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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Turnitin: Best Practices: Technology in Education: How informed are you?


•How serious is the issue of plagiarism in education?
•Are there different degrees of plagiarism?
•Should educators design assignments that are difficult to plagiarize?

These three questions (and more) are addressed in Answers to Common Questions About Plagiarism. This short Q&A gives you the background information you need to address the issue of plagiarism at your institution and provides you with some additional resources.

This is just one article we have to help you and your colleagues manage students' written assignments. Once a week over the next several months I will send you additional articles, briefs, videos and white papers to help you use technology to:
* Understand and address plagiarism
* Fully engage students in the writing process
* Teach essential 21st century skills
* Reduce grading time & effort---while providing richer feedback to students

Want to learn faster?
Click ACCELERATE! and I will expedite the program so you receive these emails twice a week.

Regards,
Krystal Carrillo
Account Manager - Higher Education, Southwest
kcarrillo@turnitin.com
866-816-5046 x223
www.turnitin.com
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DOODLE: Easy Scheduling Free of charge and without registration


Doodle eliminates the chaos that comes from scheduling and saves you a lot of time and energy when you’re trying to find a time to bring a number of people together. Instead of using just one option, you can propose several dates and times and the participants can indicate their availability online. With one look, you’ll be able to see what the best time is for the meeting, and this works with any calendar system that is being used.
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OnlineColleges.Net: “10 American Colleges that Paved the Way for Women"


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Diverse Issues in Higher Education: Fifty Years Later, Students Retrace 1961 Freedom Riders


May 10, 2011


RICHMOND, Va. – Charles Reed Jr. skipped his college graduation ceremony to do something much more significant to him: retracing the original 1961 Freedom Ride and paying tribute to those who helped win the civil rights that his generation enjoys.

Reed says missing Friday's graduation doesn't compare to the sacrifices the original Freedom Riders made when they challenged the South's segregation laws: quitting jobs, dropping out of college and, ultimately, risking their lives.

“What the Freedom Rides did 50 years ago paved the way for what I have today as an African-American,” said Reed, a 21-year-old business administration major at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg.

Reed is one of 40 college students chosen from nearly 1,000 applicants who will join a handful of the original Freedom Riders on an eight-day journey from Washington, D.C., through the South.

The students pulled up in their bus on Friday night to greet more than a dozen original Freedom Riders at the Newseum in Washington for the premiere of a new PBS documentary on the rides based on a book by Raymond Arsenault. They sang “Oh, Freedom” and other tunes together before viewing the film, which premieres Monday on public broadcast stations.
The documentary recounts the rides state by state and how they pushed President John F. Kennedy to advocate for civil rights. As a young rider, U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia said he “felt like a soldier in a nonviolent army,” though the rides were more confrontational than Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders would have preferred.
Congress of Racial Equality head James Farmer, six other Black people and six White people participated in the first Freedom Ride, which left Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961. The trip was to test whether Southern states were implementing Boynton v. Virginia, a U.S. Supreme Court decision that barred segregation in public transportation facilities.
The trip carried riders through Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. The group faced violent attacks in the Deep South from White mobs who opposed integration. One of the buses was firebombed in Anniston, Ala., and the riders were beaten. A Ku Klux Klan mob attack in Birmingham, Ala., drew national headlines and international embarrassment for the Kennedy administration. The first rides ended with a federally escorted flight to New Orleans.

Lewis helped organize a subsequent ride that month that began in Nashville, Tenn. But Lewis and others were beaten at a bus terminal in Montgomery, Ala., and federal marshals were called in after riders and supporters were surrounded by a mob at the First Baptist Church. Riders were later arrested in Mississippi.

As news of the violence spread, hundreds joined the Freedom Rides. Hundreds were jailed that summer in Jackson, Miss., and transferred to the infamous Parchman state penitentiary after the local jail ran out of space. The demonstrations became a defining point in U.S. civil rights history.

Lewis, who was knocked unconscious during the Montgomery attack and later jailed in Mississippi, said it's important for students to learn that the Freedom Riders were willing to die to confront the “Whites only” and “Colored only” signs at transit stations to end segregation.
“We never gave in,” Lewis said. “We kept the faith, and it's important for the stories to be told over and over again so future generations and especially these young people that are traveling will learn that, in a matter of a short time, we brought down those signs.”
Diane Nash, who organized a wave of riders from Nashville, Tenn., said she got involved because it was humiliating to be segregated and many were fed up.

“I think we should consider how long it would have taken to desegregate ... if we had left it to public officials,” she said.
The lesson from the Freedom Rides is to take the country's future into your own hands, Nash said.

“My colleagues had you in mind,” she told the student riders. “We had not met you, but we loved you.”

After events in Washington, the bus heads south on Sunday. Along the way they'll stop in a number of cities, including those where the 1961 riders were harassed, physically attacked and arrested. The students plan to use social media to share their experiences during the trip, which will end Monday in New Orleans.

