Tag: Year

  • Report: Community Colleges Are Leaving Millions in Medicaid Funding on the Table Each Year

    Report: Community Colleges Are Leaving Millions in Medicaid Funding on the Table Each Year

    According to a newly released report, community colleges miss out on at least $115 million in available Medicaid funding each year. Only 3% of community colleges bill Medicaid for services, despite 84% of community colleges likely being eligible for Medicaid reimbursement. 

    The report, “Increasing Student Support and Success by Boosting Medicaid Engagement,” draws on data collected from a review of over 1,000 community colleges.

    “There is a missed opportunity right now where community colleges could be getting in a significant source of recurring funds that they are not currently claiming,” said Ryan Stewart, report co-lead and Founder and CEO of Mile 2 Consulting, LLC. “I want to raise awareness of that and try to build a culture where more community colleges take advantage.” 

    There are growing mental health concerns among college students and an increase in demand for all student health services among community college students. Unfortunately, the demand for student health services often exceeds a community college’s resources.

    Eligible health services include but are not limited to, psychological services, counseling, nursing services, physical therapy, Medicaid outreach and case management. According to Stewart, the call for community colleges to consider Medicaid reimbursements is more critical now than ever.

    “We’ve seen this growing need for particularly mental health resources at at the college level, and we’ve also seen that many colleges relied on COVID relief funding,” said Stewart. “Those funds are now expired, so you have a lot of schools right now who are looking for ways to sustainably replace those funds, and Medicaid could be a really important source.”

    Stewart previously served as the Secretary of Education for New Mexico and has inspired his thinking about how K-12 schools accessed student resources through Medicaid.

    “In that role we had done a lot of work with our Human Services department because they were really passionate about making sure K-12 schools knew about Medicaid and were doing all they could to claim all available funds,” he said. “Since I’ve left that role, I’ve done a lot of work to try to look at this from a national perspective.”

    Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab, report co-lead and senior fellow at Education Northwest, brought a higher education perspective to the project.

    “For more than a decade I’ve documented the clear need for community colleges to offer basic needs and related health services,” said Goldrick-Rab, who is also a columnist for Diverse. “A growing number of administrators are trying to offer that help to students but struggle to afford the costs. My hope is that this report spurs action and increases funding available to support student success at community colleges.” 

    Stewart and Goldrick-Rab projected the amount of money that community colleges could potentially generate through Medicaid reimbursement claims, taking into account the health services currently offered at the school, an estimate of the number of students receiving each category of services, an estimate of the number of Medicaid-eligible students enrolled at the school and an estimate of the average reimbursement per student.

    According to the report, community colleges in the United States could collectively generate approximately $115 million in recurring reimbursement revenue from Medicaid.

    “Healthcare access is a critical component of student success and if students are experiencing either mental health or physical health crises and don’t have access to care, that can be a barrier to successful post-secondary completion,” said Stewart. “But that has to be funded. A lot of these services are not cheap, and for colleges who are looking for every resource to try to sustain their whole portfolio of programming, finding sustainable resources like [Medicaid] where money is already appropriate could really make a big difference if you’re looking to either sustain or expand health service programming.”

    When asked why they choose not to claim Medicaid reimbursements for eligible services, community college administrators listed several reasons, including the lack of capacity to manage the Medicaid billing process.

    “​​The primary barrier colleges face when accessing this funding is a lack of information about its existence and what’s required to obtain it. Ironically, that’s the same challenge students face when accessing other funding like financial aid and SNAP,” said Goldrick-Rab. “Of course, some colleges will still struggle to have sufficient staff to offer services in the first place, [because] you have to offer them in order to be reimbursed and deal with the billing.

    Goldrick-Rab said she and Stewart hope to offer technical assistance to teach colleges how to manage this process adequately.

    “I believe addresssing the informational barriers alone will close a lot of the gap. Imagine if even 50% of the colleges offering eligible health services got Medicaid reimbursement, compared to just 3%? That would be a major win,” she added.

