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KU increases rank among top US research institutions in National Science Foundation survey
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas rose in national rankings for research and development expenditures among U.S. institutions in fiscal year 2020, according to a new report. KU increased its rank from 49 to 44 among public universities in the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education and Research Development Survey, released in December. “KU’s rise in the HERD rankings affirms our researchers’ enduring commitment to advancing knowledge, discovery and innovation for the benefit of our state, nation and world. Even as the pandemic put constraints on university research, our scholars found ways to adapt and persist,” said Simon Atkinson, vice chancellor for research on the Lawrence campus.
Education privacy law failing, including racialized ‘dirty data,’ KU law professor writes
LAWRENCE — Congress passed the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA, in 1974 in large part due to concerns about inaccurate and misleading data collected in schools that could negatively affect students. New research from Najarian Peters, associate professor of law at the University of Kansas, argues that FERPA should be enhanced to add more protections to prevent the inclusion of that type of information, known as dirty data, in the education record.
The Duke of Lennox, a preternatural political talent
LAWRENCE – A University of Kansas professor emeritus of English has written the first biography of the Duke of Lennox, a key figure from the Jacobean era. “The Duke of Lennox, 1574-1624: A Jacobean Courtier’s Life” (Edinburgh University Press, 2022) is a continuation of David Bergeron’s 30-year study of the Stuart dynasty, with fresh insights into palace intrigue and the duke’s role as a protector of artists.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Mindie Paget, Office of Research, 785-864-0013, [email protected], @ResearchAtKU
KU increases rank among top US research institutions in National Science Foundation survey
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas rose five positions in national rankings for research and development expenditures among U.S. institutions in fiscal year 2020, according to a new report.
KU increased its rank from 49 to 44 among public universities in the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education and Research Development Survey, released in December. The university also claimed the third overall spot in federally financed R&D expenditures in non-science and engineering fields for the second year in a row. The survey included 915 public and private institutions.
“KU’s rise in the HERD rankings affirms our researchers’ enduring commitment to advancing knowledge, discovery and innovation for the benefit of our state, nation and world. Even as the pandemic put constraints on university research, our scholars found ways to adapt and persist,” said Simon Atkinson, vice chancellor for research on the Lawrence campus. “Our robust research activity in non-science and engineering fields — such as education, social work, business, humanities, law, and visual and performing arts — continues to outpace other major research universities and demonstrates the breadth of KU’s scholarly explorations and contributions.”
Research expenditures across all KU campuses increased 22.5% — from $238.8 million to $292.6 million — during the eight-year span from 2014 to 2021.
Among research funded during fiscal year 2020 were projects to enhance outcomes for students with autism spectrum disorders; assist the U.S. Navy with improving its radar technology; explore marginalized communities through women’s voices; understand the risk of tick-borne diseases in Kansas and across the Great Plains; examine using renewable energy to optimize water resources for rural communities; investigate the impact of exercise on memory and concentration; appraise innovative tobacco treatment options; analyze diet’s influence on the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, and more.
“The researchers at the medical center are dedicated to increasing scientific knowledge for the betterment of society with direct impacts on the health of our local and regional communities, including The University of Kansas Health System patients,” said Dr. Matthias Salathe, KU Medical Center interim vice chancellor for research. “Our national ranking can be credited to the deep commitment of our scientists to improve health and well-being. We are honored to be trusted stewards of research and discovery funding and look forward to continuing exceptional and transformative research.”
Other prominent KU rankings in the HERD survey:
1. No. 9: overall R&D expenditures in non-science and engineering fields
2. No. 22: federally financed R&D expenditures in psychology
3. No. 27: federally financed R&D expenditures by agencies other than the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Health & Human Services, NASA, National Science Foundation and Department of Agriculture
4. No. 70: overall R&D expenditures among all universities
5. No. 75: federally financed R&D expenditures among all universities.
The HERD survey collects information on research and development expenditures by field of research and source of funds among all U.S. colleges and universities that expend at least $150,000 on R&D.
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Contact: Mike Krings, KU News Service, 785-864-8860, [email protected], @MikeKrings
Education privacy law failing, including racialized ‘dirty data,’ KU law professor writes
LAWRENCE — Congress passed the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA, in 1974 in large part due to concerns about inaccurate and misleading data collected in schools that could negatively affect students. New research from Najarian Peters, associate professor of law at the University of Kansas, argues that FERPA should be enhanced to add more protections to prevent the inclusion of that type of information, known as dirty data, in the education record.
While FERPA was intended to protect students and their families from misleading or damaging information in the education record, the law lacks protections against inaccurate data inclusion at the point of collection. In an article published in the Washington and Lee Law Review, Peters outlined how the law could be enhanced.
Peters coined the term “digital golemization” for the phenomenon of inaccurate, incomplete or misleading data being placed in the digital record, which then goes on to potentially shape and influence a student’s reputation and resulting structure of opportunities.
The author cited research that has long shown how children of color are regularly overrepresented in disciplinary measures taken in schools and how they are reprimanded more severely than white children even for similar infractions. Furthermore, data has long shown that such students are underrepresented in access to programs such as advanced placement.
“This data goes only one way across the country. That should tell us there is something very wrong with the patterns, practices and, perhaps most importantly, the intentions at work here,” Peters said.
The author examined how data, which is not required to be verified upon its inclusion in the educational record, is similar in effect to that in the criminal justice system and plays a role in placing some students in the school-to-prison pipeline. Peters also tracked the history of how FERPA was developed in the early ’70s in part as reaction to President Richard Nixon’s concern about privacy and how inaccurate records could harm people “beyond the point of repair.”
