February » 2009 » Carol J. Carter

College Makes New Connections With Service-Learning Program

CAROL’S SUMMARY: In the past several years, service-learning has spread rapidly throughout communities, K-12 institutions, and colleges and universities. The recently issued report, entitled “Learning in Deed” from the National Commission on Service-Learning (Fiske, 2001) quoted National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) estimates that in the 2000-2001 academic year, more than 13 million school students were involved in service and service-learning.

One of best things about service learning, or volunteering, is that it helps students connect academics to real-world problems. When students have the opportunity to make this connection, it enriches their learning experience and broadens their understanding that the value of an education isn’t only found in what they can get, but in what they can give. Here are some questions to consider if you’re planning to enroll in a service learning program:

1) What kinds of service learning opportunities does the school, college or university you’re attending or considering offer? Is this offered across disciplines or only in the field of sociology?

2) On a scale of 1-5 (1=low; 5=high), how would you rank the quality of your school’s service learning program?

3) In what ways can service learning help you build and demonstrate leadership skills?

4) What kinds of causes are you most passionate about?

5) How are these experiences creating the leader within your child to be world-class ready, i.e. to have the skills and abilities to solve business, world and community problems in the most effective way?

ARTICLE:

Academic departments at Wagner collaborate with community agencies to deepen students’ volunteerism

By ELYSE ASHBURN, From the Chronicle of Higher Ed, February 27, 2009

Staten Island, N.Y.

Stuffing envelopes instills many qualities: humility, patience, tough fingers, and a pasty tongue. It is not, however, known for expanding the intellect. That’s what college is supposed to do.

And there’s the rub. It has been a persistent tension since the 1990s, when service learning became de rigueur on college campuses. At its most basic, service learning moves volunteer work from campus clubs into the classroom. How that actually plays out varies widely from place to place. Many colleges scatter students across dozens or even hundreds of community groups. Even within a single service-learning course, students might be working with a half-dozen different agencies.

From the Chronicle of Higher Ed, February 27, 2009

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Presidentâ€™s Budget Would End Bank-Based Student Lending and Significantly Expand Pell Grants

In keeping his promise to help every student afford a college degree, President Obama has signed into law a bill that abolishes the widely used bank-based student loan programs and put the savings toward the Federal Pell Grant. The Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid. Pell Grants are generally awarded only to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor’s or a professional degree. For additional information about student aid, you can choose to visit this web site:Â http://studentaid.ed.gov/

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Obama puts spotlight on education deficit

CAROL’S SUMMARY: According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education (2006), the United States ranks in the bottom half–16th among 27 countries compared–in the proportion of students who complete college degrees or certificate programs. President Obama has committed his administration to raise this standard so that by 2020, U.S. graduates lead in college graduation rates world wide. His appeal isn’t only in terms of what we owe our young people ethically, but what it’s costing us as a nation financially. In this country, 1.2 million high school students drop out every year. This translates into 9 out of every 30 students. Of those 9, 4 will be unemployed, 3 will be on government assistance, and 2 will have no health insurance (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development www.ascd.org).

Turning around this disturbing trend must start earlier than high school. An article published by the Chicago Tribune (Dec. 11, 2008), reported that college preparation begins in elementary and middle school, too, based on separate studies by the ACT and the University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research. The ACT report found that students who earned average scores in 8th grade had only a one-in-four chance of scoring high enough on the ACT to go to college. The Consortium study reported similar predictions.

These findings pose several important questions:

1) What can be done at the elementary school level to prepare students for success in middle school? Are we as a country addressing the needs of the whole child? Not only academically, but emotionally and socially?

2) What are middle schools (and parents) doing to prepare students to make a smooth transition from 8th grade to high school, what districts call “the freshmen transition”? As school reform advocates, how can we expand and support these programs?

3) What skills will graduates need in the 21st-century in order to complete globally? How can we help ensure that our schools are building the skills into the core curriculum?

ARTICLE:

He wants U.S. to have highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.
By Frank James, Posted February 25, 2009 at www.latimes.com

Reporting from Washington â€” President Obama on Tuesday laid out a series of challenges for the nation to meet in job training and college attainment, part of an effort to give every child a “complete and competitive education.”

The president, in his first address to a joint session of Congress, said his administration would provide the support needed to give the U.S. the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. He said there was a vital need for Americans to complete more years of education if the nation is to compete globally.

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U.S. Colleges Get Serious With Partners Overseas

CAROL’S SUMMARY: Globally collaboration isn’t only happening in the field of business but in the education field as well. This is only natural since our goal as educators should be to prepare students to compete globally, something I specifically address in my book

Junior Guide to Senior Year Success: Becoming a Global Citizen.

The best graduates from college used to move to New York City, Chicago, San Francisco or Washington. In today’s world, the best students need to be ready to live and work, or prepared to travel to, Dubai, Delhi or Dhaka. The ultimate goal of college is to prepare students to enter the global workforce.