    The report provides recommendations for community colleges, state Medicaid agencies, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It urges community colleges to create partnerships with their state Medicaid agencies so that they can be informed about their eligibility and request the support needed to optimize health services and revenue potential.

    “Everyone is talking about the student mental health crisis, but until now, I haven’t seen many offering funding options,” said Goldrick-Rab. “We have to ensure community colleges have the resources needed to do this critical work.”

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  • 3 global early ed trends to watch this year

    3 global early ed trends to watch this year

    LONDON — Participants at one of the world’s largest early childhood conferences late last year were eager to learn from each other, and notably collegial — until one of the final sessions of the event.

    During a presentation about artificial intelligence in early childhood, a presenter suggested using an AI program to create artwork based on child prompts. Audience members were horrified. “Have you looked at what impact this might have on their imaginations?” one asked.

    The role of artificial intelligence and technology in the early years was a popular topic at the conference, which featured more than 500 educators and experts from 43 countries. As I met with global educators and researchers over the course of several days, a few key themes emerged as ones to keep an eye on in the early childhood space this year:

    1. Technology and AI in early childhood

    In addition to the controversy over student artwork, presenters highlighted a host of ways they are using artificial intelligence already in early childhood classrooms, in far less controversial ways. These include writing culturally relevant lesson plans, automating report cards and helping translate communication with parents. AI was mostly presented as a way to relieve teachers of more rote tasks. 

    Apart from the brief flare-up, experts were careful to keep conversations focused on AI as this “smart assistant,” acknowledging that it can’t stand in for a strong, interactive teacher in the early years.

    Presenters also highlighted stark differences between how preschool classrooms in different countries are using technology and the cultural gaps in attitudes about technology post-pandemic. Two researchers from University College London East, for instance, described how children in South Korean preschools regularly use nearly a dozen forms of technology, including smart televisions, robots, coding programs, virtual reality technology and tablets. Preschoolers in England, on the other hand, only have access to smart whiteboards at school for the most part, with British early educators reporting more wariness around technology in early ed classrooms.  

    2. Involving the rights of children — and more play — in early childhood systems

    In Ireland, a new approach to early childhood is all about letting kids be kids. The country’s new early childhood guidelines were inspired by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and emphasize building loving, trusting relationships between children and caregivers. Several other countries, including Japan, Moldova, South Korea and Tanzania are also prioritizing the rights of young children, mainly by trying to bring more play into early childhood classrooms and systems.

    3. Countries building out early childhood systems and investing more

    Although global investment in early childhood is not at the levels experts would hope for, many are heartened by a few government-led efforts to inject more funding and strengthen standards. In 2018, for example, Saudi Arabia published a new curriculum for its early childhood programs, written in partnership with America’s National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The curriculum is part of a larger movement to expand early childhood offerings in the country, including building hundreds of new public early learning programs by 2030 and creating more teacher training programs.

    Meanwhile, in Ireland, leaders designated more than 546 million euros in new government funding for early childhood between 2022 and 2024. And in Austria, the government recently committed to provide more than 4.5 billion euros by 2030 to help parents pay for child care.

    More on early childhood worldwide

    In 2023, I traveled to Canada to see what America can learn from our northern neighbor’s rollout of a new national child care system.

    This story by Rachel Cohen for Vox looks at the pros and cons of Germany’s universal child care system and the societal conditions that support that system.

    Research quick take

    • During the 2021-22 school year, 370 preschool students were expelled and nearly 2,700 preschool students received one or more out-of-school suspensions, according to new data from the Department of Education. Black children, and especially Black boys, were disproportionately suspended and expelled. Black boys account for 9 percent of preschool enrollment but represented 30 percent of the suspensions.
    • A growing number of states are combining early learning programs, like home visiting and child care initiatives, under one agency or department in an attempt to streamline processes and more effectively administer early learning programs, according to a recent report by the Center for American Progress. The report found that consolidating programs into a single agency has helped states move faster when applying for funding, and with sending money out to parents and programs.

