Your Daily Briefing, a New Feature for Chronicle Individual Subscribers

Individual subscribers to The Chronicle now receive an email newsletter called the Daily Briefing. Through it, readers are presented with everything they need to know in higher ed to start their day. Below is an example of the Briefing, from Wednesday. To receive this newsletter, subscribe to The Chronicle.

Welcome to Tuesday, August 1. Today colleges and their towns grapple with their economic disparity, a university's response to a continuing crisis is chronicled, and a flap involving a former White House aide suggests you shouldn't believe everything in the alumni directory.

Universities and cities.

In 40 years Yale University has become an economic powerhouse in New Haven, Conn. It's a trend all over the country: urban economies largely driven by hospitals and universities. But how does city hall patch budget holes while, a few blocks away, colleges with property-tax exemptions fatten their endowments? What role should colleges play in cities' development? In a special issue of The Chronicle Review, Davarian L. Baldwin looks at what happens "When Universities Swallow Cities."

U. of Southern California's evolving crisis.

It's been two weeks since the Los Angeles Times published an article describing the double life of Carmen A. Puliafito, a former medical-school dean at the University of Southern California. At first USC said it had "no comment" about the dean's apparent involvement with drugs and prostitutes. Now it has acknowledged a number of complaints about Dr. Puliafito, long predating the Times's exposé. Our Jack Stripling puts the pieces together.

Quick hits.

• In a letter, Carol L. Folt, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, criticized the university system's Board of Governors' proposal to prevent a university civil-rights center from pursuing litigation.
• A website for college and scholarship searches, Cappex.com, has launched the Cappex Application, a free multicollege admissions platform, with more than 125 colleges participating.
• The organization Student Veterans of America is urging the U.S. Senate to take action on the Forever GI Bill, which would create a lifelong window for college-tuition assistance.

Campus political battles, at home.

Many households become livelier in the summertime as college students return for a few months. They may also bring home new ideas, politics, and a willingness to debate. The New York Times spoke with five students and their parents about political clashes they've had this summer. Have you ever experienced this? How did you deal with it when you and your student no longer saw eye to eye on politics or campus issues? Email me your responses, and you may see one in a future Briefing: fernanda@chronicle.com.

The talkers.

• Even when writing an academic book, scholars should use accessible language, argues Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher-education policy and sociology at Temple University, in this Twitter thread.
• When sending her sons off to college, one mother, Caitlin Flanagan, reflects on the comforts of the big-box store for The New York Times.
• In this Twitter thread Prachee Avasthi, an assistant professor of cell biology at the University of Kansas' Medical Center, crowdsources ways to prepare students who want industry jobs, not academic careers.
• If higher ed focuses too much on specialization and job training, students could miss out on the benefits of being well rounded, writes Kristin Wong in The New York Times.

Diversity, one student at a time.

Colleges seeking to expand their undergraduate diversity and retention may want to pay attention to Dominican University, in Illinois. The small Roman Catholic institution’s latest freshman class is 59 percent Hispanic, and it has a six-year graduation rate above 62 percent, its president, Donna M. Carroll, said on Monday during a visit to The Chronicle's offices. She attributed the university’s success to “a network of care.”

It’s not unusual, for example, for Dominican's dean of students and other administrators to call students with outstanding balances to see if they need financial assistance. The university has set aside money for them. As Ms. Carroll put it, “We care for students one at a time.” —Vimal Patel

Preparing Ph.D. students to become better teachers.

For years, new faculty members have been thrown into the classroom and expected, somehow, to grasp the art of teaching. But now a growing number of institutions are taking steps to teach their Ph.D. students how to teach. They’re organizing workshops, pairing grad students with experienced professors, and, in at least one case, offering a five-week teaching “boot camp” that provides training in pedagogy and teaching methods. The efforts have led to a greater appreciation of the role of faculty members. Our Vimal Patel reports on efforts to improve college teaching.

Comings and goings.

• Barbara Kline Pope, executive director of the National Academies Press, will become director of the Johns Hopkins University Press this fall. She has spent 34 years with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
• Danny Bilson, a visiting professor of interactive media and games at the University of Southern California, was named chair of the division of interactive media and games at USC's School of Cinematic Arts.
• Deanna Clingan-Fischer, long-term-care ombudsman for the state of Iowa, was named ombuds officer at Iowa State University.
• James Williamson, president of the North Carolina Community College system, has resigned, effective September 30, a year after taking office.

Footnote.

From The Chronicle's Andy Thomason:

It was about this time last week that we bade farewell to Sean Spicer as White House press secretary, and paid tribute to his mother, a department manager at Brown University. Well, because it takes only a week for things to come full circle these days, the very individual whose impending hire Mr. Spicer so vigorously protested was himself relieved of his duties on Monday.

Yes, Monday was not a good day for Anthony Scaramucci, who became the former White House director of communications. Among the indignities, this one might not have registered: His own alma mater declared him dead. The Washington Post reports that Harvard Law School's brand-new alumni directory listed Mr. Scaramucci as deceased. (In a statement to the Post, the school apologized to him and did not reveal the source of the error. But it seems plausible that a fellow alumnus of Mr. Scaramucci's reported him dead as a joke.)

With abundant time now on his hands, and with his well-known penchant for profanity, Mr. Scaramucci may well consider a mere apology an inadequate response. To forestall more trouble, here's a piece of advice to the university: Offer him a speaking slot at commencement. On a five-second delay.

—Fernanda and Adam

Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez and Adam Harris are breaking-news reporters at The Chronicle. Reach them at adam.harris@chronicle.com and fernanda@chronicle.com.

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