[We welcome pointers to other relevant news stories - particularly from Regions 2 & 3. Â Please send links to bives @ Mac.com]
Click: here for News Archive
Global Shift to Online and Hybrid Learning Drives Strong Performance for McGraw Hill in Fiscal Q2 2021
[October 29, 2020] “McGraw Hill reported strong preliminary fiscal Q2 2021 results today, with double-digit increases in both overall digital billings, as well as its quickly-expanding Inclusive Access program for colleges. The success is the result of McGraw Hill's ongoing investment in digital learning solutions, the use of which has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
http://www.salamancapress.com/news/state/global-shift-to-online-and-hybrid-learning-drives-strong-performance-for-mcgraw-hill-in-fiscal/article_9789f070-c07f-57f7-85a2-0e91016393ef.html
What school looks like now — in striking pictures from around the world
[October 29, 2020] “As coronavirus cases are rising in most U.S. states and many countries, educators are still trying to find ways to teach kids. Here are some pictures from around the world that show what school looks like in October 2020 in the grip of the worst pandemic in more than 100 years.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/10/29/what-school-looks-like-now-striking-pictures-around-world/
Moody’s Forecasts Widespread Drop in Tuition Revenue. Here’s Why That Matters
[October 29, 2020] “People looking for clues about higher education’s future fiscal health saw reasons for worry in a new report by Moody’s Investors Service”
"Incoming first-year students were down a median of about 6 percent at both private and public colleges surveyed for the report. The effect is likely to linger: The number of first-year students more or less establishes a rough size for that class as it moves through the institution."
https://www.chronicle.com/article/moodys-forecasts-widespread-drop-in-tuition-revenue-heres-why-that-matters
How Colleges Can Prevent Covid-19 Spread When Students Leave for Thanksgiving
[October 29, 2020] “Colleges should urge students to be tested for Covid-19 before they leave for Thanksgiving, be ready to quarantine and isolate students over the holiday break, and make sure that no one travels home while sick, the American College Health Association recommended”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-colleges-can-prevent-covid-19-spread-when-students-leave-for-thanksgiving
What Higher Ed Has Learned From Covid-19 So Far
[October 28, 2020] “The spring and summer were full of predictions, many of which didn’t come to pass.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-higher-ed-has-learned-from-covid-19-so-far
4 higher education experts on how COVID-19 is upending the college experience
[October 27, 2020] “Leaders from 2U, Global Citizen Year, Minerva, and Pearson reveal which elements of the higher-ed ecosystem are getting stronger and which are poised to collapse. ”
https://www.fastcompany.com/90553873/4-higher-education-experts-on-how-covid-19-is-upending-the-college-experience
Technology’s Vital Role in Saving Higher Ed
[October 26, 2020] “Universities are realizing a new business model is in order.”
https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2020/10/technologys-vital-role-saving-higher-ed
Expert View: An education entrepreneur on 'blended learning' and what the future holds for higher ed
[October 22, 2020] “As the coronavirus spread in China and beyond this winter, Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of the online learning platform Coursera, was on high alert.”
https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2020/10/22/coursera-online-learning-colleges-students-blended.html
How COVID-19 is changing the business of online learning for colleges
[October 20, 2020] “The sector went remote in a flash. We explore how the changes could impact the kind of virtual instruction schools offer.”
https://www.educationdive.com/news/how-covid-19-is-changing-the-business-of-online-learning-for-colleges/586828/
US universities’ new intakes shrink 16 per cent year-on-year
[October 16, 2020] “Freshers and international recruits stay away as overall enrolment drops 4 per cent”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/us-universities-new-intakes-shrink-16-cent-year-year
COVID is pushing these college students to drop out. That could devastate the economy and their lives.
[October 16, 2020] “The virus and the ensuing recession have taken a particularly hard toll on community college students ”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/16/covid-community-college-students-drop-out-economy/5927050002/
Covid-19 surge on campuses ‘risks poisoning town-gown relations’
[October 15, 2020] “As resentment simmers over increasing student cases in cities, expert says institutions must work hard demonstrate their worth to their communities”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/covid-19-surge-campuses-risks-poisoning-town-gown-relations
ACT and SAT Scores Drop
[October 15, 2020] “Declines come in a year in which it has become difficult to take either test. Gaps grow for minority groups except Asians”
https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/10/15/act-and-sat-scores-drop-2020
Report: Enrollment Continues to Trend Downward
[October 15, 2020] “Several concerning enrollment trends are holding strong as the latest, and more comprehensive, data show. Experts and advocates are particularly worried about community colleges.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/15/worrying-enrollment-trends-continue-clearinghouse-report-shows
Long Covid impact ‘must be considered’ as cases on campus soar
[October 14, 2020] “Academics warn that staff, and students, are at risk of a debilitating illness that research suggests can last for months”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/long-covid-impact-must-be-considered-cases-campus-soar
Gates Giving $15M to COVID-19 Testing Effort at HBCUs
[October 14, 2020] “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pumping $15 million over three years into an effort to build out COVID-19 testing capacity at historically Black colleges and universities,”
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/10/14/gates-giving-15m-covid-19-testing-effort-hbcus
Alternatives to Austerity?
[October 14, 2020] “Service staff in higher education have seen drastic layoffs and furloughs. Some have argued not all of those cuts were necessary.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/14/college-staff-face-layoffs-some-argue-against-budget-cuts
How Will Higher Education Emerge From the Pandemic?
[October 14, 2020] “Solutions, realistic and fanciful.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/how-will-higher-education-emerge-pandemic
What's at Stake for Higher Ed in the Election?
[October 14, 2020] “With the 2020 election approaching, amid a pandemic that shows no signs of abating, we reached out to scholars and academic leaders from across the political spectrum to ask: What’s at stake for higher education in the election?”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/whats-at-stake-for-higher-ed-in-the-election
Punctuated evolution: Higher ed transformation in and after the time of COVID
[October 13, 2020] “Already-challenged colleges and universities aren't the only institutions at a crossroads because of the pandemic, says this higher ed consultant. COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated already-present trends.”
https://universitybusiness.com/punctuated-evolution-higher-ed-transformation-in-and-after-the-time-of-covid/
Higher Education's Nightmare Scenario
[October 12, 2020] “Finances are already strained - and yet public college await budget-busting cuts.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/higher-educations-nightmare-scenario
Well-being concern over mothers’ caring burden during lockdown
[October 9, 2020] “Survey and report by Women’s Higher Education Network urges universities to radically revise their attitudes to deadlines, career development and promotion”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/well-being-concern-over-mothers-caring-burden-during-lockdown
[Start special issue on digital Transformation]
COVID-19 and the future of business
[October 8, 2020] “Leading executives highlight five key opportunities that will help organizations respond to crisis and change.”
https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/covid-19-future-business
COVID-19 accelerates supply chain digital transformation
[October 8, 2020] “A company’s performance and response to COVID-19 has become a litmus test for understanding the potential pitfalls associated with their current strategy and approach to risk management in times of global crises. In parallel, KPMG has witnessed how the pandemic has forced decades of our clients’ digital transformation to take place in a few short months, including the digitization of the supply chain.”
https://info.kpmg.us/news-perspectives/technology-innovation/covid-19-accelerates-supply-chain-digital-transformation.html
COVID-19 Implications for Business (McKinsey Briefing note #26)
[October 7, 2020] "Our latest perspectives on the coronavirus outbreak, the twin threats to lives and livelihoods, and how organizations can prepare for the next normal."
