Mississippi Business Journal
Sweet Potato Event Wins Award For Promoting Research
by MBJ Staff
STARKVILLE (November 14, 2013)— A sweet potato production conference organized by Mississippi State University faculty and collaborators in other states won a national award on Nov. 10 for excellence in promoting multistate research. MSU faculty Ramon Arancibia, Raja Reddy, Steve Meyers, Mark Shankle, Juan Silva, Jason Ward and Filip To are members of the National Sweetpotato Collaborators working group that planned the annual conference of sweet potato researchers.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia State Tops in Nation For Efforts to Boost Graduation Rates
By Carla Caldwell
Nov. 13, 2013--Georgia State University is the national leader in efforts to dramatically increase graduation rates, according to the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. The association, which represents 219 public research institutions and other organizations, has named Georgia State the inaugural winner of its Most Visible Progress Trailblazer Award for the school’s “exceptional progress with increasing retention toward or completion of a bachelor’s degree during the last three years.”
Crain's Detroit
UM among 4 schools nationally honored for fostering entrepreneurship, economic prosperity
By Tom Henderson
November 13, 2013 -- The University of Michigan is one of four public universities in the U.S. honored for its work in entrepreneurship, technology transfer and business development. UM, the State University of New York, the University of Cincinnati and Northern Illinois University won the inaugural Economic Prosperity Award from the Washington, D.C.-based Association for Public and Land-Grant Universities.
Homeland Security News
Sequestration already eroding U.S. research capabilities
November 14, 2013 -- As congressional budget leaders continue negotiations over Fiscal Year 2014 spending levels, three organizations representing the U.S. leading public and private research universities say that the results of a new survey reveal the pernicious impact of sequestration on scientific research across the country. Budget cuts have already led to fewer grants, cancelled projects, staff reductions, and reduced learning opportunities. “If Congress fails to reverse course and doesn’t begin to value investments in research and higher education, then the innovation deficit this country is facing will worsen as our foreign competitors continue to seize on this nation’s shortfall,” the leader of one of the organizations said.
Agrilife
Savell receives regional national teaching award
November 13, 2013 – Dr. Jeffrey W. Savell, regents professor and E.M. “Manny” Rosenthal chair in the department of animal science at Texas A&M University, recently received a regional national teaching award for food and agriculture science from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. The award was presented at the association’s 126th annual meeting, which honored university faculty for the use of innovative teaching methods and service to students.
CBS News
Universities Say Sequester Hurting Research
By Lynn O’Shaughnessy
November 13, 2013 -- Federal budget sequestration is hitting public and private universities hard, with a new survey showing that 81 percent of schools around the U.S. have been affected. According to the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and The Science Coalition, which collectively represent nearly 300 schools nationwide, university administrators said that they are reacting to cuts in federal spending by delaying and canceling research projects, laying off staff, and reducing the number of students entering graduate programs.
The Washington Post
Universities Continue to Lobby against Sequester’s Cuts of Research Funding
By Nick Anderson
November 12, 2013 -- At many research universities, the deep federal budget cuts known as the sequester continue to cloud the future of laboratories and the scientists who staff them. This week university presidents meeting in the nation’s capital denounced the sequester, as they have since before it took effect in March, and urged Congress to roll it back so that federally sponsored research can resume at a normal pace.
Los Angeles Times
Sequester Cuts Hurt Science Research, Innovation in U.S., Study Says
By Julie Cart
November 12, 2013 -- Congressional sequestration budget cuts have reduced federal grants and delayed research projects, restricting the nation’s ability to innovate and grow, according to a survey of organizations representing 300 research universities.
Register Guard
Study: Sequester Cuts Hurt Science Research, Innovation in US
November 12, 2103 — Congressional sequestration budget cuts have reduced federal grants and delayed research projects, restricting the nation’s ability to innovate and grow, according to a survey of organizations representing 300 research universities. The across-the-board cuts, which began in March, have had a “devastating impact” on academic research, scientific advances and investment in medical and technological study, according to the survey’s respondents.
