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Neag School of Education

Annual Report

2022-23 Neag School of Education Annual Report

The Neag School of Education stands out as a major contributor to instructional and research excellence at the University of Connecticut, one of the nation’s leading public higher education institutions. With academic departments dedicated to educational leadership, educational psychology, and curriculum and instruction, the Neag School also offers programs in such areas as school psychology; sport management; higher education and student affairs; counseling; and teacher and administrator preparation.

Download the Full Report

A Message From the Dean

Thank you for taking the time to visit the Neag School of Education’s 2022-23 Annual Report. Throughout the following pages, we provide an in-depth review of faculty scholarship, national rankings, academic department highlights, media coverage, and much more.

Every year I am increasingly impressed by the dedication and innovation displayed by each member of our Neag School community. Amid the continuing challenges facing the field of education, our faculty, staff, and students have remained committed to our mission to improve educational and social systems to be more equitable, effective, and just for all. Our alumni, donors, and school district partners continue to be our steadfast champions, engaging with and advocating for our student body, building relationships with stakeholders, offering generous contributions, or serving as ambassadors of the School as they excel in their chosen fields. The Neag School would not be the renowned academic and research hub it is today without them.

In April, we were heartbroken by the loss of our our dear friend and generous benefactor Carole Neag. Carole and her husband Ray, who predeceased her, are among the most prominent figures in UConn’s history, transforming our Neag School of Education and many other University programs. We miss Carole every day, just as we do Ray, but their legacy and vision lives on in the daily work undertaken by our School community.

My hope is that this report provides you with a glimpse into that incredible and courageous work from the past academic year.

Dean Jason G. Irizarry [email protected] Neag School of Education University of Connecticut

The Neag School’s mission is to improve educational and social systems to be more effective, equitable, and just for all. We develop educators, professionals, and scholars; conduct rigorous and relevant research; and engage in reciprocal and responsible partnerships with students, practitioners, policymakers, and community members in Connecticut and around the world.

National Rankings

For the eighth consecutive year , U.S. News & World Report  has ranked UConn’s Neag School of Education among the top 25 public graduate schools of education in the nation.

The Neag School stands at No. 22  among public graduate schools of education and at No. 31  for all graduate schools of education nationwide.

Read more about the Neag School’s 2023-2024 rankings .

76  Faculty Members

2 endowed chairs, 4 named professors, 24,000+ alumni worldwide.

Beyond maintaining its strength in national rankings and celebrating the widely recognized eminence of its faculty research experts, the Neag School of Education and its faculty, staff, and administration are continually improving students’ access to education, pursuing the next level of excellence, and striving to increase engagement among its broad range of stakeholders.

The Neag School of Education is actively expanding access to educational opportunities for its own students, as well as for students across the state of Connecticut.

• The Neag School expanded its reach in the Early College Experience Program , providing the opportunity to earn college credits to 356 high schoolers in 21 districts, an increase from five districts in 2021-2022.
• The Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG) began offering a hybrid cohort at UConn Stamford in May 2023, making the program adaptable to students’ busy lives and schedules, no matter where they work or live. Paid internships were offered to TCPCG students in select school districts for the first time in 2021-2022, and several additional districts were brought on board in 2022-2023.
• Support for aspiring teachers, sport management professionals, and educational leaders expanded in 2022-2023, with the Neag School providing over $452,239 in scholarships to 379 students .

• Neag School alumni never fail to shine in their chosen fields , serving as CEOs and coaches, publishing books, and taking on the role of school leaders .
• Widely published and sought-after, Neag School of Education faculty bring their expertise to media outlets around the world, including The New York Times, NPR, the Associated Press, and EducationWeek.

From holding its annual Celebration of Diversity in Education in support of students of color who aspire to careers in education to featuring its faculty in lively panel discussions, the Neag school commits itself throughout the year to connect with prospective and current students, donors, alumni, and the public alike, on as well as far beyond campus.

• Through the National Holmes Scholars Program, the Neag School has been able to support students from historically underrepresented backgrounds who are pursuing graduate degrees in education.
• This spring marked the inaugural publication of the Neag School’s first academic journal , the Neag School of Education Journal, an editor-reviewed, open-access publication run by Neag School graduate students.
• Now in its 30th year, the annual Letters About Literature Contest is co-sponsored by the Neag School of Education and led by Douglas Kaufman. The contest engages students across the state of Connecticut in Grades 4 through 12.

“Carrying out our mission-driven work at UConn’s Neag School relies on and undeniably benefits from the innovation and diligence of our faculty and staff, as well as the tremendous students here who aspire to shape the future of education. It’s always gratifying to see their hard work and brilliance reflected back and aligning with our own vision and values.”

— Dean Jason G. Irizarry

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• University of Denver

2022 Annual Report: Transforming Together

Explore this Section

Welcome to Transforming Together , the 2022 Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver Annual Report. For an alternative version, check out the  2022 MCE Annual Report Presentation . To explore previous editions, visit the  Dean’s Annual Report  page.

In This Report

• Welcome from Dean Michelle Knight-Manuel

Thank you, MCE

• Faculty in Focus: Dr. Samuel Kim - Give Our Profession Away
• Faculty in Focus: Dr. Christine Nelson - Creating Paths for Equity
• A Lifetime of Impact - Dr. William E. Cross Jr. Receives APA's Highest Award
• Student Spotlight: Sandra Bertram Grant - Challenging the Status Quo. Changing the Future.
• Amazing Alumni: Shakira D. Abney-Wisdom - Bridging the Gap
• Student & Alumnx: Paulina Lerma - Driven to Make a Difference
• Faculty in Focus: Dr. Cecilia Orphan - Relentless Advocacy 
• Faculty in Focus: Drs. Douglas H. Clements & Julie Sarama - Leading Change
• Celebrating 20 Years: Ritchie Program for School Leaders
• Staff Showcase: Josh Davies - Problem Solving with Purpose
• Amazing Alumni: Dr. Matthew Brinton - Leading for Student Equity, Access, & Success

From Dr. Michelle Knight-Manuel

Our journey towards a more equitable today and just future is not ours alone. Our path is shared with all of those who are committed to the public good, equity in education, and innovation and excellence in service to addressing educational and health disparities. We have sought transformation and impact in a variety of ways. Through our research advancements, teaching accomplishments, and service commitments, members of the MCE community are making a difference locally, nationally, and globally. We invite you to explore some of the notable steps along our path in the pages to follow and thank everyone, near and far, who has contributed to our intentional transformation and impacts over the past year.

We are driven by diversity , equity , inclusion , and justice . We strive for educational excellence . We support the pursuit of passions . We work for the greater good .

We thrive thanks to our incredible community of staff, students, faculty, alumni, donors, and friends. Thank you to every member of our community for their immense impacts.

We are proud of our staff and faculty who, thanks to the support of our Inclusive Excellence Committee (IEC), were able to support Food Bank of the Rockies in 2022. MCE community members helped to sort and prepare food for distribution to those in need.

Josh Davies (Head of MCE IT), Ana Faria (Digital Marketing Specialist), and Jodi Dye (Assistant Dean of Enrollment & Marketing) helped make Treat Street extra fun for students from the Ricks Center for Gifted Children and the Fisher Early Learning Center .

Congratulations to our Teaching and Learning Sciences department for being selected to be part of the inaugural Departmental Action Teams 2022 Cohort .

300%+ Online Program Applications Demand for our accredited and highly ranked programs is increasing.

63.4% acceptance rate we are proud of our standards of excellence and equity-driven admissions processes..

Top 100 in the Nation

Colleges of Education (2022, 2023)

#35 in the Nation

Library & Information Studies (2021)

#24 in the Nation

Education Administration & Supervision (2023)

#18 in the Nation

Secondary Education (2021)

Advocates & Innovators: Social Justice and Equity

At Morgridge, we strive to improve the lives of those who have been, and continue to be, marginalized. We believe in, and work towards, breaking down barriers and finding breakthrough solutions to systemic problems.

Our faculty, staff, students, and alumni are continuously engaged in social justice work, research, and advocacy. The following stories highlight just a few of their incredible impacts.

Faculty in Focus: Dr. Samuel Kim

Give our profession away.

Dr. Samuel Kim joined the Morgridge College of Education in Fall 2021 as an Assistant Professor of School Psychology . Dr. Kim's research interests include positive psychology, psychological measurement, bullying, and Korean American mental health. When he joined MCE, he brought with him a passion for improving the lives of marginalized communities . In 2022, he launched an independent podcast, Research Sense for Korean American Therapy to explore "the latest mental health research pertinent to Korean Americans."

In the podcast, he and Sharon Kim (Executive Director of Mustard Seed Generation) make mental health information digestible and accessible. They break down new research in ways that enable listeners to learn conveniently and freely. Through his work, Dr. Kim is removing barriers to access to information in service to improving mental health outcomes for Korean Americans and others.

$4.5M Financial Aid Awards (2021-22) Thanks to generous support, 100% of admitted students receive financial help.

$830k donations individual donors & organizations contributed significantly to support our students & college., $200k new in 2022: need-based aid we're proud to be making graduate education possible for even more students..

Faculty in Focus: Dr. Christine Nelson

Creating paths for equity.

Dr. Christine Nelson is a K’awaika and Diné Associate Professor of Higher Education . She believes that every student – especially those from underserved and marginalized communities – deserves equitable access to higher education. In addition to her research and teaching, Chris serves as the Faculty Director for Native American Initiatives at the University of Denver. In her many roles, she challenges us to consider “how the University of Denver, as an institution of higher education, perpetuates and benefits from the displacement and erasure of the over 50 Indigenous communities who have maintained a connection to the lands we currently call Colorado and Denver.”

We are grateful to Dr. Nelson for her dedication to helping members of our community honestly, actively, and intentionally reflect on the past in service to a better tomorrow.

A Lifetime of Impact

Dr. william e. cross jr. receives apa's highest award.

Dr. William E. Cross Jr., Emeritus Professor of Higher Education and Counseling Psychology , was selected as the 2022 recipient of the American Psychological Association (APA) Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology.

Dr. Cross's work has inspired generations of scholars. His Nigrescence model has influenced equity advocacy, psychology, cultural identity scholarship, and more. We commend Dr. Cross for his tireless and inspirational inquiry, thank him for his many years of teaching, and congratulate him on his most recent accolade.

Read: A Lifetime of Impact

Student Spotlight: Sandra Bertram Grant

Challenging the status quo. changing the future..

Sandra is a Counseling Psychology, first-generation Mexicana student, immigrant, and advocate.

Sandra Bertram Grant is a Counseling Psychology doctoral student. As a first-generation Mexicana student, immigrant, and advocate, she has dedicated herself to breaking down barriers to mental healthcare for underserved and marginalized groups. In 2022, she was selected as a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Fellow by the American Psychological Association. Sandra serves on the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Governance committee.

Counseling Psychologists “have a responsibility to provide quality, culturally competent mental health services that reach those who are disadvantaged and disenfranchised.”

Amazing Alumni: Shakira D. Abney-Wisdom

Bridging the gap.

Shakira completed the Ritchie Program for School Leaders in 2017 and is the Founding Principal at the Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy.

Shakira D. Abney-Wisdom completed the Ritchie Program for School Leaders in 2017. Her experience in the program was not only foundational for her subsequent doctoral studies, but “leads and guides the work” that she does now. Today, she is the Founding Principal at the Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy . The school, modeled after Historically Black Colleges and Universities, welcomed its inaugural class in 2021 and garnered regional and national attention.

The Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy seeks to “create a community of excellence where scholars are equipped to shape their futures as transformative change agents, innovators, and thought leaders.” Creating this experience and opportunity for students, particularly those of color, is necessary.

“There is a persistent erasure of the Black experience, of Latinx and Indigenous experiences in this nation and world. Our focus is to really center the experience of those of us who have been marginalized and minoritized. We are not, by nature of our existence, ‘less than’… Our school’s existence is just an act of resilience and resistance to oppressive structures in society. This is a sanctuary, really, a safe space for our scholars to be all that they are, and to grow, to challenge themselves, to challenge one another, to accomplish the goals that they have.” - Shakira Abney-Wisdom (Denverite 2022)

Following her time in the Ritchie Program, Shakira carried with her a simple question: how do we bridge the gap between our espoused values and reality? Those at the Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy are helping to bridge gaps long neglected by many school systems. Providing rigorous and culturally responsive educational opportunities has the potential to not only empower young learners but benefit families, communities, and generations to come.

Student & Alumnx: Paulina Lerma

Driven to make a difference.

Paulina, 2023 CO Teacher of the Year Finalist, is a C&I and Ritchie alumnx.

Paulina Lerma earned her Elementary Teacher Licensure and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction , with an emphasis on Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education, in 2015. She returned to Morgridge in 2021 after teaching as an English Language Acquisition (Spanish) elementary school teacher for several years. In 2022, she completed the Ritchie Executive Leadership for Successful Schools Principal Licensure Program and was a finalist for Colorado’s 2023 Teacher of the Year award. Today, she is pursuing her EdD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.

Paulina recently accepted a position as Assistant Principal at South High School in Denver. She is known for her commitments to culturally responsive teaching and equity. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to building strong relationships with students, their families, and community members.

We are proud of Paulina and cannot wait to see how her resounding resolve to advance equity impacts young learners for many years to come.

"My passion to serve became my engine to continue higher education and become a teacher."

Teacher-Scholars: Transforming Leadership & Inquiry

In 2022, the University of Denver was recognized as a Very High Research Activity (R1) University. This coveted Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education designation recognizes both our significant investments in research and the number of research and scholarship doctoral degrees we award.

To us, this honor speaks to our collective commitment to the public good. We invest significantly in the people, programs, and practices that make it possible to learn and discover in service to human welfare, equity, and justice. Our faculty, students, and graduates have the resources they need to make impacts near and far.

Faculty in Focus: Dr. Cecilia Orphan

Relentless advocacy.

Dr. Cecilia Orphan is many things: an Associate Professor of Higher Education , a well-published researcher, the Director of Partnerships for the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC), an expert on Rural-Serving Institutions (RSIs), a public speaker, and a nationally recognized educational equity advocate.

In addition to publishing novel influential works in 2022, she:

• Met with congressional leaders to advocate for improved policies and funding for RSIs.
• Presented a TED Talk at TEDxMileHigh’s ASCEND event and helped to ensure that others learned about the crucial role of regional colleges.
• Was presented with the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education’s Helen C. Bailey award for making “a distinctive contribution to the field of education.”
• Invited to serve on the Technical Review Panel for the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education by the American Council on Education.

$6.6M New Grants 2020 - 2021

$15.1m total gift funding 2019 - 2022, faculty in focus: drs. douglas h. clements & julie sarama, leading change.

Drs. Douglas H. Clements (James C. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Learning and Distinguished University Professor) and Julie Sarama (James C. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Innovative Learning Technologies and Distinguished University Professor) have made exceptional contributions to early childhood mathematics across the globe. From inspiring national curriculum standards to spearheading innovative efforts in rural communities, their research and work for the Marsico Institute for Early Learning has had transformational impacts near and far. This year, they were recognized as being among the most cited experts in the field of math education.

$14M in Current Grant Awards and $3.1M in New Grants (2022) Their current grant-supported efforts include:

• Evaluating the Efficacy of Learning Trajectories in Early Mathematics ($3.4M, Institute of Education Science )
• Learning Trajectories as a Complete Early Mathematics Intervention: Achieving Efficacies of Economies at Scale ($3.9M, National Science Foundation )
• Integrated, Intelligent, and Interactive Technologies Building Young Children's Math Along Learning Trajectories ($1.9M, Institute of Education Science )

163 Presentations At gatherings across the globe

128 publications on diverse and critical topics, 200+ community partners helping us serve the public good, celebrating 20 years, ritchie program for school leaders.

