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October 18, 2016
The higher education policy world has been abuzz discussing and strategizing the best ways to serve adult learners—whether those adults are currently enrolled at a postsecondary institution, wish to be, or are stranded outside the system. In New England, the focus on adults is particularly relevant because experts increasingly believe economic success depends on workers with higher education credentials, yet...
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October 16, 2016
The recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the Columbia University case granting students who serve as teaching or research assistants at private universities the right to unionize dealt a major blow to private higher education as we know it. The NLRB’s cavalier disregard for the complexities of a university education is breathtaking. In a long-anticipated decision, t...
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October 11, 2016
Comings and Goings ... Timothy Connelly, most recently a partner at Brown Brothers Harriman, became executive director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The collaborative is known as the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation, and oversees the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, electronic health initiatives and the John Adams Innovation Institute. Jon Carson was appointed CEO of CollegeVine, a new high school mentorship and...
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October 11, 2016
Looking at the housing and living challenges facing U.S. communities, one thing is clear: Smaller things are coming our way. Even in regions where open space is plentiful, living quarters are shrinking as more people simplify and economize. New houses are being built that are strikingly small, with some totaling less than 500 square feet, about a fifth of the average 2,600 square feet for American...
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October 3, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Report Estimates States' Costs for Free College. Eliminating tuition for all in-state undergraduates at public colleges would cost more than $1 billion in 15 different states, according to a report by Mark Schneider, vice president and institute fellow at the American Institute for Research and a former commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. The report,...
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October 3, 2016
A real (and perhaps not uncommon) anecdote: Two sets of researchers, using a respected national longitudinal data set, have been working on related but distinct topics, employing mainly descriptive approaches in their research. In the interests of informing their own work, one group asked the other to share its paper. Reading it, they see that some findings look unrealistic at best, if not inaccur...
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September 27, 2016
Dual enrollment programs across the country share little in common with one another. Generally, they allow secondary students to take postsecondary courses while enrolled in high school. But the relevant terminology, eligibility requirements and transferability of credit varies nationally and here in in New England, where: Four of the six New England states' dual enrollment programs are managed by a...
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September 27, 2016
Every September, I get a new fix of inspiration at the Business Innovation Factory (BIF) summit of innovators. Last week, I was at BIF’s 12th summit, my sixth. My main inspiration this year came from Dave Gray. The founder of the strategic design consultancy XPLANE, co-founder of Boardthing and author of Liminal Thinking gave a simple message: Shut off autopilot. As he said, the only place we...
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September 26, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Bill on Federal Funding Introduced. U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) introduced a bill to reshuffle federal funding of colleges to encourage institutions to enroll and graduate low-income students. The bill would tie some federal student aid funding to new accountability metrics. The bill is aimed at providing incentives for colleges to boost...
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September 21, 2016
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to present the release of Federal Student Loan Servicing: A Podcast Primer, the second in a series of podcasts produced in partnership with the Postsecondary National Policy Institute, the leading source of professional development for federal policymakers working on higher education issues. Federal Student Loan Servicing explains the role of direct loan servicers,...
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September 19, 2016
DC Shuttle ... New York Votes to Join SARA. New York state announced that it will join the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement, known as SARA. The interstate agreement will allow higher education institutions from other states to offer online courses in New York, and expand the opportunities for New York State colleges and universities to do the same in other...
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September 19, 2016
Regularly reported statistics about high and growing student-loan debt levels, combined with increased rates of delinquency and default, have prompted calls to address the student-debt “crisis.” For New England, with its highly educated population and large higher education industry, student-loan debt is an important economic policy issue. Over the past decade, all six of the New England state...
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September 13, 2016
In early 2015, I wrote an article for The New England Journal of Higher Education, titled “Living with Abundant Information: What’s a College to Do?” In that article, I described the sources and impact on colleges and universities of newly developed abundant information, elaborating on five areas that an institution interested in harvesting the potential of abundant information through innov...
