Tag: Higher-Education

Borrowing designs = confirmed

Oregon State University College of Engineering web site screenshot
The OSU College of Engineering website design was “borrowed” from the Virginia Tech homepage. I received confirmation from a reliable source that the OSU COE site was designed by a student designer who used the VT site for design inspiration. Apparently, VT was made aware of the COE site design and was “not happy” about it.

I emailed the COE’s webmaster email and asked if they were aware of the site design similarities. I did not receive a response. However, a quick check of my web statistics showed a 54 second visit (referred from a Google Search for my name) from “kleinerpbook.engr.oregonstate.edu.” It turns out that that is the host name for Gregg Kleiner’s computer at OSU. Gregg is the Director of Marketing & Communications for the OSU College of Engineering.

Borrowing design ideas?

I was surfing the web today in search of good examples of university/college web designs for an upcoming proposal. I had a two-pronged plan. Step one, visit sites for schools that I was already familiar with as well as viewing sites from the colleges of OSU. Step two, visit edustyle for a sampling of the latest in higher education web designs.

I fired up Firefox and surfed to the websites of Virginia Tech and the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. I’ve visited their sites before and appreciated their overall look and feel.

My next step was to open up tabs for each of the College sites for OSU. The College of Health and Human Sciences, Education, Ag Sciences, Science, Forestry, etc.

Then I opened up the OSU College of Engineering website. My jaw hit my desk and my eyes were agape. The Virginia Tech homepage and the College of Engineering homepage were like twins that had never met each other. The color schemes, backgrounds and grids were extremely similar. I wasn’t sure if it was pilfering, borrowing or at best, design inspiration?

The screenshots really tell the tale…
Continue reading Borrowing design ideas?

Campus Birth Control

A new bill introduced in the U.S. Congress this week would reduce the cost of birth control for college students and low-income women nationwide. Because of an error in a previous bill approved by Congress, the prices for birth control this fall quadrupled for female college students who purchase it from college clinics.

For decades drug companies made it possible for college health clinics to purchase birth control at low prices in order to pass along the savings to college students and low-income women who rely on them.

In 2005, however, Congress inadvertently passed a provision under the Deficit Reduction Act, preventing all college clinics, hundreds of safety-net health care providers, Medicaid beneficiaries and Planned Parenthood offices from purchasing birth control from drug companies at a discounted rate.

via Diverse Issues in Higher Education

A Vision of Students Today

via Digital Ethnography and the always hackable: A Collage of Citations.

This video was created by myself and the 200 students enrolled in ANTH 200: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, Spring 2007. It began as a brainstorming exercise, thinking about how students learn, what they need to learn for their future, and how our current educational system fits in.

OSU to be tobacco free

quit smoking or be very cold in the winter...

OSU is going to be tobacco free on July 1, 2008. “[T]obacco use, including smokeless tobacco, will be prohibited with the exception of a handful of outdoor areas, which will be identified as designated tobacco-use areas. The university hopes to phase out those locations over time.” I applaud OSU for working to create a healthier campus environment. I’m sure it will be difficult for folks who have been smoking for a long time, but in the end, it will save them money and quite possibly their lives. “[OSU] will work to prepare the campus, community and visitors for this major initiative, as well as provide cessation programs and other support for those desiring to give up tobacco.

Miami University is also going smoke free!

Continue reading OSU to be tobacco free

Special treatment?

The New York Times and USA Today recently published articles regarding Muslim students at colleges and universities. Both articles are framed from the point of view that Muslim students are benefiting from “religious accommodation” or “special treatment.” The most prevalent issue seems to be the installation of foot-washing basins in university restrooms.

Having worked at an institution that consists of a large population of Muslim students (University of Illinois at Chicago) I can attest to the importance of foot-washing basins. Trying to wash your feet in a regular sink is an exercise in balance, dexterity and luck.

What is fascinating to me is that all of these discussions, articles, etc. fail to adequately address the issue of Christian privilege. Fortunately, I was able to find a terrific article regarding Christian privilege (pdf) that addresses the built-in invisibility of this issue in higher education in the US.

Here is a quote from “Understanding Christian Privilege – Managing the Tensions of Spiritual Plurality“:

“Christian privilege shortchanges the learning of Christians if they are not asked to critically examine the beliefs that are so thoroughly represented in formal and informal aspects of campus life.”

Academic Advising Abacus

academic advising with an abacus
I decided to purchase an abacus for my desk. Students need at least 180 credits to graduate and at least 60 of those credits need to be from upper division courses. I decided that it would be interesting to see the reaction from my students as I calmly ignored my computer screen (with their credit information) and flicked away at my new abacus.

I am ornery.

Enrollment Management update 7/16/07

Declining Enrollment:
Eastern Oregon University is in trouble. With enrollment and finance on the decline, officials have created a “strategic plan that includes enrollment management, recruitment and transfer improvements.”

Student applications are down 41 percent this fall compared with two years ago. Tuition revenue for the university dropped $1.48 million below its expectations for this year; it projects an additional $847,000 decline in tuition revenue for 2007-08. With fewer students, the school is also failing to fill its residence halls, which means it must pay a bigger share of dorm debt.

Perhaps it is time for Eastern Oregon University to contact some strategic enrollment management consultants?

AACRAO Consulting

AACRAO Consulting

The re-designed AACRAO Consulting (AC) website is now up and running. The site uses WordPress as its content management system (cms). The AC site is set up just like a blog with posts in reverse chronological order and pages for static content.

Continue reading AACRAO Consulting