The Ritchie Program for School Leaders has been preparing school leaders that are “knowledgeable, highly-skilled, and relentless” in their dedication to excellence since 2002. The program, born of a partnership between a local school district and the Morgridge College of Education, has long been recognized as “a model of district-university collaboration for school leadership training.” Today, the program welcomes cohorts from school districts across Colorado and beyond with in-person, hybrid, and online learning experiences.  

In 2022, alumni gathered to celebrate 20 years of excellence in partnerships, learning, advocacy, and leadership. More than 720 changemakers have participated in the program. A vast majority of grads have gone on to become district and school leaders. Many of our alumni thanked the Ritchie program for inspiring them , instilling in them the values of equity and collaboration, and shaping them as leaders. We thank each and every alum for the transformational impacts they make for students and communities every day.

A Community Connected: Transforming Access to Education & Program Quality

To us, excellence in education means much more than high-quality learning experiences. Excellence requires that we not only provide access to programs that prepare students for lives of impact but create pathways for equity of opportunity.

Our community strives to ensure that students are provided with state-of-the-art classroom technologies, diverse program options and learning modalities, and financial support.

Staff Showcase: Josh Davies

Problem solving with purpose.

Josh Davies, Head of Information Technology for MCE, is dedicated to solving problems, elevating equity, and helping diverse communities flourish. Throughout his decade-long career at MCE, he has helped implement secure, accessible, and innovative technology solutions in service to community members “ranging from 6 months old to 98 years of age and harkening from every walk of life.”

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Josh worked tirelessly with his peers to ensure that MCE staff, students, and faculty could thrive in a newly remote reality. Emerging from the challenges of yesterday, he sees only opportunity. This is a time to innovate, embrace new technologies in order to create “engaging experiences for our students,” and create “better systems of learning.”

"Technology is a powerful tool for addressing accessibility and inequality in education."

Josh joined the MCE community in 2011 as a Library & Information Sciences student. During his time as a student, he completed two Graduate Assistantships, including one with the Information Technology Department. Thanks to his stellar skills and recent education, he was offered a permanent position upon graduation.

Over the years, he developed expertise across a wide variety of IT subjects. In his current role, he oversees the College’s technology landscape and a dedicated team of professionals.

We are grateful to Josh and our many staff members who envision and work towards a better tomorrow.

13:1 student:faculty ratio Our student faculty ratio is smaller than average and, to us, that's pretty big.

63 faculty members with diverse backgrounds, specialties, and research interests., 160 professional staff supporting programs, cutting-edge infrastructure, research, institutions, & more..

Full-Time Faculty

Tenured / Tenure Track Faculty

Clinical Faculty

Professor of Practice

Visiting Professors

College Leadership & Support Staff

Ricks Staff

Fisher Staff

Research Support Staff

Amazing Alumni: Dr. Matthew Brinton

Leading for student equity, access, & success.

Dr. Matthew Brinton earned his Master’s in Higher Education at MCE in 2010. Since then, he has held a variety of impactful roles at Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Northern Colorado, the University of Texas at Tyler, and the University of Washington. In November 2022, he was selected to be UW’s new Director for Advancement (Student Life).

Throughout his career, he has been passionate about educational attainment and community. Driven by these core values, he has been a vocal advocate for fundraising, scholarships, and volunteerism in service to helping students thrive.

Dr. Brinton is an MCE donor, a member of DU's Alumni Council, and actively connects fellow graduates across DU's Seattle Network . He believes passionately in growing a network of strongly connected community members and alumni.

We congratulate Matthew on his new role and celebrate the innumerable impacts that he has made for college students, young learners in Washington, and communities near and far.

Explore Dr. Brinton's Story: From Dropout to Director

College of Education

Annual Report 2021

Welcome from the dean.

Dear Alumni and Friends,

As we welcome in a new year together, this special edition annual report both reflects upon the challenges and accomplishments of the past year while recognizing the tireless work of our students, faculty, staff, and especially our alumni and community partners in K-12 education.

Our world is at a critical moment in history as we move into the third year of dealing with a pandemic while political polarization tears people apart, resulting in shouting matches at school board meetings and uncivil interactions.

A beloved Iowa teacher is allegedly murdered by two students, and a community continues to reel and try to heal in the wake of such tragic violence. Teachers and students struggle with mental health issues, including suicide and depression, and fatigue is setting in while some educators leave the profession due to burnout.

Despite these challenges, there is reason for hope. Daily, I see the commitment, drive, and compassion of our future teachers, including the most recent 81 Hawkeye Teacher candidates who graduated this past December, filled with the desire and knowledge to shape the future. In fact, our enrollments continue to grow, drawing top-notch students from across the state, nation, and world to our more than 80 academic programs.

Our new Scanlan Center for School Mental Health, a partnership between our college and the Iowa Department of Education, is expanding services, training, and support to Pre-K through 12 students and teachers in schools across our entire state, from rural to metro communities. In fact, our inaugural Iowa BEST Summit drew more than 1,600 people to tackle tough issues, share knowledge, and build new partnerships.

Our college has hired 13 new faculty this past year, including mental health experts, who are conducting cutting-edge research and training the next generation of educators, school counselors and psychologists. We’ve also hired new staff in our Baker Teacher Leader Center to support our DEI and global education initiatives as well as online programs and PD.

We have also launched new certificate programs, including ones in Applied Behavioral Analysis, K-12 Equity and Inclusion, and Institutional Research and Effectiveness.

Phase 2 of our major Lindquist Center renovation was also recently completed, resulting in a welcoming new integrated student services and dean’s suite. This includes a café, and 7 new high tech, collaborative classrooms and multi-purpose spaces. This creates a high-tech teaching and learning environment, a sense of community, and a more student-centered experience. We hope you’ll come to visit these beautiful new spaces.

Finally, I am thrilled that UI WILD (Wildlife Instruction and Leadership Development), became part of our college last fall, giving students, educators, and faculty more opportunities to learn, teach, and conduct research in nature.

You’ll read about all of this and more in our special edition magazine. I look forward to continuing to lead and serve this college as we enter a productive New Year, working together to create a brighter future for everyone.

Sincerely, Daniel L. Clay, PhD, MBA Dean and Professor

Into the Wild

After spending over a year indoors, kids were ready to get outside with School of the Wild.

New Scanlan Center for School Mental Health offers PD, outreach, research

Thanks to the new Scanlan Center for School Mental Health, students, teachers, administrators, and other education professionals are receiving more support, resources, and training on mental health issues,

In Search of Black Care: Alumna creates spaces for Black students in medical care

Krista Walker came to the College of Education to support students of color, but everything changed when Walker became one of the many Black women who had to advocate for their safety during childbirth.

Gratitude: Adapting during Covid-19

The pandemic found ways of putting pressure on our students, teachers, and school communities like never before. We are grateful for and proud of the dedication, adaptability, and perseverance of our alumni. Here are a few of their stories.

Professor emeritus dedicates career to suicide awareness, prevention

Professor emeritus John Westefeld shares what fueled his commitment to suicide prevention and awareness in this first-person essay.

College expands support for DEI, global and online education and PD

Thanks to the college's growing commitment to DEI efforts, professional development, global education, and online programs, the Linda R. Baker Teacher Leader Center staff has expanded, hiring two new associate directors, both alumni.

Renovation reveals collaborative, student-centered spaces for learning, teaching

Students, faculty, staff, and visitors can now experience new high-tech, collaborative learning and teaching spaces in the Lindquist Center, thanks to a major renovation which spanned several years.

Promoting poetry in Iowa: Belin-Blank Center creates inaugural Iowa Student Poet Ambassador Program

Inspired by poet laureate Amanda Gorman, Iowa City West High student Shreya Khullar was inaugurated in Des Moines as Iowa’s first Student Poet Ambassador.

Welcoming New Leadership

The College of Education welcomed several new administrative leaders in the last academic year.

Welcoming New Faculty

Read more about the research, service, and experience of new faculty at the College of Education.

By the Numbers

Check out the College of Education’s 2020-2021 By the Numbers to see the impact of our faculty, students, staff, and alumni.

Retirements 2020-2021

Honoring our retiring faculty and their contributions to the College of Education.

College offers new dyslexia special endorsement program

The new Dyslexia Specialist Endorsement program, coordinated by the Iowa Reading Research Center, builds educators’ knowledge of the literacy development of students with characteristics of dyslexia.

In Memoriam

Remembering beloved faculty, David Bills, Linda Fielding, and John Kiraly Jr. and their impact on the world as scholars, mentors, and friends.

Why I Give: Marigail Jury

Alumna Marigail Jury shares her inspiration for supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in education at the University of Iowa.

Faculty & Staff Awards

Class Notes 2021

Department of

Department of Education

2022/2023 annual report.

Our Annual Report documents our activities and achievements across the last academic year. Download our latest issue below to discover some of the research and teaching programmes we facilitated during 2022/2023.

Annual Report

Annual Performance Reports

In accordance with IC 20-24-9-1, Education One publishes an annual report each year, summarizing and analyzing the academic, financial, and organizational performance of each of the charter schools we authorize.

2023 Annual Performance Report 2022 Annual Performance Report 2021 Annual Performance Report 2020 Annual Performance Report 2019 Annual Performance Report 2018 Annual Performance Report 2017 Annual Performance Report 2016 Annual Performance Report 2015 Annual Performance Report 2014 Annual Performance Report

• Message from the President
• Welcoming New Leadership
• Initiatives
• Research and Scholarship
• Alumni Relations and Development
• Faculty Appointments
• Trustees, Officers, and Deans
• The Endowment
• Financial Results for Fiscal Year 2022
• Accessibility

I am pleased to share the University of Chicago’s 2022 annual report. This report serves as an outline of some of the remarkable initiatives, research, and scholarship that took place across the University this past year, along with an overview of the endowment and financial results. It also celebrates the tremendous philanthropy that makes possible so much of what is achieved on our campuses.

Over the course of the year, the University named outstanding current and new scholars to distinguished faculty ranks, and I welcomed a number of distinctive individuals to take on a variety of leadership roles across the University. These academics and administrative leaders bring to their roles a rich variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. On our campuses in Chicago and beyond, we will be fortunate to benefit from their leadership and scholarship in the years to come.

The University of Chicago was founded on the principle that academic freedom and free expression are the foundation of education and the wellspring of discovery. As an institution, the depth of our commitment to these values distinguishes our community, just as we realize that the integrity of that commitment lies in our ability to include the greatest range of diversity in our academic endeavors. Taken together, these are the ingredients that comprise our distinctive culture and allow for the posing of the most incisive questions and the flourishing of the best ideas.

As we reflect on the depth and breadth of achievement realized on our campuses over the past year, I am reminded of my deep gratitude to our faculty, students, staff, alumni, parents, donors, and friends for their dedication to enriching the life of the University. While this report may represent just a selection of some of the successes and breakthroughs made possible by the results of that collective commitment, I invite you to join me in sincere appreciation for the many contributions made to our community that we have yet to recognize. Thank you.

Paul Alivisatos President

Health & Nursing

Courses and certificates.

• Bachelor's Degrees
• View all Business Bachelor's Degrees
• Business Management – B.S. Business Administration
• Healthcare Administration – B.S.
• Human Resource Management – B.S. Business Administration
• Information Technology Management – B.S. Business Administration
• Marketing – B.S. Business Administration
• Accounting – B.S. Business Administration
• Finance – B.S.
• Supply Chain and Operations Management – B.S.
• Accelerated Information Technology Bachelor's and Master's Degree (from the School of Technology)
• Health Information Management – B.S. (from the Leavitt School of Health)

Master's Degrees

• View all Business Master's Degrees
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• MBA Information Technology Management
• MBA Healthcare Management
• Management and Leadership – M.S.
• Accounting – M.S.
• Marketing – M.S.
• Human Resource Management – M.S.
• Master of Healthcare Administration (from the Leavitt School of Health)
• Data Analytics – M.S. (from the School of Technology)
• Information Technology Management – M.S. (from the School of Technology)
• Education Technology and Instructional Design – M.Ed. (from the School of Education)

Certificates

• Supply Chain
• Accounting Fundamentals
• View all Business Degrees

Bachelor's Preparing For Licensure

• View all Education Bachelor's Degrees
• Elementary Education – B.A.
• Special Education and Elementary Education (Dual Licensure) – B.A.
• Special Education (Mild-to-Moderate) – B.A.
• Mathematics Education (Middle Grades) – B.S.
• Mathematics Education (Secondary)– B.S.
• Science Education (Middle Grades) – B.S.
• Science Education (Secondary Chemistry) – B.S.
• Science Education (Secondary Physics) – B.S.
• Science Education (Secondary Biological Sciences) – B.S.
• Science Education (Secondary Earth Science)– B.S.
• View all Education Degrees

Bachelor of Arts in Education Degrees

• Educational Studies – B.A.

Master of Science in Education Degrees

• View all Education Master's Degrees
• Curriculum and Instruction – M.S.
• Educational Leadership – M.S.
• Education Technology and Instructional Design – M.Ed.

Master's Preparing for Licensure

• Teaching, Elementary Education – M.A.
• Teaching, English Education (Secondary) – M.A.
• Teaching, Mathematics Education (Middle Grades) – M.A.
• Teaching, Mathematics Education (Secondary) – M.A.
• Teaching, Science Education (Secondary) – M.A.
• Teaching, Special Education (K-12) – M.A.

Licensure Information

• State Teaching Licensure Information

Master's Degrees for Teachers

• Mathematics Education (K-6) – M.A.
• Mathematics Education (Middle Grade) – M.A.
• Mathematics Education (Secondary) – M.A.
• English Language Learning (PreK-12) – M.A.
• Endorsement Preparation Program, English Language Learning (PreK-12)
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Innovating for the Individual 2023  Annual Report |  Western Governors University

Western Governors University’s purpose is to make higher education more accessible, affordable, and valuable by connecting talented individuals to the opportunities they seek and providing them with a verified, skills-based credential that leads to success in the workforce and in life.

But we know that every individual starts their journey from a different point. Some have never attended college. Some have taken classes but never earned a degree. Some are balancing family responsibilities with the need to gain knowledge and advance in a career. Some are looking for a chance to explore a new profession.

Discover how WGU is providing access to education and opportunity for advancement to students across the United States.

No matter their backgrounds, all students deserve the opportunity to achieve their dreams, and this can’t be accomplished through a one-size-fits-all approach. It requires a personalized education journey with tailored support and the freedom to make choices that are best for each person.

As WGU President Scott Pulsipher has said, “When we lift an individual, we help lift a community.” So, in 2023, we continued our quest to remove barriers to progress through innovation with the individual in mind. 

From personalized enrollment pathways to improved student support frameworks and school milestones, we are excited to share how we worked to improve higher education over the past year.

Students We Serve

WGU continues to see year-over-year increases in enrollment, with a particular focus on students who traditionally have found it difficult to access high-quality education programs. In fact, as of December 2023, 74% of students identified as having come from one or more underserved populations.

As enrollment grows, we continue to find ways to support every student on their education pathway, providing high-value credentials at scale to a growing community of WGU students and grads.

2023 Enrollment Demographics

Enrollment over time, underserved populations, 2023 graduate demographics, total 2023 graduates, total degrees awarded over time.

Data as of Dec. 31, 2023.

At WGU, we’re clear about our purpose and we work to ensure that everything we do enhances our students’ success. Our Key Results measure progress toward our mission of improving lives by creating pathways to opportunity. 

We also round out our definition of success by benchmarking against nationally comparative data, tracking experiential data that includes our graduates’ satisfaction and overall well-being, gathering input from employers to understand our graduates’ preparedness for the working world, and tracking how our programs are meeting critical workforce needs. Together, this information provides a more holistic picture of the value we deliver to students.

