Education category, Page 73
As more colleges stay online, students demand tuition cuts
As more universities abandon plans to reopen and decide instead to keep classes online this fall, it’s leading to conflict between students who say they deserve tuition discounts and college leaders who insist remote learning is worth the full cost. Disputes are flaring both at colleges that announced weeks ago...
Chatham University praised in report for sustainability efforts
Chatham University in Pittsburgh was ranked second in a study of the nation’s top colleges for their use and consumption of renewable energy. The study was conducted by the environmental advocacy group PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center. The report compares local colleges and universities to other institutions across the country,...
University of Pittsburgh announces required course on racism for incoming students
The University of Pittsburgh will require first-year students to complete a new course on anti-Black racism. In a letter to students Wednesday that also clarified updated covid-19 procedures, Provost Ann E. Cudd said the course, which will be free of charge and count for one academic credit, is part of...
Pa. lawmakers concerned ‘guidance’ for schools could open the door to covid-19 lawsuits
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — As students prepare to begin a highly unusual school year, Pennsylvania lawmakers on Wednesday told Wolf administration officials...
Students, faculty virtually celebrate Pitt’s 100th Lantern Night
It’s one of the oldest traditions on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Each year for the past century, freshman women have gathered on the eve of the first day of fall classes for Lantern Night, when alumnae symbolically pass the Light of Learning on to the next generation of Pitt...
RK Mellon Foundation allocates more than $2.5 million in grants to Pa. universities
The Richard King Mellon Foundation recently allocated more than $2.5 million in grants to 12 regional colleges and universities. The grants can be used for a variety of expenses to address the covid-19 pandemic, including ensuring testing for students and staff, personal protective equipment, health care costs, enhanced virtual learning...
‘Let me be clear’: Pitt dean admonishes students for partying during pandemic
University of Pittsburgh students who party could tip the school into shutdown mode, a top official at the school warned. Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner cautioned students that large parties carry the potential of becoming covid-19 super-spreader events and threaten the ability to continue classes on the Oakland campus. On...
Duquesne University freshmen move into dorms with adjusted schedule
Duquesne University hosted its freshman move-in over three days early this week. Normally a one-day affair, the university instead assigned time slots to the approximately 1,200 freshmen and transfer students to prevent crowding in the hallways. “Given the current situation, we just didn’t feel that was safe,” said Adam Wasilko,...
Professors question Penn State reopening as study projects problems
A faculty group at Penn State says the university’s plan to reopen its University Park campus could culminate in thousands of cases of covid-19 and quickly overwhelm its capacity for quarantine. As students began to move into dorms this week, the Coalition for a Just University at Penn State released...
Grove City College Department of Music to play through pandemic
At Grove City College, not even a pandemic can stop the music. The school’s marching band, concert band, orchestra and choirs are ready to start a new year, with new covid-19 guidelines in place. The Wolverine Marching Band launched its annual band camp this week, forging ahead despite a postponed...
Educators hope to attract more adult students to free machining coursesVideo
When Ken Pedder was in high school, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do as a career. “I really had no direction or plans,” Pedder said. Eventually, he applied to Central Westmoreland Career & Technology Center. He was looking to follow somewhat in the footsteps of his father, a...
School districts tweak reopening plans again to require full-time mask use
Districts across the region once again are amending reopening plans after the state released additional guidance this week. Students attending in-person classes are now required to wear face coverings at all times while in school with few exceptions, according to the state education and health departments. The changes are based...
2 Pitt students test positive for covid-19
Two University of Pittsburgh students tested positive for covid-19 in the school’s first round of surveillance testing, according to data released by the university. The university had announced it would choose students at random to participate in the self-administered testing. In the first round of testing conducted Aug. 12-13 as...
Virtual teaching: Be improvisational, engage students, experts say
As teachers get ready to return to a school format in which many will have to do virtual instruction, area experts in online teaching offer some advice. Connect with students, offer rigorous instruction, be a bit improvisational and refrain from simply providing students at home with the same lesson as...
Officials left wondering how many students will choose charter schools
School districts face a daunting future as they prepare for several possible scenarios for the coming year. But one looming question remains largely unanswered — how many students will switch to out-of-district cyber charter schools that have impacted school budgets for years? Surveys sent to families as reopening plans were...
Allegheny College finishes fundraising campaign with $202 million
Allegheny College has raised more than $202 million, concluding a five-year-long fundraising campaign and setting a record as the college’s largest fundraising campaign ever. The campaign, called “Our Allegheny: Our Third Century Quest,” was officially launched during the college’s bicentennial celebration in 2015 with a goal of raising $200 million....
Penn-Trafford school staffer tests positive for covid-19
A Penn-Trafford School District staff member has tested positive for covid-19, district officials announced Friday. The staff member had been in close contact with other staffers, district Superintendent Matthew Harris said in a notice posted on the district website. “As soon as we became aware of the positive case, we...
Diocese of Pittsburgh to delay elementary school reopening
The first day of elementary school for the Diocese of Pittsburgh will be Tuesday, Sept. 8, school administrators announced . The diocese said the change is in response to some elementary school teachers requesting more time to implement new health and safety protocols. High schools in the diocese will reopen...
Penn Hills School District approves reopening plan, moves start date to Sept. 8
Penn Hills School District officials unanimously approved their reopening plan Wednesday night and pushed back the start of the upcoming school year. The reopening plan includes hybrid learning as well as an online option for families not confident just yet with sending their children back into the buildings during the...
Point Park University implements new safety measures for fall reopeningVideo
Point Park University’s plans for reopening include thorough signage, capacity limits in rooms and elevators and a lot of Plexiglas. As students prepare to return to campus this fall, university leaders have implemented a variety of new measures to promote social distancing, mask-wearing and other safety protocols to prevent the...
Mt. Pleasant PTO hoping to buy $40,000 in air-conditioning units for elementary buildings
Almost every child wants to look cool when they go back to school. In Mt. Pleasant Area School District, parent-teacher organization members want children to feel cool as well. The group hopes district officials will allow them to buy about $40,000 worth of portable air-conditioning units for its elementary schools,...
School reopening plans could change multiple times prior to first day
Weeks before students are expected to return to school, some districts are scrapping reopening plans in an effort to match state guidance and to account for spikes in coronavirus cases. At least two area districts, Franklin Regional and Bethel Park, drastically altered health and safety plans school leaders worked on...
Hempfield approves reopening plans with phasesVideo
After months of work, Hempfield leaders approved a health and safety plan that will welcome students back through a blended approach. On Monday, board members unanimously approved the plan, which will bring back students in a phased approach starting Aug. 27. An initial phase has students following a staggered schedule...
Community college leaders tout cost advantages as 4-year schools go online
As families weigh the rapidly evolving landscape at colleges across the state, officials at Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges say they are ready to accommodate students faced with last-minute decisions about the fall semester. “We estimate a student could save as much as $20,000 on the cost of an education if...
Western Pa. colleges awarded federal funds to underwrite reopening costs
Seven local colleges and trade schools were awarded more than $900,000 in federal grants to help underwrite public health and safety plans for reopening shuttered campuses. The grants that flowed through the state are part of a $28 million pool of federal CARES Act money state officials set aside to...