    More early childhood news

    In New York, advocates are calling for universal child care for 2-year-olds, reports Chalkbeat.

    Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed codifying a program that provides free child care to the state’s child care workforce. She also wants to create a fund to raise child care wages through donations from businesses and community members, according to The Gazette.

    New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has proposed requiring school districts to offer free pre-K to all 3- and 4-year-olds in the state, according to NorthJersey.com. 

    Hawaii is eyeing charter schools as a way to help expand the state’s free preschool program, reports Honolulu Civil Beat.

    This story about preschool trends was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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  • Happy New Year | SRHE Blog

    Happy New Year | SRHE Blog


    by Rob Cuthbert

    SRHE News is glad to bring you the Augur Report, its prognostications for 2025, based on extensive research into the works of Nostradamus, Old Moore’s Almanac and Mystic Meg.

    January

    • Donald Trump resumes the US Presidency and announces that free speech in HE requires him to ban the use of the words Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in US HE. Elon Musk argues that this should  also be applied in the UK.
    • UUK launches another major campaign to point out that most universities really are in serious financial trouble.
    • UCEA points out the difficulty of affording any staff salary increases at all in the present climate.
    • Vice-chancellors point out that the financial difficulties facing their institutions would not be significantly alleviated if they took a 50% cut in salary, and competitive salaries are essential to enable Britain’s world class universities to recruit and retain the best leaders. Especially when it has become so difficult to recruit staff.
    • The OfS announces a concordat with Russian higher education to support a major increase in its use of AI, using Russian cyber experts. The first expansion of AI will be in the approval of new university titles: the new AI Department will be known as the Nomenklatura Department. The criteria remain unchanged: the OfS “will consult on a provider’s proposed new name and assess the extent to which the proposed name is confusing or misleading”.
    • The OfS is already the investigating authority, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner for all HE infractions, and now seeks the power to exile to Siberia any academics complicit in breaching Condition of Registration B2. Government agrees in the interests of reducing net migration.

    February

    • After the disappointing application figures for 2025 entry, UCAS launches a major advertising campaign to point out that the increase in undergraduate fees won’t make any difference to most student debt repayments.
    • UUK launches a new campaign to point out that the increase in undergraduate fees won’t make any difference to the financial troubles in most universities.
    • Government announces that even after all those new teachers are appointed there might be a bit left over for HE from the proceeds of VAT on private school fees. Teacher educators point out that after yet another year of missed targets in teacher training there is no-one qualified to apply for the new jobs in schools.
    • OfS approves a name change from Anglia Ruskin University to the University of Cambridge(shire).

    March

    • The OfS approves a name change from Oxford Brookes University to University of Oxford(shire).
    • UUK relaunches its campaign: “Most universities really are in deep financial trouble, honest.”
    • Government says there might still be something left for HE from VAT on school fees, and Elon Musk might have a point.
    • The interim temporary Archbishop of Canterbury says she will renounce the power of the Archbishop to award degrees.

    April

    • The OfS approves a name change from University of the West of England to the Greater Bristol University.
    • The OfS announces a major increase in the use of AI, to extend to all interventions on quality/standards/ breach of conditions of registration. The OfS Nomenklatura Department has been renamed, partly because no-one remembers the Soviet Union any more, and also because it was too likely to cause confusion with the rest of the OfS, who are already party-appointed bureaucrats. The suggested new name, the Behan Bots – conscripted to work for low pay, completely in the dark – is rejected because nobody remembers the Second World War any more and in any case it was too likely to cause confusion with existing university staff. OfS CEO Susan Lapworth says the new Department will now be known as the Laptops.
    • The OfS announces a concordat with Chinese higher education which will start with a new student recruitment campaign in the North East: “Huawei the lads”.

    May

    • The OfS approves a name change from Coventry University to Warwick(shire) University.
    • Government says sorry – even though they couldn’t appoint any new teachers there was nothing left from VAT on school fees because they diverted it to fill the £22billion hole in the public finances. It issues guidance on the use of language in HE, known as the Musk Directive.
    • UUK’s Taskforce on Efficiency and Transformation in Higher Education announces that it is in advanced talks with Government about restructuring the HE sector in England. Luckily the Taskforce chair is a lawyer specialising in mergers and acquisitions.