It’s important to note that while our Key Results enable greater precision for tracking student outcomes, an inherent challenge is benchmarking our progress against other institutions. Tools that report on operational data provide an incomplete picture of how our outcomes stack up to those from other colleges and universities, given the key differences that influence our performance according to these metrics. For example, traditional graduation rates, including those reported through the College Scorecard, include only first-time, full-time students. Given that 92% of our undergraduate students have some college experience, this metric isn’t directly comparable to the performance of most of our students. Still, these differences provide an important lens for appreciating areas where WGU is excelling, and where we have opportunity for improvement.

Key Results 

We recognize that for education to fulfill its promise, pathways must be accessible and traversable by all and learners must attain the credentials they seek. To that end, our Key Results measure completion rates, return for graduates, and equity in access and attainment. Our commitment to improving these outcomes provides direction for the university and shapes the decisions we make on behalf of our students. The Key Results are customized to align with our unique student profile, enabling greater precision and validity.

Graduation Rates 

At WGU we’re constantly innovating across the learner journey to eliminate barriers and increase the odds that every student reaches graduation. To measure our progress, we track the percentage of undergraduates who complete their credentials within four and six years, as well as the percentage of graduate students who complete their credentials within two and three years. 

While our progress on increasing undergraduate completion rates has slowed as we welcome more “rising talent”—students without prior successful college experience—we hope to change that pace as we continue to implement college readiness and student support offerings. We also recognize that students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds—who make up more than 70% of our student body—often face additional challenges that we feel obligated to help solve. We’re working towards a future in which every WGU student may accomplish their educational goals, no matter their circumstances.   

Undergraduate Students

Graduate students.

Note: These rates reflect a rolling percentage of the students who graduated within a particular timeframe. This is distinct from graduation rates reported through the U.S. Department of Education, which often include only first-time students who have no previous college experience (less than 10% of WGU’s student population).

Personalized On-Time Completion Rate

In addition to tracking graduation rates, WGU holds itself to an even higher standard by measuring the percentage of students who complete their credential at their personalized pace, in recognition of the fact that students’ starting points, circumstances, and goals are unique to them. Eighty-eight percent of WGU undergraduates, for instance, enroll with transfer credits, the median of which bring approximately 20% of what is needed to graduate. By factoring in transfer credits and WGU course load to estimate students’ personalized pace of completion, this rate sets a target that is often shorter than the typical 4- or 6-year graduation rate for undergraduate programs, and 2- or 3-year graduation rate for graduate programs.    

On-Time Completion

Factored graduate return (fgr).

WGU endeavors to ensure that every student experiences a high return on their investment so that their credentials translate into economic mobility. We measure a student’s return on their investment by estimating how many times over a WGU degree pays for itself throughout the span of a career. 

WGU uses three inputs to calculate FGR:

• The average change in income between graduation and two years post-graduation.
• The average number of working years between graduation and retirement (estimated to be age 65).
• The average total cost of a WGU degree.

Therefore, FGR = ( (two-year post-graduation income - graduation income) x (65 - graduation age) ) / total tuition cost.

Equity in Access

WGU provides a range of educational offerings that meet students where they are, so every student—no matter their background—can see a future here. As we work to increase equity in access, we measure the percentage of WGU students who belong to historically underrepresented groups and low-income households* as indicators of our progress. This metric continues to trend upward, and we are on track to reach national population representation by 2025.

Equity in Attainment

Educational pathways are valuable only when they lead to opportunity, and that means they must be traversable and completable by all. As we work to close gaps in attainment so that all students are equally likely to succeed, we measure the percentage of students from historically underrepresented groups and low-income households* who attain their degree within four years and compare it against all WGU students.

*Historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups include students who identify as Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous, or being from two or more races. Low-income households earn less than $35,000 annually.

What Students and Alumni Say

For a more holistic understanding of how our students and alumni are faring, WGU participates in several surveys that shed light on students' academic experiences, career readiness, employment outcomes, and well-being. 

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) asks undergraduates about the quality and characteristics of their college experience. The survey shows that WGU is meeting the needs of students, who overwhelmingly say they would choose WGU again if given the opportunity.

Survey conducted in 2023 with responses from 354,067 students from 541 institutions in the US and six other countries.

Gallup Alumni Survey

WGU participates in the annual Gallup Alumni Survey to gather feedback on students’ academic experiences, career readiness, and well-being. The results show that alumni believe WGU focused on their skill growth and well-being and provided strong support frameworks that helped them achieve their degrees.

Survey conducted Nov. 16—Dec. 8, 2023, with responses from 2,798 alumni.

Harris Poll Graduates Study

The WGU-Harris Poll Graduates Study tracks how students rate their experiences with WGU’s academic programs, their career readiness, and their employment outcomes after graduation. The study reveals that WGU alumni report higher levels of overall satisfaction than graduates from other institutions.

Survey conducted Oct. 5—Nov. 3, 2023, with responses from 1,655 WGU graduates and 1,443 national, non-WGU graduates.

What Employers Say

To connect students with opportunity, WGU is committed to aligning programs with employer needs and preparing students with the skills they need to thrive in the workplace. One of the ways we measure graduates' career readiness is to survey the employers of WGU alumni each year to gauge how well WGU’s programs are preparing students.

Survey conducted Oct. 6—27, 2023, among 300 employers of WGU graduates.

Quality and Relevance

As a university that champions innovation, WGU has made incredible efforts this past year to continue improving the quality of programs we offer to our students, as well as their relevance to workforce needs.

Expanded Pathway Options with WGU Academy

WGU has always served students by meeting them where they are. We understand that the right first step may not always be a full degree. A prospective student may need to hone one or two skills or they may only be missing a few classes. Some are just curious lifelong learners searching for a little something extra. 

This year, our Academy team went to work on launching certificate programs in various web development and business leadership areas, with more to come in 2024. Also available are single course offerings and course bundles. All offerings are stackable into a formal WGU bachelor’s degree program if that path is desired.

Skills and the Workforce

Hard credentials like degrees and certificates are handy on a résumé, but they don’t always show the whole picture when it comes to demonstrating skills needed for employment. WGU has continually worked on expanding graduates’ opportunities with the Learning and Employment Record (LER) that captures a learner's achievements in real-time, enabling a continuous record that grows and evolves with the learner. 

One hundred and fifty new skills collections were added to the skills library in 2023, along with 127 Skills Intelligence Dashboards, allowing students and graduates more opportunities to align their experience with desired job qualifications. WGU also co-published six skills collections with the United States Air Force.

We also increased the alignment of our product offerings to high value workforce skills by 52%, ensuring that our credentials are serving our graduates in the most effective ways possible post-completion. 

With nursing shortages on the rise, the Leavitt School of Health has stepped up in big ways. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing—Prelicensure program has expanded its reach to 17 states and counting. Part of this growth has included the building of state-of-the-art nursing simulation labs across the country, the first of which opened in Houston, Texas, in 2019. The newest lab opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, in October 2023. 

LSH also received prestigious reaccreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM)  for its Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management program. The school's Bachelor of Science in Health and Human Services was featured among Forbes' list of the "Best Online Health Science Degrees of 2023." LSH also pioneered a health equity conference, Accelerator2023, in Rio Grande Valley, Texas, bringing together stakeholders to address equity concerns in rural healthcare, workforce, and higher education systems in the region, with calls to action that can be replicated nationwide.

Also experiencing rapid growth, WGU’s School of Business celebrated 100,000 graduates in October. Since launching the Business Leadership certificate in 2023, the school is gearing up for several new program launches in 2024 that will allow it to continue expanding access to education in the form of degrees and other offerings that are relevant to employers and desired by students.

The School of Education began a significant partnership with Show Up Utah and Utah’s First Lady, Abby Cox. A highlight of this partnership includes the Educator Well-Being Podcast , which focuses on supporting teachers nationwide by providing strategies and resources to help educators thrive. It can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and the video of each episode is available on WGU's YouTube channel.

The School of Technology is constantly redesigning its programs to stay up to date on industry standards and certifications. The school launched the Web Application Development and Support certificate that adds relevant skills to learner résumés with stackable credentials that roll into WGU degree programs. The school also teamed up with the Reboot Representation Tech Coalition to launch Building Bridges and Breaking Barriers for Women in Technology . This program helps put an accredited and affordable IT degree within reach of Black, Latina, and Native American women wanting to build or grow tech-focused careers. The partnership is committed to doubling the number of BLNA women graduating with IT degrees by 2025, with 1,354 BLNA women members of the program right now.

WGU’s 2023 Distinguished Graduates

Each year, we honor a group of graduates who are making a significant contribution in their communities and their career fields.

Read about the 2023 Distinguished Graduates

• Student Experience

We know from both experience and research that students who encounter support mechanisms at each step of their journey—from enrollment to commencement and beyond—are more likely to persist in their programs and graduate with a credential that empowers them. But building and maintaining those support mechanisms at scale, especially as the number of enrolled students grows, is a task that requires imagination, collaboration, and ingenuity. We are constantly striving to find new ways to meet students where they are and keep up with their changing needs.

Helping Students Define Their Path

For example, students enroll at WGU with anywhere from zero college experience to many credits that can transfer into their chosen degree program. Still others are exploring the option of higher education but may not know the exact program or career path they want to pursue.

So, in 2023, we launched a Find Your Future tool on wgu.edu. It takes into account interests, career options, previous college experience, and potential roadblocks to success, then suggests programs and pathways that fit each individual’s situation.

Based on data gathered through Find Your Future, 45% of people who started the quiz were undecided on a career path based on WGU’s program offerings. But after completing the Find Your Future experience, individuals were twice as likely to have the confidence to take the next step and pursue enrollment in a program that aligns with their goals.

Embracing a Learner-Centered Framework

Each person who pursues a degree at WGU is assigned an Enrollment Counselor to help them begin. Then, once they start coursework, they are supported by an assigned Program Mentor and Course Instructors who reach out regularly to make sure students are completing program requirements on time. This is all built into WGU’s Learner-Centered Framework (LCF), a group of student-centered initiatives designed to help students persist and complete their programs.

In the April 2023 edition of the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success , a group of WGU leaders and researchers published a research article focusing on one aspect of the LCF: the Learner Care Dashboard (LCD) . The LCD is a tool that notifies faculty of students’ progress—or delays—on course assignments and assessments and prompts them to reach out to students within a certain amount of time to assist with any needed interventions. The research found that timely outreach from faculty, facilitated by the LCD, resulted in a 20% higher course completion rate than students who did not receive a comparable level of faculty outreach. Drop rates were also 16% lower for students who received timely faculty outreach.  

In other words, tech-based, data-driven tools like the LCD can play a significant role in whether or not students get the help they need to complete their programs, which is why WGU was honored with a 2023 Eduventures Innovation Award for Faculty-Led Interventions for Student Persistence . 

Also in 2023, we combined the writing, math, and student success centers into one consolidated Academic Coaching Center, which provides a comprehensive resource for foundational skill support. Students can access one-on-one coaching in areas such as test prep, time management, writing and math skills, technology skills, and multilingual learner support. Student surveys report a 98% satisfaction rate with the new coaching center, a nearly 4% increase in satisfaction since the coaching center consolidation. It is just one of many support services offered to all WGU students.

Affordability

WGU has proven that disrupting the standard higher education paradigm is not only possible, but it also leads to better success rates for students. However, our work isn't done. Too many individuals can’t take advantage of the life-changing benefits of education because high cost can be an insurmountable barrier. 

To keep costs low, WGU focuses spending on systems and strategies that contribute directly towards student outcomes and pairs an online, competency-based learning model with a financial model that charges students a flat rate per six-month term, regardless of how many courses they take. This unique approach enables students—40% of whom are Pell grant eligible and 56% of whom use federal aid—to potentially save time and money and is just one example of how we innovate to deliver an affordable learning experience.

In 2023, WGU:

• Committed more funding to our emergency aid initiative after witnessing the impact of  WGU Labs'  research on  Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) disbursement . WGU increased the program budget and the standard award amount to further support students in an emergency on the journey toward persistence and completion. We awarded over $850,000 in emergency aid assistance to more than 900 students.
• Received more than 116,400 scholarship applications and awarded over $28 million to 10,992 students.
• Continued to support current students with hardship funds through donor-funded scholarships and emergency aid grants for basic needs outside of tuition. Current student hardship funding was up 300% year over year in dollars awarded to students in need.
• Awarded a laptop, hotspot with internet access, or a webcam to 1,245 new students through the Online Access Scholarship program.
• Saw a 100% increase in the number of donor-funded scholarship awards made to students year over year.
• Conducted research, through WGU labs, on the impact of student loans on personal and financial milestones, mental health, and careers .

WGU Students Spend Less Time and Money

On average, WGU students earn their bachelor's degree in two and a half years.

WGU students typically spend $8,010 on tuition and fees annually compared with a national average of $12,660.

The average total cost to earn a bachelor's degree at WGU is $20,025.

Percentage of Graduating Undergrads Who Borrowed for School*

Average debt for wgu grads over time, average debt at graduation per undergrad who borrowed*.

*Comparisons based on College Board Trend data and WGU internal data.

Donors are Essential

WGU also works with philanthropic partners to find solutions to the higher ed affordability crisis. Through endowments, donor-funded scholarships, and fundraising efforts, WGU Advancement is making it possible for more students than ever to pursue their education and career goals. The results are delivering national impact in WGU’s pursuit of equity and innovation.  

In 2023, WGU Advancement facilitated:  

More than 50 donor-funded scholarships, at an average of $2,800 per scholarship.

Donor-funded scholarships for more than 1,500 students.

The establishment of 16 endowments, for a total of 30 endowments overall.

The distribution of $46,486 in endowed scholarships to 39 students. 

For more stories of impact, please visit the WGU Advancement 2023 Impact Report .  

2023 Scholarship Highlights

• Julie Aiken Hansen Nursing Scholarships: WGU awarded more than 350 Julie Aiken Hansen Scholarships to students pursuing their dreams of becoming nurses across the country and later working in their hometown rural and urban communities.
• Sentara Health Scholarships: Thanks to our partnership with Sentara Health, WGU awarded more than 20 scholarships this year to WGU students residing in rural Virginia to complete their nursing degrees.   
• The DaVita Giving Foundation awarded WGU's Michael O. Leavitt School of Health a $1 million grant over the next three years to support the Start Early program, co-created by DaVita Inc. and WGU to help increase nursing degree completion in rural areas in the Midwest and South.   
• Belva Hansen Demonstration Teaching Scholarship: More than 290 students have received the Belva Hansen Demonstration Teaching Scholarship to help them complete their demonstration teaching requirement and be placed as a full-time teacher in a classroom.  
• Science of Reading and Lilly Endowment: WGU’s School of Education received a planning grant and an implementation grant ($1.75M + total) in 2023 to expand Science of Reading teacher preparation programs and lift K—12 literacy rates across Indiana. 
• The $4.8M grant for WGU California High Road Training Partnership with the California Workforce Development Board will help WGU educate 200 new teachers in California.

• Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges (B4) for Women in Tech: The goal of WGU's partnership with Reboot Representation is to double the total number of Black, Latina, and Native American (BLNA) females earning bachelor's degrees from the WGU School of Technology (WST) by the end of 2025. This year, WST doubled enrollment of BLNA females and saw a 36% increase in BLNA female graduates.   

Emergency Aid

• Maui Relief Fund: There was collective effort in August 2023 to provide essential resources to our most vulnerable Night Owls after the Maui wildfires. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff came together to provide critical assistance for non-tuition expenses that threatened to derail WGU students’ academic journeys.  
• The MindEdge Scholarship provides much-needed emergency funds to current WGU students to help them cover non-tuition expenses.

