News Items from the Week of April 13, 2018

International

Wealthy, white students still do best at university. We must close the gap | New data published by the Office for Students shows that black, Asian or disabled students and students from disadvantaged neighbourhoods are significantly less likely to succeed at university. The differences are stark: the proportion of students who get a first or 2:1 degree is 10 percentage points lower for students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds than for their wealthier peers, three points lower for those with a disability than for those without, and 22 and 11 points lower respectively for black and Asian students than for white students.

India is in the middle of an engineering education crisis | While Prime Minister Narendra Modi promotes his Make in India mission and the country hopes to reap a demographic dividend through its predominantly young population, quality of engineering education plays a spoilsport.

Campus Labs to Acquire Chalk & Wire | Data and assessment company Campus Labs is expanding its analytics platform with the acquisition of Chalk & Wire. Chalk & Wire’s learning assessment and credentialing tools will “allow Campus Labs to provide enhanced and integrated ways to assess student learning [and] unlock the power of student learning across varied, measurable learning paths,” according to a news announcement.

What’s the use in university planning? | A worthless or a worthwhile exercise? A genuine process properly executed is of enormous value and an opportunity to engage students, staff, stakeholders, council and governors in shaping the future of their university. But there was no linen being washed. Perhaps a gentle allusion here, maybe a weak signpost there, but plenty of hopes expressed as carefully planned outcomes, buttressed by strategic goals, operating objectives, performance measures, numerical targets.

U.S. National

3 Ideas to Improve Higher Education From The Chronicle’s Fourth Annual Version of ‘Shark Tank’ | The Chronicle’s Shark Tank: Edu Edition returned to the South by Southwest EDU conference in March to weigh in on three ideas for improving higher education. The pitches came from a religion professor, a finance entrepreneur, and a leader from a major philanthropy known for its scholarship programs.

Faculty Salaries Up 3% | Average salaries for full-time continuing faculty members increased by 3 percent this year over last, according to the American Association of University Professors’ Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession: 2017-18.

U.S. States

Education adapts to get Iowa more future ready | Our high school graduates live in a world where the high school diploma is not necessarily enough to get them the high-quality jobs they need for the future. The reality is that 70 percent of Iowa workers need to have education or training beyond high school by 2025. That means another 127,700 Iowans need to earn post-secondary degrees or other credentials in advanced manufacturing, computer science, finance, health care and other high-demand fields.

Wyoming to Receive Support for Higher Educational Attainment Efforts | Efforts to increase postsecondary educational attainment of Wyoming citizens have received a significant boost, as the state has been chosen to participate in a task force that aims to lead the nation in developing policy and practice to close higher education attainment gaps.

Institutional

Incentives for Completion in Chicago | A new tuition structure from Chicago’s community college system seeks to incentivize full-time enrollment while still discounting tuition for part-time students. The new structure takes elements of popular completion-movement reforms like 15 to Finish while attempting to eliminate criticism that such programs penalize the many students who juggle responsibilities off campus and can only attend part-time.

Summit Seeks to Improve Outcomes for Men of Color | Improving outcomes for young men of color has become a personal goal for Dr. James P. Clements. Clements, who is president of Clemson University – the second-largest public institution in South Carolina – has made it his business to draw attention to the plight of Black males by hosting the second annual Men of Color National Summit.

Posted on May 15, 2018