| Friday, June 3, 2022 |
| MSU gets $800K for military business training | |
 | The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) awarded $824,100 to Mississippi State University (MSU) for "Boots to Business" entrepreneur training. SBA leaders said the Boots to Business program teaches service members, veterans and their spouses how to successfully launch a small business. The funds will allow MSU to continue training for Boots to Business graduates through an online course called Boots to Business Revenue Readiness. The six-week synchronous online training teaches transitioning services to service members, veterans and their spouses. The program has served more than 156,000 transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses since its launch on January 1, 2013. |
| Bedbugs' biggest impact may be on mental health after an infestation of these bloodsucking parasites | |
 | Mississippi State University's Jerome Goddard writes for The Conversation: Bedbugs are back with a vengeance. After an absence of around 70 years, thanks to effective pesticides such as DDT, they've been popping up in fancy hotels, spas, department stores, subway trains, movie theaters -- and, of course, people's homes. I'm a public health entomologist. In the course of my work, I've studied these little bloodsuckers, even letting bedbugs feast on my own appendages in the name of science. No one likes dealing with bedbugs -- and there are ways to minimize your chances of needing to. The common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, has been a parasite of humans for thousands of years. Historically, these tiny bloodsuckers were common in human dwellings worldwide, giving the old saying "sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite" real meaning. They had nearly disappeared in developing countries until the mid-1990s, when they began making a comeback because of restriction or loss of certain pesticides, changes in pest control practices and increased international travel. In many areas around the world, they are now a major urban pest. |
| Job market stays red-hot with the unemployment rate near a pre-pandemic low | |
 | The U.S. job market remained tight last month as employers struggled to find people to wait tables, staff factories and guard swimming pools. The Labor Department said Friday that U.S. businesses added 390,000 jobs in May, as the unemployment rate held steady at 3.6%. Job gains for March and April were revised down by a total of 22,000 jobs. The demand for labor also has some employers hoping that older workers who left the workforce earlier in the pandemic will come out of retirement, especially after the recent drop in the stock market put a dent in their 401(k)s. The number of workers age 55 and older grew last month by 181,000. Tim Fiore, who surveys manufacturing managers each month for the Institute for Supply Management, says factories had somewhat more success filling jobs in May than the month before. But they're still struggling with heavy turnover. Factories added 18,000 jobs in May. "There is some improvement but it's a long way to go," Fiore says. "And I think on the employment side here, it's going to be a slow slog because there just isn't that much labor out there." In order to attract scarce workers, employers have been offering more flexible schedules, better benefits and higher wages. Average hourly wages in May were 5.2% higher than a year ago -- a slight moderation from the month before. But even those fatter paychecks aren't keeping pace with rising prices. And the Federal Reserve is concerned that rising wages could fuel stubbornly high inflation. |
| Senator Wicker sounds alarm on Chinese threat to Taiwan | |
 | U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined his colleagues as a cosponsor of the Strengthen Taiwan's Security Act. The bipartisan bill would evaluate opportunities to deliver lethal aid to Taiwan, boost Taiwan's reconnaissance capabilities, and potentially bolster munitions stockpiles near Taiwan. Specifically, the Strengthen Taiwan's Security Act would improve Taiwan's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to provide better detection of PRC activities indicating a direct threat. The measure would explore the potential for pre-positioning stock on or near the island to aid Taiwan's ability to endure conflict. The bill would also identify weapons systems and other lethal aid that could be delivered to Taiwan using existing authorities, like the Presidential Drawdown Authority, as well as potential barriers to delivering aid once a military invasion or blockade has started to ensure appropriate speed of action in providing such lethal aid. Senator Wicker said that China is amassing military power at an alarming pace, posing a major threat to our vital democratic ally, Taiwan. "Keeping Taiwan safe will require effective deterrence. I am glad to work on a bipartisan effort to provide Taiwan the high-end equipment it needs to deter China," Wicker said. The introduction of the Strengthen Taiwan's Security Act follows arguments that Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 could embolden Beijing to invade Taiwan. |
| Outlook for Medicare and Social Security improves slightly | |
 | The financial outlook for the Medicare and Social Security programs slightly improved this year due to a stronger and faster economic recovery than predicted in 2021, but both programs still face future insolvency, according to an annual government report released Thursday. A key Medicare trust fund that covers many hospital bills for seniors and those with disabilities will be unable to pay full benefits starting in 2028, two years later than reported last year. The Social Security Trust Fund, which covers benefits to retirees, workers' survivors and people with disabilities, will be able to pay full benefits until 2035, gaining an additional year beyond what was projected last year, according to the report issued by trustees for Medicare and Social Security. But the trustees warned about the future of the huge entitlement programs, expressing concern that both face long-term financing shortfalls. The projections in the report for Medicare, which covers nearly 64 million people, indicate a "need for substantial changes" to address the program's fiscal challenges, the report states. "It's just dangerous that we've let it get to this point," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan think tank. "What's concerning is if Congress has any response" there are "no signs that they are planning to make those necessary changes." |
| The Texas conservative turned Biden-approved 'rational Republican' on guns | |
