By Dian Schaffhauser 11/29/11
Seven out of 10 undergraduate students attending the University of California, Riverside don't buy textbooks, preferring to rent them, rely on instructor-provided materials, or go without. More
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
University Business Leadership Institute 2012 Call for Presentations
June 11-13, 2012 at the Mirage, Las Vegas
https://promediagrp.wufoo.com/forms/ubtech-2012-call-for-presentations/
Submit your session proposal by January 2, 2012. Share your story and your vision with your higher ed colleagues!
Presentation submissions will be considered in the following areas...
• Campus Networks and Infrastructure
• Facilities Planning and Design
• Teaching and Learning Technologies
• Marketing Your Institution
• Financial Services
Your fellow presenters include...
• Temple Grandin, Educator, Inventor, Author & Time magazine Top 100 Influential People in the World
• Henry Eyring, Co-Author, The Innovative University
• Tony Bates, Author, Managing Technology in Higher Education
An engaged audience of...
1000+ higher ed leaders are expected to attend UBTech 2012. They are looking for real solutions, practical strategies and visionary thinking from leaders like you...
Dillard University College Student Inventory Advisor Training at Jackson State University
As part of our partnership with Jackson State University (JSU) with the Destination Graduation Policy Initiative, JSU is planning a training session for counselors and advisors using the College Student Inventory (CSI). Noel-Levitz staff will conduct the training. This training deals with the use of CSI data to better serve our students. Please visit, https://www.noellevitz.com/student-retention-solutions/retention-management-system-plus/college-student-inventory for additional information on the CSI.
The date of the workshop will be all day, Monday, December 12, 2011. I encourage as many faculty advisors to attend as possible. As you know, Dillard has been administering the CSI for many few years. This would be a great refresher training for those of you who are familiar and an excellent tool for those who are new to the university community.
JSU will provide van and driver to transport faculty and staff from Dillard University to Jackson State and back to campus on that day and will cover the cost of lunch as well. See attached agenda.
If you serve as an advisor and would like to attend, please send me a response via email by the close of business, Friday, December 2, 2011. Many thanks.
Alecia Cyprian, Ph.D.
Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management
Office of Enrollment Management
2601 Gentilly Boulevard
New Orleans, LA 70122
504.816.4398 phone
504.816.4895 fax
acyprian@dillard.edu
Tentative Agenda
9:00 The Retention Management System (RMS): A Conduit for Student Success
o The Value of Early Interventions
o Fostering Student Engagement with the CSI through Advisor and Student Conferences, Student Goal-Setting, Referrals
The College Student Inventory (CSI)
The Resulting Individual Reports
The Coordinator Report
The Advisor/Counselor Report
The Student Report
The Summary and Planning Report
10:00 Qualitative and Quantitative Aspects in Interpreting Reports
o Case Studies: A Small Group Exercise with Case Studies of Individual Reports
11:00 Fostering Student Engagement with the CSI through Advisor and Student Conferences, Student Goal-Setting, Referrals
o Facilitating the Advisor and Student Conference
Student Development Conversation Starters
Strength-Based Dialogues
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Extending the Intervention:
Group Outreach: The Summary and Planning Report
Individual Outreach: Making Appropriate and Relevant Referrals
Other Intervention Strategies
2:30 Early Intervention at Your College or University
3:45 Wrap-up
EDUCAUSE Podcast: Writing a Successful Proposal for a Conference Presentation
Created by Gerry Bayne (EDUCAUSE) on August 6, 2008
In this podcast, we feature insights from three academic professionals on writing a winning academic conference proposal. Our interviewees have submitted successful proposals of their own and served as proposal reviewers at various conferences as well. They give their take on what they look for in a submission and advice on approaching the writing process.
Our interviews include:
Elizabeth Unger, Vice Provost for Academic Services and Technology, Dean of Continuing Education, and Professor of Computing and Information Sciences at Kansas State University
Jeff Bullington, Data Services and Government Information Librarian at the University of Kansas
Veronica Diaz, Associate Director, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative
Dillard University Library Blog: Dillard University Library Hours for Fall 2011 Fin...
Dillard University Library Blog: Dillard University Library Hours for Fall 2011 Fin...: Sunday Dec 4th 1pm thru Midnight Monday Dec 5th 730am thru Midnight Tuesday Dec 6th 730am thru Midnight Wednesday Dec 7th 730am thru M...
