Afternoon Update: A simple 30-minute belonging exercise could boost student retention

Big Oil shapes Stanford's climate research; academe’s DEI lip service; multitasking vs. productivity; finalists leave presidential search; and more. ADVERTISEMENT [Afternoon Update Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. You can now read The Chronicle on [Apple News]( [Flipboard]( and [Google News](. UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE [This Simple 30-Minute Belonging Exercise Could Boost Student Retention]( By Adrienne Lu [STORY IMAGE]( Allowing students to reflect on their social and academic anxieties helps them put things in perspective and persist through college, a groundbreaking study says. ADVERTISEMENT 'OBVIOUS CONFLICTS OF INTEREST' [Big Oil Helped Shape Stanford’s Latest Climate-Research Focus]( By Stephanie M. Lee [STORY IMAGE]( The university’s sustainability school chose greenhouse-gas removal after input from fossil-fuel executives. Critics say the industry’s involvement is cause for concern. THE REVIEW | OPINION [Higher Ed’s DEI Lip Service]( By Ariana González Stokas [STORY IMAGE]( On my disillusioning experience as a chief diversity officer. ADVICE [Multitasking Is the Enemy of Academic Productivity]( By Gloria Mark [STORY IMAGE]( Faculty members pay a price for all that juggling of research, teaching, and service. TEACHING [How Professors — and Colleges — Can Lower the Risk of ‘Ungrading’]( By Beckie Supiano [STORY IMAGE]( One obstacle to trying a new teaching practice: student course evaluations. LEADERSHIP [All 3 Presidential Finalists Withdraw at South Florida State College]( With the public college’s president set to retire on June 30, its Board of Trustees said on Wednesday that an earned doctorate or other terminal degree is now preferred, but not required, for applicants. Both trustees and the college denied that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s [controversial]( [higher-ed]( [policies]( had led to the finalists’ withdrawal or that the [process had been politicized](. (WFLA, The Chronicle) UGLY WORDS [Racist Social-Media Video by U. of Wisconsin Student Sparks Calls for Expulsion]( Tens of thousands of people signed a petition urging the Madison campus to expel the student. The university condemned the video, in which the student uses racial slurs and says Black people should be re-enslaved. But it said the First Amendment prevented it from expelling her. The video was posted in the same week that the Republican speaker of the state Assembly, Robin Vos, called on UW campuses to [close their diversity, equity, and inclusion offices](. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) TECHNOLOGY [Hackers Hijacked a University’s Emergency System to Threaten Students and Professors]( Bluefield University, a private college in Virginia, initially [described a cyberattack]( last weekend that led computer systems to be shut down and finals to be postponed. Now it emerges that the attack involved threats on a campus-alert system in which the hackers, apparently Russians, pressured Bluefield to pay a ransom. “We have admissions data from thousands of students,” one message said. “Your personal information is at risk to be leaked on the darkweb blog.” (WVVA, NBC News) FEWER STUDENTS [New Data Show Enrollment Declines in Schools of Nursing]( The number of students in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs fell by 1.4 percent last year, ending a 20-year period of enrollment growth in programs designed to prepare new registered nurses, according to data released on Tuesday by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. ONLINE-PROGRAM MANAGERS [Central State U. Updates Online College Partnership, No Longer Free, With AFL-CIO]( The Ohio university said the free program [would end]( this month. The program had allowed students affiliated with the labor union to attend Eastern Gateway Community College at no charge, earn an associate degree, and continue at Central State for a bachelor’s. The U.S. Education Department said last year that [Eastern Gateway’s program]( run by the for-profit Student Resource Center, was [violating federal student-aid policy](. (Dayton Daily News, The Chronicle) ADVERTISING [6 U.S. Senators Assail ‘Misleading’ Ads by U. of Phoenix]( In a letter to the Departments of Defense, Education, and Veterans Affairs, the Democratic lawmakers say the university is violating a 2019 agreement on deceptive advertising and should be kicked out of federal student-aid programs run by those departments. The for-profit university is in the midst of [complicated talks]( to be [acquired]( by a University of Arkansas affiliate. (Senators’ letter, The Chronicle) SHUTTING DOWN [American U. of Puerto Rico to Close in December]( The university blamed its decision on its region’s slow recovery from [two]( [hurricanes]( and the resulting loss of enrollment, a broader decline in the number of prospective students, the commonwealth’s fiscal woes, and the pandemic’s damaging effects. (News release, The Chronicle) EVENTS [Browse Upcoming and On-Demand Virtual Events]( [STORY IMAGE]( Join a discussion with national experts and leading practitioners on how to navigate an uncertain future and what new ideas your institution can pursue. NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. UPCOMING PROGRAM [The Chronicle's Strategic-Leadership Program for Department Chairs] [Join us in June]( for a virtual professional development program which will provide the space, time, and tools to help department chairs take on the challenges and opportunities of the role. Through workshops, high-level seminars, and individual development plans, chairs will think strategically about their departmental and institutional impact. [Register today!]( SPONSOR CONTENT | University of Auckland [How the University of Auckland is Putting its Sustainability Strategy Into Action]( ADVERTISEMENT FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [The Future of Advising - Buy Now]( [The Future of Advising]( Good advising is widely seen as central to student success, but it is one of the most misunderstood and under-supported divisions on campus. [Order your copy]( to learn how university leaders can improve advising systems to help close equity gaps, and ensure students effectively navigate their path to a degree. 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