 | Any gun safety deal Congress can pass after the shooting of 19 children and two teachers in Texas will need the support of its Second Amendment-touting senior senator. And John Cornyn, tapped as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's emissary to bipartisan negotiations on gun legislation, is feeling the pressure after years of congressional failure to get a bill done. If the Senate can't agree on a legislative response after the killings in Uvalde, Texas, Cornyn said, "it will be embarrassing." "It would feed the narrative that we can't get things done in the public interest," the 70-year-old former state attorney general told POLITICO in an interview. "I don't believe that narrative, I believe we can get a bipartisan deal done in the public interest." Cornyn's in a unique position to get the votes on guns, not just because of the latest tragedy that struck his home state. He's previously teamed up with Democrats on narrow background checks legislation -- the most substantive gun bill to clear Congress in the last decade. Not to mention that the former whip wields major influence in a GOP conference where he's widely viewed as a potential successor to McConnell. Even if Democrats and Cornyn can meet in the middle on trying to stop the American scourge of mass shootings, he will then have to sell the plan to a GOP conference historically disinterested in gun policy reforms. Despite that skepticism, especially given the closeness of the midterm elections, senators on both sides of the aisle see Cornyn as a gun-talks linchpin. |
| Biden renews call for gun laws as House Democrats plan votes | |
 | President Joe Biden again called on Congress to pass new gun control laws Thursday after gunmen killed dozens of people in mass shootings in recent weeks. Biden's prime-time address came the same day that Democratic leadership detailed plans to address gun control legislation when the House returns next week -- though House Democrats are not all on the same page about how to proceed on one of the most impassioned issues in American politics. Biden aimed some comments at Republicans who have opposed gun control measures in the wake of previous mass shootings, as a bipartisan group of senators searches for proposals that might overcome a filibuster and pass the evenly divided Senate. "This time we have to take the time to do something. And this time, it's time for the Senate to do something," Biden said. "But as we know, in order to get anything done in the Senate, we need a minimum of 10 Republican senators." Invoking national polls showing majority support for expansion of background checks, Biden said he supported ongoing bipartisan Senate talks to arrive at a compromise. Earlier Thursday, House Democrats announced plans for their own legislation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a letter to colleagues, wrote that the chamber will vote on gun control legislation when the House returns from its Memorial Day break next week. That includes a bill that packages eight gun control proposals, which the House Judiciary Committee advanced Thursday. |
| News Analysis: Biden, who ran on competency and experience, is struggling to manage multiple crises | |
 | President Biden's virtual meeting Wednesday with industry executives in the South Court Auditorium, a soundstage in the hulking office building adjacent to the White House, was held to highlight the administration's response to the ongoing infant formula shortage. But it backfired. The scripted event ended up highlighting just how slow the White House was to recognize the problem and underscoring persistent questions about how such a veteran administration has mismanaged major crises, not to mention the president's public appearances. Whether it is the last-minute scramble to avoid a diplomatically embarrassing boycott at next week's Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles or its faulty projections about inflation and struggles to control rising costs, the administration's rocky responses to various challenges have given rise to new doubts about Biden's promise to restore competency and stability to government. The White House has been working to rebuild its credibility for nearly a year, ever since the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan shattered the public's confidence in Biden. But a relentless pandemic, the influx of migrants at the southern border and the president's stalled legislative agenda have served to further calcify the public's negative perceptions. "Voters expected the world would calm down when Biden became president, that the chaos would be replaced with competence. If you look at the last year and a half, the world is still upside down," said Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster in Washington. "Trump's chaos was personal chaos. This is mostly world chaos. But [Biden's] ratings are low, and there's not a sense that this is an administration in command. They're a reactive administration instead of a proactive administration." |
| Russia's War on Ukraine at 100 Days Has No End in Sight, Threatening Global Costs | |
 | After 100 days, Russia's war on Ukraine is turning into a bloody slog with no end in sight, causing mounting devastation in Ukraine and prolonged costs world-wide. The biggest conflict between European states since World War II has undergone swings of fortune that offer a reminder of war's unpredictability. The failure of Russia's early blitzkrieg fueled Ukrainian confidence that is ebbing as Russia concentrates its firepower on a narrower, grinding advance. On Friday, Russian forces advanced behind heavy artillery barrages in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, where they have slowly but steadily gained ground, sending tens of thousands of civilians fleeing westward. Many Western governments fear a destructive stalemate looms, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's defenders locked in a struggle that is viewed as existential by both. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Russia now controls 20% of his country's territory. The problem for Kyiv -- and for Western European governments proposing a cease-fire -- is that Russia has seized much of the industrial heartlands of Ukraine's east and vast tracts of its fertile agricultural land, while blocking Ukraine's access to the sea, needed for exports. The stakes are too high for Ukraine or Russia to back down. The war also threatens two long-accepted pillars of global order: The principle that territory can't be annexed by force, and that the seas are free to all nations' ships. |
| Goal is to shrink Gulf dead zone, but that's not happening | |
 | Decades of work haven't shrunk the oxygen-depleted "dead zone" that forms each year in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana and Texas. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting that this year's will be about the 35-year average. That's nearly triple the goal for reducing the area with too little oxygen for marine animals to survive. Combining models developed by five universities resulted in a forecast of about 5,364 square miles (13,893 square kilometers), NOAA said in a news release. That's a hair lower than the five-year measured average of 5,380 square miles (13,934 square kilometers) and about 15% smaller than last year's measurement. In 2001, a federal-state task force set a long-term goal of reducing the dead zone, or hypoxic area, to 1,900 square miles (4,920 square kilometers) -- about 35% of the current average. "The action plan to reduce the size of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone was established over 20 years ago, yet this year's forecast is comparable to the 35-year average zone," said the University of Michigan's Don Scavia, who leads one of several research teams working with NOAA. The problem is by no means unique to the United States. "The number of dead zones throughout the world has been increasing in the last several decades and currently totals over 500," Louisiana State University scientists Nancy Rabalais, who has studied the phenomenon since 1985, and Eugene Turner wrote in a separate release Thursday. |
| State Auditor announces first round of Stay in the 'Sip Fellowship interns | |
