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May 20, 2019

DC Shuttle ... House Committee Passes Two Education Equity Bills. The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee held a markup and approved two bills designed to tackle racial segregation in America's schools. Chair Bobby Scott (D-VA) argued that these bills would help integrated schools lead to equitable funding and opportunities. The markup was scheduled one day before the 65th anniversary...

May 15, 2019

Joyce E. Smith Comings and Goings ... The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) announced that CEO Joyce E. Smith will retire in summer 2020, after 30 years of service to the association and 44 years in the college admission profession. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) announced that Tim Storey will become the Denver-based national group’s new...

May 7, 2019

Cassellius Comings and Goings ... The Boston School Committee chose former Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius to be the next superintendent of Boston Public Schools, New England's largest school district. She succeeds Tommy Chang who resigned last June and Interim Superintendent Laura Perille, who was criticized for having no experience working in public schools. Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley...

May 6, 2019

DC Shuttle ... Shutterstock.com House Subcommittee Approves Education Spending Bill. House Democrats released the text of their education spending bill for fiscal 2020, and it was approved at markup by the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee a day later. The full Appropriations Committee will consider the bill at a markup this Wednesday. The legislation would provide $189.8 billion for the departments...

April 30, 2019

Comings and Goings ... Mariko Silver Bennington College President Mariko Silver announced she will step down in July after leading Bennington since 2013 to become president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation. Provost and Dean of the College Isabel Roche will serve as interim president while a committee conducts a national search for Silver’s replacement. University of Maine System...

April 30, 2019

Bob Miller (right) with NEJHE Executive Editor John O. Harney. The NEBHE community was saddened by the passing last week of Bob Miller, who served as a delegate from 1972 to 1994 and 2005 to 2019 and chaired the board from 1981 to 1983. He was the founding president of Quinebaug Valley Community College and served as an interim president...

April 23, 2019

Dann-Messier Comings and Goings ... Rhode Island Postsecondary Education Commissioner Brenda Dann-Messier announced her retirement, effective May 17. Dann-Messier became acting commissioner following the March 2017 departure of Jim Purcell and was approved as commissioner in August 2017. Dann-Messier also served as U.S. assistant secretary of education in the Office of Career, Technical Education and Adult Education under President Barack...

April 15, 2019

DC Shuttle ... Legislation Introduced to Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness. A group of Senate Democrats, led by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), introduced legislation to expand public service loan forgiveness. The program has seen high denial rates over the past years, causing lawmakers to suggest changes. The legislation, the What You Can Do for Your Country...

April 9, 2019

Nelson Comings and Goings ... Hampshire College President Miriam Nelson announced her resignation amid turmoil at the small liberal arts college, which in January announced it was in financial jeopardy and in search of a merger. The college trustees voted not to accept a full class of students for the fall semester and two Hampshire trustees have resigned in recent...

April 8, 2019

DC Shuttle ... Ed Dept Meeting on Pell Grants for Prisoners. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos gave opening remarks at an Education Department roundtable where officials got an update on an ongoing experiment offering Pell Grants to prisoners. The roundtable addressed a GAO report detailing the experimental program, which was started under the Obama administration and has been extended by...

April 2, 2019

DiSalvo Comings and Goings ... Endicott College announced that Saint Anselm College President Steven DiSalvo will become the seventh president of the Beverly, Mass. college on July 1. DiSalvo wrote for NEJHE on Higher Education Affordability: Two Approaches. Providence College announced that President Rev. Brian Shanley will leave the post he's held for 15 years at the end of the...

April 1, 2019

Shutterstock.com DC Shuttle ... Senate Holds Hearing on Education Budget. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos appeared before a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee to testify on the president's budget proposal for education. Senate Democrats used the hearing to criticize DeVos over a proposal to eliminate $18 million in funding for the Special Olympics. Just a few hours later, the...

March 29, 2019

Comings and Goings … Delegates to the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) selected Rhode Island state Representative Joseph M. McNamara as board chair and Massachusetts Rep. Patricia Haddad as board vice chair at their annual spring meeting in March held at Lasell College, Newton, Mass. The appointments are for a two-year term. NEBHE's board of delegates comprises distinguished...

