UVAPanel Draws Media Attention!

Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

If you missed our summary of yesterday’s UVAPanel we’ve had some nice coverage in Charlottesville’s local media:

Matt Talhelm reporting for NBC29 covered our event! Video below:

And Andrew D’Amato from the Cavalier Daily wrote:

Third-year College student Brendan Wynn, president of the group, said he hoped the event would encourage students to take an active role in advocating for their education. “We learned from what happened last summer that the students have a voice,” he said. “We have a real opportunity to make a big difference in what happens at the University.”

The event was part of the organization’s larger efforts to inform young Virginia voters about the political debates and policies which directly affect their life. Following that trend, panelists discussed everything from state funding for education to faculty retention.

We’re waiting on a couple more pieces to surface but we’ll update this as we learn more!

Cuccinelli and McAuliffe face headwinds

Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

Quality higher education in Virginia hinges on the next Governor of Virginia and we hope he will continue to make our colleges and universities a priority. We can tell already that this race is going to be bitterly partisan and this article is one of example of what we can expect to be a long road ahead. Investments into higher education are good for the economy, good for students, good for colleges – we’re going to be working very hard to make sure both candidates realize that higher ed is a priority for all Virginians, regardless of party.  

The Virginian-Pilot
April 9th, 2013
By Julian Walker

Like hungry dogs with bones, Virginia Democrats and Republicans have latched onto issues they consider harmful to Ken Cuccinelli and Terry McAuliffe, respectively, and neither side seems ready to unclench their jaws.

Democrats’ focus is on conflict of interest questions orbiting Cuccinelli over his connections to Star Scientific Inc. — the Henrico County company in which Cuccinelli is a shareholder has sued the state over a six-figure disputed tax bill.

Although Cuccinelli recently recused the Attorney General’s Office after his financial stake in the company, as well as his ties to the company’s chief executive, were revealed, Democrats still say he should resign from office as he runs for governor.

For the full article click here.

JMU joins the differential tuition party

Monday, April 8th, 2013

By Peter Martin

IJ Chan’s graph in JMU’s The Breeze (nearly) tells all:

At Friday’s Board of Visitors meeting, Provost Jerry Benson and senior vice president of administration and finance Charles King both made presentations on differential tuition and 2013–2014 tuition, respectively.

According to King, the proposed tuition and fees for in-state students in the 2013–2014 academic year is $9,176, a $368 increase from this year’s $8,808. Out-of-state students will pay $23,654; an $858 increase from 2012–2013’s tuition at $22,796. Both room and board and tuition have been on the rise for at least the past four years.

King also mentioned there were several financial issues that JMU needs to address in the coming year, including the rising cost of medical insurance, enrollment growth, the new construction and renovation of academic buildings and faculty and staff compensation.

King forgets another issue: Richmond isn’t funding the students like they used to. Go back ten or twenty years and you see that JMU students like now-Senator McDougle (’93) received significantly more funding than JMU students today.

That’s what the graph doesn’t show: that while tuition has skyrocketed and Richmond’s support for college students has trickled up since 2008, enrollment has to keep on going up to draw in more dollars.

Here’s the real picture at JMU: (fix graph title, $ on left)

I’m not sure whether Student Body President Matt Klein was right to blame philantrophy – it’s Richmond that’s failed JMU, not the alma matter – but he’s spot on with the consequences of these tuition increases. Without them, JMU will be losing professors to better funded colleges:

“No one’s happy about tuition raises, but I think they also understand that these programs are very prestigious programs,” Klein said. “We’re not getting the philanthropy that we need from our alumni and the only other way to maintain and evolve the education that we’ve learned to love at the university, we’re going to have to sacrifice having a low tuition.”

An expensive, quality degree is better than a cheap degree, especially when Richmond won’t get their priorities straight.

Virginia21 Holds 3rd SLC Meeting of 2013

Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

Virginia21 held their 3rd Student Leadership Committee meeting this year to discuss the upcoming political races, Bill Bolling’s decision not to run, and issues affecting higher education. Braving the snow, chapter presidents from each of Virginia’s colleges met in the Capitol on Sunday to discuss the past legislative session and put forward their plans for the remainder of the Spring semester.

