News Items from the Week of Oct. 23, 2015

International

TEF metrics plan attacked by academics | (UK) Leading academics have signed an open letter warning that it would be “completely inappropriate” to use data on student outcomes to measure university teaching standards.

Higher education is in crisis: Pityana | Former University of South Africa Vice-Chancellor, Professor Barney Pityana, says there is a crisis in higher education.

Digital transformation driving IT spending in higher education | Higher education IT spending in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) is expected to significantly increase by 2019, thanks to digital transformation initiatives, according to new research from IDC.

Africa’s ‘teaching shops’: the rise of private universities | In the expansion of higher education, the establishment of private, for-profit universities has become “almost a defining principle”.

African University Day: November 12, 2015 | The Association of African Universities (AAU) is calling on all higher educational institutions in Africa to adopt innovative strategies to improve educational outcomes on the continent, as it joins other stakeholders to commemorate the annual African University Day Celebrations on the 12th November 2015.

U.S. National

Upping the Pressure on Accreditors | The Obama administration is planning new executive action on higher education accreditation in the coming weeks, as part of a push to make accreditors focus more heavily on student outcomes when judging colleges and universities, officials said Monday.

Vandy Takes on Federal Regs, Redux | The nation’s colleges and universities collectively spend an estimated $27 billion each year trying to comply with federal requirements.

Grant Programs Get Persnickity | To tame a rising tide of grant proposals, federal agencies are becoming sticklers about enforcing their application requirements — stating deadlines in hundredths of seconds and using software to prevent the submission of error-riddled applications.

High-School Diploma Options Multiply, but May Not Set Up Students for College Success | For too many students, high-school diplomas are “tickets to nowhere” that offer “false assurances” that graduates are ready for college or a job, according to a report released on Monday.

Going Through the Motions? The 2015 Survey of Faculty Workplace Engagement | Employee engagement: it’s an important metric that can gauge how loyal and intrinsically interested people are in their work. So how engaged are faculty members, and how do they compare to other kinds of workers?

U.S. States

How to Connect K-12 and Higher-Ed With Structured Data | Indiana high school seniors will have a significant advantage when they apply for college this year. [N]early every high school in Indiana is now prepared to deliver transcripts as structured data files, not plain old paper, to the majority of the state’s colleges for admissions.

New website shows expected earnings and debt for local college grads | A new government “College Scorecard” website attempts, for the first time, to show how much students earn 10 years after starting school, linking the information to the cost of attending and of paying debts.

University students traveled to Springfield for Crisis Advocacy Day | Over 250 Illinois college students chanted “cuts mean us” when they arrived in Springfield Tuesday to advocate for students and budget solutions fund higher education.

Institutional

Glen Oaks is awarded $2.25M grant | Glen Oaks Community College is the recipient of a Title III grant totaling $2.25 million over a five-year period from the U. S. Department of Education.

Higher Ed’s Moneyball? | The goal is to use data science to improve learning, boost completion rates and help teachers and counselors better target academic interventions fast, with a compelling nudge, counseling or other outreach.

University System of Maryland Adopts PAR Framework to Optimize Statewide Student Success | All USM institutions will adopt the PAR Framework Student Success Matrix (SSMx) to inventory, categorize, and explore the returns on investment for student success programs deployed at each institution.

UTRGV open house showcases newly created Office of Accreditation and Assessment | The new Office of Accreditation and Assessment (OAA) at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley opened its doors Oct. 16 to curious visitors at an open house on the Edinburg Campus.

How to adopt AAC&U LEAP VALUE rubrics without modification? |  Previously, I described, “Why it is important to adopt LEAP VALUE rubrics without modification?” and that begs the question with which I ended, “How to adopt AAC&U LEAP VALUE rubrics without modification?”