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/risk/our-insights/covid-19-implications-for-business
How COVID-19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point—and transformed business forever
[October 5, 2020] “A new survey finds the responses to COVID-19 have speeded the adoption of digital technologies by several years.”
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-covid-19-has-pushed-companies-over-the-technology-tipping-point-and-transformed-business-forever
How to Harness the Digital Transformation of the Covid Era
[September 24, 2020] “Digital technology is at the center of today’s economic development debate due to its wide use during the Covid-19 outbreak. While there is no doubt that the pandemic is amplifying the adoption of new technologies, technological advancements were already changing the world over the past two decades, from living standards to the very nature of our work.”
https://hbr.org/2020/09/how-to-harness-the-digital-transformation-of-the-covid-era
How Covid-19 Is Accelerating Digital Transformation for Small and Medium Businesses
[September 18, 2020] “By pushing the boundaries of how and where we can do business, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced entrepreneurs to look at digital media in a new light.”
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/355375
97% Of Executives Say Covid-19 Sped Up Digital Transformation
[September 10, 2020] “Twilio recently surveyed 2,569 enterprise decision-makers about digital transformation, and clearly, Covid-19 was the burning platform that finally made laggards take the plunge. The result: a six-year acceleration in digital transformation efforts across the board.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/09/10/97-of-executives-say-covid-19-sped-up-digital-transformation/#116fa9194799
Survey results: Accelerating digital transformation during COVID-19
[September 4, 2020] “View the results of a survey of over 1000 pharma executives on the impact COVID-19 has had and will have on their operations”
https://www.reutersevents.com/pharma/access-and-evidence/survey-results-accelerating-digital-transformation-during-covid-19
How COVID accelerated digital transformation at Aflac
[August 19, 2020] “on how COVID-19 is allowing IT at the insurer to move full steam ahead on its innovation roadmap.”
https://www.cio.com/article/3570307/how-covid-accelerated-digital-transformation-at-aflac.html
Accelerating Digital Transformation
[August 17, 2020] “Looking beyond the immediate impacts of COVID-19 on the road to a new realit”
https://home.kpmg/xx/en/blogs/home/posts/2020/08/accelerating-digital-transformation.html
The Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends Of 2020: A Post Covid-19 Assessment
[August 11, 2020] “In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw technology accelerate a breakneck pace.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2020/08/11/the-top-10-digital-transformation-trends-of-2020-a-post-covid-19-assessment/#618f6f2e77b4
A case of acute disruption Digital transformation through the lens of COVID-19
[August 6, 2020] “Much has changed in the past seven months. As businesses grapple with the acute disruption brought on by COVID-19, the lessons of chronic disruption like digital transformation are proving useful.”
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/digital-transformation/digital-transformation-COVID-19.html
Worldwide Digital Transformation Investment Trends and Highlights in a COVID-19 World, August 2020
[August 1, 2020] “research shows not all technology and industry adaptations are occurring in a uniform fashion.”
https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US46794218
Digital transformation in the time of COVID-19: The case of MENA
[July 29, 2020] “Digital connectivity in the time of COVID-19 is no longer about traditional communication and the search for information; it has become a lifeline for using data, consuming content and engaging in digital applications by individuals, governments and businesses to ensure continuity of economic and social activities in light of social distancing and the complete lockdown in most countries of the world.”
https://blogs.worldbank.org/arabvoices/digital-transformation-time-covid-19-case-mena
COVID-19 Crisis Accelerates the Digital Transformation Trend
[July 27, 2020] “Digital transformation was already underway prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the resulting economic crisis has caused an acceleration, according to Franklin Equity Group’s Jonathan Curtis. He shares where his team is looking for potential opportunities within technology during the current period and beyond.”
https://us.beyondbullsandbears.com/2020/07/27/covid-19-crisis-accelerates-the-digital-transformation-trend/
COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of higher education
[July 21, 2020] “Very few people would have predicted that universities would face such a paradigm shift – with predominant virtual teaching and remote working bursting onto the scene – as a consequence to a global pandemic.”
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/07/covid-19-digital-transformation-higher-education/
Lack of Skills Threatens Digital Transformation
[July 1, 2020] “As the COVID-19 response accelerates the speed and scale of digital transformation, a lack of digital skills could jeopardize companies with misaligned talent plans.”
https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/lack-of-skills-threatens-digital-transformation/
Three Ways COVID-19 is Accelerating Digital Transformation in Professional Services
[June 29, 2020] “The pace of digital transformation has been dramatically accelerated — it’s not a conversation starter now, it’s a basic business requirement.”
https://www.cfo.com/the-cloud/2020/06/three-ways-covid-19-is-accelerating-digital-transformation-in-professional-services/
Accenture’s CEO: 5 rules for rethinking digital transformation during COVID-19
[June 26, 2020] “Almost overnight, the COVID-19 crisis widened a performance gap—between those organizations that invested in technology innovation at scale before the pandemic and those that did not—into a chasm.”
https://fortune.com/2020/06/26/coronavirus-accenture-ceo-digital-transformation/
The kinetic leader: Boldly reinventing the enterprise Findings from the 2020 Global Technology Leadership Study
[May 18, 2020] “Faced with unprecedented uncertainty, businesses now more than ever need their technology leaders to be resilient, agile, and future-focused. At the same time, current market, economic, and social conditions indicate this is the time for transformational, not incremental, change—and who better than technology leaders to help drive this change?”