Bio IT World
'A Blunt and Reckless Tool'
November 12, 2013 -- A survey released this week of American research universities, conducted by the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and the The Science Coalition (TSC), is attempting to quantify where cuts to scientific research due to the sequester are being directed. Administrators from 74 research universities responded to questions about their research grants, and the downstream effects of loss of funding. Seventy percent of universities surveyed reported receiving fewer federal grants for scientific research this year.
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Climate Progress
Universities Say Sequestration Cuts Are Damaging Scientific Research
By Jeff Spross
November 13, 2103 -- Eighty-one percent of research universities say budget sequestration cuts are directly hampering their scientific research activities, according to a new survey released Monday.
The Technician
Woodson Named Chairman of Board Created by Obama To Make College More Affordable
November 13, 2013 -- Chancellor Randy Woodson has been named chairman of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, the nation’s oldest higher-education association, The News & Observer reported.
Woodson traveled to the White House Tuesday to meet with Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council and President Barack Obama’s main advisor on economic policy, to discuss how to make higher education more accessible and more affordable along with half a dozen university chancellors.
News and Observer
NCSU Chancellor Meets with White House Officials
By Jay Price
November 12, 2013 -- N.C. State University Chancellor Randy Woodson visited the White House on Tuesday for a brainstorming session with President Barack Obama’s main adviser on economic policy about how to make higher education more accessible and affordable. The results may include a new outreach program across the state.
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Georgia Daily News (AP)
GSU Recognized for Improving Graduation Rate
November 13, 2013 - The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities has recognized Georgia State University for its work in increasing its graduation rate. School spokeswoman Andrea Jones says GSU was given the association's Most Visible Trailblazer Award Tuesday for raising its graduation rate by 22 points in the past decade.
UC News
UC Recognized for Economic Engagement
The University of Cincinnati has been recognized by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities for making connections to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship; technology transfer; talent and workforce development; and community development.
By Dama Ewbank
November 12, 2013 -- The University of Cincinnati (UC) has been named among four winners in the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) inaugural Economic Prosperity University Awards (IEPA) program—with UC winning the "overall" award, signifying excellence in economic engagement across all categories of consideration.
NIU Today
‘A Great Example of a Public University’
NIU wins national award for innovation, economic development
November 12, 2013 -- Just weeks after receiving formal designation as an “Innovation and Economic Prosperity University,” NIU has received one of the nation’s top awards for regional economic development.
Hispanic Business
Governor Cuomo Congratulations SUNY on National Innovation & Economic Prosperity Award
November 12, 2013 -- Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the State University of New York was recognized by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) with a prestigious national award for its economic engagement efforts, including START-UP NY. SUNY was one of four institutions of higher education presented with APLU's inaugural Innovation and Economic Prosperity Award in Washington, D.C.
Inside Higher Ed
Delving into Digital Learning
By Carl Straumsheim
November 12, 2013 -- Carnegie Mellon University will open the world’s largest database on student learning to the public in an effort to identify best practices and standards for using technology in the classroom, the university announced on Monday. To support the open-access initiative, the institution will form a council of higher education leaders, education technology experts and industry representatives to distribute the data and guide the conversation.
University Business
Carnegie Mellon Creates Simon Initiative to Drive Better Understanding of Student Learning Using Emerging Educational Technology Platforms
November 15, 2013 -- Carnegie Mellon University today launched the Simon Initiative to accelerate the use of learning science and technology to improve student learning. Named to honor the work of the late Nobel Laureate and CMU Professor Herbert Simon, the initiative will harness CMU's decades of learning data and research to improve educational outcomes for students everywhere.
Around the O
UO President Shares University Refinancing Vision at APLU Meeting
November 12, 2013 -- University of Oregon President Michael Gottfredson shared his vision for refinancing the university to sustain its public mission in a time of decreased state support during a panel presentation at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
Missouri University Man Eater
Chancellor Deaton Departs
By Crystal Duan
November 13, 2103 -- “So — can you explain to me what it is that my Brady does at the university?” This was the question that agricultural economics professor Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes remembers hearing from Arnold Deaton, the father of Chancellor Brady Deaton. Smoking a cigarette outside his grandson’s wedding reception in Indiana, Arnold Deaton wanted to know about the job his son had apparently never described.
