline: Friday, May 14, 2010
Acceptance Notification: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Presenter Confirmation: Friday, July 16, 2010
Presenter Conference Registration Deadline: Friday, September 3, 2010

From Higher Ed Marketing

These actually appeared last Friday, but I missed them.
Friday Five: FYI edition

I wonder if their laptops

Are tax deductable?   Child Psychiatrists Embrace Videoconferencing Telepsychiatry - TIME

Usually, this only happens at for-profit institutions

It seemed like a good idea at the time. But you can't give admissions staff bonuses for bringing in more students.
Lipscomb University recruiter bonuses broke federal law tennessean.com The Tennessean

Those who moonlight

are satisfied.  Those who want a career as a faculty member, not so much.
What Part-Timers Want-insidehighered.com

Continuing education job openings

Even in tough times, colleges and universities are still hiring. Here are some continuing education jobs from the Chronicle of Higher Education and HigherEdJobs.com.

Western Washington University:  Vice Provost for Extended Education and Summer Programs

Maine College of Art:  Director of Continuing Studies

Park University: Associate Provost for Distance Learning

Massachusetts Bay Community College: Director of Corporate and Community Education

Bellevue College: Member College Program Manager

Colorado Northwestern Community College:  Director of Extended Learning and Concurrent Enrollment

TACHE planning

Vandy is down there

At number 70.
CampusGrotto - Most Expensive Colleges for 2009-2010

Highest Tuition 2009-2010

1. Middlebury College $43,690
2. Connecticut College $42,335
3. Sarah Lawrence College $41,040
4. The George Washington University $41,610
5. Vassar College $41,335
6. Colgate University $40,690
7. Bucknell University $40,594
8. Skidmore College $40,420
9. Carnegie Mellon University $40,300
10. Union College (NY) $40,068

Today is

The Feast of the Annuciation.   Or, only 273 shopping days to Christmas.  More on the Annunciation.

Also Pecan Day.  Sometimes, you feel like a nut...

Off to plan

The 2010 TACHE fall conference.  We're holding it at a new location near Nashville, in Cool Springs.  We have a modest budget to work with, but for many folks in Tennessee, this is their major professional development activity for the year.  So it's still more and more with less and less.  My suggestion for revenue enhancement is a tip jar at the registration desk.  Or the Hospitality Room...

I see blue people

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

One purple state

Cartophilia.com

Of course it can

Can the iPhone Save Higher Education?

Just in from the d'uh file

Marriage makes you fat.   I resemble that remark.

The need for development studies hasn't changed much

During my entire higher ed career. I started off teaching remedial English as a graduate assistant.  In fact, I used this textbook, still available: The Least You Should Know About English.  Of course, it didn't cost $50 in my time.  But then again, there was no word processing and we used Ditto Masters for exams.  Man, I'm old...

Students Playing Catch-Up as They Hit College

Mountain Plains Adult Education Association conference

Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Stephen D. Brookfield

Conference Website

Conference Brochure

Do they make a Buddhist

Chastity belt? Personally, I'm sick of hearing about Tiger Woods. Even the jokes. Move on, America. Move on.
Tiger Woods wearing Buddhist bracelet for 'protection and strength'

Eightclosure

Mom of octuplets may lose home to foreclosure - USATODAY.com

Social notworking

Twitter Hack: 5 Ways To Up Your Visible IQ

Joint MVAEA & KAEA

2010 Conference
Facing the Changes in Adult Education
June 15-17, 2010
Hyatt Regency
Wichita, Kansas
Conference Website



Missouri Valley Adult Education Association
Kansas Adult Education Association

Nashville is 19th

America's Riskiest Online Cities - tennessean.com

Education reform

I has it.  This interview with Diane Ravitch outlines some of the problems she finds with current education reform initiatives.  Here she is on Charter schools:

Like the grand plans of previous eras, they sound sensible but will leave education no better off. Charter schools are no panacea. The nation now has about 5,000 of them, and they vary in quality. Some are excellent, some terrible; most are in between. Most studies have found that charters, on average, are no better than public schools.

On the federal tests, known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, from 2003 to 2009, charters have never outperformed public schools. Nor have black and Latino students in charter schools performed better than their counterparts in public schools.

This is surprising, because charter schools have many advantages over public schools. Most charters choose their students by lottery. Those who sign up to win seats tend to be the most motivated students and families in the poorest communities. Charters are also free to "counsel out" students who are unable or unwilling to meet expectations. A study of KIPP charters in the San Francisco area found that 60% of those students who started the fifth grade were gone before the end of eighth grade. Most of those who left were low performers.

