The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Turning Dorm Move-out From Wasteful To Charitable

As many students clean out their group houses, apartments or dormitory rooms at the end of the semester, they often find they have items that are either unwanted or difficult to transport home. Georgetown is one of several area schools that have partnered with local charities so that end-of-the-year castoffs can find a a new life in the homes of in-need families instead of landing in a dumpster. Knowing that many of these donations might have wound up in a landfill and are instead being put to good use is something that might help students reevaluate their own consumption habits. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/georgetown-gwu-and-umd-make-move-out-season-less-wasteful/2012/05/19/gIQAUlSIbU_blog.html?wprss=rss_campus-overload

City And University Of Miami Agree On Campus Master Plan

In a unanimous decision, city commissioners tentatively approved their staff’s recommendation to accept revisions to the University of Miami’s University Campus District Master Plan to permit two additional buildings within the Campus Transitional Area along San Amaro Drive on the northwestern perimeter of the Coral Gables campus. The improvements are a part of the university and the city’s ambitious and wide-ranging 20-year plan for future development on campus and a number of new cultural, athletic and medical programs that would be made available for city residents. Read more at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/08/2789869/coral-gables-tentatively-approves.html

University And City Reach Agreement On Plan To Avoid Bankruptcy

Brown University will voluntarily pay Providence $31.5 million more over the next 11 years to help address financial problems that Mayor Angel Taveras has warned could put the city on the brink of bankruptcy.The deal caps months of contentious dialogue between the tax-exempt Ivy League school and its struggling host city and hands Taveras a key victory in his efforts to resolve a $22.5 million budget deficit. Read more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/05/01/brown_u_to_pay_ri_city_315m_more_to_help_budget/

Innovation Campus Brings College Industry Together

Whether exclusive private schools or massive public campuses, college has long been seen as extended preparation for the real world. These days, the real world is spending more and more time at college. Historic lows in public funding and a shortage of skilled manufacturing workers are leading a growing number of states to turn to the private sector to train and educate students, potentially speeding their path through college, providing needed labor and reducing some budget burdens faced by higher education. In Missouri, the emerging partnerships have spawned a so-called "Innovation Campus" where businesses will employ students as apprentices and help pick up the cost for their education -- either by paying them or contributing money for their tuition. Read more at:
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1843255.html 

 

Real Estate Investors Targeting College Towns

Looking to be a landlord? Buying property in college towns typically translates into stable rental returns, no matter how the economy is faring. Not only do colleges provide a steady source of jobs for the local economy, but enrollments have swelled as the unemployed go back to school seeking new job skills. Read more at:
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/real_estate/1203/gallery.college-towns/?iid=GM

Engineering Students Help Companies To Improve Their Sustainability

For Nestle Waters, a few degrees on the thermostat can mean big money. That's why when Lehigh University's Enterprise Systems Center pointed out a glitch in the processes of the company's state-of-the-art Breinigsville plant that was keeping temperatures two degrees cooler than necessary, top directors took notice. What makes the finding even better is that the brains behind them are Lehigh University undergraduate and graduate student engineers who have set their sights on improving local companies' sustainability. Read more at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/mc-outlook-lehigh-university-savings-20120310,0,4143917.story

Washington University Will Spend $80 Million To Develop Neighborhood

Washington University plans to remake a central part of the Delmar Loop with an $80 million project consisting of stores and apartments for about 550 students. Adelstein said the university has run out of room to build additional student housing on campus. Officials said the Loop project will give more students the opportunity to live off campus but stay in housing run by the university's residential life office.Read more at: 
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/washington-university-plans-million-loop-project/article_71474350-5f0d-11e1-ad6c-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1ncm7DhQR

Oil Boom Creates New Opportunties And Challenges For These IHEs

Three years ago, Williston State College President Ray Nadolny asked employees to park in the front because the campus looked so empty. Now, as a result of enrollment growth and a spike in demand for workforce training, Nadolny tells them to park in the back or they’ll be ticketed. The oil boom has brought an influx of new challenges for Williston State College, and the other campuses in the west also are feeling the effects. Read more at:
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/230549/

Hopkins President Says The University Must Help The City

Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels told the Baltimore Development Corp. board Thursday that the academic powerhouse has a moral obligation to "share our bounty" with the city. Daniels said that he sees Hopkins students, faculty and staff as privileged and that each has a responsibility to help revitalize Baltimore by addressing homelessness, preparing children for good jobs, ending violence and reversing significant health problems. Read more at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bs-md-ci-development-corp-20120223,0,4616349.story

Community College Plans A Dual-Use Library For Campus And Community

A massive skeletal structure has been growing over the corner of Tidewater Community College's campus on Rosemont Road near Dam Neck Road.Two stories high and sprawling across 120,000 square feet, the building soon will house an unusual dual-use library shared by the college and the city. Once completed - probably in about a year - the library will offer the popular titles and movies of a public library, plus the academic journals and resources of a college library. The partnership that led to the $53 million library is functional and financial, she said. The city contributed $11 million and the state provided $42 million. Read more at:
http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/tccvirginia-beach-joint-library-sees-groundbreaking-event