Freedom Rider Joan Trumpauer Mulholland plans to share her scrapbook from 1961 with student riders on the bus trip. The 69-year-old Arlington, Va., resident says she wants to pass on her ideas to the college students because her generation is “fading into a sunset, so to speak.”
Mulholland joined one of the 60 demonstrations after a colleague was arrested on the initial ride. She was arrested June 8, 1961, in Jackson, Miss., and spent about two weeks in the local jail, then the rest of the summer at Parchman.
Prison warden Fred Jones wrote a letter to Mulholland's mother, telling her that she could send medicine to her daughter. He also made a point to criticize her parenting skills.

“What I cannot understand is why as a mother you permitted a minor White girl to gang up with a bunch of Negro bucks and White hoodlums to ramble over this country with the express purpose of violating the laws of certain states and attempting to incite acts of violence,” Jones wrote. The letter appears in photojournalist Eric Etheridge's book Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Freedom Riders.

Student rider Marshall Houston, a May graduate of the University of Alabama, is building on what he learned when producing a documentary about the university's Foster Auditorium. Alabama Gov. George Wallace made his “stand in the schoolhouse door” at the building on June 11, 1963, in a symbolic attempt to prevent integration as two Black students tried to register for class.

Learning about the people—both Black and White—who worked behind the scenes to make sure the university's integration didn't turn violent drove home the importance of being aware of history, said Houston, a White native of Birmingham.

“Through that process, I really first began to understand what power strategic actions and a coalition of students who believe in equality and justice can have in society,” said the 22-year-old Houston, who compared their efforts to modern-day student activists in Iran and Egypt.
“It's inspiring when you see young people my age taking a stand,” he said. “If I were in that situation, would I take that stand? That's not something you can answer until that moment comes.”

Stops in his home state include events at the Anniston bus station and the Montgomery church where a mob of Whites trapped some of the first Freedom Riders, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and hundreds of others.
Glenda Gaither Davis, a Freedom Rider who left college in 1961 to join the protests, says the young people need to know about past struggles so they can solve current and future problems.

“I don't know what it is in our society—we don't have a lot of regard for their past,” said the 68-year-old Davis, an Atlanta resident who plans to meet the group when the bus arrives in her city. “They must have an appreciation of history to become a part of the force that's moving ahead.”
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SUNO receives outstanding feedback on SACS accreditation visit


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Eddie Francis
(504) 286-5343 or (504) 236-1009
efrancis@suno.edu

May 9, 2011

NEW ORLEANS, LA—The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) held its on-site visit of Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) from March 2nd through 4th, 2011. The on-site committee report, which the University just received on Thursday, May 5th, indicates that SUNO is in compliance with all SACS standards with no recommendations for corrective action.

“I commend our team for a job well done in showing our commitment to academic excellence and accountability,” said Dr. Victor Ukpolo, the Chancellor of SUNO, who has served on SACS review teams. “To have complied with all 89 standards, including the core requirements, speaks volumes of our efforts at SUNO.”

The SACSCOC on-site report commented on the University’s hospitality, and noted that SUNO “has made a remarkable recovery since the Katrina disaster. A major commitment has been made to ensure that the quality of course offerings, the teaching/learning processes and students’ engagement in learning were sustained at a competitive level during the post-Katrina period.”

Dr. Ron Mason, the President of the Southern University System, expressed with satisfaction, “This is a remarkable feat. It is rare in higher education for any institution, even with all its facilities intact, to ‘pitch a perfect game’ by meeting all of the 89 SACS standards with no recommendations. Dr. Ukpolo and this team of administrators, faculty, staff and students deserve the highest commendation for attaining this achievement even while living with the severe devastation of Katrina.”

The findings of the visiting committee represent a preliminary assessment of the institution at this time, and final action on the report rests with the Commission on Colleges. The final reaffirmation confirmation is anticipated by the SACS Commission on Colleges in December. A copy of the entire report can be obtained from the institution.

Southern University at New Orleans is a four-year public institution founded in 1956. Located in the Gentilly area, the University is an accredited liberal arts teaching institution which serves more than 3,300 students. SUNO, known for its highly engaged faculty and personal academic support, offers undergraduate degrees in seventeen academic programs and graduate degrees in four academic programs. The University accepts students under the Louisiana Board of Regents regional admission criteria, and is a member of the Southern University System. More information about Southern University at New Orleans is available at www.SUNO.edu.

EDDIE FRANCIS
Director of Public Relations
SUNO
6400 Press Drive
New Orleans, Louisiana 70126
(504) 286-5343 Direct
(504) 284-5525 Fax
www.SUNO.edu
Facebook.com/sunoknights56
Twitter.com/sunoknights
YouTube/sunoknights
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DILLARD UNIVERSITY COLLEGES AND THE CFYE PLANNING FOR THE ACADEMICS AFFAIRS COMPONENT OF S.O.A.R.


