College President's Report

College President’s Report – January 2018

/in

Appointments

Agnes Scott Names New President

Leocadia “Lee” Zak has been named the next president of Agnes Scott College located in Georgia. Zak previously served as director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and received a law degree from Northeastern University. She will take over for Elizabeth Kiss, who announced her retirement in June.

read more

Former Wharton Dean Announced as Cleveland State President

Cleveland State has picked Harlan M. Sands to become the school’s next president. Sands is currently vice dean and CFO of the Wharton School at Penn. He will begin his tenure in July with a salary of $455,000.

read more

**Keep track of all the changing administrators in Higher Ed-Test our database for free with HigherEd Direct HERE!

Johnson College Selects President

The board at Johnson College has named Ms. Katie Leonard to become president of Johnson College. Leonard currently acts as the Executive VP of Johnson. She will begin her roll as president on July 1st.

read more

Michigan State Appoints Former Governor in Wake of Scandal

Former Governor John Engler has been named as interim president of Michigan State University. The appointment comes in the wake of the Larry Nasser sexual abuse scandal which resulted in former president, Lou Anna Simon’s resignation. Engler will stay as acting president while the board conducts a nationwide search for a replacement.

read more

Saint Michael’s Appoints New President

Dr. Lorraine Sterritt will become the 17th president of Saint Michael’s College, located in Vermont. Sterritt previously served as dean of administration at Harvard. Dr. Sterritt will take over for President John Neuhauser in July.

read more

Utah Selects Next President

The University of Utah has appointed Dr. Ruth Watkins to become president of the school. Watkins formerly served as the SVP for academic affairs at the school and was unanimously chosen by the board to replace outgoing President David Pershing.

read more

Wiley College Appoints Next President

The Board of Trustees at Wiley College has announced that Dr. Herman Felton Jr. will become the university’s next leader. Felton is currently president of Wilberforce University. He will replace outgoing president, Haywood Strickland, who is retiring in June.

read more

Retirements

College of Charleston President Announces Retirement

Dr. Glenn McConnell will retire as president of the College or Charleston this summer. McConnell has served at the position since 2014, when he became the schools 22nd president. He cites health and age as the significant factor in his retirement.

read more

Coe to Retire from COTC

Dr. Bonnie Coe has announced her retirement from Central Ohio Technical College. She began her role as president at the college in 2004, and said, “I am confident of COTC’s promising future, an excellent team is in place and…will carry COTC into its next 50 years.” Coe will step down in January of next year.

read more

President Retiring from MCC

After more than 20 years at the helm, Dr. Scott Elliot has announced his retirement from Meridian Community College. He said, “Being part of the MCC family has been the greatest blessing of my 33 years in higher education administration.” Elliot will officially retire in June of this year.

read more

Retirement Announced at Seminole State

Dr. E. Ann McGee has announced her retirement as president of Seminal State College of Florida. She is only the second president in the school’s history and has served there since 1996. Dr. McGee will leave on July 31st.

read more

Resignations

U of Rochester President Resigns Amid Scandal

President Joel Seligman has resigned as president of the University of Rochester after the release of a report on sexual misconduct on campus. Seligman wrote in an email to campus, “It is clear to me that the best interests of the University are best served with new leadership, and a fresh perspective to focus on healing our campus and moving us forward in the spirit of cooperation and unity.” Dr. Richard Feldman has been announced as the interim president at the school and will begin immediately.

read more

Central Michigan President Announces Retirement

President George Ross has announced he will step down as leader of Central Michigan University. Ross has served the school for the past 8 years, and will leave in July of this year.

read more

Keck Resigns from A & M Commerce

Dr. Ray Keck announced that he will step down as president from Texas A & M University at Commerce in August. Keck has led the school since 2001.

read more

Wight Resigning from Weber State

Dr. Charles Wight will resign from Weber State this June. He announced his resignation this past week and plans to give the Board ample time to find a replacement. He has served as president of Weber State since 2014

read more

Higher Ed Sexual Assault

DeVos Sued over Sexual Assault Policy in Higher Ed

/in

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is being sued by several civil rights organizations about how her agency is investigating sexual assaults on college campuses. This past fall, the Education Department dropped Obama-era policies and issued new rules on how colleges deal with sexual assault and harassment claims. The new instructions now require that universities use higher standards of evidence to proceed with campus judicial action in the case of an allegation.

