Notes in the Margins: Happiness, Facebook passwords and the doomed degree

The Degree Is Doomed  The value of paper degrees lies in a common agreement to accept them as a proxy for competence and status, and that agreement is less rock solid than the higher education establishment would like to believe. (Harvard Business Review)

High-Profile Study to Examine Happiness After College Questions surrounding degree-holders will focus on five dimensions of well-being: purpose, social, physical, financial and community, according to a press release from Gallup. It will also delve into issues such as workplace engagement. (U.S. News & World Report)

Will employers still ask for Facebook passwords in 2014? Emory University junior Stanton Huang has been asked for his username and password several times when applying to internships in marketing and management — though the requests were mostly labeled optional. (USA Today)

Making a Strategic Case for College Athletic Programs If the college has a strong athletic program and the "news" section of the website is overwhelmingly about athletics, then the college must seek to rebalance its public image to put athletics into a less defining role by telling the story of its quality academic program better. (The Huffington Post) 

Give competency-based college programs a chance The new concept puts the right kind of pressure on higher education. (USA Today via NAICU)

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