Dissertation Research

Introduction: The Effect of Climate Change on the Global Agriculture Industry

2015-06-30T13:36:00.000-05:00

Climate change has been vastly changing how and where food is being produced globally. Factors such as increasing temperatures and water scarcity are directly impacting the yields of specific crops around the world, often times decreasing the profits earned by agricultural companies. Unfortunately, most of these businesses are doing nothing to confront the problem. A seemingly never-ending drought and water scarcity are straining the operations of major food companies. The typical business model of these companies assumes that water needed for production is limitless and inexpensive. According to the UN-Water withdrawals of freshwater supplies have risen by at least 1% each year in the past 3 decades, and could rise to as much as 55% in the upcoming decades. The agency believes that one of the reasons for the lessened water levels is the increased demand for water in production of agricultural products. Other climatic conditions are greatly impacting the production of various crops around the world. In Honduras, for example, the summer rainy season has grown to be hotter and drier, which has in turn forced producers to pump up more groundwater and sometimes turn to expensive irrigation technology. Cool spells during the current dry season become even cooler, which causes the rate of ripening of bananas to slow down. In India, wheat and rice crops also suffer from the hot weather during the dry season. ( More )

End to segragation of Special Education students

2015-06-23T03:00:00.000-05:00

Professor calls for end to segregation of special education students: The time has finally come to end the separation of special education and general education students, researchers at the University of Kansas argue in a new publication. Not only does research show that all students have higher achievement in fully integrated environments, but support and public policy for schools to make such a switch are coming into place as well.Wayne Sailor, professor of special education and director of the Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation Center and Amy McCart, associate research professor in KU’s Life Span Institute and co-director of the SWIFT Center, authored an article in the journal Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities arguing the “stars are coming into alignment” for full inclusion in schools. Such a change would reverse a trend in the United States since Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Amendments in 1975 to separate students based on perceived disability and re-examine the idea of special education.
“Even though the preponderance of research shows that all students, not just students with disabilities, fare much better educationally when integrated with general education, there still is segregation in the schools,” Sailor said. “The EHA was never intended to create an entirely separate system, yet that’s what happened. Special education became a place instead of educational supports.”
The authors argue that viewing special education as a way to examine the disabilities of an individual student and react to them is an outdated idea. Instead, educators should examine how they teach, the educational environment and shift resources to benefit all students. KU’s Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation Center, or SWIFT, is working with 64 schools in 16 districts in five states to implement their model of fully inclusive education. The center provides support that benefits everyone from state education officials to teachers, administrators, students, parents and community members. (More)

kunews@ku.edu | 4-2-2015

Master of Science in Applied Statistics and Analytics

2015-06-16T03:00:00.000-05:00

The Opportunity Big data is a big deal. And finding qualified employees to take on the complexities of big data is a big challenge. The opportunities are out there for highly-trained data analysts, scientists and statisticians ready to make an immediate impact on the workforce, particularly the healthcare, transportation, insurance and manufacturing industries. In 2014 the global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, emphasized the shortage of data analytics and statistics professionals. There’s an even greater shortage in graduate degrees to advance data analysts into data scientists. The field of data analytics has expanded to include both applied statistics and computer science. Statistics—the science of uncertainty—provides the careful management and calculation of uncertainty. Computer science provides the information and tools necessary to build, manage, and manipulate vast amounts of data.
The Degree Combine an in-demand degree with KU’s reputation and flexibility. The online Master of Science in Applied Statistics and Analytics is designed to provide graduates with hands-on statistical computing skills, emphasizing proper application and problem solving. In fact, many of the most employable graduate degrees involve statistics. In response to workforce demand, there are two areas of emphasis:

Data Analytics will provide graduates with experience working with and analyzing large datasets using several of the most common statistical software tools.
Statistics will emphasize hands-on statistical computing in the context of statistical methods commonly applied in industry and government agencies.