Dillard University Saturday Science Academy 2012
November 29, 2011
Dear Parents, Principals, and Science and Mathematics Coordinators:
The next semester of the Saturday Science Academy will be held at Dillard University from February 11 through April 28, 2012. Sessions are held every every Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. throughout the semester. The program is sponsored by Dillard University's Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Over the next two years, it is our intention to provide educational enrichment for over 2,000 New Orleans students, grades 3-8, whether they attend public, private or parochial institutions, or are home-schooled. Our students will learn laboratory science, mathematics, computer science and creative expressions in science.
We would greatly appreciate your assistance in making your friends, students and teachers aware of our program. All applications must be received at the address below by 5 p.m. on Monday, February 6, 2012.
If you have any questions, please call me at (504) 816-4725. Thank you for your assistance in making this enrichment education program available to our children.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ruby L. Broadway
Director, Saturday Science Academy
rbroadway@dillard.edu
Please send applications to:
Attention: Saturday Science Academy
Dillard University
Stern Hall, Room 122-G
2601 Gentilly Boulevard
New Orleans, LA 70122
About the Saturday Science Academy:
The SSA is designed to improve minority student access to careers in science and engineering. The objectives of the project are to: 1) develop skills in the creative expression of scientific and mathematical ideas; 2) provide activities in the technical use of the computer to develop quantitative and analytical problem solving skills; 3) provide exposure to the scientific method in a laboratory setting where discovery and heuristic methods are utilized in observing, classifying and analyzing physical phenomena; 4) motivate and develop positive attitudes toward science, mathematics and engineering through direct exposure to role models; 5) improve precision and power in oral and written communication skills; and 6) establish coalitions between the university and public community organizations including the church to form a broad-based approach to solving the problems of the under-representation of minorities in science and technology.
Dillard University Choir to Host 75th Annual Holiday Concert, Perform at the White House
The Dillard University Choir will perform its 75th annual Holiday Concert on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. The concert, entitled “A Child Is Born,” will be held in Lawless Chapel on the Dillard University campus. As always, the Holiday Concert will be free and open to the public.
"The choir has endured many long hours in preparation for this concert,” said choir director S. Carver Davenport. “We will perform selections with orchestra that will portray this wonderful time of the year, such as "Hallelujah Chorus," arguably the most celebrated musical selection ever written. In addition, we will perform selections such as "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" by Felix Mendelssohn, "You Raise Me Up" as sung by Josh Groban, and Kurt Carr's "For Every Mountain," on which Jonte Landrum Thomas ("Sunday's Best" finalist on BET) will be the lead singer with the choir.”
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
University Business: 'Culture Of Hazing' Fatal For Florida A&M U's Robert Champion, Attorney Says
Family members of a Florida A&M University marching band member who died in Orlando following a suspected hazing attack announced a lawsuit against the university during a news conference Monday in Atlanta.
Attorney Christopher Chestnut, who is representing Robert Champion's family, said FAMU is being sued because "all the evidence points to the fact that hazing was a cause in the drum major's death and it happened on FAMU's watch."
"The culture of hazing is don't ask, don't tell," said Chestnut, who was joined by Champion's parents. "The family is saying, please tell."
Chestnut said the pervasive culture of hazing is "being protected at FAMU." FAMU didn't immediately respond to comment. But FAMU president James Ammons spoke publicly shortly after Champion's death, denouncing hazing and announcing a task force to investigate and end hazing. He fired the band's longtime director Julian White several days later.
Orlando Sentinel
Inside Higher Ed: Working Into the Sunset
November 29, 2011 - 3:00am
By Elizabeth Murphy
Survey finds many higher education employees feel overwhelmed and underprepared when it comes to planning for retirement, with almost half reporting they will never retire.
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/11/29/survey-documents-retirement-worries-higher-ed-employees#ixzz1f9w4Gvz0
eLearners.com: How Your Program's Accreditation May Impact Your Career
Below are some of the most popular fields of study that have program-level accreditation.
1. Interested in Business? Find out if your program has been reviewed by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE), or the Accreditation Council for Business Schools, and Programs (ACBSP).
2. To practice as an Engineer, your employer may require that your degree program was evaluated by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
3. Before enrolling in a Nursing program, make sure it's been accredited by either the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC).