1) What are you doing to cultivate a global perspective for your college education? Career? Life?

2) What kinds of partnerships has your campus formed with colleges or universitites in other parts of the world?

3) Whether you are a faculty member, student, or both, how can you become more engaged in international projects?

ARTICLE:

By KARIN FISCHER, From the Chronicle of Higher Education, February 25, 2009

Like a single man who has soured on the dating scene, Mark S. Wrighton is looking for serious commitment. The chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis is tired of accumulating scores of hastily arranged agreements with overseas universities that rarely lead to much.

In the search for more meaningful relationships abroad, he has focused on a select group of foreign universities in hopes of engaging large numbers of Washington University students and faculty members, encouraging robust research collaborations, and cultivating a more global campus.

Mr. Wrighton is not alone in his desire to develop overseas partnerships that are both broad and deep. A growing number of college leaders say they want arrangements that involve multiple departments and disciplines, square with institutional goals, and even tackle global challenges like sustainable agriculture or clean energy.

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Want to Change the World? Here’s How

CAROL’S SUMMARY: The Clinton Global Initiative University is a three-day event where motivated students brainstorm and discuss their ideas for creating change in the world. This year it was held at the University of Texas at Austin and contemplated such issues as hunger, pollution, and AIDS.

In the article, Lizzy Dupont gives the advice that when approaching â€œpotential donors, he should come across as professional and passionate and have a detailed plan, but be open to their suggestions.â€ The opportunity for students here is to see themselves as global leadersâ€”as people whose ideas and actions will make a difference in solving the worldâ€™s greatest problems.

Questions to consider:
1. What change are you passionate in order to take a stand and make a difference?
2. What measurable way could you bring about this change?
3. Who could you ask for help/donations or support for your cause?

ARTICLE:

Students gather in Texas to plan attacks on hunger, pollution, and AIDS

By KATHERINE MANGAN, From the Chronicle of Higher Education, February 25, 2009

Austin, Tex.

In a room full of idealistic young social entrepreneurs, Lizzy Dupont was a veteran. They listened with rapt attention as the senior at the University of Texas at Austin recounted the rewards and frustrations she had met over the last year in creating sex-education videos for deaf students in the West African nation of Mali.

Max Gelber, a University of Florida freshman, made his way to the front of the room for advice. He told Ms. Dupont he was working on a plan to record indigenous music in destitute villages, sell the music on the Internet, and send the proceeds to the musicians. “I want to go to the worst, most desolate spots on the planet,” he said. “They’re not exactly aesthetically pleasing. How do I get people interested in wanting to help me?”

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The 3 Râ€™s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too: Recess

CAROL’S SUMMARY: Research shows that recess, or play time, has a direct impact on the academic success of students. It gives the brain a rest and helps improve behavioral, attention, and concentration problems. Creativity, imagination and stress-reduction are central to recreating and playing.

Questions to consider:
1. How much recess time does your childâ€™s school allow?
2. Can you apply this method to homework and chores?
3. How much fun is in your life? In your childâ€™s?

ARTICLE:

By TARA PARKER-POPE,

Posted February 24, 2009 at www.nytimes.com

The best way to improve childrenâ€™s performance in the classroom may be to take them out of it.

New research suggests that play and down time may be as important to a childâ€™s academic experience as reading, science and math, and that regular recess, fitness or nature time can influence behavior, concentration and even grades.

A study published this month in the journal Pediatrics studied the links between recess and classroom behavior among about 11,000 children age 8 and 9. Those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none. Although disadvantaged children were more likely to be denied recess, the association between better behavior and recess time held up even after researchers controlled for a number of variables, including sex, ethnicity, public or private school and class size.

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Academic Integrity and Student Plagiarism: a Question of Education, Not Ethics

CAROL’S SUMMARY: Currently, the fight against plagiarism is approached by two schools of thought: moral and criminal. Both insist on academic integrity, yet both remain rather vague as to the definition of the intangible plagiarism.

Susan D. Bloom suggests that in this information and common-knowledge age, a third school that teaches the skill of proper citation is needed. That having professors teaching when, where, and how to cite will help students avoid plagiarism.

Questions to consider:
1. Do you know when to cite a quote?
2. How do you cite information in your school assignments?
3. What would make citation easier for you?

ARTICLE:

By SUSAN D. BLUM,

From the Chronicle of Higher Education, February 23, 2009

Student plagiarism is a problem on many college campuses. The two main approaches that institutions use to prevent it call for treating plagiarism either as morally wrong or as a crime. But neither avenue can be universally successful.

Institutions that approach the problem of plagiarism as a matter of morality often create honor codes. Such codes appeal to the desire of students to do the right thing. The codes assume that, with appropriate social pressure, they will. Students are asked to affirm that they will practice virtuous conduct as members of an academic community.

