On Campus Blog

3-year college degree programs not catching on Several institutions have launched three-year degrees in a flurry of activity triggered by the economic downturn that began in 2008. But students have not responded, and most three-year degree programs have flopped. (The Washington Post) Making Headlines Since The ’70s: Is College Worth It? We’re hearing plenty of…
While I’m off to get hitched in California, MPR reporter Tim Post will be filling in for me. Because he’s got his radio duties to attend to, his On Campus posting will probably be light. Please check in regularly — especially for breaking news. See you July 5.
Remember Ron Erickson, the former Dakota County Technical College dean — now president of Hocking College in Ohio — who was recently turned down for the top seat at  Anoka-Ramsey Community College and Anoka Technical College? I posted a while back that he’d had a problematic relationship with his board. Here’s an update via the…
Tommies: Here's how to use a Kindle
The University of St. Thomas is encouraging its campus community to check out Kindle eBook readers from its O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library. I just found it funny that they posted an online illustration on how to use it. (It’s a good idea, really — just funny in an I-thought-higher-ed-was-at-the-forefront-of-technology kind of way.)
I must admit, I hadn’t thought of this one as a shutdown concern: KVSC radio reports: Student workers and their supervisors are being advised to swiftly enroll in student payroll direct deposit as a potential Minnesota government shutdown approaches. The head of student payroll at St. Cloud State University, Lisa Pesta, sent an email strongly…
Bemidji prof to state politicians: Cuts are driving students away
mwp_42 via Flickr How many students would leave? Bemidji State English professor Brian Donovan tells visiting legislators that cuts to programs will cause students to go out of state for college — just as his son left Bemidji for the University of Wisconsin after Bemidji’s art program was reduced: “That’s one thing we’re calling the…
Minnesota 2020 Executive Director John Van Hecke mentions in the Worthington Daily Globe what he sees as an I’ve-got-mine-but-tough-for-you attitude in Minnesota’s higher-ed budget talks: Since the legislative session began, I’ve repeatedly paged through the state’s little green session guide. I noticed a lot of policymakers attended one of Minnesota’s many MnSCU schools, which got…
Who says higher-ed makes one a cultivated person?
http://youtu.be/1V2G0fyQgck Yeah, not the way to impress upon people the merits of higher education, as this woman recently found out on a New York subway train when she was dinged for talking too loudly and using profanity. Choice quotes: “Excuse me ? Do you know what schools I’ve been to and how well-educated I am?”…
Rent-an-Expert The business “Expert Insight” allows you to buy personal advice from a Nobel Prize-winning economist or a poker champion. The idea makes more sense, and is more democratic, than you might think. You have probably already paid outrageous sums of money to attend a college or graduate school where the putative point is access…
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system should be able to operate in case of a shutdown.  That is if a court approves Gov. Dayton’s decision to give MnSCU access to its reserve funds and tuition revenue tucked away in state bank accounts. And the University of Minnesota plans to keep its doors open in…