4. Employers may ask if your Physical Therapy degree program was reviewed by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
5. If you want to practice clinical Psychology, be sure to check out which degree programs have been accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA).
6. Teachers eligible to work in public school systems may need to have earned a degree that has been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
Understand Accreditation
Confused about how accreditation may affect you? The most important fact you need to know about accreditation is ... Read more
Research Your Career Options
Unsure about what kinds of jobs may suit you? Before evaluating degree programs and schools, it's best to ... Read more
Simple K12 Webinars: The Secret to a Successful Classroom
What's the secret to a successful classroom? A great teacher, of course! And our education experts from all over the world are here to bring you their advice in our upcoming webinars.
All Sessions Are Free - Register Now!
We know you want the best for your students and are always looking for new ideas to freshen up your lesson plans.
So sit back, relax, and get some free professional development with our upcoming webinars.
We call it PD in your PJ's - And the best part is - you have free access to upcoming SimpleK12 webinars on our webinars page!
Coming Up This Week
iPad Implementation: One School's Story
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/469990794
Motivating Students with Digital Magic
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/447510106
Showcase Your Talents: Building ePortfolios for Teachers and Students
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/390717282
December 2011
5 Steps to Begin Harnessing the Power of Cells in Ed Today
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/975369746
Mobile Apps for Creating Special Holiday Gifts
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/627205634
Google Sites: Web Sites Made Simple, Part 2
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/352195266
Administrator Toolkit: Web Tools for Communication
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/657285210
Bring Shakespeare to Life with Online Discussions
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/472681394
Empowering Kids to Make a Global Difference
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/813733082
Exploring Digital Citizenship: Teaching Copyright Issues
Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/752773874
Mark Your Calendars for December 13th
December 13th is the next Day of Learning - a free online conference focused on enhancing your teaching techniques.
The SimpleK12 Team
Twitter: @SimpleK12 and @TLC_edu
HBCUDigest.com: Howard to debut SiriusXM Channel “HUR Voices” on December 1st
Howard University Radio will debut its SiriusXM satellite channel “HUR Voices” on Dec. 1, pioneering the way for HBCU-related radio content to reach a nationwide audience. The channel will feature content produced for the campuses terrestrial station, WHUR 96.3, and will feature new shows and personalities for the satellite edition.
Howard owns and operates one of the few university-owned commercial stations in the US, WHUR-FM, which programs for a largely urban African-American audience in Washington, DC and celebrates its 40th anniversary on Dec. 10. The university’s new satellite channel is called H.U.R. Voices and will air a mix of programs produced at WHUR, like the daily public affairs program “Daily Drum,” along with new programs produced for SiriusXM.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS: 2012 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR THE SOCIETY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
www.universitas.hr/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/stlhe.pdf
Centre Mont-Royal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
June 19 - 22, 2012
The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) invites proposals for presentations at its 32nd Annual International Conference - “Learning without boundaries? Apprentissage sans limites?”
The theme of this conference is learning without boundaries. Questions to explore include:
• Does learning have boundaries?
• What boundaries do we have or need?
• Are boundaries productive? Constructive? Liberating?
• Which boundaries need to be re-drawn, crossed, broken or maintained?
The theme invites participants to expand their boundaries and /or bridges in areas related to:
• Research
• Teaching practices
• Learning environments
• Language, culture, and disciplines
• Learning support services such as: libraries, student services, service learning, stages/internships
Deadline
All proposals must be submitted by midnight Thursday January 19, 2012.
More Information
For more information and the full Call for Proposals, please visit the Conference website: www.mcgill.ca/stlhe2012sapes
Effi Kaoukis
STLHE 2012 Conference Administrator
McGill University
Teaching and Learning Services
McLennan Library Building
3459 McTavish St, MS 12
Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1Y1
Tel: (514) 398-5670
Fax: (514) 398-8465
Email: stlhe2012sapes@mcgill.ca
Website: www.mcgill.ca/stlhe2012sapes
Tomorrow's Professor: Tenure Reconsidered (a Bit) - Scholarship was reconsidered. Tenure, not so much
That's the conclusion of a new book, The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Reconsidered: Institutional Integration and Impact (Jossey-Bass),[http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470599081.html] the latest in a series of examinations by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching of the impact (potential and realized) of the late Ernest Boyer's 1990 work, Scholarship Reconsidered.