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/leadership/global-technology-leadership-study.html
COVID-19 is Accelerating the Rise of the Digital Economy
[May 1, 2020] “If there were any lingering doubts about the necessity of digital transformation to business longevity, the coronavirus has silenced them. In a contactless world, the vast majority of interactions with customers and employees must take place virtually. With rare exception, operating digitally is the only way to stay in business through mandated shutdowns and restricted activity. It’s go digital, or go dark.”
https://www.bdo.com/insights/business-financial-advisory/strategy,-technology-transformation/covid-19-is-accelerating-the-rise-of-the-digital-e
The next normal: Retail M&A and partnerships after COVID-19
[April 24, 2020] “Now is the time to think about retail M&A after the coronavirus crisis. Five trends could unlock opportunities for retailers, brands, and investors to shape the next normal”
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/m-and-a/our-insights/the-next-normal-retail-m-and-a-and-partnerships-after-covid-19
[end special issue on Business Transformation]
COVID-19 Info on Your Website: A Few Best Practices
[October 1, 2020] “It should be easy for visitors to find information about campus reopening and COVID-19 information from your homepage and on-site search.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/call-action-marketing-and-communications-higher-education/covid-19-info-your-website-few-best
Australia to Spend $575M on Tech Including Blockchain to Boost Pandemic Recovery
[October 1, 2020] “Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the federal government has set aside nearly A$800 million (US$575 million) to invest in digital technologies as part of its coronavirus recovery plan.”
https://www.coindesk.com/australia-to-spend-575m-on-tech-including-blockchain-to-boost-pandemic-recovery
Extending the Reach of Mental Health Therapy
[October 1, 2020] “College counseling centers are increasingly relying on platforms that provide virtual therapy services to continue helping students cope with mental health issues during the pandemic and beyond.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/01/teletherapy-platforms-extend-reach-college-counseling-centers
Will Dutch campuses’ partial reopening offer a full student experience?
[October 1, 2020] “The Netherlands’ cautious, common approach to teaching during the pandemic contrasts with the full reopenings planned by many UK and US universities. But what will students get out of it? And is even 20 per cent campus capacity sustainable?”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/will-dutch-campuses-partial-reopening-offer-full-student-experience
As colleges reopened, many more young people got covid-19, CDC reports
[September 30, 2020] “Covid-19 cases surged nationally among 18- to 22-year-olds between Aug. 2 and Sept. 5, according to a report released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which urged young adults as well as colleges and universities to take precautions to prevent the spread of the virus.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/09/29/colleges-reopened-many-more-young-people-got-covid-19-cdc-reports/
COVID-19 Brings Cybersecurity Risks and Opportunities
[September 30, 2020] “EDUCAUSE Cybersecurity Program Director Brian Kelly discusses how the pandemic has affected higher education in 2020.”
https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2020/09/covid-19-brings-cybersecurity-risks-and-opportunities
Online learning during COVID-19: 8 ways universities can improve equity and access
[September 30, 2020] “In most universities, centres of teaching and learning are responsible for supporting faculty members' teaching for more effective student learning and a high quality of education.”
https://menafn.com/1100884556/Online-learning-during-COVID-19-8-ways-universities-can-improve-equity-and-access
Colleges: Financial Toll of Coronavirus Worse Than Anticipated
[September 29, 2020] “The coronavirus pandemic has taken an even deeper financial toll on colleges and universities than expected, said associations representing two- and four-year institutions.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/09/29/colleges-financial-toll-coronavirus-worse-anticipated
Washington's inability to agree on COVID relief puts future of colleges, universities at risk
[September 28, 2020] “"As presidents of university systems, we are concerned about the health and safety of our university communities, and about the social and economic well-being of our states and of the nation. "”
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/518538-washingtons-inability-to-agree-on-covid-relief-puts-future-of
‘It’s a lot to juggle’: College students with children are overwhelmed this school year
[September 28, 2020] “But for those who are juggling their studies with helping their school-aged children navigate virtual classes, this semester can be overwhelming.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/09/28/college-parents-coronavirus/
HBCUs experiencing lower COVID-19 infection rates: report
[September 24, 2020] “HBCUs are getting high student compliance with social distancing and mask wearing and are reporting lower coronavirus infection rates. College leaders partly credit Black college culture -- and student awareness of the toll of the pandemic on Black, Latinx and Indigenous communities.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/24/hbcus-experiencing-better-student-compliance-pandemic-restrictions-other
County COVID Counts Often Rose After Colleges Started Classes
[September 25, 2020] “County-level data reveal a varying picture that sometimes challenges the idea of colleges as COVID-19 hot spots -- but often reinforces it”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/25/data-reveal-complex-picture-between-colleges-and-county-covid-19-case-counts
Community College Enrollments Drop This Fall
[September 24, 2020] “Undergraduate enrollments are down 2.5 percent compared to last fall, with the biggest losses being at community colleges, where enrollments declined by 7.5 percent”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/24/undergraduate-enrollment-falls-25-percent-community-college-enrollment-75-percent
Pandemic’s impact on university finances ‘will last for a decade’
[September 24, 2020] “The global recession triggered by Covid-19 is already ‘more challenging’ in Europe than the 2008 financial crash, warns EUA policy expert”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pandemics-impact-university-finances-will-last-decade
Fighting Covid, US academics step past muddled bureaucrats
[September 24, 2020] “University scientists prove nimble, but still wish for government allies”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/fighting-covid-us-academics-step-past-muddled-bureaucrats
Admissions Concerns in the Covid-19 Era Center on Colleges’ Survival
[September 23, 2020] “Some are thinking that Covid-19 will lead to the closure of colleges that were already close to closing and that's affecting future enrollments.”
https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/the-edge/2020-09-23
How colleges are spreading COVID-19
[September 23, 2020] “Most of the attention and controversy over school attendance in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic these past couple of months has focused on K-12 classrooms. Less attention has been paid to college policies.”
https://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/how-colleges-are-spreading-covid-19/education
14 colleges get top marks for COVID dashboards (University Business)
[September 23, 2020] “A group of medical experts is rating campus COVID dashboard in an effort to “encourage colleges and universities to be as transparent as possible with their COVID strategies.””
https://universitybusiness.com/rank-best-worst-college-university-covid-dashboards/
AAUP to Investigate COVID-19 ‘Crisis in Academic Governance’
[September 22, 2020] “The American Association of University Professors will investigate the "crisis in academic governance that has occurred in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,"”
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/09/22/aaup-investigate-covid-19-%E2%80%98crisis-academic-governance%E2%80%99
Universities Report Online K-12 Enrollment Boost
[September 21, 2020] “Dissatisfied with the way local schools are responding to the pandemic, families increasingly turn to online K-12 options to educate their children -- including schools run by universities.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/21/universities-operating-online-k-12-schools-report-enrollment-boost-due-covid-19
Australian Universities Were Making Buckets of Cash Pre-Covid. Now They're Facing Wipeout
[September 21, 2020] “A look at what happens when a pandemic hits an industry that's become utterly dependent on foreign money.”
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/m7jy5a/australian-universities-were-making-buckets-of-cash-pre-covid-now-theyre-facing-wipeout
High school grads opt out of higher ed amid coronavirus pandemic
[September 19, 2020] “More students consider trade school rather than paying high college tuition for remote learning”
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/high-school-grads-opt-out-higher-ed-college-students
The Disruptions Higher Education Needs
[September 17, 2020] “These aren’t the disruptions Silicon Valley touts.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/disruptions-higher-education-needs
Higher Education Was Already Ripe for Disruption. Then, COVID-19 Happened.