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September 12, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Momentum for Easing Student Loan Repayment. Both parties are looking to appeal to young voters this fall and student loan repayment has gained support as a result. Rep. Luke Messer, chair of the House Republican Policy Committee, plans to push for student loan tax breaks, such as a proposal (H.R. 5415) by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to...
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September 12, 2016
Horgan Comings and Goings ... Thomas R. Horgan announced he will leave his post as president and CEO of the New Hampshire College & University Council, effective June 2017. A NEBHE delegate since 2006, Horgan has played a key role advancing New England collaborations, including work on NEBHE's Higher Education Innovation Challenge. Also see Labor Day and Some Crumbs from...
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September 6, 2016
Too many students enter college without being ready, especially in math. Many of them are placed in a developmental noncredit course. Fully 68% of community college students and 40% of students at four-year public institutions were required to take one or more developmental education courses (sometimes called 'remedial' courses) before enrolling in credit-bearing college-level courses, according to recent data from...
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September 6, 2016
Schools and teachers are looking for innovative ways to teach the “big ideas” emerging in the core curricula, especially in STEAM fields (science technology, engineering, arts and math). As a result, learning environments that support digital learning and educational technology on various platforms and devices are taking on ever-increasing importance in today’s schools. Change is already ...
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August 31, 2016
Fruits of our labor. With terms like task creeping back into the language (as both a verb and a noun), the true origins of Labor Day may be as remote to today's students as Lupercalia. The day, of course, is meant not simply to mark the end of summer by gorging on hotdogs, but to honor workers ... including faculty and staff in and out of higher education and, by extension, the millions of undergr...
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August 30, 2016
Mathematical modeling is an open-ended research subject where no definite answers exist for any problem. Math modeling enables thinking outside the box to connect different fields of studies together including statistics, algebra, calculus, matrices, programming and scientific writing. As an integral part of our society, it is the foundation for many economical, medical and eng...
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August 29, 2016
Higher education institutions are major employers, purchasers of goods and services, managers of real estate, and attractors of external investment. In short, they are huge drivers of the New England economy. But research on how higher education contributes to regional economies is often narrowly focused or too technical; a broader conversation on attracting new resources and improving the productivity of...
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August 29, 2016
Comings and Goings ... Mooney Kim Mooney, the provost and vice president for academic affairs of Franklin Pierce University, was named the sixth president of the university and the first alumna and first woman to lead the institution. She succeeds Andrew Card, the former chief of staff to U.S. President George W. Bush, who is stepping down at Franklin Pierce...
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August 22, 2016
Lifelong learning and advanced credentials are increasingly critical for our economy ... The “war for talent” is accelerating in the U.S. job market, as private-sector payrolls recently posted their 77th consecutive month of growth. Notably, today’s economy is demanding professionals with higher levels of education, as evidenced by the very low 2.5% unemployment rate for adults with a bac...
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August 16, 2016
Kestenbaum Comings and Goings ... Maine's poet laureate Stuart Kestenbaum, the former director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, was named interim president of the Maine College of Art, succeeding Don Tuski, who left the Portland, Maine college after six years in July to become president at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. Rear Adm. Jeffrey A....
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August 15, 2016
New England’s economy has improved, but economic opportunity and skills gaps contribute to slower growth in employment, income and social mobility than experienced in previous recoveries from recessions. With an aging population and relatively slow natural growth rates in the labor force, these gaps put the future of the New England economy at greater risk than that of other regions. There ...
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August 9, 2016
A net present value analysis of business schools in Massachusetts ... Higher education institutions are increasingly being assessed on their ability to generate a positive return on investment (ROI) for their graduates. A variety of stakeholders use the ROI and similar metrics in the college decision-making process. Students, parents, policymakers, education institutions, and rating agencies al...
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August 3, 2016
A few weeks ago, NEJHE highlighted a brief bibliography of what's been said about the major presidential candidates' positions on higher education policy. Since then, both candidates introduced their running mates. Here are a few recent articles from various sources on the vice presidential candidates' positions on higher ed ... Tim Kaine Tim Kaine's Political Summary on Issue: Higher Educat...