| State Auditor Shad White has announced that his office has successfully recruited the first class of Stay in the 'Sip Fellows. The Stay in the 'Sip Fellowship offers accounting students at Mississippi public universities the chance for their tuition, books, and fees to be paid for. In return, they must work for the Office of the State Auditor for at least two years. On Wednesday, White went to Twitter to celebrate the inaugural class of 11 individuals. "We've successfully recruited our first round of Stay in the 'Sip Fellows, my office's program to keep talented auditors here in the state," he wrote. "Our fellowship and internship programs are designed to keep our brightest young professionals in Mississippi. Excited to work with them!" Applications for the spring 2023 session of the Stay in the 'Sip Fellowship must be submitted by September 1, 2022. To learn more, visit www.stayinthesip.com. |
| Summer Sunset Series features eclectic lineup, anniversary edition of Thacker Radio | |
| The annual Summer Sunset Series returns to the Grove stage at the University of Mississippi with a series of four Sunday evening concerts in June. Summer Sunset Series is a free community event made possible through a collaboration of Visit Oxford, Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, the UM Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the University Museum. Each Sunday night in June, locals and visitors can bring a blanket or lawn chair and set up their own picnic to enjoy live music. All events are free and begin at 6 p.m. The series kicks off Sunday (June 5) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council as well as the 25th anniversary of "Thacker Mountain Radio Show." To commemorate these milestones, the council will serve cake and punch as guests listen to a live "Thacker Mountain Radio Show." Following the radio show, Madrik, a seven-piece band featuring musicians with influences from house, hip-hop, drum and bass to pop, funk and soul, will perform. These heavy hitters' meticulously crafted, high-energy sets will keep audiences moving and grooving all evening. |
| Valley State first HBCU to offer prison college program in Mississippi | |
| Incarcerated people at two prisons in the Delta will be able to start earning four-year degrees from Mississippi Valley State University this fall for the first time in more than two decades. Valley State's Prison Educational Partnership Program (PEPP) is part of a growing number of colleges providing classes in prison with Second Chance Pell, a federal program that is restoring access to income-based financial aid for incarcerated people. Seven colleges and nonprofits currently offer for-credit college classes and vocational courses in prisons in Mississippi, but PEPP will be the first program run by a Historically Black college in the state. Provost Kathie Stromile Golden said that's significant because while people of any race can participate in the program, in Mississippi, incarcerated people are disproportionately Black. PEPP will be a way for them to form a connection with an institution of the Black community on the outside. Stromile Golden said she views prison education as ensuring incarcerated students know their communities haven't forgotten about them. "Many of the people who are incarcerated are parents and relatives of our students," Stromile Golden said. "It's in our best interest to do something like this, because these are the very same people who will come back to our community." |
| MGCCC earns award from auditor's office for work study program | |
 | It's not often a call from the state auditor's office means good news. But in this case, it was. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College has won the new PIE Award, which is awarded by the state auditor's office for efficiency in spending tax money. The program that got the attention of State Auditor Shad White was the college's Work for College Scholarship program. "It's a great opportunity for students to take up to 15 hours a semester, here at Mississippi Gulf Coast, and to work about 12 hours a week," said MGCCC president Dr. Mary Graham. "And that, in fact, erases their obligation to pay tuition." The program, which started in 2019, is privately funded by a $500,000 endowment. And it's helping. "It feels good to be able to work for yourself and put yourself through school because you're really on the ground carving a path for yourself to your future career," said culinary arts student Jacob Johnson. |
| Education improvements could benefit Mississippi workforce | |
 | Empower Mississippi, a conservative lobbying group based in Jackson, is working with policymakers on how to grow the state's economy. During the organization's recent conference, panelists discussed how that growth depends on a variety of improvements. Governor Tate Reeves says investments in education can prepare the future workforce. He says one investment can be towards improving trade schools. Governor Reeves says "You can figure out a way to try to have a workforce development system wherein they can go and learn a skill such that that skill that they now have pays at a level that warrants higher pay and leads to a reason for them to reenter the workforce." Experts say there are many facets of education that have real-world impacts on the workforce. During another discussion about prison reform, advocates caution that many people who are released from long incarceration sentences are unprepared to re-enter the workforce. Scott Peyton is the Mississippi Director for Right on Crime and is a former police officer. He says law enforcement should be ready to help inmates get jobs and adjust to societal changes. "A good reentry program would involve the community, rebuilding these relationships with family, with society," says Peyton. "It's going to involve engaging the community and employers to remove that stigma that's associated with individuals that have a criminal background." Officials say one of the main things businesses look for when coming to Mississippi is no longer tax cuts, but ensuring there is a workforce to sustain their industry. |
| C Spire adds wireless capacity to school campuses across Mississippi | |
 | C Spire has installed small cells near Mississippi schools experiencing high data usage on-campus. To date, C Spire has proactively deployed around 19 small cells near schools with plans to install up to 50 by the end of 2022. These deployments assist with giving customers a better experience while using the network. "Students, teachers and parents need the ability to use the wireless network during on-campus events. We've really ramped up adding small cells and enhancements near schools because so many of our customers are impacted positively with these changes," said Alan Jones, chief network officer for C Spire. "Additionally, our customers use more data around schools because there are no other alternatives while on-campus." Small cells are wireless transmitters and receivers that provide additional network coverage to select areas. These enhance the schools' speeds, coverage and bandwidth. With schools becoming more technologically savvy each year, C Spire's macro and small cell deployments near campuses are vital. Students and teachers are using personal connected devices as well as provided tablets, while parents in car lines and spectators at campus sporting events are also hitting the network, which can cause tremendous data usage spikes. |
