Analytics can solve some of higher education's biggest problems. To reaffirm this idea, and given that progress has faltered, three important associations joined forces and made a collective call-to-action for colleges and universities. Data and analytics are institutional strategic asset; using analytics to make better decisions will result in improved student recruiting, student outcomes and completion rates, cost management and campus operations, according to these organizations. Educause, the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) â who collectively serve 2,500 institutions and represent over 80% of post-secondary students in the U.S. â released a statement last month recommending six guiding principles: Go bigâmake an institutional commitment to analytics. Analytics is a team sportâbuild your dream team. Prepare for some detours on the road to success. Invest what you canâyou canât afford not to. Analytics has a real impact on real peopleâavoid the pitfalls. Tick-tock, tick-tockâthe time to act is now. âFor a while now, our progress on institution-wide analytics initiatives has not hit its stride,â said John OâBrien, President and CEO of EDUCAUSE. âWe hope this statement encourages a sense of urgency and fosters a deeper understanding of the benefits of data analytics for institutions of all kinds.â The associations created a website to further support colleges and universities in their implementation processes.
Since Google announced in 2017 its official support for Kotlin for Android development â shifting from Oracle's Java â the new programming language has been one of the fastest-growing code on GitHub. Netflix, Lyft, Capital One, and other giants have embraced it, too. Now, with the goal of attracting more developers, Google is increasingly investing in free courses to learn Kotlin. "Developing Android Apps with Kotlin" and "Kotlin Bootcamp for Programmers", both at Udacity, are good examples. Google and Udacity have recently reworked these courses. In addition, Google has been offering through its Codelab's space, a Kotlin Bootcamp course. More than 2.5 million users have worked through Google codelabs just this year, Jocelyn Becker, Senior Program Manager, Google Developer Training stated in a blog post this week.
"Thousands of elite and pedestrian scientists benefitted from Epsteinâs philanthropy and camaraderie (âŚ), knew of Epsteinâs courtship rituals â with scientists and with children â and said absolutely nothing," notes writer, neurosurgeon and professor Michael Egnor at EvolutionNews.org. "What happened on the Lolita Express and Pedophile Island [Epstein's properties], while probably known to many of Epsteinâs elite science pals, were known as well (at least in outline) to the thousands of ordinary scientists and administrators who cashed his checks and worked in his labs," Egnor writes. "There was no dissent in the scientific profession about taking guidance and money from a convicted pedophile who was obviously trafficking children for sex." Michael Egnor, a professor at Stony Brook University, elaborates on the scientists' silence and refers to "whispered questions": "There must have been daily whispers in labs and hallways and coffee rooms. âWhy is Dr. So-and-So taking trips with this guy?â âWhat do you think is happening with all of those little girls?â âWhere does the money come from?â Media Reports Last week, some victims of the convicted trafficker Epstein talked on national TV. Virginia Roberts Giuffre and five other accusers participated on an NBC's Dateline Special, and among many circumstances, mentioned that they also saw scientists and scholars among the visitors at Epstein properties. A report from on Miami Herald explained how Epstein operated and built his sex trafficking global enterprise. In addition, Science reproduced an interview with Epstein where he talked about his approach to researchers.
The University of Southern California (USC) said on Tuesday that no donations were accepted from the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein or any of his affiliate organizations, in contrast to other colleges who didn't reject the money. In an official statement, a university official told USC Annenberg Media that âUSC has not received donations from Jeffrey Epstein or any entity with which he was affiliated.â The claim was confirmed by the tax forms for Gratitude America Ltd., Epsteinâs charitable foundation. USC mentioned the universityâs gift acceptance policy. One of the circumstances referred to they "could damage the reputation of the university."
The Hamilton Education Program Online, which provides history lessons based on the Broadway smash hit Hamilton, will be available to all middle and high schools institutions from 2020 to 2021. This fall, the Hamilton Education Program Online, also known as EduHam, is expected to spread to a wider array of students as part of a pilot program involving 76 public and private schools across the United States. The program blends American history with performing arts, and engages students in grades 6-12 to create original works â such as poems, raps, songs and scenes â related to Alexander Hamilton and the U.S.âs founding era. It follows the model used by creator and composer of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda to create the musical Hamilton. The program will consist of classroom activities and digital resources that can be incorporated into a regular curriculum. Students participating in the program will have the chance to submit their performance piece and be selected to see a performance of Hamilton in New York City. The programâs goal is to serve 250,000 students in Title I schools by 2020. So far, 138,654 students have participated in the program. The Rockefeller Foundation â provided funding for the original Title I program and has been available to Title I schools since 2016 â is paying for the pilot expansion.
