November 29, 2006Financial aid bits and piecesI met today with Barry Simmons, director of scholarhips and financial aid at Virginia Tech. Simmons is also vice president of a new state association to promote access to higher education. The Commonwealth College Access Network was established in July and will soon change its name to the Virginia College Access Network. The group will be holding a conference in the Omni Richmond Hotel Dec. 4-6. It's open to the public and covers topics such as the application process, earning college credit in high school, the admissions process, Latinos in higher education and grant applications. November 22, 2006College administrators and bloggingWhen I started this blog about a year ago, I knew it was only a matter of time before I started blogging about blogs. Yeeesh. That time has arrived with a story in today's New York Times about college presidents who are trying to engage students -- and maybe prove they're not so out of touch -- through blogs. I couldn't find any leaders of local colleges who have taken this approach, though Zenobia Hikes, Virginia Tech's vice president of student affairs, does have her own website. Some of the links on it don't work and it looks like it's geared more toward marketing herself as a speaker. Though it does provide students and faculty with an easy way to learn about Hikes, who was hired by Tech in 2005. November 21, 2006UVa gets a "D" in access to minorities, poorThe Education Trust came out with this report Monday on how well flagship universities serve poor and minority students. The results show that universities throughout the country are doing a poor job of enrolling and educating these students, according to the nonprofit group and advocate for disadvantaged students. The lack of access to higher education for the poor and minorities isn't exactly news. Perhaps more surprising were numbers from the study that show universities are doing a worse job of serving these groups than they were a decade ago. The numbers that jumped out at me: Financial aid from universities jumped 406 percent for students from families making six figures or higher from 1995 to 2003. The percent increase for families making $20,000 to $39,000 went up just 54 percent while families making less than $20,000 actually received less aid from universities. Inside Higher Ed sums up the findings in a story today. Continue reading "UVa gets a "D" in access to minorities, poor" » November 20, 2006College presidents salaries on the riseThe Chronicle of Higher Education just released a database on salaries of nearly 1,000 college and university presidents. The results show that salaries in excess of half a million dollars are no longer rare. Outgoing University of Richmond President William Cooper leads the way among Virginia privates with a total compensation package of $593,478 a year as of 2004-05. Public universities have different requirements for reporting salaries so the figures are more up to date. University of Virginia President John Casteen had a total compensation package of $677,980 in 2005-06. Continue reading "College presidents salaries on the rise" » November 13, 2006Foreign professors wantedAfter reading my story on Virginia Tech's new policy about sponsoring foreign faculty and staff for Green Cards, I received an email from Steven Toth of Roanoke which read, in part: "It was an eye-opener to read that VT found it necessary to establish a policy for a "growing number of foreign scholars" at VT. Why does VT find it necessary to hire foreign scholars to teach science and engineering at VT? Is there some sort of a prestige status or label attached to that practice? Aren't there enough U.S. scholars interested and capable of teaching at VT?" This article in today's Inside Higher Ed suggests that people in higher education think that looking beyond national borders, at least for students, is a good idea. And after a post 9-11 decline in foreign students in American schools, the numbers are finally on the way up again. November 8, 2006How will the election affect higher education?As the smoke clears from the 2006 election, higher education publications are starting to discuss what the Democratic gains might mean for colleges and universities. Everything from student loans and financial aid to college prep programs for poor and minority students to federal spending on university research could sway with the partisan winds. The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed lay out what they think this all means online today. |
About this blog
Rhode Island native and Virginia Tech reporter Greg Esposito posts on everyday college life, trends and issues affecting the 35,000-plus students in the New River Valley and beyond.
Tim Thornton, who is old enough to have children attending college, is still taking classes and is still fascinated by colleges, the students who populate them and the bureaucrats who operate them. His reporting beat is Radford University.
West Virginia native Anna Mallory blogs on student life topics at Virginia Tech, Radford University, New River Valley Community College -- and beyond.
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