Civil rights advocacy groups argue that previous Obama-era guidelines offered critical protections for survivors of sexual assault and that the new rules, under DeVos, create a system which discourages sexual violence and assault victims from using the campus process to come forward “leading to further reductions in reports of sexual violence and assault.” According to Stacy Malone, the executive director of the Victim Rights Law Center, “They (survivors) fear they are no longer able to get a fair shake.” The actual lawsuit alleges a “Myriad of statements and actions by the Department’s leadership reveal a discriminatory viewpoint. Thus, not only does the Department’s 2017 Title IX policy fail to meet the reasoned decision and other requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, it also violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee. Plaintiffs therefore respectfully request that the 2017 Title IX policy be vacated.”

Secretary DeVos announced the changes to Title IX in September, saying the previous system “lacked basic elements of due process and failed to ensure fundamental fairness.” She continued with, “There’ve been too many students wronged in a well-intentioned attempt to ensure that this issue is not swept under the rug and not in back rooms of schools any longer.” The Department of Education said it plans to enact the new guidelines after a public comment period.

***Stay up to date with all the changes in higher education through HigherEd Direct, test our database today!

Massive Spending Gap Between Athletes and Academics

/in

This year’s national championship between Alabama and Georgia was a nail-biter of a game, with a deep pass to seal the win for the Crimson Tide. The competition on the turf seems to align off the field as well, as the average amount spent per year on a single player by both teams was between $300,000 and $350,000.

According to a recent study performed by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, annual spending on sports by public non-profit universities in the largest ‘big six’ conferences, has surpassed $100,000 per athlete—around 8 to 12 times the amount spent on academics per full time student. Twenty plus schools spend more than $200,000 per football player, including all of the ten top-ranked FCS programs.

The increased spending on student athletes comes at a time when many college and universities are struggling to fill the gap with funding needs. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, state spending on public higher education is now at lower levels than pre-recession rates. A recent study from the CBPP highlights that funds allocated to colleges and universities for the 2017 school year were almost $9 billion below the 2008 level.

Concurrently, spending on athletics has grown immensely since the recession. According to the Knight Commission data, major conferences (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Pac12, Big12) have seen growth in player spending of around 30% and as high as 42%, since the recession. In a report by the American Association of University Professors, average pay of head basketball and football coaches almost doubled from 2006 to 2012. The average salaries for fulltime professors grew at a rate of 4 % at top doctoral level institutions.

University presidents face the reality of seeking new solutions to funding shortages, and athletics can be a tempting source for increased revenue. However, in doing so they must not lose overall sight of their purpose: educating their student body. According to an NCAA report, officials argue that only around two dozen of the 300 plus Division I athletic departments are truly self-sustaining—with revenues exceeding or breaking even with overall costs.  As state schools increase funding to their athletic departments to compete, many are having to balance their budgets by increasing student fees and tuition at alarming rates. As institutions spend more on athletes at vastly disproportionate amounts compared to their average students, they risk undermining themselves, and in turn perpetuating the public’s increased weariness of the higher education system itself.

 

***Stay up-to-date with all the changes in Higher Education through HigherEd Direct—Test our database today!

New Tax Reform and Higher Education

/in

On December 20, 2017, Congress passed a tax reform bill that revised the nation’s tax code and will ultimately result in significant changes to higher education. Most notably will be a new tax imposed on excess compensation and investment income of the highest endowed private institutions. The legislation also modifies certain rules in relation to charitable deductions while excluding many of the highly publicized proposed provisions, such as taxing graduate school waivers.