    June

    • The OfS approves a name change from Birmingham City University to the Greater Birmingham University
    • GuildHE issues a reminder that it has no formal connection with the Church of England or any other faiths but remains committed to whatever you are allowed to call diversity, equity and inclusion since the Musk Directive.
    • Canterbury Christ Church University is renamed University of Kent Two. OfS says this is unlikely to cause confusion among international students, especially since Kent is so near to Paris.
    • Bishop Grosseteste University becomes the University of Lincoln Two But We Were Here First. Leeds Beckett, Northumbria, Sheffield Hallam, Greater Birmingham and Greater Bristol consider name changes.
    • UUK issues a media release saying “we did warn you” as 30% of universities merge or close. OfS says everything will be OK, because all universities are required to have plans for an orderly exit from the market. Wimbledon fortnight begins and UCAS says “you cannot be serious”.

    July

    • OfS approves a name change for Liverpool John Moores to Liverpools University.
    • The BBC is forced to suspend filming of the new series of University Challenge after 30% of universities appearing have merged, have new names or have announced their intention to close.

    August

    • UCAS announces that the 30% reduction in available university places has luckily been matched by an equivalent fall in the number of applicants.
    • Government announces its three priorities for HE – reduction, reduction, reduction – will apply particularly to the numbers of students from all disadvantaged groups.

    September

    • The OfS approves its own name change from the Office for Students to the Office with No Students on the Board (ONO).

    October

    • Government announces its new higher education policy, with the establishment of a new corporation to take over all the universities not in a position to complain, provisionally titled the Great British University. ONO says this is unlikely to cause confusion, but governments in Wales and Scotland say they are confused since all the universities in the GBU are in England. The Northern Ireland Assembly say they’re glad it wasn’t the Great UK University, or they would have been confused. The new HE policy includes a pledge/mission/milestone promising net zero admissions by 2030, or maybe 2035.
    • The last Bishop to leave the Church of England is asked to remember to switch off all the lights to comply with its Net Zero Bishops pledge.

    November

    • The Greater London Non-University College of Monkey Business publishes its annual Report and Accounts: income £925,000; expenditure £925,000, all annual salary for the principal. It  recruited 100 students but they all left at the end of the year without leaving forwarding addresses. Having no students at all on its Board it claims to be completely aligned with the regulator.

    December

    • ONO announces it has breached its own conditions of registration and has removed itself from the Register of Approved Regulators. Dusting down a forgotten part of the Higher Education and Research Act (2017) it issues an urgent appeal – Quick, Anyone? Anyone! – for a new designated quality body to replace itself, which becomes known as the QAA appeal.
    • A High Court judgment finds that publishers have mis-sold the copyright of academics to multinational AI corporations and orders financial compensation, known as Publishers Pay Instead (PPI). Publishers set aside £100billion.
    • Universities launch a counter claim, asserting their ownership of, or failing that a pretty strong  interest in, copyright of academics in their employ, and sue to recover the costs of journal subscriptions and transitional agreements. Publishers set aside a further £100billion.
    • Multinational AI corporation share prices, now quoted only in bitcoin, continue to rise.
    • The new Wallace and Gromit film, Academic Free-Don, is set in a university where the inmates are planning a mass escape. When they realise that their new zero-hours contracts allow them to leave at any time, they apply for exile to Siberia, where they expect better pay and conditions of employment.
    • The theme for the 2026 SRHE Conference is announced: “Where do we go from here?”

    SRHE News is a not-for-prophet enterprise. No octopuses were harmed in the making of this editorial.

