University Business - November 2006 - (Page 16)

U B E H I N D the NEWS Secretary Spellings and the Five-Point Plan THE MISSION TO REVAMP HIGHER application waiting time in half, giving education was officially launched in late students and families qualification infor- September when U.S. Secretary of Educa- mation earlier in the spring of senior year. tion Margaret Spellings gave a speech to This offers hope for a more efficient sys- tem, however, the lack of details provided the National Press Club. Her much is cause for concern, read the anticipated remarks covered statement. the recommendations of D a v i d Ward, presi- the Commission on the d e n t of the American Future of Higher Edu- Wind Power Council on Education, cation, which has been and the only member of meeting throughout A LITTLE FRIENDLY COMPETITION NEVER the Commission on the the year. Spellings' hurt anyone, especially when the en- Future of Higher Educa- speech, which outlined vironment benefits. In October, New tion who did not sign the final the commission's findings, York University announced it would Margaret Spellings report, later expressed disappoint- was long on catch phrases and bold purchase 118 million KWh of wind ment that more was not outlined on how ideas, but short on how-to steps. power, making it the largest green Her call for accessibility, affordability, to link accreditation and accountability. power purchaser among U.S. colleges The national database, too, is going to and accountability in higher education and universities, unseating the Univer- involves everything from improving high be a problem, he said. Already organiza- sity of Pennsylvania. It also hurtles school courses and college readiness, to re- tions are raising privacy concerns. While NYU's athletic conference from number vamping financial aid, to developing ways the database will be used to view overall 14 to number one in the EPA's green student performance, and not focus on to measure learning outcomes. power challenge standings. She boiled down the commission's rec- individuals, the organizers will have to We're a Division III school; it looks allay fears that student identities and spe- ommendations to five points: like it took the purchase of green en- cific course grades cannot be traced. 1. Hold high schools accountable. ergy to get us into Division I compe- Ward noted that ACE and five other 2. Streamline the financial aid process. tition, NYU spokesman John Beckman 3 . Create a database that will be a higher education organizations were al- said, when he stopped laughing. He ready at work on the issues raised. We higher education information center. encouraged other universities to fol- 4. Provide matching funds to colleges, took a proactive approach, says Ward, re- low suit. Actually, the standings were universities, and states that collect data ferring to the gathering storm of higher not part of NYU's decision, which is education issues. Several days before Spell- and report on learning outcomes. an effort to consolidate environmental 5. Convene members of the accrediting ings spoke to the National Press Club, activities into one initiative. NYU re- community in November to help create the six major organizations issued a letter ceives one- quarter of its power from titled, Addressing the Challenges Facing measures that emphasize learning. a cogeneration plant on campus, while Higher education associations were American Undergraduate Education, out- the wind power will offset the energy guarded in their responses. The National lining work already in place to keep college received from the local utility. Penn Association of Student Financial Aid Ad- affordable and improve outcomes. One key took the news in stride. ministrators issued a statement on the promise: to work with Congress to increase At this point we are very comfort- commission's proposal to cut financial aid the Pell Grant. J.M.A. able with our position in the wind en- ergy market, spokesman Mike Coleman said. I think it's great; there are no losers with regards to this issue, only SOUND BITE `C winners. Our goal was always to do our olleges need to get out of the business of doing high ` part and encourage and/or support this school and concentrate on higher education. evolving market. For more on the EPA higher ed standings, visit www.epa. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, explaining that high schools gov/greenpower/. A.M. must do a better job preparing students for college. 16 | November 2006 universitybusiness.com Update.indd Update.indd 16 10/24/06 9:40:36 AM http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/ http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/ http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - November 2006

Table of Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
People Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Marketing
Human Resources
Money Matters
Community Colleges
Wireless: The "n" is Near
TECH Central
Rising Stars
Coming Back from Katrina
Business Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - November 2006