Notes in the Margins: Sports, blogging and studying amid upheavalNovember 30, 2011 12:35 AMBy Alex FriedrichDuncan Calls for Urgency on College Costs As Occupy movement protests helped push spiraling college costs into the national spotlight, Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged higher-education officials Tuesday to “think more creatively — and with much greater urgency” about ways to contain costs and reduce student debt. (The New York Times) Study assesses graduation rates Report finds analyzing characteristics…
MnSCU official won't elaborate on reaction to U transfer decisionNovember 29, 2011 8:35 AMBy Alex FriedrichAfter changing his tune to the news media on the University of Minnesota’s cutback in transfer students, MnSCU’s interim academic and student affairs chief Larry Litecky turned down my request yesterday to explain why. MnSCU spokeswoman Melinda Voss said he had “no time” this week to discuss his change of views, and essentially repeated what…
Midmorning Wednesday at 9: The jobs-skills mismatchNovember 29, 2011 8:30 AMBy Alex FriedrichI’ll be live-blogging this conversation on MPR’s Midmorning show with Kerri Miller tomorrow at 9 a.m. There should be a higher-education-and-training component in there, so please follow along — and feel free to comment. I think it’ll be a good conversation. Here’s the program intro: Educators, employers and economists say it all the time: American…
Gov. Dayton to address bullying in schoolsNovember 29, 2011 8:23 AMBy Tom WeberGov. Mark Dayton will announce an executive order this afternoon to address bullying in Minnesota schools. Education reporter Tom Weber joins us to discuss the state's evolving policy on bullying.
What a MN pol wants to do about MnSCU retirementNovember 29, 2011 4:30 AMBy Alex Friedrich“The ability to cash out six-figure sums upon retirement appears to make MnSCU an outlier not merely compared to the private sector, but compared to other state agencies and departments as well.” — Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights) in the Pioneer Press on his request that the state legislative auditor look into unused sick…
What Bemidji students think of their insurance mandateNovember 29, 2011 2:13 AMBy Alex Friedrich“In the beginning there was a lot of frustrations with it and a lot of confusion. Students didn’t think they were informed enough about it. They didn’t understand what it meant. (Now) more students are passing along the word that this might be a good idea for college student. They can go to health services…
Infographic: Startups and higher educationNovember 29, 2011 1:44 AMBy Alex FriedrichSource: Gist via Xconomy.com
Notes in the Margins: Religion, volunteering and outdoor orientationNovember 29, 2011 1:23 AMBy Alex FriedrichWant cheaper tuition? Find religion With church membership dwindling and more families struggling to afford the cost of college, many private religiously-affiliated colleges and universities are slashing tuition and offering incentives to attract new students — and to stay afloat. (CNN via NAICU) Universities need to get better at telling their stories Universities have multiple narratives to…
Dayton set to announce anti-bullying executive orderNovember 28, 2011 12:35 PMBy Tom WeberGov. Mark Dayton's office is finalizing an executive order addressing bullying in Minnesota's schools, the governor's spokeswoman said Monday.
What UW-Stout students might want to major inNovember 28, 2011 9:14 AMBy Alex FriedrichSo how did UW-Stout start this one? From The Quad News: Maybe a career in packaging is better fit for you. Can you imagine studying boxes for four years? Well, people apparently do and according to University of Wisconsin-Stout, “the employment rate for graduates from the school year 2009-2010 was 100 percent.” Read the full…