February 11, 2016
Johnson Comings and Goings ... Paula A. Johnson, a professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, was named the 14th president of Wellesley College. Johnson is chief of the Division of Women's Health at Harvard Medical School and Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she founded the Connors Center for Women's Health and...
February 11, 2016
In 2010, I wrote an essay, "The New Indentured Educated Class," for The New England Journal of Higher Education. This piece was pivotal in raising public awareness about a new group of Americans, an enormous group of us—educated and deeply in debt. At that point, few were talking about the student loan debt crisis, aside from me and a couple of others. However, things have changed—politicians ...
February 8, 2016
McKenna Comings and Goings ... Suffolk University President Margaret McKenna and Board of Trustees Chair Drew Meyer both announced they would resign after a season of increasing turmoil at the downtown Boston college, which has had three presidents since 2010. Meyer will step down in May, McKenna by the start of the 2017-18 academic year. McKenna wrote for NEBHE's journal...
February 8, 2016
DC Shuttle ... UN Panel Assesses Race in U.S. Schools. The United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent recommended several changes to U.S. schools following a 10-day visit to several U.S. cities to assess the African American educational experience. The working group questioned the practice of stationing police officers in schools and called on leaders to...
February 8, 2016
The lively experiment that is the college and university in America is characterized by sustained struggles and tempered triumphs that have both undergirded and challenged the fundamental foundation of the academy. The economist and philosopher Kenneth Minogue conveyed in his book, The Concept of the University that the university can and should allow ideologies to be debated within its gates. How...
February 1, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Federal Agencies Take Action Against DeVry. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Education both took action against DeVry University last week for making misleading and deceptive claims. The FTC filed a lawsuit against DeVry, claiming that the institution made unsubstantiated claims about post-graduation job rates and wages. The Department of Education sent a notice...
January 27, 2016
It was disgruntled students that coined this phrase on my last campus. The "Bounce” was costing them precious time spent chasing signatures and removing often-unnecessary registration “holds” when they wanted only to finally get to class! Individually, the students praised our office staff, but begged us to please “talk to each other.” Crazy thought, right? All this ...
January 26, 2016
Comings and Goings ... Ball State University President Paul Ferguson resigned unexpectedly from the helm of the Indiana college. Ferguson was president of the University of Maine until he signed a five-year contract at Ball State in August 2014.Massachusetts College of Art and Design named University of North Carolina School of the Arts Provost David Nelson to be the 12th...
January 25, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Supreme Court to Hear Religious School Case. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Pauley. Trinity Lutheran had requested a grant from the state of Missouri for recycled tire scraps to resurface its preschool playground, but the state denied the request, arguing that state aid to a church violates...
January 20, 2016
The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) will hold its 14th annual New England Higher Education Excellence Awards celebration and dinner in Boston on Friday, March 4, 2016. Here is a bit about the 2016 recipients ... The David and Rosamond Putnam Family of New Hampshire will receive NEBHE's 2016 Governor Walter R. Peterson Award for Leadership, named for the late New Hampshire...
January 19, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Department of Ed Urges Schools to Protect Muslim Students from Harassment. The U.S. Department of Education published a "Dear Colleague" letter urging schools to take extra steps to protect Muslim students from harassment and discrimination. Schools are always obligated to address any harassment or bullying students face, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or national origin. However, the...
January 19, 2016
Comings and Goings ... John N. Short The University of Maine System named University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac CEO and Dean John N. Short to be the new president of the University of Maine at Fort Kent, starting April 1. He succeeds Wilson Hess, who announced his retirement in May. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth appointed its senior vice chancellor...
January 15, 2016
The University of New Hampshire is one of 14 higher education institutions throughout the U.S. that have been selected by the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter) to participate in the Pathways to Innovation, a program funded by the National Science Foundation and run by Epicenter. Epicenter is directed by Stanford University and VentureWell. The Pathways program is...
