Financing January 2018

Investor to Donate $75M to Higher Education Philosophy Program

William H. "Bill" Miller III is donating $75 million to Johns Hopkins University's philosophy department in a record-setting gift to the university's humanities programs. Miller's donation will be used to increase the department's full-time faculty and create nine endowed professorships. $10 million will be allocated for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, and the university anticipates offering new undergraduate courses.

Global January 2018

AP News Guide: Big Decisions Await Congress on Immigration [Beyond Education]

Before a potential government shutdown at midnight Friday night, a host of leftover Washington business is bottled up in Congress (stopgap spending, budget caps, disaster aid and children’s health), waiting on a deal to prevent the deportation of young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children and an agreement on other immigration-related issues, including President Trump's long-sought U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Arts and Media January 2018

Philadelphia Library Names New City Poet Laureate: Raquel Salas Rivera [Beyond Education]

A poet who originally moved from Puerto Rico to Philadelphia for graduate school has been named the city's new poet laureate. Thirty-two-year-old bilingual poet Raquel Salas Rivera was named the poet laureate for 2018-2019 in a ceremony at the Free Library of Philadelphia on Monday.

Global January 2018

Higher Education Institution in Springfield to Open Its 1st Student Union; Ribbon Cutting at $21.75M Building Sunday

The University of Illinois Springfield is opening its first student union. A ribbon cutting is scheduled Sunday at the $21.75 million building, which includes a coffee shop, ballroom and student leadership center. The 50,000-square-foot (4,645-square-meter) student center will be a social hub for students on the growing campus.

Health Care January 2018

Some Children in Houston Area Get Free Eye Exams, Glasses [On A Positive Note in Education]

The Houston Health Department estimates up to 20,000 area students start school each year with unresolved eye or vision issues — a problem so pervasive that, in 2011, the agency and its nonprofit wing, the Houston Health Foundation, began offering free, full eye exams to 10 school districts.

Global January 2018

Trump Disparages African Countries, Haiti with Vulgarity [Beyond Education]

In bluntly vulgar language, President Donald Trump questioned Thursday why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and "shithole countries" in Africa rather than places like Norway, as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal, according to people briefed on the extraordinary Oval Office conversation.

Hispanic Community January 2018

Tillerson Tells AP Cuba Still Risky; FBI Doubts Sonic Attack [Beyond Education]

The United States would be "putting people intentionally in harm's way" if it sent diplomats back to Cuba, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says in an Associated Press interview, even as a new FBI report casts doubt on the initial theory that Americans there have been hit by "sonic attacks."

Health Care January 2018

Arkansas Higher Education Institution to Lay off 258, Cut 600 jobs Amid $30M Shortfall

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences said Monday that it can no longer depend on its reserves to pull it through budget shortfalls and was laying off 258 people, including some doctors and faculty members, to address a $30 million hole in its $1.5 billion budget. Another 350 jobs will remain unfilled.

Hispanic Community January 2018

Salvadorans Fear Their Country Not Prepared for Returnees [Beyond Education]

El Salvador is preparing to receive the nearly 200,000 Salvadorans who may have to return following the Trump administration's decision to lift their temporary protected status next year. Salvadorans who have stayed in the U.S. with temporary protected status would have to leave by Sept. 9, 2019, unless Congress comes up with a solution allowing them to stay.

Health Care January 2018

New University Medical Program Seeks to Diversify Physicians in Omaha

Two local University of Nebraska institutions have teamed up to create a program to diversify Omaha's physician population. The Urban Health Opportunities Program will provide tuition and other benefits to undergraduate students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha who want to be doctors in Omaha, particularly in the northeast and southeast parts of the city.

Administration January 2018

Long Island University-Brooklyn Locks Out Faculty

Administrators at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus in New York have locked out their 400 faculty members in an unprecedented hostile move that will upend the start of classes on Wednesday. Currently, nearly half of the Brooklyn faculty are paid less than their LIU Post (Nassau County campus) counterparts, yet both campuses charge the same tuition and faculty credentials are equivalent.

Global January 2018

Coppin State U Senior Starts GoFundMe Campaign Raising More Than $26K for Students in Need [On a Positive Note in Education]

After some Baltimore public school students had to wear their coats and hats in cold classrooms amid severe winter weather, Coppin State University senior Samierra Jones started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for space heaters, hats, coats and gloves. By Thursday afternoon, the fundraiser had collected more than $26,000.