terrapinsanity.com

On Wednesday the Maryland Higher Education Commission voted not to reconsider the UMUC request to be allowed to offer a particular on-line program to in-state students, as it does out of state. MHEC stands fast in its position that Morgan must be protected to offer this program (albeit not on line) to students who, in order to take it, must travel to that campus. (Quite a haul if you’re on the lower eastern shore, we presume, in which case the state may not offer you on-line services.)

No response yet from the system on what might be its next step.

Our previous reporting on this:
January 12, October 22, and September 30.

Surely with good intention, DOTS (Department of Transportation Services) on campus today started pushing participation in Zimride, a ridesharing program to help connect potential car pool buddies.

Ahh, the miles saved! (63,112 at this moment.) The CO2 reduced! (48,975 lbs so far … obviously an estimate…)

Oh but … such private information you reveal. You’re invited to login with your campus directory ID in order to post to the system or participate. Let’s leave aside the whole question of whether campus employees ought to be delivering their passwords through a commercial enterprise for harvesting. The reality is you need not log in to participate.

The zimride splash page gives you a googlemap with offers and requests already plotted. How convenient … for identity thieves and thugs! Those who post on zimride appear on the map with full names, specific home addresses (plotted for the googlemap route) and as part of the business of coordinating rides, they have included their typical working hours. How convenient to know what townhome off Briggs Cheny Road is empty weekdays between 6 and 6. (How do you know there is no family or room mate there? Having the full name and a good browser puts you 30 seconds away from enough data to nail that one down, and if you’re a cautious burglar you can get the home phone, plus office extension on campus, to confirm where people are.)

Wonder how much CO2 you’ll emit, after a home breakin, trying to explain to police how you posted all the relevant details on the internet to streamline access?

It could only have been a matter of time. Today’s news breaks word that the Governor is considering a 1% … or maybe 3% … increase in tuition. See BAL, which was the first word we caught of it.

A move we had missed until catching it in the Post this morning, the Board of Regents will ask MHEC to revisit the decision that bars UMUC from offering a certain on-line program to in-state students. The ruling was ostensibly intended to ensure the offering does not take away from a face-to-face offering of the “same” program at Morgan State, but on its face (and here is our take on it from last October) the ruling was ridiculous because these are fundamentally different opportunities.

We’re surprised but also pleased at the Regent’s move. There is no official mechanism for an appeal, but this level of push back on important quality issues is very much to be commended.

The college admissions season has been well under way, with students across the country watching mailboxes for good news on their picks. The Washington Post ran an article on one high school student’s decision making process as far back as November. And of course the season also kicks off colleges’ yield efforts, where faculty and staff work hard to convince admitted students to confirm to confirm there. (Today’s Washington Post had an airy piece about clever ways that schools use Facebook to build a connection with the admits early, anticipating it will help the yield.)

So far, College Park is not in this game.

Even though the campus moved its deadline for early consideration up to November 1, and many area students have been debating on selections for as long as six weeks, UM’s early admission decisions are still weeks away from going out to students, many of whom by that point will have already locked in on other choices. Why so late? No good reason we know of!

There are exceptions, which only serve to call into question the fairness, not just competence, of Admissions operations on the College Park campus. International admits, in countries with which President Mote has signed cooperative agreements, will have been notified about six weeks ago. (Translation: Applicants from PRC and Indonesia have priority over ordinary applicants from Prince George’s County, the community in which our campus lives.)

And good news for athletes, independent of your home state or high school grades. If our program wants you, then you can still apply this month and learn of admission before the regular decisions are mailed out first of February. (Translation: College Park recruits top jocks before it recruits top scholars or Honors admits.)

Our practices remain at odds with the rhetoric of our glorious Strategic Plan.