The new book is full of examples of the impact of Scholarship Reconsidered -- in the work of faculty members at all kinds of institutions. Further, the new book argues that the ideas of Scholarship Reconsidered could dovetail nicely with the assessment movement, given that both focus on student learning outcomes. But the work being released this week finds mixed results when it comes to applying Scholarship Reconsidered to the tenure and promotion process -- and acknowledges that this reality may be holding back efforts to institutionalize Boyer's ideas.
Boyer's central idea in the book was to question the dichotomy of teaching and research as separate, largely unrelated functions. He promoted the idea of "the scholarship of teaching" in which the rigors of controlled experiments, peer review, and sustained research would be applied to pedagogy -- from the redesign of courses to developing entirely new curriculums or rethinking a classic textbook. Central to his thinking was that colleges and universities needed to reward such contributions -- and to do so not just in the teaching and service portions of the teaching/research/service split of promotion criteria. Rather, Boyer and his supporters have argued, these contributions should be seen -- just as a lab breakthrough or a monograph might -- as research contributions to a discipline.
But that's not happening with any consistency, the new book says.
"[T]here remains a troubling gap between rhetoric about teaching's value and the realities of teaching's recognition and reward," write the three authors, Pat Hutchings, director of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning; Mary Taylor Huber, a senior scholar emerita at the Carnegie Foundation; and Anthony Ciccone, a professor of French and director of the Center for Instructional and Professional Development at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.
Even amid widespread interest in applying the ideas of the scholarship of learning, they write that progress will be held back, and careers will not be rewarded appropriately, without change.
"This work must be recognized and rewarded in systems of faculty evaluation if it is to influence what larger numbers of faculty (not just heroes, saints and martyrs) see as possible and desirable to do in their roles as teachers, citizens of their institutions and disciplines, and contributors to knowledge," the book says.
Within the faculty reward rubric, the authors write, Boyer's ideas have contributed to a more systematic approach to evaluating teaching. But there has been very limited adoption of his ideas in the evaluation of research (for those who wish to count such contributions as research). Even with some policies that encourage faculty members to do so, the book says that "campus leaders are quick to point out that recognition for the scholarship of teaching and learning as research is by no means yet assured."
The book calls for campus leaders to develop specific policies and timelines to assure that this changes, but the book acknowledges that change could continue to be slow.
In an interview, Huber, one of the authors, stressed that she did see real progress in considering the scholarship of teaching and learning with regard to evaluating teaching. Boyer's ideas have resulted in reviews of teaching that are "so much more than student evaluations," she said.
Counting these contributions as research is more difficult, Huber acknowledged. She noted that, in many cases, colleges have general policies, and leave it to academic departments to define how to carry out those policies. "Until recently, you could easily have committees where very few people other than the person under consideration for tenure was knowledgeable about these approaches," she said.
Huber said that she is hopeful that change will spread, and that more faculty members will be awarded tenure or promotions on the basis of their scholarship of teaching. "But the progress is uneven and difficult to track," she said. One goal for the book is to encourage more discussion of these issues, so that the progress may be less uneven in the future, she said.
CUR Dialogues 2012 - Last Chance for Discounted Registration
February 23-25, 2012
Hamilton Crowne Plaza
Washington, D.C.
Early Registration Deadline - December 1, 2011
CUR Dialogues is designed to bring faculty and administrators to Washington, D.C. to interact with federal agency program officers and other grant funders.
Workshops and Plenary Sessions will:
• tell participants about grant opportunities in research and education, both new and ongoing;
• assist faculty learn how to find new funding opportunities;
• assist faculty develop grant proposal writing skills.
Participants will:
• meet in small groups and talk with program officers and grants management officers -- NSF, NIH, NEH, NEA, Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Ed, and more;
• take the opportunity to communicate directly with program officers and grants administrators concerning grant requirements and funders’ priorities;
• share ideas with colleagues.
In addition, CUR Dialogues provides a setting for funders to learn of the interests, needs, and concerns of researchers and educators relative to funding opportunities. CUR Dialogues has spawned many ideas for grant programs, and have helped agencies to refine their program guidelines.
Who should attend: Faculty at all career stages; undergraduate research directors; grants administrators; development officers.
