Tax-free campus parking

TAX BREAK: Thanks to a new parking benefit, faculty and staff who commute to the University of Missouri-Columbia campus by car can trim their 1999 taxes. Commuters who pay for parking through a payroll deduction have the money deducted from their paycheck on a pre-tax basis. That lowers their taxable income and translates into savings at tax time. The program went into effect Jan. 1, and all employees who opt for payroll deductions for parking fees are now automatically enrolled in the new Commuter Benefit Parking Program.

ALCOHOL ABUSE: The University of Virginia has received the report of its University-Wide Task Force on Alcohol Abuse, and one of its most controversial recommendations is a ban on alcoholic beverages at football-tailgate parties. The task force also suggested instituting a permanent Vice President’s Advisory Committee on Alcohol and Substance Abuse to follow up the report’s recommendations—to develop a four-year plan for educating students about alcohol abuse and providing more alcohol-free events for students. The report has been given to Virginia’s Board of Visitors (Regents).

SOCIAL SCIENTISTS: The Provosts’ Advisory Council for the Social Sciences at the University of California at Davis has recommended that resources be targeted in eight strategic areas over the next few years. The areas are: government and the economy; environmental, resource and transportation policy; social sciences and the law; a center for family and human development; a center for mind sciences; urban and rural education; hemispheric initiative for the Americas; and quantitative research in the social sciences. The recommendations had been requested “as a way to boost Davis into the top tier of higher education.”

GLOBAL SCHOLARS: The University of Missouri—Columbia has started a new program to give faculty with little or no international experience an opportunity to travel abroad. Called the Global Scholars Program, it includes international seminars, teaching workshops and foreign language acquisition. Participants are front-line faculty who are teaching undergraduate courses. The goal is that once they have completed an international experience, they will blend a global component into the focus of their courses.

LEARNING COMMUNITIES: Students who live in a dorm designed as a learning community get better grades, drop out less frequently, participate more in campus life, study more and drink alcohol less than their peers, according to a new study at the University of Wisconsin. The study compared 240 students who live in a learning community with freshmen at large. The residence hall has a dozen faculty fellows who keep office hours, teach classes and make social contact with students. Peer learning partners, who serve as mentors for students and spearhead social and volunteer events, have replaced house fellows. ¶