The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Traditional College Summer Semester Is In Jeopardy For California's Public Institutions

Johnnica Hababag planned to take two classes this summer so she could transfer from Los Angeles Valley College to a four-year school. But those plans were upended when she learned that the community college had all but canceled its summer session because of budget cuts. She is one of thousands of students up and down the state shut out of classes this summer as funding cuts force many of California's public colleges to cancel or severely reduce offerings. Summer school has traditionally provided an outlet for students to help speed progress toward a degree or to transfer — or just to stay on track. But budget reductions this year have forced many public colleges to shift priorities. Read more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-college-summer-20120527,0,5544208.story

Remedial College Courses Are Costly And Fail Many Students

Each year, an estimated 1.7 million U.S. college students are steered to remedial classes to catch them up and prepare them for regular coursework. But a growing body of research shows the courses are eating up time and money, often leading not to degrees but student loan hangovers. The expense of remedial courses, which typically cost students the same as regular classes but don't fulfill degree requirements, run about $3 billion annually. Read more at: 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/28/national/a114334D08.DTL#ixzz1wHs4cDGX

Engineering Curriculum Shifts To Prepare Students For Battery-Powered Autos

Ms. Bovee’s shift in the emphasis of her studies, from mechanical to other engineering disciplines, mirrors changes under way not just in the auto industry but in the classes of engineers graduating from universities. As automakers increase their efforts to design vehicles that are more fuel-efficient and friendlier to the environment, engineering programs are likewise adapting their curriculums, preparing students to build vehicles increasingly powered by batteries and managed by computers. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/automobiles/cramming-for-degrees-in-hybrids.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Proposal Would Eliminate Repeating Courses At California's Community Colleges

There are few subject areas at community colleges where students can repeat classes, but many do so with arts and physical education courses under the mantra that practice makes perfect. That soon could change. The California Community Colleges Board of Governors will take its first look today at a proposal to prohibit students from repeating a course in any subject area unless they fail to earn a satisfactory grade. Read more at:
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/07/4470592/community-colleges-look-to-save.html

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/07/4470592/community-colleges-look-to-save.html#storylink=cpy

 

Certificate Programs Are Higher Ed's New Money Maker

Responding to demand from more and more students like Herndon, universities are jumping into the business of providing professional certificates that were once the domain of community colleges and for-profit providers like the University of Phoenix.“The growth is huge,” said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, which is studying this new phenomenon.Certificate programs can be added and updated more quickly than conventional academic ones. And they can help workers keep up with fast-changing fields such as information technology and intelligence, or get raises or promotions.  Read more at: 
http://moneyland.time.com/2012/04/09/the-cash-cow-of-u-s-universities-professional-certificates-instead-of-degrees/#ixzz1re1ek2dv

Doing Away With Remedial Courses By Blending Them Into For Credit Courses

Remedial classes could be slashed in Connecticut—but not because students are prepared to do college-level work. Under a bill approved by the state's Senate higher education committee, all community college and state university students could take college-level, credit-bearing courses with "embedded" remedial help for those who need it. That could mean an additional skills class, a lab, or tutoring. Seventy percent of Connecticut's community college students start in remedial reading, writing, or math classes for which they earn no credit. Most never earn a certificate or degree. Read more at:
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/04/06/connecticut-may-let-college-students-skip-remedial-classes

Business Majors Are A Dime A Dozen These Days

Undergraduate business majors are a dime a dozen on many college campuses. But according to some, they may be worth even less. More than 20% of U.S. undergraduates are business majors, nearly double the next most common major, social sciences and history. Companies say they need flexible thinkers with innovative ideas and a broad knowledge base derived from exposure to multiple disciplines. And while most recruiters don't outright avoid business majors, companies in consulting, technology and even finance say they're looking for candidates with a broader academic background. Read more at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304072004577323754019227394.html?mod=djemWMP_h 

How One College President Increased The Number Of Female Computer Science Majors

When Maria Klawe became president of Harvey Mudd College in 2006, she was dismayed — but not surprised — at how few women were majoring in computer science. As recently as 1985, 37 percent of graduates in the field were women; by 2005 it was down to 22 percent, and sinking. And the situation at Mudd was even grimmer. How Dr. Klawe (pronounced KLAH-vay) and her faculty turned things around — this year, nearly 40 percent of Harvey Mudd’s computer science degrees will go to women — sheds light on a gender gap that elsewhere remains stubbornly resistant to changing times. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/giving-women-the-access-code.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120403

Room For Debate: Should Higher Ed Change The Way It Teaches Economics

While a protest of an introductory economics classat Harvard University last semester seemed inspired more by the Occupy movement than by academic criticism, it raised questions about how the teaching of economics should change in light of the financial crisis. Indeed, what have we learned in the last five years that should be imparted upon future generations of economists? Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/04/01/how-to-teach-economics-after-the-financial-crisis/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120402

Every College Student Needs Computational Literacy

Many professors of computer science say college graduates in every major should understand software fundamentals. They don’t argue that everyone needs to be a skilled programmer. Rather, they seek to teach “computational thinking” — the general concepts programming languages employ. There is little agreement within the field, however, about what exactly are the core elements of computational thinking. Nor is there agreement about how much programming students must do, if any, in order to understand it. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/business/computer-science-for-non-majors-takes-many-forms.html?_r=1&ref=business#