    SRHE News Editor Rob Cuthbert is Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Management, University of the West of England and Joint Managing Partner, Practical Academics rob.cuthbert@btinternet.com. Twitter @RobCuthbert

    Author: SRHE News Blog

    An international learned society, concerned with supporting research and researchers into Higher Education

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  • Gale Receives Platinum in 2025 Modern Library Awards from LibraryWorks for the Fourth Consecutive Year

    Gale Receives Platinum in 2025 Modern Library Awards from LibraryWorks for the Fourth Consecutive Year

    FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – Gale, part of Cengage Group, is pleased to announce that it has received four platinum awards in LibraryWorks’ eleventh annual Modern Library Awards (MLAs) for its adult learning and youth large print resources. The MLAs were created to recognize the top products and services in the library industry in a truly unbiased format. This is the fourth consecutive year Gale has been recognized by the MLAs for product excellence.

    “Being recognized for the fourth year running is a testament to Gale’s unwavering commitment to innovative learning resources,” said Paul Gazzolo, senior vice president and general manager at Gale. “Customer motivation is at the heart of everything we do to provide the best accessible learning and reading experiences for learners of all ages. This recognition is more validation that our products continue to break barriers and reach new heights in education, and we are thrilled to receive such an honor.”

    Products and services were submitted to LibraryWorks in the fall of 2024 and sent to more than 90,000 librarians at public, K-12, academic and special libraries. Only customers experienced with these products/services in their facilities were permitted to judge them, resulting in a truly unbiased score. 

    Each judge scored the products on a numeric basis from 1-10, based on a series of questions regarding functionality, value, customer service experience and overall satisfaction.

    Gale’s 2025 MLA platinum award winners include:

    • Gale Presents: Peterson’s Test and Career Prep (platinum award): offers a comprehensive set of tools to support individuals on their educational and professional journeys. Whether for high school students preparing for standardized tests, working adults seeking career changes, or those pursuing further education, the platform provides resources for success.

    “This is the best database relating to college and career preparation for teens that we use at our library! It has so many resources and the patrons love it!” –MLA judge

    • Gale Presents: Excel Adult High School (platinum award): A 21.5-credit, self-paced online high school completion program that allows public libraries to offer accredited high school diplomas to adults who wish to prepare for entry into the workforce, further their careers, or attend college.

    “Our patrons have overcome significant challenges to achieve their goal of earning a high school diploma through the Gale Presents: Excel Adult High School. I cannot emphasize enough just how impactful this program is and how it improves the lives of our graduates. Gale has helped our library system further our mission to provide services that have a truly positive impact on our community.” –MLA judge

    • Thorndike Press – Youth Large Print (platinum award): A viable reading intervention tool, similar in size as standard print with the same cover art. These books have been proven to improve decoding, increase comprehension, and reduce anxiety in developing, below-grade-level, and emerging bilingual readers.

    “Thorndike Large Print books for youth have been instrumental in helping me reach students who are struggling with reading, students who don’t enjoy reading and students who have no issues with reading! These books are for ALL my students, and because they are so accessible, ALL students can enjoy them and reap the benefits. I couldn’t highly recommend them enough.” –MLA judge

    • Gale Presents: Udemy (platinum award): Public libraries can connect patrons to nearly 30,000 on-demand video courses for upskilling or reskilling in business, technology, and personal development. Thousands of courses are taught by native speakers in 14 different languages, helping libraries reach their diverse communities.

    “(Our) Public Library is proud to offer Udemy Business as a valuable resource for our community. It provides access to a wide range of professional development courses. It helps equip our patrons with educational tools so that they are able to be successful in their career and beyond.” –MLA judge

    Jenny Newman, publisher and MLA program manager noted, “It’s hardly a surprise that Gale continues to score high. The strong partnerships they have established with libraries are what differentiate and drive their industry leadership. The quality and innovation of their adult learning and youth large print resources are truly impacting and changing the lives of all learners, keeping the company at the forefront of the market.”

