The Independent Thinker
Private Colleges Serving the Public... One student at a Time
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Alabama Legislature Convenes |
The Alabama legislature reconvenes this week after one week off to ensure their COVID-19 protocols were sufficient. The plan is to continue two weeks on and one week off throughout the session.
Both chambers of the state legislature completed passage of the Indemnification Bill earlier in the month and sent it to the Governor for signature – coverage of independent colleges and universities was included. The link to the full bill here. The Senate is expected to resume debate on Senator Del Marsh's gambling bill, perhaps even taking a vote in the next two weeks.
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Community College of the Air Force finalizes education partnership with Stillman College, first HBCU in GEM Program |
The Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) at Air University and Stillman College signed a partnership recently allowing the north Alabama school to offer online general education courses to Airmen pursuing their CCAF associate degree.
Stillman, located in Tuscaloosa, is the first Historically Black Colleges and Universities to sign up with CCAF’s General Education Mobile Program (GEM).
The GEM Program allows CCAF students to enroll in partnering civilian academic institutions to fulfill general education course requirements needed for associate in applied science degrees.
“Despite the challenges that COVID-19 has created for education, the push to move courses online helped Stillman College meet requirements to become a GEM partner, and we are really excited to partner with them,” said Lt. Col. Melanie Presuto, CCAF commandant. “Adding courses from Stillman College to the growing list of over 2,192 approved GEM courses increases choice and diversity of partnerships to elevate the enlisted profession. The associate of applied science degree from CCAF supports recruiting, retention, career transition efforts and mission capability and readiness.”
Partnering institutions offer the courses through distance learning, reducing the educational interruptions of deployments, permanent-change-of-station moves and family commitments. Students contact the GEM partnering school directly to enroll in general education courses, delivered via Air Force Virtual Education Center.
“At Stillman College, we are deeply honored to be the first HBCU to partner with Air University as part of the CCAF GEM program,” said Dr. Mark McCormick, Stillman provost and vice president of academic affairs. “Stillman College is constantly looking for new avenues to provide educational opportunities to traditional and non-traditional students. It seems a natural fit to partner with the CCAF GEM program to fulfill the need for general education classes.”
The average graduation time of a student enrolled in the CCAF degree program is eight years, with general education courses often being the last requirement fulfilled. The GEM program aims to reduce that time by half by simplifying course selections through AFVEC.
“Adding additional partners to the GEM Program increases student course selection and registration, all accessed in one place, which helps,” Presuto said. “Providing these courses in an anytime, anywhere online format facilitates student planning across entire general education curriculum, and motivates students to complete courses on a self-paced timeline. Partnering with colleges in the community builds trust and relationships and enhances many initiatives from collaboration to community service and outreach.”
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Tuskegee and Stillman among Historic Black Colleges to get $650,000 to preserve campuses |
The funding for the HBCUs comes as leaders of the colleges and universities continue to advocate for additional funding nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, which has threatened the survival of many already chronically underfunded schools. Several historically Black colleges and universities will receive more than $650,000 in grants to preserve their campuses as part of a new initiative announced Tuesday.
The funding for the HBCUs comes as leaders of the colleges and universities continue to advocate for additional funding nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, which has threatened the survival of many already chronically underfunded schools. Details about the initiative were shared with The Associated Press ahead of the announcement.
HBCUs have long been underfunded as a result of decades of structural racism and lack of equitable public funding, said Brent Leggs, executive director of the National Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, which is supplying the grants.
“They stand as a living testament to African American history and the ongoing achievements of highly influential Americans,” he said. “But they continue to be overlooked and underfunded.”
The HBCU Cultural Heritage Stewardship Initiative seeks to preserve HBCUs as educational institutions as well as physical spaces of historic and cultural significance. The eight schools getting the grants are: Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina; Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi; Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee; Morgan State University in Baltimore; Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas; Spelman College in Atlanta; Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama.
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Talladega College Named Among PR News’ Top 35 Institutions for Advancing Careers in Public Relations and Communication |
Talladega College has been named to the PR News 2021 Education A-List Top 35 institutions for advancing careers in public relations and communication.Mass Media Studies Chair Dr. Luis Almeida believes Talladega’s teaching methods, in which students learn by engaging in real-world projects, helped land the college on the prestigious list. Other institutions listed among the top 35 include Columbia University, Georgetown University, John Hopkins University, and Northwestern University.
“Talladega College students work beside professionals and produce high-quality products for companies in our region and for departments on campus. Our students are engaged in applied media and learning the exact skills that are needed in the marketplace,” said Dr. Almeida, who is an award-winning photographer.
Upcoming fall classes at Talladega College include innovation and social media, multimedia storytelling, and digital photography. For information about admission to Talladega College, you may email admissions@talladega.edu or phone 256-761-6235.
In addition to being listed among the top institutions for public relations and communications, Talladega College is listed among the Princeton Review’s “Best Southeastern Colleges.” In its "2021 Best Colleges: Region by Region" section, the Princeton Review notes that many students are drawn to Talladega because of its “amazing scholarships” and “family-like atmosphere” as well as its fantastic academic programs and “outstanding” and “supportive” professors. Talladega College also earned rankings in three categories of the 2021 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Guide - National Liberal Arts Colleges, Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs) and Top Performers on Social Mobility.