All coursework can be completed online, providing flexibility for working professionals. The degree of Master of Science in Applied Statistics prepares graduates for careers in the rapidly growing fields of statistics, biostatistics and data analytics. ( More )

AND http://news.ku.edu/ku-edwards-fulfills-promise-johnson-county-taxpayers from kunews@ku.edu June 16, 2015

kunews@ku.edu

OVERLAND PARK — The University of Kansas Edwards Campus is offering a new, unique program aimed at attracting and retaining talent in Johnson County and the region. The new Applied Statistics and Analytics online graduate degree, starting in fall 2015, is the 10^th program the university is adding as part of the Johnson County Education Research Triangle (JCERT) initiative, an 1/8 cent sales tax that voters approved in 2008.
In exchange for the roughly $5 million the tax generates each year, KU Edwards committed to adding 10 degree programs that support business, engineering, science and technology, or BEST. In addition, the university invested $23 million in a new, state-of-the-art BEST building on campus.
“The JCERT tax has helped to support our local economy and business development,” said David Cook, vice chancellor of Edwards Campus. “We’ve had students providing hands-on work with companies large and small, and businesses are attracted to the graduates who are prepared to enter the workforce because of the opportunities created by the JCERT tax.”
The applied statistics and analytics online master's degree addresses a growing demand for statisticians in a number of industries such as transportation, insurance, manufacturing and health care. The American Association for the Advancement of Science projects a 27 percent growth in jobs for biostatisticians by the year 2022. KU is the only school in the region to offer this master’s degree. It is the first joint program between KU Edwards and KU Medical Center.
Programs like these fulfill the purpose of JCERT of growing the business community by attracting top talent to the area. Students gain an opportunity to learn in a hands-on, real-life environment due to the partnerships the university has developed with area businesses.
Andrea Salazar graduated with her professional science master’s degree in environmental assessment, one of the new programs offered as a result of JCERT. For her capstone project, she worked with Sprint to identify the company’s water footprint and developed a water conservation guide to help not only Sprint, but also its 6,000-plus suppliers, reduce their water usage.
“The role I played when working with Sprint offered me a huge opportunity to make a real impact on their sustainability,” Salazar said. “This opportunity wouldn’t have been available to me had I not been a part of the JCERT program.”
Note: Salazar is available for interviews, as well as a JCERT Board member and a representative from the business community, to discuss the tax and the effect it has already had in Johnson County.
About Johnson County Education Research Triangle
The Johnson County Education Research Triangle is a 1/8 cent sales tax that was approved by Johnson County voters in 2008. It marks a partnership among the taxpayers of Johnson County, Kansas State University and KU to bring the finest expanded higher education degrees and research to the county. The money supports the KU Edwards Campus, K-State Olathe campus and KU Cancer Center Clinical Research Center
About the Edwards Campus
The KU Edwards Campus at 127th Street and Quivira Road in Overland Park brings high-quality academic programs, research and public-service benefits of KU to the Greater Kansas City community in order to serve the workforce, economic and community development needs of region.

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The university's mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world. The KU News Service is the central public relations office for the Lawrence campus.
kunews@ku.edu | 1450 Jayhawk Blvd., Suite 37, Lawrence, KS 66045

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The Beige Book: Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District

2015-06-11T03:00:00.000-05:00

Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District

Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas based on information collected on or before May 22, 2015. This document summarizes comments received from businesses and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials.

Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest overall economic activity expanded during the reporting period from early April to late May. Activity in the Richmond, Chicago, Minneapolis, and San Francisco Districts was characterized as growing at a moderate pace, while the New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis Districts cited modest growth. Contacts in the Boston District reported mixed conditions, and the Cleveland and Kansas City Districts indicated a slight pace of expansion. Compared to the previous report, the pace of growth slowed slightly in the Dallas District but held steady in the Atlanta District. Outlooks among respondents were generally optimistic, with growth expected to continue at a modest to moderate pace in several districts.

