The number of U.S. colleges and art and trade schools offering degree programs in video game design will reach 300 nationally this fall—a nearly 20% increase in degrees offered in the field over last academic year, according to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).Twenty of the programs are offered at New England colleges.Vermont's Champlain College, an early pioneer in the field, ...
Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT) was awarded a grant of more than $360,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to introduce new two-year programs in Alternative Fuel Vehicle Operations and Maintenance and a bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Automotive Business Practices.The programs aim to train and retrain technicians for hybrid vehicles, making BFIT the only provider ...
After the January 2010 earthquake that shook Haiti, President Barack Obama asked former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to lead a fundraising effort to assist the Haitian people. Their response, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF), helps people and small and medium-sized enterprises in Haiti access the formal business sector and promotes job creation, especially jobs with a direct so...
Bunker Hill Community College received a $23,000 grant from the housing authority in nearby Somerville to support development of a learning community within the Boston suburb's Mystic housing project.Known as SomerPromise, the learning community will kick off this fall, providing about 25 students who are residents of the project in nearby Somerville with faculty/staff and peer support for their ...
The U.S. Department of Education named Massachusetts and Rhode Island among 19 finalists in the national Race to the Top competition.The competition rewards states that adopt standards and assessments to prepare students for college and career success, build data systems that measure success, recruit effective teachers and principals and "turn around" low-achieving schools.
In the first rou...
Brandeis University trustees named George Washington University Law School dean Frederick M. Lawrence to succeed Jehuda Reinharz as Brandeis president, beginning after Jan. 1, 2011. Lawrence became dean of the GWU Law School in 2005, after nearly two decades teaching at the Boston University School of Law.University of Connecticut trustees appointed Philip E. Austin to serve as interim president...
Martha Kanter, under secretary in the U.S. Department of Education, and dozens of higher education leaders will speak at the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) annual conference to be held at The Westin Providence in Providence, R.I., from Tuesday, Aug. 10 through Friday, August 13. Speakers will include: Spencer Foundation President Michael S. McPherson; Complete College America...
Cambridge, Mass., dominates the list of biotechnology firms with the most employees in New England—accounting for seven of the top 10 providers of biotech jobs in the region, reports the specialty newspaper Mass High Tech.With 12,000 total employees, Genzyme Corp. employed nearly 5,000 in New England and recently announced 502 job openings in Massachusetts. The second largest employer...
A Massachusetts board's decision to use only union labor in a $750 million renovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston has become a hot issue on the state's campaign for governor.The University of Massachusetts Building Authority voted 9 to 2 to approve use of a Project Labor Agreement, a contract under which companies bidding on state projects pledge to use union workers and the w...
Colleges and universities outpaced both the Fortune 500 and the Inc. 500 in adoption of social media in each of the past three years, according to a study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research.More than half of colleges and universities have blogs, compared with 22% of Fortune 500 and 42% of Inc. 500 fast-growing companies, according to the center's study.This...