Is University of Virginia’s ‘reputation gap’ growing?

In a strategic memo that University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan had written before she was forced by the school’s governing board to announce her resignation, she spoke of a “reputation gap” at the elite public institution, Valerie Strauss, columnist for the Washington Post, reports.

“In a number of critical areas we are reputed to be better than we actually are,” she wrote in the memo.

If the school had a reputation gap before, the drama over the fate of Sullivan is only serving to widen it. My colleagues Daniel de Vise and Anita Kumar have been documenting the surprising episode at the Charlottesville school that exploded a week ago when Sullivan, who was hired two years ago and had been a popular president, announced that she was soon resigning.The reasons that the school’s governing board forced her out were not made public and so rumor filled the empty space where fact should have been made clear by the people behind her ouster……Read More

How to improve college student aid disclosure

Ten college and university presidents met with Vice President Biden at the White House recently to announce their voluntary endorsement of a uniform financial aid award letter that would provide students with clearer, more transparent and accurate information about how much they will have to pay — now, and in the future — for their college education, says Robert Massa, vice president for communications at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, for the Washington Post. The initiative is an effort to discourage students from financially over-extending themselves, and beginning in the 2013-14 school year students applying to any of these institutions will be given a one-page cost or “shopping sheet” prepared by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The sheet will include the full price of a year at college, including an estimate for books and personal expenses. This is nothing revolutionary as far as I’m concerned, as I’ve always worked for colleges that disclosed this information. But what will be of value is the part that breaks out grants from loans and work-study income, and shows students the long-term implications of borrowing by estimating monthly payments after graduation…

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Is the power of intuition overrated?

Much has been written in the last 10 years about intuition, especially expert intuition. What’s so fascinating about intuition, of course, is the idea that one’s mind may work on a problem without one being aware of it, says cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?”. Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink was largely devoted to this phenomenon. Other books — e.g., Tim Wilson’s Strangers to Ourselves and Danny Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow — have summarized some of the research showing that such unconscious cognition occurs, but Gladwell differed in suggesting that at times we’d be better off relying on intuition than in thinking. Some researchers — most consistently Gerd Gigerenzer at the Max Planck institute, but others, including Kahneman at times — suggest that advice might be sound. A recent study, however, suggests you’re better off thinking. A group of researchers at Florida State and University of Leuven (Moxley et al, 2012) presented expert chess players with complex chess positions and varied the amount of time players were allowed to deliberate before they had to pick a move. The question was whether players benefited from more time…

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U.-Va. board ouster of President Teresa Sullivan sparks anger

Outrage escalated on the historic University of Virginia campus Monday over the abrupt ouster of President Teresa Sullivan by a governing board that offered few new details about why it had acted or what exactly had gone awry, the Washington Post reports. Sullivan was asked to resign after two years in the job, state and university officials said, because the governing board of visitors had grown impatient at what its members perceived as a lack of overarching vision for the future of the state flagship university. Sullivan learned of the board’s wishes late Friday, after an annual executive retreat during which she and her top staff charted the university’s academic course. Sullivan had no inkling that her job was even in jeopardy, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of events…

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Watch: Michael Lewis tells Princeton grads: Don’t let it go to your heads

Here’s the commencement speech that best-selling author Michael Lewis delivered at the recent Princeton University commencement ceremonies, the Washington Post reports. This (full text below) was published on the school’s website, provided courtesy of Princeton University Office of Communications. Lewis, author of books including “Moneyball and “The Big Short,” tells the grads that they are part of “lucky few” and that they shouldn’t let it go their heads. The message is similar to that of a speech that English high school teacher David McCullough Jr. gave to seniors where he teachers, Wellesley High School in Massachusetts. McCullough’s elicited various responses. Some people (like me) thought it was somewhat harsh, as he kept telling the kids, “You aren’t special,” as if once wasn’t enough. Some readers sent me e-mails telling me I was wrong and that his speech was meant to help students understand the world and their place in it…

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At alumni weekends, age is no longer a hindrance