The Big Idea -- it's bad education policy - latimes.com
*

Cause and effect

is a harsh mistress.  This from the Freakonomics Blog:

(In the U.S., the authors write, “less than half of children with family incomes under $25,000 lived in a household with a computer, compared to 92 percent of those with family incomes over $100,000.”)

 It is a logical assumption that the children with computer access have a huge advantage in gaining human capital, yes?

But the tricky part is untangling the cause and the effect. As we’ve written in the past, children who grow up in homes with a lot of books are likely to do better in school than kids from homes without books — but not necessarily because they spend all their time reading. The data suggest that kids from homes with lots of books simply have smarter parents.

California budget cuts

hitting some of those who can least afford it.

Adult students protest potential loss of Pico-Union campus

Today is

National Goof Off Day

UT is looking for a new president

So I guess the local newspaper is wondering what his/her salary might be. The surprise in here? The Lee University President's salary exceeds $300,000.

What are college presidents paid? » Knoxville News Sentinel

Traditional notworking

5 Steps To Conquer Any Networking Event

Call for proposals

Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education Call for Papers - American Marketing Association

The American Marketing Association Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education strives to increase knowledge of how marketing principles and practices can be used by colleges and universities to build and maintain strong brands, achieve enrollment and fundraising success, improve competitive positioning, and maintain financial strength. The conference features over 30 general lecture sessions, which will be selected by a steering committee following a blind review process. Practitioners from areas including marketing, branding, communications, college/university relations, public relations, enrollment management, admissions, alumni relations, and development, as well as research and planning specialists, university policy makers, marketing faculty, and presidents are invited to submit speaking/paper proposals.

Submission Guidelines

Questions?   Lynn Reyes, Program Manager, AMA, 312.542.9075, lreyes@ama.org

Elizabeth Scarborough, Symposium Chair and CEO, SimpsonScarborough, 646.250.5551, es@SimpsonScarborough.com

God help me I do love Top 10 lists

Top 10 Tech Trends for 2010

Another graduation gap

Hardly surprising.  Goes along with boys, African-Americans, first generation students, and so forth.
Study Finds College Graduation Gap Between Hispanic and White Students - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com

Multislacking

The one simple rule you need to know to have perfect texting etiquette. - By Farhad Manjoo - Slate Magazine

If you're in a situation where you'd excuse yourself to go to the bathroom, you should also excuse yourself before reaching for your phone. Otherwise, go ahead without asking. Either way, don't play with your phone longer than you'd stay in the bathroom.

Santa Claus stops after three ho's

see more Funny Graphs

Today is

The first day of spring!

The March Equinox Explained

Can you stand eggs on end at the vernal equinox and at no other time?

Taking adult education to jail

At one university I worked at, we used to offer various classes to prisoners.  I remember visiting the facility for registration one time.  When those door shut, you get a chill--even when you know you'll be leaving.  Insert captive audience or pen state joke here.
Knoxville man uses time in jail to finish education, get fit » Knoxville News Sentinel

For the past two years, Adult Education teachers took their English, math, science and social studies lessons to inmates in the county's jails. 

"We've seen over 150 people graduate from our system," said Garza, who, along with several other colleagues who are running, hopes to raise $2,600 through sponsorships for completing the marathon.

"We've seen a dramatic reduction in the number of repeat offenders partly because education allows them to make better choices. Our GED graduates often find jobs and/or enter community colleges."

ETSU would have won last night

by forfeit.  Had this been in effect. That would have kept those UK folks from drunk-texting me from the bar last night!  Sigh.  March sadness. Urban Dictionary.

Duncan: Ban teams with low grad rates from NCAA tourney

Non-selective colleges

prove their value.
Open-Access Colleges Responsible for Greatest Gains in Graduation Rates

Continuing education job openings

Even in tough times, colleges and universities are still hiring. Here are some continuing education jobs from the Chronicle of Higher Education and HigherEdJobs.com.