| Air conditioning (or lack of it) can affect student performance | |
| It's been hot in much of the country this week, which might not be a problem if you have good-quality air conditioning. But many of America's school buildings do not. When it's hot, it's harder to listen, teach and perform well on tests -- basically, all the activities that are part of a regular school day. But during the pandemic, public schools received more than $189 billion in federal COVID relief funds, and one approved use of that money is improving air quality, including upgrading the air conditioning. And we all perform better at certain temperatures. "The Goldilocks zone seems to be somewhere in the mid-60s," said Jisung Park, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of several studies that look at how heat affects students. One study found the more hot days students experience, the less they learn overall. Some schools are planning to put millions of their federal COVID relief dollars toward renovating their heating and cooling systems. That will have other benefits, according to Joshua Goodman, a professor of economics and education at Boston University who has worked with Jisung Park on heat research. "Those improvements may actually improve student outcomes for multiple reasons beyond just pandemic-related issues," Goodman said. That could have ramifications for the larger economy. More comfortable students will become part of a better-educated workforce, which is a big contributor to growth. |
| Auburn selects chef and sommelier for new 1856 restaurant | |
 | The soon-to-open teaching restaurant at Auburn University's state-of-the-art Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center now has a chef-in-residence and a Master Sommelier on its team. The restaurant, 1856, is named for the year the university was founded. It is expected to open around the start of the fall semester at AU. Tyler Lyne, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who has cooked in restaurants from New York City to The Netherlands to Japan, will be the inaugural chef-in-residence at 1856. That role will change annually. Thomas Price, a wine professional who has worked in some of Seattle's top restaurants and, in 2012, became the first African-American to obtain the Master Sommelier wine certification, will be the restaurant's wine steward. Since 1856 will be a teaching restaurant, students in AU's College of Human Sciences' Hospitality Management Program will get to complement what they learn in the classrooms and labs with real-time, hands-on experience in the 46-seat restaurant. 1856 will serve an a la carte lunch and a tasting menu at dinner. "Chefs tend to have a love of teaching because it's really what the profession is all about," Lyne said in an interview with AL.com. "It's why I like this format so much. You're not talking about just theory. You're actually doing it." In addition to 1856, the Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center will include a hotel and spa, educational labs, a food hall, a rooftop terrace, a coffee roastery and café, and a microbrewery. |
| LSU, Southern's agricultural schools sign new agreement; here's how students could benefit | |
 | LSU and Southern University have long worked together on things like educating farmers on the latest science and youth development programs. But now the programs at Baton Rouge's two big universities will be working more closely on their teaching and research as well. A new agreement between the two agricultural centers will allow them to cross-reference courses, said Orlando McMeans, dean of Southern's College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences. "If there is a course that may not be offered at LSU but is offered at Southern, the student could take the class over at Southern and get full credit while not having to wait another year before they can take it," he said. In areas where one university has particular expertise, the partnership will make it easier for students to learn from it, said Luke Laborde, LSU interim vice president for agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture, said. "They have an agricultural sciences department where we have substantial overlap but one thing that is particularly exciting to me is that they have a school for urban forestry and natural resources," Laborde said. "We have forestry within our school of renewable and natural resource, but we do very little in teaching with a focus on urban forestry." The schools already have an agricultural partnership, but it has mostly been limited to programs like extension services -- which provide expertise to farmers -- and consumer sciences, nutrition and food science and youth development programs. The collaboration will now extend into teaching and research, Laborde said. |
| Heavily recruited U. of Kentucky engineering professor leaves amid charges of racism, sexism at school | |
 | University of Kentucky and Twitter followers may have noticed an interesting thread by UK engineering professor Shakira Hobbs, who announced her departure from UK on Wednesday for some very unhappy reasons. "Even though I was heavily recruited by University of Kentucky, I've dealt with lies, theft, sabotage, racism, sexism, and two miscarriages. God has blessed me w/ a baby in my belly that has made it to the 9th month in spite of UKs continuous harassment. #IKnowTheLordWillSeeMeThru." Now nine months pregnant and headed in the fall to the University of California at Irvine, Hobbs's thread documented a series of problems with her department and UK administration that she believes were due to her status as an "outspoken" Black woman in a typically white, male field. "The vibe that I got is they did not really expect much of me, they wanted my race, they wanted my sex, but they did not see me as someone contributing to the field," Hobbs told me in a phone conversation on Wednesday afternoon. |
| Prosecutor files charges against U. of Missouri fraternity member in connection to hazing case | |
 | A Boone County prosecutor has filed criminal charges against a University of Missouri fraternity member for allegedly supplying alcohol to a minor. Alec Wetzler, of St. Louis, is charged with supplying liquor to a minor or intoxicated person and purchasing or attempting to purchase or possession of liquor by a minor, both misdemeanors. On Wednesday, the family of Daniel Santulli filed a new petition against two more members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, including Wetzler. Santulli was admitted to the hospital in October with alcohol poisoning and a blood alcohol content of .486 after a "pledge father reveal" party at the fraternity. The civil lawsuit alleges older fraternity members instructed Santulli to drink an entire bottle of vodka, according to previous Columbia Missourian reporting. The family's lawyer, David Bianchi, confirmed Wednesday that Santulli is still unable to communicate or walk. |
| A state eliminates bachelor's degree requirement for many jobs | |