March 28, 2019

The Community College System of New Hampshire (CCSNH) will participate in the High Value Credentials for New England (HVCNE) initiative, a project launched in May 2018 by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) and Credential Engine with support from the Lumina Foundation. CCSNH will join the University of Maine and Maine Community College systems as early participants. Credential...

March 27, 2019

The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) calls for the accelerated reinvention of the region's higher education sector to address the pressing challenges and opportunities facing the six-state region. NEBHE has identified four priority areas for collaborative action over the coming years: enhancing opportunities for adult learners, expanding cost-savings opportunities for students and institutions, advancing PreK-16 alignment, and further...

March 26, 2019

Comings and Goings ... Jermaine Williams Jermaine Williams, vice president for student affairs at North Shore Community College in Danvers, Mass., has been selected as the seventh president of Nassau Community College in Garden City, N.Y., effective July 1, 2019. Before joining North Shore Community College four years ago, he held various roles with increasing responsibility at Northeastern Illinois...

March 26, 2019

Comings and Goings ... The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, on the eve of its 75th anniversary, announced Rajiv Vinnakota as its next president. Vinnakota, who co-founded the SEED Foundation in 1997, most recently led the Youth and Engagement division at the Aspen Institute. Marie-Frances Rivera has been named president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a non-partisan public...

March 20, 2019

The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) received a seven month planning grant from The Teagle Foundation to formulate plans for a new transfer initiative between community colleges and independent colleges. The grant project is the first phase of building the foundation for a systematic transfer pathway from community colleges to four-year independent colleges in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode...

March 19, 2019

Marie Bernardo-Sousa has been named president of the Providence Campus of Johnson & Wales University (JWU). She replaces Mim L. Runey, who was appointed chancellor of JWU in October 2018. Her appointment to the presidency caps Bernardo-Sousa’s 30-year career at JWU where she first came to the Providence Campus as an undergraduate student. Her first position was in the registrar’s...

March 18, 2019

Governor Gina M. Raimondo has nominated leading educator, policymaker and advocate Angélica Infante-Green as Rhode Island's next Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. Following the Governor's announcement, education leaders across the country voiced their support for Infante-Green. If confirmed by the Rhode Island Board of Education, she will be the state's first Latina Commissioner of Education and first commissioner of...

March 18, 2019

DC Shuttle … Administration Releases 2020 Budget Proposal The Trump administration proposed a budget which would cut billions of dollars from the Education Department's budget. The request would cut discretionary funding for the department to $62 billion, an $8.5 billion or 12 percent decrease below enacted fiscal 2019 levels, including the cancellation of unobligated Pell grant funds. The department released...

March 13, 2019

A group of 50 national higher education experts, including three from New England higher education institutions, has published a set of 36 recommendations, which they hope will help guide relevant stakeholders and Congress as they consider reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Their report, Innovative, Forward-Thinking Recommendations to Congress on Higher Education Policy, and its Executive Summary, was...

March 12, 2019

Wentworth Institute of Technology announced that Mark A. Thompson will become the university's fifth president, effective June 1, 2019. Thompson comes to Wentworth after a 21-year tenure at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., where he served as executive vice president and provost. University of Maine at Fort Kent President John Short in his campus office....

March 12, 2019

DC Shuttle … House Holds Hearing on Student Loan Servicing - On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee's Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee held a hearing on how The Education Department has to do a better job of holding accountable the companies that service students loans, lawmakers said. They heard from a panel including an official from the Education Department's internal watchdog, which last...

March 5, 2019

Including at Regional Student Program (RSP) Tuition Break campuses ... The majority of New England public colleges and universities saw annual decreases in their Fall 2018 headcount enrollment, with a few exceptions. The following institutions reported increases: University of Connecticut, University of Maine System, University of Massachusetts System, Community College System of New Hampshire and University of Vermont. Annual %...

