Posts Categorized: Newslink Topic

A Lesson in Costs

At NEBHE's recent board meeting in Stowe, Vt., University of Vermont President Tom Sullivan gave a brief lesson on higher education cost drivers. The top cost drivers, Sullivan said, at least at bricks-and-mortar institutions like his, are: 1) compensation of faculty and staff, including employee benefits; 2) student financial aid; 3) facilities of quality to attract students, includin...

Mass Higher Ed Commish to Step Down; Reid to Leave Saint Joseph Presidency

Comings and Goings ... Massachusetts Higher Education Commissioner Richard M. Freeland told the state Board of Higher Education that he will leave his post at the end of the 2014–15 academic year. Freeland has been a member of NEBHE's board since his appointment as Massachusetts chancellor in 2009. As chancellor and in his previous role as president of Northeastern University, Freeland wr...

NEBHE’s Latest Advanced Manufacturing PBL News Includes Look at Curriculum Alignment

NEBHE published the fourth edition of Advanced Manufacturing Problem Based Learning (AM PBL) News. NEBHE in September 2012 was awarded a three-year $900,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a New England-wide project titled Problem Based Learning (PBL) in Advanced Manufacturing: Transforming 21st Century Technician Education. Funding is provided through the NSF’s Advance...

New England Higher Ed Group to Honor Head of New England Council Among Annual Excellence Awardees

New England Council President James T. Brett will be among luminaries recognized by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) in March 2015 at the regional organization's 13th annual New England Higher Education Excellence Awards. Each year, NEBHE presents Regional Excellence Awards to individuals and organizations that have shown exceptional leadership on behalf of higher education and th...

Remedying NEBHE’s Journal Piece on Developmental Math: A Letter to the Editor

Mike Winders and Richard Bisk raise many important points in their recent article for the NEBHE Journal, but curiously choose to ignore the substance of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education’s (BHE) policy on developmental math that followed a careful review of task force recommendations. Their characterization of the BHE policy is simply misleading. I believe we would agree, however, ...

Underemployed? Key Labor Market Think Tank at Northeastern Shuts Down

The influential Northeastern University think tank that authored several NEJHE articles in recent decades ended it operations this month. The closing of the Center for Labor Market Studies follows the retirement last summer of its director Andrew Sum, who had launched the center in 1979 with a U.S. Department of Labor grant. In 2011, Paul Harrington, who co-directed the center from 1980 to 2010, ...

Lumina to Hold Webcast on New “Degree Qualifications Profile”

Lumina Foundation will convene education experts nationwide for a webcast on Wednesday, Oct. 8, marking the launch of a new version of the Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP). The profile defines clear learning outcomes for associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees that reflect a quality postsecondary education which will serve students well as they prepare for further educ...

Spaulding to Lead Vermont State Colleges

Comings and Goings ... Vermont Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding was named the next chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges, replacing chancellor Tim Donovan who will retire at the end of this year. Before joining the governor's staff in 2011, Spaulding spent 16 years in the Vermont State Senate and eight as state treasurer. He founded Montpelier's WNCS-FM in 1976 and served as the stati...

Massachusetts Legislature Ends Session Able to Continue Tuition Freeze at UMass, but not Elsewhere

State Capital Notes ... In 2013, Gov. Deval Patrick was often at loggerheads with legislators on big-ticket items, including education funding and transportation. In 2014, the atmosphere was more cordial. Just prior to the close of the 2013-14 legislative session, lawmakers sent a $36.5 billion FY 2015 budget to the governor. The governor and legislators agreed on a spending plan with no new ta...

RI Governor, Lawmakers Take Steps to Boost Ocean State’s Economy, Extend Tuition Freeze

State Capital Notes … Gov. Lincoln Chafee and state legislators closed out the six-month legislative session by approving an $8.7 billion budget for fiscal year 2015, taking steps they believe will turn the state’s economy around and put people back to work. Rhode Island has the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. at 8.3%. The budget plan fills a $67 million gap, which includes $24...