"I am very, very grateful for the MindEdge Scholarship. It gave me peace of mind, allowed me to pay my bills, feed my kids, and focus on my schoolwork.”

— Laura Z., Texas | School of Business

Reach & Activation

WGU is a national university, but we also know that meeting students where they are is key to their success. There are hundreds of thousands of talented individuals who feel stranded in their current educational and career prospects because of cost and time constraints.

So, while WGU’s national scale is impressive, our effort to advocate on behalf of students at the local level through policies and partnerships is what makes that scale possible. It allows more individuals to access affordable, high-quality degrees and skills while living, learning, and progressing in their own communities.

Building State Relationships

The External Affairs team nurtures relationships with state policymakers and partners to make tuition more affordable and further the university's mission to improve lives by creating pathways to opportunity.  

"We are continuing to invest in Colorado's strong workforce, making sure Coloradans have the skills and resources they need to thrive, and WGU is an important part of that work." — Colorado Governor Jared Polis, February 2023

State Aid for WGU Students

Wgu grassroots advocacy.

WGU’s grassroots program allows students and alumni to advocate on behalf of higher education by telling the WGU story to elected officials. The collective voices of our Night Owls influence public policy and inform government leaders about the power of WGU. Currently, this program has:

• More than 6,200 advocates for WGU.
• Sent more than 1,700 messages to elected officials.
• Advocates across 40 states.  

 Consider supporting grassroots advocacy through WGU In Your State .

Grassroots Advocacy by Type

How wgu is a workforce solution for states.

State Policy Playbook

This playbook offers recommendations for policymakers and provides examples of existing policies that help working adult learners succeed.

WGU serves the needs of both education-seekers and employers through strategic partnerships with corporate entities, the military, transfer partner institutions such as community colleges, and K-12 school districts. We are also constantly striving to improve the partnership pathway from education to careers .

In 2023, nearly 55,000 new WGU students enrolled through partnerships and 17,108 students who came to WGU from partner entities were able to attain their degrees.

The strategic partnerships team was also able to support students through: 

• Partnerships with 90 national and local organizations, including KFC Foundation, the City of New Orleans, McLeod Health, Premier Health Care Systems, MercyOne, Maine Health, Deaconess Health, Richmond Promise, and Lehigh Valley Health Network. 
• Articulation agreements with 52% of all community colleges in the country, including 18 statewide partnerships. WGU continues to lead the country in transfer by enrolling over 25,000 students from community colleges in 2023.
• Expansion of WGU Flex, a program that assists employees as they navigate their employers’ education benefit and tuition assistance programs. Major WGU Flex partners include Apple, Bank of America, T-Mobile, Estee Lauder, OhioHealth, Capital One, and Papa John's.  
• Designation as a Military Friendly School for the fourteenth consecutive year and a “Top 10 Military Spouse School” for the first time in the 2023-2024 Military Friendly® Schools survey.

National Scale, Local Impact

WGU was founded by states, for states. Our national scale is made possible by our ability to be relevant at the local and regional levels. Maintaining this relevance is a key reason we continue to pursue partnerships with states, local organizations, and community college associations—we understand that opportunities must ultimately be relevant to where individuals live.

Established in 1997 by 19 U.S. governors, WGU endeavors to be the world's most student-centric university. As of December 2023, the nonprofit served nearly 170,000 students nationwide and had awarded almost 350,000 degrees to over 300,000 graduates in all 50 states.

What We Believe

We believe in human potential.

We believe in the inherent worth and ability of every individual. Talent is equally distributed; opportunity is not. We were founded to fix that.

We believe in the promise of education.

We believe education is the surest path to opportunity. We want to reinvent education so that every learner can have success.

We believe in our students.

If we provide them a student-centered, radically affordable, high-quality, workforce-relevant education, they will succeed.

We believe that outcomes matter.

Enrollment isn’t enough. We want to drive value for students: in their career progression, engagement, and life satisfaction.

We believe that learners are workers.

Our students don’t just want a diploma—they want a pathway to opportunity. We design our programs to maximize student success in the workplace.

We believe we can’t get there without innovation.

Sustained success depends upon doing things differently, not just better. We are compelled to innovate and change the way people engage with learning and access opportunity.

We believe that big problems demand big solutions.

The number of learners who are being left behind is massive. The only way to solve the problem is to solve it at scale.

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Image credit: Claire Scully

New advances in technology are upending education, from the recent debut of new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT to the growing accessibility of virtual-reality tools that expand the boundaries of the classroom. For educators, at the heart of it all is the hope that every learner gets an equal chance to develop the skills they need to succeed. But that promise is not without its pitfalls.

“Technology is a game-changer for education – it offers the prospect of universal access to high-quality learning experiences, and it creates fundamentally new ways of teaching,” said Dan Schwartz, dean of Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), who is also a professor of educational technology at the GSE and faculty director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning . “But there are a lot of ways we teach that aren’t great, and a big fear with AI in particular is that we just get more efficient at teaching badly. This is a moment to pay attention, to do things differently.”

For K-12 schools, this year also marks the end of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding program, which has provided pandemic recovery funds that many districts used to invest in educational software and systems. With these funds running out in September 2024, schools are trying to determine their best use of technology as they face the prospect of diminishing resources.

Here, Schwartz and other Stanford education scholars weigh in on some of the technology trends taking center stage in the classroom this year.

AI in the classroom

In 2023, the big story in technology and education was generative AI, following the introduction of ChatGPT and other chatbots that produce text seemingly written by a human in response to a question or prompt. Educators immediately worried that students would use the chatbot to cheat by trying to pass its writing off as their own. As schools move to adopt policies around students’ use of the tool, many are also beginning to explore potential opportunities – for example, to generate reading assignments or coach students during the writing process.

AI can also help automate tasks like grading and lesson planning, freeing teachers to do the human work that drew them into the profession in the first place, said Victor Lee, an associate professor at the GSE and faculty lead for the AI + Education initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning. “I’m heartened to see some movement toward creating AI tools that make teachers’ lives better – not to replace them, but to give them the time to do the work that only teachers are able to do,” he said. “I hope to see more on that front.”

He also emphasized the need to teach students now to begin questioning and critiquing the development and use of AI. “AI is not going away,” said Lee, who is also director of CRAFT (Classroom-Ready Resources about AI for Teaching), which provides free resources to help teach AI literacy to high school students across subject areas. “We need to teach students how to understand and think critically about this technology.”

Immersive environments

The use of immersive technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality is also expected to surge in the classroom, especially as new high-profile devices integrating these realities hit the marketplace in 2024.

The educational possibilities now go beyond putting on a headset and experiencing life in a distant location. With new technologies, students can create their own local interactive 360-degree scenarios, using just a cell phone or inexpensive camera and simple online tools.

“This is an area that’s really going to explode over the next couple of years,” said Kristen Pilner Blair, director of research for the Digital Learning initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, which runs a program exploring the use of virtual field trips to promote learning. “Students can learn about the effects of climate change, say, by virtually experiencing the impact on a particular environment. But they can also become creators, documenting and sharing immersive media that shows the effects where they live.”

Integrating AI into virtual simulations could also soon take the experience to another level, Schwartz said. “If your VR experience brings me to a redwood tree, you could have a window pop up that allows me to ask questions about the tree, and AI can deliver the answers.”

Gamification

Another trend expected to intensify this year is the gamification of learning activities, often featuring dynamic videos with interactive elements to engage and hold students’ attention.

“Gamification is a good motivator, because one key aspect is reward, which is very powerful,” said Schwartz. The downside? Rewards are specific to the activity at hand, which may not extend to learning more generally. “If I get rewarded for doing math in a space-age video game, it doesn’t mean I’m going to be motivated to do math anywhere else.”

Gamification sometimes tries to make “chocolate-covered broccoli,” Schwartz said, by adding art and rewards to make speeded response tasks involving single-answer, factual questions more fun. He hopes to see more creative play patterns that give students points for rethinking an approach or adapting their strategy, rather than only rewarding them for quickly producing a correct response.

Data-gathering and analysis

The growing use of technology in schools is producing massive amounts of data on students’ activities in the classroom and online. “We’re now able to capture moment-to-moment data, every keystroke a kid makes,” said Schwartz – data that can reveal areas of struggle and different learning opportunities, from solving a math problem to approaching a writing assignment.

But outside of research settings, he said, that type of granular data – now owned by tech companies – is more likely used to refine the design of the software than to provide teachers with actionable information.

The promise of personalized learning is being able to generate content aligned with students’ interests and skill levels, and making lessons more accessible for multilingual learners and students with disabilities. Realizing that promise requires that educators can make sense of the data that’s being collected, said Schwartz – and while advances in AI are making it easier to identify patterns and findings, the data also needs to be in a system and form educators can access and analyze for decision-making. Developing a usable infrastructure for that data, Schwartz said, is an important next step.

With the accumulation of student data comes privacy concerns: How is the data being collected? Are there regulations or guidelines around its use in decision-making? What steps are being taken to prevent unauthorized access? In 2023 K-12 schools experienced a rise in cyberattacks, underscoring the need to implement strong systems to safeguard student data.

Technology is “requiring people to check their assumptions about education,” said Schwartz, noting that AI in particular is very efficient at replicating biases and automating the way things have been done in the past, including poor models of instruction. “But it’s also opening up new possibilities for students producing material, and for being able to identify children who are not average so we can customize toward them. It’s an opportunity to think of entirely new ways of teaching – this is the path I hope to see.”

May 14, 2024 Volume 70 Issue 34

From the interim president, provost, and senior evp: ending the encampment, $5.5 million national institutes of health grant to support chronic disease self-management among philadelphia residents, mitchell schnall: inaugural senior vice president for data and technology solutions for university of pennsylvania health system, tyshawn sorey: 2024 pulitzer prize for music, penn medicine signs national health sector climate pledge, penn medicine and the philadelphia union sponsor a community fridge, penn libraries announces new book prize in sustainability sponsored by the lynn family, wharton launches executive online education program strategies for accountable ai, joel conarroe, english, from the senate office: faculty senate executive committee special meeting actions, from the senate office: may 15, 2024 faculty senate executive meeting agenda.

• Supplements

Faculty Senate Reports

Arielle xena alterwaite and katherine scahill: 2024 newcombe doctoral dissertation fellowship, sharon y. irving: vice president of aspen, brigitte keslinke: rome prize, valentina proust, taylor smith and azsaneé truss: james d. woods award, psom’s master’s and certificate program’s excellence in teaching awards and master’s student colloquium, kyle vining: hartwell foundation award, daniel a. wagner: fulbright award, joey wu: 2024 udall scholar, karen xu: 2024 p.e.o. scholar award, the state of university city 2024 report from the university city district, retirement information sessions in may, wxpn board meeting: may 22, update: may at penn, weekly crime reports, flexible spending accounts updates and reminders, call for papers: narratives of struggle and hope: ethnography, education, and democracy at a crossroads, spring 2025 stavros niarchos foundation (snf) paideia designated course proposals: requested by may 24, gapsa 2023-2024 annual report.

• May 14, 2024
• vol 70 issue 34

May 10, 2024

To the Penn Community,

We have worked with serious intention for nearly two weeks to engage the protestors on College Green, who were notified on April 26—the second day of the encampment—that they were in violation of Penn’s policies. This outreach has been met by unreasonable demands and a dangerous escalation of the encampment.

Our community has been under threat and our campus disrupted for too long. Passion for a cause cannot supersede the safety and operations of our University. Early this morning, we took action, with support from local law enforcement, to remove the encampment. We would like to express our gratitude to the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Police Department for their support. This is an unfortunate but necessary step to prevent violence, restore operations, and return our campus to our community.

Under these extraordinary circumstances, and to provide for the safety of our community, access to the College Green area of campus will be restricted until further notice. Those wishing to enter the area will be required to show a valid PennCard. Those without proper identification will be asked to leave and, if necessary, will be escorted off campus, or considered trespassing.

The protestors refused repeatedly to disband the encampment, to produce identification, to stop threatening, loud, and discriminatory speech and behavior, and to comply with instructions from Penn administrators and Public Safety. Instead, they called for others to join them in escalating their disruptions and expanding their encampment, necessitating that we take action to protect the safety and rights of everyone in our community. We could not allow further disruption of our academic mission. We could not allow students to be prevented from accessing study spaces and resources, attending final exams, or participating in Commencement ceremonies, which for many did not happen during the pandemic.

University leaders met with representatives of the encampment on multiple occasions, for extended periods of time. We hoped that reasonable conversations could address both the concerns of protestors and the needs of the University. We made clear that their proposals were not possible, including their demands that participating students and faculty receive amnesty without proceeding through our due process for conduct and for divestment from entities engaged with Israel. Penn remains unequivocally opposed to divestment, and it is unlawful for institutions receiving funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

We also made clear that the encampment needed to disband and offered ways in which the protestors could continue their demonstration in compliance with our policies. We proposed, and still hope to deploy, Penn’s academic resources to support rebuilding and scholarly programs in Gaza, Israel, and other areas of the Middle East. Despite diligent efforts to find a path forward, the gap between the positions of many in the encampment and the University proved too wide to bridge in this volatile environment, while the risks to our community and our missions continued to increase.

This decision is viewpoint neutral and affirmed by our policies. There are times when our abiding commitment to open expression requires balancing free speech with our responsibility to safety, security, and continuing the operations of the University. This is one of those times and why we have acted. Open expression and peaceful protest are welcome on our campus, but vandalism, trespassing, disruption, and threatening language and actions are not.

—J. Larry Jameson, Interim President —John L. Jackson, Jr., Provost —Craig R. Carnaroli, Senior Executive Vice President

The Philadelphia Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL), funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has announced a new $5.5 million NIH grant focused on chronic disease self-management among Philadelphia residents. The project builds on a sustained strategic partnership between Penn Nursing, the Philly CEAL Community Advisory Coalition, and the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO).

The strategic partnership includes a $3.2 million contribution to sustain and evaluate Philadelphia’s Community Health Worker (CHW) program over the next four years. This program offers personalized support to Philadelphia residents, aiding them with a wide range of psychosocial needs, such as wellness workshops, resource navigation, and scheduling medical appointments. Community health workers will receive training in the DECIDE intervention, which will enhance their skills in group-based chronic disease self-management. Additionally, by intertwining this effort with a structured research program, Philly CEAL aims to generate compelling data for local stakeholders and policymakers, advocating for continued investment and sustainability of the CHW program beyond the study’s conclusion. Together, Philly CEAL, CEO, and Penn Nursing are committed to nurturing a healthier, more resilient community through innovative practices, dedicated care, and a shared vision of equitable health access for all.

“Our long-standing partnership with the city was the foundation to the initial efforts of Philly CEAL—to engage the community to address COVID-19,” said Penn Nursing dean Antonia M. Villarruel. “We are pleased to expand our efforts to address an issue of concern to our communities, chronic illness management. Our collective efforts will bring needed infrastructure support to engage community health workers in this important work. This partnership and project afford great opportunities for our students and faculty at Penn Nursing and beyond.”

“Our collaboration with Penn Nursing and Philly CEAL has been integral in addressing urgent community health issues, from COVID-19 to various social determinants of health (SDoH),” said Orlando Rendon, executive director of CEO. “Together, we’re not just tackling challenges; we’re building a resilient foundation for the future of public health. This partnership exemplifies the city’s commitment to fostering innovative solutions and empowering our communities to thrive.”

Penn Nursing researchers from the department of family and community health are leading a groundbreaking study to improve chronic disease self-management and address the social drivers of health. This project, funded by NIH Community Engagement Alliance, takes a multipronged approach to chronic disease self-management. First, the study will enable community health workers to lead group sessions, equipping residents with the knowledge and skills to manage their cardiovascular health effectively. Second, the research team recognizes that factors like access to healthy food, safe housing, and stress management tools significantly influence health outcomes. They will partner with local organizations to develop solutions and bridge these gaps.