For more information visit the CUR Dialogues information page.
Council on Undergraduate Research
734 15th St, NW, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20005
www.cur.org
cur@cur.org
(202)783-4810
(202)783-4811 fax
Monday, November 28, 2011
Diverse Issues in Higher Education: Black-owned Newspapers Join HBCUs, Black Churches in HIV/AIDS Fight
November 21, 2011
by B. Denise Hawkins
Saying that “we have been silent for too long,” a group of African-American newspaper publishers have enlisted the support of Black colleges and churches as they prepare to wage a war against HIV/AIDS using their own media outlets to inform readers, advocate for prevention, and hopefully save lives.
By next January, the publishers of more than 50 Black newspapers, most of them weeklies, in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi say they plan to start regularly carrying advertising, running columns, publishing news stories, and posting video on their official websites that address the AIDS crisis and what their readers can do to protect themselves against the disease.
The region these papers represent—the southeast—is where more than 41 percent of those living with AIDS in the United States reside and where the highest number of new AIDS cases is reported, a 2010 report from the Southern AIDS Coalition found.
Meharry Medical College, NIMHD/Health Disparities Research Center in Nashville, Tenn., was the co-sponsor of the annual meeting of publishers and owners, representing the southeast region of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA). Their annual meeting in Orlando, 17-18 November, was devoted to education about HIV/AIDS and the escalation in rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The Southeast Region Publishers’ HIV/AIDS Awareness Conference: Caring for Communities of Color brought together more than 80 Black college students and their advisers, HIV/AIDS scientists, faculty, clergy and members of the Black Press to heighten awareness and begin a dialogue around a disease that’s now in its 30th year.
“We are committed to telling these stories and educating our communities,” said the Rev. Dr. R.B. Holmes Jr., president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Southeast Region and publisher of the Capital Outlook in Tallahassee, Fla.
“The strategy for our papers is going to be to write about it (HIV/AIDS), tweet about it, blog about it, teach it, and preach it. No longer will the Black Press be silent when it comes to HIV/AIDS,” Holmes added.
About a dozen HBCUs were in attendance. During the conference, the publishers also began discussions about extending NNPA membership to Black college newspapers.
Holmes said the HIV/AIDS “movement” being launched by the NNPA will include working with HBCU campus newspapers, radio and television stations, fraternities and sororities, and administrators, all necessary resources for delivering important HIV/AIDS prevention and education messages to college students who account for about 55 percent of all HIV infections among those ages 13 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Participants also heard about another troubling young population group at high risk for contracting HIV—African-American men (13-29) who have sex with men or MSMs. These males accounted for 14 percent of new infections in 2009, said Dr. Donald Alcendor, an HIV scientist with the Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College, who described his presentation, “An Overview of HIV/AIDS,” as scientifically based and often “hard-hitting.”
Locally in Nashville, teens, their parents and teachers have been a special focus of Meharry’s HIV/AIDS education outreach in the community, added Alcendor, who regularly brings these students to the campus and into his research.
“We are prepared to share the outreach model that we developed at Meharry with the NNPA. The model doesn’t have to be focused on teens, but, when you see the number of new infections among 13- to 29-year-old Black youth and men having sex with men, they may want to use it,” Alcendor said.
Holmes said the publishers are also looking to Meharry for models and resources that can help HBCU students make healthy life choices, including being tested for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.
Melva Lisa McDonald-McGee, M.Ed., who directs the HBCU Wellness Project/CoverKids Initiative at Meharry, and Dr. Wilbert C. Jordan, an associate professor of internal medicine at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, also led conference workshops.
“This was truly an exciting marriage,” said Dr. Pat Matthews-Juarez, a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Meharry Medical College of the first-ever gathering that brought together those she said who are not often at the same table when it comes to mobilizing around HIV/AIDS in the Black community—religious leaders, academics, students, researchers and the media.
Matthews-Juarez, a conference organizer and presenter, said “we provided them with plain talk about HIV/AIDS as well as scientific talk that got translated in a way that everyone could understand, take back with them, and use.”
As African-Americans, who account for more than 50 percent of all new cases of HIV, continue to bear the most severe burden of the disease, Matthews-Juarez said stepped-up education is needed to “eliminate and reduce the number of new cases we are seeing in the Black community and among our college students.”
