Posts Categorized: News

Science Leaders Head to Biden White House

Comings and Goings ... Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research, were tapped by President-elect Joe Biden for top science roles in his administration. Lander, who co-chaired the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) for President Barack Obama for eight years until ...

Biden Looks to Connecticut for Next U.S. Ed Chief, Massachusetts House Speaker DeLeo Steps Down, Reportedly Seeking Northeastern University Post

Comings and Goings ... President-elect Joe Biden chose Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona to be the next U.S. education secretary, succeeding Betsy DeVos, the champion of private schools who served as secretary since the beginning of the Trump administration. Cardona, in contrast, was raised in a housing project in Meriden, Conn., where he attended the city’s public schools...

From the High Schools: More Troubling Demography News for New England

The number of new high school graduates in New England is expected to shrink by nearly 13% by 2037, according to the 10th edition of Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates, released this week by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Published by WICHE every four years, Knocking at the College Door is a widely recognized source of data and pr...

Hanno to Step Down at Wheaton

Comings and Goings ... Wheaton College President Dennis M. Hanno announced he will step down in late 2021, or earlier if a successor is named. Stonehill College appointed DeBrenna LaFa Agbényiga, the former  provost and vice president for academic affairs and professor of social work at Bowie State University in Maryland, to be the new provost and vice president for academic affairs a...

Emerson President Pelton to Lead Boston Foundation

Comings and Goings  ... The Boston Foundation named Emerson College President M. Lee Pelton to be the community foundation's next president and chief executive officer, effective in June 2021. He will succeed Paul Grogan, who led the foundation for nearly 20 years. In June, Pelton was named by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to lead the Boston Racial Equity Fund. Pelton taught English and America...

Conn. Regents Name New Interim Chief, Shanley Moves from Providence to NYC, and Former U.S. Rep. to Lead National For-Profit College Group

Comings and Goings ... The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Board of Regents appointed its provost and senior vice president for academic and student affairs, Jane McBride Gates, to serve as the system's interim president, while the board searches for a permanent replacement for outgoing President Mark Ojakian. Rev. Brian J. Shanley, who was president of Providence College from ...

More Capitol Steps for New Englanders?

Last week, Inside Higher Ed reported that "President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team is drawing significantly [from] the nation’s colleges and universities to prepare to take the reins of government on Jan. 20." A bit of déjà vu ... In Spring 2009, when Barack Obama was stocking his first administration, NEJHE ran an item headlined "New England Goes to D.C.," noting: "As they form t...

Last Academic Year, International College Student Enrollment Grew in Three New England States and Declined in Three … This Year Will Be Different

The total number of enrolled international students at New England colleges and universities increased by 2% at all academic levels in academic year 2019-20, according to the 2020 Open Doors Report on International Education Exchange. The study, published annually by IIE since 1948-49, and in partnership with the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs since 1972, ...

NEBHE Reports on Postsecondary Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in New England

Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. These words have dominated the national conversation in recent weeks. From the racial justice protests that have sprung up across the U.S. since the death of George Floyd, to the White House’s recent executive order against the “malign ideology” of diversity training efforts in federally funded programs, individuals from both sides of the political aisle have...

Berklee College of Music Appoints its First Female President

Comings and Goings ... Berklee College of Music named Erica Muhl, a composer who has led music and arts schools at the University of Southern California, to be its first female president, succeeding Roger Brown, who is stepping down after leading the college for 17 years. The University of Rhode Island named Gaurav Khanna, currently a physics professor at the University of Massachusetts Dart...