New tax on large university endowments

  • A 1.4 percent excise tax will be added to private universities with endowments greater than $500,000 per student.
  • Will affect around 35 higher education institutions.

Excise tax imposed on executive compensation

  • Non-profits will be taxed 21% on compensations over $1 million paid to employees.
  • According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the tax would be imposed on 158 private, nonprofit college employees (based of tax filings from the 2015 calendar year).

Eliminates the exemption for “advance refunding bonds”

  • Previously allowed non-profits to refinance old bonds earlier to take advantage of lower interest rates and postpone upcoming debt payments.

Doubles the standard deduction for tax filers

  • Will likely cut the number of people who itemize charitable contributions to colleges and universities by providing less incentive to donate.

Eliminates the charitable deduction for college seating event rights

  • Donations made to universities will no longer be deductible federally if the donations are made in exchange for an opportunity to buy tickets.
  • Tickets prices are likely to increase at colleges and universities with larger, more competitive athletic programs.

Tuition waivers for Graduate students will remain tax-free

  • The original House bill would have taxed graduate students’ tuition waivers as income.

Johnson Amendment will not be repealed

  • The Johnson Amendment prohibits tax-exempt organizations—churches, nonprofits, charities, foundations—from endorsing candidates running for political office.

Net Neutrality Reversal Costly for Higher Ed

/in

On December 14th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote on its proposition to repeal current net neutrality rules in place. The basic principle of net neutrality prevents internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating (slowing/blocking) against internet access, websites, or applications based on content or services. On college and university campuses, the impending proposal has many concerned about its relation to educational access and increased tuition costs.

Colleges campuses are currently home to massive research and online programs that are essential to an institution’s academic and financial identity. According to a 2017 study performed by the Babson Survey Research Group, from 2012 to 2015 the number of students taking online courses grew by 11 percent. Developments in distance education have been made possible by relatively equal access to the internet. In March and July, higher education and library organizations representing hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide sent essays and letters to the FCC chairman Ajit Pai, urging him to uphold the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order. In a letter this March to Pai, Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education wrote:

Maintaining access to the information fast lane is essential to the academic and civic missions of our colleges and universities and to the important work done every day at those institutions by millions of students, researchers, faculty and staff. These net neutrality principles, now more than ever, are needed to ensure that the internet remains open, accessible and affordable to all.

Another result of repealing net neutrality is the introduction of ‘paid prioritization’. Paid prioritization is the notion of ISPs selling faster or prioritized internet services to entities that pay a higher fee, or degrading services to applications that compete with an ISPs’ own services. Higher education institutions that cannot afford to pay this fee will experience slower internet speeds, and the schools that do pay will most likely pass this fee onto its students in the form of a tuition increase. The senior vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education (ACE) Terry Hartle said, “Those costs can’t simply be swallowed by schools, so they will be passed on to students and their families without any additional benefit to them.”

In a letter delivered today, 28 Senators asked that the FCC delay the “monumental decision” to dismantle net neutrality saying, “By overturning the Commission’s current rules that preserve net neutrality and prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking, throttling, or otherwise privileging lawful content, we fear that the Draft Order could harm our nation’s students and schools.” The letter also argues that removing net neutrality would lead to a “tiered and compartmentalized internet” that would limit students and schools who can’t afford it.

FCC’s Chairman Pai argues that abolishing net neutrality would lead to a freer market, with higher investments in the internet service provider (ISP) sector—in turn allowing ISPs to develop and grow beneficial services while promoting competition. Currently competition among ISPs is nearly non-existent in many U.S. locations. The FCC is set to vote on its proposal to remove net neutrality protections this Thursday, December 14th.

 

**Stay connected to the world of higher education with HigherEd Direct — Check out our database with a free trial here.

 

HigherEd Direct Free Trial–Online, Accurate, Guaranteed!