This project, co-led by Penn Nursing’s José Bauermeister, Antonia Villarruel, Carmen Alvarez, Stephen Bonett, and Ashley Clemmons from CEO, holds immense promise for promoting cardiovascular health equity in Philadelphia. By empowering residents and addressing the root causes of health disparities, Penn Nursing and CEO are paving the way for a healthier future for all.

Dr. Schnall will spearhead the health system’s efforts to understand new tools and approaches and determine how best to implement them across UPHS to improve the provider experience, boost health outcomes for patients, and drive efficiency across the health system.

“Penn Medicine is excited to seize emerging opportunities to use technology in ways that will transform the health care industry,” said UPHS CEO Kevin B. Mahoney. “Dr. Schnall is a talented and visionary leader who will help us draw on our institution’s longstanding culture of innovation and continuous learning in this new space and provide a road map for health systems across the nation.”

In his new role, Dr. Schnall will lead the offices of the chief information officer, chief medical information officer, and chief analytics officer. Together, they will analyze the clinical and business impact of innovations, and work to build on Penn Medicine’s success with tools for automating patient access, monitoring, and self-serve transactions.

During his two terms as chair of radiology, Dr. Schnall doubled both the size of the department and its research funding portfolio. He developed training programs and funding pathways for clinician-scientists in radiology, unified academic programs across UPHS’s Philadelphia hospitals, and created a single Penn Medicine radiology residency that has been named as the top radiology program in the nation. Dr. Schnall also developed a strong collaboration between the department’s community-based physicians and its academic programs. Additionally, he built a framework for “One Penn Medicine Radiology,” which he will continue to lead as he assumes his new role. He will continue to serve in a leadership role in the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group.

Dr. Schnall has a strong national reputation, having been elected as a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the National Academy of Medicine.

Presidential Assistant Professor of music Tyshawn Sorey, a multi-instrumentalist and composer who has performed around the world, won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Music for “Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith).” The saxophone concerto was commissioned by the Lucerne Festival and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and premiered on March 16, 2023, at Atlanta Symphony Hall. Winners in this Pulitzer category are honored for “distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year.”

“Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith)”—which Mr. Sorey calls an “anti-concerto”—is dedicated to Mr. Smith, a trumpeter with whom Mr.  Sorey has performed and recorded. As Mr. Sorey himself described the concerto, “it is more about introversion than extroversion…the work unfolds slowly and quietly with beautiful, sustained harmonies and only slightly less sustained melodies introduced via the orchestra or intermittently by the saxophone soloist. This stately but understated work is a welcome respite from the chaos and intrusiveness of modern life.”

Mr. Sorey’s composition “Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)” was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music. That same year, he and Brooke O’Harra, a senior lecturer in creative writing at Penn, debuted a musical collaboration with percussion ensemble Yarn/Wire titled “Be Holding,” a multimedia adaptation of the book-length poem by Ross Gay about Julius Erving’s momentous sky hook dunk during the 1980 NBA Finals. Mr. Sorey was a 2018 United States Artists Fellow and a 2017 MacArthur Fellow. He has released 13 critically acclaimed recordings as a composer and bandleader, and has received support for his creative projects from the Jerome Foundation and the Shifting Foundation, among others.

In a public commitment to lead among healthcare organizations in reducing the industry’s outsized impact on climate change, Penn Medicine has signed an ambitious national pledge promising to significantly cut and, eventually, eliminate its carbon emissions.

The Health Sector Climate Pledge is a voluntary commitment by healthcare organizations to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Since it was created by the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2022, the pledge has been signed by more than 130 organizations representing nearly 1,000 hospitals, health centers, suppliers, insurers, and others. It constitutes a united effort against climate change by the healthcare sector, which is responsible for an estimated 8.5 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Signing the pledge is the latest part of Penn Medicine’s commitment to a wide-reaching goal articulated in the organization’s strategic plan: to become the most environmentally friendly healthcare organization in the nation. The health system is also part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan , which includes reaching 100 percent carbon neutrality by 2042—eight years ahead of the Health Sector Climate Pledge.

“Advancing sustainability is an investment in the future,” said Kevin B. Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “As an industry, healthcare has played a role in the changing climate. We’re taking a step back now to consider how to best deliver care while also balancing the ecological impact for the long-term health of our patients, the communities we serve, and the generations that will follow.”

Penn Medicine’s plan to fulfill the objectives of the national pledge involved a year-long assessment of the carbon emissions of the health system’s six hospitals and more than 150 properties. The “carbon baseline” report found that UPHS produces more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Efforts to halve that number by 2030—one of the goals of the pledge—are already underway. A significant step came in December 2023, when Great Cove Solar Energy Facilities, a massive solar array in Central Pennsylvania, began producing 220 megawatts of electricity each year. The energy, purchased by the University and the health system, will supply about 70 percent of the total electricity demand of the downtown Philadelphia university- and UPHS-owned properties. This renewable power purchase agreement is estimated to cut 50,000 metric tons from the health system’s carbon footprint annually.

Penn Medicine is also taking steps to reduce the carbon emissions generated by employees commuting to and from work. The health system offers employees discounted public transportation passes—costing $10, compared to the standard $96 for a monthly pass from SEPTA. Switching from driving to riding public transit can cut each employee’s annual carbon emissions by more than two tons. Electric vehicle charging stations are being added at the Princeton Medical Center campus to complement those already available on the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) campus.

The health system has also committed to ensuring that all new building projects are designed to incorporate recycled materials, integrate expansive greenery, use less water, use less energy, and qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver, or better, certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. In 2021, Penn Medicine’s newest hospital, the 1.5 million-square-foot Pavilion on the HUP campus, marked a healthcare first when it received the prestigious LEED Gold Building Certification for Sustainability.

In an effort to jointly target food insecurity to boost the health of the communities around them, Penn Medicine and Philadelphia Union have opened a community refrigerator, located at the Boys & Girls Club of Chester, Pennsylvania. The first project of its kind in Chester, the community refrigerator is accompanied by a deep freezer and pantry shelving to offer a variety of filling and nutritious foods.

“At Penn Medicine, our work has shown the importance of food access for the health of the wider community, and helping establish a program that makes gains in this area brings us great pride,” said Kevin Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “Everything we do is with an eye toward the communities we serve, and it’s thrilling to have a partner like the Union that shares those priorities. We’re only in the first year of this partnership and already we’re working on projects to benefit the community. I’m excited for what the future holds and what our organizations can achieve together.”

“The Philadelphia Union remains committed to prioritizing our community’s well-being, and in doing so must address the on-going issue of food insecurity,” said Tim McDermott, president of Philadelphia Union. “Together with Penn Medicine, our collective focus on the health and wellness of the community is at the forefront, and we look forward to the ongoing efforts and impact our partnership brings.”

At the unveiling, the refrigerator was full of fresh items that included, grapes, avocados, tomatoes, raspberries, green beans, and oat milk. The pantry shelves held canned tomato sauce, dry pasta, and apple sauce, while the deep freezer chest sitting opposite the shelves held a variety of cuts of beef and steak.

The community refrigerator will be open weekdays from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and available for anyone facing food insecurity. There is a no-questions-asked policy. The refrigerator and pantry shelves will continually be re-stocked weekly through deliveries by the non-profit, food donation facilitator Sharing Excess. The Union will supplement stock with partner donations and provide U-serve opportunities for volunteers to donate food and earn rewards. Additionally, Penn Medicine will conduct volunteer days with their staff to stock the pantry.

In addition to the fridge unveiling on May 4, members of the community attended a free farmers market, where they could collect produce and other essential products provided from Sharing Excess. Residents leaving games at the Boys & Girls Club’s gym with basketballs tucked at their hips grabbed fresh tomatoes and red peppers with their free hands. Other residents danced to a DJ’s music and played tailgate-style games.

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries have announced the launch of the Penn Libraries Book Prize in Sustainability, presented by the Lynn Family. This new annual award acknowledges outstanding contributions to the global discourse on environmental sustainability, with a specific focus on books that have a substantial impact on the public’s understanding of these crucial issues.

The winning author will receive an $8,000 cash prize and will present their award-winning research during a formal award ceremony on September 26, 2024.

“The Penn Libraries Book Prize in Sustainability is a call to action, encouraging authors and thinkers to contribute to the vital discourse on sustaining our planet for future generations,” said Brigitte Weinsteiger, interim director of the Penn Libraries and Gershwind & Bennett Family Senior Associate Vice Provost for Collections and Scholarly Communications. “In fostering a deeper public understanding of environmental sustainability, the Penn Libraries continues our tradition of advancing knowledge for the public good, echoing Penn’s broader mission to contribute to a better and more sustainable future for all.”  

Penn’s new strategic framework, In Principle and Practice , urges the Penn community to play a leading role in addressing the existential challenge of climate change, stating, “We must, in an all-in University effort, do more.” The framework notes that Penn will seek additional ways to fuel and support a variety of initiatives, including those that advance understanding and promise solutions.  

“As the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion loom large, the need for informed public discourse has never been greater,” said Michael E. Mann, director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media, and a Presidential Distinguished Professor in the department of Earth & environmental science and in the Annenberg School for Communication. “This prize seeks to elevate books that not only address these critical issues but also inspire actionable insights and solutions and elucidate the interconnectedness of economic progress, social equity, environmental stewardship, and sustainable development, thereby fostering a more informed and proactive global citizenry.”

Dr. Mann is one of five jurors representing academia, climate activism, and the private sector who will select finalists and, ultimately, the winner of the prize. Other jurors include Daniel Cohan of Rice University; Sara Cronenwett of Comcast; Genevieve Guenther of End Climate Silence and The New School; and Julie DiNatale of FMC; along with Brigitte Weinsteiger, ex officio.

All non-fiction books in English published between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023 are eligible for submission. Successful candidates for the award will focus on environmental sustainability, covering topics including but not limited to climate change, renewable energy, conservation strategies, sustainable agriculture, water resource management, and green technologies.  

Penn Libraries Board of Advisors member Haniel J. Lynn, ENG’91, WG’95, PAR’23, and his wife Anita Hsueh Lynn, ENG’91, PAR’23, generously provided funding to establish the book prize.

“Anita and I are very happy to support this initiative, which spotlights the vital work being done to address the urgent environmental issues of our time,” said Haniel Lynn. “Our hope is that the prize ignites dialogue and discussion and extends the impact of the winning book among researchers, policymakers, and the public.”  

The Penn Libraries began engaging publishers and encouraging submissions for the prize earlier this year, and submissions will be accepted through April 30, 2024. Nominations must be submitted directly by publishers, and each publisher may submit only one title for consideration. Publishers can view the full rules and details of the contest and submit a work for consideration through this form . 

It’s well established that artificial intelligence (AI) has changed and will continue changing the way we work. Yet with so many organizations rapidly adopting AI technologies, risks are growing as well, including well-known concerns such as bias, hallucinations, privacy and intellectual property issues, legal liability, and regulatory penalties. What are companies doing to prepare and protect themselves? Not enough, it appears. A recent BCG survey found that although 84 percent of executives believe responsible AI should be on top management agendas, only 25 percent have comprehensive programs in place.

“Everyone agrees that accountability has to be a part of what implementing AI means,” said Kevin Werbach, Wharton professor and department chairperson of legal studies and business ethics. “So, you’re either going to be one of the leaders in doing AI governance, or you’re going to get pulled along by regulation or catching up to your competitors.”

Mr. Werbach, alongside Wharton’s thought-leading AI faculty, will help executives get ahead of the curve in the new Wharton Executive Education program, Strategies for Accountable AI . Mr. Werbach serves as academic director, accompanied by faculty experts from the renowned research center AI at Wharton. The live online program will run October 16–December 18, 2024.

Strategies for Accountable AI offers participants a real-world, up-to-the-minute roadmap for effective AI oversight, empowering them to build, monitor, and maintain accountable AI solutions. Participants will explore the legal, ethical, and business controversies posed by AI; acquire techniques to mitigate AI risks; discover how fast-changing laws and enforcement across the globe could affect their business; assess their own organization’s responsible AI readiness; and more. The program helps executives win a competitive advantage as they discover how to protect their firm and its reputation while leveraging AI for business success.

The program’s format enables participants’ exposure to Wharton’s up-to-the minute research and teaching about the subject with direct interaction with the faculty via weekly, 90-minute, flipped-classroom, live online sessions. The learning is interspersed with self-paced online video segments and activities. Moreover, participants will engage in team collaboration, case studies, and a capstone project.

The program’s live online sessions will be led by prominent Wharton faculty and AI thought leaders including Kevin Werbach (academic director), Ethan Mollick, Stefano Puntoni, Scott Snyder, Prasanna (Sonny) Tambe, and Lynn Wu. Participants will also get program-exclusive perspectives of industry experts including top responsible AI executives, ethicists, investors, and government officials, among others.

Executives in all industries who are considering, adopting, evaluating, or expanding AI systems will benefit from this program. So will entrepreneurs working in the AI space, as well as developers and marketers seeking a better grasp of AI’s risks and how to mitigate them. The program is also valuable for those working in legal and compliance groups, although Mr. Werbach noted that implementing responsible AI is by no means limited to the general counsel’s office: “People who are actually managing AI projects need to understand this broader set of issues.”

Strategies for Accountable AI is now accepting applications. Prospective participants can learn more and apply at executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu . 

Dr. Conarroe was a 1956 honors graduate of Davidson College. He then earned a master’s degree from Cornell University a year later. He joined Penn’s faculty as an instructor in English in Penn’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences (now SAS) in 1964 and was promoted to assistant professor in 1966. In his first decade at Penn, he helped restructure the undergraduate English curriculum and was named the department’s undergraduate chair in 1970, a role he held for three years. As a special assistant to then-Vice Provost Leo Levin, he was also active in involving faculty in undergraduate life, and in 1968, he won the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. While teaching at Penn, Dr. Conarroe earned a PhD from New York University in 1966. In 1971, Dr. Conarroe was promoted to associate professor.

Also in 1971, then-Penn president Martin Myerson named Dr. Conarroe Penn’s first ombudsman ( Almanac July 15, 1971 ), a newly created role. According to faculty senate chair Henry Abraham, Dr. Conarroe “plunged into the manifold tasks of his two-year tenure with élan and imagination.” In reports he wrote for Almanac ( December 21, 1971 , October 3, 1972 , September 4, 1973 ), he expounded poetically about the joys of meeting a wide swath of faculty, staff, and students from across the University and helping them resolve issues. Dr. Conarroe ceded his position as ombudsman in 1973, returning to teaching in English and to his academic work, which included writing biographies of poets and compiling anthologies of their works. His books included William Carlos Williams’ Paterson: Language and Landscape (1970), John Berryman: An Introduction to the Poetry (1977), and, as editor, the collections Six American Poets: An Anthology (1993) and Eight American Poets: An Anthology (1997). During his time at Penn, he received several fellowships to support his work, serving as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Cornell Junior Fellow, and Danforth Foundation Fellow.In 1977, he was promoted to a full professor at Penn, and during the late 1970s, he also served as the faculty master of Van Pelt College House.

Dr. Conarroe spent 1978 to 1983 on leave from Penn as executive director of the Modern Language Association (MLA), the influential scholarly organization founded in 1883. At the MLA, he edited the influential PMLA Journal and acted as a spokesman for the humanities in the U.S. and abroad, in part as a member of the ACLS-Soviet Academy of Sciences Commission on the Humanities and Sciences. He led an MLA delegation to Moscow for a symposium on Walt Whitman at the Gorky Institute for World Literature. During this era, he also spent four summers at the Yaddo writers’ colony and served as vice president of the National Book Critics Circle.