CMHDRE's Fifth Health Disparities Conference
http://xula.the1joshuagroup.com/Support_Files/Flyer.pdf
Achieving Health Equity through Access, Advocacy, Treatment, and Policy Development
March 6-8, 2012 :: New Orleans, Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy's Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education (CMHDRE) will host its Fifth Health Disparities Conference March 6-8, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Conference participants will include clinicians (pharmacists, nurses, physician assistants, and other allied health professionals), health policy makers, health educators, and public and community health leaders whose work incorporates the use of mid-level providers to build partnerships to eliminate health disparities and improve health equity.
This conference titled, Achieving Health Equity through Access, Advocacy, Treatment, and Policy Development, will include discussions on successful multidisciplinary models for improved health systems outcomes. Previous conference attendee evaluations indicated that the abstract podium presentations enhanced the effectiveness of the conference and helped to stimulate discussions surrounding effective clinical strategies, basic science, health policy and research disciplines, and most importantly, the significant role of mid-level providers and interdisciplinary collaborations. Our planning committee will continue to build on this momentum as we develop content for the 2012 Conference.
We invite your submission of abstracts to be considered for poster and podium presentations. Abstracts should be submitted no later than Friday, January 13, 2012. >>more information on abstract submissions<<
We look forward to your continued support of programming from the CMHDRE!
Sincerely,
Kathleen B. Kennedy, PharmD - Program Chair
About CMHDRE
The mission of the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education (CMHDRE) is to provide the infrastructure required to conduct research. In addition, the center is charged with providing basic, clinical, and behavioral experiential training and community outreach education aimed at eliminating health disparities. The overarching goals of the CMHDRE are to: a) provide an environment to support and strengthen research interest and activities of current and new faculty members related to health disparities with a focus on diabetes and cancer; b) develop student-oriented programs to support and promote student involvement in research activities; and c) integrate health promotion, education, and disease prevention into primary care services. Accomplishing these goals will increase the ability of the College to produce a pool of well-educated health professionals and biomedical researchers attuned to the issues of disparities research.
Funding for this conference was made possible [in part] by Grant Number 5 S21 MD 000100-11 from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Leonard Jack, Jr., PhD, MSc - Program Co-Chair
Anne R. Barbre, PhD - Planning Committee Chair
http://xula.the1joshuagroup.com/
The Chronicle of Higher Education: Overpayments on Pell Grants Have Dropped by Millions of Dollars, White House Says
November 15, 2011
By Kelly Field
Changes in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid that let applicants import information directly from their federal income-tax returns have reduced Pell Grant overpayments by $300-million since 2010, the White House announced on Tuesday.
The news was part of a broader announcement by the Obama administration that it had cut improper payments by more than $20-billion, largely in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. A statement from the White House attributed the improvements to "more robust audits," new technologies, and better partnerships with states.
Over the last two years, the government wide payment-error rate has fallen from 5.4 percent to 4.7 percent, according to the statement. The administration is on pace to prevent $50-billion in improper payments by 2012, it said.
Allowing students to import tax information into the student-aid form, known as the Fafsa, can reduce the transcription errors that occur when parents and students copy the information by hand. It also eases the process for first-generation students and others unfamiliar with applying for student aid.
Tuesday's announcement came less than a month after the Education Department sent a letter to colleges urging them to help protect the federal student-aid programs from fraud. The department is expected to announce steps that it will take to crack down on "fraud rings" soon.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Academic Impressions Conference: Bringing Mobile Learning to Your Institution
February 20-22, 2012 Houston, TX
Create a plan for implementing and developing mobile learning on your campus.
Mobile devices are increasingly popular on college campuses and are becoming more functional as access to high bandwidth grows. Using portable mobile learning devices like tablets (iPads, Amazon Fire, Android, etc.) and smartphones (iPhones, Androids, etc.), students are capable of accessing educational content, activities, and services from anywhere and at any time.
Program Brochure (pdf)
Pricing & Registration
Agenda
Join us at this working conference to examine the decisions that need to be made when building and implementing m-learning and when creating interactive and collaborative learning activities for use on mobile devices.
Our expert instructors will help you develop planning guidelines for your institution framed around six key areas:
• Objectives
• Audience
• Budget
• Instructional strategies
• Stakeholders
• Technology
Please plan to bring your mobile device(s) to the conference as you will be actively engaged in hands-on understanding and activities. Conference proceedings will be made available to you online and on a flash drive.