Florida State College at Jacksonville:  Accelerated College Manager

Edward Waters College, Jacksonville, FL:  Director of the C.L.I.M.B. Program

Thomas Edison State College, Trenton, NJ:  Director of Continuing Studies

Columbus State Community College, Columbus, OH:  Coordinator

East Central College, Union, MO:  Executive Director, Workforce Development

Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT:  Director, Continuing Education & Community Engagement [#C10-061]

Housatonic Community College, Bridgeport, CT:  Dean of Workforce Development, Continuing Education & Community Outreach

Lehman College of The City University of New York:  Dean for Adult and Continuing Education

The new sexism

Enlightened Sexism: Douglas on Feminism, Women in Media - TIME

What is enlightened sexism?

[It's] a new, subtle form of sexism. It insists that full equality for women has been achieved, and therefore we don't need feminism anymore. So it's O.K. to resurrect retrograde, sexist images of women in the media, all with a wink and a laugh.

Professional Development

For Women Conference
June 11, 2010
Grove Park Inn and Spa
Asheville, North Carolina

Topics Include:

• Live From the Top of Your Lungs and the Bottom of Your Heart
• Transforming Stage Fright Into Stage Might
• How to Make the Best Investment of All By Investing In Yourself
• Leadership Begins With Powerful Communication
• Thinking Creatively to Innovate Solutions
• The Art of Balance: Put Balance Back Into Your Work, Play, Health and Mental Fitness
• Well-behaved Women Rarely Make History!
• Let Passion Fuel Your Purpose: Where the Rubber Chicken Meets the Road.

For more information ODCE Clemson.

Social notworking

Do Marketers Understand Social Media? ReveNews

Conference 101

What is the Value of Attending Real-Life Conferences? ReveNews

The single most important reason for me to attend real-life conferences is to do something that cannot be replaced by the best communication technology available: human interaction, meeting people face-to-face and getting to know strangers across different verticals that you would not have “bumped into” otherwise. Nobody will or even can do business with everybody who you meet and get to know at those conferences, but that is also not the idea behind this.

The value that you can and will get out of this interaction is virtually impossible to quantify. Carsten Cumbrowski

I can't believe my professor

Made me buy his comic book for Management 101.
Can B-school Students Learn From Cartoons? - WSJ.com

In Tennessee, they're proposing legislation to prevent this from ever happening--or at least to prevent the professor from profiting from it.

TN professors fume over bill banning textbook royalties - Tennessean.com

Looking for a new off-campus site?

Way off-campus?
India Approves Foreign University Proposal - WSJ.com

Social notworking

Is Foursquare the new Facebook? - Technotica- msnbc.com

Not exactly a top 10 list

The 8 Most Evil Leprechauns

God help me I do love Top 10 lists

10 Things You Didn't Know About St. Patrick's Day

For-profits gobble up another

independent institution.
A Private College Goes For-Profit.insidehighered.com

Memphis is number 15

Nashville is 32.

America's Craziest Cities - The Daily Beast

#15, Memphis

Psychiatrists per capita: 40

Stress: 1

Eccentricity: 10

Drinking: 38 (tie)

Crazy Law: Panhandlers must first obtain a $10 permit before begging on the streets of downtown Memphis.

#32, Nashville

Psychiatrists per capita: 23

Stress: 16

Eccentricity: 19

Drinking: 57

Crazy Law: It is illegal to roller-skate and listen to a CD at the same time.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

More education isn't always the answer

For some, all they end up with is debt and a useless piece of paper.
The New Poor - For-Profit Schools Cashing In on Recession and Federal Aid - NYTimes.com

ACHE South registration is open

To register, visit 2010 South Conference.

God help me I do love Top 10 lists

Event Planning 2010 - Issues Facing Event and Meeting Planners

Early bird registration open

DLA 2010. Jekyll Island is a wonderful place.

Early bird registration is now open for the 2010 Distance Learning Administration Conference at Jekyll Island. Early registration continues through April 21st.

DISTANCE LEARNING ADMINISTRATION 2010
June 6-9, 2010
Jekyll Island Club Hotel
Jekyll Island, Georgia
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/dla

For more information: 678-839-5489.

Adjusting to daylight savings time

Of course, you really should have started last week. . . .


How To Adjust To Daylight Saving Time
Uploaded by Howcast. - Parties, dorm life, and other college videos.

You lost an hour

of your life today.  And you'll never get it back.  I found this little AP clip on Daylight Savings Time at the Chattanooga Times Free Press website:

Daylight Savings Time

In case you were wondering

Is New Jersey the Most Corrupt State? - Newsweek.com

I may have mentioned something about my iPhone

In an earlier post.  Here's an app for foodies from Slate.