March 4, 2019

DC Shuttle ... Murray Speaks About Higher Education Act Reauthorization. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, spoke at the Center for American Progress on her vision for the Higher Education Act (HEA). Murray, who confirmed that she is beginning negotiations of the reauthorization with HELP Chair Sen. Lamar Alexander,...

February 26, 2019

Speak Spanish? Our Tuition Break web pages now have information in Spanish! NEBHE's Tuition Break, the Regional Student Program (RSP) has been helping New England students and families access academic programs out of state at reduced tuition for more than 60 years. In recognition of the region's growing Hispanic population and advice that those families could benefit from accessing college...

February 26, 2019

Kolenbrander Comings and Goings ... Chemist and longtime MIT Vice President Kirk Kolenbrander announced he will leave MIT in March to join Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), where he will lead development of SNHU’s College of Engineering, Technology and Aeronautics. Tufts University tapped Northeastern University College of Engineering dean Nadine Aubry to be its next provost and senior vice president,...

February 19, 2019

DC Shuttle ... House Hearing on Education Infrastructure and Teacher Pay. The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing focused on teacher pay and school infrastructure. At the hearing, lawmakers highlighted teacher protests happening across the country. House Democrats also pushed for their school infrastructure bill. Chair Bobby Scott (D-VA) called for increasing federal spending on public schools...

February 19, 2019

Ioannis Miaoulis Comings and Goings ... Roger Williams University named former Tufts University professor and director of Boston’s Museum of Science Ioannis Miaoulis as its new president, succeeding Donald J. Farish, who died in July 2018. UMass Dartmouth appointed Rhode Island College CFO David A. Gingerella to be its vice chancellor of administration and finance. Bunker Hill Community College appointed...

February 13, 2019

Change in U.S. college enrollments in languages other than English from fall 2013 to fall 2016: -9.2% Modern Language Association Number of foreign-language programs that colleges closed during that period: 651 Modern Language Association Rank of American Sign Language among most popular "foreign-language" majors for bachelor's-degree recipients: 7th Chronicle of Higher Education analysis of U.S. Department of Education data Percentage...

February 12, 2019

Katsouleas Comings and Goings ... The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees appointed University of Virginia Provost and Executive Vice President Thomas C. Katsouleas to be UConn’s 16th president, effective Aug. 1. The University of Vermont announced Suresh Garimella, executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue University in Indiana, as the “sole finalist” to succeed outgoing president Thomas...

February 11, 2019

DC Shuttle ... Alexander Outlines HEA Plans. U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander gave a speech at the American Enterprise Institute to discuss his outlook for the Higher Education Act (HEA). Alexander previewed his intentions for the work of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which he chairs, and said he intends to work on reauthorization of the HEA....

February 6, 2019

Shutterstock.com DC Shuttle ... House Ed Committee Meets to Organize Work Agenda. The U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor held an organizational markup to appoint Democratic and Republican members to Subcommittees for the 116th Congress. During the meeting, Committee Democrats announced the first four hearing topics planned for the 116th Congress: protecting workers with pre-existing conditions; gradually raising the...

January 28, 2019

DC Shuttle ... New Republican Members Named to U.S. House Education Committee. Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) announced the lineup of Republicans on the House Education and Labor Committee for the 116th Congress. The list includes 10 new Republicans: Mark Walker (NC), James Comer (KY), Russ Fulcher (ID), Van Taylor (TX), Steve Watkins (KS), Ron Wright (TX), Dan Meuser (PA),...

January 22, 2019

DC Shuttle ... New Democratic Members of House Education Committee Announced. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that Democrats selected 14 new members of the House Committee on Education and Labor. The new members are Josh Harder (D-CA), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Susie Lee (D-NV), Andy Levin (D-MI), Lucy McBath (D-GA), Joseph D. Morelle (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN),...

January 22, 2019

Comings and Goings ... Levinson The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system announced that David Levinson will retire from his positions as president of Norwalk Community College and vice president of community colleges for the system on June 30. He will serve as Presidential Fellow from July 1 to June 30, 2020. NEBHE honored Levinson's accomplishments with a 2018 Excellence...

