The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Transforming A Downtown Into A College Town

Students flocking to the University of Connecticut in Storrs this week will be able, for the first time, to say they are in a college town -- or at least the beginnings of one. Businesses are settling into their new storefronts and tenants are moving into the upper-floor apartments of the first buildings completed in the ambitious, $220-million Storrs Center development. Meanwhile construction is ramping up on future phases. The long-term aim is to create a true downtown area that Mansfield has lacked, a strong drawing card for visitors and a selling point to attract employers to town. Read more at:
http://www.courant.com/business/real-estate/hc-storrs-center-uconn-20120822,0,7199916.story

City College Of San Francisco Urged To Avoid Accreditation Disaster

California's community college system Chancellor Jack Scott said Monday that it would be a "disaster" if City College of San Francisco lost its accreditation and had to close, and urged any reluctant college leaders to accept that cuts need to be made and do what needs to be done to save themselves. "The last thing we want to see happen is for you to lose your accreditation," Scott said. "That would be a disaster."
Read more at: 
http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/City-College-cuts-seen-as-inevitable-3767412.php#ixzz22xIZTPQx 

Despite Community Opposition University Will Build A Parking Structure

The University of Michigan envisions its planned six-story parking structure on Wall Street as a landmark that transitions drivers from downtown to Lower Town. For their part, the dozen-or-so Wall Street district residents that attended a meeting about the garage design Tuesday night would rather not see the proposed 'gateway' come to fruition. Despite pleas and wishes otherwise, U-M is going forward with plans to build a structure. Read more at:
http://www.annarbor.com/news/university-of-michigan-envisions-wall-street-parking-structure-as-neighborhood-gateway/#.UBmGlWFfFdI

Resort Town Considers Offer Of Free Tuition To Attract Year-Round Residents

A select board member in Killington has proposed giving free tuition to families who relocate to the resort community and send their children to college in the town. With Green Mountain College in town and increasing student debt, Rome says the ingredients for Killington offering free tuition are already in place. Read more at:
http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/95365/to-attract-residents-killington-board-mulls-free-t/

College Towns Are Feeling The Pain Of Higher Education Belt Tightening

The finances of many of the nation's institutions of higher education are starting to wobble. If they continue to deteriorate, the fallout won't be confined to college campuses. Hundreds of schools—including some of the most prestigious institutions in the country—have tightened their belts. That is bad news not just for the schools and their students but for the communities that depend on them for jobs.This pain is already being felt in places like Pullman, Wash., home to Washington State University. Read more at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444330904577537452874310424.html

A University's Expansion Plan Could Be In Trouble If A Celebrity Opposes It

They were called to testify in small groups, given about two minutes each to say their piece about New York University’s expansion plan. In his unassuming outfit — checked shirt, slightly frayed blue jeans, gray JanSport backpack — Mr. Broderick, the star of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “The Producers” and “Nice Work if You Can Get It,” was present as just another resident unhappy with a big neighbor’s bid to transform the area he grew up in and still lives in. The university says it needs more classrooms, dormitories, and athletic and performance spaces for its 50,000-strong student body. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/nyregion/matthew-broderick-opposes-nyu-expansion-plan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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