Illinois flagship

University is looking at the three-year degree.  Looks at using dual enrollment, winter and summer sessions to speed students along.  The savings for students come when they enter the work force sooner.

'Time is money' so U. of I. looking at 3-year degree :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education

Continuing education job openings

Even in tough times, colleges and universities are still hiring. Here are some continuing education jobs from the Chronicle of Higher Education http://chronicle.com/section/Jobs/61/ and HigherEdJobs.com http://www.higheredjobs.com/admin/search.cfm?JobCat=219.

Colorado State University-Pueblo, Pueblo, CO:  Program Manager (External Degree Program, Independent Study and Distance Education)

Florida State College at Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL:  Accelerated College Manager

Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA:  Supervisor, Workforce Development and Community Programs

Bay Path College, Longmeadow, MA:  Off-Campus Coordinator and Asst. to the Graduate Program Director SPED Graduate Program - Burlington, MA Campus

LUX Center for the Arts, NE:  Education Director

Lebanon Valley College, PA:  Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education

Lincoln Memorial University

has a new president.  LMU is very aggressive with its outreach and off-campus programming.  Yet they tend to go it alone, uninvolved with state and national continuing education operations.

LMU chief excited about job » Knoxville News Sentinel

The Teaching Professor

Conference registration is open.

Educate.  Engage.  Inspire.
May 21-23, 2010
Hyatt Regency Cambridge

Cambridge, MA
 
Click here for the conference brochure. Here for registration information.

More problems

At Tennessee State.  See an earlier posting, More bad news.  Somewhere, I must have a post just called bad news.  Of course, they say that there's no such thing as bad publicity (Succès de scandale), except, as Brendan Behan said, your own obituary.

TSU runs risk of losing its accreditation tennessean.com The Tennessean

Tennessee State University's accreditation is at risk this year unless it proves professors adequately test students, administrators make results-driven decisions and instructors have the right credentials to teach their subjects.

The university is in the first stage of its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation renewal process. In past years, other outside groups gave TSU scathing reviews for lacking an evidence-based culture and not providing basic services.

But school officials say they will have no problem earning reaccreditation, and added the issues raised in the school's initial review are typical of most universities going through the process.

"I am confident we are going to be reaffirmed," President Melvin Johnson said.

Some oldies, some goodies,

and some newbies.

112 best free downloads, sites and services - PC World- msnbc.com

This is no surprise but the unemployment rate

Hits those without college degrees the hardest.  I first saw this in Andrew Sullivan's blog The Daily Dish.

Unemployment Rate and Level of Education

God help me I do love Top 10 lists

Even those with that milkaholic, Lindsey.
Top 10 Ridiculous Celebrity Lawsuits

Seek him not

at Greendale Community College.  Other than that, I'm not quite sure what to think about this article from the Chronicle.

Finding Jesus at College - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education

For college students, who spend much of their time stressed out, there is a correlation between the kind of college they attend and their likelihood of developing a radical-conservative religious worldview. Jesus, it seems, does not go to community college. Surprisingly, he doesn't go to Bible college, either. He attends Oxbridge and the Ivy League.

Socialnotworking

Or from del.icio.us toYouTube. This social media cheat sheet comes from Andrew Careaga’s blog: Higher Ed Marketing .  He received it from Chris Brogan, and you can download it here.  It was originally designed by CMO. 

Larger classes

Appear to be in our future.  How do we use technology and other innovation to successfully manage instruction?  I was always taught that the research on class size suggests that the relationship between small class size and student achievement is weak.

Bigger Classes Encourage Experiments in Teaching - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education

It would be nice if the scholarly literature on class size offered some guidance about best practices, but on the college level such work is relatively thin. Several studies have found that student evaluations of courses are lower when classes are larger—but that doesn't necessarily reveal much about the quality of student learning.

Edward C. Kokkelenberg, a professor of economics at Binghamton University, has analyzed a large data set from a public university (presumably his own campus, but officially it is kept pseudonymous). He found that students' grades and course satisfaction are generally lower in larger classes.

Last fall a team of scholars at the London School of Economics and Political Science led by Oriana Bandiera released a similar study about a large English university (again, presumably their own). They found that students' test scores benefited from classes smaller than 30 and suffered when students were assigned to courses larger than 100. But they found no significant effects within a large range of intermediate class sizes, between roughly 35 and 100. Moving a class to, say, 80 students from 50 or vice versa did not seem to matter much.

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