Jul 15, 2020, 12:55 PM
(from the New York Times) The Trump administration has walked back a policy that would have stripped international college students of their U.S. visas if their coursework was entirely online, ending a proposed plan that had thrown the higher education world into turmoil. The policy, announced on July 6, prompted an immediate lawsuit from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and on Tuesday, the government and the universities reached a resolution, according to the judge overseeing the case. The attorneys general of at least 18 states, including Massachusetts and California, also sued, charging that the policy was reckless, cruel and senseless.
(from Inside Higher Ed) Inside Higher Ed's annual survey of higher education business officers found that business officers were slightly likelier to express confidence in their institution's stability over 10 years (53%) than over five (52%), a reversal of usual opinions. Roughly a quarter of chief business officers said their institution had already furloughed employees, reduced the pay of senior administrators or promoted earlier retirement or voluntary separation for faculty or staff members. A third or more said they expected to eliminate administrative and adjunct faculty positions and eliminate underperforming academic programs by the end of 2020. About a quarter of business officers said they believed their institution could "ride out the current difficulties and return to more or less normal operations" within two years, while nearly half said their institution "should use this period to make difficult but transformative changes in its core structure and operations" in the interest of long-term sustainability.
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