    About Cengage Group and Gale

    Cengage Group, an education technology company serving millions of learners in 165 countries, advances the way students learn through quality, digital experiences. The company currently serves the K-12, higher education, professional, library, English language teaching and workforce training markets worldwide. Gale, part of Cengage Group, provides libraries with original and curated content, as well as the modern research tools and technology that are crucial in connecting libraries to learning, and learners to libraries. For more than 65 years, Gale has partnered with libraries around the world to empower the discovery of knowledge and insights – where, when and how people need it. Gale has 500 employees globally with its main operations in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For more information, please visit  www.gale.com.

    Follow Gale on:

    About LibraryWorks

    LibraryWorks helps administrators to make informed decisions about library technology, automation and software, collection development and management, facilities and furnishings, staffing, purchasing, and other areas that drive effective strategic planning and day-to-day operations. Our family of resources can enable you to identify best practices, monitor trends, evaluate new products and services, apply for grants and funding, post or find a job, and even enjoy some library humor. https://www.libraryworks.com/

    About the Modern Library Awards program The Modern Library Awards (MLAs) is a review program designed to recognize elite products and services in the market which can help library management personnel enhance the quality-of-experience for the library user and increase the performance of their library systems. https://www.modernlibraryawards.com/

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  • Acing Your Year: How You Used Top Hat in 2024

    Acing Your Year: How You Used Top Hat in 2024

    As the year draws to a close, we are once again excited to celebrate your commitment to equitable, personalized and AI-rich learning. We’re thrilled to unveil this year’s Top Hat Graded: our annual report that looks at how you and your students used our engagement platform and Ace, our AI-powered teaching and learning assistant, to your advantage. Let’s dive in.

    Giving new meaning to student engagement

    Click on target. Multiple choice. Fill-in-the-blank. It’s clear you wanted to shake up the standardized quiz this year. We’re honored to be along for the ride! You created more than 9.6 million multiple choice questions and 1.7 million long answer questions this year. But that’s not all. You also designed more than 985,000 fill-in-the-blank questions using our interactive platform. Our engaging formative assessment questions helped students stay focused before, during and after class when tackling their homework. Simply put, more questions posed meant more reason for students to complete their readings and attend class.

    We also recognize that a good debate or small group discussion can help students shape their understanding of a new topic. While Gen Z might call it a vibe check, we’re filing this under your commitment to giving every student an equal voice. You created more than 509,000 discussions this year—interspersed within your lectures, readings and assignments. In turn, more than 147,000 discussions were used by students to assess their comprehension along the way.

    Harnessing AI for good in the higher ed classroom

    Artificial intelligence has, once again, been a hot topic in higher education. This past year, you viewed Ace under a refreshing light. More than 50,100 students relied on Ace for course-specific study assistance and AI-powered practice quizzes. In turn, learners also received immediate feedback rooted in the context of their course to guide their future studying efforts.

    Now, let’s turn to you. More than 1,500 of your fellow faculty members used Ace this past year. Educators especially valued being able to add AI-generated questions into their slides using our Lecture Enhancer feature. Not only do our AI-powered features for educators save time during the question creation stage, Ace generates hints and explanations that allow students to identify their own misconceptions. Even better, we’ve charted a 182 percent increase in Ace usage among professors since our 2023 summary—speaking to the benefit of incorporating AI into the classroom.

    Using Ace to spark active learning and higher-order thinking

    Once again, you found a way to assess student comprehension without the extra time commitment. You created more than 30,400 questions using Ace’s Lecture Enhancer. Whether you wanted to drill into students’ understanding of mitosis in your biology course or Victorian architecture in your art history class, Ace offered tailored questions in response to the context of your material. Faculty also designed more than 9,200 questions using Top Hat Pages. That meant students were given yet another opportunity to assess their learning during textbook readings and homework.

    We thank you for your investment in AI-powered, active learning for every student. We wish you a successful start to the new semester!

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  • 2025 Teacher of the Year is first Indigenous honoree

    2025 Teacher of the Year is first Indigenous honoree

    By Kenn Rodriguez
    For NMEducation.com

    Halloween 2024 is a holiday that won’t be soon forgotten by Bernalillo High School teacher Lorilei Chavez. You see, October 31 was the day she was honored as the first Indigenous teacher named New Mexico Teacher of the Year.