January 12, 2016
Advice on how to connect and lead ... Whether you are a first-time college or university president, or one with years of experience leading an institution, an essential part of the job is communicating. While it might sound obvious, the importance of reaching out, connecting and building and maintaining relationships cannot be stressed enough. Done well, it can lead you toward great success, and ...
January 12, 2016
Doing Good … Says Who? Stories from Volunteers, Nonprofit, Donors and Those They Want to Help; Connie Newton and Fran Early; Two Harbors Press; Minneapolis; 2015 Community service is on the rise in higher education. Traditional concepts of charity are being challenged in service learning programs, in international development and social work classes as well as divinity schools. Increasing num...
January 11, 2016
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a conversation with John Sener, author of The Seven Futures of American Education: Teaching and Learning in a Screen Captured World. Sener discusses the impact of technology-enabled learning on American higher education. Radio Higher Ed's entire podcast collection can be accessed by visiting www.radiohighered.com or by subscribing through iTunes at www.iTunes.com. It is...
January 11, 2016
DC Shuttle ... John King Appointed Acting U.S. Secretary of Education. John King Jr. took over as the acting secretary of education. He will not undergo the usual confirmation process, but rather will serve as acting secretary for the rest of President Obama's time in office. A native of New York, King was one of the founders of the Roxbury...
January 6, 2016
Andrew Young Northeastern University's spring 2016 Myra Kraft Open Classroom will feature public officials and scholars on Shaping Boston's Future: Aspirations, Opportunities, and Challenges. The free discussions will be held Wednesdays from Jan. 13 to April 20 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Northeastern's West Village F. The first session to be held Jan. 13 will feature Sara Myerson,...
December 29, 2015
Comings and Goings ... Rhode Island's Council on Postsecondary Education appointed Meghan L. Hughes, former leader of Year Up Providence, to be the next president of the Community College of Rhode Island. Tunxis Community College Dean of Academic Affairs Michael Rooke became president of Northwestern Connecticut Community College, succeeding Barbara Douglass who retired. The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting...
December 29, 2015
Regis North to offer bachelor's degree completion programs in nursing, public health and other health sciences ... With liberal arts colleges and universities reporting losses in student enrollment and retention, and our nation’s workforce growing older and more diverse, colleges and universities are being forced to rethink their approach to educating and engaging students. Regis is no e...
December 21, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Omnibus Package Includes Education Spending. The FY 2016 omnibus (H.R. 2029) passed and signed into law last week provides $162.1 billion for the programs funded under the Labor-HHS-Education section. That is $5.4 billion more than last fiscal year, but $5.5 billion less than President Barack Obama had requested. Title I got an additional $500 million, up to...
December 21, 2015
Carriuolo Comings and Goings ... Rhode Island College President Nancy Carriuolo announced she will step down in May. Carriuolo has written NEJHE articles on the new role of college librarians as well as collaboration among states and between education and liberal arts. Massachusetts College of Art and Design named music educator David P. Nelson, currently provost of the University of...
December 14, 2015
Comings and Goings ... University of Maine at Machias (UMM) Interim President Joyce Hedlund resigned effective Friday, Dec. 11., to have heart bypass surgery. Hedlund had been hired out of retirement in early 2015 after leading Maine's Washington County Community College and Eastern Maine Community College. UMM Provost Stuart Swain will serve as acting president in Machias. James F. Conneely,...
December 14, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Supreme Court Weighs Affirmative Action Case, Again. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments a second time in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. In 2013, the Supreme Court heard the case and ruled 7 to 1 against a lower court's decision. The ruling said that the lower court had not applied proper legal scrutiny to the...
December 14, 2015
Using data from NEBHE "Guide" to discern value of New England colleges ... The data published by Boston magazine and the New England Board of Higher Education the 2016 Guide to New England Colleges & Universities provided me with the opportunity to examine the higher education institutions (HEIs) prices, defined as tuition and plus fees, as a function of several independent factors including...
