On Campus Blog

How are MN students prepping for the job market? We'll show you.
To get a better picture of what Minnesota’s college students are going through during this tough economy, MPR’s Tim Post and I will be tracking half a dozen of them through graduation and beyond. Our group — all of whom hope to graduate later this year — will talk to us about their dreams and…
Just got the American Association of State Colleges and Universities report above from University of Minnesota spokesman Jeff Falk in advance of President Eric Kaler’s 2012 University of Minnesota Legislative Briefing on Feb. 1, which is open to the public. That speech will go into the U’s legislative priorities (access, academic excellence and so forth),…
How Minnesota colleges fared in the U.S. News ranking of online programs
This week U.S. News & World Report released its first rankings of online programs — both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The magazine ranked schools overall and in three areas: faculty credentials and training; student engagement and assessment; and student services and technology. You can read more about the methodology here. As usual, take…
The state Office of Higher Education released its annual report for the State Grant late yesterday afternoon. Here’s a copy, and I’m going through it, but I’ve also got a call in for some interpretation. Meanwhile, here’s what a spokeswoman for the office wrote: Page 9 shows that a significant portion of Independent, Not Married…
In case you missed it, yesterday’s Midmorning program with Kerri Miller discussed the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with guests Kelli B. Grant, senior consumer reporter for SmartMoney.com, and Los Angeles Times business columnist David Lazarus. The bureau’s jurisdiction includes elements of student debt — I’ve mentioned in a previous post here — and the trio…
At Penn State, crisis management meant monitoring social media On Nov. 1, Penn State hosted its second “Social Media Summit” for dozens of employees who oversee university-related Web sites, blogs and social media accounts. It was an event much like those happening at colleges across the country, as schools attempt to control their image and…
When Eric Kaler looked like Harry Potter
I don’t normally post pictures of college leaders attending events, but anytime you mix in flames or explosions, you’ve got a cool photo. This one shows University of Minnesota President Eric doing some science voodoo at today’s “Energy & U” show for elementary-school students. (Helps build the U’s scientist-at-the-helm cred, too.)
To get an idea of what folks are talking about in higher education this legislative session, I talked to Larry Pogemiller, former state legislator and new director of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. His main message: “I don’t anticipate major activity this year. … We’ll be building the foundations for the legislature to do…
Why the U is suing a New Zealand Web site
“We are concerned that the test responses are not valid when there has been prior exposure,” he said. “If they’ve seen it before, then the responses can be of questionable validity.” — Stuart Hemphill, an attorney representing the University of Minnesota, on why the contents of the MMPI, a widely used psychology test developed at…
“… We should be able to say exactly where the students who crossed the stage and shook the President’s hand at the last commencement are six months later:  what percent have jobs, what percent have gone on to graduate or professional school, what percent are doing other things and what those things are. This information…