Reminder News - Meet the candidates for Manchester's Board of Education (October 28, 2011) - Jason P. Scappaticci (D) is currently employed at Manchester Community College and looks to create deeper ties to MCC, to help better prepare students. He also looks forward to improving Manchester's public schools by creating stronger students...

Journal Inquirer - Developer transforms old building into energy-efficient model (October 28, 2011) - When developer John Lee opened up the walls of 867 Main St. about a year ago, he found piping that fed gas lamps from the turn of the century and an electrical wiring system from the 1920s... Lee says he will partner with local schools, such as Howell Cheney Technical High School and Manchester Community College, to show students a "green" project in action...

Washington Post - Two-year colleges draw more affluent students  (November 2, 2011) - Julie Hong grew up in the sort of leafy Montgomery County suburb where college is assumed. Her parents had saved for the expense since she was a baby. When the time came, they said she could go wherever she wished. She chose a community college...

CT Mirror - Expert: Higher ed merger risky, but success is possible (November 2, 2011) - Connecticut's newly restructured higher education system has the potential to avoid the pitfalls that have stalled reorganization efforts in other states, a leading higher education authority said Wednesday...

Inside Higher Ed - Failure To Disclose (November 3, 2011) - Three years after the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which included new disclosure requirements for institutions, the majority of colleges are failing to provide public information on graduation rates for low-income students, and many do not adequately disclose other required information, according to a study published today by Education Sector and the American Enterprise Institute...

Community College Times - Infusing research into learning can help students succeed (November 2, 2011) - Historically community colleges have not provided many research opportunities for students, but that is changing, especially as educators explore how such hands-on research can improve college completion, according to a panel of college officials and students who spoke on the topic this week on Capitol Hill...

Inside Higher Ed - Take the Money and Run (November 2, 2011) - Economists like to say that there's no such thing as a free lunch, and soon it may be harder to find a free college education. Cooper Union, a well-regarded art, architecture, and engineering college in New York City that has not charged tuition for most of its history, announced Monday that, due to sustained budget pressures, it would consider a range of options, including charging tuition...

Inside Higher Ed - Whom You Pay to Park  (November 2, 2011) - Remember when colleges fought over outsourcing bookstores? At Ohio State, the new outsourcing fight is over a resource used by faculty members every single day: parking spaces. University officials describe the university's plan to outsource its parking operation as an entrepreneurial approach that would raise money; detractors say the plan goes against the idea of a university as a community...

Inside Higher Ed - Renew or Dismiss? (October 28, 2011) - A regional accreditor placed Luzerne County Community College on probation in June, citing concerns about the Pennsylvania college's leadership. But Luzerne's Board of Trustees is now considering a contract extension for the president, Thomas P. Leary, angering some local critics...

Inside Higher Ed - Limiting (Some) Loans (October 28, 2011) - Under a financial aid "experiment" announced Thursday, some community colleges and for-profit institutions will be able to fulfill a long-held desire: limiting the amount their students can borrow in federal loans...

Hartford Courant - Regional Digest (November 3, 2011) - Manchester Community College won the Division III Region 21 championship Wednesday with a 2-0 victory over No. 3 Bunker Hill Community College. Jose Bucca and Mark Grant scored for MCC and goalie Steve Germain had seven saves....

CT Mirror - New ed chief seeks $25M for low-performing districts (November 2, 2011) - Calling it "one of our highest priorities," recently-appointed Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor is asking the Malloy Administration for $25 million to help him turn around the state's lowest-performing districts...

CT Mirror - Half of 4th- and 8th-graders fail national test in reading and math (November 2, 2011) - Results of the Nation's Report Card released Tuesday show fewer than half of 4th- and 8th-grade students are proficient in math and reading--far short of the federal No Child Left Behind goal of 100 percent proficiency in three years...

CT Mirror - Backers say charter schools could help state reach integration goals (October 28, 2011) - With the state falling well short of complying with a court order to desegregate schools in Hartford, lawyers and advocates are urging inclusion of charter schools in the effort...

Chronicle of Higher Ed - A Regional Public University Scales Back Its Research Ambitions (October 31, 2011) - Five years ago, administrators at Cleveland State University set their sights on a lofty goal: $50-million in annual research grants. The mid-size regional public institution-overshadowed by dozens of better-known colleges in the state-was hiring faculty with star potential and loading up on graduate students to assist in the laboratories and classrooms. But economic and political challenges have made it harder to dream big...

Inside Higher Ed - Student Success, in the Classroom (November 3, 2011 ) - Over the past 20 years, if not more, colleges and universities, states and private foundations have invested considerable resources in the development and implementation of a range of programs to increase college completion. Though several of these have achieved some degree of success, most have not made a significant impact on college completion rates...

Community College Times - Building more sophisticated 2+2 partnerships (October 28, 2011) - Many community colleges establish agreements with four-year schools, simplifying the credit transfer process for students who wish to continue their studies after earning a two-year degree...

Chronicle of Higher Ed - Sketchy Thinking (October 30, 2011) - After a semester with my developmental writing and reading students, I usually think I know them as well as I'm ever going to know them. We've spent six hours a week together in the classroom, where I've cajoled them, bored them, rallied them, and badgered them, and of course their papers and exercises have kept me company many evenings at home. I used to be proud that I knew them so well through their writing, even though I didn't remember them by face a semester or two later...