December 7, 2015
DC Shuttle ... House Passes ESEA Reauthorization. The House voted 359 to 64 to approve the Every Student Succeeds Act, to replace the outdated No Child Left Behind Act. The final language must now be passed in the Senate before being sent to the president. The bill would significantly reduce the federal role in elementary and secondary education, according to...
December 7, 2015
Efforts to unionize students at private universities are gaining momentum. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to reconsider whether graduate students at private nonprofit colleges and universities should be treated as employees under the National Labor Relations Act. The case, New School, Case No. 02- RC-143009, involves a United Auto Workers petition to organize graduate student...
December 3, 2015
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a conversation with Ryan Craig, author of College Disrupted: The Great Unbundling of Higher Education. Ryan discusses "unbundling" degrees, driving toward a competency-based marketplace and the potential impact on student debt. Radio Higher Ed's entire podcast collection can be accessed by visiting www.radiohighered.com or by subscribing through iTunes at www.iTunes.com. It is also...
December 1, 2015
The New England Secondary School Consortium—representing Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont—released its 2015 report on public school performance for the 2013–14 school year. Despite general improvements, the data shows economically disadvantaged (ED) students, English-language learners and students with disabilities lagging behind other groups in graduation, dropout, college-enrollment and college-persistence rates. The consortium is funded by the Nellie Mae...
November 30, 2015
The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), in association with Boston magazine, has produced the 2016 Guide to New England Colleges & Universities, the fifth edition of the annual guide. Boston magazine published the Guide in combination with its December 2015 issue. NEBHE is distributing complimentary copies of the Guide throughout New England, including to school guidance offices, public libraries, GEAR UP and...
November 30, 2015
Studley Comings and Goings ... Jamienne Studley, deputy under secretary and acting assistant secretary of the U.S. Education Department's Office of Postsecondary Education, will leave the department Dec 18. NEJHE has featured a Q &A with Studley as well as video of her sharing thoughts on higher education costs. Lumina Foundation appointed Scott Jenkins, f0rmer program director at the National Governors Association,...
November 23, 2015
DC Shuttle ... House and Senate Conference Pass No Child Left Behind Reform. A Senate and House Conference Committee approved legislation which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, an update to No Child Left Behind, which expired in 2007. The committee voted 38 to 1 to pass a framework, which staff had crafted from the versions passed on...
November 18, 2015
NEBHE president proposes a "sweet spot" between consortia and mergers ... The TIAA-CREF Institute has published a report by New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) President and CEO Michael K. Thomas on "strategic alliances" in higher education. Inside Higher Ed characterizes the Thomas proposal as a third ways between less formal collaborations and more permanent mergers. His solution that...
November 17, 2015
Torrecilha Comings and Goings ... Westfield State University's Board of Trustees recommended Ramon S. Torrecilha, a professor of sociology and former provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, Dominguez Hills, to be Westfield State's first Latino president. He would succeed Elizabeth Preston, the university's vice president of academic affairs, who served as interim president after Evan...
November 16, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Administration Calls for For-Profit College Legislation. The Washington Post details how the Obama administration is pressuring Congress to pass legislation to protect veterans from aggressive for-profit colleges. House and Senate Negotiators Reach Preliminary ESEA Deal. Lawmakers reached an agreement on a No Child Left Behind reauthorization and plan to name conferees and move to official conference committee...
November 9, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Education Department Announces New Rules for Accreditors. The U.S. Education Department announced "a series of executive actions to improve accreditors' and the department's oversight activities and move toward a new focus on student outcomes and transparency." The announcement included executive actions and recommended legislative reform, focusing on transparency, that officials said will force accreditors to focus more...
November 6, 2015
It is time to push back at least a little on this very fashionable rubric. While the NEBHE Conference on the subject was generally excellent, especially in the morning, its uncritical acceptance of the whole idea was worrisome. See Center of Attention: Learners. A fundamental problem is its metaphor. There can be only one “center” of anything, so the question is: In institutions of what use...