January 15, 2019

Comings and Goings ... Phillip Clay Phillip L. Clay, professor emeritus of city planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, became chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston for 2019, and Brown University President Christina Hull Paxson became deputy chair. The Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education named Edward Lambert Jr., former Fall River, Mass., mayor and vice chancellor for...

January 14, 2019

DC Shuttle ... Trump Administration Releases Draft of Regulation Overhaul. The Trump administration released a draft of a sweeping plan to overhaul a wide range of higher education regulations. Negotiations over the proposal were set to begin Monday, Jan. 14. The U.S. Education Department selected 15 people to serve on the rulemaking committee, as well as dozens of additional, non-voting...

January 8, 2019

Comings and Goings ... Newly elected Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont nominated state Sen. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, current co-chair of the Legislature’s Education Committee and NEBHE delegate, to lead the state Office of Early Childhood. Lamont also nominated state Sen. Tim Larson, executive director of Tweed New Haven-Regional Airport, to lead the state Office of Higher Education, which administers state...

January 1, 2019

Page Comings and Goings ... University of Maine System Chancellor James Page announced he plans to retire from the post at the end of the current academic year in 2019, seven years after becoming the first Maine native and university system alumnus to lead the system. As chancellor, he has led investment in academic programs to meet the state’s need...

December 19, 2018

Comings and Goings ... Spinelli Babson College’s Board of Trustees named former Philadelphia University president and Jiffy Lube co-founder Stephen Spinelli Jr. to be the 14th president of the private Massachusetts business college where he earned an MBA and served as professor and administrator, including as vice provost for entrepreneurship and global management. He will succeed Kerry Healey, who announced...

December 19, 2018

NEBHE’s Policy & Research Team has been on the road this fall sharing current work and gathering valuable insights on these projects from our New England higher education colleagues. Here are just a few of our stops … Street creds? On Oct. 24, Candace Williams, director for strategic initiatives, and Stafford Peat, senior consultant, engaged a full house of online...

December 19, 2018

From time to time, we revive the collection of facts and figures called “Data Connection” that we had published quarterly for nearly 20 years in the print editions of The New England Journal of Higher Education (formerly Connection). The latest … Estimated percentage of children in Cambridge, Mass., who have at least one foreign-born parent: 40% Cambridge Community Foundation Number...

December 17, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Education Department Announces Cancellation of Debt for Students of Closed Colleges. The U.S. Department of Education announced that it plans to expunge the federal student loans of borrowers whose colleges closed while they were attending. The department said it will cancel the loans of about 15,000 borrowers who qualified for loan discharges, but who haven't yet applied....

December 12, 2018

Raimondo Comings and Goings ... Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, who chaired NEBHE's Commission on Higher Education & Employability, was elected chair of the Democratic Governors Association. New Hampshire state Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, a former NEBHE delegate and chair, was elected national chair of the Council of State Governments. D'Allesandro has authored NEJHE articles on topics ranging from state funding...

December 10, 2018

DC Shuttle ... School Nutrition Rules Released. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a final rule on school nutrition, relaxing some requirements put in under the last administration. Schools in the national school lunch and breakfast programs will be allowed to serve flavored, low-fat milk, which is prohibited under existing standards. The requirement for the portion of grains that...

December 3, 2018

Begin the application process for the 2019-20 scholarship now! The New England Board of Higher Education is pleased to announce the NEBHE-Chinese Government Scholarship, a timely opportunity for New England college and university students. Through NEBHE, qualified New England students may be eligible to study at a Chinese university and receive a full scholarship. The scholarships are provided by the...

December 3, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Senate HELP Approves Ed Nominee on Party Line Vote. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved Robert L. King to be the U.S. assistant secretary of postsecondary education. The committee approved four education and labor nominations, despite objections from Democrats about a lack of hearings for nominees they considered controversial. The committee's Democrats wrote...