Campus chapters from each of Virginia’s colleges are planning events to have students meet with legislatures, faculty and college administrators to discuss the state of higher education in Virginia. Critically, students are concerned about the value of their education with the looming threat of potential faculty losses.

In Charlottesville, chapters are the University of Virginia and Piedmont Virginia Community College are cooperating to hold a discussion panel on higher education policies with anticipated speakers to include Steven Landes, David Toscano, and other senior figures. The event is expected to have over 100 students speaking with politicians and offers a rare opportunity for policy makers to learn from students what affects them most. At Longwood University, Virginia21 is teaming up with active political organizations to hold a debate on the role of government and global issues.

The SLC was also surprised with a special visit from Brian Cannon, one of the founders of Virginia21, who talked about the need for sensible advocacy campaigns that gives credibility to the message that they convey. Finally, the SLC was given a teaser of the upcoming statewide projects by Virginia21 that are set to affect the upcoming gubernatorial election. While nothing can be made public just yet, Virginia21 hopes to have more statewide campaigns and events this year than in any previous year.

To find out more about upcoming Virginia21 events, campus activities across the state, and student leadership committee meetings, visit us at Facebook.

A Massively Bad Idea

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Rob Jenkins
March 18, 2013

According to a recent article in The Chronicle, a state senator in California has sponsored a bill that would establish “a statewide platform through which students who have trouble getting into certain low-level, high-demand classes could take approved online courses offered by providers outside the state’s higher-education system.”

Tidewater to offer textbook-free degree

Monday, March 18th, 2013

Karin Kapsidelis, writing in the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

“In what is seen as the next major innovation in cutting college costs, Tidewater Community College will offer a textbook-free degree program in the fall that could reduce the price of earning an associate degree by about a third.

TCC says its associate of science degree in business administration will be the first in the nation by an accredited institution to entirely use open-source educational materials.

“I think we have a responsibility as a college to do what we can to help control the costs of textbooks because we know there are students who can’t afford them,” said Daniel T. DeMarte, TCC vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer. “We know there are students who are not successful because they can’t afford them.”

[...]

The college estimates a student who completes the degree will have saved about $2,000, although actual savings will be calculated when the pilot program is evaluated.”

[...]

“I think it’s one of the biggest rip-offs in this business,” DuBois said. “I say that not as a chancellor; I say it as a father who just had to give his daughter 600 bucks to buy this semester’s textbooks at a public university.”

Although the $2,000 is only if you make it into every textbook-free section I’m still really excited to see how popular this program is. Even having just a quarter of your degree in the pilot program will mean you save a considerable amount of money. Textbooks aren’t cheap these days.

Bill Gates Has a Solution for Higher Education: Yoda

Wednesday, March 13th, 2013

Inside Higher Ed
By John Warner
March 11, 2013

Bill Gates has diagnosed what ails higher education, and the cure is all about technology, and also Yoda.

Speaking at the SXSW technology conference, as reported by CNN Money, “Gates’ main theme was personalized learning, which can be enhanced by new technology.”

And Yoda.

Again according to CNN Money, Gates maintains that, “Yoda was a great teacher because the Jedi master understood when Skywalker is losing interest.”

In Gates’ own words, “With this wave of software that’s being created that personalizes to the student … there’s real promise here that the kids can go back and engage in a way they couldn’t before.”

So Bill Gates and I, and just about everyone else I’m aware of, agree on two big things: 1. That large lecture classes are non-ideal atmospheres to engender learning. 2. The better alternative is personalized learning supervised by a mentor capable of nurturing student interest.

Gates’ answer to this problem is “personalized software.”

As I read this, I realized this software already exists, and in some cases (mine) it’s a little too soft, around the middle especially.

I’m talking about human beings, or in Yoda’s case, an indeterminate species of three-foot tall green things with oversized ears and gravelly Miss Piggy voices.