November 5, 2015
The New England Board of Higher Education's (NEBHE) announced its 2016 New England Higher Education Excellence Awards winners. NEBHE will hold its annual awards celebration at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf Hotel on Friday, March 4, 2016. REGIONAL AWARD RECIPIENTS The Governor Walter R. Peterson Award for Leadership The David and Rosamond Putnam Family of New Hampshire The Eleanor M....
November 4, 2015
Last week, NEBHE convened 300 or so educators and policy leaders for a gathering in Boston on “Learner-Centered Institutions: The Future of Higher Education.” One key question … what is a “learner-centered institution” anyway? The latest in a torrent of meaningless eduspeak? Or as the conference subtitle suggested, a true paradigm shift in the way we teach and learn? The definition...
November 2, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Ed Department Finalizes Rules on Income-Based Repayment and Student Aid Delivery. The U.S. Education Department finalized two rules expanding an income-based student loan repayment program and giving students more options for receiving aid. The rule will expand the REPAYE program to allow five million more Direct Loan borrowers to cap their monthly student loan payment amount at...
October 30, 2015
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a conversation wih Tom Mortenson, senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education. Mortenson discusses how education fiscal policies at the state and federal level have affected access to college and the U.S. position in the global human capital economy. Radio Higher Ed's entire podcast...
October 27, 2015
Comings and Goings ... Beardsley Maine Gov. Paul LePage appointed former Husson University President and 2010 gubernatorial candidate William Beardsley as acting commissioner of the Maine Department of Education. Tom Desjardin, who has been acting education commissioner since April and is on medical leave, will return to his earlier role of deputy commissioner. The Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation...
October 27, 2015
Observations of a retired college president ... I am sure you've heard colleagues when they return from sabbatical surprised by how much their institutions changed while they were on leave. The apparent change is even more profound for someone who left the arena seven years ago, as I did. Here are five issues that, in the past few years, have caught my attention either by reading about the...
October 20, 2015
NEEP delivers latest forecast ... this time with a special focus on infrastructure … Is it because the economy is not in crash mode (we don’t think) that the crowd at the New England Economic Partnership (NEEP) fall 2015 outlook conference was decidedly smaller than in NEEP’s heydey? Or is it because it’s hard to get people to pay attention to regional issues? Especially infrastructure...
October 13, 2015
DC Shuttle ... STEM Education Act Signed into Law. President Obama signed the STEM Education Act of 2015, which expands the definition of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to include computer science programs. The bill was originally introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), members of the Science, Space and Technology Committee. The law does...
October 13, 2015
Compare the typical college campus today with one 30 years ago, and some stark differences become apparent. More students than ever are enrolling in college; however, graduation rates have remained fairly consistent over the past 30 years, according to the College Board. College campuses are much more diverse than before, increasing from roughly a 20% minority student population in 1990, to 42% in...
October 9, 2015
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a discussion with Ellyn Artis, co-author of Deliverology in Practice on the delivery approach to reforming higher education. Radio Higher Ed's entire podcast collection can be accessed by visiting www.radiohighered.com or by subscribing through iTunes at www.iTunes.com. It is also available in the University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository, where it can be...
October 7, 2015
NEBHE’s annual fall meetings explored the federal Higher Education Act and aligning state policy with higher ed … The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) held its annual fall board meeting last month in Mystic, Conn. In a session on reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act (HEA), Sarah H. Flanagan, vice president for government relations and policy development...
October 5, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Arne Duncan to Step Down in December from Education Secretary Position. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced he will step down at the end of December. He has served since the beginning of President Obama's first term, almost seven years. Obama will name John B. King Jr., currently deputy secretary of education in the Education Department, as...
October 5, 2015
Comings and Goings ... Springfield Technical Community President Ira H. Rubenzahl announced he'd retire at the end of this academic year after 12 years as president. Rubenzahl Johnson & Wales University (JWU) appointed former Rhode Island Commissioner of Higher Education and South Dakota Board of Regents CEO Jack Warner to be a full-time associate professor in the Educational Leadership doctoral...