[September 18, 2020] “As more and more educational content is pushed online from professors and universities alike, Ferreira and Smith believe we are headed toward a world where academics mix and match course content to create knowledge on-demand and allow students to design their own curriculum. For some, that may sound ideal, but students will need help choosing the content that will best suit their goals and build their competencies the way they intend.”
https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2020/september/higher-education-covid-disruption.html
More Pandemic Consequences for Underrepresented Students
[September 16, 2020] “A large survey and a series of reports from a group of research institutions found that students of color and low-income students are in a worse state than white and higher-income peers during the pandemic.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/16/low-income-and-students-color-greatest-need-pandemic-relief
Let’s Give a Kiss Goodbye to These 10 Pandemic-Endangered Practices
[September 16, 2020] “Goodbye to traditional class lectures, in-person faculty office hours, and the college visit. Likewise, how about a fond farewell to inflexible academic calendars, the face-to-face faculty meetings filled with pontification, and the place-based conferences — with all their exclusionary trappings.”
https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/the-edge/2020-09-16
As Campuses Become COVID-19 Hot Spots, Colleges Strain Under Financial Pressures
[September 16, 2020] “"These colleges are under intense financial pressure given the trends in higher education," he says. "I think everybody involved really wanted to try to make this work.”
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/16/913500758/as-campuses-become-covid-hotspots-colleges-strain-under-financial-pressures
What if Everything Is Online Forever?
[September 15, 2020] “If you have been working remotely for the past six months, what's to say that you shouldn't work remotely for the next six years? At some point will employers (including universities) decide that the savings of having a remote workforce outweigh the benefits of having most everyone in one place?”
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/what-if-everything-online-forever
Let's Not Live a Lie
[August 31, 2020] “Mayors of college towns explain why they are so alarmed by student behavior”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/lets-not-live-a-lie
Cornell students petition to have freshman TikTok star expelled for flouting coronavirus rules
[August 27, 2020] “At Cornell University, however, it’s the students who are becoming the most vocal enforcers of coronavirus-era rules.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/26/cornell-jessica-zhang-coronavirus-tiktok/
Mental Health Needs Rise With Pandemic
[September 11, 2020] “A mountain of troubling data about rising mental health problems has health advocates and providers worried about the need for additional support for struggling students and the ability of colleges to provide it.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/11/students-great-need-mental-health-support-during-pandemic
Professor Who Asserted He Would Never Teach Online Explains Why He is Opting to do so now
[September 11, 2020] “Christopher Schaberg, who previously asserted he'd never teach online, describes why he's now veering that way, even when he could teach face-to-face.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/09/11/professor-who-asserted-hed-never-teach-online-explains-why-hes-opting-do-so-now
Despite Warnings, No Clear Advice on Closing Dorms
[September 10, 2020] “Top federal health experts worry colleges will spread coronavirus if they send students home, but keeping residence halls open poses its own dangers.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/10/experts-warn-against-closing-residence-halls-some-say-its-not-simple
COVID-19 Roundup: Emptying a Dorm for Isolation Space
[September 10, 2020] “University of Tennessee will clear out a residence hall as it runs out of quarantine spots. Miami of Ohio will return students to campus despite 1,000 cases. Colleges announce spring instructional plans.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/10/covid-19-roundup-colleges-seek-quarantine-space-looking-ahead-spring-instruction
Today’s Awkward Zoom Classes Could Bring a New Era of Higher Education
[September 10, 2020] “These early MOOCs didn’t quite work—or at least they didn’t work well enough to present any real threat to the mainstream providers of traditional, campus-based higher education. But the pandemic has now forced this change; forced the entire landscape of higher education to embrace the technologies of online learning.”
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-09-10-today-s-awkward-zoom-classes-could-bring-a-new-era-of-higher-education
Hands-on Classes at a Distance and the Emerging Virtual Future
[September 9, 2020] “The rush to remote learning this year has prompted concern and a flurry of work-arounds to meet the needs of hands-on classes and curricula.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/hands-classes-distance-and-emerging-virtual-future
Want to Keep Campuses Safe from COVID-19? Protect the Eyes
[September 9, 2020] “Here’s a look at the latest recommendations for face shields and other protective barriers to better protect campus communities from COVID-19.”
https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2020/09/want-keep-campuses-safe-covid-19-protect-eyes
Using Tech to Boost the Value of Higher Education During COVID-19
[September 9, 2020] “Boston College researchers collaborate with the university's CDIL and IT department to find innovative solutions.”
https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2020/09/using-tech-boost-value-higher-education-during-covid-19
Counties and Colleges Wrangle Over COVID-19
[September 8, 2020] “Campus leaders in Kansas, Michigan and Texas face pressure from local health authorities to toughen COVID-19 restrictions, and some push back.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/08/county-health-officials-pressure-local-colleges-covid-19-policies-and-campuses-push
PROOF POINTS: Black college enrollment sharply down during Covid summer of 2020
[September 8, 2020] “New report shows “dramatic split” in college attendance between higher and lower income students”
https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-black-college-enrollment-sharply-down-during-covid-summer-of-2020/
Pandemic Forcing Campuses to Make Big Access Control Changes
[September 8, 2020] “The coronavirus is impacting everything from policies to technology uses, according to the 2020 Campus Safety Access Control, Lock and Lockdown Survey.”
https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/news/pandemic-forcing-campuses-to-make-big-access-control-changes/
We Must Not Leave Nontraditional Students Behind as COVID-19 Forces Colleges Online
[September 8, 2020] “The risk of failure will be even greater for a variety of marginalized student groups like minorities, first-generation students, transfer students and others.”
https://diverseeducation.com/article/189597/
THE FUTURIST: COVID-19 and change in the world of higher education
[September 7, 2020] “We can now see numerous places in society and business sectors where COVID-19 has both altered history and accelerated it.”
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/business/briefs/2020/09/07/futurist-covid-19-and-change-world-higher-education/5684103002/
Health Experts Warn Colleges Not to Send Students Home. But What if Quarantine Spaces Run Out?
[September 7, 2020] “Many colleges instituted robust testing capacities to keep the virus under control, but they, too, are finding it hard to keep up with the growing numbers of cases.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/health-experts-warn-colleges-not-to-send-students-home-but-what-if-they-run-out-of-quarantine-space
How college students can make the most of remote learning
[September 6, 2020] “The Washington Post spoke with six university instructors who have spent the summer helping faculty rearrange classes for the start of the year. Many of them said students should expect more opportunities for “asynchronous learning,” which means students will complete portions of a course on their own time — not during a set Zoom call with the entire class.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/09/06/remote-learning-college-zoom/
Universities sound alarm as coronavirus cases emerge just days into classes — 530 at one campus
[August 26, 2020] “More than 500 cases at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Nearly 160 at the University of Missouri in Columbia.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/25/college-coronavirus-cases/
Pandemic Drives Millions From Latin America’s Universities
[September 4, 2020] "[As] the pandemic grips the region, killing hundreds of thousands and devastating economies, an alarming reversal is underway: Millions of university students are leaving their studies, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.
Enrollment is expected to drop by as much as 25 percent in Colombia by the end of the year, with similar numbers expected in other countries."
