Alex FriedrichAre American students grossly unprepared for college? It has become a common refrain from school reformers that a very large percentage of high school graduates must take remedial classes when they get to college. Are they right? (The Washington Post) Very Minor Changes to Department of Education’s ‘Gainful Employment’ Rule As a result of the proposed change Read more →
MPR News Intelligence on higher education
Archives for March 2014
New Obama administration proposal to regulate for-profit colleges The Obama administration is proposing to tighten oversight of for-profit colleges through new rules that seek to limit how much debt students can amass in career-training programs. The proposal, to be announced Friday, is the administration’s second try at regulationssetting standards for what colleges must do to ensure graduates of Read more →
Right across from the UMD dining hall is a room for students to put their backpacks. That’s because those things aren’t allowed in. Why? Students tend to smuggle food out. One dining hall employee told me they’ve tried to walk off with sandwiches, cold cuts, desserts — even whole pies. Apparently it’s a freshman thing.
Aside from the beauty of the area, UMD has found another benefit to its location: It’s in the heart of Indian country. Located in what some jokingly call “the Ojibwe Riviera” — with access to more than half a dozen reservations within a 90-minute drive — UMD has an American Indian presence unmatched by most Read more →
You have to look really closely in this video, but UMD has these solar-powered stop signs ringed with little lights that flash when cars approach. I can’t quite figure out the effect it’s supposed to have, but it’s pretty. It may have something to do with this.
When I ate breakfast and lunch at UMD’s dining hall, I thought I was back in college. Back in 1984. That’s necessarily not a bad thing. I don’t have any bad memories of the food back then, and my old cafeteria did have a few standout dishes. UMD’s fare is middling, workmanlike — better than Read more →
OK, this is getting a little awkward. Adam Chenoweth is helping me put on a snowshoe, and I can’t quite figure out how the straps go. The 21-year-old environmental-and-outdoor-education junior has already put on my left snowshoe for me, and is now guiding me how to put the right one on. It’s all spaghetti to Read more →
Take a look at the Maurices building on Superior Street. Sure, it’s the corporate headquarters for a retail fashion chain. But it’s also sign of where the University of Minnesota – Duluth may be going. You may remember that when the company announced it was donating the building to UMD last month, Chancellor Lendley Black Read more →
Research might seem like obscure stuff to most people, but some of it at UMD has held a pretty high profile. Read about about the sudden, alarming die-off of moose in the state? UMD is on it. Heard about how the severe winter has caused Lake Superior to ice over earlier than usual? UMD is Read more →
It’s 7 a.m., and UMD student Scotty Ducharme is having breakfast with me in the dining hall. He’s wearing a T-shirt, pajama bottoms and flip-flops. Why? Heck — because he can. It’s really toasty in the buildings here at UMD. And unlike a lot of college campuses, almost all of the buildings are connected by Read more →