KU expanding accelerated program to earn bachelor’s, law degrees at other state universities

2015-06-08T03:00:00.000-05:00

Students at state universities across Kansas will have an opportunity to accelerate their legal education and save a year of tuition through an expansion of the 3 Plus 3 Program at the University of Kansas. The program will allow high-ability students at participating Regents universities to maximize their undergraduate coursework, earning a bachelor’s degree and a KU law degree in six years instead of seven. Students will spend three years on requirements for the bachelor’s degree from their undergraduate institution and three years on requirements for a KU law degree. They will graduate with a bachelor’s degree after their fourth year and already have one year of law school under their belt. “We are excited to expand this opportunity to students across Kansas in collaboration with our Regents partners,” said Jeffrey S. Vitter, provost and executive vice chancellor. “It saves students a year of study and undergraduate tuition, and in addition it helps ensure that high-achieving students interested in legal careers earn their law degrees in Kansas. We know that students who graduate from a Kansas institution are more likely to stay in the state after graduation to work and serve the people of Kansas.” The 3 Plus 3 Program is entering its third year at KU with growing enrollment each year since its inception. - See more

Database Research and EndNote Citation Workshop

2015-05-18T14:16:00.000-05:00

Saturday, June 6 / 9:00am to 11:30am / Regnier Hall 366, 364 computer labs. The Database Research and EndNote Citation Workshop is for beginning and continuing Graduate students. This is our “Early Bird Special” because it comes just before the Summer Semester starts. The purpose of the Research section is to help graduate students get a step up on their research skills in finding scholarly articles and peer reviewed journals in their subject area. We will look at several different databases concentrating on various search methodologies. The EndNote Citation section will demonstrate how to download journal citations directly from specific databases, how to organize these citations within the EndNote program, and how to insert these citations into the Word Document that the student is actively writing. The citation process includes in-text citation, reference lists at the end of the paper and separate bibliographies. RSVP Lissa Lord llord@ku.edu

National education initiative SWIFT becomes Life Span affiliated research center

2015-05-18T03:00:00.001-05:00

Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation Center has become the Life Span Institute’s 14th affiliated center. SWIFT, a national K-8 technical assistance center, was funded with a $24 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2012 to create a KU research-based approach to inclusion that realigns educational resources to support all students, including those with disabilities. SWIFT, a national K-8 technical assistance center, was funded with a $24 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2012 to implement a KU research-based approach to inclusion that realigns educational resources to support all students, including those with disabilities. The grant was the second highest in KU’s history to date. “We are proud to recognize SWIFT’s national scope and influence with a designation as one of the Life Span Institute’s centers,” said John Colombo, LSI director. “This project has the potential to be a turning point for American education.” The SWIFT Center at KU currently provides differentiated technical assistance to 67 schools in 19 districts in Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont. These states were selected based on criteria that included having a combination of rural, urban and high-need districts. Further, SWIFT assists state education agencies to expand and sustain statewide school reform. SWIFT brings together special and general education in a comprehensive continuum of supports and services. For example, said Wayne Sailor, SWIFT director, schools implement a multi-tiered system of support of increasing intensity of instruction for all students that includes addressing behavior issues that impede the learning progress. SWIFT is highly data driven, said Amy McCart, director of technical assistance. “The conversations we have with schools, districts and states around data indicate when organizational change is taking place and informs decisions about the differentiated nature and content of the TA we provide," she said.