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July 26, 2016
Bertolino Comings and Goings ... The Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education selected Lyndon State College President Joe Bertolino to be the 12th president of Southern Connecticut State University. A NEBHE delegate, Bertolino will succeed Mary Papazian who resigned as of July 1. The Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, president of Fairfield University since 2004, will leave the university for...
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July 26, 2016
This past winter, one of my colleagues attended a higher education conference on diversity. She was pleased to learn that the conference facilitators had asked her to lead a discussion on religious diversity at the conference. She took her seat at the table at the appointed time and was preparing her materials when a conference participant approached her incredulously. “This conversation is abou...
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July 20, 2016
Over the next two weeks, the two major U.S. parties will be pitching their platforms on issues facing Americans. It's a good time to learn more about their views on higher education and its connections to economic development. Much of the rhetoric has focused on ideas such as free college and combating student loan debt, as well as the candidates' involvement with for-profit higher ed outfits. Her...
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July 18, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Appropriations Committee Passes Education Funding Bill. The House Appropriations Committee passed the labor, HHS and education appropriations bill by a vote of 31 to 19. The bill would fund the U.S. Department of Education at $67 billion, which is $1.3 billion below the fiscal year 2016 enacted level and $2.4 billion below the president's budget request. Some...
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July 13, 2016
Pecking orders. Harvard and Cornell recently tied for the U.S. higher ed institutions that educate the most CEOs who run U.S. companies listed by Forbes in the top 100. We would often pore over such lists of where top CEOs went to college and meticulously note how many graduated from New England colleges. The predictable story was how many went to Harvard, Yale and MIT and how few went to New Engl...
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July 11, 2016
DC Shuttle ... House Committee Passes Perkins Reauthorization. The House Education and the Workforce Committee unanimously approved a reauthorization of the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, introduced by Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) would make changes to the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical...
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July 5, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Perkins CTE Reauthorization Bill Introduced. Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce introduced a bill designed to reauthorize and reform the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act. The current laws promoting career and technical education were passed in 2006. The Career and Technical Education for the 21st...
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July 5, 2016
Rice Comings and Goings ... University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) Provost Raymond J. Rice was appointed interim president of UMPI, where he will remain as provost. The appointment follows the announcement that outgoing President Linda Schott was chosen to lead Southern Oregon University. New Hampshire's Keene Sentinel newspaper reported that the Antioch University system "terminated the respective boards...
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July 5, 2016
Remember the faculty lounge? When I began at my current institution back in 1999, there was one in every building—sometimes two! This public space—complete with industrial furniture, coffee pots smoldering on burners, and a mini-fridge with sticky notes all over it reminding people to clean out their stinky sandwiches—was higher education’s version of the office water coole...
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June 28, 2016
SchottComings and Goings ...University of Maine at Presque Isle President Linda Schott accepted an offer to serve as president of Southern Oregon University. Schott began her service in UMPI in 2012. NEBHE recognized UMPI's achievements in personalized education with its 2016 Maine State Merit Award.Vermont Technical College President Dan Smith accepted the job of president and CEO of the Vermont Community...
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June 28, 2016
Colleges finding Open Educational Resources offer solution to cost problem ... It was the first day of class at Northern Essex Community College (NECC) and a student in professor Mike Cross’s “Introduction to Organic & Biochemistry” class asked, “So, what about the textbook?” Another student responded, “Didn’t you read the syllabus? There isn’t a textbook. It’s free. It’...
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June 27, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Supreme Court Rules to Uphold Affirmative Action. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the race-conscious admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin is constitutional. The court ruled 4-to-3 in the case, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. The New York Times reported that the ruling says that admissions may continue to consider race as...
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June 24, 2016
With changes to state policy in 2005, New Hampshire became one of the leading states in the nation in competency-based education school reform. The Granite State's approach requires school districts to award high school diplomas based on a mastery of competencies (rather than the traditional measure of seat-time). But state policy is only the first step in change: What makes...
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June 24, 2016
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a conversation about the debate over federal unit records system in higher education with Sarah Flanagan, vice president for government relations & policy development with the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). Radio Higher Ed's entire podcast collection can be accessed by visiting www.radiohighered.com or by subscribing through iTunes at www.iTunes.com....