Pandemic Drives Millions from Latin America's Universities [paywall]
Political Influence on Fall Plans
[September 3, 2020] “New analysis found that a college's reopening decision for the fall term is tied to the red or blue shade of its state, even if political pressure may not be direct.”
State politics influenced college reopening plans, data show
Fresh apologies for our Region I in general, and U.S in particular, orientation, as this article clearly illustrates.
As for the conclusion: "Duhh!"
Signed, Sick in Iowa
[September 3, 2020] “University of Iowa students and faculty members stage “sickout” to protest campus reopening plan.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/03/iowa-grad-students-and-faculty-stage-sickout-protest-campus-reopening-plan
The Coming Revolution in Higher Ed
[September 3, 2020] “One unspoken assumption among students seems to be that although schools will have to tighten their belts and ruthlessly hack away at expenditures until next year, once the COVID storm passes, everyone can come out from under their shelters and return to life as normal.”e, the author questions the above assumption: " I think this is dead wrong. The great money-making institutions in academia are far too savvy to idly allow a moment like this to pass by, and the virtual model will, I think, ultimately benefit the wealthiest and most prestigious institutions, at the expense of America’s smallest colleges."
So to will external players. The author describes Google's career certificate program being the poster child: $49 per month, 6-8 months to complete, 100,000 scholarships and certifies for data analyst, prpject manager, UX designer, and IT support specialist. Can accounting finance and marketing be far behind?
https://thepolitic.org/the-coming-revolution-in-higher-ed/
Vaccine race harming Covid collaboration, says Cambridge v-c
[September 2, 2020] “NYU president counters that such competition is what drives science forward”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/vaccine-race-harming-covid-collaboration-says-cambridgev-c
Pandemic ‘frees’ researchers from ‘hampering’ habit of travel
[September 2, 2020] “Nottingham vice-chancellor insists international collaboration can become ‘even better’ using digital communication”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pandemic-frees-researchers-hampering-habit-travel
Our conferences dead? Two opposing perspectives on in person vs online collaboration.
Universities can’t use privacy laws to withhold data on coronavirus outbreaks, experts say
[September 2, 2020] “As students file onto campuses across the country for in-person classes, these universities and others tightened transparency, wielding one or a combination of two significant federal laws: FERPA, a federal law protecting the privacy of student education records, and HIPAA, a federal health privacy rule.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/09/02/college-coronavirus-privacy-laws/
A Question of Trust
[September 2, 2020] “With pivots, lockdowns and outbreaks occurring at campuses around the country, will students continue to trust their colleges?”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/02/students-may-lose-trust-colleges-due-pandemic-response
Covid-19 Is Threatening the In-Person Semester. Can Wastewater Testing Help Save It?
[September 1, 2020] “University screens the sewage from each dorm for traces of the coronavirus.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/covid-19-is-threatening-the-in-person-semester-can-wastewater-testing-help-save-it
How 3 Colleges Are Using Student ‘Ambassadors’ to Enforce Social Distancing
[September 1, 2020] “The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor has hired teams of student “public-health ambassadors” to enforce Covid-19 regulations among their classmates”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-3-colleges-are-using-student-ambassadors-to-enforce-social-distancing
How to Save Higher Education
[September 1, 2020] “A New Deal for America’s sinking colleges.”
https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/september-october-2020/how-to-save-higher-education/
The problem covid-19 presents for college students who want to vote in November
[August 31, 2020] “There is virtually no part of American life that covid-19-19-19 has not affected — and that includes where, when, how and even if college students will vote in the November presidential election.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/31/problem-covid-19-presents-college-students-who-want-vote-november/
New Database Tracks Reversals in Colleges' Fall Reopening Plans
[August 31, 2020] “Inside Higher Ed today releases a map and database tracking changes in colleges' plans for reopening this fall.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/08/31/new-database-tracks-reversals-colleges-fall-reopening-plans
How Colleges Are Blaming Their Students for Coronavirus Outbreaks
[August 31, 2020] ““Last night, a large group of first-year students selfishly jeopardized the very thing that so many of you claim to want,” one administrator wrote.”
https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/08/how-colleges-are-blaming-their-students.html
Colleges With Covid Outbreaks Advised to Keep Students on Campus
[August 30, 2020] “A consensus is building among public health experts that it’s better to keep university students on campus after a Covid-19 outbreak rather than send them home as many are doing.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-30/colleges-with-covid-outbreaks-advised-to-keep-students-on-campus
The Future of the Academic Work Force
[August 27, 2020] “How will the pandemic change the way higher education works?”
The Future of the Academic Work Force
The Future of the Academic Work Force
https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-future-of-the-academic-work-force [paywall]
Why the United States is having a coronavirus data crisis
[August 25, 2020] “Political meddling, disorganization and years of neglect of public-health data management mean the country is flying blind.”
Thanks to Rick Watson for this article from Nature. Here’s a great article to demonstrate to your database students that it’s not all about joins and SQL. Health info, particularly related to Covid 19, in the U.S. trails far behind other countries with disastrous consequences.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02478-z?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=2dc8b44334-briefing-dy-20200901&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-2dc8b44334-45579462
Is Online Education Necessarily Second-Best?
[July 23, 2020] In 2013, professor Sam Gosling didn’t have to start teaching online. He did it to improve his class. Here’s his advice for students and for teachers in this moment.
Thanks to Cynthia Beath for this one. Here’s what she said about it!
“The article Is by Sam Gosling, a psych prof at the University of Texas who, with Jamie Pennebaker, started teaching Psych 101 online at UT and via ExX as a SMOC or a synchronous MOC. They started by just filming the class — much as the movies and TV started by filiming plays — and then realized that they were “producing” a live show in front of a live audience and could do so much more with the technology, just as the movies and TV did, too. It’s an uplifting and exciting read. There are good ideas for teachers and students. And it’s short.”
Blake: Online teaching like you are Francis Ford Coppola r rather than Plato seems compelling, but it also requires and leverages scale (I.e., hundreds of students). Third parties, like the University of Phoenix have been doing this for years. Another glitch, one the author acknowledges, is that while online classes may increase the connection between teacher and student, they reduce the connection among students. Their solution is small group activities with 5-7 students in a group, and group members perhaps changing three times during the semester (to minimize the likelihood of and damage from, ineffective groups.