kunews@ku.edu

kunews@ku.edu - See more

Database Research and EndNote Citation Workshop

2015-05-18T03:00:00.000-05:00

Business school launching online MBA

2015-05-13T03:00:00.000-05:00

The University of Kansas School of Business will begin offering a fully online Master of Business Administration program this fall. The program is designed for working professionals interested in advancing their careers through graduate management education without having to be present on campus. “The online MBA program opens up a significant new opportunity for students from all over the state, the nation and the world to connect to KU for a premier management education,” said Catherine Shenoy, director of MBA programs. “We are very excited about extending our MBA to a broader group.” Shenoy also said the online MBA program is well-suited for anyone wanting to make a career change, regardless of whether a student has a background in business. The online MBA program is administered in partnership with Everspring Inc., an educational design, technology and services provider that partners with leading universities to move their programs online. The partnership enables the School of Business to bring its leading MBA programs to students around the world using Everspring’s online platform and services. “I’m excited to be working with KU School of Business faculty to design dynamic, innovative learning experiences that access the powerful Jayhawk community around the globe,” said Karen Baldeschwieler, Everspring's chief learning officer. U.S. News & World Report ranks the KU Working Professional MBA program as 39th in the nation among public programs and ranks the full-time program among the top 10 in career placement. The online MBA program complements these MBA programs. - See more

kunews@ku.edu

Book details benefits of teacher fieldwork with at-risk youths

2015-05-07T03:00:00.000-05:00

For decades young people entering the teaching field have prepared for the career by taking classes and student teaching. A new book co-authored by a University of Kansas professor takes a look at how connecting pre-service teachers with at-risk youths and families can change their ideas of what it means to be an educator and, ultimately, make them better teachers.

“Community Fieldwork in Teacher Education: Theory and Practice” details the experiences of students who were enrolled in teacher education coursework with a program for homeless youths and families, with youths in foster homes and in a charter school. Their experiences highlight the value of approaching teacher preparation from a context outside of the traditional method. “We spend quite a bit of time in class talking about the role of the teacher in a very traditional sense. We see this book as a counternarrative to the traditional model — the 'apprenticeship of observation' model — of how people often become teachers,” said Heidi Hallman, associate professor of education. “We highlight the stories of these beginning teachers in these unique roles working with homeless and foster youth, and we look at key things that happened in their experiences and how it may have been different from what they expected.” Hallman co-authored the book with Melanie Burdick, assistant professor of English and director of composition at Washburn University. It was published by Routledge as part of the Research in Teacher Education series. The pre-service teachers who took part in the project writing programs with at-risk youths did so through Hallman’s Methods of Teaching English class. The book details a five-year study and how the experience helped the future educators question what it means to be a teacher. Perhaps most importantly, the pre-service teachers quickly learned that curriculum is not something that is constrained completely to school. Youths’ experience outside of school, whether it be reading assignments, using social media or other daily activities, all play a factor in how they learn at school. Learners who have extra challenges such as homelessness or growing up in foster care will assuredly approach school curriculum differently than their peers, Hallman said, and directly realizing that helps educators avoid the idea that all students can be taught in the same manner. [More]
kunews@ku.edu 5/5/2015

Bullying topic of online summer course

2015-04-30T03:00:00.000-05:00

Bullying is a pervasive problem that cuts across all ages, genders, races and environments. It happens in schools, homes and in workplaces, including colleges and universities, and even in marital and familial relationships. Bullying is all about power and intimidation over another individual. Anyone can be a bully, and anyone can be bullied, including students, teachers, administrators and parents, spouses, employees, among others. In response to the recent state requirements for all schools in Kansas to have a bullying policy and a prevention/intervention plan in place, the University of Kansas School of Education will offer a special online graduate course during Summer 2015: EPSY 798 Bullying: Prevention and Intervention. Taught by Robert Harrington, professor in the Department of Psychology & Research in Education (soon to be Educational Psychology), this course will also serve to prepare educators for the federal mandates which require schools to monitor the physical, emotional, social and safety of school climates as well. [More: http://bit.ly/1yWhFrL ]

Periodic Table Of Elements That The World Is Running Out Of

2015-04-27T03:00:00.000-05:00

You might not realize it, but almost everywhere around you are rare metals from the earth. In your phone, computer, or any other LCD screen, for example, you’ll find a dash of indium, a soft, malleable metal that is in short supply in the Earth’s crust. Gallium, which can emit light from a jolt of electricity, is used in semiconductors, LEDs, lasers, and the solar industry. Rhenium, one of the rarest elements in the earth’s crust, is most commonly needed in jet engines. In other words, in our daily lives, we rely on many metals that are either uncommon, environmentally damaging, or located almost solely in places like China, Bolivia, or the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (i.e., not nations the U.S. is always on good terms with). What's the risk that one day we won't be able to depend on any of these elements? That's the question asked by researchers from Yale University, who have now catalogued how much we’re in danger of putting all our eggs in one basket. (More with Tables)