November 28, 2018

With votes still being counted and recounted and candidates already pondering their next campaigns, the 2018 midterm elections have left an indelible mark on New England and its representation in Washington, D.C. New Hampshire voters elected at least 42 state representatives under age 40 to the state's 400-member House of Representatives—the third largest legislative body in the English-speaking world. They...

November 27, 2018

Mahoney Comings and Goings ... Mary Ellen Mahoney, who recently served as executive director of graduate and extended studies programs at St. Joseph’s University, in Philadelphia, was named dean of Becker College’s School of Graduate & Professional Studies. Ben Barnes, formerly Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s secretary of policy and management, was named CFO of the Connecticut State Colleges and...

November 20, 2018

The University of Maine System (UMS) will participate in the High Value Credentials for New England (HVCNE) initiative, a project launched earlier this year by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) and Credential Engine with support from the Lumina Foundation. UMS is the second higher education system to join HVCNE. Dedicated to creating credential transparency and revealing the...

November 19, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Administration Releases Rewrite of Sexual Assault Rule. The Trump administration unveiled its proposed overhaul of rules for schools handling allegations of sexual harassment and assault. The long-awaited proposal gathered quick response. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's decision to write new regulations under Title IX had been controversial. The new rules more narrowly define sexual harassment, let schools use...

November 13, 2018

Michelau Comings and Goings ... The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) appointed Demarée Michelau to be president of the regional interstate higher education compact, serving 16 Western members, including U.S. states, territories, and freely associated states and their 80 million residents. She joins recently named Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) President Susan Heegaard as the second woman to...

November 9, 2018

Tuition and fees across New England have risen by 16% ($734) at community colleges and 10% ($1,001) at four-year public institutions since 2012-13, according to NEBHE’s 2017-18 Tuition and Fees Report. The report, published annually by NEBHE's Policy & Research team, takes an in-depth look at the tuition and required fees published by public two- and four-year postsecondary institutions across...

October 31, 2018

From time to time, we revive the collection of facts and figures called "Data Connection" that we had published quarterly for nearly 20 years in the print editions of The New England Journal of Higher Education (formerly Connection). The latest ... Percentage of 18-24-year-olds who attended a political demonstration or march in 2016: 5% Center for Information and Research on...

October 30, 2018

Spellings Comings and Goings ... Former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will step down as president of the 17-campus University of North Carolina System on March 1, 2019, only three years into her five-year contract. Spellings wrote for NEJHE (then called Connection) about the national Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which she led as education secretary. The...

October 25, 2018

NEBHE convened its Annual Fall Board Meeting near Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire in September on the overarching themes of “Tradition, Transition and Transformation: Sustaining New England’s Higher Education Industry and Advantage.” Over two days, NEBHE delegates explored the impact of changing demography, declining enrollments and opportunities for “demand cultivation” and strat...

October 16, 2018

DiSalvo Comings and Goings ... Steven R. DiSalvo announced he will step down as president of Saint Anselm College on June 30, 2019 after six years in charge. DiSalvo wrote for NEJHE on Higher Education Affordability: Two Approaches. Rick Lord announced he plans to retire next year as president of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the business group he has led...

October 15, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Borrower Defense Will Go Into Effect. The U.S. Department of Education said it would not seek further delay of borrower defense to repayment regulations, Inside Higher Ed reports. A federal judge's ruling that struck down the Trump administration's delay of Obama-era student loan regulations took effect Friday. Administration Announces Accreditation and Innovation Panel. The Trump administration announced...

October 9, 2018

Malloy Comings and Goings ... When his eight years as governor of Connecticut end in January 2019, Dannel P. Malloy will serve as a visiting law professor at Boston College, his alma mater. Malloy announced he would not seek reelection in 2018. He wrote for NEJHE on The Future of Higher Education in Connecticut and was a key speaker at...

October 9, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Reports of Proposed Plan to Limit Chinese Students. Reports last week indicated that earlier this year, the White House considered eliminating student visas for Chinese students. According to the reports, advisers encouraged President Donald Trump to stop providing student visas to Chinese nationals, but the proposal was shelved over concerns about its economic and diplomatic impact. The...