September 29, 2015
Cybersecurity, a relatively new term, may actually be the word of the year because of its global significance. Its simple definition is “measures taken to protect a computer or computer system (as on the Internet) against unauthorized access or attack.” But simple it is not. Computer and Internet security have spawned a whole vocabulary, such as hackers, leakers, viruses, cyberweaponry,...
September 29, 2015
The federal GEAR UP program in Rhode Island led to large advantages for students who participated in the program in terms of persistence through the middle and high school years, high school graduation and college enrollment. The Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program, more commonly known as GEAR UP, is a product of federal legislation designed to increase high school c...
September 28, 2015
State Capital Notes ... With the 2016 presidential campaign dominating the airwaves and reauthorization of the landmark federal Higher Education Act looming, one could be excused for focusing on Washington, D.C. But in many ways, state capitals remain the center of action in higher education. Here is our annual attempt to summarize the state legislative sessions and their impact on...
September 28, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Moody Says College Closures will Increase. Moody's Investor Service released a private report which projected that by 2017, the closure rate of small colleges is likely to be triple that of the past decade. The report said there would be declining enrollment, particularly among the small private colleges. The closure rate of small colleges was relatively low...
September 28, 2015
Following is the recent commencement address at American University of Madaba in the Kingdom of Jordan by former NEBHE Chair and New Hampshire state Sen. Lou D'Allesandro ... I am honored to be here today to speak at the first graduation of the American University of Madaba. To our honored attendees and the staff, faculty, students, and their families, I...
September 23, 2015
Last week, I was at Providence’s Trinity Rep covering BIF2015, the Business Innovation Factory's summit of innovators. It was BIF’s 11th summit, my fifth as a guest. I was attending under a quasi-media category called RCUS, standing for the BIF mantra of “Random Collisions of Unusual Suspects.” BIF founder and "chief catalyst" Saul Kaplan opened the talks by noting that earlier in th...
September 21, 2015
DC Shuttle ... The New College Scorecard. The Obama administration's new College Scorecard was unveiled last weekend. Collegescorecard.ed.gov was revamped and updated by the administration, instead of the ratings system the administration had hoped to develop. The administration released thousands of new data points, broken down by individual college and going back several years. The new data shows publicly, for...
September 14, 2015
Comings and Goings ... Colby-Sawyer College President Thomas C. Galligan Jr. announced he will step down after 10 years on June 30, 2016. Meanwhile, Colby-Sawyer appointed Muskingum University Vice President for Institutional Advancement Kathleen Bonavist to be vice president of advancement, succeeding Elizabeth Cahill, who held the post at Colby-Sawyer for 13 years. Maine Maritime Academy named College of Idaho...
September 14, 2015
Jane Goodall Australia's former Prime Minister Julia Gillard will kick off Boston College's fall 2015 Clough Colloquia on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 4 p.m. at Robsham Theater. The fall 2015 Myra Kraft Open Classroom continues at Northeastern University on Wednesday, Sept. 16 with Boston Globe columnist Thomas Oliphant and Cornell University historian Fred Logevall discussing 1960s politics under JFK and LBJ....
September 14, 2015
DC Shuttle ... New Scorecard Site to Replace Ratings System. The White House unveiled a new and improved College Scorecard website, which is intended to replace the ratings system that the administration had proposed, the now-abandoned Postsecondary Institution Ratings System (PIRS). The site displays data for colleges, including graduation rates and earnings, and is intended to be mobile-friendly. The site...
September 8, 2015
What if schools in the U.S. treated their innovation and emerging technologies with as much glamour as they give to athletics? At the New England Board of Higher Education’s recent Advanced Manufacturing Problem Based Learning (AM PBL) Showcase, industry representatives addressed this question and discussed ways to improve the branding and appeal for STEM (science, technology, engineering and ma...
