In this week's roundup, higher education honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., more institutions are expected to close this year, and recent graduates feel unprepared for the workforce.
January 12-18
- Institutions across the U.S. celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., through days of service, reflection and action. Dr. Kelisha B. Graves from the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change believes the holiday is a “day on, not a day off.”
- Harvard Medical School is the first medical institution to withdraw from the U.S. News & World Report ranking. Despite holding the top spot for research, Dr. George Q. Daley said the rankings don’t meaningfully reflect the educational excellence of their program.
- Experts believe the end of affirmative action will lead college admissions to rethink everything from recruitment to scholarships. If the Supreme Court rules against affirmative action, experts believe an entire generation will be affected.
- Ellen Granberg will serve as the next president of George Washington University. Granberg, who is currently the provost of Rochester Institute of Technology, will be the first female president of the Washington, D.C., institution.
- Professors have had to rethink the ways they teach in response to the growing use of ChatGPT. Some changes include oral assignments and handwritten essays.
- A new report highlights how one-third of recent college graduates say they weren’t mentally prepared to transition into the workplace. The report advocates for college leaders working with employers to prioritize mental health.
- Experts are predicting a year of college closures nationwide. Many contributing factors, such as COVID relief funds running out, inflationary pressures and low enrollment, are forcing institutions to make difficult decisions.
- A University of Illinois at Chicago professor said that faculty deserve a pay raise for taking on students’ emotional workload in recent years. UIC faculty recently went on strike, demanding increased pay and greater access to on-campus therapy.
- According to a report from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, over a third of higher education employees are looking for work elsewhere. More than half of these supervisors say they did not have resources or support to stay in their current role.
- The founder of the ed tech firm Frank is being sued by JPMorgan Chase for allegedly faking student accounts. The lawsuit claims that the number of Frank users was inflated by the company to more than 4 million, despite having fewer than 300,000 at the time.
Please note that this will be the final Wednesday Roundup from our agency. Keep an eye out for forthcoming topical blog posts from our agency thought leaders!