I like Gates’ Yoda analogy. Yoda is indeed a fine teacher. When Luke is coaxed by Obi-Wan’s ghost to the swamp planet Dagobah to learn under Yoda’s tutelage, rather than lecturing Luke Skywalker on how to harness the Force, Yoda encourages young Luke to search inside himself.

I have to say, I sometimes feel like Yoda in my job, every student a different young Jedi in need of the right words of encouragement.

Most of the time I’m communicating two things, that what I am asking them to do matters, and that they are indeed capable of doing it.

Or, as Yoda puts it, “Do or do not…there is no try.”

Apparently, Gates’ idea is to put Yoda on computer screens as part of the college of tomorrow, “in which students watch lessons online, delivered by the brightest minds in the field.”

As Gates says, “If you want the very best lectures, if you want the cost efficiency, you have to break down and say, you know, let’s take someone else’s material.”

I think about this, and I wonder, given a Jedi-master’s ability to project his thoughts across galaxies and star systems in an instant, why did Obi-Wan encourage Luke to seek out Yoda in person?

Maybe because software and humans are the same thing, not.  Yes, hmmm.

Read the full article here. 

Bill Bolling: A ‘no’ on run for governor

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

Washington Post
March 12, 2013

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling today, via a mass e-mail, announced that he will not run for governor of Virginia as an independent. He explains:

The biggest challenge an Independent candidate faces is fundraising. You can have a winning message, but if you don’t have the resources to effectively communicate that message to voters you cannot win. . . . Based on my discussions with key donors over the past three weeks, I was confident I could raise enough money to run a competitive campaign, but I was not confident I could raise enough money to run a winning campaign.”

He also cited his reluctance to “sever” ties with the GOP. And he decided politics really isn’t for him these days:

While I still value public service a great deal, the truth is that I just don’t find the political process to be as enjoyable as I once did. Because of this, I decided that the time has come for me to step away from elected office and look for other way.

For the full article, click here.  

 

 

19 (!) Virginia Colleges Recognized for Community Service

Monday, March 11th, 2013

Congratulations to the Virginia colleges that were recognized by the Federal Government for their community service work this month. Virginia21 is so pleased to see college students across the Commonwealth giving back to their communities and being recognized for their good work. Well done all!

Top work too to Emory and Henry College, James and Madison University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Washington & Lee University for receiving Honor Roll with Distinction!

Virginia’s colleges that were recognized:

Blue Ridge Community College - Weyers Cave, VA

Blueield College - Blueield, VA

Bridgewater College - Bridgewater, VA

College of William and Mary - Williamsburg, VA

Hollins University - Roanoke, VA

Lynchburg College - Lynchburg, VA

Mary Baldwin College - Staunton, VA

Marymount University - Arlington, VA

Old Dominion University - Norfolk, VA

Radford University - Radford, VA

Randolph-Macon College - Ashland, VA

Roanoke College - Salem, VA

Shenandoah University  - Winchester, VA

The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Blacksburg, VA

University of Mary Washington - Fredericksburg, VA

University of Richmond - Burgess, VA

Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, VA

Virginia State University - Petersburg, VA

Virginia Union University - Richmond, VA

‘Why Men Are More Likely to Drop Out’

Friday, March 8th, 2013

Ben Casselman, writing for the Wall Street Journal:

As student debt levels continue to rise, more college students are facing a critical decision: Borrow more or drop out? Men and women appear to be reaching different conclusions.

Moderate levels of debt can actually help students graduate by allowing them to work less and study more. But beyond a certain point, the relationship breaks down—wary of taking on too heavy a debt burden, students drop out.

That dynamic exists for all students, but not equally. According to a new paper in the journal Gender & Society, men are more likely than women to leave school rather than take on more loans. Women are more likely to finish their degrees, even if that means graduating with a higher debt burden. The research suggests that student debt may help explain a significant but poorly understood trend in recent years: Women are not only enrolling in college at higher rates than men, they’re also more likely to graduate.

That gender should affect student borrowing decisions might seem surprising, but the authors suggest there is a fairly simple explanation: Men without college degrees face better job prospects than equivalently educated women, at least in the short term. That makes the consequences of dropping out appear smaller for men.