In 1982, Penn enticed Dr. Conarroe to return as dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science ( Almanac November 30, 1982 ) and as the Thomas S. Gates Professor. As dean, he produced the second-highest yearly fundraising total for the school, which helped fund the Mellon program to develop fresh graduate curricular options, the biology department’s plant sciences initiative, and the Center for Early American Studies. Dr. Conarroe also oversaw the founding of SAS and Wharton’s Lauder Institute, the expansion of the Writing Across the Curriculum initiative, and the formation of SAS’s External Affairs Office, which managed development and fundraising. In 1984, Dr. Conarroe resigned from the deanship ( Almanac November 13, 1984 ).

Five months later, Dr. Conarroe was named the third president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, a position he held until 2002. As president of the Guggenheim Foundation, he was deeply devoted to the foundation’s mission and worked tirelessly to increase the size of Guggenheim Fellowships (one of which he had received himself in 1977). “He was attuned to changing cultural mores—the twists and turns in dozens of academic and artistic fields—while dealing with the financial challenges and working to raise the amount of fellowships so that people could do their own work,” said Edward Hirsch, the current president of the foundation. Dr. Conarroe was also a trustee of the foundation from 1985 to 2016. While president of the foundation, Dr. Conarroe received honorary degrees from Davidson College, Rhodes College, University Maryland, and Tulane University. He also was a former president of the PEN America Center, chaired the National Book Awards in 1988, served on the Pulitzer Prize Fiction Jury in 1989, and sat on the National Book Foundation from 1991-1994.

Dr. Conarroe is survived by his nephews, Ron, Richard, and Michael Conarroe; a niece, Betty Johnson; and a sister, Harriet.

The following is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Among other purposes, the publication of SEC actions is intended to stimulate discussion among the constituencies and their representatives.  Please communicate your comments to Patrick Walsh, executive assistant to the Senate Office, by email at  [email protected] .

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Special Meeting Actions

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Faculty Senate Chair Tulia Falleti   announced a special meeting of SEC by email on Thursday, May 2, to be held on Thursday, May 9, and a meeting agenda was placed in  Almanac  on May 7, 2024. 

Discussion of Current Events on Campus and Resolution Proposals Received.  SEC members discussed the ongoing “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on College Green, sharing information about the status of the encampment, communications that have occurred between University administration and those participating in the encampment, and SEC members’ and their constituencies’ perspectives on next steps that should be taken in reaction to the situation.

A motion was made and seconded on whether SEC should consider passing a resolution in any form in response to the encampment. A quorum of 35 voting members was recognized, and a vote was conducted. By a vote of 12 in favor, 16 opposed, and 7 not voting, the motion did not pass, and discussion regarding passing a resolution ceased.

The May 15, 2024 Faculty Senate Executive Meeting Agenda was revised on May 13 following the resignation of Tulia Falleti as Chair of the Faculty Senate on May 10.

To read the revised agenda, visit https://almanac.upenn.edu/volume-70-number-33#from-the-senate-office-faculty-senate-executive-committee-agenda-v70-n33 .

Read the 2023-2024  Faculty Senate Reports .

Two PhD candidates in the School of Arts & Sciences have been named to the 2024 class of the Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, administered by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars.

The Newcombe Fellowship, funded by the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation, is the largest and most prestigious award for PhD candidates in the humanities and social sciences addressing questions of ethical and religious values in interesting, original, or significant ways. Fellows receive a 12-month award of $31,000 to support the final year of dissertation writing.

Arielle Xena Alterwaite, a PhD candidate in the department of history, and Katherine Scahill, a PhD candidate in the department of music, were named as 2024 fellows. 

Ms. Alterwaite’s research explores Haiti’s sovereign debt in the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution in her dissertation, “Empire of Debt: Haiti and France in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World.”

Ms. Scahill’s dissertation, “The Gendered Politics of Religious Authority in Thai Buddhism: Voice, Embodiment, and Sonic Efficacy in the Movement for Female Monastic Ordination,” is based upon ethnographic fieldwork with three communities of female Buddhist monks (bhikkhunīs) in Thailand. Drawing on the fields of religious studies and music studies, Ms. Scahill’s dissertation investigates the sonic practices bhikkhunīs employ to establish alternate channels of recognition, given that women’s ordination is not accepted at a national level.

Funding at the dissertation stage remains a vital way to support up-and-coming scholars. Since its creation in 1981, the fellowship has supported more than 1,300 doctoral candidates with essential time and resources to complete their writing. Newcombe Fellows have gone on to be noted faculty at domestic and foreign institutions, leaders in their fields of study, Pulitzer Prize winners, MacArthur Fellows, and more.

Founded in 1976, ASPEN is a multi-professional, interdisciplinary professional organization whose members are involved in the research and provision of clinical nutrition therapies across the lifespan. With members from around the world, ASPEN is a community of dietitians, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, scientists, students, and other health professionals from every facet of nutrition support clinical practice, research, and education. Currently, there are 5,500 members in ASPEN.

The vice president of ASPEN has responsibility for monitoring progress in the implementation and updating of the society’s strategic plan. In the absence of the president or the president-elect, or in the event of their inability or refusal to act, the vice president performs the duties of the president. As vice president, Dr. Irving will automatically succeed to the office of president-elect (2025), then president (2026), then immediate past president (2027). Her term on the board will end on May 30, 2028.

“We are incredibly lucky and grateful for Dr. Irving’s guidance and leadership,” noted Wanda Johnson, CEO of ASPEN. “Her vast experience as a nurse practitioner and educator and her unwavering dedication to enhancing patients’ lives provides a unique perspective that will be extremely valuable in ASPEN’s mission to widen and increase our influence as an interprofessional organization.” 

The American Academy in Rome has named Brigitte Keslinke, a PhD candidate in the art and archaeology of the Mediterranean world graduate group at Penn, among 31 winners out of 1,100 applications. Ms. Keslinke’s proposal, “The Making of a Meal: Commensality in the Cult of Mithras,” was awarded the Samuel H. Kress Foundation/Donald and Maria Cox Rome Prize in the category of ancient studies. 

The prize includes a stipend, workspace, and room and board for five to ten months at the academy’s campus in Rome, starting this September. Rome Prize winners are selected annually by juries of distinguished artists and scholars through a national competition.

Annenberg School for Communication doctoral students Valentina Proust, Taylor Smith and Azsaneé Truss have been named co-recipients of the 2024 James D. Woods Award. Named in memory of Annenberg graduate student James D. Woods, the award is given to outstanding graduate teaching assistants.

Valentina Proust was nominated for the award by senior lecturer Kim Woolf for her work as a teaching fellow for Dr. Woolf’s class COMM 2250: Children and Media. Dr. Woolf praised Ms. Proust’s exceptional organizational skills, detailed and constructive feedback to students, and creative teaching style. “Valentina’s guest lecture on gender and media was exceptional,” Dr. Woolf said. “She listened carefully to students’ thoughts regarding the material and handled questions confidently.” Ms. Proust studies collective memory and identity as tools to challenge dominant narratives around gender issues within the Global South.

Taylor Smith was also nominated by Dr. Woolf for her work as a teaching fellow for COMM 2250. Dr. Woolf commended Ms. Smith’s dedication to helping students during office hours, her constructive feedback, and her clear and engaging teaching. “What makes Taylor stand out as a teacher is her commitment to her students and her ability to empathize with the undergraduates while continuing to challenge them,” Dr. Woolf said. “At least two students mentioned to me that meeting with Taylor enabled them to better understand the material and apply both developmental and media theory to content.” In her own research, Ms. Smith explores Black women’s unique contributions to Black textual and visual literacies. 

As a teaching fellow for COMM 2640: “Media Culture & Society in Contemporary China,” doctoral candidate Azsaneé Truss’s rapport with students, enthusiasm, and dedication to teaching earned her a nomination from professor Guobin Yang. “It was a big class with 75 enrolled students,” Dr. Yang said. “Azsaneé always came to class with infectious energy and very soon became beloved by the students. I would count Azsaneé as one of the top teaching fellows I have had in my decade of teaching at Penn.” Ms. Truss’s research focuses on Black feminism and how it connects with different forms of expression, drawing from fields like cultural studies, performance studies, critical media studies, and Black studies.

Ms. Proust, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Truss will receive the award at Annenberg’s PhD/MA graduation ceremony on May 20.

Emma Meagher, associate dean for the PSOM master’s & certificate (MaC) programs, delivered opening remarks and announced the awardees for student poster presentations and the teaching awards. Dr. Meagher then introduced Carl June, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine, who is one of the pioneers of CAR T-cell immunotherapy, as the keynote speaker. The two discussed Dr. June’s career journey and his insights from his historic work in the form of a fireside chat. To conclude the event, master’s students then gathered in Smilow Commons for a poster presentation session.  

The 2024 Excellence in Teaching awardees are:

• Rafe McBeth, assistant professor of clinical radiation oncology, Master of Science in Medical Physics Program
• Laura Conway, associate director, Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program
• Marilyn Schapira, professor of medicine, Master of Science in Health Policy Research Program

More information, including poster presentation awardees and an event recording can be found on the colloquium website .

Each year, the Hartwell Foundation invites a select group of biomedical research institutions to nominate faculty for its highly competitive awards, which provide significant financial support for three years, specifically for early-stage, innovative, and cutting-edge biomedical research that has not yet received outside funding. Research proposals must focus on improving the lives of children in the United States.

To date, cellular immunotherapy has shown great promise in treating childhood leukemia by engineering immune cells to target cancerous tissue. However, many patients suffer relapses and require additional treatments, risking serious side effects. One reason that some children do not respond to immunotherapy or relapse after treatment may be changes in their bone marrow itself. Dr. Vining’s team recently identified fibrotic tissue—that is, tissue that has hardened or scarred—in the bone marrow of such children. With the support of the Hartwell Foundation, Dr. Vining’s lab will undertake two research projects to investigate whether structural changes in these children’s bone marrow is suppressing the effectiveness of immunotherapies.

Dr. Wagner’s selection recognizes his notable academic and professional contributions, along with his ability to drive long-term collaboration between international institutions. His project aligns with the Fulbright Program’s mission to create enduring global connections through educational exchanges that benefit communities in the U.S. and abroad.

Mr. Wu, who is studying bioengineering and environmental science in the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research, has been named a 2024 Udall Scholar by the Udall Foundation. Scholars, who receive as much as $7,000 each, are recognized for leadership, public service, and commitment to issues related to the environment or to Native American nations. Mr. Wu is the 10th student from Penn to be named a Udall Scholar since Congress established the foundation in 1992.

Mr. Wu is the founder and international director of Waterroots, a nonprofit environmental education project that uses climate storytelling to combat water insecurity in more than 20 countries. He is also a researcher in Penn Engineering’s McBride Lab, where he works as a plant specialist for a project that promotes environmental stability and sustainable agriculture.

The P.E.O. Scholar Awards were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university. P.E.O. Scholar Awards recipients are a select group of women chosen for their high level of academic achievement and their potential for having a positive impact on society.

The P.E.O., founded January 21, 1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is a philanthropic educational organization dedicated to supporting higher education for women. There are approximately 6,000 local chapters in the United States and Canada with nearly a quarter of a million active members.

Spotlight on University City: University City is the region’s leader in education, science, and innovation. The 2.4 square mile neighborhood boasts world-class institutions that have catalyzed nearly 80,000 jobs in fields including medicine, higher education, technology, real estate, and hospitality. University City is a destination for culture seekers and food lovers, a transportation hub with some of the most bicycle-and pedestrian friendly streets in the city, and is home to some of the most significant development projects and life sciences breakthroughs in the region. With diverse demographics, a blend of housing and rental options, top-notch schools and hospitals, and amenities galore, University City is one of Greater Philadelphia’s neighborhoods of choice.

Real Estate Development: In a time of flux for real estate developers across the country due to high interest rates, increased construction and land costs, and a lack of debt capital, University City continues to persevere, due in large part to the ongoing demand for life science office and laboratory spaces. University City is on pace to reach a projected 2.525 million square feet of new development valued at over $710 million, both record highs for the neighborhood. Progress on major residential, institutional, public space, and mixed-use projects marked another busy year of groundbreakings, topping outs, and ribbon cuttings in the neighborhood. In the past year, significant progress has been made on three major long-term projects: uCity Square; Schuylkill Yards; and the 30th Street Master Plan. Other key developments, including the next phase of expansion of the Provident Building campus at 4601 Market Street, the new headquarters for Spark Therapeutics at 3001 Chestnut, and over 4,000 units of multi-family housing planned to arrive by 2027, point toward University City’s continued growth, with an additional 2.77 million square feet in the pipeline expected to be completed in 2024.

Employment: New development, institutional expansions, and a burgeoning life sciences scene contribute to University City’s continued status as a top regional employment hub. In 2023, over 18,000 jobs from our neighborhood’s main employers were posted. More than 70% of University City’s 78,000+ jobs pay over $40,000 a year, compared to just under 60% for Philadelphia as a whole. University City accounts for approximately 11% of all jobs within Philadelphia, despite representing only 1.69% of the city’s total footprint. A large percentage of jobs are found at the local hospitals and universities, but growth associated with nascent technology firms and commercialization of research is also creating more employment opportunities at every rung of the career ladder. Leaders at the local, regional, and national level are taking note of the existing jobs and those on the horizon, and are actively working to invest in and accelerate our status as a regional leader in life sciences and biotech, including the newly created Keystone LifeSci Collaborative resulting from a U.S. Economic Development Administration Good Jobs Challenge grant.

Office: University City is home to ample office and lab space. Since 2000, over 4.5 million square feet of office space has been developed within our neighborhood. Recently, developers have altered their priorities when creating new inventory as a reaction to shifting workplace conditions in a post-COVID world, and new projects instead seek to add to the 3.3 million square feet of lab space instead of traditional offices. The asking lease rate in 2023 increased more than 19% over last year’s figure to $58.71 per square foot, the highest rate among regional submarkets. Coupled with the region’s 4th lowest vacancy rate of 15.40%, our accelerating life sciences and technology sector is spurring continued investment that can be felt through the city and beyond.

Higher Education: True to its name, University City offers top options in the region and nation for undergraduate and graduate studies. Over 50,000 students are enrolled in the neighborhood’s institutions of higher education, and whether they’re coming from around the city or around the world, scholars are drawn to the proximity to employment opportunities, the beautiful urban campuses, and the vitality of the surrounding community. Both the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University fared well in recent U.S. News & World Report rankings, with Penn ranked the 6th best national university and the top business program in the country, while Drexel excelled in similar lists for most innovative schools (#18) and finished #2 for its co-ops and internships.

Healthcare: The neighborhood’s medical institutions—Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center—combine to account for over 40% of all jobs in University City, making them an essential component of the local economy. Both CHOP and HUP receive annual accolades for quality of care and as top national workplaces: in the 2023 U.S. News and World Report rankings of hospitals, CHOP finished #4 for top national hospitals for children, while HUP was nationally ranked in 11 adult specialties. Both hospitals landed on Forbes’ list of best large employers for 2023, with Penn Medicine placing at #30 on the list. Our local hospitals are also leading the way in new treatments, procedures, and medical technologies, and with the forthcoming arrival of the Children’s Hospital New Patient Tower and Schuylkill Avenue Research Building, there are more on the horizon.