/in

Powered by HEP, Inc—the industry’s most trusted reference for academic and administrative personnel—HigherEd Direct is a game changer for those looking to contact top-level, college and university administrators including:

  • Full and updated contact information for over 91,000 college administrators
  • Institutional profile data on 5,100 accredited colleges and universities
  • 22,000 individual school accreditations in an easy searchable format

Try our HigherEd Direct Database, free for two weeks—by clicking HERE!

College President’s Report – December 2017

/in

Appointments

Arcadia University Names New President

Dr. Ajay Nair has been named the 22nd president of Arcadia University. Dr. Nair is an Arcadia Alumna who currently serves as senior vice president and dean of campus life at Emory University. Nair will begin as president in April.

read more

Interim President Appointed at Cal. State Fullerton

California State Fullerton has appointed Framroze (Fram) Virjee to become the school’s interim president. Mr. Virjee was previously executive vice chancellor and general counsel for the California State University System Office. He began as interim president on January 1st, 2018.

read more

Dr. Rick Aman Selected at Eastern Idaho

After a four-month search, the College of Eastern Idaho has picked Dr. Rick Aman to become the school’s president. Aman served as president of Eastern Idaho Technical College prior to the formation of the College of Eastern Idaho.

read more

**Use HigherEd Direct to stay up-to-date with all the changes in higher education. Test our database for free here!

Interim President Named at Gordon State College

Dr. Stuart Rayfield has been selected to become the interim president of Gordon State College. Rayfield became interim president on January 1st, following the retirement of former president, Max Burns, in December.

read more

MJ Named President of John Carroll University

Dr. Michael Johnson has been selected to become the next president of John Carroll University. Johnson is currently the provost at Babson College. He will begin his tenure in July, replacing Rev. Robert Niehoff, who announced his retirement last March.

read more

Kirkwood CC Announces New President

Dr. Lori Sundberg will head Kirkwood Community College beginning in August. Sundberg is currently the president of Carl Sandburg College in Illinois. She will take over for Mick Starcevich, who announced his retirement last January.

read more

New President Announced at Limestone College

Dr. Darrell Parker has been introduced as the next president of Limestone College. Parker will take over for Dr. Walt Griffin, who announced his retirement after over 25 years as president. Dr. Parker will begin in this January.

read more

Dr. Hancock Named President of Thomas Edison State

Current SUNY Empire State President, Dr. Merodie Hancock, will become the fourth president at Thomas Edison State University. She will replace Dr. George Pruitt, who announced his retirement last June.

read more

Provost Appointed Interim Chancellor at Western Carolina

Dr. Allison Morrison-Shetlar has been appointed acting chancellor of Western Carolina University. She will take over for Dr. David Belcher, who is on medical leave.

read more

Retirements

Retirement Announced at Broward College

Dr. David Armstrong is retiring as president of Broward College after 10 years at the helm. Armstrong will stay with the school until June of 2018. A national search is currently being performed to find a replacement.

read more

Hagerstown CC President Retires

Dr. Guy Altieri has retired from Hagerstown Community College. Dr. Altieri has served Hagerstown CC since 2002. The school is currently performing an executive search to find a replacement.

read more

Southwestern Illinois President Announces Retirement

Dr. Georgia Costello has announced her retirement as president of Southwestern Illinois College. Costello has served SWIC since 2007, and will formerly leave the school in late June.

read more

President Retiring from the University of Charleston

Dr. Edwin Welch has announced that he will retire from the University of Charleston in June of 2018. Welch has served the school since 1989.

read more

Resignations

Cal State Fullerton President Leaving

Dr. Mildred Garcia has announced her resignation as president of Cal State Fullerton. Garcia has served the school for the past six years and will leave in January of 2018. She said, “This is a pretty bittersweet, emotional day for me.” Garcia will continue her role in higher education as the president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C.

read more

Bowling Green State President Resigns

Dr. Mary Ellen Mazey, president of Bowling Green State, resigned from the university on December 31st, 2017. Mazey has been at the school for the last seven years.