September 1, 2015
I was able to hear Stanley Fish speak at the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities in January 2004. Fish, a literary critic, had become dean of arts and sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)—a position he has now vacated. Fish has published widely, usually upholding the ideals of our nation’s colleges and universities in his writing. ...
August 26, 2015
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a discussion of graduate student loan debt, particularly financing structures for graduate students, with Chris Chapman, CEO of Access Group. Radio Higher Ed's entire podcast collection can be accessed by visiting www.radiohighered.com or by subscribing through iTunes at www.iTunes.com. It is also available in the University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository, where it...
August 26, 2015
Comings and Goings ... The Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education named Mark Ojakian to be interim president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, succeeding Gregory W. Gray, who resigned. Currently Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's chief of staff, Ojakian will begin Sept, 28 as system leader on an interim basis. Malloy named his aide Brian Durand to replace...
August 20, 2015
Comings and Goings ... Connecticut State Colleges & Universities President Gregory Gray sent the state's Board of Regents for Higher Education a one-sentence letter saying he would resign Dec. 31 after two years as president of the state's largest public college system. The Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education appointed John B. Clark to be president of Western Connecticut...
August 12, 2015
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide "Accreditation: Will We Love It or Leave It or Reform it?," a conversation with: Judith Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation; Leah Matthews, executive director of the Distance Education Accrediting Commission; Mary Ellen Petrisko, president of the WASC Senior College and University Commission; and Mary Jane Harris,...
August 11, 2015
Comings and Goings ... Moloney The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees appointed UMass-Lowell executive vice chancellor and alumna Jacqueline Moloney to be the first female chancellor in the 121-year history of UMass Lowell and its preceding institutions. She succeeds Martin Meehan, a former U.S. congressman, who began as president of the UMass system on July 1. Scripps College Vice...
August 10, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Clinton Details Student Loan Plan. Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is rolling out her policy proposals for student loan and higher education reform. The plan would cost $350 billion over 10 years to reduce interest rates and encourage free college programs. The broad reforms would aim to encourage state schools and community colleges, through grants, to adopt free...
August 10, 2015
An increasing number of institutions are freeing up shelf space in their libraries and moving in student services as well as a coffee shop and other lures such as flexible seating arrangements. Librarians are taking down the silence signs in all but the quiet study room and urging members of the academic community to meet, talk, research and incubate new ideas collaboratively as well as to engage ...
August 5, 2015
After nearly 60 years of helping students afford college, Scholarship America unveiled its first public policy agenda offering a refreshing focus on “advancing equity in postsecondary education and strengthening support for low-to-moderate income students.” The priorities: Expand public-private partnerships Look to the private sector for experimentation, innovation and best practice...
August 3, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Shining Light on Campus Sexual Assault. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA) with a focus on combating campus sexual assault. Testifying before the committee were Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Dean Heller (R-NV) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), who have advocated for legislation...
July 27, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Higher Education Act Reauthorization and Innovation. The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing entitled "Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Exploring Barriers and Opportunities within Innovation." This hearing, one of several leading up to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), focused on the changing higher education landscape and what, if anything,...
July 27, 2015
Comings and Goings ...Pine Manor College appointed President Emerita Rosemary Ashby to return to the college as interim president, succeeding E. Joseph Lee. Ashby was president of Pine Manor from 1976 to 1996. The Maine State Board of Education elected Bangor lawyer Martha Harris to be chair, and Cianbro Companies VP Alan Burton to be vice chair. The New Hampshire College &...
July 27, 2015
Not too many years ago, a school’s brand just was. Few people used the “b” word. A college or university went about its business, became known for particular strengths and weaknesses, accrued what we would now call brand attributes over time (party school, really hard to get in to, innovative curriculum), and, through word of mouth and its alumni, earned its reputation in the higher ed lands...
July 21, 2015
Community colleges are often touted as a smart first step on the way to a four-year college, but they are frequently the destination of students transferring from four-year colleges as well, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse. More than half of students transferring from four-year public colleges and universities and more than 40% of students transferring...