BRING YOUR TEAM, REGISTER TODAY
Building and implementing mobile learning requires both institutional commitment and the combined efforts of multiple departments to effectively meet the needs of all stakeholders. We encourage you to send teams that include representatives from a variety of departments that would benefit from the planning guidelines presented at this workshop.
Register for this event online or call 720.488.6800. Register three people from your institution and the fourth can attend for free. Questions? Call us to determine if this event is right for you.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education: National Report Card Shows Only a Third of Country’s Fourth- and Eighth-Graders Proficient in Reading and Math
November 2, 2011
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
In a situation that calls into question the United States’ ability to meet its ambitious college completion goals, a national “report card” released Tuesday shows that only about one-third of the country’s fourth- and eighth-graders were proficient in 2011 in reading and math.
The numbers were even more dire for African-American and Hispanic students. Among those groups, the proficiency rates ranged from 24 percent to as low as 13 percent.
Such are the findings of The Nation’s Report Card, which are based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, an ongoing project of the National Center for Education Statistics.
Though the report card doesn’t frame the findings based on what they mean for the future of higher education in the United States, the report card provides a snapshot of the current levels of proficiency for students who will represent the Class of 2015 and the Class of 2019.
Experts say the lackluster proficiency results among these groups show that serious obstacles lie in the path of the Obama administration’s “2020 goal” to restore the United States to its former prominence as the nation with the highest proportion of college degree holders in the world.
“You won’t reach a college completion goal with 80 percent of students not proficient,” said John Michael Lee Jr., policy director at the College Board’s Advocacy & Policy Center.
“You’re not going to reach your STEM goals if they’re not proficient in math. You’re not going to reach any of your national goals that way.”
Though Lee hadn’t personally reviewed the latest NAEP results, he based his comments on the fact that the latest numbers were similar to what they’ve been in the past.
The latest figures from the 2011 nation’s report card show that:
- Only 17 percent and 18 percent of Black and Hispanic fourth-graders, respectively, were proficient or better in reading, compared with 44 percent of White fourth-graders.
- Similarly, only 15 percent and 19 percent of Black and Hispanic eighth-graders, respectively, were proficient in reading, compared with 43 percent of White students.
- Only 17 percent and 24 percent of Black and Hispanic fourth-graders were proficient in math, compared with 52 percent of White students.
- Only 13 percent and 20 percent of Black and Hispanic eighth-graders were proficient in math, compared with 44 percent of White students.
The numbers released Tuesday reflect little change from 2009, the last comparative year.
Nationally, 34 percent of all fourth-graders were proficient in reading in 2011, up slightly from 33 percent in 2009. Similarly, 34 percent of eighth-graders were proficient in reading in 2011, up from 32 percent in 2009.
In math, 40 percent of the nation’s fourth-graders were proficient in math, up from 39 percent in 2009. Among eighth-graders, 35 percent were proficient in math, compared with 34 percent in 2009.
Dr. David Driscoll, former commissioner of education in Massachusetts and chairman of the executive committee of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the NAEP, also sounded alarms about what the NAEP results mean for higher education.
“Fifty percent of Black eighth-graders and 40 percent of Hispanic eighth-graders are below basic achievement level in math,” Driscoll said Tuesday in a web conference with reporters. “This means they still have difficulty doing basic arithmetic. Students doing math at that level will have trouble doing algebra they need to be able to do in college.”
Asian students outscored all racial and ethnic groups, although a number of Asian academics in the United States said recently that the high performance of some Asian students masked the underperformance of various Asian subgroups.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called the 2011 increases part of a “pattern of modest progress” that followed more significant gains in the 1990s.
“The modest increases in NAEP scores are reason for concern as much as optimism,” Duncan said in his statement. “While student achievement is up since 2009 in both grades in mathematics and in eighth-grade reading, it’s clear that achievement is not accelerating fast enough for our nation’s children to compete in the knowledge economy of the 21st century.”
Duncan’s statement also veered into the political, specifically, the issue of teacher jobs. He pointed out that $30 billion in the proposed, but stalled, American Jobs Act would be devoted to “keep teachers in the classroom and off the unemployment line.”
