Posts Categorized: Economy

URI Hooks $11.5 Million to Boost Sustainable Fishing in Senegal

The Coastal Resources Center and the Fisheries Center at the University of Rhode Island were awarded a five-year, $11.5 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to help the sub-Saharan African country of Senegal promote sustainable fishing. Fishing has been an economic safety net in Senegal, which has created competing interests familiar in some parts of New England. Far...

Events: MECEP Lecture on America’s Midlife Crisis

Author and community organizer Michael Gecan of the Industrial Areas Foundation will deliver the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) Shepard Lee Lecture on "Building Community Power After America's Midlife Crisis" on Wednesday, May 4, at 5 p.m., at the University of Southern Maine's Wishcamper Center in Portland. Gecan's  most recent book, After America's Midlife Crisis (MIT Press 2009)...

UMaine Center Developing Wood Composites to Withstand Earthquakes, Bridges You Can Carry in Duffel Bags

The University of Maine's state-of-the-art Advanced Structures and Composites Center (AEWC) was awarded the Charles Pankow Award for Innovation by the American Society for Civil Engineering for its whimsically titled "Bridge-in-a-Backpack" technology. The technology allows builders to pack in duffel bags materials used to build arches for bridge spans and carry them to a construction site. They ca...

Doing Good and Doing Well: Performance-Based Funding in Higher Ed

The New England Board of Higher Education released a policy brief that encourages states to tie a portion of higher education appropriations to institutional outcomes. Currently, New England states tend to apportion institutional funding based on enrollment levels—a practice that rewards quantity, but not necessarily student success and degree attainment. From President Obama to private fou...

Pattenaude Emphasizes Higher Ed as Key in Maine

University of Maine System Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude emphasized the confluence of economic development and higher education in a joint session of the Maine state Senate and House of Representatives in his "State of the University" biennial address on March 30. “Historically, higher education has meant personal growth and discovery, creating and preserving knowledge, and helping our...

Bleeding at NE Statehouses: The Latest on Budgets

The author, NEBHE consultant and former director of the Caucus of New England State Legislatures Carolyn Morwick, notes that this update on state budgets was accurate as of March 29, but events are changing rapidly in the six state capitals. Connecticut Biennial Budget Gov. Dan Malloy’s two-year $40 billion budget calls for $1.5 billion in new taxes, which includes hikes in the sales an...

Faculty Raises Sluggish in Tough Economy

Median faculty pay did not increase this year at public colleges and universities, and inched up just 2% at private institutions, according to a study from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR).The CUPA-HR’s annual National Faculty Salary Survey covers more than 800 four-year institutions nationwide and includes salary data from well over 200,000 f...

Southeastern Massachusetts Conference to Explore College Readiness, Curriculum Alignment

More than 300 Southeastern Massachusetts secondary and postsecondary faculty and administrators are expected to discuss the high school-to-college transition and building a better-aligned P-20 curriculum at a conference on “Pathways to College Readiness and College Success,” to be held Wednesday, April 13, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the Indian Pond Country Club in Kingston, Mass.At...

Ed Secy Duncan Urges States and Districts to Drive Achievement and Increase Grad Rates as they Trim

Citing the “new normal” and impending budget cuts, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged state leaders to boost student achievement despite dwindling resources."There is a right way and a wrong way to cut spending, and the most important guiding principle I can offer is to minimize the negative impact on students and seize this opportunity to redirect your spending priorities," Du...

Despite Bad Press and Financial Hits, For-Profit Colleges Could Be Key Source of Transfers

In a recent article in Inside Higher Education, transfer expert Marc Cutright of the University of North Texas writes about the growing importance that four-year colleges and universities should place on students transferring from community college. Public colleges, led by community colleges, grant more than a half million associate degrees annually and the number grew by 27% over a decade. But wh...