Newslink

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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...

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 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 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 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...

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 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 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 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 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...

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 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...

May 18, 2015

DC Shuttle ...Student Data Bills. This Congress, several lawmakers have introduced legislation to protect student data, with two such bills in May. The first bill came from the Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), who had previously introduced the legislation last Congress. It would prevent education companies from selling or using student data to target ads and...

May 18, 2015

Philip G. Altbach Comings and Goings ... Hans de Wit was named director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, succeeding Philip G. Altbach, who authored NEJHE pieces including Education Mecca Will New England Continue to Attract the World's Students? Michelle R. Weise left her position as senior research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute to become...

May 13, 2015

Through its partnership with RadioHigherEd.com, NEJHE is pleased to provide a conversation with the American Enterprise Institute's Andrew Kelly on the "Completion, Costs and Value of a College 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...

May 11, 2015

DC Shuttle ... HEA Reauthorization. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA). The hearing was titled "HEA Reauthorization: The Role of Consumer Information in College Choice." During the hearing, committee members asked the witnesses how, or if, the federal government can improve data systems to better inform students...

May 8, 2015

CassidyU.S. Navy Captain and NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy will keynote Husson University's 116th commencement on Sunday, May 10 at 2 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine.Salem State University will hold commencement activities Thursday, May 14 and Saturday, May 16. News anchor and consumer activist Susan Wornick will address graduate school students on Thursday, May 14 at 4 p.m....

May 5, 2015

Comings and Goings ... [table id=16 /] The University of Massachusetts board of trustees named UMass Lowell Chancellor and former U.S. Congressman Martin T. Meehan to be the next president of the five-campus state university system. Jackie Jenkins-Scott announced she will conclude her presidency of Wheelock College in June 2016, a position she has held since 2004. Association of American...

May 4, 2015

DC Shuttle ...Student Data Privacy Bill. Two bipartisan pairs of legislators are working on bills to protect student data after President Barack Obama called for a stronger plan in January. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN) released a bill last week, called the Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act of 2015, according to the New York...

May 3, 2015

State Capital Notes ... If current education patterns continue, Connecticut will produce 23,000 fewer graduates due to a projected decline in high school graduates over the next decade and beyond, according to a Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education released by the Planning Commission for Higher Education in the state. The plan examines the impact of demographic, workforce and education...

April 29, 2015

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Anyone who thinks higher education's vitality can be reduced to numbers of degrees granted and college rankings, needs to see the diversity and depth of New England's commencement speakers. Not just the fuss of pomp and circumstance but perhaps the finest lecture series the world has to offer. To wit, here are the most recently announced 2015...

April 27, 2015

DC Shuttle ... College Affordability Plan Introduced in U.S. Senate. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) introduced her College Affordability Plan, which comprises of four bills affecting Pell Grants. The first would restore the year-round Pell Grant, allowing students to use Pell funding for three academic semesters per year instead of the current two. Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Jack Reed (D-RI)...

April 20, 2015

New Edition of Advanced Manufacturing PBL Newsletter ... NEBHE published the fifth edition of Advanced Manufacturing Problem Based Learning (AM PBL) News. NEBHE in September 2012 was awarded a three-year $900,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a New England-wide project titled Problem Based Learning (PBL) in Advanced Manufacturing: Transforming 21st Century Technician Education. Funding is provided through the...

April 20, 2015

DC Shuttle ... ESEA Reauthorization Passes Senate Committee. Legislation to replace No Child Left Behind (NCLB) passed unanimously out of committee with a vote of 22-0. About a week before the committee considered it, Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee had released their long-anticipated bipartisan rewrite...

April 15, 2015

Comings and Goings ... The University of Miami appointed Dr. Julio Frenk, current dean of faculty at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Mexico's former minister of health, to be its next president, succeeding Donna E. Shalala, who led the university since 2001 and before that, was the longest-serving U.S. secretary of health and human services. The...

April 14, 2015

The New England Journal of Higher Education (NEJHE) announces a new partnership with RadioHigherEd.com to provide readers with access to higher education policy podcasts designed to inform and challenge listeners to consider higher education policy issues and their implications. The podcasts feature interviews by cofounder and former New Hampshire State Higher Education Executive Officer Kathryn Dodge, and colleagues Denver-based higher education policy...