Along with the rest of society, alumni weekends are getting older, the Washington Post reports. Shenandoah University’s April reunion in Winchester featured a 103-year-old pianist from the Class of 1926. James Madison University drew four 1942 alumni to its spring gathering in Harrisonburg, Va. Loyola University’s Golden Greyhounds dinner last week in Baltimore had nearly 500 registrants, none younger than 70. Colleges across the Washington area are paying more heed to alumni who graduated at least a half-century ago— because more of them are showing up at reunions. Several schools have organized new groups for “golden” alumni, with induction ceremonies built into reunion weekends. Alumni weekends are traditionally held in spring or fall, and several local colleges marked the occasion last weekend. For the institutions, surging numbers of 80-, 90- and 100-year-old alumni who are healthy and mobile present both an opportunity and a challenge. Their very presence on campus serves as an inspiration to younger generations of dedication to one’s alma mater. But the yawning age gap separating old and young can make it difficult for alumni officials to program reunion gatherings…

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Are certificates the future of higher education?

Certificates, not degrees, are the future of higher education, a Georgetown researcher contends in a new study, the Washington Post reports. Certificates are a relatively new and increasingly popular postsecondary credential, awarded typically by a community college or for-profit college for training in a particular occupation. Most certificates take less than a year to complete, although some “long-term” certificate programs can take as long as four years. Since 1980, certificates have grown from 6 percent to 22 percent of all postsecondary awards, making them the fastest-growing credential, according to a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. It is titled “Certificates: Gateway to Gainful Employment and College Degrees.”

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Why assessment is good for colleges: A rebuttal

Robert Sternberg’s piece is fully in keeping with the Super PAC’s tendency to unleash misinformation about their opponents in this heated presidential race. Sternberg follows the standard line of attack: Distort the position of the opponents, and then demolish that position, says Roger Benjamin, president of the Council for Aid to Education, publisher of the Collegiate Learning Assessment, for the Washington Post. He rubbishes standardized assessments used in higher education, including the College Learning Assessment (CLA). He implies the only use for such tests is for nefarious–and unwanted–No Child Left Behind (NCLB) high-stakes testing and top-down accountability systems in higher education. He dismisses the CLA as a narrow test of something he calls “general learning,” which, in his view, will narrow the curriculum because instructors will have to teach to it. Sternberg provides his preferred list of attributes to assess, such as: academic disciplines, creativity, ethical behavior, portfolios, and persistence. These qualities, he argues, are far more relevant to the success of students than the content measured by the standardized tests. Moreover, he asserts that reliance on a single test score at the institutional level to evaluate student learning is ludicrous. The case is closed for Dr. Sternberg. Please read on for a different perspective…

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Public universities pushing ‘super-seniors’ to the graduation stage

Some of the nation’s top public universities are prodding dallying students toward the graduation stage, trying to change a campus culture that assumes four-year completion is the exception rather than the rule, the Washington Post reports. It’s a move supported not just by parents whose wallets are depleted by tuition bills. University leaders are pushing for on-time completion amid criticism over wasted tax dollars, spiraling tuition and America’s plummeting global rank in college attainment. Fewer than half of students graduate in four years at 33 of the 50 state flagship schools. The overall four-year graduation rate is 31 percent for public colleges and 52 percent for private ones, the federal government reported this year. The universities of Maryland and Virginia are among the exceptions, with on-time graduation rates of 63 percent and 85 percent, respectively. U-Va.’s rate is the highest among public flagship schools…

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College Board urged to cancel special August SAT

The College Board was urged Monday to cancel a scheduled Aug. 3 administration of the SAT for a select group of ‘gifted and talented’ students enrolled in a $4,500 college prep program, the Washington Post reports. The request to the College Board, which owns the SAT, was sent by educational consultant Elizabeth A. Stone and Robert A. Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, known as FairTest. The College Board recently made a deal with the Society for the Gifted and Talented for a select group of students enrolled in an expensive three-week summer program at Amherst College called University Prep. Eight days of the program are devoted to college admissions test prep, with students taking two practice exams. Critics blasted the College Board for agreeing to this special arrangement in large part because the SAT is meant to be a democratizing college admissions exam that supposedly gives less advantaged students a chance to shine…

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