But while students may subscribe to the principles embodied in the notion of academic integrity, other principles can lead them to plagiarize or accept their classmates’ infractions. For instance, friendship and friendliness â€” student solidarity â€” are virtues that often take precedence over adherence to an academic code of honor.

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The New Reverse Transfer

CAROL’S SUMMARY: The number of students transferring from four-year colleges to 2-year colleges has increased. Some have transferred due to financial hardship during this rough economy. Community colleges are cheaper and class sizes are typically smaller.

Community colleges can be an import stepping stone. It is extremely important to leave with an associateâ€™s degree, because it makes it so much easier if you decide to go back and earn a baccalaureate degree. Reverse transfer students should still graduate with a mindset of success with a track record (4 year and 2 year combined) which show their accomplishments and point to their potential for real contributions in the world of work.

Questions to consider:
1. If youâ€™re still in high school, have you decided what type of college you will go to?
2. Has this article affected your decision?
3. If youâ€™re already in college, does this sound like an advantageous move for you? What will you save financially if you spend four years at a state college versus a community college?

ARTICLE:

February 18, 2009, From the Chronicle of Higher Education, February 18, 2009

Stephanie Jamiot is a community college transfer student, but not the kind one might expect. Instead of following the steady flow of students who move from two-year institutions to four-year institutions, she is one of a growing number of so-called â€œreverse transfersâ€ who leave four-year universities to attend community college.

Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland — Ohio’s largest two-year institution and the one Jamiot currently attends — had an 11 percent increase in the number of â€œreverse transfersâ€ this spring compared to last. These students mostly come from public and private institutions around Ohio. Nationally, the American Association of Community Colleges notes that a third of all two-year students previously attended a four-year institution. The recession has led to surge in community college enrollments this year, and some experts believe these “reverse transfers” are an important and sometimes overlooked portion of that growing student body at two-year institutions.

â€” David Moltz

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Economic-Stimulus Law Creates Jobs for Students, Too

CAROL’S SUMMARY: President Obama signed an economic-stimulus law back in February giving $200-million for Federal Work-Study. This will help create more work-study jobs for students with financial need.

Work-study jobs help students with financial need go to college and are predicted to help the economy because the studentsâ€™ wages go to either tuition or housing. Tuition money helps pay faculty salaries that they use toward goods purchased and housing money turns over into the local community-boosting the economy.

Questions to consider:
1. Have you considered a work-study job?
2. Who could you talk to for more information on work-study jobs at your school?
3. How will work study prepare you for success in the world of work?

ARTICLE:

By BECKIE SUPIANO,

From the Chronicle of Higher Education, February 19, 2009

Washington

The $200-million for Federal Work-Study in the economic-stimulus law that President Obama signed this week is expected to help an additional 130,000 students, each earning an average of $1,500 a year, according to government estimates. The money, despite rumors to the contrary, will not be pegged to a new community-service requirement.

Rather, an Education Department official said, the money “will be distributed to colleges by April 1 based on existing formulas and information that colleges have already submitted” to the department. Colleges will then be able to give undergraduate and graduate students the money next academic year.

Congress has not yet set the overall level of support for Federal Work-Study for fiscal year 2009. In recent years, the program has received about $980-million, and higher-education lobbyists believe lawmakers will not lower that amount. So the extra $200-million could push the total pot of money over a billion dollars, a height it reached in 2001.

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Princeton Student Finds Passion in Garbage

CAROL’S SUMMARY: Dumpster-diving isnâ€™t just for those down on their luck. A student at Princeton shares his experience dumpster-diving while practicing freeganism to help reduce waste. There is a lot you can learn about yourself and others through looking at patterns of consumption. Of course, some of these findings may not be so appealing, but they are interesting nonetheless.

Questions to consider:
1. What was your initial reaction to the idea of dumpster-diving?
2. What do you think of freeganism?
3. What else can we do to help reduce waste in our society?
4. How can these findings help us as a society to be more aware and leave less of garbage footprint?

ARTICLE:

By STEVE KOLOWICH, From the Chronicle of Higher Education, February 20, 2009

As a Princeton University student, Alexander Barnard has access to cafeterias staffed by an award-winning dining service. But he can still tell you the best time to scavenge grocery Dumpsters for edible food.

“Between 9 and 10 p.m.,” he says. “After the stores close, before the garbage trucks come around.”

Mr. Barnard, a senior majoring in sociology, gets many of his meals from the garbage, which is where he says too much of America’s usable food ends up. He is a practitioner of “freeganism,” an activist movement organized under the principle of “limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources,” according to Freegan.Info, an outreach group with which Mr. Barnard is affiliated.

“Freeganism is not just about being cheap,” he says. “It’s not just about living off the waste of society. It’s about trying to make an impact.”

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