Another $30 billion, the education secretary said, would be used to repair and modernize schools in order to create “21st century learning environments in America’s antiquated school buildings.”
Duncan also touted the fact that the Obama administration offers flexibility in the form of waivers from No Child Left Behind.
Various members of the National Governing Assessment Board, which oversees the NAEP, offered a variety of insights into and solutions the problems revealed in The Nation’s Report Card.
Board member Doris Hicks, principal and CEO of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology in New Orleans, spoke of various efforts her school makes in order to make reading more fun and exciting for its students. These efforts include “Jazzed Up Reading” where a jazz band performs and students make commitments to increase their reading levels. She also encouraged more parents to read to their children at home.
For Lee, of the College Board, the NAEP results point to a need for greater emphasis in providing a quality education at the pre-K level.
Citing research that shows minority students with access to quality pre-K instruction tend to do better than their peers without such instruction, Lee said the K-12 system is not good at catching students up.
“It’s a challenge once a student is behind as to how do you ensure they’re able to catch up,” Lee said, citing additional research that shows catch-up becomes more difficult with time. “That’s something I don’t think we’ve figured out how to do.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education: Academic Libraries Expand Their Publishing Services, but With Limited Resources
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/academic-libraries-expand-their-publishing-services-but-with-limited-resources/34086
November 1, 2011
By Jennifer Howard
Publishing services offered by academic libraries are “expanding and professionalizing,” says a new report based on a survey of library directors at research and liberal-arts institutions. But those publishing operations are often still hampered by a lack of full-time staffing and by the small scale of much of what they do.
The survey went out to top librarians at the 223 member institutions of the Association of Research Libraries. It also went to library heads at the 80 or so liberal-arts colleges that belong to the Oberlin Group and at some 25 institutions in the University Libraries Group. The full report, “Library Publishing Services: Strategies for Success,” has been posted online for public comment here here. (Comments close at the end of the year, and a final version will be released early in 2012.) A PDF can be downloaded here.
In good news for advocates of library-based publishing, the report says that more than half of all respondents reported that their institutions have developed or are developing library-based publishing services, and that faculty demand for those services is high. Charles Watkinson, director of Purdue University Press—a unit of Purdue Libraries—has been closely involved in the survey process.
“Libraries are finding a lot of faculty demand in the area of new types of publication, especially in the digital-humanities field,” Mr. Watkinson said. “And they’re also finding an opportunity to professionalize how what has traditionally been viewed as gray literature is being published.” (Gray literature refers to working papers, technical reports, conference proceedings, and other material that traditional publishing tends not to handle.)
Library-based publishing programs “were originally founded to shake up the scholarly communication system,” and the survey showed that most remain strongly committed to open access, Mr. Watkinson told The Chronicle. But open-access publishing has a pragmatic appeal. It tends to be easier and more economical for library publishing programs that are understaffed.
Many are. The report identifies a lack of adequate staffing as a standing barrier to the success of library-based publishing. Many libraries don’t have a full-time employee dedicated to publishing.
“Without a full-time champion, it’s hard to get these things off the ground,” Mr. Watkinson said. “One of the issues here is that library schools are not preparing people with publishing skills. They’re not preparing librarians to fill these roles. And libraries are behind the times in establishing dedicated library-publishing positions.” Several institutions, including the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Columbia University, are notable exceptions.
The report confirmed that most library-based publishing tends to be campus-focused, Mr. Watkinson said. Library publishing often draws on partnerships with academic departments or other campus units—but only sometimes with university presses. “The main collaboration with university presses is at a very minor level, and it tends to be around the digitization of backlist,” he said. “It’s not at a strategic level.”
Many institutions don’t have a university press at all. In any case, presses tend to have very different revenue models than libraries do. That can make it hard to work together, Mr. Watkinson said. “A major insight of the report is it’s just not possible to have those relations with one’s university press” much of the time, he said. “But this is a topic of major interest to the university presses.” For instance, the Association of American University Presses now has a committee dedicated to library-press relations, and in some cases, like Purdue’s, the press reports to the library.
The report was prepared by a team of library administrators and consultants on behalf of the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition, or Sparc, with support from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, Berkeley Electronic Press, and Microsoft Research. The deans of the libraries at Purdue University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Utah were the principal investigators on the project.
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