Daily Lumina News 120823

The failure of three college presidents to clearly say this week that calling for the genocide of Jewish people violated their campus policies quickly went viral on social media—galling alumni, free speech experts, and advocates in the Jewish community alike.
Even the White House chimed in, one day after the contentious four-hour hearing before the House Education and Workforce Committee. In this interview, experts weigh in on that pivotal meeting—and the broader implications for public opinion and the politics of colleges and universities.

The Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 is more than a piece of legislation meant to fortify the nation’s semiconductor industry. It is a bipartisan, multibillion-dollar re-embrace of American industrial policy that has major implications for how the nation funds research and development, how that R&D leads to job creation, and how we align the development of technology and talent in higher education.
Community colleges can and should play an important role in this effort—particularly in job training—and many are already doing so. But they need more support to ensure that CHIPS is successful, writes New America's Shalin Jyotishi in this essay.

Florida has dominated much of the national conversation over higher education in recent years, with lawmakers targeting diversity efforts at state colleges and universities, altering faculty tenure policies, and overhauling the governing board of a small, public liberal arts college with conservative trustees.
Florida’s changes have been widely publicized—and often criticized—but they are not unique to the Sunshine State. North Carolina leaders are making several moves in the same direction.

Amber Crowder is a college graduate who served time in a federal prison for mail fraud. During incarceration, opportunities to better herself were scarce. Crowder says she found hope through a program that helps prepare previously incarcerated, career-oriented people for the workplace.
In this video, Crowder describes, in her own words, her life today—and her work to destigmatize and humanize what it means to be incarcerated.

The American Association of University Professors has released a blistering assessment of higher education in Florida, saying its yearlong “special investigation” revealed a system under assault from Republican leaders determined to limit academic freedom and impose their worldview on the state’s public campuses.
The report cites a string of laws, policy changes, and political maneuvers over the last two years, concluding they amount to an “ideologically driven assault unparalleled in U.S. history.” The study is based in part on interviews with more than 65 people, including faculty, students, trustees, and former university presidents.

Some 38 percent of today's college students transfer from a different institution before earning their degree, and 40.4 million students nationwide have some college credits but no degree. Engaging these students toward degree completion isn’t a new challenge in higher education, but it is one that can now be meaningfully advanced through technology.
What if learners and students had more access to their accomplishments to better communicate their educational history? What frictions could we reduce and what new value could grow?