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June 21, 2016
NEBHE’s upcoming annual Leadership Summit scheduled for this coming October poses the question, “How Employable Are New England's College Graduates, and What Can Higher Education Do About It?” The Summit will address numerous well-chosen, commonly current questions in and around this topic, predicated on the assertion that “New England employers consistently claim that they can't find s...
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June 20, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Accreditor Under Fire. The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), the accreditor for many for-profit institutions, was in front of the U.S. Department of Education last week for review and approval. The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), which advises the Education Department, is reviewing the performance of ACICS. Last week, NACIQI...
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June 20, 2016
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to present a conversation on "Using Data to Improve Student Outcomes" with Timothy M. Renick, vice president for enrollment management and student success and vice provost at Georgia State University. The podcast also includes bonus content from David A. Bergeron, senior fellow for postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress and former...
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June 15, 2016
New England’s unemployment rate stood at 4.4% in April, compared with 5% nationwide, according to the spring 2016 outlook delivered last week by the New England Economic Partnership (NEEP) to 50 or so economists and others gathered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. New Hampshire posted the second lowest unemployment rate in the U.S. at 2.6%. But all New England states are projected to ha...
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June 13, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Appropriations Bill Funds Ed Dept, Increases Pell Grants and Medical Research Funding. The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced the FY 2017 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill (S. 3040) through subcommittee and out of the full committee by a vote of 29 to 1. The measure would provide $161.9 billion in discretionary spending, which is $270 million less than the current...
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June 13, 2016
Comings and Goings ... Don Tuski announced he is leaving the presidency of Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine, after six years to become president at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Ore. David Daley, the editor-in-chief of Salon.com, was named CEO/publisher of the Connecticut News Project, publisher of the CTMirror and its sister websites TrendCT and...
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June 8, 2016
Zimpher Comings and Goings ... Nancy L. Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York system, will resign on June 30, 2017, after seven years leading the nation's largest comprehensive system of higher education. Zimpher forged notable cross-sector partnerships in areas ranging from early college high schools to transfer and research commercialization. She keynoted NEBHE's October 2015 conference on...
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June 6, 2016
The New England Educational Opportunity Association (NEOA) drew more than 250 TRIO and college access professionals to its 40th annual conference in Massachusetts earlier this spring. NEOA's mission is to advocate for access to and success in postsecondary education for low-income individuals, “first-generation” college students, and students with disabilities—and to develop the...
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June 3, 2016
That's a million-dollar question … with seemingly a million answers. And while this topic is routinely batted back and forth, the fact remains that inconsistencies in definitions and data persist. The national College & Career Readiness & Success Center at the American Institutes for Research reports that only three of the six New England states have defined what it means...
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May 31, 2016
Comings and Goings ... Maine Gov. Paul LePage appointed former Republican state Sen. Debra Plowman of Hampden as 'temporary deputy education commissioner' to "exercise all of the powers and perform all of the duties of the commissioner of the Department of Education." She has been the Department of Education's legislative liaison in recent months. DeVry Education Group CEO Daniel Hamburger...
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May 31, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Amendment Controversy Over For-Profits on Bases. The debate is intensifying on Capitol Hill over for-profit colleges' access to military bases. Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) announced an amendment to eliminate a provision recently inserted into the defense policy bill that would make it easier for-profit colleges to send recruiters and...
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May 31, 2016
Amy Lapierre sat on the bleachers at Thomas College in Waterville, Maine, adjusting the tassel on her cap. She was surrounded by graduates who are years older than her getting ready to line up, and she nervously peered through the crowd looking for her classmate, Reid Lanpher. On May 14, Lapierre and Lanpher, both 18 years old, marched for their associate degrees from Thomas. On June 12, they wil...
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May 23, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Amendment Approved for Veteran Loan Forgiveness. The Senate approved an amendment to allow veterans access to loan forgiveness. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) had introduced the amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill to help permanently disabled veterans more easily get student loan forgiveness. King's amendment would require the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and...