Innovation: University City is a nationally recognized hub for advances in science, research, and medicine. Cutting-edge innovations originate out of 3.3 million square feet of lab space in research hubs including the Wistar Institute, Pennovation, Drexel’s ic@3401, uCity Square, and Schuylkill Yards. This confluence of labs, benches, and clinics contributed to Philadelphia ranking at #6 in top U.S. metros for life sciences research talent according to CBRE. Discoveries initiated in University City spark billions of dollars in economic growth and attract international attention in fields like biotech, robotics, and medicine. In 2023, 225 patents were issued to University City businesses and institutions, which also accounted for $990 million in NIH funding and over $30 billion in cumulative R&D spending. Since 2021, over 675 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were administered in the United States using messenger RNA delivery, a process developed in 2005 by Penn researchers Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman, who were honored with the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Transportation: Need to get around the neighborhood? You’re in luck. University City boasts excellent options for bicyclists, pedestrians, and commuters using public transit, earning Walkscore.com’s “paradise” status for all three modes of transportation. It’s no surprise, then, that 84% of neighborhood residents also work in University City. In 2023, the Streets Department and PennDOT completed a major repaving project of Walnut Street from 33rd to 63rd Streets to create safer crossings at intersections, to provide traffic calming, and to install parking-separated bike lanes. As more employees return to the office, University City boasts a network of light rail, bus routes, and protected bike lanes to support them, and in 2023, Amtrak reported 4.2 million riders at William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, or 93% of the pre-pandemic high in 2019.

People: University City is home to a diverse and growing cross-section of residents. Following a dip in 2020 due to COVID, our population has surpassed 55,000 residents for the first time ever, and with a forthcoming increase in housing options—4,200 units of multi-family housing expected by 2026—this surge will likely continue. Our residents skew young (median age of 27.6), educated (25.2% possess a bachelor’s degree or higher), and ethnically diverse, with nearly 19% of residents born outside of the United States and 24% of households speaking non-English languages within their homes. Our dynamic neighborhood, rich in medical and educational institutions, led to 12% of residents moving here from another state, compared to 3% citywide.

Life in the Neighborhood: How do you define a great place to live? For University City, it’s fantastic amenities, an excellent dining scene, diverse housing options, world-class transit, parks and public spaces aplenty, and communities with distinct and unique personalities. 

Schuylkill Yards: Currently rising in University City, Schuylkill Yards is the $3.5 billion master-planned neighborhood being developed by Brandywine Realty Trust in partnership with Drexel University. Beginning with the development of Cira Centre in 2005, Schuylkill Yards continues today along the Schuylkill riverfront. Schuylkill Yards is a new nexus of knowledge and innovation within the top life science hub of Philadelphia—a 14-acre neighborhood that features striking architecture, 6.5 acres of public greenspace, 70,000 square feet of dynamic retail and entertainment options, 3.9 million square feet of world-class life science and workspace, and 1.5 million square feet of living space. Drexel Square, the first of Schuylkill Yards’ 6.5 acres of planned green spaces, opened to the public in June 2019. The 1.3-acre park features a 12,000-square-foot elliptical lawn, 23 Dawn Redwood trees, and an array of shrubs and perennials in over 9,000 square feet of raised planted beds.

In August 2019, Brandywine unveiled architectural designs for the east and west towers at Schuylkill Yards. Designed to complement one another, the towers artfully merge inspiration from historic building materials with modern architecture and are linked by High Line Park, a welcoming, publicly accessible destination for intimate programmed events, relaxation, collaboration, and community enjoyment.

As Philadelphia continues to grow as one of the leading life science clusters in the nation, Schuylkill Yards solidifies its place as the ecosystem’s heart. Here, directly adjacent to Amtrak’s 30th Street Station, Drexel University, and the University of Pennsylvania, Brandywine is building a connection point to world-class healthcare and academic institutions, top-tier talent, and readily available investment capital.

For the full report, visit https://issuu.com/universitycity/docs/the_state_of_university_city_2024 . 

—University City District

Ready to spring into retirement? To help you prepare for the next phase of your life, Penn will host the next series of Thinking About Retirement presentations on Wednesday, May 29 in Houston Hall from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Thinking About Retirement offers three different concurrent sessions specially designed for Penn staff and faculty. Each 90-minute presentation covers an important aspect of retirement benefits: Penn Benefits & Medicare , 5 Steps to Creating Your Retirement Income Plan , and Social Security Benefits Planning .

At the Penn Benefits & Medicare session, representatives from Health Advocate and benefits specialists from Human Resources will explain the Rule of 75 , retiree healthcare options, and how they integrate with Medicare.

During the 5 Steps to Creating your Retirement Income Plan session, a TIAA retirement plan counselor will discuss such topics as budgeting in retirement, income options, and investments to help you get the most out of your 403(b) plan.

The Social Security Benefits Planning session, led by a TIAA representative, provides valuable details about how this program impacts your plans for retirement. You will also get an overview of Social Security benefits, eligibility rules, how to apply, benefits for your spouse, and more.

Benefits specialists from Penn Human Resources will be available throughout the event to answer your questions about Penn’s retirement savings plans, healthcare benefits, and other aspects of retiree benefits for you and your dependents.

To register for the presentations, click on the session times in the table below or visit www.hr.upenn.edu/thinkretirement .

Thinking About Retirement, May 29, 2024 Sessions

For more information about retirement, visit the Retiree Benefits webpage . 

An open session of the WXPN Policy Board will meet Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at noon at WXPN. For more information, email  [email protected]  or call (215) 898-0628 during business hours. 

18         Weitzman School 2024 Year End Show ; brings together work from the Class of 2024 in architecture, landscape architecture, city and regional planning, historic preservation, urban spatial analytics, and fine arts; Meyerson Hall. Through June 14 .

Fitness & Learning

16         Executive Program in Design for Sustainability Info Session: Meet XDS Students ; meet current students and instructors and learn how to register at a 30% discount; Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/xds-info-session-may-16 (XDS).

17         (deep) listening: Resonance ; features poet and musician Moor Mother with a supporting performance by Delish (featuring exclusive new material) & interstitial sets by DJ Precolumbian; 7 p.m.; Institute of Contemporary Art; register: https://tinyurl.com/deep-listening-may-17 (ICA).

Special Events

18         Penn Women's Center 50th Anniversary Celebration ; help commemorate a half-century of empowerment, advocacy, and community; 2:30-4:30 p.m.; room TBA; the ARCH; register: https://tinyurl.com/pwc-50-may-18 (Penn Women’s Center).

15         Inequities in Severe Maternal and Neonatal Morbidities ; Stephanie Leonard, Stanford University; 9 a.m.; room 701, Blockley Hall, and Zoom webinar; register: https://pennmedicine.zoom.us/j/96442998641 (Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics).

            Computational FSI Modeling of the Cardiovascular System ; Ryan T. Black, mechanical engineering & applied mechanics; 2 p.m.; room 212, Moore Building (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics).

16         Uncovering COPD Subtypes Via Multimodal Immunoprofiling ; Leigh Marsh, Medical University of Graz; Regulation of Smooth Muscle Cell State Through Heterotypic Cell Signaling ; Slaven Crnkovic, University of Graz; 4 p.m.; room 12-146, Smilow Center (Penn-CHOP Lung Biology Institute).

21         Leveraging Implementation Science to Improve Supports for Students ; Abigail Gray, TRAILS; 11 a.m.; Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/gray-talk-may-21 (Penn Implementation Science Center).

This is an update to the May AT PENN calendar , which is online now. To submit events for upcoming AT PENN calendars or weekly updates, email us at [email protected] .

Division of Public Safety University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

About the Crime Report: Below are the Crimes Against Persons and/or Crimes Against Property from the campus report for April 29-May 5, 2024 . The Crime Reports are available at: https://almanac.upenn.edu/sections/crimes . Prior weeks’ reports are also online. –Eds.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety (DPS) and contains all criminal incidents reported and made known to the Penn Police, including those reported to the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) that occurred within our patrol zone, for the dates of April 29-May 5, 2024 . The Penn Police actively patrol from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30 th Street to 43 rd Street in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police.

In this effort to provide you with a thorough and accurate report on public safety concerns, we hope that your increased awareness will lessen the opportunity for crime. For any concerns or suggestions regarding this report, please call DPS at (215) 898-7297. You may view the daily crime log on the DPS website .

Penn Police Patrol Zone Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30 th Street to 43 rd Street

Philadelphia Police 18th District Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 12 incidents were reported for April 29-May 5, 2024 by the 18 th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

The Division of Public Safety offers resources and support to the Penn community. DPS developed a few helpful risk reduction strategies outlined below. Know that it is never the fault of the person impacted (victim/survivor) by crime.

• See something concerning? Connect with Penn Public Safety 24/7 at (215) -573-3333.
• Worried about a friend’s or colleague’s mental or physical health? Get 24/7 connection to appropriate resources at (215) 898-HELP (4357).
• Seeking support after experiencing a crime? Call Special Services - Support and Advocacy resources at (215) 898-4481 or email an advocate at [email protected]
• Use the Walking Escort and Riding services available to you free of charge.
• Take a moment to update your cellphone information for the UPennAlert Emergency Notification System
• Download the Penn Guardian App which can help Police better find your location when you call in an emergency.
• Access free self-empowerment and defense courses through Penn DPS.
• Stay alert and reduce distractions; using cellphones, ear buds, etc. may limit your awareness.
• Orient yourself to your surroundings. (Identify your location, nearby exits, etc.)
• Keep your valuables out of sight and only carry necessary documents.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) are tax-advantaged accounts that let you use pre-tax dollars to pay for eligible healthcare and dependent care expenses. Using FSAs can save money, however the amount of unused dollars that will roll over—or stay in your account from one plan year to the next—is limited. If you currently have an FSA or you plan to add one to your benefits for 2024-2025, carefully consider your contribution for the new plan year.

Health Care FSA

If you have a Health Care Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA), you will be able to roll over up to $610 of all unused funds from the 2023-2024 plan year to the 2024-2025 plan year. All unused funds over the $610 limit will be forfeited. The maximum amount you can contribute to the Health Care FSA is increasing from $3,050 to $3,200. The rollover amount will also increase from $610 to $640.

You must incur all expenses between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Claims must be submitted by September 30, 2025. All rollover funds will be available in November.

Dependent Care FSA

You must use all available funds by the end of the plan year deadline, or you will forfeit any remaining balance. You have until September 15 of the following plan year to incur expenses, and until September 30 of the following plan year to submit eligible claims.

For example, if you enroll in a Dependent Care FSA during the 2024-2025 plan year, you’ll have until September 15, 2025 to incur expenses and until September 30, 2025 to submit eligible expenses for reimbursement.

Visit the Flexible Spending Accounts webpage for more FSA details and single-sign-on access to WageWorks/HealthEquity.

—Division of Human Resources

The University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education will host the 2025 Ethnography in Education Research Forum February 7-8, 2025. The topic of the conference is Narratives of Struggle and Hope: Ethnography, Education, and Democracy at a Crossroads. For the conference, the Ethnography in Education Research Forum invites scholars and researchers to submit their qualitative and ethnographic inquiries that interrogate the connection between democracy and education, particularly in uncertain or precarious times. The call for papers seeks to explore the nuanced ways in which educators and educational institutions, broadly defined, may serve as sites for democratic struggle, hope, or something in between.

The conference will discuss the politicized times we live in. The last decade has come to be marked by global crises, political divisions, and economic insecurity, and the approaching 2024 presidential election holds the potential to redress or exacerbate these tensions. As we anticipate the political landscape unfolding, a wide and growing array of issues pose challenges for educators, schools, families, and scholars as they seek to understand and navigate an evolving landscape.

Submissions are encouraged that delve into the multifaceted dimensions of uncertainty, revealing how complex human beings acquiesce, ignore, resist, or challenge their political worlds. Ethnographers, practitioners, students, and scholars are therefore invited to illuminate how university campuses, K-12 schools, and community spaces become dynamic arenas for the negotiation of democratic values, where societal uncertainties are woven into the daily experiences of students, educators, and administrators.

This call for papers goes out to scholars who aim to foster a rich dialogue on schools as (potentially) democratic spaces in uncertain times, challenging researchers to rethink and redefine the boundaries of their ethnographic practice to capture the essence of democratic education in the face of uncertainty.

Papers will be accepted through June 1, 2024. For more information, including submission guidelines, visit https://2025forum.dryfta.com .

SNF Paideia designated courses examine the theory and practice of dialogue across differences from diverse disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. They also explore the interplay among dialogue, citizenship, service, as well as individual and community wellness. Collectively, they are intended to provide students with the scholarly and applied knowledge, skills, ethical orientations, and experiences necessary for integrating their personal, professional, and civic identities—that is, for “educating the whole person.”

Courses are rostered by academic departments. SNF Paideia is not a rostering academic department. Applicants need prior contingent approval from an academic department before they apply for SNF Paideia funding and designation. It is recommended that faculty reach out to their academic department as soon as possible before applying for SNF Paideia funding and designation.

Course proposals will usually be submitted at least eight months before the course will be offered to allow sufficient time to gather all necessary approvals from the SNF Paideia Program and the appropriate departments and schools. Faculty applications to teach in spring 2025 are requested by May 24, 2024.

Proposals can be submitted at https://curf-upenn.smapply.io/prog/snf_paideia_course_proposal/ .

The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA) published its 2023-2024 Annual Report in April 2024. The report can be found here . This report summarizes the project work and initiatives of the 2023-2024 GAPSA Executive Board, General Assembly, and committee members. While navigating an unprecedented and challenging year, GAPSA stood steadfast and provided resources for students and student groups, advocated on behalf of the graduate and professional student community, and hosted dozens of programs for students. GAPSA is thankful to our members for their dedication of time and energy outside of their classroom and other extracurricular responsibilities and to our partners throughout the University for engaging in meaningful and productive dialogue throughout the year. For feedback on this report and any inquiries related to GAPSA, please refer to the contact form on our website,  linked here .

—GAPSA

EdUHK Annual Report 2019/20

The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) released today (7 January) its 2019/20 Annual Report, which captures the University’s major developments, challenges and achievements during the period. These include the following:​​​  

• Implementation of the new common core curriculum for full-time undergraduate programmes, covering the introduction of the University ePortfolio, interdisciplinary and experiential learning courses, and final-year capstone projects in parallel with the honours projects. These curricular changes tie in with the new Graduate Attributes introduced in the preceding year, with special emphasis on professional excellence, ethnical responsibility and innovation.
• Record-high donations of over HK$178 million in 2019/20, representing a more than three-fold year-on-year increase. A total of HK$306 million was pledged during the same period, covering an array of pioneering projects in special educational needs, education technology, Chinese language and culture, and life education, as well as scholarships and bursaries. Particularly encouraging was the overwhelming response to these funded projects, notably those on Chinese language and history animation, which recorded about one million and over five million hits, respectively.
• Topping both the number of funded projects and the awarded amount in the subject discipline of Education in the RGC’s General Research Fund (GRF) and Early Career Scheme (ECS) funding exercises 2019/20, and joint top in the number of ECS-funded psychology and linguistics projects;
• Ranking second in Asia and 16th in the world in the 2020 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject. The University was also the youngest of the world’s top 20 QS-ranked universities in education;
• Winning prestigious awards for educational innovation and inventions at international competitions held in Canada and Germany;
• Engaging in a new World Bank project, partnering with five leading public higher-education institutions in Cambodia to build teacher capacity in the country, following the completion of a World Bank-commissioned project in Vietnam in 2018.

EdUHK President Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung said, “2019/20 was certainly a challenging year full of unexpected developments. The pandemic, in particular, drastically transformed how we work, study, travel and socialise. I must express my heartfelt gratitude to all of our staff, students, alumni and school partners for their unfailing support during this testing time”.

“We are also indebted to our donors for their staunch support, which culminated in a significant increase in donations received and pledged during the period,” he said. “The new resources have enabled us to undertake pioneering projects in special education, educational technology, Chinese language and culture, and life education”.

