Should UCLA ask incoming students about their sexual orientation? Asks the Huffington Post. An op-ed from UCLA’s student-run Daily Bruin newspaper says that despite the potential intrusion into a student’s personal life, gathering figures about how many students identify with the LGBT community could allow the university to better serve and support members of the community. The proposal, which was recommended by the Academic Senate, would be an optional question and would only be asked of students once they’ve already been accepted, CBS reports. Everyone that CBS spoke to on UCLA’s campus supports the proposal, on the condition that the question is optional…
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Higher Education Research Institute reports issues on graduation rates
The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA released a report Tuesday outlining how graduation rates at four-year universities can be better determined and improved, the Daily Bruin reports. The study contains data from the 2004 Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey, which details characteristics of incoming classes, and degree completion data from the National Student Clearinghouse. With results obtained from the study, the institute hopes to help more students complete their degrees, the report stated.
“All institutions really need to ramp up degree completion, and even at an institution like UCLA, there are areas for improvement,” said Linda DeAngelo, lead author of the report and assistant director for research at the institute…
Students care most about education, economy
As the University of California prepares to discuss another student fee increase for the next academic year amid continuing budget woes, students will look to Governor-elect Jerry Brown and a new Legislature to commit to higher education funding, reports the Daily Bruin. In exit polling conducted by the Daily Bruin at polling sites, students overwhelmingly marked education and economy as the issues that influenced them most. Brown historically has supported higher education, but UCLA political science Professor Tom Schwartz said it is not clear that Brown can solve a budget crisis that extends across the entire state…
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