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May 20, 2016
Sannicandro Massachusetts state Rep. Tom Sannicandro is House Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education and a member of NEBHE's Legislative Advisory Committee. He is also the father of a child with Down syndrome. He chaired the Special Education Parent Advisory Council in Ashland, Mass., before becoming a school committee member in 2000 and state representative in 2005. In...
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May 20, 2016
Comings and Goings ... Frank D. Sánchez Frank D. Sánchez, vice chancellor for student affairs at the City University of New York (CUNY), was named the next president of Rhode Island College, succeeding Nancy Carriuolo, who is stepping down May 21. Clark Green, the college's interim vice president for advancement, will serve as interim president. Danielle N. Ripich will step...
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May 16, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Supreme Court May Consider Student Loan Case. The U.S. Supreme Court met privately to determine whether it will take up the case of Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency v. United States ex rel. Oberg on whether the agency, a large student-loan servicer for the government, is an independent body or part of the state of Pennsylvania. The...
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May 16, 2016
As the price of college continues to surge, growing numbers of high school students are turning to dual enrollment as a way to take college-level courses while still in high school and earn college credit at little to no cost. Dual enrollment programs are often thought of as the bailiwick of public colleges—but in New England especially, private colleges are...
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May 16, 2016
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a conversation with Paul Lingenfelter, former president of the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO). In this podcast, Lingenfelter provides perspective on the debate surrounding a federal unit record system for 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...
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May 16, 2016
Demographic changes, shrinking federal and state support, a lethargic economic recovery, anemic endowment returns and increasing wariness of student loan debt comprise a perfect storm converging on America’s mid-sized colleges and universities, threatening to swamp their finances in seas of red ink. Faced with an urgent need to address cost structures, these institutions are scrambling to a...
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May 12, 2016
No wonder 'proficiency-based' high school transcripts are catching on in some states: By capturing habits of work, proficiency-based models provide increasingly relevant information regarding a student's ability to succeed in today's world. But will proficiency-based transcripts put students at a disadvantage in the college application and evaluation process? A new NEBHE Policy Spotlight examines the expansion of proficiency-based education in...
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May 12, 2016
Over the early months of 2016, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker responded to employers' persistent calls for a more educated, highly skilled workforce by outlining a series of budgetary and policy initiatives that expand career pathways and make earning a college degree more affordable. In January, Baker released his FY17 budget recommendation, which increased funding for the Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Partnership...
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May 11, 2016
A few calendar items ... Antioch University New England will host "In Bloom in Keene: Promising Practices in Nature-based Early Childhood Education," featuring nationally recognized keynote speakers and workshops by local practitioners on the education and health benefits of being in the natural world with children, on Thursday, May 12 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cartoonist, rapper and multimedia...
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May 3, 2016
Rep. Roberta B. Willis Comings and Goings ... Connecticut state Rep. Roberta B. Willis (D-Salisbury), a stalwart NEBHE delegate and longtime co-chair of Connecticut's Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, announced she will not seek re-election this November after 16 years in the General Assembly. Robert (Bob) W. Allen, president and CEO of the Windham Foundation of Grafton, Vt., was...
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May 3, 2016
With roots going back to the 13th century, the modern system of academic degrees functions as one of the most important ways to signal mastery of knowledge. The degree serves as a currency for accessing opportunities. Yet as new areas of knowledge and demand for particular competencies expand, traditional ways of measuring mastery may fall short of fully capturing the learning that happens in t...
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May 2, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Vice President Announces Competitive Grants for Community Colleges. Vice President Joe Biden announced a program to award $100 million in competitive grants to fund public-private partnerships among community colleges, job training programs and businesses. The America's Promise Job-Driven Training grants will fund innovative new partnerships that help provide education and job training for in-demand middle- and high-skilled...
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April 27, 2016
More Underrepresented Groups. Even before Americans began retreating from educational equity amid the recent backlash against "political correctness," our empathy was directed at a fairly traditional set of underrepresented populations: African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and students with disabilities (many of whom are being reminded only now that their student loans can...
