This article takes a look at five mistakes that candidates should avoid making during their research presentations. These mistakes are the following: (1) they didn't do any research on the norms of the campus culture; (2) they presented a single, well-thought-out project that had no future; (3) they didn't use the opportunity to demonstrate their…

The story of Bernard Madoff rivals outrageous fiction. It was astonishing that this seemingly kindly, respectable financier, a pioneer in electronic trading, a founding partner in the Nasdaq exchange, turned out to have been running a $65-billion Ponzi scheme that victimized country-club elites, middle-class retirees, foundations, universities,…

A number of colleges in the US are adopting conduct codes for their athletes, which set both expectations for behavior and punishments for specific infractions and give athletics directors, rather than coaches, the power to bench players who break the rules. Some athletic officials call such codes too rigid, though the proponents feel the…

Discusses how guidelines for classroom discussion, popular in women's studies and sociology, have set off campus controversies over freedom of speech. (EV)

Protesters at the University of California at Berkeley are calling for the expulsion of a sophomore who failed to report a murder. However, the student's behavior does not violate the university's code of conduct, which is restricted to campus behavior. Some institutions are expanding the geographic reach of their codes to discipline students for…

Exchange of obscene materials on college computer networks is raising free-speech issues and concern about public response. Standards of conduct for computer use by faculty, administrators, and students are under consideration on a number of campuses. Legality of the materials and appropriate use of institutional resources are also issues. (MSE)

New residence-hall policies have been put in place this year due to worries about crime, but protecting students' rights was another concern. The new policies are in response to students and parents who felt residence halls had become noisy, dangerous places. (MLW)

Removal of tenured college faculty can be a lengthy, expensive, and divisive process sometimes resulting in lawsuits. Institutions are examining what constitutes improper or unethical faculty behavior, appropriate cause for dismissal under tenure, and fair procedures for considering termination. Cases at Rutgers University (New Jersey) and the…

Colleges and universities are finding it difficult to mold administrative policy concerning freedom of speech on campus. Even when speech or harassment codes mirror federal guidelines for antidiscrimination policy, controversy is common. Potential infringement on rights to free speech is the central issue. (MSE)

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the sports-governing body for over 500 small colleges and universities, will weigh a series of major alterations in rules and procedures concerning standards for freshman athletes, separate competition divisions in all sports, an accreditation system for monitoring academic standards,…

A federal appeals court upheld the authority of the University of Michigan to revoke a master's degree awarded to a student found to have fabricated a discovery on which his thesis was based. A degree can be revoked without a court proceeding or trial when allegations of fraud are involved. (MLW)

George Washington University (District of Columbia), already under fire for recruiting a basketball player who pleaded guilty to sexual assault, has also drawn criticism for offering an academic scholarship to his victim. The athlete has met academic requirements to earn a grant and to play in his freshman year. (MSE)

The Department of Education, criticized by colleges for its guidelines on investigating racial harassment and hate-speech charges, will issue a new policy on First Amendment implications of such inquiries. A major issue is school responsibility for racial harassment by diverse populations over whom colleges may have little control. (MSE)