Daily Lumina News 062323

Parsing out why a person leaves a job, particularly when it comes to the contingent world of college leadership, isn’t straightforward. Deans, provosts, and other types of administrators come and go for any number of reasons, such as family, a promotion, or a better work environment.
But the steady trickle of administrators in Florida departing to other states amid an increasingly politicized higher-ed landscape is adding to fears that the Sunshine State could soon face a mass exodus of academics.

Aristides Henriquez spent 16 years locked inside a series of Massachusetts state prisons—and, all those years, locked out of educational programming that could have made his life better upon his release.
He's not alone. In Massachusetts, only a small number of state prisoners are getting into classes. An incarcerated person is nearly four times more likely to be on a waitlist than enrolled in a class that could help them find work upon their release, according to data obtained by GBH News.

In California’s Imperial County, bachelor’s degree attainment is rare. Fewer than 16 percent of adults in the county, located in the southeast part of the state along the Mexican border, have a four-year degree. It’s the lowest rate of any county in Southern California and one of the lowest levels in the entire state.
But leaders of the county’s lone community college, Imperial Valley College, are trying to change those statistics. And it's working.

Credential Engine, which focuses on improving transparency in the credentialing marketplace, recently convened a broad coalition of equity-focused thought leaders called the Equity Advisory Council to support its work.
In this interview, two of the EAC’s members reflect on why the work of the EAC matters and what its recently released report and recommendations mean for their states.

Dameon Stackhouse is part of a fortunate minority of people who have had access to college courses while incarcerated. That’s because college in prison has been limited for nearly three decades since the 1994 Crime Bill banned incarcerated students from accessing Pell Grants.
Without this federal need-based aid, many incarcerated students could not afford college. And when enrollment dropped, the number of college-in-prison programs plummeted, down to only a handful. That’s about to change.

Though we might want to wish it away, climate change is prompting dramatic shifts in our communities and country as insurers pull out of flood and wildfire zones, financial and emotional costs of extreme weather pile up, and school and work stop for more heat days than snow days.
Higher education must evolve to adapt to and mitigate climate change. One new hire or new policy won’t do it. Colleges, systems, and partners need deep engagement to make this happen. And students will provide an essential guiding star, writes Lumina Foundation's Terri Taylor in this perspective piece.