My daughter, Julie, is a freshman studying at the University of Houston but living home "(to keep her old man company and safe"). One thing she really misses is the chance to make friends. In one of her classes the faculty member requires students to have their cameras off. That doesn't help, though there are some reasonable arguments for doing so. Things that she tells me help are encouraging classmates and teams to connect via social collaboration tools like Groupme, informal reinforcement "quizzes" like Kahoot, and online study tools like Quilt. For the students, the biggest deficit in online education may be to their social capital and by relying on recorded "talking head" lectures we are only making the problem worse.
https://news.utexas.edu/2020/07/23/is-online-education-necessarily-second-best/?utm_campaign=PRES_FY19-20_Newsletter_Texas-News_8_7_20_EML&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
Germany opts to keep teaching online to avoid spreading Covid
[August 26, 2020] “Denmark and Switzerland holding more in-person classes”
As German students do not pay tuition, the "value for money" argument for returning to campus, attracts little attention.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/germany-opts-keep-teaching-online-avoid-spreading-covid
Despite possible downgrades, higher ed sector will likely still issue bonds
[August 24, 2020] “Some colleges that started in-person learning this month needed to make quick adjustments after students tested positive for the coronavirus. But one analyst said despite the challenges to revenues and possible downgrades should schools decide to sell bonds, issuance will continue.”
Most of the news here is positive, but no all. Here is the best part of this story for those of us who tire of our Finance colleague's self-confidence:
"The University of Chicago, which is offering a hybrid instructional model this fall, saw its credit outlook revised to negative from stable this month by Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service prior to a planned taxable bond deal due to fiscal pressures from COVID-19."
https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/despite-possible-downgrades-higher-ed-sector-will-likely-still-issue-bonds
Early Dispatches From the COVID-19 Classroom
[August 26, 2020] “As the fall term begins, professors describe their experiences in the in-person (and virtual) classroom. Their verdict? Better than feared. Lots of faculty experimentation. Students are anxious, and physical conditions are … mixed.”
"Students in the physical classroom unable to hear their masked professor unless he practically shouted. The instructor standing as close to the blackboard as possible to try to put six feet between herself and the front row of students. Professors and students overwhelmed as they juggled virtual courses and family and work responsibilities at home."
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2020/08/26/professors-describe-their-experiences-covid-19-classroom-fall
Time to Re-Engineer Higher Ed for Working Students
[August 26, 2020] “Prior to COVID-19, colleges and universities were already struggling to meet the needs of many of today’s students — of whom nearly two-thirds work, half are financially independent, and a quarter are raising children themselves.”
The sudden shift to on-line education, coupled with lots of people out of work who are suddenly looking for new skills - but not necessarily degrees - creates a great opportunity to reconfigure our education programs for working students.
https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2020/08/26/time_to_re-engineer_higher_ed_for_working_students__110460.html
Asian universities scale back reopening as Covid cases spike
[August 26, 2020] “Plans for face-to-face teaching reversed due to ‘third waves’ of infection”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/asian-universities-scale-back-reopening-covid-cases-spike
Higher Ed Post-Covid-19
[August 26, 2020] “The American education system essentially collapsed five months ago”
https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/higher-ed-post-covid-19/Content?oid=23645598
But it was in big trouble long before that. In this opinion piece the author gives a brief history of the riser and fall of providing education for those who can least afford it. Kudos to Florida International and Christian Brothers University (and so many countries that provide higher education for free), but a black eye for most U.S. institutions for pricing ourselves out of deserving markets.
Report Sees Shift to Public Colleges During Pandemic
[August 25, 2020] “A new report by Eduventures -- consistent with prior reports -- finds that public institutions are gaining students during the coronavirus. The report shows a 6 percent increase in students choosing to attend an in-state public institution. Out-of-state public institutions were down by 5 percent in student choices. And private institutions were down by 3 percent.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/08/25/report-sees-shift-public-colleges-during-pandemic
In This Pandemic, Are College Students ‘Reckless’ or ‘Vulnerable’?
[August 24, 2020] “As students return to college campuses this month, several higher ed leaders have already criticized them for violating pandemic health policies with “selfish and reckless behavior.””
So, they are 19, just got out of high school and home bedrooms. and are of an age when, for many, mating is at least as important as core Freshmen classes. The car insurance guys won't lower their premiums until they are 25 because they are, to put int kindly, "risk takers." Oh, yeah, and then we were all 19 once too. If anyone who should have known better was reckless, it was certainly not the students!
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-08-24-in-this-pandemic-are-college-students-reckless-or-vulnerable
Few US universities plan significant on-campus teaching
[August 19, 2020] “Gamble to populate campuses seen as high-risk and not entirely necessary”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/few-us-universities-plan-significant-campus-teaching
"Potemkin villages", anyone? Forced by governors, parents, and lawyers, many universities have been required to offer courses one campus. But, I suspect, and as this article demonstrates, their are lots of empty classrooms.
Anger Confusion and Resignation as Chapel Hills Campus Rapidly Empties
[August 19, 2020] “Even the freshmen knew it wouldn't last.”
https://www.chronicle.com/article/anger-confusion-and-resignation-as-chapel-hills-campus-rapidly-empties
Move In, Move Out: For In-Person College, Everything Rests On The First Few Weeks
[August 19, 2020] “Nestled between the familiar college accessories were stark reminders of the coronavirus pandemic: Boxes of cleaning supplies. Masks. Hand sanitizer.”
https://www.npr.org/2020/08/19/903848387/move-in-move-out-for-in-person-college-everything-rests-on-the-first-few-weeks
Pressure Mounts on In-Person Holdouts
[August 19, 2020] “The incidents at UNC Chapel Hill and Notre Dame are unlikely to dissuade some college leaders from holding classes on campus.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/19/pressure-mounts-many-colleges-move-classes-online
The college covid-19 mess: It was all so predictable
[August 19, 2020] “This week, some universities that decided to reopen campuses during the covid-19 pandemic realized it wasn’t going to work within days of welcoming students back to campus.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/19/college-covid-19-mess-it-was-all-so-predictable
Share of US postgraduates with depression ‘doubles’ amid pandemic
[August 19, 2020] “Survey finds that rates of depression and anxiety more common among low-income, female, ethnic minority, LGBTQ and arts students”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/share-us-postgraduates-depression-doubles-amid-pandemic
Asian universities scale back reopening as Covid cases spike
[August 19, 2020] “Plans for face-to-face teaching reversed due to ‘third waves’ of infection”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/asian-universities-scale-back-reopening-covid-cases-spike
Few US universities plan significant on-campus teaching
[August 19, 2020] “Gamble to populate campuses seen as high-risk and not entirely necessary”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/few-us-universities-plan-significant-campus-teaching
A Pause in the Pandemic
[August 18, 2020] “Given job market trends, Stacy M. Hartman calls on colleges to halt doctoral admissions in the humanities for the next two years.”
Grad schools should halt doctoral admissions in the humanities for two years (opinion)
Higher Ed's Moment of Truth
[August 18, 2020] “Colleges confront what it means to bring students back to campuses as their fall plans become realities. Will many institutions make it through the fall without outbreaks?”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/18/after-spring-and-summer-planning-higher-ed-faces-its-moment-truth
'Boring and awkward': students voice concern as colleges plan to reopen – through Minecraft
[August 17, 2020] “The plan is for Johns Hopkins to provide students with measurements to create an accurate replica of campus in the game, which students can access through the university’s internal platform”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/17/minecraft-university-johns-hopkins-campus?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_1447923_nl_Daily-Briefing_date_20200818&cid=db&source=ams&sourceId=4853608
COVID-19: Boom or Bust for For-Profits?