read more

Olens Resigns from Kennesaw State

Mr. Sam Olens has announced his resignation from Kennesaw State University. His resignation comes on the heels of a cheerleader protest scandal from earlier this year. Olens was appointed in November of 2016.

read more

U of Texas System Chancellor Resigning

William McRaven, the University of Texas System Chancellor, has announced his decision to resign in May of 2018. McRaven previously served in the Navy, where he commanded the group of special forces that killed Osama bin Laden. He has served as Chancellor since 2015.

read more

College President’s Report – November 2017

/in

Appointments

Delaware Sate University Appoints Interim President

The DSU Board of Trustees has selected Dr. Wilma Mishoe to become the next interim president of the university. Mishoe will begin her role in January after current president, Dr. Harry Williams, moves on to lead the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

read more

DePaul University President Inaugurated

DePaul University, the largest Catholic university in the country, inaugurated its next president on November 19th. Dr. Gabriel Esteban will oversee 22,769 students as the schools 12th president. Dr. Esteban was previously the president of Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

read more

New President Named at Ferrum College

Dr. David Johns has been named the next president of Ferrum College. Johns currently serves as VP for academic affairs at Union College in Kentucky. He will begin his tenure in January of next year.

read more

**Use HigherEd Direct to stay up-to-date with all the changes in higher education. Test our database for free here!

Former Administrator Named President at Fort Hays State

Fort Hays State has announced Dr. Tisa Mason will become the school’s next president. Mason previously served the school as the VP of student affairs for six years until 2014, when she became president of Valley City State University. Dr. Mason received her doctorate in higher education from the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

read more

Ithaca College President Inaugurated

Dr. Shirley Collado has been inaugurated as the ninth president at Ithaca College in New York. Collado is the second female president in the school’s 125-year history and said, “We as educators—not just presidents, but faculty and staff—have this responsibility to teach our students and prepare them to become what (Louis) Brandeis says is the most important role in our society—of being a citizen.”

read more

Kaskaskia College President Resigns, Interim President Named

Mr. George Evans has been appointed by the Kaskaskia College Board to become the school’s interim president. Evans received the title after Dr. Penny Quinn announced that she will resign immediately following a board meeting. Evans will serve as interim president until June 30th of next year.

read more

Nicholls State University Names Next President

Nicholls State has named Dr. Jay Clune to become the next president of the university. Clune is currently the interim dean of the graduate school at the University of West Florida. He will begin as president in January.

read more

New President Selected at Northern Kentucky University

Dr. Ashish Vaidya has been named the 6th president at Northern Kentucky University. Vaidya is currently the interim president of St. Cloud State University. Vaidya will begin in July of 2018.

read more

New Mexico Appoints Next President

Dr. Garnnett S. Stokes has been appointed the 22nd President of the University of New Mexico. Stokes will succeed Interim President Chaouki Abdallah. Dr. Stokes previously served as the interim chancellor at the University of Missouri and will begin her role as president in March of 2018.

read more

Retirements

Boise State President Announces Retirement

President Bob Kustra has announced his retirement as president of Boise State University. Kustra has served the school for the past 14 years. He said, “I think every organization deserves the opportunity every so many years for new leadership and 15 years, I thought, was the perfect point where you just say it’s time.” President Kustra will retire at the end of this academic year in June.

read more

Imperial Valley President to Retire

Dr. Victor Jaime has announced his retirement from Imperial Valley College in California. Jaime has served as president of the college for the past seven years. He will retire at the end of the 2017/18 academic year.

read more

Retirement Announced at PNWU

President Keith Watson will retire from Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in June of 2018. Watson served the school for 5 years. A search for Watson’s successor is currently underway.

read more

Resignations

Cal State Fullerton President Leaving

Dr. Mildred Garcia has announced her resignation as president of Cal State Fullerton. Garcia has served the school for the past six years and will leave in January of 2018. She said, “This is a pretty bittersweet, emotional day for me.” Garcia will continue her role in higher education asthe president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C.