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April 26, 2016
We have tried to be fairly comprehensive in announcing New England college commencements in three posts: The Greatest Lecture Series on Earth? and The Show Goes On and Commencements … Last Call … Of course, with 250 or so higher ed institutions in the region, a few escaped. Among them ... Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton will give the...
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April 25, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Updates to 2010 Child Nutrition Act Introduced. U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN) introduced H.R. 5003, the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016. The bill is a reauthorization of the 2010 child nutrition law. The bill makes many changes to the 2010 law, most notably in the requirements to qualify for free meals for students. Under...
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April 19, 2016
Comings and Goings ... Marlene M. Johnson Marlene M. Johnson announced she will retire as president and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators at the end of December 2016. The Massachusetts Bay Community College Board of Trustees recommended David Podell, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Marymount Manhattan College in New York, to be the...
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April 19, 2016
New England Commencements ... University of Connecticut schools and colleges will hold separate commencements on Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8. Speakers include: National Science Foundation Director France A. Córdova, School of Engineering; screenwriter Oliver Stone, Graduate School; Judge Christopher F. Droney, School of Law; commentator Charles Osgood, Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine; New York Life President John...
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April 19, 2016
Free speech is fast becoming a hot-button issue at colleges across the country, with campus protests often mirroring those of the public-at-large on issues such as racism or tackling institution-specific matters such as college governance. On the surface, the issue of campus free speech may seem like a purely legal concern, yet in reality, colleges should also treat it as a public relations proble...
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April 18, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Scrutinized Researchers Defend Their Work. Researchers from across the country converged on the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. The researchers all had one thing in common: Their research had been included in Sen. Jeff Flake's (R-AZ) "wastebook." The wastebook outlines 100 projects receiving federal funding that Flake says are frivolous and wasteful. The researchers named...
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April 11, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Education Under Secretary Announces Changes. The U.S. Department of Education Under Secretary Ted Mitchell posted two important blog posts on the department's website. One of the posts announced a new student loan servicing and repayment system that would streamline the loan process and allow borrowers to access all the necessary information via a single web portal while...
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April 11, 2016
More Commencements ... Christine Keville, the first female national president and foundation chair of the Construction Management Association of America, will keynote Wentworth Institute of Technology's commencement on Saturday, April 23, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Boston Marriott Copley. Entrepreneur Frederick H. Kocher, the former president of the NH High Technology Council, will address Rivier University's 81st commencement at the...
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April 11, 2016
My talk is about Experiential Education and Liberal Learning. This topic has been on my mind ever since I graduated from a liberal arts college many years ago and began my first real job, whereupon I discovered—to my surprise and at some cost to my ego—how much I did not know about putting my ideas to effective use in the world beyond academia. But in addition to my personal interests, the rel...
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April 6, 2016
Poaching. Florida Gov. Rick Scott invited Yale University to bring its $25 billion endowment to his state after Connecticut legislators proposed taxing Yale to address the state's budget shortfall. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (who incidentally was just named winner of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his decision to publicly welcome a Syrian refugee family to Connecticut) rej...
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April 5, 2016
Pulsipher Comings and Goings ... The Western Governors University (WGU) Board of Trustees named Scott D. Pulsipher to be its new president, effective April 11. The former president of Needle Inc. and general manager for Amazon Webstore, Pulsipher succeeds Robert Mendenhall, who led the nonprofit online WGU from its beginning in 1999, into a major university today with nearly 70,000...
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April 5, 2016
A few calendar items ... Connecticut College will celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with a kickoff address by assistant professor of Japanese Takeshi Watanabe, followed by a student panel discussion on the role and representation of Asian Americans in the media. The event will takes place in the Cro's Nest in the College Center at Crozier-Williams on April 7...
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March 30, 2016
New England Commencements ... Commencement season ... It's one of those rich aspects of traditional New England higher education that gets short shrift when all attention turns to no-nonsense quantified learning measures and returns on investment. Still, the annual spring descent on New England campuses of distinguished speakers, ranging from Nobel laureates to Pulitzer winners to grassroots miracle-workers, offers a...