Wisconsin Technology Council
Inside Wis: Philippines Typhoon Shows Need For Better Storm Prediction Science
By Tom Still
November 12, 2013 – Two days after Typhoon Haiyan left a trail of death and destruction in the Philippines, some of the nation’s leading climate scientists gathered at a higher education conference to talk about how to better predict the next mega-storm. Their conclusion: Whether or not people and policymakers buy into the notion of man-made climate change, the science of forecasting the strength, target and frequency of such storms must qualitatively improve.
The Chronicle of Higher Ed
Cash-Strapped NIH May Ask Universities to Limit Grant Applications
By Paul Basken
November 12, 2013 -- At a time of dwindling federal budgets, the National Institutes of Health is considering one sure-fire way to raise record-low grant-approval rates: Have researchers apply for fewer grants. "We have to think about it as a community, how we control demand," Ms. Rockey told attendees at a conference held here by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. "
Inside Higher Ed
Sequester Woes for Research
By Michael Stratford
November 12, 2013 -- The automatic federal budget cuts, known as sequestration, that took effect in March have forced universities to lay off research-related personnel, delay projects and admit fewer graduate students, according to a new survey released Monday. Eighty-one percent of responding institutions said that sequestration was directly affecting their research activities. More than half of universities said that the decrease in new federal grant opportunities -- and the shrinking value of some existing grants -- had prompted them to reduce research-related positions, and nearly a quarter of institutions said they had already laid off research employees
The Chronicle of Higher Ed
Research Universities Are Praised for Returning Focus to Undergrad Education
By Don Troop
November 12, 2013 -- The president of the Association of American Universities said on Monday that public research institutions were once again moving forward, thanks to a renewed focus on undergraduate education and a willingness to "be extremely aggressive" in taking advantage of new financing opportunities. Hunter R. Rawlings III said that, for the first time in his career, senior faculty members were spending time and effort on teaching. "Our main job at universities is educating students," he said during a panel discussion here at this week's annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.
Wheeling News Register
WVU President Clements Heading to Clemson
November 11, 2013 -- Clemson University's Board of Trustees this morning selected West Virginia University President James P. Clements as Clemson's 15th president. Clements will succeed James F. Barker, who announced plans to retire in April after serving 14 years as president. Barker will remain on the faculty of the School of Architecture.
United Press International
Sequester severely affecting America's research capabilities
By Ananth Baliga
Nov. 11, 2013 -- A survey of university leaders has shown that the sequester -- mandatory budget cuts which will remain in effect for the next eight years unless Congress acts -- will adversely affect the innovation and technology edge the U.S. enjoys. The survey, conducted by the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and The Science Coalition, asked leaders from 171 public and private research universities about the effects of the sequester.
The Huffington Post
UCLA Chancellor On Sequestration Science Cuts: 'People Will End Up On The Street'
11/11/2013 -- In the crowded Taft Room of the Marriott Wardman Park hotel in Washington, leaders of some of the top universities gathered on Monday to explain to anyone who would listen what Congress has put them through. Federal budget cuts known as sequestration have carved a chunk out of their respective budgets and threaten the fabric of publicly funded scientific research, the university presidents and chancellors explained at a news conference. After less than a year under this reality, the impacts have begun to show.
Memphis Commercial Appeal (AP)
Automatic spending cuts would bite more in 2014
Andrew Taylor
November 12, 2013 — It's not just longstanding battles over taxes and curbing mandatory spending that are obstacles to a year-end pact on the budget. Another problem is a perception among some lawmakers that the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration haven't been as harsh as advertised.