read more

CUNY President Announces Resignation

Dr. James B. Milliken has announced that he will resign as chancellor of City University of New York. Milliken began his tenure as president in January 2014. He will leave at the end of the 2017/2018 academic year.

read more

Utah Valley President Resigning

The president of Utah Valley University has announced his resignation after nine years. President Mathew Holland will leave the university in June to become the mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

read more

**Use HigherEd Direct to stay up-to-date with all the changes in higher education. Test our database for free here!

College Apprenticeship program

Devos Calling on “Major Shift” to Apprenticeship Programs in Higher Ed

/in

Education Secretary Betsy Devos is calling for a “major shift” in higher education from its emphasis on traditional four-year degrees. At the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council gathering, Devos stressed the importance of apprenticeship programs to fill jobs. She said, “For decades now, we have given the subtle, or not so subtle, message that the only path for a successful life is a four-year degree.” Devos continued with, “We have to give students a much wider venue of opportunities starting in high school and middle school to help guide them into a productive future.”

The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council was held in Washington D.C. last week, and Secretary Devos concentrated on the importance of local businesses and companies working with community colleges and local schools. Devos also argued for change in the curriculum of schools to better reflect the needs of businesses and “real world” jobs saying, “We need to expand our thinking on what apprenticeships actually look like…we need to start treating students as individuals, not boxing them in.”

Devos’ remarks come a day after officials from four major companies—IBM, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Lincoln Electric—met with the Department of Labor and the American Association of Community Colleges to set up a task force and discuss the future expansion of apprenticeship programs within higher education. The Department of Labor’s Ondray Harris said, “Apprenticeships are a way to close that skills gap—to earn and learn. I think it’s a natural fit for community colleges.” In order to facilitate the expansion of apprenticeship programs, the DOL has set up a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the AACC to work closer with community colleges and grow apprenticeship programs. Regarding the upcoming Memorandum, the director of the DOL’s Office of Apprenticeship John Ladd said “It’s the absolute next step in the evolution of this partnership.”

 

**Stay current with all the changing administrators in higher education with HigherEd Direct. Click here for a free trial of our online database.

Renewed Effort to Close Loophole Targeting Veterans and Education

/in

A recent report, from Veterans Education Success indicates that for-profit institutions are using a federal loophole to increase revenue and disproportionally target veterans and service members. From 2011 to 2014, tuition payments to for-profit schools from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense increased by 60 percent—to the tune of $1.1 billion—and according to researchers, the number is an understatement since the Department of Education data doesn’t include all G.I. Bill benefit programs. The now closed Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institutes alone, are estimated to have received over $1 billion in G.I. Bill benefits prior to suddenly shutting down in the last year.

The increase is likely due to declining enrollment at for-profit colleges, universities and trade schools as a result of decreased Title IV funding. To offset this loss in revenue, for-profits are using the 90-10 loophole to fill their financial voids. The 90-10 rule was passed in 1992 and bars for-profit institutions from receiving more than 90 percent of revenues from Title IV federal student funds. However, the law excludes GI bill benefits and the DOD’s tuition assistance funds from its figuring. Congressional staff said that GI Bill and DOD funds were not included in the 1992 cap on Title IV revenue because the GI Bill was not generous enough at the time. In 2008, a new Post 9/11 G.I. bill was passed allowing veterans and service members the ability to receive tens of thousands of dollars towards higher education.

This oversight has become known as the 90/10 loophole, and as a result, for-profit schools have been aggressively recruiting and enrolling veterans and service members ever since. According to Holly Petraeus, of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, this loophole “gives for-profit colleges the incentive to see service members as nothing more than dollar signs in a uniform, and to use aggressive marketing to draw them in.” According to Time magazine, a civil complaint filed by the state of California expressed concern over Corinthian College’s unauthorized use of the official seals of the United States Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard in its effort to boost recruitment of discharged servicemen and women. Other for-profits have been accused of similar recruitment tactics—inflated graduate salaries, false job prospects, and misleading graduation rates.