October 3, 2018

Comings and Goings ... Busteed Brandon Busteed, head of education and workforce development at Gallup for the past seven years, joined Kaplan Inc. in the new role of President, University Partners, Kaplan North America. He will oversee Kaplan’s university partnerships, leveraging assets from across the company’s education offerings, including: international student recruiting, pathway programs, student residence development, online programs, test...

October 3, 2018

From time to time, we revive the collection of facts and figures called "Data Connection" that we had published quarterly for nearly 20 years in the print editions of The New England Journal of Higher Education (formerly Connection). The latest ... Inflation-adjusted increase in household incomes for the bottom quarter of Maine workers between 2016 and 2017 after the state's...

October 2, 2018

The Maine Community College System (MCCS) will participate in the High Value Credentials for New England (HVCNE) initiative, a project recently launched by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) and Credential Engine with support from the Lumina Foundation. Dedicated to creating credential transparency and revealing the credential marketplace, Credential Engine provides a common language to describe credentials, a...

October 1, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Gainful Employment On Hold? U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss issued a ruling striking down the Trump administration's delay of implementation of gainful employment rules. He ruled that the U.S. Department of Education had no argument not to implement the rules as scheduled. He put this ruling on hold for 30 days and said the extra time would...

September 25, 2018

Gordon Comings and Goings ... Subira Gordon, the former executive director of the Connecticut General Assembly's Commission on Equity and Opportunity, was named executive director of ConnCAN, succeeding Jennifer Alexander as the leader of the nonprofit education advocacy group, which was founded in 2005 as the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now. Noonan Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education Executive Director Linda...

September 24, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Loan Forgiveness Data. The U.S. Department of Education released new data on public student loan forgiveness. The report shows that of the more than 28,000 borrowers who submitted applications under the federal public service loan forgiveness program, only 96 had their loans discharged as of the end of June, the data shows. The loan forgiveness for those...

September 17, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Judge Rules Against ED on Gainful Employment. A federal judge ruled against the U.S. Department of Education in a case regarding gainful employment regulations. The judge ruled that the department's various delays of regulations governing loan forgiveness for defrauded borrowers were illegal, Forbes reports. The ruling challenges Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's efforts to overturn the policy, which...

September 12, 2018

Heegaard Comings and Goings ... The Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) named Susan Heegaard as its president-elect. Currently a senior consultant for HCM Strategists and the Lumina Foundation Strategy Labs, the former commissioner/director of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education will become the first woman to lead one of the U.S. interstate higher education compacts. Babson College named artist and...

September 10, 2018

DC Shuttle ... U.S. House Passes Loan Counseling Legislation. The House passed legislation, the Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act, which would require in-person or online counseling before students accept federal student loans or Pell Grants. The bipartisan bill (H.R. 1635) had passed the House twice before, in 2014 and 2015, and was passed this time by a vote of...

September 4, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Student Loan Ombudsman Resigns Over Policy Differences. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Student Loan Ombudsman Seth Frotman resigned, citing political differences at the agency under Acting Director Mick Mulvaney. In a resignation letter addressed to Mulvaney, Frotman said his resignation was effective Sept. 1, adding "Unfortunately, under your leadership, the Bureau has abandoned the very consumers it...

September 4, 2018

Addy Comings and Goings ... The board of trustees of the Community College System of NH (CCSNH) appointed Cathryn Addy as interim president of NHTI, Concord's Community College, for the duration of the academic year, Sept. 10, 2018 to May 2019, while the system searches for a successor. Addy is president emeritus of Tunxis Community College, the Farmington, Conn., community...

August 28, 2018

Brennan Comings and Goings ... Susan Brennan left Bentley University where she was associate VP for career services to become assistant dean of career development at MIT Sloan School of Management. Brennan served as co-chair of NEBHE's Commission on Higher Education & Employability and authored a key article on career services for NEJHE. Brown University named Jennifer Hunter its first-ever...