McClatchy
Public research university officials raise alarms about more cuts to research
by Renee Schoof
November 11, 2013 — Top officials of the nation’s leading public research universities are in Washington this week and planning to go talk to members of Congress to urge them to restore research funding lost through sequestration. “Investing in this sort of fundamental and applied research that goes on at universities is so key to near and especially mid and long-term economic vitality of our country,” Chris Brown, vice president for research and graduate education for the University of North Carolina system, said on Monday during a meeting of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities in Washington.
The Scientist
Adding Insult to Injury: The US government shutdown further hampered a research enterprise already struggling because of the sequester
By Kerry Grens
November 11, 2013 -- For more than two weeks in October, thousands of scientists employed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and other federal agencies stayed home as lawmakers bickered over government budgets. In a new report, the White House's Office of Management and Budget details the impact of the shutdown—from delaying field testing on invasive carp species in the Great Lakes to blocking the initiation of seven new clinical trials.
Science Magazine
New Survey Finds U.S. Sequester Has Meant Less Academic Research
David Malakoff
November 11, 2013 -- This year’s mandatory across-the-board budget cuts to U.S. research agencies have translated into less money for academic scientists and delays in their research projects. A survey of public and private U.S. research universities released today finds that 70% of the 74 respondents report that sequestration has caused a reduction in federal research grants to their institutions and has slowed campus-based research.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
2 Leaders Challenge Land-Grants to Tackle Nation's Problems
By Eric Kelderman
November 11, 2013 -- Purdue University's president, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., challenged the nation's public universities to adjust their costs to meet the needs of students and families. Nancy L. Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York, called on land-grant universities to cooperate in nationwide efforts to make universities more effective and efficient. Mr. Daniels and Ms. Zimpher shared the stage on Sunday evening at the annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. While the scope and specifics of their recommendations differed, both leaders said that public higher education should be playing a larger role in solving the nation's biggest challenges, primarily by providing accessible, affordable, and effective educational opportunities.
Diverse Funding Cuts for Undergrad Programs, Research Trouble Highlight APLU
Jamal Watson
November 10, 2013 -- The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities kicked off its annual three-day meeting Sunday with an ambitious agenda focused on how to address the challenges that beset public education. Many university presidents, chancellors, deans and other senior leaders representing colleges across the country expressed concerns that state and federal funding for undergraduate programs and research has consistently been cut over the last few years.
Inside Higher Ed
U.S.A.I.D. and Higher Ed
By Elizabeth Redden
November 11, 2013 – An official with the U.S. Agency for International Development outlined future directions for engagement with universities at a session at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities' Annual Meeting here on Sunday. Among the takeaways: the agency is increasingly interested in working directly with universities -- including those in foreign countries -- rather than through intermediaries, and in tasking higher education institutions to identify their own solutions to global development challenges. In September, U.S.A.I.D. announced it would not be renewing its contract with Higher Education for Development -- an association-led intermediary through which it has funded development-oriented partnerships between U.S. universities and institutions abroad -- in favor of working directly with the universities themselves. HED's existing contract expires in 2015.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
White House to Name Higher-Education Coordinator for Development Agency
by Karin Fischer
November 11, 2013 — President Obama is poised to name a senior official to act as a liaison between universities and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The appointee, likely to be a former university leader, also will act as an “internal champion” within the agency for working with higher education, Eric G. Postal, an assistant administrator at USAID, said in a speech here on Sunday at the annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Changes in Nation's Health-Care System Up the Ante for Universities, Speakers Say
By Goldie Blumenstyk
November 11, 2013 -- The changes coming to American health care through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and other forces—with a greater focus on preventive care—will require universities to rethink what they teach and how they interact with their communities, said several college and health-care experts who spoke on Sunday on a panel at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities' meeting here. The health-care system is "moving away from paying on a piecework basis" to paying for value, and that means "we need different skill sets" in the health-care work force, said Susan Dentzer, senior health-policy adviser to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. As the $2.8-trillion health-care economy evolves, there will be more jobs for people who will work in communities as health coaches and more need for other professionals who can work in teams of doctors, nurses, and social workers—and not necessarily in hospital settings.