Concerned with the exploitation of veterans, Senators have reintroduced legislation to tighten VA and DOD educational funds to for-profit schools. Introduced last week, the Military and Veterans Education Protection Act, would close the 90/10 loophole in hopes of protecting veterans. According to Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), “Closing the 90/10 loophole and counting G.I. Bill dollars as federal dollars, which they are, is a commonsense fix that will help us improve educational outcomes for veterans and protect taxpayers.” The bipartisan bill is supported by more than 25 senators and endorsed by over two dozen groups and organizations including: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). Currently, the bill is awaiting the Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for review.

 

** Looking for higher education contact or accreditation info? Try our complete HigherEd Direct database free for two weeks here!

UNC Under Fire, Accreditation at Risk

/in

UNC Chapel Hill is being investigated by its accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, after SACS found that controversial “paper courses” are now being credited towards graduation.

According the (Raleigh) News & Observer, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools first confronted UNC over allegations of the questionable classes in 2013, when the school claimed it would not honor the classes towards a degree. For students to receive credit for said classes, the university claimed that students would have to take another course altogether to make up the credits. By agreeing to not recognize “paper” classes, UNC was able to hold off sanctions from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Released last month, the NCAA’s final report on the scandal contradicts what the university initially told its accreditor with, “Despite the fact that the courses failed to meet, involved little, if any, faculty engagement, and were often graded by the secretary, UNC argued the courses violated no UNC policy. UNC further claimed that work was assigned, completed and graded, and the grades counted towards a UNC degree.” UNC officials previously called the classes “academic fraud” but recently reported the phrase as “a typo.” With UNC up for accreditation next month, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is investigating the NCAA’s final report and UNC’s lack of transparency.

 

***Stay up-to-date with all the changing administrators and accreditations in higher education with HigherEd Direct.  Try our database for free here.

Tennessee Promise Program Continues to Grow, Students More Likely to Succeed

/in

Students enrolled in Tennessee’s free community college scholarship, the Tennessee Promise, are showing more signs of success in higher education than their peers not using the program. According to data released by the Tennessee State Board of Regents, 56% of students who started in the Promise program’s first year (2015) remained in school two years later. Only 39% of high school graduates not in the program were still in school during the same time frame.

The program was introduced in 2014 and gives students up to five semesters of tuition-free attendance at any of the state’s 13 community colleges, 27 colleges of applied technology, or eligible 4-year institutions offering associate’s degrees. Beyond removing the financial burden, Tennessee Promise offers individual guidance to each participant from a mentor. Mentors help students maneuver through application and financial aid processes, and are mandatory for students to remain eligible for the program. Tennessee Promise scholarship recipients must also complete 8 hours of community service per semester enrolled and keep a GPA above a 2.0.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam said, “When we launched Tennessee Promise, one of the legitimate questions was, … ‘Can theses Students succeed?’ I think the results show that these students are succeeding at a decidedly better rate.”  Though drop-out rates are lower for Tennessee Promise students, the data also shows that 44 percent of the program’s first classmore than 5,500 studentshad dropped out of college without a degree by 2017. Officials argue that the number is a sign of progress with over 60 percent of non-Promise students dropping out in the same timeframe, a 17 percent difference. Tennessee’s Promise program also continues to grow, and according to The Nashville Tennessean is up four percentage points from last year with nearly 85 percent of high school seniors applying.

According to Governor Haslam, “A lot of our efforts in the remaining year and a half that we have in office will be around how do we dramatically increase the percentage of students who complete.” As an educated workforce becomes critical to ensuring economic prosperity in one’s local, state, and national communities, it seems that Tennessee’s Promise program—with its positive application, retention and graduation rates—is setting up its students for a more certain future.

 

Stay current with all the changes in higher education with HigherEd Direct! Click here for a free trial.