August 27, 2018

Higher education students in the U.S. have been transferring at record levels. Today, more than two-thirds who earn bachelor's degrees from four-year institutions have changed colleges at least once, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. However, the U.S. Department of Education reported in 2015 that on average, students who transfer lose 13 credits already earned and paid for....

August 27, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Senate Passes Education Funding. The U.S. Senate voted 85 to 7 to pass an $857 billion spending package to fund two-thirds of government operations. The legislation (H.R. 6157) would boost funding for the Education Department by $541 million to $71.4 billion, while rejecting many of the education cuts sought by President Donald Trump. The Senate adopted a...

August 20, 2018

DC Shuttle ... U.S. Senate Debates Education Appropriations with Focus on Pell Funds. The Senate began debate on an $857 billion spending bill for the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, as well as Education and other agencies. It is the first time education appropriations had been debated on the Senate floor since 2007 and the amendment process...

August 14, 2018

Rushlow Comings and Goings ... Vermont Law School announced that Conservation Law Foundation senior attorney Jennifer Rushlow will direct the South Royalton school's Environmental Law Center. She'll succeed David Mears, the former commissioner of Vermont's Department of Environmental Conservation, who announced in June he will leaving the post. Facing a budget deficit estimated around $1 million, the school recently revoked...

August 14, 2018

The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) is pleased to announce awarding of six NEBHE-Chinese Government Scholarships for the program's inaugural 2018-19 academic year. Through the generosity of the Chinese government, this scholarship offers qualified New England students the opportunity to study at Chinese universities with a full scholarship. After a competitive awarding process, six New England students have...

August 7, 2018

Sullivan Comings and Goings ... University of Vermont President Tom Sullivan announced he will step down in summer 2019 after leading UVM for seven years. Before joining UVM, he served eight years as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Minnesota. An attorney by training, Sullivan has published extensively on antitrust law, including a NEJHE...

August 6, 2018

DC Shuttle ... NEBHE, NEC Leaders Pen Talent Pipeline Op-Ed. New England Council President Jim Brett joined New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) President Michael K. Thomas to author an op-ed on developing a regional talent pipeline. Brett is a member of NEBHE's Commission on Higher Education & Employability. The commission recently released an 18-point strategy to increase the...

August 6, 2018

NEBHE is pleased to welcome Stephanie Miranda Murphy as its new policy research analyst. She joins NEBHE from the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy in Durham, N.C., where she supported research on key issues and challenges in K-12 education, higher education, educational governing structures and public policy. Murphy is pursuing a doctorate in political science...

July 31, 2018

Levine Comings and Goings ... Arthur Levine he will step down as president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in July 2019. Among other accomplishments at the foundation, he worked with MIT to create a cutting-edge graduate school of education called the Woodrow Wilson Academy of Teaching and Learning. Levine previously served as president and professor of education at...

July 30, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Education Department to Repeal Gainful Employment Regulation. The U.S. Education Department announced plans to repeal the "gainful employment" rule, which sought to punish higher education programs whose graduates bear a high level of student-loan debt, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Experts had predicted that U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos would weaken...

July 24, 2018

Gross Comings and Goings ... William Gross will become Boston's first African-American police commissioner on Aug. 5, succeeding William B. Evans, who is leaving the department after 39 years to become executive director of public safety at Boston College. The Rhode Island Council on Postsecondary Education named Tim DelGiudice to be its new chair, succeeding William Folks. The manager of...

July 23, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Companies Pledge Apprenticeships at White House Event. The White House announced a new "Pledge to America's Workers" initiative to design an apprenticeship strategy and encourage companies to pledge to participate. The president signed an executive order to establish the National Council for the American Worker. Comprising senior administration officials, the council is charged with developing a national...

July 17, 2018

Sutton Comings and Goings ... The University of Maine System named Theresa Sutton, currently a vice president at Wex Inc., to be be the founding CEO of Maine Center Ventures, which was created to foster ties with outside interests to develop curriculum and programs tailored to Maine's workforce needs. UMass Dartmouth appointed executive coaching and business consultant Angela M. Callahan...

