The week in higher education – 18 July 2024

Honorary degrees are generally reserved for some of the most notable members of society. One university has, however, taken the practice in a new direction, awarding “certificates” to a different kind of cohort – pets. Some 25 animals, including dogs, cats and a hamster, participated in a ceremony at Queen’s University Belfast, where they were awarded an honorary “dog-torate cat-ificate” to recognise the support they had given to their owners during their degrees. The move follows research that shows spending time with pets can help improve concentration levels and lower stress – areas where most students appreciate some help. As one graduate said of his dog: “I’m delighted to see Rico and the support he gave me throughout my studies being recognised and celebrated.” After all, if Kermit the Frog can receive an honorary degree, isn’t Rico the Jack Russell just as worthy? 

News of Joe Gow’s double life as an adult movie star saw him sacked from his post as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse last year but he hung on to his faculty role. He might not be around for much longer, after his university voted to strip him of tenure from his job as professor in communication studies. According to Inside Higher Ed, a faculty panel agreed with UW officials that Dr Gow had engaged in “unethical and potentially illegal conduct”, arguing that it would be “impossible” to continue his teaching given the “financially self-serving” activities that would follow him into the classroom. For his part, Dr Gow criticised the decision, claiming his likely sacking over homemade films with his wife would breach his First Amendment rights to free expression. Asked if he was considering legal action, he said: “We’ll take it one step at a time.”

Parents and teachers may despair about teenagers’ liberal use of the word “like”, but they should be more understanding, a sociolinguist has argued. While overuse of the filler word – popularised by US sitcoms and, most famously, the 1995 film Clueless – may infuriate some, Manchester Metropolitan University professor Rob Drummond said he disliked people making a big deal about it. “Dislike of ‘like’ as a filler word is completely unjustified and is often biased against younger speakers, especially younger women,” said Professor Drummond, speaking at the Festival of Education. “Nobody complains when a middle-aged educated man uses ‘kind of’ or ‘basically’ in exactly the same way.” While some schools have attempted to clamp down on the use of “like” – which, according to The Times, is beloved of “reality TV stars and teenage girls”, that would be a mistake, he said. It may threaten the identities of young people from diverse backgrounds, he said, and force them into “linguistic straitjackets that represent the identity we want them to have”.

A university staff member in the US has managed to achieve what the rest of us can only dream of – earning a stable salary for two years without ever actually turning up to work. According to Inside Higher Ed, Utah State University Eastern hired Warren Agner as an administrator in July 2021 and began paying him monthly, despite complaints from other team members that he was always absent. An investigation suggested that senior staff covered for Mr Agner because they wanted to ensure he could retain access to health insurance. Despite their hard work to keep up appearances, Mr Agner was eventually fired in July 2023. The university said its “employee management” processes were stronger as a result of the incident, which has left us wishing for colleagues as “supportive” as Mr Agner’s superiors.

Emblazoned on all kinds of Drake University merchandise, the letter D has special place in the hearts of all those connected to the Iowa college. So it was perhaps inevitable that legal action for trademark infringement would follow when a nearby educational institution – Des Moines Area Community College – unveiled a similar white-on-blue logo as part of a rebrand. But the head of the upstart community college is in no mood to back down, it seems. “Drake University simply does not own the letter D,” said president Rob Denson when contacted by The Des Moines Register. Other universities – such as Duke and Delaware – also use the letter as a logo, he added. With Drake’s lawyers sharpening their writ, the brand spat could perhaps get as feisty as the other Drake row – namely, rapper Drake’s famously toxic beef with Kendrick Lamar.