April 7, 2015

Neil deGrasse Tyson Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, will keynote the undergraduate commencement of the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Friday, May 8 at 4:30 p.m. at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Public health advocate Karen A. Daley, who was president of the American Nurses Association, will address Rivier University's commencement at the Tsongas...

April 7, 2015

More Journal Archives Now Available! We have enriched our website with the history of New England higher education and the economy. For the complete archive of back issues of The New England Journal of Higher Education in PDF format, please visit our Journal Archives on the pull-down menu under The Journal at the top of our homepage. NEBHE's quarterly journal...

March 30, 2015

Editor's Note: A previous version of this Newslink incorrectly reported New Hampshire as ranking first in the U.S. for completion rates of students who began at four-year public institutions. It actually ranks second. This Newslink has been updated to reflect that. New Hampshire is among the top states in the U.S. in completion rates of students who began studies at four-year...

March 26, 2015

Comings and Goings ... Vermont lawyer Michael Wool became chair of the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), succeeding former Maine state Sen. Emily Cain, who stepped down as NEBHE chair to run for a seat in the U.S. Congress. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker appointed Chris Gabrieli and Sheila Harrity to the Board of Higher Education, and designated Gabrieli...

March 24, 2015

Joyce Banda, former president of Malawi Naturalist and free-speech advocate Terry Tempest Williams will address the Unity College graduation on Saturday, May 9 at 1 p.m. in the Unity gym. Joyce Banda, president of the Republic of Malawi from 2012 to 2014, will deliver the Wheelock College undergraduate commencement address on Friday, May 15 at 10 a.m. Temple Israel. MSNBC...

March 23, 2015

DC Shuttle ... Higher Education Act Reauthorization. The House Education and Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training held a hearing entitled, "Strengthening America's Higher Education System." Lawmakers held the hearing to gain more input from education experts as they move closer to a reauthorization attempt for the Higher Education Act (HEA). The Republicans on the committee have...

March 17, 2015

Comings and Goings ... The University of Maine System announced that Harvey Kesselman will become the new president of the University of Southern Maine. Kesselman is currently provost and executive vice president of Stockton University in Pomona, N.J. The University of Saint Joseph Board of Trustees appointed Rhona Free, to be its next president, effective July 1. Free has had an...

March 16, 2015

DC Shuttle ... President Obama Announces Student Aid Bill of Rights. President Barack Obama announced the "Student Aid Bill of Rights," a series of proposals which the administration says will help simplify and improve the college loan system. In a speech at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the president remarked that higher education is not only a good investment for...

March 9, 2015

DC Shuttle ... Ed Department Budget Weighed. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testified on the Department of Education's fiscal year 2016 budget request at a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee. The administration has requested $70.7 billion in discretionary appropriations this fiscal year, up 5.4% from the previous year. Duncan broke down...

March 9, 2015

Comings and Goings ...The Vermont State Colleges Board of Trustees named Elaine Collins to be the next president of Johnson State College, succeeding President Barbara Murphy when she retires June 30. Collins is currently dean and chief operating officer of the College of Education at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., and served as interim vice president of academic...

March 3, 2015

Comings and Goings ... The University System of New Hampshire selected UNH Vice President for Student and Academic Services Mark Rubinstein to be the next president of Granite State College, effective March 31. ACT named Cito leader Marten Roorda to be its next CEO, succeeding Jon Whitmore, who is retiring in the fall. Cito is a nonprofit test publishing company...

March 2, 2015

DC Shuttle ... Hearings Begin on HEA Reauthorization. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held its first hearing of the 114th Congress on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA). The hearing marks the beginning of efforts by new Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to reauthorize HEA. Tuesday's hearing focused on a report released last Friday by the Task...

February 24, 2015

Comings and Goings ... Rhode Island School of Design's Board of Trustees appointed furniture designer and interim President Rosanne Somerson to be the college's 17th president. The board of directors of the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), formerly The Sloan Consortium, named acting chief operations officer Thomas Hargis to the post on a permanent basis, and Karen Pedersen, most recently associate...