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Faulkner University Reveals How Former Burlington Coat Factory Store Is Being Transformed |
Faulkner University is working to transform the former Burlington Coat Factory store on Atlanta Highway into its new College of Health Sciences. They are providing new photos of the work that is underway. Crews with Marshall Design-Building LLC have been working since October on the new space after Burlington Coat Factory moved to its new location at EastChase.
In June, Faulkner University President Mike Williams announced the 13-acre purchase of the Montgomery East Plaza Shopping Center.
“The center of health sciences project is going nicely across the way and it looks like we are on track to complete the first phase of that project by mid-March 2021 with faculty and staff moving in shortly after that,” Williams said in a statement. “We won’t have classes in that facility until the fall. Once we do, it will certainly be a positive new asset to the institution to help propel our center for health sciences.”
Last fall, crews began demolishing the interior floors and walls to create 85,000 square feet of empty space. They began laying down wiring and water lines in the floors, installing duct work overhead and electrical lighting. Then, metal framing for the walls were positioned to create a layout of the spaces to include a lobby, labs, research center, classrooms, offices and more. By the end of December, crew members were installing insulation and drywall for the walls. Paint, flooring and carpeting were added in January and February. Read full article here.
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A Precedent No One Remembers First-Hand: The Pandemic of 1918 |
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Huntingdon College lived through the pandemic of 1918, when the first H1N1 pandemic infected at least 500 million people world-wide—about one-third of the world’s population at the time—killing more than 50 million people. Huntingdon, then named Woman’s College of Alabama, was in its tenth year on the Montgomery campus, and Dr. Mifflin Wyatt Swartz was in his fourth year as the College’s ninth president. Public buildings and businesses in the city closed as the virus, which was particularly deadly to healthy young people aged 20–40, spread rampantly. In order to protect students, a campus quarantine was enforced. In 1918, the campus was surrounded by tall iron gates with entrances at the front and back, which President Swartz padlocked October 3, 1918. Students were not allowed to leave campus for any reason. Classes went on. Most faculty, many staff, and the president lived on campus. The only persons allowed to leave, according to The History of Huntingdon College: 1854–1954, were the chaperone, who completed errands and shopping for the students, faculty, and campus; the president, who conducted the College’s business; and the male faculty members, whom the president transported in his Model T to the barbershop every two weeks. By Christmas, students and parents demanded that students be allowed to go home for the holidays, so against his better judgment President Swartz removed the padlocks. After the students returned in mid-January, more than 175 students became ill, in addition to some faculty members. The fourth floor of each residence hall was converted to an infirmary for that hall and a faculty committee was appointed to take each student’s temperature (a process that took three hours) every night. One student developed pneumonia, but no one in the campus community died of the virus. |
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Council of Independent Colleges hosts Online President-to-President Conversations |
Longstanding public concerns about the cost and value of higher education—and private colleges and universities in particular—have intensified as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, recent economic instability, and the movement for racial justice. Some of these concerns are grounded in myths and misconceptions, while many reflect the real hopes and anxieties of students and their families in uncertain times.
In response, independent colleges need to intensify their efforts to strengthen relations with the public and often their own faculty and staff members—even as they adapt their business models to advance the unchanging goals of value and affordability, equity and inclusion, career preparation and personal exploration, and academic quality. How will private colleges carry their proud tradition of superior outcomes for students into a post-pandemic future? And how will they leverage necessary changes to restore public confidence?
CIC’s Talking about Private Colleges: Busting the Myths workshop series offers two different formats in 2021: virtual meetings for presidents only in spring and full day, on-campus workshops for campus teams in fall (public health conditions permitting). The spring meetings are an opportunity for presidents to explore how public perceptions, questions, and myths about higher education have changed in the past year—and which longstanding myths still need busting through informal exchanges with members of the community. The fall workshops bring together campus teams presidents, senior administrators, faculty members, and trustees to discuss two essential questions: How do we build a future in which private colleges continue to outperform other forms of higher education on key measures of importance to the public? And how do we rebuild the trust of students, families, employers, civic and opinion leaders, and others who rely on the excellence of private colleges in their communities?
Talking about Private Colleges is offered free of charge to CIC member institutions, thanks to the generous support of the Henry Luce Foundation, EAB, Sage Scholars Inc., and Sodexo.
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AAICU is pleased to welcome back Apogee Telecom. For more than 20 years, Apogee has been redefining the student campus life experience. As the only managed technology services provider with a sole focus on higher education, Apogee has become the trusted partner to more than 400 schools and 1 million students and administrators who rely on the company’s innate understanding of how superior Wi-Fi powers student vitality. Apogee’s comprehensive portfolio includes unmatched residential networks (ResNet) and Managed Campus networks that drive student and administrator success; video services that provide “like home” rich media experiences; and digital campus engagement services that act as an extension of the university’s staff. Partnering with Apogee enables schools to derive greater return on their IT investments and increase student satisfaction while achieving budget stability and predictability.
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