[August 17, 2020] “Some for-profit colleges reported increased profitability and modest enrollment gains as the economy crashed in the second quarter, but it's still not clear whether the current pandemic and recession will turn around the fortunes of a sector that had been struggling.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/17/covid-19s-impact-profit-colleges-still-murky-second-quarter-earnings-arrive
The Deloitte COVID-19 Higher Ed Scenario Report
[August 17, 2020] “Should we adopt a three- to five-year time frame in thinking about The Low-Density University?”
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/deloitte-covid-19-higher-ed-scenario-report
Three- to Five-Year COVID-19 Scenarios and Higher Ed
[August 16, 2020] “Reflecting on the Deloitte report”
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/three-five-year-covid-19-scenarios-and-higher-ed
Don’t Make College Kids the Coronavirus Police
[August 12, 2020] “Many universities are asking students to wear masks and avoid parties — and to report on peers who break the rules. It could backfire.”
Snitching to authorities about your neighbor or roommates bad behavior? What could possibly go wrong? The authors of this opinion piece (a doctoral students and an assistant professor in the department of information science at Cornell University) describes the oh so many potential downsides of trying enlist or dragoon our students as morality police.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/opinion/coronavirus-college-reopening.html [paywall]
Wearing a neck gaiter may be worse than no mask at all, researchers find
[August 11, 2020] “[Duke] researchers unveiled a simple method to evaluate the effectiveness of various types of masks, analyzing more than a dozen different facial coverings ranging from hospital-grade N95 respirators to bandanas.”
Very simple methodology that uses a laser to illuminate particles given off when you speak.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/mask-test-duke-covid/2020/08/10/4f2bb888-db18-11ea-b205-ff838e15a9a6_story.html?hpid=hp_national1-8-12_neckgaiters-755am-1%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
How Covid-19 is reshaping international research collaboration
[August 11, 2020] “Three recent studies have unearthed interesting patterns by comparing cross-border working before and during the pandemic”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/how-covid-19-reshaping-international-research-collaboration
Monitoring Vital Signs for COVID-19
[August 11, 2020] “One university is planning to use wearable technology to track early signs of COVID on its campus. Privacy experts have a few concerns.”
Oakland University in Michigan is planning on using the technology this fall: “The BioButton is about the size of a half dollar. It's meant to be stuck onto the skin, near the upper chest. The button collects heart rate, skin temperature and respiratory rate at rest. Using a proprietary algorithm, the company claims the button can alert the wearer to very early signs of COVID-19, before symptoms arise or a diagnostic test would return positiver.
The university will not see student’s personal data but will be alerted of a potential problem by the company monitoring the bio data.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/11/university-use-wearable-tech-track-covid-campus
'Babar in the Room'
[August 11, 2020] “Faculty parents are once again being asked to perform a miracle: Get their students and their own kids through the semester in one piece. Does it have to be this way?”
Faculty parents are once again being asked to perform a miracle
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/11/faculty-parents-are-once-again-being-asked-perform-miracle
Big Ten Statement on 2020-21 Fall Season
[August 11, 2020] “The Big Ten Conference announced the postponement of the 2020-21 fall sports season, including all regular-season contests and Big Ten Championships and Tournaments, due to ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. ”
https://bigten.org/news/2020/8/11/general-big-ten-statement-on-2020-21-fall-season.aspx
Pac-12 Conference postpones all sport competitions through end of calendar year
[August 11, 2020] “The Pac-12 CEO Group voted unanimously to postpone all sport competitions through the end of the 2020 calendar year.”
https://pac-12.com/article/2020/08/11/pac-12-conference-postpones-all-sport-competitions-through-end-calendar-year
Alternative Credentials, Scaled Degrees, and the New Higher Ed Matthew Effect
[August 10, 2020] “The potential impact of elite-branded affordable online certificates and degrees on regionally-branded tuition-dependent colleges and universities.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/alternative-credentials-scaled-degrees-and-new-higher-ed-matthew-effect
This is what relentless propaganda will do
[August 10, 2020] “This is what relentless propaganda will do. Students don't know their real risks: ”
https://www.thecollegefix.com/bulletin-board/this-is-what-relentless-propaganda-will-do-most-incoming-freshman-have-groundless-fear-of-covid-19/
Packed dorms are risky. A student housing company still pressured colleges to not limit capacity
[August 8, 2020] “Corvias Property Management, a real estate company specializing in military and student housing, wrote to the University System of Georgia and Detroit’s Wayne State University in late May to remind the public school officials of their financial and legal burdens, saying that reducing the privatized college dorms’ capacity would hurt the bottom line of the partnership”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/08/packed-dorms-are-risky-student-housing-company-still-pressured-colleges-not-limit-capacity
Another problem with shifting education online: cheating
[August 7, 2020] “Data show the rate of cheating on tests is on the upswing”
https://hechingerreport.org/another-problem-with-shifting-education-online-cheating/
Faculty Preparedness for Fall 2020: Survey of More Than 800 Educators and Instructional Support Staff in Higher Ed Finds Uncertainty and Lack of Confidence with Institutional Plans
[August 6, 2020] “One out of three respondents are concerned about the overall level of effort their schools are taking to ensure health and safety of both students and instructors”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200806005204/en/Faculty-Preparedness-Fall-2020-Survey-800-Educators
Catfish: COVID-19
[August 4, 2020] “Scholars mourned the COVID-19-related death of a scientist who said she’d been forced to teach during the pandemic. Then they realized she probably wasn’t real.”
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/04/apparent-death-hoax-rocks-science-twitter
Covid-19 will be painful for universities, but also bring change
[August 8, 2020] “Universities are rightly proud of their centuries-old traditions, but their ancient pedigrees have too often been used as an excuse for resisting change. If covid-19 shakes them out of their complacency, some good may yet come from this disaster.”
“In Britain the Institute for Fiscal Studies (ifs) has calculated that a fifth of graduates would be better off if they had never gone to university. In America four in ten students still do not graduate six years after starting their degree—and, for those who do, the wage premium is shrinking. Across the world as a whole, student enrolment continues to grow, but in America it declined by 8% in 2010-18.”
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/08/08/covid-19-will-be-painful-for-universities-but-also-bring-change
The kids will forget: Custodians, housekeepers and other support staff brace for college re-openings
[August 4, 2020] "Penny Elliott watched them as they arrived - fresh-faced students and their parents carrying boxes, wheeling in suitcases and not wearing masks.
"Elliott's own mask was making it difficult for her to breathe as the late-morning sun began to bear down Friday, but the 37-year-old housekeeper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill refused to take it off. With three children to care for at home, getting sick was not an option, and neither was calling in sick."
"But with every corridor she cleaned as students filed past into their dorm rooms, Elliott couldn't help but worry. No one kept their distance. No one was wearing a mask, despite a university mandate.