End to segragation of special education students

2015-04-20T03:00:00.000-05:00

kunews@ku.edu | 4-2-2015

New & Interesting Resources

2015-04-16T03:00:00.000-05:00

The KU Libraries has added 4 new databases to the research collection that may be of interest you. You can access these databases from the Libraries' Homepage at http://www.lib.ku.edu
by selecting Articles and Databases which will take you to the alphabetical listing of databases. Select the first letter of the database name you want to research to connect to that database (i.e. P for Passport).

Passport, from Euromonitor International, is a global market research database providing statistics, analysis, reports, surveys and breaking news on industries, countries and consumers worldwide. Access to this resource requires an extra step: log in with your KU online ID, and then agree to the terms of use presented by Euromonitor.

Electronic Enlightenment, published by the University of Oxford, it is the most wide-ranging online collection of edited correspondence of the early modern period, linking people across Europe, the Americas and Asia from the early 17th to the mid-19th century.

Ambrose Video Onlineprovides streaming video of education, science and history films, as well as the BBC Shakespeare Collection and other award winning educational films.

Proquest History Vault: The NAACP Papers covers the years 1909 through 1972. This collection contains internal memos, legal briefings and direct action summaries from national, legal and branch offices of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People throughout the country.

Common Core State Standards Initiative

2015-04-09T03:00:00.000-05:00

CommonCore State Standards Initiative The Common Core establishes nationwide benchmarks for reading and math, and has so far been adopted by 43 states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). As the official site of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, there is much to offer here for K-12 educators, parents, and the generally curious. Sections of the site cover topics such as What Parents Should Know and Frequently Asked Questions. The Standards in Your State section is an easy way to explore which states have adopted the standards, complete with links to state and territory department of education websites. Perhaps best of all, PDFs of the English Language Arts/Literacy Standards and the Mathematics Standards are available right on the site.
The Scout Report

BIS Quarterly Review

2015-04-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

BIS QuarterlyReview

BIS Quarterly Review March 2015 International banking and financial market developments.
Table of Contents follows:

A wave of further easing – Largely unexpected, a wave of monetary policy easing over the past few months has taken centre stage in global financial markets. Amid plunging oil prices and rising foreign exchange tensions, a large number of central banks from both advanced and emerging market economies have provided further stimulus. The ECB announced an expanded asset purchase programme, which was larger and …
Highlights of global financing flows – Global international banking activity continued to expand during the third quarter of 2014, after turning upwards in the first. International bank lending in the advanced economies revived as the growth outlook in some of these economies picked up and banking systems continued to recover. Bank lending to emerging market economies remained strong, particularly in Asia.
Special features – The costs of deflations: a historical perspective by Claudio Borio, Magdalena Erdem, Andrew Filardo and Boris Hofmann
Concerns about deflation – falling prices of goods and services – are rooted in the view that it is very costly. We test the historical link between output growth and deflation in a sample covering 140 years for up to 38 economies. The evidence suggests that this link is weak and…
Oil and debt by Dietrich Domanski, Jonathan Kearns, Marco Jacopo Lombardi and Hyun Song Shin – The total debt of the oil and gas sector globally stands at roughly $2.5 trillion, two and a half times what it was at the end of 2006. The recent fall in the oil price represents a significant decline in the value of assets backing this debt, introducing a new …
(Why) Is investment weak? by Ryan Banerjee, Jonathan Kearns and Marco Jacopo Lombardi – In spite of very easy financing conditions globally, investment has been rather weak in the aftermath of the Great Recession. What explains this apparent disconnect? The evidence suggests that, historically, uncertainty about the…
Financial inclusion – issues for central banks by Aaron Mehrotra and James Yetman. Financial inclusion – access to financial services – is increasing worldwide, often with official support. This special feature discusses the implications for central banks. Greater financial inclusion changes the behaviour of firms and consumers in ways that could …
Shifting tides – market liquidity and market-making in fixed income instruments by Ingo Fender and Ulf Lewrick – Drawing from a recent report by the Committee on the Global Financial System, we identify signs of increased fragility and divergence of liquidity conditions across different fixed income markets. Market-making is concentrating in the most liquid securities and …
Global liquidity indicators: background and interpretation
Equity issuance and share buybacks by Adrian Van Rixtel and Alan Villegas
The Great Depression
Japan’s growth and deflation: two lost decades?
The economics of market-making
Inventory levels and asset price sensitivity: catching the falling knife?

