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Cambridge University has come top of an international university rankings table, knocking Harvard off top spot.

The US university, which had topped the rankings by careers advice company QS since 2004, slips to second place.

The QS rankings assess university research quality, graduate employability, teaching commitment and international commitment.

via BBC News – Cambridge knocks Harvard off top of university table.

Interesting article, but the survey is done by a UK source, so it makes one wonder if there might be bias.

At the level of both of these universities the difference between the top 5 is usually miniscule and highly subjective.

Give me Vanderbilt or Auburn any day…

Education Department Posts ‘Gainful Employment’ Rule

The Education Department has posted its proposed “gainful employment” rule. The draft rule, released last night, would cut off aid to programs at for-profit colleges whose students have the highest debt burdens and lowest loan-repayment rates.

via Education Department Posts ‘Gainful Employment’ Rule – The Ticker – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

This situation is about to “hit the fan” and it will have a profound impact on many for-profit and career colleges.

Don’t be surprised when the fur hits the fan.

Gen. David Petraeus

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said the planned burning of Qurans on Sept. 11 by a Florida church could put the lives of American troops in danger and damage the war effort.Gen. David Petraeus said the Taliban would exploit the demonstration for propaganda purposes, drumming up anger toward the U.S. and making it harder for allied troops to carry out their mission of protecting Afghan civilians.

via Petraeus Condemns U.S. Churchs Plan to Burn Qurans – WSJ.com.

I have to agree with the General 100%.

This kind of ignorant display by the group in Florida is an example of just how little most Americans know about the Muslim faith and just how isolated we are from the rest of the world.

I sincerely hope this group comes to their senses.  They should read the Bible and understand what it says first before they go and condemn another group they know nothing about.

No one needs to hear more about how bad the job situation is in today’s economy. You can pick up any newspaper (if they are still in print) or read any reputable online resource to see that our economy is in a pinch and the ability to create jobs in America is greatly compromised. Knowing this, every job seeker, whether they are currently employed or not, needs to understand some of the basics of the job search in today’s world versus yesterday.

via Job search 101 – Technorati Business.

THE call came at 9:30 at night from the police detective, asking me about one of my carpenters. The detective was doing a follow-up investigation on a domestic disturbance and wanted to ask a few questions. Fine, no problem, I said — thinking of the big job we were in the middle of and how much I was depending on that carpenter.

via Preoccupations – The Healing Power of Construction Work – NYTimes.com.

I found this  to be a truly fascinating article about many who work in the areas of self-employment that keep them from the prying eyes of corporate America.

The screening and background checking that most firms use now provide a glass-ceiling that many cannot penetrate if they have had any kind of a run in with the law.

I find it interesting to consider what other professions provide the same type of therapy as carpentry and the building trades.

The National Science Foundation awarded University of Alabama in Huntsville a $1,176,470 grant to develop inter-campus and intra-campus cyber connectivity at the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology (HudsonAlpha), Alabama A & M University (AAMU) and Alabama State University (ASU) campuses.

Dr. Sara J. Graves (Professor, Director ITSC Ph.D., University of Alabama in Huntsville), Dr. Christopher Lawson (Center Director), University of Alabama at Birmingham), and Dr. Karen Boykin (Outreach Coordinator EPSCoR) are responsible for acquiring and administrating the grant.

via University of Alabama in Huntsville gets million dollar nanotech grant from NSF – Birmingham science news | Examiner.com.

Congrats to UAH for this achievement!

Huntsville is fast becoming a regional, if not national, technology hub in the eyes of DOD and now the Life Science community.

UAH is helping to lead the way!

After years of shedding jobs, Tennessee’s manufacturers are showing signs of life.The number of people employed in manufacturing increased in the second quarter, ending several consecutive quarters of declines, according to the Middle Tennessee State University’s Business and Economic Research Center. And state labor officials reported that manufacturing employment in July increased year over year, after three straight years of job losses.Manufacturing activity is a key indicator of an economy’s health. If consumers and businesses are indeed ready to spend, the widgets they desire start at a manufacturer.

via Manufacturing jobs slowly returning in Middle Tennessee – Nashville Business Journal.

While I like the tone of this article, we still need to keep our focus on jobs that require higher skill sets and jobs that have higher income levels.

We have a massive effort here to raise the level of our workforce to the level of our future economy.  This will not be a 1, 5, or 10 year effort.  It will take several generations and will require fundamental shifts in how we educate, train and spend resources in the economic development area.

It will not be an easy task, but doing the same things over again are not the answer.

A week ago, Morgan, 58, was named the next chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, where he will oversee the nation’s sixth-largest system of higher education, even though his own academic credentials end at a bachelor’s degree.

He slid into the chancellorship with an ease that raised eyebrows — and sparked calls for an investigation into the Board of Regents selection process. He was the only applicant interviewed for the job, and he applied only after the board rewrote its search criteria to remove academic standards that would have made Morgan ineligible to be hired.

via Watchdog report: Regents watered down job criteria 10 days before Morgan applied | tennessean.com | The Tennessean.

I cannot wait to read this entire article and I suspect this will go on for a while.

The process for selecting leadership in higher ed can be very slow and challenging and the selection of John Morgan was significantly different than the norm.

I do not have a personal opinion about this selection yet since I have not read enough about the process.
I encourage each of you to read all that you can in order to know the complete story.  After having done your homework, then form your own opinion.

Vanderbilt University has hired Traci Nordberg as associate vice chancellor and chief human resources officer.

Nordberg joins Vanderbilt from teh vice president and chief human resources officer at Dartmouth College, which employs about 5,000 people at its undergraduate, medical, business and engineering schools. Prior to Dartmouth, Nordberg directed human resources at 20,000-employee Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners Healthcare System in Boston from 1996 to 2005.

“Vanderbilt is fortunate to have someone of Traci’s caliber to lead our human resource function,” said Vice Chancellor for Administration Jerry Fife. “She received unanimous support from the search committee and leadership team.”

Nordberg replaces Lenon Coleman, who will retire October 1 after serving as interim chief human resources officer since November 2007. Brentwood’s The Human Capital Group conducted the search that resulted in Nordberg’s move to Vanderbilt.

The Ball State University and Suffolk University School of Law graduate will move to Nashville with her husband, Peter, and three daughters.

via Vandy gets new HR leader | People | NashvillePost.com: Nashville Business News + Nashville Political News.

The article at this link from the Christian Science Monitor brings up some information I read a year or two ago in the Malcolm Gladwell book, “Outliers”. 

This information points out that many successful people, such as the Beatles

and Bill Gates had something in common, inordinate amounts of practice to hone their skills.  The book uses the target of 10,000 hours of practice as a threshold where people become so good at something that they are almost considered experts in what they do.

This article takes that premise one step further and talks about how others have changed their life and their vocation by taking something they have enjoyed doing for years and making it their life’s work.  I think this makes tremendous sense, but there is one fundamental issue that needs to be driven home in order for this to occur.

If you want to be successful at doing something you like, you have to be self confident and that means that others around you, at some time, will need to affirm what you are doing.  As a parent and former Scout leader I have seen the fruits of affirmation show up in so many positive ways.  Parents are always quick to say no or to tell others why they should not, or cannot do something.  On the flip side, when was the last time you affirmed or encouraged someone?  That long, eh?  Now you see the problem and the opportunity.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not about going around and only telling people what they want to hear.  What I am saying is that we need to support, encourage and engage others, even if they need to modify their ideas.  Many people we know have great ideas, but they do not have the personal self-confidence to get over that hump.

Who have you affirmed this week?

Who has affirmed and encouraged you?