RIP Joseph M. Cronin (1935-2020)

New England higher education lost another giant last week when Joseph M. Cronin died at age 85. The former president of Bentley College (now University) and first Massachusetts secretary of education, Joe Cronin was a longtime friend of NEBHE and a frequent contributor to NEJHE. Many of his articles for the journal focused on equity. His book reviews read like smart histories of higher educa...

House Passes Pandemic Recovery Bill; CDC Issues New Guidance for Higher Ed

DC Shuttle ... House Passes $2.2 Trillion Recovery Legislation. The U.S. House of Representatives passed pandemic recovery support legislation (H.R. 8406). Though it is unlikely to become law in its current form, this legislation serves as a benchmark for Democrats in negotiations with the Trump administration and Senate Republicans. Democratic leaders said they wanted to outline their negotiat...

Den of Inequities … Data Connection

Among 112 New England colleges and universities surveyed by the Boston Globe, number with a Black athletic director: 5 Boston Globe Among New England's 58 collegiate football programs, number led by Black head coaches: 2 Boston Globe Percentage of American adults who had an interaction with a police officer in the past year and say the interaction was an overall positive experience: 75% ...

NEBHE Announces Transfer Guarantee Agreement with Connecticut Community Colleges and Independent Institutions

NEBHE announced that eight Connecticut four-year independent institutions and all 12 of the state's community colleges signed onto the Connecticut Independent College Transfer Guarantee (Connecticut Guarantee). Supported by grants from the Teagle Foundation and the Davis Educational Foundation, the Connecticut Guarantee is a statewide effort to establish systematic transfer pathways between Con...

New York Public Radio Leader Steps in as Bennington Prez; Head of Region’s Oldest Catholic College Announces He’ll Step Down

Comings and Goings ... Media executive Laura R. Walker, recognized for transforming New York Public Radio (NYPR) into a media powerhouse, began as president of Bennington College. She succeeds Mariko Silver, who stepped down in July 2019, and Isabel Roche, who served for the past year as interim president. The Rev. Philip L. Boroughs announced he will step down at the end of the academ...

House Committee Reports Out Apprenticeships Bill

DC Shuttle ... House Marks Up Apprenticeship Legislation. The House Education and Labor Committee held a markup of the National Apprenticeship Act (H.R. 8294), reporting the legislation out of committee by a vote of 26 to 16. The bill would reauthorize and make changes to the National Apprenticeship Act, which was originally passed in 1937. The bill would invest nearly $3.5 billion ...

Fixing FAFSA

DC Shuttle ... Senate Holds FAFSA Hearing.  The Senate Health, Education Labor & Pensions Committee held a hearing entitled "Time to Finish Fixing the FAFSA." The hearing could be the last education hearing under the chairmanship of Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who plans to retire following this congressional session. He held the hearing to push for changes to the FAFSA, an issue he has lo...

Economist Dynarski Heads to Harvard

Comings and Goings ... Harvard Graduate School of Education announced that Susan Dynarski, currently professor of public policy, education and economics at the University of Michigan, will join the Harvard school as an education professor in July 2021. Alan D. Solomont, the Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, announced he w...

Leadership Change Coming to America’s Largest Contemporary Art Museum

Comings and Goings ... Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art leader Joseph Thompson announced he will step down at the end of October as director of the country’s largest museum for contemporary art. NEJHE covered the opening of Mass MoCA as a creative and economic development tool for the distressed area of western Massachusetts. Carmen Aguilar, former dean of the Center for Workforce ...

Ojakian Retiring as Leader of Connecticut State Colleges and Universities

Comings and Goings ... Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) President Mark Ojakian announced we will retire after five years as CEO of the organization responsible for 17 higher education institutions, 9,000 employees and more than 100,000 students, effective Jan. 1, 2021. He has spent 40 years in state government, including three as chief of staff to then-Gov. Dannel Malloy...