 | The state of Maryland recently announced that it would no longer require a bachelor's degree in the hiring process for nearly half of its jobs, joining a growing number of companies and other employers. A recent episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed's news and analysis podcast, explored Maryland's decision to look beyond the four-year degree and the implications for higher education. Bridgette Gray, chief customer officer at the nonprofit group Opportunity@Work, which is helping Maryland identify nondegreed workers to fill jobs in technology, administration and customer service, describes the market conditions that prompted the state's decision and why equity was a primary factor behind its move. Brandon Busteed, chief partnership officer and global head of learn-work innovation at Kaplan, discusses the larger forces at play and explains how colleges and universities can respond in ways that not only sustain their relevance but position them better for the coming changes and how learning is likely to happen. |
| U. of Phoenix president resigns suddenly (and quietly) amid federal inquiry | |
 | The head of one of the largest for-profit universities in the country suddenly resigned months after taking the post. George Burnett was appointed the president of the University of Phoenix in February, and at the time the university spoke highly of his "deep understanding of our purpose of helping working adults acquire a higher education." But new documents obtained exclusively by USA TODAY show that Burnett's departure came after an inquiry by the Department of Education. Specifically, the department had questioned Burnett's time overseeing Westwood College, a for-profit college based in Westminster, Colorado with run-ins with federal and state regulators over deceptive advertising among other concerns. Some of those cases helped lead to the federal government canceling $130 million in student loan debt tied to the deception of Westwood College students. The department also said it found credible evidence that admissions officers at Westwood were trained to use "emotional triggers" when talking to potential students and that they were "trained, directed, or encouraged to not take 'No' for an answer from the prospective student." Andrea Smiley, a spokeswoman for the university, confirmed that Burnett had departed and that Chris Lynne, the university's chief financial officer, will serve as interim president. Smiley also confirmed the Education Department's inquiry. |
| Where Do Students Go to College? A New Study Looks State by State | |
 | Where students decide to go to college is a subject of never-ending intrigue in higher ed, with entire campus offices devoted to influencing those decisions. College choices are also complicated, with a range of factors -- cost, location, program offerings, facilities, and more -- moving the needle in different directions for individual students. A new study co-authored by Craig Wills, the computer-science department head at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Chayanne Sandoval-Williams, a rising fourth-year undergraduate student at WPI, tries to provide some direction. Using Ipeds data from 2012, 2018, and 2020, Wills and Sandoval-Williams characterized the college "market" in each state, indicating where students are more likely to stay in state for college and where they're more likely to migrate elsewhere. The researchers focused on four-year institutions. On average, 54 percent of all college-bound students attend an in-state public college, while 15 percent attend an in-state private college. Students in Michigan, Louisiana, and Texas are more likely to attend college in their home states. The researchers described those states as "self-contained markets." In Texas, for instance, 91 percent of first-year students are from the state. Among all public colleges, Texas A&M University enrolls the largest number of in-state students, with Pennsylvania State University a close second. |
| To recruit workers, big employers team with historically Black colleges | |
| As it did in workplaces worldwide, the police killing of George Floyd -- just a few miles from its offices in Minneapolis -- led to deep introspection about diversity and fairness at the Solve advertising agency. The company was more than 80 percent White and part of an industry in which Black and Hispanic employees are greatly underrepresented in comparison with their proportions of the general population. "It obviously pushed the entire industry to reflect, 'Are we doing enough?' " said Andrew Pautz, a partner in the firm and its director of business development. "And the answer was really no." To respond, Solve looked 1,100 miles away, to Baltimore. That's where it found a historically Black university, or HBCU -- Morgan State University -- willing to team up to create an entry-level course that would introduce its students to careers in advertising. "Advertising isn't on the radar of diverse candidates when it really counts, when they're trying to find a career to engage in," Pautz said. So he and his colleagues asked: "Where is there a high concentration of diverse students? And that's what brought us to HBCUs." It's not only Solve that has come to this conclusion. So have some of the nation's largest employers, which are descending on HBCUs to recruit the workers they need to meet diversity promises or are expanding collaborations that already existed -- often underwriting courses and programs and the technology needed to provide them. |
| Survey Finds Test-Optional Policies a Significant Motivator for Minority College Applicants | |
| The COVID-19 pandemic upended the college admissions process, with many schools deciding to temporarily eliminate requirements that students submit standardized test scores. Colleges and universities found themselves conducting an impromptu experiment with test-optional admissions, a policy long called for by those who say that the SAT and ACT unfairly disadvantage students from under-represented minority groups. Now, after two years of wide-spread test-optional admissions, data is beginning to emerge, and it shows that these policies have been an important aspect of admissions decision-making for minority students. An EAB survey of almost 5,000 students who graduated high school in 2021 has found that test-optional policies were a significant factor in motivating students to apply, with 15% saying that they applied to a college specifically because it was test-optional. But test-optional policies were particularly influential for under-represented minorities, with 24% of Black students and 21% of Hispanic/Latinx students saying that they had applied to a school for that reason. Whites and Asians applied because of test-optional policies at much lower rates, 12% and 15%, respectively. According to Madeleine Rhyneer, vice president of consulting services and dean of enrollment management for EAB, which consults with colleges on enrollment management, going test-optional broadcasts an appealing message to students from under-represented groups. |
| Promoting dialogue among Jewish students divided on Israel | |