KU Edwards partners with Johnson County Library to evaluate library’s ROI

2015-03-31T13:29:00.000-05:00

Researchers at KU Edwards Campus are crunching numbers and conducting focus groups with assistance from Johnson County Library staff to measure the county’s return on every dollar invested in its library system. The nine-month study, scheduled for publication in the fall, identifies and analyzes direct and indirect benefits to residents and the business community at large. The partnership is one of the first in KU Edwards Campus’ engaged scholarship initiative, a research collaboration between the university and community groups for direct public benefit. “Partnering with the Johnson County Library is an opportunity for the campus to lend valuable research expertise to an important community asset,” said Dave Cook, KU Edwards Campus vice chancellor. “Working with the community is part of our core values, and this partnership enhances the public service mission of both organizations.”Alfred Ho, associate professor in KU’s School of Public Affairs & Administration, is leading the project with a team of faculty, staff and student researchers. Returns will be grouped into three categories:

The market value of library products and services like meeting spaces and materials
The economic benefits of library activities like employment and construction and how that activity ripples through the local economy
The quality of life enjoyed by all residents as a result of Johnson County’s education and employer appeal. Residents will be asked to place a monetary value on these benefits through focus groups and surveys More: http://bit.ly/1xTQXF3

From: KU Today kunews@ku.edu 3-31-15

Impact of Cyber-Attacks on Global Business

2015-03-30T03:00:00.001-05:00

Global Edge Newsletter: Feature of theMonth: Impact of Cyber-Attacks on Global Business

Cyber security has been a hot topic recently, as major corporations such as Sony Pictures and Anthem were hit with significant attacks on their companies’ networks. With more companies being affected by cyber-attacks, cyber security has become a pressing issue for the business community. As each cyber-attack teaches us, any company can be a target to hackers, and if determined enough, hackers can breech most companies’ systems. To combat future cyber-attacks, many companies are increasing their spending on security measures. According to forecasts from Gartner Inc., global spending on cyber security will increase by over 8% in 2015, to $76.9 billion. Although huge, these security costs pale in comparison to estimates of the annual financial loss resulting from cyber-crime, which is estimated to be upwards of $400 billion, or about 0.5% of the world’s GDP. With the massive amount of money being lost and its remote nature, cyber-crime is an international issue. Business leaders, government officials, and technology experts across the globe are looking for solutions to increase protection and fight back. Whatever happens, cyber security will remain an issue for businesses around the world, as security and hacking continue to become more and more sophisticated. Featured Resources:

