In this week's roundup:
Secretary Cardona wants a reframe of student success, students live in hotel rooms instead of dorms, and event planning assistants are in demand on campus.
August 11-17
- Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona reframes student success in a recent speech, demanding “a culture change in higher education.” Cardona hopes for a shift in focus to less affluent students and minority-serving institutions.
- Student visas for Chinese students have declined greatly, indicating that students are studying abroad elsewhere, notably the United Kingdom. The number of issued visas in the first six months of 2022 was about 30,000 compared to more than 60,000 in 2019.
- Institutions hired more “event planning assistants” and tutoring staff during the 2021-22 academic year. The 193% increase in hiring event planning comes as institutions aim to host more on-campus events.
- A record high of 200 students at Florida Atlantic University will be living in hotel rooms due to a shortage of on-campus housing. Rising rent prices in Palm Beach County and an increase in first-year student enrollment contributed to the campus housing shortage.
- City-funded scholarships in Philadelphia make community college much more accessible to students. The city of Philadelphia will spend about ten million dollars to fund the scholarships which are open to full-time students who graduated from a Philadelphia high school.
- The ease in COVID-19 restrictions on college campuses are meant to be a “return to normal.” Eileen Hineline, director of the student health center at Barry University says, "We're trying to get back to not being afraid to socialize. We've seen the increase in mental health issues from having so many of our students isolated. This is an important time in their lives that they absolutely need to have that social contact.”
- The phenomenon referred to as “summer melt” has become increasingly common. Students say jobs, family or other circumstances will prevent them from attending college in the fall.
- Sara Goldrick-Rab, a leading voice in college affordability, has resigned from her tenured position at Temple University. Goldrick-Rab had been on paid leave since April amid an investigation into her leadership of the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice.
- Ten Creighton University students were unsuccessful in appealing to be exempted from the university’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for religious reasons. The Supreme Court of Nebraska dismissed the appeal saying it didn’t have jurisdiction.
- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) will split the two institutions in fall 2024. The public research institution had jointly operated for 52 years, but has split due to concerns over staff shortages.
