Global October 2016

Delaware Valley University reports largest enrollment in its history

Delaware Valley University’s enrollment for fall 2016 is the highest it has ever been in the history of the institution. This fall, there are 2,376 total undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the University, a record-breaking number for the 120-­year-old institution. Total fall enrollment is 5 percent higher than it was last year and 17 percent higher than it was in 2014.

Global October 2016

University of Utah Looks for New Ways to Use State's Coal

The University of Utah is launching a $1.6 million project to determine the feasibility of turning coal into carbon fiber, a material used in manufacturing of skis, cars and planes. University chemical engineering professor Eric Eddings announced the effort on Wednesday, saying finding a new way to use coal would be both energy and economy friendly.

Global October 2016 Premium

DCCCD welding students train to “hold the world together”

El Centro College welding students, who are housed at the Dallas County Community College District’s Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development, hope to capitalize on that demand for trained welders. Byron Zarrabi, their welding instructor, said just about every industry uses welding, and that fact makes the trade “recession resistant.”

Global October 2016

Connecting research and policy may improve educational equity

Better communication about how educational research can impact public policy may improve educational equity, according to a new paper from Rice University. The paper, which examined the significant disconnect between education researchers and policymakers, appeared in the latest edition of the Russell Sage Foundation’s Journal of the Social Sciences.

Global October 2016 Premium

CU Boulder top in state, No. 2 in geosciences in global rankings

For the third year in a row, the University of Colorado Boulder has been ranked No. 2 in geosciences among the world’s universities, according to U.S. News & World Report, which today released its third annual global standings for 2017. In the global standings, CU Boulder takes the No. 32 position overall, tying with Boston University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, placing it top among all Colorado institutions. The No. 32 ranking is up from No. 48 for 2016 and No. 58 for 2015. Among U.S. public institutions that made it onto the global list, CU Boulder ranks No. 11.

Global October 2016

PennAHEAD Launches College Promise Database

At a time when questions about college affordability are at the center of American policy debates, the number of College Promise programs is expanding dramatically. These programs which ‘promise’ a financial or other type of award to eligible students who attend specified schools and/or reside in particular communities to enter and complete higher education, have nearly tripled in the last year, to 150 in 37 states.

Global October 2016

UMass Amherst Historian Appointed to Chair Kennan Institute’s Advisory Council

Audrey Altstadt, professor and former chair of the history department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been appointed chair of the Kennan Institute Advisory Council. Her four-year term began Oct. 1. The George F. Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies is the premier American national research institution devoted to the study of the Russian and Eurasian lands that once constituted the USSR. It is one institute within the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where Altstadt was a fellow in 2014-15.

Global October 2016

U of Illinois-Springfield Starts Food Pantry for Students

A graduate student at the University of Illinois' Springfield campus has started a food pantry for students. Malayzja Anderson is helping to stock donated, nonperishable food items for the new UIS Cares initiative. She tells The (Springfield) State Journal-Register (http://bit.ly/2eys0ZF ) that student meal plans start to deplete around this time of the semester so students may not eat as much. She says UIS Cares lets them "come in and just grab something to supplement them."

Global October 2016

Complete Smoking Ban Proposed for Purdue University Campus

Smoking would be completely banned on Purdue University's main campus in West Lafayette under a proposal from school President Mitch Daniels. Smoking is already prohibited in residence halls and all other campus building, but Purdue designated 21 smoking areas around the campus in 2010.

Global October 2016

The Numbers Speak Loudly About the State of the University of Idaho

Official overall student enrollment at the University of Idaho increased to 11,780 for fall 2016, up 3.6 percent from 11,371 in fall 2015. Enrollment this fall is higher than it was when President Chuck Staben joined UI in 2014. And it is the first overall enrollment increase since 2012. Enrollment is up in several key areas including first-time undergraduate (resident and non-resident) and underrepresented students.

Global October 2016

UND to Retain All 20 Sports Currently Offered by School

The University of North Dakota will continue to sponsor the 20 sports it currently offers, although the fate of men's golf and baseball remains uncertain, the school's president said. The Grand Forks school announced in April it would no longer offer men's golf and baseball programs due to state budget cuts, then reinstated golf in August after the program secured the necessary $144,400 in funding for the fiscal years 2017 and 2018. But the athletics department ended the fiscal year with a shortfall of about $1.4 million, prompting President Mark Kennedy to ask a committee to examine the school's overall athletics program, including the number of sports and the cost of the programs.

Global October 2016

UNH Professor Pushes for Addressing Groundwater Threats

Jim Malley, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire, is inviting the general public to the Durham campus for a meeting about threats to groundwater and drinking water supplies in New Hampshire's seacoast region. There have been several instances of pollutants getting into wells recently, including around the former Pease Air Force Base and a capped landfill in North Hampton and Greenland.