July 20, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Senate Passes ESEA Reauthorization. The Senate passed the Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177), by a vote of 81 to 17, after debating the overhaul and amendments all week. The bill would grant more autonomy to state and local school districts over testing and accountability. It also gives states more flexibility using federal funds. The bill was...
July 20, 2015
“Without having to miss out on fun, just outsource your test to us, an expert will take it and you will get the awesome grade that you deserve. All at prices you will not believe. How does that sound?”—Excerpt from one of many results of googling “take my test” This pitch is more than incredibly crass. It is really just outright pimping of hired poseurs to ...
July 17, 2015
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a conversation with Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, authors of Aspiring Adults Adrift: Tentative Transitions of College Graduates.Radio Higher Ed's entire podcast collection can be accessed by visiting www.radiohighered.com or by subscribing through iTunes at www.iTunes.com. It is also available in the University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository, where it can be searched by...
July 13, 2015
DC Shuttle ... ESEA Passes House, Continues to be Considered in Senate. The House passed the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), the rewrite of No Child Left Behind, by a vote of 218 to 213. The bill would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and make changes to many of its programs. It was the second time...
July 9, 2015
Salomon-Fernandez Comings and Goings ... Massachusetts Bay Community College Vice President for Strategic Planning and Partnership Advancement Yves Salomon-Fernandez was named interim president of the college, succeeding John O'Donnell who will retire this summer. Salomon-Fernandez has also served as executive officer for MassBay's Framingham campus and authored several articles for NEJHE. Rhode Island Gov. Gina M. Raimondo chose former middle...
July 7, 2015
Now accepting nominations ...The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) is now seeking nominations for our thirteenth annual New England Higher Education Excellence Awards. Five regional awards and six state merit awards will be presented to the recipients on the evening of Friday, March 4, 2016 in Boston.Nominees should be individuals, programs or organizations in New England higher education, government or business that exemplify...
July 7, 2015
Deans of Women and the Feminist Movement: Emily Taylor’s Activism; Kelly C. Sartorius; Palgrave MacMillan Press (Historical Studies in Education) St. Martin’s Press; 2014. Remember when every coeducational college or university had a “Dean of Women”? It was a powerful and influential position, at least for the “coeds” under her charge (and it was always “her”). The dean of women...
June 29, 2015
DC Shuttle ... U.S. Education Department Announces Changes to Proposed Ratings System. The U.S. Education Department announced changes to the ratings system it plans to introduce this summer. In a blog post written by Deputy Under Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education Jamienne Studley, the department announced its plans to release "new, easy-to-use tools that will provide students...
June 29, 2015
Whether dean, provost, or vice president for academic affairs, the role of the campus chief academic officer (CAO) has changed steadily from the on many current faculty and administrators remember when they began their careers. Along with traditional pressures related to governance, budgets and faculty professional development, CAOs also face new calls to raise their institutional ranking or to ad...
June 26, 2015
Comings and Goings ... Maine's Good Will-Hinckley school rescinded its offer to House Speaker Mark Eves to be the next president of the organization. The Bangor Daily News reported that the Democrat from North Berwick signed an employment contract in late May, "prompting a scathing response from Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who argued in a letter to Good Will-Hinckley that...
June 22, 2015
DC Shuttle ... HELP Committee Holds College Accreditation Hearing. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA). Entitled, "Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Evaluating Accreditation's Role in Ensuring Quality," the hearing was the fourth hearing of this Congress on the topic. Previous hearings focused on college affordability, institutional risk-sharing...
June 22, 2015
The last few months have brought changes in the leadership of public education in Massachusetts. The new secretary of education and chair of the Board of Higher Education both have deep expertise in education reform and accountability, and broad experiences in business. This new leadership could bring momentum for a "systems approach" to reduce the achievement gap and increase rates of high school...