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March 29, 2016
In June 2015, we argued in a NEJHE article “Reducing Math Obstacles to Higher Education,” that intensified efforts to improve math education may make sense for many students, but for other students–those who lack ability or interest in math–the prescription of more math limits their ability to attain a college credential. As a result, heightened math requirements can limit some students’...
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March 28, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Senate Confirms King as Education Secretary. The Senate voted 49 to 40 to confirm John King as the secretary of education. King had been serving as acting secretary since the beginning of the year, but President Obama officially nominated him in February after calls to do so from Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Lamar...
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March 28, 2016
Chard Comings and Goings ... David J. Chard, dean of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University, was named the 14th president of Wheelock College, effective July 1. The Maine Community College System Board of Trustees appointed Lisa Larson, who currently serves as vice president for academic and student affairs at Minnesota's Hennepin Technical College, to...
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March 22, 2016
Sir Ken Robinson called it “academic inflation.” Boston analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies called it “upcredentialing.” One person who calls himself Biffo the Bear in an Internet chat room called it “degreeification.” Whichever term you pick to discuss the increasing demand for higher education degrees in our workforce, the fact remains that we need our citizenry to be college p...
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March 15, 2016
Williams Comings and Goings ... Epidemiologist Michelle A. Williams, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, will become the first black person to head a faculty at Harvard and the first female dean of the school, beginning in July. Susan D. Stuebner, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Pennsylvania's Allegheny College, was named the ninth president...
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March 14, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Senate Committee Recommends King Confirmation. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted 16-6 to recommend that the Senate confirm Acting Secretary John King as secretary of education. Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said he believed King would be confirmed before the Senate leaves town for its Easter Recess. Senate Appropriators Question Department of Education...
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February 29, 2016
Insights and recommendations from NEBHE's Redesigning Student Aid in New England project ... College affordability has taken center stage for students, their families, legislators and higher education institutions. Nowhere is this truer than in New England. A new report from NEBHE's Redesigning Student Aid in New England project suggests several strategies for how higher education leaders can strengthen state investment...
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February 29, 2016
DC Shuttle ... Senate Committee Holds King Confirmation Hearing. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a confirmation hearing for Acting Secretary of Education John King. The acting secretary testified in front of the committee for about two hours and answered questions on topics including the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), campus sexual assault...
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February 24, 2016
Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a conversation with Anthony Carnevale, director of the Center for Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. In this podcast, Carnevale discusses the center's most recent report, Six Million Missing Jobs: The Lingering Pain of the Great Recession. Radio Higher Ed's entire podcast collection can be accessed by visiting www.radiohighered.com or by...
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February 23, 2016
Enrollment through the Regional Student Program (RSP) remained steady this year in undergraduate programs at New England's state colleges and universities, according to NEBHE's Annual RSP Report, but decreased overall at the community colleges and at the graduate schools. Notably, RSP undergraduate enrollment reached record highs at the University of Connecticut, University of Maine and University of Vermont. Other institutions with significant increases...
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February 23, 2016
O'Rourke Comings and Goings ... Syracuse University fundraising expert Elizabeth 'Lil' Breul O'Rourke was named president of the University of Rhode Island Foundation. Michael Gargano, former provost of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, was named president of St. Vincent's College in Bridgeport, Conn. Colleen Fitzpatrick, an assistant vice president at Duke University, was named vice president for advancement at...
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February 23, 2016
Spring Has Sprung? You'd never know by the snow on the ground in many parts of New England, but the announcements of spring commencement speakers at the region's higher education institutions have begun. Capt. Richard Phillips will deliver the commencement address at Vermont's Castleton University in May. The former captain of the Maersk Alabama was enrolled at Castleton as an art major when he wa...
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February 16, 2016
DC Shuttle ... White House Budget Includes Education Proposals. President Obama sent his final budget request to Congress. The budget includes many education-focused proposals including expanding Pell Grants, new tax credits for companies that invest in community colleges, and hiring new enforcement officials at the Department of Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the budget has drawn criticism...
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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...
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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 ...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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 ...
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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...