| Elyza Veta, a recent graduate of New York University, was excited to go on a group trip to Israel in the middle of her sophomore year in 2020. The trip was sponsored by Birthright, a program that takes Jewish students and young professionals on free tours of Israel with the goal of promoting and strengthening their Jewish identity and their ties to Israel. But things got off to a rocky start -- the students got into heated debates about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "It was sort of this looming thing throughout the whole trip," Veta said. "And everyone sort of retreated to the people they knew agreed with them. You have all the anti-Zionists whispering in one corner, the Zionists whispering in another corner ... The conversations were just breaking down at that point, and no one was talking about it in ways that were productive." Veta and a friend also on the trip decided they had to do something. Both had previously interned at an organization called Resetting the Table, which sends representatives to Hillels, centers of Jewish life on college campuses, to work with Jewish students experiencing frictions over differences in political perspectives or religious views, or to stave off possible tensions. Veta and her friend decided to hold a "dual narratives" workshop for their peers. The workshop was designed by the organization to teach politically diverse Jewish students techniques to discuss and empathize with multiple sides of the conflict. Veta said the tone of the trip shifted as a result. "Everyone sort of felt this huge weight was lifted off their shoulders and off their chests," she said. "The fact that we were all able to sit through this program, to understand where everybody was coming from and sort of be on the same page ... No question that by the end of that, everybody came out more empathetic to the people they disagreed with." |
| Would a 'Designated Advocate' Help Students in Crisis? | |
| The death of Katie Meyer, the Stanford University women's soccer goalie who took her own life in March, brought scrutiny to college disciplinary processes and the stress they can cause students. Meyer's parents are now proposing a new university policy they believe could have helped their daughter when she was in crisis. The proposed policy, which the parents have named "Katie's Save," would allow students to choose a "designated advocate" who would be notified by their college if they are facing "challenging circumstances," including physical injuries, mental-health problems, disciplinary issues, and more. As a situation unfolds, an advocate could help provide support for the student if needed. Students could opt in to the program during registration at their college. Meyer's parents have declined in interviews to share details about a potential disciplinary issue that they've said Katie was facing. But Gina Meyer, her mother, told ESPN that Katie had been dealing with it for six months and hadn't told them. College students often think they can handle a situation when it gets difficult, "but sometimes they can't," Gina Meyer said. "They may need extra support from someone, someone checking in on them, someone saying, 'Hey, can I help you with this? What can we do? How can I help you?'" Student-conduct and mental-health experts told The Chronicle that the main goal of Katie's Save -- providing students an avenue for getting the support they need when they're overwhelmed -- could be beneficial. |
| Sexual abuse prevention groups call for Education Department to investigate nondisclosure agreement use | |
| A coalition of 37 sexual assault prevention groups and law firms is calling on the U.S. Department of Education to investigate colleges reportedly coercing students into signing agreements that restrict them from discussing misconduct they report under Title IX. Title IX is the cornerstone federal law banning sex-based discrimination in education settings, including sexual harassment and assault. In a letter Thursday, the organizations accuse institutions of pressuring students into following gag orders during or after Title IX investigations. The groups want the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights to prohibit colleges from forcing students to sign such confidentiality agreements before providing them with accommodations or investigating their cases. They also want OCR to issue guidance for how colleges should inform students of their legal rights. The letter to the Education Department comes at a volatile time in Title IX's history. The Biden administration is rewriting regulations concerning the federal antidiscrimination law, and the Education Department says it will issue a draft of the new rules this month. However, the agency has delayed releasing new regulations twice. This rule will direct how colleges must investigate and potentially punish campus sexual assault. It will replace one implemented by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The DeVos-era regulations construct a tribunal system for evaluating sexual misconduct cases, as a way, the former secretary said, to protect long-disregarded due process rights. |
| Proposed law sparks debate over reporting foreign gifts | |
| Every year, the Department of Education sends a checklist to colleges and universities reminding them of the various federal laws and regulations they have to comply with, including environmental standards, Title IX and FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. For many years, that checklist did not mention any reporting requirements for foreign gifts and contracts. As a result, many higher education institutions were caught off guard in 2019 when the department began launching investigations of colleges and universities for noncompliance with the regulations. Institutions scrambled to bring their disclosure practices into line, combing through gifts and contracts and sometimes hiring expensive auditors to turn over every stone, said Deborah Altenburg, associate vice president for research policy and government affairs at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities "I don't think there was any ill intent, that people were trying to somehow avoid reporting," she said. "It was just out of sight, out of mind for many people." Now, three years later, lawmakers are attempting to strengthen and clarify the reporting mandates for donations that come from abroad. The Bipartisan Innovation Act, versions of which passed the House and Senate this spring, is meant to boost America's competitiveness in the global economy, but it also includes language that would beef up foreign donation transparency laws for higher education institutions. |
SPORTS
| CFP Chair: Presidents to Provide Guidance for Future Expansion Negotiations | |
| Executives of the College Football Playoff plan to give guidance soon to the CFP commissioners in an effort to restart negotiations over playoff expansion a year ahead of a deadline of sorts. Mark Keenum, the chair of the CFP Board of Managers, says his "hope" is that the group can agree on a playoff format by next summer. The CFP Board, the Playoff's highest-ranking governance body made up of 10 FBS presidents and the president of Notre Dame, is planning to meet in August to give more direction on expansion discussions to the CFP Management Committee. The CFP Committee is made up of the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick. "I hope we can get something done within a year," Keenum, the Mississippi State president, tells Sports Illustrated at SEC spring meetings in Destin. The CFP Board is taking a more authoritative role in guiding the next round of expansion discussions, Keenum says. CFP Committee members could not agree on a new playoff format during months of negotiations last year. "It was frustrating," Keenum says. "The same people who wanted expansion originally voted against (the proposal)." A new round of expansion negotiations would start and build around 12 teams, Keenum says. However, a 16-team proposal is "out there," he says without elaborating. This time, a new playoff would not require unanimity among the conferences. Months after the latest proposal failed, Keenum feels that 10 of the 11 CFP members would support an expansion model. |
