Colleges of education and school administrators can sign up to obtain free technical assistance in replicating an innovative partnership model that provides hundreds of flexible, accessible field placement for future teachers and features direct, measurable results on k-12 learners, all at low cost. Campus Mentors is a one-room career and technical education program that is located on a college campus and targets youth at risks. Eight years of positive youth outcome data from its pilot site at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, has eared Campus Mentors national recognition from CAEP, AACTE and ACTE. A free introductory webinar is planned for Thursday, August 23 from 11:00am to 12:00pm. Webinar registration is online at CampusMentors.Org. Miami University

In the heart of one of the world's leading economies, a major transformation is underway. A recent redrawing of state boundaries has named Amaravati the new capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. A wide-ranging master plan calls for the city to be completely redesigned into one of the world's most sustainable and smart cities, blazing a path for the entire country. Meanwhile, a burgeoning university in Amaravati has chosen its inaugural leader to guide it into the future. Dr. Jamshed Bharucha, a distinguished academic leader is the U.S., will become the university's founding Vice Chancellor to contribute to the explosive growth and reform higher education and research underway in India. Inside Higher Ed

One of the biggest drinking weekends of the year, other than home Penn State football games, is Arts Fest. Students and alumni alike return to take in the culture. When people drink at the downtown bars or buy alcohol from the liquor stores or bottle shops, they don't pay a local tax. The State College Police Dept is operating with a 10.3 million budget in 2018, and according to borough Manager Tom Fountaine, about two-thirds of crime in this community is related to alcohol. Fountaine said the borough has shifted to talking more about the retail tax (versus a poured drink tax) because a lot of the issues driven by alcohol use in State College are not necessarily at the bars and restaurants. Rather, it's alcohol that people purchase at stores and drink in private residences that cause the most problems. Centre Daily Times

College Park's redevelopment continues to draw attention in the D.C. area. As part of this year's Best of Washington, Washingtonian magazine names College Park the "Best College Try" as the region's best turnaround. Not long ago, Route 1 in College Park was known for basketball riots, underage drinking, and traffic. But 21 years ago, the city of College ark and the University of Maryland joined forces and formed the City-University Partnership, to give this flagship institution the college town it deserved. In that short time, the partnership has opened a charter school to lure new faculty and their families, courted businesses, and built new apartments to keep recent grads from fleeing to DC. In April, the magazine named College Park and Hyattsville as two of DC's next boomtowns. The Hyattsville Wire

Public-Private partnerships are evolving in creative and powerful ways, explained Gordon Feller, co-founder of Meeting of the Minds. For example, Charlotte's "public-private-plus" model underscores the powerful impact of working with local universities. Such partners can be key as they are looking for juicy ideas to study and are ideally located in the same geography,"explained Aussieker. Metro Lab Network, a leader in organizing these relationships, helps connect universities ("the R&D department) with cities (the test bed"). Recently, Cape Town, South Africa, was able to avert the daily water ration by assertively engaging its citizenry in water conservation. That anecdote supports the core concept behind the Cool Block, that a city's best partner may be its citizens. GreenBiz

A University of Waterloo student group wants to ban the sale of plastics on campus by 2025, first taking aim at the plastic straw. "It's a super wasteful use of plastic," said Abigail Shingler, third-year geography and environmental management student. They want to make UW a leader in sustainability by eliminating the sale of wasteful plastics such as water bottles, plastic bags, straws and unnecessary packaging. Starting this fall, hospitality services will no longer provide straws or single-use plastic bags at its in-house dining and retail operations, a change the university reports remove an estimated 155,000 plastic bags and 175,000 plastic straws from landfills every year. The Record.com