By Emily VanBuren. Three different people, completely unbeknownst to one another, wisely pointed me toward the same book back when I first started graduate school: Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (1994). And with very good reason. As the title suggests, it’s a handbook for breaking down enormous tasks into smaller, more manageable ones. Lamott relays an anecdote about her brother that probably resonates with any graduate student. Read more...
By Matt Reed. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg suggested yesterday that students who drop out of a four year program after two or more years should be awarded Associate’s degrees as a sort of consolation prize, like a year’s supply of turtle wax. The argument is that a student who has put in two or more solid years of college has done some real work, but that she leaves with nothing to show for it. An Associate’s degree signifies something concrete, and carries more heft than a high school diploma alone. Read more...
By Matt Reed. I’ll be at the AACC conference in Washington, D.C., over the next several days. I’m hoping to touch base with several people over that time, but I’m also psyched for the presentation by my HCC colleagues Michele Snizek, Alana Wiens, and Rebecca Lewis. (It’s called “Changing the Game: Improving Achievement in a Model Career Program through High-Impact Grant Collaboration.”) They’ll be talking about the ways we’ve aligned different grants to reinforce each other, particularly in the context of allied health fields. Read more...
Three Congressional lawmakers are pushing for a new federal committee that would coordinate the government’s oversight of for-profit colleges. Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois and Tom Harkin of Iowa, both Democrats, plan to introduce legislation Thursday that would create a committee comprising representatives from nine federal agencies that oversee for-profit colleges. Read more...By Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. The story has Biblical overtones. Twin brothers grow up in a typical middle-class household. Brother A reads Charlotte’s Web and Chronicles of Narnia; Brother B swirls a basketball with the finesse of Meadowlark Lemon. Friendly, social boys with agile minds, over the years their looks remain identical as their skill sets meander in independent directions. A has Ivy aspirations. B isn’t sure about four more years but ultimately decides to attend a local community college. Read more...By Thomas J. Botzman. Going away to college is a turning point in the lives of most people. It presents a dramatic change in how a family views itself and the future. This “going off to college’’ phenomenon has proven to be doubly true for my family and me. Read more...By Marybeth Gasman. On February 24, 2014, The New York Times ran a story titled “Colorblind Notion Aside: Colleges Grapple with Racial Tension,” detailing myriad racial incidents on college campuses. However, according to a new survey by Inside Higher Ed, most college and university presidents don’t think this kind of racial tension is happening on their campuses. According to the IHE survey: “Most presidents (90 percent) say that, generally speaking, the state of race relations on their campus is good.” I was shocked to hear presidents answer in this way. Read more...By Paul Fain. Arizona covers less than 1 percent of the budget for the Maricopa Community College District. The 10-college system, which enrolls 265,000 students, now receives an annual state contribution of $8 million. Read more...By Paul Fain. Students at a community college in rural Texas may lose access to federal aid because of a student-loan default measure Congress expanded mostly to keep an eye on for-profit institutions. Read more...By Colleen Flaherty. Despite faculty concerns that its pick for president might be unfit for the job, the board of the Community College of Philadelphia confirmed Donald Generals Jr. as the institution’s new leader on Thursday. Generals, vice president for academic affairs at nearby Mercer County Community College in New Jersey, formerly served as provost at the embattled and now-defunct Katherine Gibbs School of New York. The for-profit institution was accused by state officials of making false promises to students before it announced it was closing in 2008. Read more.../https%3A%2F%2Fprofilepics.canalblog.com%2Fprofilepics%2F1%2F0%2F1076071.jpg)
