Daily Lumina News 051121

When many Florida residents found themselves without a job last fall because of the pandemic, Valencia College sprung into action. The community college, based in Orlando, partnered with a local workforce organization to offer accelerated training in a range of fields at the Orange County Convention Center.
Community colleges across the country are rethinking how education is delivered by bringing hands-on training to students at remote and underserved locations. College officials say this method expands higher ed access and helps students gain industry-recognized certifications and better wages.

Before the pandemic, a growing number of colleges and universities stopped requiring applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores as a way to increase diversity on their campuses.
But researchers are finding that the test-optional policy isn’t substantially raising the share of low-income students or students of color at colleges that have tried it.

(Editor's Note: This article first ran on Mother's Day, May 9, 2021, as recognition of the vital role women and mothers play in our own lives and in society as a whole. But its message of why we must do more than celebrate and give thanks bears repeating.)
COVID-19 has exposed many uncomfortable truths about the way our economy limits opportunity for millions of working mothers. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Already, efforts exist that can offer significant help to women seeking to regain a foothold in the pandemic-fueled economy.

International students are a resilient group, choosing to leave their homes and families to study abroad. But the pandemic and an increase in anti-Asian racism in the United States have made their struggles all that more difficult.
Katie Koo, a South Korea native who came to the United States for graduate study, wants to demystify the mental-health challenges international students face. In this interview, she talks about faculty and staff members’ misperceptions of international students and how colleges can design more culturally responsive mental-health services.

There is no shortage of ways that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has upended the higher education calendar, particularly as it relates to enrollment and admissions schedules.
While the May 1 National Decision Day—the designated date when high school seniors declare which college they’ll be attending in the fall—remains in place and should bring with it clarity to admissions and financial aid offices, it's taken on new meaning again this year as institutions grapple with a shrinking applicant pool and lingering uncertainty over whether enrollment declines will continue.

President Biden’s American Families Plan represents a sea change for higher education, with big and bold approaches to funding college, unprecedented investments in historically Black colleges and universities and other under-resourced institutions, support for students' basic needs, and much more.
This episode of dotEDU explores the impact of Biden's massive proposal and why many college leaders are calling it a potential game changer. ACE Vice President and General Counsel Peter McDonough also joins the conversation to talk about the challenges facing institutions reopening this fall and the legal issues associated with making campuses safe for students.