FERPA has failed, however, to protect students from inaccurate data in their record, and Peters calls for a prescription to enhance the law to prevent the problem or allow dirty data to be corrected. First, she argues for the verification of information before it is entered in a student’s record. That could be accomplished by requiring that a teacher, educator or administrator verify disciplinary information with a parent, student or via a standardized form or discipline board.
That requirement could be bolstered by a second prescription, a right to reasonable inference. In other words, those entering data should not jump to the conclusion an incident occurred because the student was disrespectful, aggressive or because unwanted behavior was due to a subjective deficit behavior, Peters said.
Finally, law enforcement officers’ presence in schools needs to be considered. Peters argues for an amendment to FERPA requiring accounting of disclosures to law enforcement. School resource officers, or police working in schools, can access student records without alerting students or their families. That information can be used in criminal investigations outside of school without the knowledge of students or their families. Peters argues that officers handling student records are able to further introduce dirty data or use information against students in negative ways and should, at the least, be required by schools to notify individuals when accessing such records.
The article is part of a new area of privacy law that Peters is developing regarding privacy and racial marginality.
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Contact: Rick Hellman, KU News Service, 785-864-8852, [email protected], @RickHellman
The Duke of Lennox, a preternatural political talent
LAWRENCE – Think of the Duke of Lennox as a politician who appears on “Dancing With the Stars.” Ludovic Stuart, the duke, did much the same thing when he capered at 17th-century masques — that is, elaborate royal court performances — in the Banqueting Hall he helped build in London for his patron, King James.
Though Stuart / Lennox was the right-hand man of the British king for whom the Jacobean era is named, and the Banqueting Hall still stands, a University of Kansas professor emeritus of English has written the first biography of the man.
“The Duke of Lennox, 1574-1624: A Jacobean Courtier’s Life” (Edinburgh University Press, 2022) is a continuation of David Bergeron’s 30-year study of the Stuart dynasty, beginning with his book “Shakespeare’s Romances and the Royal Family” (1985) and continuing through “Royal Family, Royal Lovers” (1991) and “King James and Letters of Homoerotic Desire” (1999).
In fact, Bergeron believes that Ludovic Stuart’s father, Esmé Stuart, was one of King James’ male lovers. It’s clear that the king (originally James VI of Scotland and later, additionally, James I of England) sent for then-9-year-old Ludovic, who was living at the time with his mother in France, to join his court in Edinburgh after Esmé Stuart died in 1583.
And while King James continued to have his male favorites, the Duke of Lennox grew up – rapidly – to skillfully navigate palace intrigue that was governed by both physical passions and politico-economic considerations. He not only led the Scottish government for six months at age 15 while James was off in Denmark marrying that country’s Princess Anne, Stuart accompanied the king’s procession down the Great North Road to London as James became the ruler of a de facto united kingdom comprising Scotland, England and Ireland.
Ludovic Stuart remains the only person to have been created a duke in both Scotland (Lennox) and England (Richmond). He had several other titles, including the King’s Alnager (inspector of woolen cloth), but his greatest influence came in serving as King James’ eyes, ears and right hand in unofficial roles – a part he played for nearly 40 years.
Bergeron said that when Queen Elizabeth I heard that James had left the teenage duke in charge of the Scottish government while he decamped to Denmark, she was horrified.
“But she came to terms with it later,” he said, “because things were actually going pretty well. So when she and Lennox finally met in 1601, she was very impressed by him. She wrote to James and said she could understand why he was in such favor. Because the guy had figured things out amazingly well.
“He learned to deal with the roughshod Scots. He had all kinds of pitched battles with this one and that, often over property, of course, or some imagined or real privilege. He knew how to negotiate.
“I write in the book that it was his trustworthiness that most impressed James. And so he grew up to be his right hand.”
Bergeron said his new book is the first to examine in any depth the duke’s interest in the arts, which became apparent to him, he said, while researching his previous book, “Shakespeare’s London 1613” (Manchester University Press, 2017). Just as King James turned Shakespeare’s acting company into The King’s Men, Lennox created his own company, The Duke of Lennox’s Men, for which Bergeron said records exist of about a dozen performances.
Moreover, Bergeron said, Lennox served as protector of artists who ran afoul of the authorities. For instance, the book documents how Lennox sprang playwright George Chapman from jail and how Lennox’s brother, also named Esmé Stuart, did the same for Ben Jonson.
“Jonson got locked up because a play on which he collaborated with two other drafters somehow offended the Scots … And you go to the authorities, somebody knows somebody, and next thing you know, they’re in prison,” Bergeron said. “It takes the Stuart brothers to free dramatists.”
Bergeron was able to find records all over the world, including at KU’s Spencer Research Library and Anschutz Library, of the Duke of Lennox’s official activities. However, there is relatively little that can be deduced, at this late date, about his personal life.
“Even the personal letters are not what you might want to call personal,” Bergeron said. “There is very little revealed by him. And I thought this is maybe the courtier who has learned to be circumspect, even when writing a friend.”
The duke married three times, with the final union being his happiest, Bergeron said. The KU researcher said he found records of an “illegitimate” son, whom the Duke of Lennox managed to support by installing him as the keeper of Scotland’s Dumbarton Castle.
It’s all part of a fascinating story that, Bergeron said, “was far more complicated than I realized” when he embarked upon the project.
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