In the News

Note: links to online articles are provided as a courtesy to our visitors. These links may change as news organizations move articles to archives on their Web sites. Please visit the Web site of the appropriate news outlet for information and access to archived news articles.

Returning Military Veterans Face Obstacles in Receiving Academic Credit

When recruiting, the military highlights its educational advantages, promising young men and women that service will give them a leg up toward a college degree and a better career. But many of the thousands of veterans who attend college after tours of duty are denied credit for military courses and specialized skills despite an accreditation system set up to award it. The issue is an increasing point of tension on campuses as waves of veterans return from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and enroll in college, taking advantage of a range of public benefits and hoping to build on skills acquired during their service.

See the article in the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/02/05/vets_often_denied_academic_credits/

Business by Another Name

Some liberal arts colleges are experimenting with different models of business education. Among the main approaches are the “blending” model, in which conventional business courses are integrated into a liberal arts major — or, when business majors are offered, vice versa with traditional liberal arts courses. Another approach is a co-curricular focus — providing internships and practicums to ensure that students have hands-on experience without necessarily designing a curricular component. Others are using a thematic approach; for example, developing a focus on “entrepreneurship” or “ethics in the corporate world” across the traditional liberal arts curriculum. Still others are developing interdisciplinary programs such “global finance and economic development.

See the article in the Boston Globe: http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/02/01/business

Has Sallie Mae Set a Precedent for Accountability via Student Loans?

Executives at Sallie Mae said their financially struggling company was tired of losing money to students who couldn't pay it back. Sallie Mae reported that most of its losses in private loans—those made without a government subsidy—involve those given to students at colleges with low graduation rates. The company therefore said it would stop offering such loans at those colleges, and would cut back on its government-subsidized lending.

See the article in Inside Higher Ed: http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/02/1482n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Campuses Nationwide Take Creative Approaches to Climate-Change Event

Professors on hundreds of campuses incorporated the subject of climate change into their class lectures on January 31, as part of a nationwide project called Focus the Nation. Many campuses offered a host of creative ways to raise awareness of global warming. Five colleges in the Pittsburgh area teamed up to organize a "Green Debate.” The colleges invited city, county, state, and Congressional representatives to share what they are doing about climate change at the event, which will also give students a platform to discuss the ways their campuses marked Focus the Nation.

See the article in the Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/02/1484n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

U.S. Universities Compete to Set Up Outposts Abroad

The American system of higher education, long the envy of the world, is becoming an important export as more universities take their programs overseas. In a kind of educational gold rush, American universities are competing to set up outposts in countries with limited higher education opportunities. American universities — not to mention Australian and British ones, which also offer instruction in English, the lingua franca of academia — are starting, or expanding, hundreds of programs and partnerships in booming markets like China, India and Singapore. Many are now considering full-fledged foreign branch campuses, particularly in the oil-rich Middle East.

See the article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/education/10global.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

The UCEA staff members regularly compile a list of summaries and links to articles of interest appearing in other publications. Also, on the right side of our home page, in the Trends & Issues section, we highlight items of particular interest to our association membership. Links to online articles are provided as a courtesy to our visitors. These links may change as news organizations move articles to archives on their Web sites. Please visit the Web site of the appropriate news outlet for information and access to archived news articles.

AACU and CHEA Release Statement on Student Learner Outcomes

Two major higher education associations released a statement Wednesday designed to make clear that college leaders are fully committed to meeting the call for collecting and making public more and better information about how and what students learn. The document, “New Leadership for Student Learning and Accountability: A Statement of Principles, Commitments to Action,” was produced by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The statement strives to strike a balance between responding to the public pressure for more accountability in measuring and reporting learning outcomes, yet firmly embracing the idea that individual institutions should decide for themselves what to measure and how to do so.

See the article at Inside Higher ed: http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/31/aacu

Online Schooling Grows, Setting Off a Debate

Half a million American children take classes online, with a significant group, like the Weldies, getting all their schooling from virtual public schools. The rapid growth of these schools has provoked debates in courtrooms and legislatures over money, as the schools compete with local districts for millions in public dollars, and over issues like whether online learning is appropriate for young children.

See the article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/education/01virtual.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin

Arizona Law Takes a Toll on Nonresident Students

Proposition 300 forbids college students who cannot prove they are legal residents from receiving state financial assistance. One of several recent immigration statutes passed by Arizona voters and legislators frustrated by federal inaction, the law also prohibits in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Administrators at several campuses fear that the provision has priced some out of their classes, particularly at the state’s popular community colleges.

See the article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/us/27tuition.html?ref=education

Report Profiles Six Emerging Technologies Impacting Higher Education

The New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) released the 2008 Horizon Report at the ELI Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The annual Horizon Report describes the continuing work of the NMC’s Horizon Project, a research-oriented effort that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have considerable impact on teaching, learning, and creative expression within higher education. The fifth edition in this annual series is again a collaboration between NMC and ELI.

Each year, the Horizon Report describes six areas of emerging technology that will have significant impact on higher education In defining the six selected areas for 2008—grassroots video, collaboration webs, mobile broadband, data mashups, collective intelligence, and social operating systems—

See the report at Educause: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/CSD5320.pdf

Freshmen's Concerns about College Quality and Cost at 35-Year High

Freshmen are more concerned about academic quality and affordability than they have been in 35 years, according to an annual survey conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. Concerns about costs may have kept many freshmen from attending their dream colleges. In 2007, 80.6 percent of freshmen were admitted to their first-choice colleges, but only 64.1 percent ended up enrolling in them.

Read the Chronicle of Higher Education article:

http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/01/1361n.htm?utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

Employers Prefer Assessments that Measure Applied Learning Approaches

A report released by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, “How Should Colleges Assess And Improve Student Learning?” indicates that employers are satisfied that the majority of college graduates who apply for positions at their companies possess a range of skills that prepare them for success in entry-level positions, but they are notably less confident that graduates are prepared for advancement or promotion. When it comes to the assessment practices that employers trust to indicate a graduate’s level of knowledge and potential to succeed in the job world, employers dismiss tests of general content knowledge in favor of assessments of real-world and applied-learning approaches.

Read the AACU report:

http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/leap/documents/2008_business_leader_poll.pdf

Cape Town Meeting Spurs Call for International Open Resources

The Cape Town Open Education Declaration calls for open resources and technology on an international scale. Signed by nearly 1,500 individuals and organizations, this open education movement combines the established tradition of sharing good ideas with fellow educators and the collaborative, interactive culture of the Internet. It is built on the belief that everyone should have the freedom to use, customize, improve and redistribute educational resources without constraint. Educators, learners and others who share this belief are gathering together as part of a worldwide effort to make education both more accessible and more effective. However, open education is not limited to just open educational resources. It also draws upon open technologies that facilitate collaborative, flexible learning and the open sharing of teaching practices that empower educators to benefit from the best ideas of their colleagues.

Read the Cape Town Declaration: http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/read-the-declaration