Daily Lumina News 122023

As legislative action to restrict tenure protections and ban or dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on college campuses continues to gain steam, many college professors are jumping ship altogether.
Professors worry about what colleges and universities in states such as Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, and others will look like after an exodus of top instructors and what that means for the economic, cultural, and intellectual future of those states.

Sam Betsko figured out fast that being a resident assistant in a college dorm would demand more than helping locked-out students and pleading with sophomores to turn down the music.
Today's resident assistants are helping crime victims, enforcing health protocols, and handling mental health crises. They want more pay for these duties—and will strike to get it.

The road to college financial aid usually begins with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. After years of delays, a new version of the form will be released at the end of December. While it promises increased access to aid, the delays could put universities and students in a bind.
The Washington Post’s Danielle Douglas-Gabriel offers insight on what’s changed with the FAFSA and why.

The climate is changing—and that means millions of more green workers will be needed to help prepare for, recover from, and adapt to these changes.
And we’re not just talking about solar panel installers and wind turbine technicians. In fact, these jobs make up a very small fraction of the green jobs and potential green jobs out there. In this interview, Taj Eldridge of JFFLabs talks about the types of climate-resilient careers that are being created through the green jobs movement.

Community colleges are known for providing hands-on experiences to students, ranging from auto shops, to machine shops, to working farms.
But some two-year colleges are going a step further, operating “living labs” that incorporate the direct field work into public-facing businesses of one type or another. These efforts include hotels, restaurants, cosmetology salons—and even on-campus zoos.

This month, after transforming a struggling school of 2,500 students into one of the country's largest providers of online programs, Paul LeBlanc will step aside as president of Southern New Hampshire University.
LeBlanc says he's not done trying to bring big changes to higher education. He plans to focus on a new effort at Southern New Hampshire that explores how to reshape college teaching through the use of new generative AI tools like ChatGPT.