Author: IBL News

IBL News | New York

State Farm is teaming up with Arizona State University (ASU) to launch an online educational and career development program called Pathways for the Future. To fund the program and scholarships, the insurance giant is providing ASU with a $30 million contribution.

Officials from both organizations announced the public-private partnership initiative on Tuesday on the ASU campus, in Tempe, Arizona.

The program, reflected on a new website, has four components: an online academic program, financial support, tools for success, and career coaching.

Students start by earning online credits in one of three academic tracks: STEM, business leadership, or humanities and social sciences. These tracks will lead to an associate degree, undergraduate degree or undergraduate certificate. Typically, a three-credit online course would cost approximately $1,500.

For the university, one goal of the program is to increase degree completion by preparing students to enroll in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, the W. P. Carey School of Business, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, along with other units across ASU.

The program targets four groups:

• High School Students
• Maricopa County Community College Students
• Arizona State University Students
• Employees, already in the workforce, wanting to learn new skills, including State Farm employees

“Here we have a company that’s thinking differently; this investment is looking at each aspect of what we do: Let’s eliminate the financial barrier; let’s build some tools that help us to greatly accelerate who goes to college,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow [In the picture on the right]. “It’s not only about money but it’s about ways to overcome barriers.”

“Today represents a new milestone in our relationship with ASU and builds on our corporate commitment to prepare not only for what’s coming but for what is already happening,” said State Farm Chairman and CEO, Michael Tipsord. “We look forward to growing this commitment with ASU and working together to build the workforce of the future through universal learning.”

• ASU Now: State Farm, ASU announce partnership on Pathways for the Future initiative

IBL News | New York

Toronto-based, education software company Top Hat announced yesterday that it raised $55 million in Series D equity and debt funding, defying giants in the textbook industry like Pearson and McGraw-Hill.

The finance round was co-led by Georgian Partners and Inovia Capital, and attracted all of its the previous investors, including Union Square Ventures, Emergence Capital and Leaders Fund.

According to the company, 750 out of the top 1,000 colleges and universities in North America are enrolled in courses using their platform, with a total of 2.7 million students.

“The funding will enable Top Hat to continue to accelerate the disruption of traditional textbooks and course materials in order to deliver greater educational ROI to students,” said Mike Silagadze, founder and CEO.

Top Hat also announced that it already signed exclusive deals with Fountainhead Press and Bluedoor Publishing to transform their print-only content into digital courseware.

The company, which has now raised a total of just under $105 million, according to Crunchbase, plans to invest more in professors who will author, adopt, curate, and adapt course materials to create personalized and responsive learning experiences.

Top Hat, with a staff of 400 employees, already has introduced six all-in-one digital course solutions, Top Hat Intro Courses. They combine interactive textbooks, lecture slides, quizzes, and assignments all on one platform.

“As university students rebel against ridiculous textbook prices much as music consumers did in the early 2000s, Top Hat has emerged a visionary leader by bringing students and educators together in a collaborative digital teaching and learning experience that improves outcomes while reducing costs,” said Inovia Capital partner Shawn Abbott.

Top Hat’s textbooks sell for less than $50, compared to a big publisher’s offerings that can cost hundreds of dollars.

IBL News | Washington DC

Fee-for-service, an alternative to OPM company Extension Engine, explained last week its approach through the case of Moravian College.

In a joined session with Moravian College’s Provost Cynthia Kosso, and Extension Engine’s Principal Learning Strategist, Scott Moore, elaborated on how this university created a differentiated online program. The conversation took place last Friday at the AAC&U annual conference in Washington DC.

Based in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, the 277-year-old Moravian College, has just launched its first program, and is currently working on its second, related to Nursing.

Cynthia Kosso and Scott Moore discussed the process of creating online learning, building internal capacity, challenges and lessons learned. Among lessons learned, they agreed on the need to effectively communicate around all aspects of the project in order to gain faculty’s trust and acceptance.

IBL News exclusively videotaped the session. Watch it below.

IBL News | New York

As the overall death toll of the novel coronavirus passed 300 –including a 44-year-old man in the Philippines– and there are more than 14,000 infections confirmed, a student at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston was confirmed to be the 8th person in the U.S. to have the disease.

This individual is a man in his 20s and resides in Boston. He contracted the virus in Wuhan, where the outbreak originated. After he returned from China, he resulted positive on a test done on Friday night in Boston, according to a statement from UMass addressed to its community on Saturday night.

The infected man will stay in isolation until he is cleared by public health officials.

Also, this weekend it emerged the story that more than 100 Princeton University students – including undergraduate and graduate students – had self-quarantined as of Sunday after China’s trips as a precaution.

The students were confining themselves for 14 days following their last time in mainland China.

These cases show that American universities are in the front line, having no other choice than taking aggressive steps to keep the Wuhan virus aways from classrooms and students.

There are 10,000 American students enrolled in academic programs in China.

However, health officials consider more concerning the fact that there are over 350,000 Chinese students pursuing higher education in the United States, many of whom have traveled to their home country in recent weeks.

This makes schools a potential incubator for a widespread outbreak, given the close proximity of dormitory life. The challenge also is not overstating the risk of fanning xenophobia.

On Friday the U.S. implemented travel restrictions Sunday evening in an effort to contain the outbreak. The plan included temporarily denying entry to foreign nationals who visited China in the 14 days prior to the arrival to the US. US citizens returning from the rest of mainland China in the 14 days prior will undergo health screenings at selected ports of entry and face up to 14 days of self-monitored quarantine. Flights from China will be directed through seven airports – John F. Kennedy in New York, Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, Los Angeles, and Honolulu.

In addition, the U.S. Department of State upgraded its warning against travel to China to the highest level, advising Americans not to travel there. This alert is following the World Health Organization statement, declaring the coronavirus outbreak a global public health emergency.

On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, one of the two people to test positive for the new coronavirus is a student at the University of York.

• University of Rochester: 2019 Novel Coronavirus: What You Need to Know

IBL News | New York

The Coronavirus travel ban will impact greatly on international education, said NAFSA Association of International Educators.

“What is clear is that this public health crisis and any future response will have wide-reaching and dramatic effects on international education immediately and in the long-term,”  said Dr. Esther D. Brimmer, CEO at NAFSA in a statement.

This organization, with 10,000 members, has created a specific website titled “Coronavirus Critical Resources” to follow the 2019 novel coronavirus rise.

On Friday, at the White House press briefing on the coronavirus, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar declared a public health emergency in the United States.

He announced that U.S. citizens returning from Hubei province will be subject to up to a 14-day quarantine. All foreign nationals, except those that are immediate family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, who have traveled in China within the last 14 days, will be denied entry into the country. The temporary measures take effect this Sunday, February 2, at 5 p.m. EST.

Also on January 31, 2020, President Trump signed a separate Presidential Proclamation regarding the travel ban.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of State upgraded its warning against travel to China to the highest level, advising Americans not to travel there due to a novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China.

Also on Thursday the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global public health emergency.

Many colleges announced cancellations of their China programs earlier in the week after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advised against all nonessential travel to China.

Following the CDC warning, several American universities – ASU, Duke, Northwestern and Texas A&M Universities and the University of Michigan, among others – are suspending travel to China.

On Monday, Bloomberg reported that China’s National Educational Examinations Authority canceled February test dates for the IELTS, TOEFL, GRE and GMAT, potentially disrupting some prospective students’ plans to study in the United States.

• IBL News: Anxiety in classes and dorms: Over 25,000 ASU Students Demand to Cancel Classes Due to a Coronavirus Case on Campus