| CFP board chair: New format ideally in place by June 2023 | |
| By this time next year, the university leaders who oversee the College Football Playoff want the next format for determining a champion settled. Mississippi State President Mark Keenum, the chairman of the CFP Board of Managers, said Thursday the conference commissioners in charge of building the postseason system for the 2026 season and beyond will restart the task in the coming weeks. "I've sent a note out to all my colleagues, the presidents and chancellors, to try to get us together sometime towards the end of the summer, hopefully by sometime before the end of August, just to continue the dialogue," he said. An attempt to expand the playoff from the current four-team format to 12 teams before the current 12-year contract with ESPN expires after the 2025 season fell apart last fall and was officially pronounced dead in February. The CFP management committee, comprised of 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director, spent the final six months of 2021 trying to come to unanimous agreement on a 12-team plan -- but never got there. While the playoff will remain a four-team event for the next four seasons, the commissioners don't have nearly that much time to figure out what is next. There is no playoff plan beyond 2025. "So we've got to make some decisions," Keenum said. "I'm hopeful ... within the year. We had our last meeting last month in May, and I said my hope to my colleagues, no later than this time a year from now we'll know what the future holds for college football as far as the championship. We'll try to stick to that." |
| College Football Playoff chair wants plan in place by May 2023 | |
| The hope is to have the format for the next College Football Playoff finalized a year from now, the chairman of the CFP board of managers said Thursday, who added decision makers "need to start getting serious" about re-starting the process. Mississippi State president Mark Keenum also said the presidents would become more involved in the process, which broke down earlier this year after commissioners could not come to an agreement. "I think the presidents talking, just us, I think we can hopefully smooth out some of the wrinkles that are there right now," Keenum said. "And maybe go back to our respective commissioners and say: Here's what we talked about, and maybe give them a little further direction, in helping them ultimately come back to us with a resolution." The current playoff contract ends after the 2024 season. Last summer a plan for a 12-team Playoff was revealed by a working group that included the commissioners of the SEC, Big 12, Mountain West and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick. The plan would have been adopted earlier than 2024, but talks broke down among all commissioners and at this point, there is no contract for 2025 and beyond. The commissioners are set to resume talks "sometime in the next few weeks," according to Keenum. He said he also sent a note to his fellow presidents and chancellors last month asking for them to come together by the end of August "just to continue the dialogue." "We do need to start getting serious about what we're going to do from a new format standpoint, sooner than later," Keenum said. "Because there's a lot of logistics that go into planning the sites. However many games we're going to have, we've got to contract those venues and hotels. It's a big production to put on a Playoff game, especially a championship game. "... We had our last meeting last month, in May, so my note to my colleagues said that no later than this time next year we'll know what the future holds for the college football national championship." |
| Keenum hopes to see Congress address NIL in 2023 | |
| Mississippi State president Mark Keenum believes Congress is the best body to take the lead with Name, Image and Likeness reform. He also doesn't believe that help will come soon. "The reality is we recognize this being an election year we're not realistically anticipating Congress to take any action before the end of this year," Keenum said Thursday evening as SEC presidents concluded their round of meetings. Keenum said he's "hopeful" Congress will address NIL in 2023. Ole Miss chancellor Glenn Boyce was unavailable for comment. Presidents will vote on a handful of proposals as meetings conclude Friday. There's been no clear indication that conference football scheduling will come to a vote. Most who have offered opinions on one of the most discussed topics of the week have expressed a desire for further study. "We're still talking through all this," Keenum said. So it is with NIL reform. It was easy for 14 schools to agree that something needs to be done. Currently NIL is governed by a patchwork of state laws that are similar but can have significant differences. In April the Mississippi legislature amended the state's NIL law to allow recruits to enter NIL agreements and to give schools more freedom to represent and advise its athletes in potential third-party deals. |
| Why Does the SEC Remain Deadlocked on a Scheduling Format? TV Revenue and CFP Uncertainty | |
| Three days into its spring meetings, the SEC remains split on a future scheduling format for a variety of reasons. One of those is money. At the center of the league's debate between division-less eight or nine-game scheduling models is television revenue. Conference members currently play eight conference games. Increasing to nine games would not produce any additional revenue from the league's new media rights deal with ESPN -- another wrinkle in a months-old debate that has left the conference mostly split along revenue-generating lines. The top half of the league is leaning toward a nine-game schedule while the bottom half favors an eight-game schedule, something Sports Illustrated reported last week in a wide-ranging story detailing the debate. TV revenue isn't the only obstacle keeping the conference from agreeing on a new format, which would start in 2025, when Texas and Oklahoma are scheduled to arrive. Administrators are also hesitant to add an extra league game amid uncertainty around expansion of the College Football Playoff. Playoff expansion failed last year, and any new playoff would not begin until 2026. CFP Chair Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State, provided an update on Thursday on expansion talks. While there are other issues afoot, TV revenue and CFP uncertainty have bubbled to the top of the debate. Asked about the scheduling debate following a joint session of athletic directors and presidents on Thursday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told reporters to "come back tomorrow," referring to an SEC presidents meeting scheduled for Friday, the final day of the event. |
| How Mississippi State baseball's Brad Cumbest became 2022 MLB Draft prospect | |