Many of us have the option of working from home or behind the relative safety of plexiglass and face shields - and for only a few hours a week. Many of our colleagues on the staff, like Penny Elliot the housekeeper at UNC, face much greater risks, often with inferior PPE and in the company of thoughtless or careless students.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/04/kids-will-forget-custodians-housekeepers-other-support-staff-brace-college-reopenings/ [paywall]
Analysis: hundreds of colleges and universities show financial warning signs
[August 4, 2020] "Dozens of colleges and universities nationwide started 2020 already under financial stress. They'd spent the past decade grappling with declining enrollments and weakening support from state governments."
Using publicly available data, the Hechinger Report examined the health of over 2,600 U.S. institutions of higher education and found almost 20% to be at risk on at least two of four metrics evaluated. Want to find out how your school is doing or maybe the school where you are sending your kid? Here's the link (good luck!)
https://hechingerreport.org/analysis-hundreds-of-colleges-and-universities-show-financial-warning-signs/
Getting a college degree was their dream. Then their school suddenly closed
[August 4, 2020] "The coronavirus has thrown many colleges into financial crisis. Some students soon could experience the pain that hit Detroit's Marygrove College community"
Here is a link to colleges and universities that have closed since 2016 including ten so far in 2020.
https://hechingerreport.org/getting-a-college-degree-was-their-dream-then-their-school-suddenly-closed/
With higher ed in crisis, the lack of financial oversight is glaring
[August 4, 2020] "A Hechinger Report review of news reports since 2014 found more than 30 schools like Anamarc that announced their closings with little or no warning. Some students showed up to find a note on the door while others received an email in the middle of the day announcing that their school was closed, effective immediately"
https://hechingerreport.org/with-higher-ed-in-crisis-the-lack-of-financial-oversight-is-glaring/
What's the Likely Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Ed?
[August 4, 2020] "To learn about the effects of the pandemic on students' postsecondary persistence and trajectories as we approach the fall semester, we analyzed data from the Understanding America Survey "
Findings:
- Little impact of student plans for fall 2020.
- Many students facing much greater financial hardships.
- Negative impact on students from historically disadvantaged populations .
Recommendations:
"Policy makers should allow higher education institutions the leeway they need to adapt to the changing contexts of the pandemic. College and university administrators must be ready to adopt and adapt policy more flexibly than in any other year. And already disadvantaged students, as well as those personally adversely affected by the pandemic, will need more financial support if they are to enroll and persist."
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/08/04/analysis-data-national-survey-impact-pandemic-higher-ed-opinion
How higher education's own choices left it vulnerable to the pandemic crisis
[August 4, 2020] "Hiring sprees, low endowment returns, generous benefits continued as enrollment fell"
https://hechingerreport.org/how-higher-educations-own-choices-left-it-vulnerable-to-the-pandemic-crisis/
Cancel College Football or Pay the Players
[August 4, 2020] "What is the highest moral obligation of a university president?"
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/leadership-higher-education/cancel-college-football-or-pay-players
COVID-19 Roundup: Study Recommends Testing Every 2 Days
[August 3, 2020] "Experts say study offers "wake-up call" as to whether colleges are planning enough testing. Players push back on planned football season, and another college lays off faculty."
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/03/study-recommends-testing-students-every-two-days-college-football-players-push-back
Colleges Seek Waivers From Risk-Taking Students
[August 3, 2020] "As fall semester approaches, students are increasingly opposing liability waivers and "informed consent" agreements required by colleges as a condition of returning to campus"
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/03/students-asked-sign-liability-waivers-return-campus
When COVID-19 Forced Him to Teach Online,
[August 3, 2020] "How a Flipped Classroom, Journal Clubs, and "Ad-Lib" Conversations Kept Students Engaged"
https://narratives.insidehighered.com/covid-19-forced-him-to-teach-online/index.html
3 Things Covid-19 Will End In Higher Ed
[August 2, 2020] "It has been a challenge to think of five things this Covid-19 odyssey has knocked into the dustbin, college-wise. I only came up with three."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2020/08/02/3-things-covid-19-will-end-in-higher-ed/#41bd23d35f83
This New York Tech Professor Got Creative
[August 2, 2020] "A counterintuitively positive reflection on Jeff Selingo's new Atlantic article on academic staff."
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/learning-innovation/nonfaculty-educators-covid-19-and-facultystaff-divide
Can strategic alliances move higher education beyond its “Digital Dunkirk Moment” to build our next-generation learning infrastructure?
[August 1, 2020] “Seven of the Big Ten's 14 members agreed to participate this fall in the Big Ten Academic Alliance Online Course Sharing Program, which will allow students at the institutions to take one of an array of available courses from their peer institutions at no additional charge.”
https://www.tiaainstitute.org/about/news/can-strategic-alliances-move-higher-education-beyond-its-digital-dunkirk-moment-build
Union launches campaign to try to prevent more higher ed layoffs and a fall COVID-19 disaster
[August 1, 2020] "The Massachusetts Teachers Association is launching a multimedia campaign on Monday, accusing public higher education executives of failing to effectively advocate for funding from Congress and the state Legislature to avoid layoffs and a COVID-19 disaster this fall."
https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/07/31/union-launches-campaign-to-try-to-prevent-more-higher-ed-layoffs-and-a-fall-covid-19-disaster/
Survey: HBCU Students Struggling During Pandemic
[July 31, 2020] "Students at historically Black colleges and universities are having trouble with their mental well-being and financial stability due to the COVID-19 pandemic."
"More than one-third of students said they have experienced declines in their mental health due to the pandemic. Those students are three times more likely to consider transferring than those who have not experienced mental health issues."
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/07/31/survey-hbcu-students-struggling-during-pandemic
How to stop magical thinking in school reopening plans
[July 30, 2020] "The 2020-2021 school year is almost upon us - yet many districts around the country still don't know when or how they plan to do it."
While this blog post is about K-12, not higher education, much of the concerns apply. The author challenges many of the assumptions embedded in current plans for re-opening. For example, are the HVAC systems in place capable ofd filtering out the pathogen and, as is often apparently the case, they are not, then what would it cost to put in new HVAC and where will the money come from. Another assumption is that children and young people are less likely to get the disease or, if they do, to get seriously ill or die. True. But there are others at the university who are at much greater risk, as are parents, grandparents and the customers of students dependent on part time jobs.
Those are but two of a score or more examples to arm yourself with as you prepare yourself to attend online town halls with administrators.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/07/30/how-stop-magical-thinking-school-reopening-plans/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_higher-education
Unlocking the Value of College Real Estate
[July 27, 2020] "While the pandemic has created significant financial challenges for many higher education institutions, the campus itself may be the solution, Grace Winters and Elizabeth Levin write."
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/07/27/ideas-how-colleges-can-make-best-use-their-real-estate-financial-asset-opinion
------------------------------
Blake Ives
bives@mac.com------------------------------