The Annual Report and the Treasurer’s Report can now be accessed on the University’s website:  www.eduhk.hk/ar/annual1920

EdUHK and SF&OC Sign MOU to Promote Continuing Education among Retired Athletes

08 Jan 2021

Launch Ceremony of World Bank Project in Cambodia

29 Dec 2020

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Climate Action Annual Report 2024: out now

The University's latest report has been published, detailing progress towards the Climate Action Framework principles and sharing the 2022-23 carbon footprint.

• Published on Tuesday 7 May 2024
• Last updated on Tuesday 7 May 2024
• View more announcements in Climate Action

In May 2020, the University of Bath declared a climate emergency and set out a Climate Action Framework around four thematic areas (education; research; footprint; and partnerships) and 11 guiding principles . This Annual Report sets out progress against these guiding principles over the past year.

The Climate Action Framework represents a whole institution endeavour. Fundamental to its success is building climate action into the Institution’s strategies, policies, and plans. Over the past year, the Institution has moved forward with particular attention to embedding climate into governance, decision-making, and strategic risk management. Integrating Climate Action into our Education and Research programmes and projects is a significant part of the Framework and is helping to set Bath as a benchmark for other Higher Education Institutions.

In the full report, read about actions being taken across the University with case studies to showcase the breadth and depth of climate action at Bath. Below we've shared just a few highlights, which exemplify the University's progress to delivering on our commitments and 11 Climate Action principles.

The work on embedding sustainability and climate into curriculum transformation is now well underway, and over the next year, we will be assessing its impact. Our latest climate action survey found that 49% of students are experiencing some level of climate or sustainability education through their course.

Read more about innovative learning and teaching development projects on pages 12-18 of the report, including these highlights:

• we held the biggest ever UK Climate Fresk (an interactive climate change workshop)
• a new MSc Decarbonisation course was launched

Bath is leading several research projects focused on building our understanding of the climate crisis, its impact and some of the ways in which we might mitigate this. Bath has experts across its academic portfolio involved in climate-focused research. In 2023-24:

• several multimillion-pound research projects were launched to tackle climate change in various focus areas, including construction, transport, energy and food production – read about impactful new projects launched in the past year on page 19
• 38 labs achieved sustainability certification to Bronze LEAF standard, and one Gold – find out about sustainability actions being taken in labs on page 20

In comparison to last year, our total carbon footprint has increased by 24%. This is due to a number of factors which include: changes to UK emissions factors (used to calculate our footprint) which have negatively affected our figures; increases in our business activity following the COVID downturn; and the effects of inflation on the costs of products which we use (and therefore reflected in some of our Scope 3 footprint estimates). Further details are provided on page 26.

Despite this, work on reducing our footprint is ongoing and we are increasingly looking to use our data to shape these efforts. Key recent actions to tackle this include:

• new Thermal Comfort Policy could save up to 15% of gas use annually – read more in the case study on page 28
• spend on beef and lamb in catering and The Market is down 90% – find out about our Sustainable Food Commitment on page 30
• we carry out behaviour change programmes, such as LEAF in labs, to support staff and students in making low carbon choices
• we're continuing to look at opportunities for decarbonising energy systems through our Estates Strategy and capital programme
• measuring and reducing Scope 3 emissions are an enormous challenge for all organisations, and Bath is leading the way amongst universities in addressing this area

Partnerships

As part of our aim to support wider societal transformation in response to the climate crisis, we develop meaningful collaborative partnerships to help address climate change across the higher education sector, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Highlights from the past year include:

• we launched Climate Ambassadors scheme to connect climate experts with local Schools – read more about this on page 35
• ActNowFilm premiered at COP28 where the University joined the official delegation – discover more about this pioneering project on page 36

Our community remains supportive of the institution’s ambitions around the climate crisis, and we hope that this report provides the motivation and inspiration for further engagement and participation from the community.

In the past year we:

• held our first Climate Action Awards, celebrating over 150 staff and students – find out more about the trailblazing change makers who are making waves for sustainability on page 40
• ran pilot Climate Action training with Campus Services – hear how this is making impact in the case study on page 41

Students’ Union

In parallel with the University, the SU have taken action to reduce their environmental impact while also supporting students to change behaviours and to lead climate action projects of their own. Key achievements to reduce the SU’s footprint this year include:

• reducing emissions at SU flagship events and general bar operations, including using reusable cups in all events
• supporting students to change behaviours through actions such as removing ruminant meat from all food outlets and changing marketing choices in line with the Sustainable Food Commitment.

Read more about actions the SU are taking on pages 42-44 of the report.

Climate Action Team [email protected]

MSU Extension Washtenaw County

Washtenaw County Annual Report 2023

May 14, 2024

A message from the District Director 

The butterfly effect is an idea introduced by Edward Lorenz in the 1960s that small, seemingly insignificant singular events may ultimately lead to much larger outcomes. If taken on their own and independent from others in the community, MSU Extension workshops, programs and publications may seem to impact only those individuals who experience them first-hand. However, over the last 150+ years, MSU Extension has worked diligently to facilitate community partnerships and coalitions that broaden our education efforts and “Bring Knowledge to Life”. In addition to our county partners, MSUE staff throughout District 12, worked with 123 partners and coalitions in 2023 to expand the reach of our programs and education initiatives. Together, we are creating ripple effects, like the flaps of the butterfly wings, that stretch across the county and beyond. Inside you’ll find 2023 success stories, participant feedback, event photos, program metrics and much more about the impact that MSU Extension is making in the lives of friends, family and neighbors in Washtenaw County.

Impact at a glance

• 852 programs accessed by residents
• 7,491 residents reached or attended programs
• 209 staff/faculty residents
• 4,744 social media reach

4-H youth program

Many people think 4-H is just for kids who live on farms or those interested in raising and selling animals – but that’s not true! Offering a diverse range of topics and interest areas, 4-H is the Largest youth development organization in Michigan. Each year thousands of young people explore what interests and excites them as they grow through Michigan 4-H.

• 464 4-H program participants
• $48,541.50 4-H volunteer hour value
• 75 youth programs accessed by residents
• 106 child & family development classes offered

Improving health & nutrition

When it comes to nutrition and physical activity, MSU Extension's team of experts brings evidence-based education into communities across the state. Our staff delivers educational programming to communities and helps create lasting healthy changes, from kitchen tables to school cafeterias. Programming is supported through the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program– Education (SNAP–Ed).

• 75 SNAP-Ed programs hosted in-county
• 393 residents participated in health & nutrition programs
• 99 food safety programs offered
• 48 Servsafe certificates earned 

Enhancing agriculture & agribusiness 

MSU Extension educators in the Agriculture and Agribusiness Institute work with farms of all sizes helping to positively impact individual farming operations. When those individual operations do well, their success helps to fuel state and local economies.

• 83 soil tests distributed in 2023
• 387 residents accessed ag programs
• $32,245 volunteer hours equivalent
• 437 "Ask Extension" questions answered 

Fostering strong communities

• 360 jobs created or retained statewide
• 595 contact hours of community programs
• 210 community programs accessed by residents
• 141 participants in community programs 

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Florida tops this list for higher education and these 10 universities lead the rankings

* Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the tuition cost for Keiser University.

Classes are about to start for the Fall 2023 semester soon in universities across Florida. Florida has made headlines this year for the state's decision making concerning learning material at both the adolescent and higher-education levels in schools across Florida among other hot-button cultural issues.

And even with that controversy, Florida still places high in regards to a college education. After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis installed leadership at New College of Florida in Sarasota, the institution drew a record number of students this year despite criticism from students.

In the U.S. News & World Report's 2023 list of best states for pursuing higher education, Florida tops the list likely due to high rankings in factors like tuition and fees costs, two or four-year graduation rates and low debt at graduation.

Here are the 10 best Florida universities ranked by U.S. News & World Report .

Shakeup at New College of Florida: New College of Florida sees record enrollment after DeSantis shakeup, but at academic cost

10: Nova Southeastern University

Located in Fort Lauderdale on a 314-acre campus, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) ranks at ten on this list of Florida's best schools. U.S. News also ranks NSU at No. 219, a tie with Keiser University, for best universities in the nation and No. 97 in best-value schools.

Founded in 1964, the private institution had more than 6,000 undergraduate students enrolled for its Fall 2021 semester. NSU's acceptance rate is 93%, according to U.S. News, and they retain about 80% of those students through their undergraduate program.

Undergraduate applicants to NSU have the choice of including or excluding their SAT and ACT scores from their application.

According to NSU, their current student body is comprised of:

• 6,971 undergraduate students
• 10,073 graduate students
• 4,188 professional students
• 2,000 university school students

NSU's graduation rate is 71.8% and the percentage of graduates who start a career in the field they were trained in is 94%.

The university costs about $35,880 in tuition annually before scholarships or aid is factored in. Students leave the university with more than $30,000 in debt according to data from U.S. News & World Report.

9: Keiser University

Keiser University is in Fort Lauderdale and ranks ninth on this list of best Florida colleges and universities . It is also tied with NSU for the No. 219 on the list of best universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

Founded in 1977, Keiser offers students a learning plan which has them take a singular class every four weeks.

According to U.S. News & World Report, about 96% of applicants get accepted into Keiser University. According to Keiser's website, about 13,000 students enrolled. Out of those enrolled, 60% of the student base is 25 or older and 76% work full- or part-time jobs during their program.

Keiser does not require scores from standardized tests like the SAT in order to be considered for admission. GPA is the only factor considered out of the typical requirements for college admissions. In order to be admitted to Keiser University, freshman applicants must provide the following information according to their website:

• Verification of high school graduation or
• Verification of GED completion or
• Proof of graduation from a foreign institution comparable to a U.S. secondary school.
• $55 for application fee.

According to the U.S. News & World Report, tuition costs for Keiser are estimated to be about $18,000 a semester or $36,000 a year after financial aid is considered. Representatives from Keiser University were unable to confirm tuition prices at the time of writing.

8: Florida Institute of Technology

Located in Melbourne at its 174-acre campus, the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) ranks eighth on this list and No. 202 on U.S. News & World Report's list of Best National Universities. The private STEM institution was founded in 1958.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the school only accepts 66% of applicants. Those admitted the previous school year had an average high school GPA of 3.72 and the middle 50%'s test scores ranged from 1150-1330 on the SAT and 24-30 on the ACT.

As of July 2023, FIT's tuition will cost about $43,000 annually. The institution has about 7,223 students enrolled, 3,200+ of whom are undergraduate students.

According to U.S. News & World Report about 59% of students graduate in four years, and students leave FIT with nearly $39,000 in debt on average. The mean salary of FIT graduates six years after graduation is $56,600 according to data from FIT.

7: Florida A&M University

Florida A&M University (FAMU), the sole Historically Black College or University (HBCU) on this list and one of four in the state, ranks seventh on this list and No. 202 on U.S. News & World Report's list of Best National Universities. It was founded in 1887 and has grown its main Tallahassee campus to 422 acres with nearly 10,000 students and several satellite campuses.

The institution has a 30% acceptance rate and 82% retention rate according to data provided by their website and the average scores for admitted first-time-in-college (FTIC) students in 2020-21 were a 3.67 GPA and 23 on the ACT.

According to FAMU, tuition and fees for students who live on campus cost $35,007 annually for out-of-state students and $23,062 for in-state students.

According to U.S. News & World Report, 27% of FAMU's students graduate in four years. The average debt for graduates of FAMU is about $26,000 but they also have a median starting salary of about $48,000 once they graduate.

6: Florida International University

Florida International University (FIU) is a public university located in Miami that was founded in 1972. FIU ranks sixth on this list and is tied for spot 151 on U.S. News & World Report's list of Best National Universities.

According to U.S. News & World Report, FIU has a 64% acceptance rate and about 42% of its students graduate on a four-year track. They assign incoming freshmen to one of a variety of pathways depending on their scores and GPA.

According to FIU, tuition and fees will cost about $26,000 annually for Florida residents living on campus and more than $38,000 for out-of-state residents. Enrollment at FIU is 56,000, and 61% of students are Hispanic.

Students will leave the university with about $19,000 in debt but start their careers with a median salary of $47,000.

5: University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida (UCF) is located in Orlando and was founded in 1963. UCF boasts having the largest enrollment class in the state and seventh-largest in the nation among universities and colleges, with more than 68,000 students studying at the institution. About 93% of its students are in-state residents.

UCF is ranked at five on this list and is tied for No. 137 on U.S. News & World Report's Nation Universities list. According to data from U.S. News & World Report, they have a 36% acceptance rate.

Data from UCF shows that their accepted first-time-in-college class had an average of 1334 on the SAT, 28.3 on the ACT and a 4.23 weighted GPA.

UCF estimates that the cost of attendance during the 2023-24 school year for those who live on campus will be about $24,000 for Florida residents and approximately $40,000 for out-of-state students.

4: University of South Florida

The University of South Florida (USF) is a public university founded in 1956 and serves more than 50,000 students across its main and satellite campuses. USF ranks fourth on this list of best Florida universities but is also tied for #97 in the U.S. News & World Report's best National Universities list.

The institution has a 49% acceptance rate according to U.S. News & World Report. Data from USF shows that the average scores of admitted students in Fall 2022 ranged from:

GPA : 4 to 4.50

SAT : 1240 to 1390

ACT : 27 to 31

USF's tuition and fees will cost $211.19 per credit hour for Florida residents and $575.01 per credit hour for out-of-state residents.

According to U.S. News & World Report, 60% of USF's students graduate on a four-year track and leave with a little more than $20,000 in debt. After graduating, these people end up starting their careers with a median salary of $48,000.

3: University of Miami

The University of Miami, located in Coral Gables, has nearly a century of teaching under its belt on its 239-acre campus. The private institution is ranked third on this list and tied for No. 55 on the best National Universities list by U.S. News & World Report.

More than 19,000 students attend the University of Miami, 73% of whom are likely to graduate in four years.

Last year, the university accepted 19% of nearly 50k applicants, who had an average of 3.8 for their GPA, 1380-1500 for the middle 50%'s SAT superscores and 31-34 for the middle 50%'s ACT superscores.

For the entire 2023-24 school year, tuition and fees will total $88,440 for undergraduates living on campus, $89,306 for undergraduates living off campus and $76,142 for students living with a parent/relative.

U.S. News & World Report says that students will leave the University of Miami with about $18,000 in debt and a median starting salary of nearly $55,000 upon graduating.

2: Florida State University

Florida State University (FSU), located in Tallahassee and established in 1851, comes in at second on this list of best colleges in the state. FSU is also tied for spots 19 and 55 on the Top Public Schools and best National Universities list by U.S. News & World Report.

FSU had nearly 45,000 students enrolled at the institution during fall semester last year, 73.5% of which were undergraduate students.

The middle 50% of students admitted for the Fall 2023 semester had average scores of 1340-1450 for their SAT, 29-33 for their ACT and a GPA between 4.3 and 4.6.

The tuition rates for a program vary by career and campus location. For an undergraduate student at the main Tallahassee campus, a Florida resident would pay about $215.55 per credit hour and an out-of-state student would pay about $721.10 per credit hour.

1: University of Florida

The University of Florida (UF), located in Gainesville, is ranked as the best university in Florida and tied for the spot of fifth-best in the Top Public Schools rankings by U.S. News & World Report. The public university has been around since 1853 and has expanded its campus to about 2,000 acres.

According to U.S. News & World Report, UF only accepts 30% of its applicants. The middle 50% of students accepted into UF for the upcoming school year had scores of 1350-1490 for the SAT, 30-34 for the ACT and a GPA average of 4.4-4.6.

During the fall 2022 semester, UF recorded about 60,000 students enrolled. Tuition and fees will cost in-state students $149 per credit hour and out-of-state students $856 per credit hour regardless of whether they live on campus.

About 72% of UF's students will graduate on a four-year track. Students will leave the university with about $18,000 in debt, but graduates of UF have earned a median salary of approximately $55,000 when entering their career according to U.S. News & World Report.