Higher Education and Shifting U.S. Demographics: Need for Visible Administrative Career Paths, Professional Development, Succession Planning & Commitment to Diversity

Higher education provides extensive opportunities for individuals seeking careers, career transition, and career advancement. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects there are an estimated 6,000 jobs in higher education administration that will need to be filled annually through 2014 (Leubsdorf, 2006). Alice Miller, a consultant with the executive-search firm Witt/Kieffer, “predicts there will be at least a 50-percent turnover among senior administrators (higher education) in the next five to 10 years” (Leubsdorf, 2006, p. A51). Additionally, national research by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACE) (2001) and Fain (2008) reveals that 79% of current community college presidents will retire by 2012 and 84% will retire by 2016

INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL SECTION ON INTEGRATING ACCESSIBILITY INTO ONLINE LEARNING

This special section of the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks on Integrating Accessibility into Online Learning is a compilation of papers, interviews, and webinars that provide an overview of the broad spectrum of issues related to accessibility, online learning, and student success. The proliferation of technology and online learning have transformed higher education in terms of national enrollments and instructional delivery. Data reveals that between fall 2002 and fall 2012, the number of higher education students taking at least one online course increased from 1.6 million to 6.7 million, representing a growth rate of 21 percent [1]. While online learning provides extensive new opportunities for students to enroll in degree and certificate programs, these opportunities are closely linked to accessibility. An institutional commitment to accessibility is needed to support success for all students. Universities must provide students with disabilities equal access to all programs including activities and services that allow an equal opportunity for them to actively participate and to achieve the same results as other students. This special section showcases research, trends, and recommended best practices to increase accessibility and student success in online learning for students with disabilities

Next Generation: Current & Emerging Trends in Higher Education

The ubiquity of technology and advancements in telecommunications has transformed the higher education landscape. Today’s students are seeking high quality and engaging curriculum with innovative support services and flexible program formats. This presentation will provide an overview of higher education’s “New Normal.” National data and current trends will be shared relating to online education enrollments, retention, persistence, and graduation rates. The presentation will provide innovative strategies for developing world-class online programs that build upon Complete College Georgia and optimize Desire2Learn. Additionally, the presentation will provide strategies to bring curriculum and assignments “to life” through student generated content and learning simulation. The presentation will conclude by looking at emerging trends in higher education and the “Next Generation” of students and educational technology including holography, cyborg technologies, skinput, biometrics, and more

LEGAL PERSPECTIVE: Q&A WITH DANIEL F. GOLDSTEIN

For students with disabilities to have the same opportunities to succeed as their nondisabled peers, access to educational technology and digital content is critical. It is essential that higher education boards, administrators, faculty, and administrative staff understand why accessibility must be on the forefront of our educational programs, co-curricular initiatives, support services, and infrastructure for on-campus and online programs. This question and answer session with Daniel F. Goldstein, a partner and trial lawyer with Brown, Goldstein & Levy, provides a legal perspective on issues relating to accessibility and online learning

RE-EXAMINING & REPOSITIONING HIGHER EDUCATION: TWENTY ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS DRIVING ONLINE AND BLENDED PROGRAM ENROLLMENTS

Economic and demographic shifts in the United State are transforming higher education. With substantial reductions in state funding, increasing campus energy and operational costs, endowments generating reduced returns, and a national economic readjustment of unprecedented proportions, higher education must re-examine and reposition itself to meet new and emerging challenges. This paper identifies ten economic factors and ten demographic factors that are confronting colleges and universities and driving online and blended program enrollments. While traditional face-to-face programs will always play a critical role in higher education, online and blended programs provide new opportunities to expand current student markets by offering quality programming that supports the institutional mission, increases brand recognition, and expands an institution’s alumni base

Bridging the Climate Information Gap: A Framework for Engaging Knowledge Brokers and Decision Makers in State Climate Assessments

Large-scale analyses like the National Climate Assessment (NCA) contain a wealth of information critical to national and regional responses to climate change but tend to be insufficiently detailed for action at state or local levels. Many states now engage in assessment processes to meet information needs for local authorities. The goals of state climate assessments (SCAs) should be to provide relevant, actionable information to state and local authorities, and to generate primary sources, build networks and inform stakeholders. To communicate local climate impacts to decision makers, SCAs should express credibility, salience and legitimacy. They can provide information (e.g., case studies, data sets) and connect stakeholders to the NCA and its process. Based on our experience in the Vermont Climate Assessment (VCA), we present a framework to engage decision makers in SCAs using a fluid network of scientific experts and knowledge brokers to conduct subject area prioritization, data analysis and writing. The VCA addressed economic, environmental and social impacts of climate change at local scales to increase resiliency and manage risk. Knowledge brokers communicated VCA findings through their own stakeholder networks. We include a qualitative impact evaluation, and believe our framework for interaction among scientists, knowledge brokers and stakeholders to be an effective structure for SCAs and a transformative experience for students

Great desire for extended life and health amongst the American public

People want to live long, healthy lives. Previous surveys suggest very limited interest in much longer lifespans, but we show that stipulating good health changes responses to favor longer lives by an order of magnitude. Advances in aging research hold out hope for greatly slowed aging with associated good health. Understanding the public's desires correctly is important to avoid misallocation of resources for research

Optimizing learning simulation to support a quinary career development model

In a competitive global economy, career placement and advancement are based on education, training, and the ability to apply knowledge, skills, and experience within dynamic work environments. While education and training provide the foundation for knowledge and skill development, it is through learning simulation and work-integrated learning that students acquire practical experience and engage in professional development while preparing for new careers, career advancement, or career transition. Therefore, this paper presents (a) a quinary career development model designed by faculty and administrators in the United States, South Africa, Australia, and Sweden; (b) an overview of learning simulation to support career development; and (c) learning simulation activities from the four countries that can be integrated into undergraduate and graduate/post-graduate face-to-face, blended/hybrid, and online programs

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis