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Students and staff located at the Thailand campuses of two U.S. universities are safe, say officials. Richard Meyers, president of Webster University in St. Louis, Mo., issued a statement late yesterday assuring the higher ed community that its campuses, located in Bangkok and Cha-am/Hua Hin, were not impacted by the actions that toppled the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Usually the word agility is paired with athleticism, but nowadays that characteristic is considered a valuable trait in higher ed management. Now more than ever, the ability to change with the academic and business winds is crucial to success as a higher ed chief business officer. Moreover, today's CBO is a key component of the president's cabinet of advisers, said a panel of college and university presidents speaking at the annual meeting of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, held in Baltimore, Md.

Viruses and worms have attacked every college and university network. Predictably, almost all colleges and universities use some virus protection software, spam filtering and or firewalls to try to protect IT networks. Still, the attacks keep coming, as do the security breaches.

Is your institution using its fiscal resources to its greatest advantage to fulfill its mission and meet expectations within and beyond the campus? In an era of escalating costs and reduced resources, it's a question that every institution of higher education should be asking.

Presidential transitions are challenging for everyone--the new campus leader and the staff. Regardless of the challenge, the more that can be done to establish a sense of common purpose, trust, and understanding, the smoother the transition.

In a quest to connect with students, Ursuline College President Sister Diana Stano moved into a newly built dorm on campus. Her journal gives a glimpse into the way students experience dorms today.