Skills for Social Progress

2015-03-30T03:00:00.000-05:00

Today’s children will need a balanced set of cognitive, social and emotional skills in order to succeed in modern life. Their capacity to achieve goals, work effectively with others and manage emotions will be essential to meet the challenges of the 21st century. While everyone acknowledges the importance of socio-emotional skills such as perseverance, sociability and self-esteem, there is often insufficient awareness of "what works" to enhance these skills. Teachers and parents don’t really know whether their efforts at developing these skills are paying off, and what they could do better. Policies and programmes designed to measure and enhance socio-emotional skills vary considerably within and across countries.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
This report presents a synthesis of the OECD’s analytical work on the role of socio-emotional skills and proposes strategies to raise them. It analyses the effects of skills on a variety of measures of individual well-being and social progress, which covers aspects of our lives that are as diverse as education, labour market outcomes, health, family life, civic engagement and life satisfaction. The report discusses how policy makers, schools and families facilitate the development of socio-emotional skills through intervention programmes, teaching and parenting practices. Not only does it identify promising avenues to foster socio-emotional skills, it also shows that these skills can be measured meaningfully within cultural and linguistic boundaries.

KU to offer degree completion online

2015-03-24T14:09:00.000-05:00

A bachelor’s degree from the state’s flagship university will be within reach for more students with the launch of new online education opportunities at the University of Kansas.
The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Online will house the university’s first all-digital bachelor’s degree completion program in the liberal arts and sciences. Degree-seeking students can combine previous undergraduate credit or an associate’s degree with online KU courses to complete a bachelor’s degree. The program features courses from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, which will provide students a well-rounded and flexible education that can be applied in nearly any profession or post-baccalaureate study. “This program eliminates distance and busy schedules as barriers to earning a bachelor’s degree from a top international research institution,” said Don Steeples, interim dean of the College. “Our mission in the College is to learn without boundaries, which drives us to create programs that encourage students to not limit themselves in where, how or when they learn.” The degree completion program will mirror an on-campus degree in all regards except the online delivery format. Students will fulfill the same general education requirements of the KU Core and will take rigorous and diverse courses taught by full-time faculty in the College.
“Challenge, support and community are the pillars of the online degree completion program,” said Paul Atchley, associate dean for online and professional education in the College. “Unlike many schools, where online education is about making money, the College’s online programming is about KU's mission to help students reach their potential and fulfill their ambitions.” A liberal arts and sciences education has been consistently identified by employers as ideal training for prospective employees. A survey released early this year found that more than three out of every four employers see an education in the liberal arts and sciences as one of the most valuable preparations for employment. The report by the American Association of Colleges and Universities polled 400 employers nationwide. Courses offered through The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Online will cover a broad range of disciplines such as communication, statistics, global studies and social sciences. Most courses are taught in eight-week “minimesters.” The bachelor’s degree completion program is currently accepting applications for summer 2015 and fall 2015. More information is available at The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Online website. The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences is KU's broadest, most diverse academic unit, made up of more than 50 departments, programs and centers.The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The university's mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world. The KU News Service is the central public relations office for the Lawrence campus.

kunews@ku.edu | 1450 Jayhawk Blvd., Suite 37, Lawrence, KS 66045

Ken Robinson: How schools kill creativity

2015-03-18T03:00:00.000-05:00

Ted Talk / June 2006

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance. Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? "Everyone should watch this." A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements. His 2009 book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, is a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 21 languages. A 10th anniversary edition of his classic work on creativity and innovation, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, was published in 2011. His latest book, Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life, will be published by Viking in May 2013. (from TED)

Book on police stops receives accolades

2015-03-13T03:00:00.000-05:00

Three University of Kansas professors will receive a top book award in the field of public administration for their collaborative research on race and investigatory police stops as well as the ramifications of these institutionalized policies. The research pertains to police practices and race relations, which have become major social issues in the last year after the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York. Both incidents led to nationwide protests and calls for reforming how police departments interact with minorities. The American Society for Public Administration has honored professors Charles Epp, School of Public Affairs & Administration; Steven Maynard-Moody, School of Public Affairs & Administration and director of the Institute for Policy & Social Research, and Don Haider-Markel, chair of the Department of Political Science, for "Pulled Over: How Police Stops Define Race and Citizenship," with the 2015 Best Book Award from the Section on Public Administration Research. The award will be formally announced at the ASPA conference Saturday, March 7, in Chicago. [More] Story from KU Today, March 3, 2015