February 17, 2015

DC Shuttle ... House Begins Work on Student Data Privacy Legislation. The Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education of the House Committee on Education and Workforce held a hearing entitled "How Emerging Technology Affects Student Privacy." During the hearing, the subcommittee discussed possible revisions to the Family Educational Right and Privacy Act (FERPA). Rep. Todd Rokita, chair of...

February 16, 2015

Comings and Goings ... Gist Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist was chosen to be the new school superintendent in her native Tulsa, Oklahoma. Rhode Island Gov. Gina M. Raimondo announced she would nominate Citizens Financial Group Executive Vice President Barbara Cottam to chair the state Board of Education. She also planned to nominate First Bristol Corporation CEO and...

February 9, 2015

DC Shuttle ... Education Priorities in President Obama's Budget. President Obama released his fiscal year 2016 budget request. Among his requests were many provisions for education. For higher education, the budget proposals include: Proposals to change some benefits in the income-based repayment program (IBR) for student loans Tuition free community college for responsible students whose families make less than $200,000...

February 9, 2015

Albright While parts of New England were digging out from several feet of snow, a few of the region's colleges were naming their spring commencement speakers—and not surprisingly, some of the early birds are national figures ...Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will deliver the commencement address at Tufts University on May 17 at 9 a.m. on the academic...

February 2, 2015

DC Shuttle ... White House Drops Plan to Tax 529 College Savings Accounts. White House officials announced that President Obama would drop his proposal to tax 529 college savings accounts, just a week after the proposal was first made in the president's State of the Union. Revenues from the 529 taxes would have been used to offset the cost of...

January 30, 2015

Woolridge Comings and Goings ... Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker appointed Victor Woolridge to chair the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees. A vice president of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers and current UMass trustee, Woolridge will succeed Henry M. Thomas III, as chair. Thomas, president of the Urban League of Springfield, will stay on the UMass board. Woolridge's first priority will be...

January 26, 2015

DC Shuttle ... Education priorities outlined in State of the Union. President Obama addressed several education initiatives in his State of the Union address, stating, "In a 21st century economy that rewards knowledge like never before, we need to up our game." He touted positive education statistics, including higher graduation rates and test scores, but emphasized that there is still...

January 24, 2015

Slaughter Comings and Goings ... Educause named Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Senior Vice Chancellor John O'Brien to be its next president and CEO, O'Brien succeeds Diana G. Oblinger, who has led the the higher education technology association since 2008. In October 2012, Oblinger addressed more than 400 New England educators gathered by NEBHE on the topic of Game Changers Revolutionizing...

January 20, 2015

DC Shuttle ... NCLB reauthorization debate heats up. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gave remarks regarding the reauthorization of the now-expired No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. He said that the administration would not back away from annual testing as it works to reform K-12 education, according to a report in the New York Times. Annual testing was enshrined in...

January 15, 2015

Comings and Goings ... Fitzsimmons John Fitzsimmons, president of the Maine Community College System for almost 25 years, resigned under pressure from Gov. Paul LePage, who criticized him for being unresponsive to the governor's higher education priorities. System trustees expressed support for Fitzsimmons shortly before he stepped down. The Connecticut Board of Education named Dianna Wentzell to lead the agency...

January 14, 2015

President Obama will outline a plan during next week's State of the Union address to make the first two years of community college tuition-free. The president's proposal—if adopted by the Republican Congress—could smooth America's notorious educational inequity while acknowledging that some college education is as important economically today as high school education was nearly a century ago when that it...

January 12, 2015

DC Shuttle ... President proposes free community college. President Obama announced a plan to make two years of community college free, called America's College Promise. The first question asked by proponents and opponents alike was how funding for the proposal would be found. The administration has not said how much the program will cost or where it will find the...

December 23, 2014

Comings and Goings ... The University of Maryland confirmed that Robert Caret will resign as president of the University of Massachusetts system to take over as the new Maryland chancellor. Massachusetts Gov.-elect Charlie Baker named James A. Peyser, a charter school advocate and former chair of the state Board of Education, to be his secretary of education. The 17-campus University...