July 16, 2018

DC Shuttle ... House Appropriations Committee Passes 2019 Education Funding Bill. The House Appropriations Committee approved, 30 to 22, a $177.1 billion bill to fund the departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services for fiscal 2019. The spending bill would provide a $43 million increase for the Education Department, funding it at $71 billion in fiscal 2019, which...

July 10, 2018

Comings and Goings ... The late Donald Farish Roger Williams University President Donald Farish passed away after a sudden illness. University trustees chose Provost Andrew Workman to serve as interim president. Farish worked in academia for 51 years and began leading the Bristol, R.I. university in 2011. He planned to retire in 2019. He was an active member of...

July 2, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Congress Advancing Perkins CTE Reauthorization. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee marked up a bill to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. A bipartisan agreement has been reached to update the law. The legislation directs how the federal government spends about $1 billion each year on career and technical education...

June 26, 2018

Onwuachi-Willig Comings and Goings ... University of California, Berkeley law professor Angela Onwuachi-Willig, a renowned expert in racial and gender inequality, was named dean of the Boston University School of Law. Lesley University President Jeff A. Weiss announced he'll step down Aug. 31 because of personal health reasons. Interim Provost Richard S. Hansen will serve as the interim president. UConn...

June 25, 2018

DC Shuttle ... President Proposes Government Reorganization. President Donald Trump proposed a full-scale government reorganization, titled "Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century: Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations." The plans call to "merge the Departments of Education and Labor into a single Cabinet agency, the Department of Education and the Workforce." Because many of the functions performed by the Education...

June 19, 2018

Morrice Comings and Goings ... The Community College System of New Hampshire appointed Pelema I. Morrice to be president of Great Bay Community College, succeeding Wildolfo Arvelo, who left last fall to become New Hampshire's director of economic development. Health and nutrition scientist and Tufts University scholar Miriam E. Nelson was named the seventh president of Hampshire College, effective July...

June 18, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Senators Introduce Bill to Protect Drivers Licenses in Student Loan Default. U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced a bill, the Protecting JOBs Act, that would prevent states from suspending residents' driver's and professional licenses over unpaid federal student loans, the Boston Globe reports. Warren provided a summary of the legislation. Appropriators Pass Education...

June 12, 2018

Newman Comings and Goings ... Katherine Newman, an expert on income inequality who has held posts at Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Johns Hopkins universities, will become UMass Boston's second interim chancellor in two years on July 1, replacing Barry Mills. Three finalists for permanent chancellor withdrew after faculty publicly criticized them as unqualified. The Community College System for New Hampshire...

June 11, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Support for Data Collection Bill Grows. The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities gave support to legislation it had previously opposed, potentially paving the way for a change in data collection and student records. A bipartisan group of senators and representatives has introduced the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act, (S. 2169) and (H.R....

May 29, 2018

DC Shuttle ... DeVos Comments on Undocumented Students Highlights House Hearing. The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing on the U.S. Department of Education and heard testimony from Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The Education Department had to clarify controversial remarks DeVos made about undocumented students. DeVos said that it is up to individual schools to decide...

May 22, 2018

DC Shuttle ... Senate Appropriations Chair Announces 2019 Education Spending. Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Roy Blunt (R-MO) announced that the allocation for Labor-HHS-Education for the 2019 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 will be $2 billion above the amount Congress provided in fiscal 2018. The fiscal 2018 omnibus spending bill signed into law in March placed the discretionary allocation for...

May 22, 2018

Comings and Goings ... The late Richard E. Wylie Endicott College President Richard E. Wylie passed away. Wylie was widely credited with spearheading the college’s transition from a small, two-year school for women to a coeducational institution with international reach offering undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees. Katie Barnes was named interim president. Quincy College President Peter Tsaffaras announced his resignation...

May 15, 2018

Healey Comings and Goings ... Former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a member of NEBHE's Commission on Higher Education & Employability, announced she will step down as president of Babson College next year after leading the business college since 2013. Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Jane Oates, who was a senior policy advisor to U.S....