Greetings,

Please join me on Thursday, May 17, for a luncheon meeting to plan for the Colleges/Academic Affairs /CFYE’s interactive activities for SOAR 2011. Perhaps a good name for our interactive activities could be ‘SOAR TO SOAR’ (STUDENTS ORGANIZING ACADEMIC RESOURCES). I am convinced we all believe that early in the orientation process we should give our Class of 2015 a preview of our expectations and tips on surviving and succeeding in college. This way we start as early as possible to get our millennium students off to a great start.

Here are just some examples of possible INTERACTIVE workshops and leaders we might consider:

•WRITING YOUR MISSION STATEMENT Dr. Hill

•HOW TO MOTIVATE YOURSELF Drs. Chambliss, Wismar and Johnson

•ACADEMIC RESOURCES Dr. Cook. Mrs. Robinson, Rose, and Tyler

•RESEARCH /RESEARCH Mrs. Strong and Ms. Charles

•MATH CAN BE FUN AND WE CAN HELP Drs. Frempong, Dia , Cook and Epps

•QEP AND LEARNING COMMUNITIES Drs. Jean–Perkins and Dawkins

Please join me at 11:30 am in PSB Suite 101 to start the planning for the Class of 2015 SUCCESSES. Thanks for your support.

Dr. Henrietta Augustus Harris
Director of the Center for the First Year Experience
Dillard University
2601 Gentilly Boulevard
New Orleans, LA 70122
Office: Professional Schools Building Suite 101L
Phone: 504 816-4765 Fax: 504 816-4863
E-Mail : hharris@dillard.edu
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Dillard University Schedule of Faculty Meetings for the Month of May 2011


Faculty Senate, Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 12:00 p.m., PSB 342L

Curriculum Committee, Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 3:00 p.m.

Faculty Senate, Thursday, May 12, 2011, 12:00 p.m., TBA

General Assembly, Thursday, May 12, 2011, TBA (I would suggest 4:00 p.m.), TBA
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Newstimes.com: House financial panel backs SUNO/UNO merger bill



May 9, 2011 by Melinda Deslatte

Opponents raised a series of financial questions Monday in hopes of derailing a proposal to merge Southern University Southern at New Orleans with the University of New Orleans University, but lost their bid to stall the consolidation bill that is headed next to the full House for debate.
The House Appropriations Committee backed the merger bill in a 17-4 vote, the last step before House floor consideration of the controversial proposal to combine historically black SUNO with the largely white UNO campus.

An analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Office estimates the merger could cost the state more than $3 million over the next two years, as the new University of Louisiana at New Orleans is created and shifted into the UL System of colleges.

The review says the financial impact by the 2013-14 budget year should be "cost neutral" or could possibly lower spending, but it also adds that the office can't predict some areas of impact in any merger, such as those involving staffing or legal obligations.

House Speaker Jim Tucker, the sponsor of the merger bill, said the fiscal office cost estimates might be too large, but he said the public policy benefit of consolidating the campuses trumps the price tag. He said attrition would minimize the impact on existing employees at both schools, and he said the legislation covers how contracts and other legal entanglements would be handled.

"We think the fiscal note is high, but reasonable," Tucker said.
Merger opponents said the estimates don't properly take into account the costs of layoffs of tenured professors, changes to computer systems and lawyers needed to work out complicated issues such as bonded indebtedness and contract arrangements.

Rep. Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge, said supporters of the consolidation were keeping the cost estimates artificially low to smooth passage of a divisive proposal that requires a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to pass.

"In low-balling it, you are trying to make sure it is palatable to the people you're trying to get to vote for this," Smith said. "There is a cost to this."

The bill would create a single university with shared accreditation and leadership, but made up of two colleges with different admission standards, missions and program offerings.

Supporters, including Gov. Bobby Jindal, say it would give students better educational opportunities at schools that aren't fully using their facilities and have low graduation rates. Opponents say a consolidation would take away a nurturing environment provided at SUNO for minority and poorer students who need more attention to get a college degree.
Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said the UL System would have to absorb the costs of the merger if no additional dollars were provided by lawmakers to cover its costs.
"The fiscal note's not large, according to our accountants. Certainly, if it were $10 million or $15 million or $20 million, then it couldn't be absorbed," said Fannin, one of several Democrats who joined with Republicans to support the measure Monday.

Voting for the merger were Fannin and Reps. Simone Champagne, R-Jeanerette; Charles "Bubba" Chaney, R-Rayville; Page Cortez, R-Lafayette; Noble Ellington, R-Winnsboro; Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles; Mickey Guillory, D-Eunice; Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville; Chris Hazel, R-Pineville; Bernard LeBas, D-Ville Platte; Tony Ligi, R-Metairie; Tom McVea, R-Jackson; Jim Morris, R-Oil City; Scott Simon, R-Abita Springs; Mert Smiley, R-Port Vincent; Gary Smith, D-Norco; and Bodi White, R-Denham Springs.

Voting against the merger were Reps. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans; Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge; Charmaine Marchand Stiaes, D-New Orleans; and Patrick Williams, D-Shreveport.
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