June 18, 2015
It’s an especially bruising time for New England colleges and universities, which we now call higher education institutions (HEIs)—to cover all the new varieties and hybrids. NEBHE has noted that the HEIs face threats based on shifts in academic content and delivery (increasingly online), student demography (diversifying but shrinking) and institutional finances (challenged). Plus, consid...
June 16, 2015
Half of State of Maine Grant recipients completed a postsecondary certificate or college degree, according to a New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) analysis. The NEBHE analysis reveals that the first few terms are a crucial make-or-break time for students' success. The analysis offers preliminary findings of NEBHE's research on the impact of the State of Maine Grant, including who...
June 15, 2015
DC Shuttle ... U.S. Education Department Announces Corinthian College Debt Plan. The U.S. Department of Education released a forgiveness plan for students of the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges. The plan would extend to all students who can prove their college defrauded them. According to Inside Higher Ed, the department expects to receive claims from borrowers that attended other for-profit colleges proven...
June 12, 2015
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a conversation with Sarah Pingel of Education Commission of the States and Brian Prescott of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education about efforts related to state financial aid program redesign. Radio Higher Ed's entire podcast collection can be accessed by visiting www.radiohighered.com or by subscribing through iTunes at www.iTunes.com. It is also available...
June 9, 2015
In a historic unanimous vote on May 20, 2015, the Rhode Island Council on Postsecondary Education welcomed College Unbound as a degree-granting postsecondary option in the state, designed to serve the more than 110,000 Rhode Island adults who began but did not complete bachelor’s degrees. The college is the adult-learning initiative of Big Picture Learning, a nonprofit organization dedicated ...
June 8, 2015
DC Shuttle ... Senate Hearing on HEA Reauthorization. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held its third hearing of this Congress on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA). The previous two hearings focused on consumer information and institutional risk sharing. The most recent hearing, entitled "Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Ensuring College Affordability," looked for causes behind...
June 8, 2015
The economic recovery is not jobless as economists once warned, but it is slow and uneven. Every month, the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution reports on the number of jobs the U.S. economy will have to create to return employment levels to where they were when the Great Recession began in December 2007, while absorbing people who enter the potential labor force. At the end of May, t...
June 2, 2015
Rhode Island students who received the Rhode Island State Grant were 19 percentage points more likely to complete a degree than students who never received the grant, according to a new study by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE). Recent decreases in the maximum grant award and increases in tuition and mandatory fees, however, weaken the grant's purchasing...
June 1, 2015
Education provides one of the best opportunities for American children to build the capacity to climb up the economic ladder. It has even been called the “great equalizer” in American society. In today’s tightened labor market, providing equal access to postsecondary education is more critical than ever. The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce projects that 70% of jobs by 2020 w...
May 27, 2015
The New England Economic Partnership (NEEP) will hold "Building the Backbone of Energy Efficiency" on Tuesday, June 2 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Co-sponsored by the Brandeis International Business School and the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, the NEEP conference begins at 12:15 p.m., leading to an evening reception and dinner honoring Siemens USA President and CEO Eric Spiegel with...
May 27, 2015
Liability of higher education institutions (HEIs) for off-campus housing risks is tricky, focusing on the institution’s role in off-campus housing arrangements.If an HEI “assumes a duty” to its students who rely on that duty, it must fulfill the duty with due care. This general rule applies to off-campus safety: For example, if the college offered a limited shuttle bus service to...
May 26, 2015
DC Shuttle ... America Competes Act Passes House. The House passed the America Completes Reauthorization Act of 2015 in a 217-205 vote. The legislation is a renewal of a bipartisan act signed into law in 2007 and would provide funds for the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Standards and Technology, the Energy Department and the Office of Science...
May 20, 2015
Comings and Goings ... The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education voted unanimously to appoint Carlos Santiago to be the new commissioner of higher education. Santiago was senior deputy commissioner for academic affairs witt the state's Department of Higher Education and had served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. The University of Maine System (UMS) announced that current...