the weekly digest from NEJHE and other news from the New England Board of Higher Education
Aug. 10, 2022
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LearnLaunch Executive Director and President Jane Swift announced she will step away from the day-to-day leadership of the nonprofit educational technology group she has led for more than three years and become its board president and senior advisor. ... National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) President and CEO Susan Whealler disclosed that she will retire at the end of this month to focus on her health. ... Nellie Mae Education Foundation Interim President and CEO Gislaine N. Ngounou said she will leave the foundation in December. ... See more on these and other changes in NEJHE's Comings and Goings tally of new appointments in New England higher ed and beyond.

Pictured: Jane Swift

NEBHE Policy & Research Intern Damaria Joyner’s journey in the Massachusetts school system influenced her decision to leave the region and attend a historically Black college and university (HBCU), Delaware State University. “It was not until senior year of high school when I experienced having my first Black teacher,” writes Joyner. “From this moment, I realized that there was a lack of representation for teachers of color in my region. I was determined to further my education at an institution where representation of educators mattered and was prevalent. I also chose to attend an institution that would be culturally relevant as a student. It was important to be surrounded and supported by professors who had my best interest academically and personally as a young Black woman.” She tells readers she was drawn out of New England for college, and suggests reading her narrative to understand what might have caused her to stay.

NEBHE and the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) awarded grants to seven business-higher education partnerships in Connecticut as part of an initiative to rapidly increase the competitiveness of the state’s postsecondary institutions and meet growing business demand for tech skills. Grantees of the Tech Talent Accelerator initiative are Quinnipiac University, the University of Bridgeport, Mitchell College, the University of Hartford, the University of New Haven, the University of Saint Joseph and the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities.

NEBHE will begin scaling the New England Transfer Guarantee to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont this month, having recently secured a three-year implementation grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Teagle Foundation and Davis Educational Foundation. The Guarantee allows community college graduates with an eligible GPA to transfer directly to participating four-year colleges and universities in the same state. The northern expansion of the Guarantee is an extension of the initiative in the southern New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, where implementation was carried out in 2021.
Tidbits from the NEJHE Beat ...
Blast from the Past ... 10 Years Ago This Week in The New England Journal of Higher Education

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences convened a panel of intellectuals at its woodsy Cambridge, Mass., headquarters to explore some deep questions about the humanities. Just what are the humanities? And how can they be best supported? The panelists, including a former Supreme Court justice, leaders of state humanities councils and economic development experts, embarked on a vibrant discussion of issues ranging from: creating places that matter, sharing public history, using the humanities to avert burnout in health care and starting quasi-book clubs in jails and elsewhere to narrow educational gaps. NEJHE reports on the forum.

NEJHE devotes special attention in 2012 to the changing roles of land-grant institutions on this 150th anniversary of the Morrill Land-Grant College Act. Here, Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, proposes a new kind of research university focused on manufacturing. 
News Around NEBHE
NEBHE Convened Thinkers on Open Education and Equity

"Academia has been notorious for reproducing the wealth inequality among people of color and their white colleagues," said NEBHE Fellow for Faculty Diversity Kamille Gentles-Peart during a featured conversation yesterday with Rajiv Jhangiani, vice provost for teaching & learning at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. Jhangiani warned against open educators doing harm despite the very best of intentions. "If you assume, for example, that digital is the solution, you [can't] forget about digital redlining. If you think about access, you [can't] forget about accessibility." Gentles-Peart, a professor of communication studies at Roger Williams, and Jhangiani spoke of common challenges they faced as immigrants to American academia and shared insights on equity issues and the promises of open educational resources (OER) during a NEBHE leadership summit at the MIT Endicott House in Dedham, Mass. Watch nebhe.org for full coverage of the event, which also featured fascinating student perspectives and insights from OER experts.

Pictured: Kamille Gentles-Peart and Rajiv Jhangiani.
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NEJHE NewsBlast is a summary of NEJHE content and other news around NEBHE prepared weekly by NEJHE Executive Editor John O. Harney and emailed every Wednesday to opinion leaders and practitioners. When responding to NEJHE content, please make sure that your remarks are relevant, courteous and engaging. Individuals are responsible for their comments, which do not represent the opinions of the New England Board of Higher Education. We urge commenters to briefly note their occupational or other interest in the topic at hand. Please refrain from offensive language, personal attacks and distasteful comments or they may be deleted. Comments may not appear immediately. Thank you for staying engaged.
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