| From playing in football coach Mike Leach's Air Raid offense, Mississippi State's Brad Cumbest likely heard the importance of repetition. Over and over again. Reps are the most critical component to Leach's system. It's why his offense improved in his second year, and it's likely why Cumbest's has found athletic success -- away from football. Cumbest came to Mississippi State as a two-sport athlete, with baseball complementing football. His 6-foot-5, 240-pound frame made it evident why MSU and Ole Miss wanted him playing football. But when he arrived to Starkville, he wasn't reaching his potential in either. In three football seasons, the receiver caught five passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. Playing baseball in that span, he hit .280 with seven home runs, 33 RBIs and 55 strikeouts in 193 at-bats. So, he followed Leach's advice. He decided to increase his reps by stepping away from football. Cumbest turned his full attention to baseball and developed into a lucrative prospect for the 2022 MLB Draft. "He has made a huge jump," first baseman Luke Hancock said. "For him, it was just at-bats. He really didn't get to ever have a fall with us. Even this past fall (2021), I think he was hurt. Getting here in the spring, he just took off for us. He was one of our best players all year." |
| Ally Ewing, former North & South champ, among US Women's Open leaders | |
| Ally Ewing is comfortable with the environment in the North Carolina Sandhills, and her 3-under par Thursday in the opening round of the 77th US Women's Open proved it. Ewing, the former Mississippi State University star, placed herself among the first-round leaders by matching her best round in US Women's Open competition at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club. Her 3-under par 68 had her in a tie for sixth place entering Friday's second round. With temperatures in the high 90s and playing in sweat-inducing humidity, Ewing used a three-birdie run over holes 4-7 to finish one stroke lower than her best ever round in US Open play -- a 67 in the 2019 event at the Country Club of Charleston. It wasn't the first time, however, that Ewing has performed well in the area. In 2013 she captured the prestigious North & South Women's Amateur title played on the Pinehurst Resort's No. 2 Course. "I mean, it definitely feels like the South to me just with Mississippi roots,'' Ewing said after Thursday's round. "It's definitely hot, which I can't really say that -- I guess I am used to it, but I don't necessarily just love it. But it is something I'm used to, and just trying to maintain and keep your body hydrated, keep yourself rested as much as you can. Ewing said winning the North & South Amateur was a turning point in her golf career. A junior at Mississippi State at the time, she defeated Yueer "Cindy" Feng, 3 & 2, to win the title. |
| How South Carolina, Ray Tanner are adjusting to changing college athletics landscape | |
 | Ray Tanner has spent time on the Florida Panhandle almost every year for the past decade. These days, Tanner is among the elder statesmen in the room when Southeastern Conference athletic directors gather for their annual spring meetings in the Sunshine State. He's currently the second-longest tenured AD in the league behind only Kentucky's Mitch Barnhart -- who's been at the helm in Lexington since 2002. That gives one perspective only time can afford. "We've got a lot to be proud of at this conference," Tanner told The State. "I've been in the league now a total of 26 years (as an AD and baseball coach). So it's been great to be part of such a great league." This week, Tanner and the league's athletic directors have spent countless hours discussing everything from possible changes in the SEC's football scheduling model to adjustments in the sport's intraconference transfer deadline. Smack dab at the center of the beachfront discussions, though, have been the increasing frustration with inconsistent regulations surrounding name, image and likeness in collegiate athletics. The NCAA has largely stood pat in terms of regulating the payment of student-athletes for fear of possible legal challenges and, likely, antitrust suits that would be brought should they attempt to do so. That's left leagues, states and schools to regulate NIL, if they so choose, thus creating inconsistencies across the board. "There's a lot of 'what ifs' being discussed, a lot of 'what ifs,'" Mississippi State president Mark Keenum told reporters on Thursday in regard to the future of college athletics. "No one has answers -- no definitive answers, for sure." |
| SEC Notebook: LSU's Scott Woodward said schools have to find way to make NIL work for them | |
| You won't find one coach or administrator here this week at the SEC spring meeting who would raise a voice in objection to name, image and likeness (NIL) benefits for athletes. You probably also won't find anyone who likes the lack of rules governing NIL and the way it currently exists. "I call it a malleable morass," LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said. "But it's a fact. It's here. It is what it is. We just have to live with it and do what's right, not only for the institution but for the student-athletes." An attempt to do that in Louisiana is expected to come up for a vote before the current state legislative session ends Monday. The bill would allow broader school involvement in NIL deals than the current, more restrictive law and presumably put LSU and other state schools on more equal footing with schools in other states. Woodward said he supports the legislation, saying it meets LSU's needs in the NIL space. While there are dire concerns about NIL -- Ohio State football coach Ryan Day reportedly said Thursday that his program needs $13 million in NIL money to keep the Buckeyes' roster intact -- Woodward said he remains optimistic about the overall direction in which college athletics is going. "It's not, 'Woe is me, end of the world,' " Woodward said. "It's different. The unknown is scary. You do want some sense of knowing what you're doing going forward." |
| Two Teams Loom Large Over the College World Series | |
 | With the seasons coming to a conclusion, two teams stand at the top of the college baseball and softball worlds, far, far above their rivals. In baseball, Tennessee is the favorite to win the College World Series after a 53-7 season. In softball, it's Oklahoma, at a scarcely believable 54-2. Tennessee has put up its impressive record and gained the No. 1 ranking while playing in the tough Southeastern Conference, which has nine teams in the tournament, including three other top-16 seeds. Tennessee ended that tough slate with a 25-5 conference record, then won four straight to take the SEC tournament. But despite the Volunteers' dominance this season, they cannot be considered a sure thing. The College World Series is notoriously difficult to win. While the double-elimination preliminaries tend not to be that difficult for the top seeds, the best-of-three "super regional" that follows is generally against a tough opponent. And the actual eight-team World Series normally requires wins over several top-five or top-10 teams to win the title. As a result, top seeds have regularly fallen over the years. And Tennessee is hardly a traditionally dominant college baseball power. Although the Volunteers made the College World Series last season, finishing tied for seventh, they had a losing record in the SEC every season from 2006 to 2019. Their best finish in the World Series was runner-up in 1951. So though they are favored by oddsmakers, they are not an extremely short price. They currently stand at only 5-2 (next best are No. 3 Oregon State at 9-1 and No. 2 Stanford and No. 4 Virginia Tech at 12-1). |
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