Graduate school rankings released

2015-03-11T15:09:00.002-05:00

The 2016 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” rankings confirms that for breadth and quality of graduate programs, KU is unmatched in the state.Forty-four KU graduate programs appear in the “Best Graduate Schools” rankings, more than all other Kansas universities and colleges combined. Ten KU programs appear in the top 10 among public universities nationally, and 38 are in the top 50. “We want scholars from around not just the nation, but the world, to come to Kansas because they want to be a part of our teaching and research, either as faculty members or as graduate students,” said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little. “Our graduate programs educate leaders who will go on to make contributions in essentially all disciplines, in both the private sector and academia, and those contributions directly benefit the people of Kansas and our society. This breadth and depth of excellence is just one example of what a flagship research university can bring to the state it serves,” she said. The schools of Engineering and Law both saw their rankings rise for the third consecutive year. KU’s special education program held its top spot among public university programs, while the largest gains for an individual program were for the part-time MBA program, which rose 10 places to be tied for 39th among public university programs. City management and urban policy maintained its top overall ranking, as public affairs-related disciplines were not re-ranked this year. [More] From KU Today Campus Newsletter

International Student Mobility Trends 2015

2015-03-09T03:00:00.000-05:00

International Student Mobility Trends 2015: An Economic Perspective
International students contributed almost $27 billion dollars to the U.S. economy in 2014, which corresponds to a 12 percent increase versus 2013 ($24 billion). The growth has been driven largely by students from upper-middle-income economies and countries with large national scholarship programs, which marks a significant shift from before the 2008 financial crisis. By 2017, the global middle class is projected to increase its spending on educational products and services by nearly 50 percent, from $4.4 trillion in 2012 to $6.2 trillion. Pull factors in student-receiving countries such as higher quality of education, better living conditions and stronger labor market demand have driven the expansion of international student mobility since the 2008 financial crisis[i], and today growth in outbound student mobility from upper-middle-income countries such as China, Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey is outpacing growth from both low- and high-income countries. Acknowledging the potential benefits international students can bring on board, we found that Canada, Australia and the U.K. are prompt in understanding the big-picture impact of international students. In the U.S. context, except for NAFSA’s annual economic impact report, voices on the benefits of international students to the national economy and institutional welfare are yet to be heard. The purpose of this article is to reflect on the economic impact these new mobility trends and drivers are having on host countries at the national, local, and institutional levels. We first compare enrollments of international students in the top four English-speaking host countries (the U.S., UK, Australia, and Canada), before looking in more depth at the economic contribution of international students to the U.S. economy and select U.S. universities. We conclude with a look at the implications of the economics of student mobility for international enrollment management at U.S. institutions of higher education. [More]

Kansas ranks No. 1 in community college students going on to four-year degrees

2015-03-02T12:44:00.002-06:00

When Julia Glenn was ready to transfer from community college to a four-year school for her bachelor’s degree, Kansas made it easy. Under a state program, credits earned at a community college are completely accepted at all public universities in the state. Education officials say that program has a lot to do with Kansas’ standing in a new report on students completing their college education within six years. Kansas, it turns out, is the national leader in the percentage of community college students who continue on to get a degree from a four-year institution. “The majority of my credits from Kansas City Kansas Community College transferred easily to the University of Kansas,” said Glenn, who last year graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing from KU. At 23, she now works full time at Shawnee Mission Medical Center. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s annual report lists only six states — Virginia, Iowa, North Dakota, Texas and Illinois, along with Kansas — as seeing 20 percent or more of students who started at a two-year public school finish with a degree from a four-year institution. Kansas had the highest rate at 25.2 percent. Missouri, at 17.8 percent, finished ahead of the national average of 16.2 percent.“It was exciting to read the results presented in this new report … in part because it validates the collaborative approach we have taken in Kansas across all public post-secondary institutions,” said Andy Tompkins, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents. (More)

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By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS, The Kansas City Star,03/01/2015.

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