Uno founder to lead board of education
Aaron D. Spencer , who brought Uno's deep pan pizza to Boston and then the nation, will become acting chairman of the Board of Higher Education this week.
Spencer replaces Stephen P. Tocco , who resigned as the board's chairman last month to assume leadership of the University of Massachusetts board of trustees. Spencer, who has been the board's vice chairman , said Governor Deval Patrick told him early last week that he would get the nod as acting chairman.
Spencer will officially start work as acting chairman when the board meets Thursday at Framingham State College. On the agenda: setting in-state tuition rates.
It's unclear how long Spencer will be acting chairman. Patrick, who is in the midst of studying how education services are delivered, is weighing the consolidation of the state's three education agencies -- higher education, K-12, and early childhood -- into a single department overseen by an education secretary.
FAUST BURGER? Drew Gilpin Faust , expected to be named Harvard's next president today , soon may be fodder for a new item on the menu at Mr. Bartley's, a burger joint across from Harvard.
The restaurant, known for its menu of burgers named after famous people, will eventually create a Faust burger, said one of the owners, Joan Bartley . First, the chefs have to learn more about Faust, a Civil War historian and dean of Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
"She's not famous here yet," said Bartley with a twinkle in her eye. "She's done great things in her life, but we have to wait and see what she does."
Former Harvard president Larry Summers had a burger named for him, which was deleted from the menu a few weeks ago. Among the new additions are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (veggie burger). Pelosi holds the highest office ever reached by a woman in the United States .
LOWERING FEES: A US Department of Education proposal may force many colleges in the Boston area and around the country to lower fees charged to students who fail to pay back their loans.
Colleges, which routinely charge fees that range from 33 percent to 50 percent of the original debt , could not charge more than a 24 percent fee.
The Globe reported last fall on the practice of universities charging students high collection fees when they default on Perkins loans. Perkins is a federal program for low - income students that gives out at least $1 billion a year. Northeastern University stood out for charging up to 66 percent fees of the original debt .
Department of Education officials were concerned that federal rules specified only that the fees be "reasonable " and did not set limits. The department is consulting with a panel of college and industry officials before issuing a formal proposal in a few months.
UNION UNREST: One month after unions representing faculty and graduate students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst started contract talks with the administration, the groups have begun public campaigns.
The graduate student union held a rally Thursday to generate support for a fair contract. Earlier this month, the professors' union issued the first of a series of reports on the administration's "misguided priorities." The report lambasted Amherst leaders for increasing administrative staffing over the last three years while not honoring a plan to hire 50 tenure-track faculty a year in that time.
UMass officials dispute the union's charges, saying administrative staffing is below the levels of five years ago. They said state funding has prevented hiring 50 faculty a year. Ed Blaguszewski, UMass spokesman, said the administration is hopeful it and the unions will reach agreement. The union contracts expire in a few months.
CAMPUSES UNITE: To hold Deval Patrick to his word of being the state's first governor to champion higher education, the faculty, staff, and students at the state's 29 public campuses have formed a coalition to advocate for more higher education funding.
The group, the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts , will hold a lobby and convention day Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the State House's Gardner Auditorium. Among those speaking will be Dana Mohler-Faria, president of Bridgewater State College and Patrick's education adviser, and state Senator Robert O'Leary .