    Sixth period was going as usual for Lorilei and her social studies class. The group was in the middle of a lesson when BHS principal, Alyssa Sanchez-Padilla, and her secretary came to the door with an urgent request: Bring your students to the school’s black box theater to bump up attendance for a guest speaker.

    “And so, you know, as a teacher, I’m like, ‘Oh no, we’re in the middle of a lesson,’” she related. “You know, I don’t want to lose valuable teaching time. But if the principal is asking you to take your students somewhere, you know, you get going.”

    As she walked with her students to the theater and the seventh-period bell rang, her principal asked to detour to sign some tutoring paperwork. While walking, Chavez noticed a few extra student resource officers. 

    “Like I was getting kind of like an inclination that something was going on, you know?” she said, noting she was dressed in 1980s style for Halloween, with a side ponytail and an off-the-shoulder shirt.

    Still thinking there was a guest speaker, Lorelei came to the theater and saw the “shimmer of cheerleading pompoms” and a huge cheer erupted as she entered the room. Assuming the cheer was for the “guest,” she got a bit spooked and started to back out of the room, she said.

    “My principal was behind me and she just put her hands on my shoulders and softly nudged me forward,” she recalled. “I saw my mom and rushed over to her. Then she points up at the ceiling and there was this huge banner that says ‘Lorelei Chavez, Teacher of the Year.’”

    “And that’s when it all just hit and took me over. And then it went from joy, like surprise to joy to like pure happy tears,” she said. 

    “It’s a life moment I’ll never forget.”

    From Bernalillo and back

    Lorilei describes herself as a “very proud product of Bernalillo Public Schools.” Beginning with kindergarten near home on the Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo Pueblo), she spent all but one year of her young life in the BPS system, beginning with Santo Domingo School and ending with graduation from Bernalillo High in 2008.

    “It’s funny because I remember being in high school thinking, ‘Oh, I want to go as far as I can. Like, I want to go to school in California. I want to go to college in Washington, D.C. And I don’t want to come back to Bernalillo,’” she recalled with a chuckle. “And then six years later, I ended up (substitute teaching) while going to college. I’ve been there ever since.”

    Beginning her college career at Central New Mexico Community College, Lorilei got her basics taken care of before transferring to the University of New Mexico. She graduated in 2018 with a degree in Native American Studies and a minor in History. Though she started as an education major and shifted away, her experiences as a substitute convinced her to go through CNM’s Alternative Licensure program, which she finished in 2020.

    “When I started subbing as I was going to (UNM), I realized that I had a really deep ability to connect with students on a level that maybe some of my colleagues weren’t able to,” she said. “Because our district is 48% Indigenous, a lot of the students that I worked with didn’t really have Indigenous teachers or teacher aides or even substitutes that looked like them.”

    Since the Bernalillo school system works with seven different tribes, Lorilei said she feels it’s important that Native students have Indigenous role models in the school setting. She used simple examples, like seeing her dressed in Native regalia or “big Native earrings” and beaded medallions to honor Native heritage.

    “I think that’s what allowed me to see that I would be a good educator,” she said. “I would have an impact on students if I did a shift and got my teacher certification.

    “And so that I think is my main drive even to today, is my ability to connect with students, uplift them, hear their voices, allow them to feel seen in the classroom, which I think creates the motivation to continue their goals and succeed in whatever they’re trying to accomplish.”

    Serving her community 

    Lorilei said being named the first Indigenous teacher to win the statewide Teacher of the Year award was obviously an honor. But because “a core value of Pueblo people is the idea of service,” she said she feels that she is representing more than herself in accepting the award. 

    “As I serve my community, I wake up every day knowing that I’m going to serve my students, my future generations as I represent Santo Domingo Pueblo,” she said. “I wake up every day thinking, ‘What impact am I going to make on my community and what impact am I able to make today on the future generation?’ So, winning an award like this has been really hard for me to accept and value the honor. Because I feel it doesn’t just belong to me. It comes from a community of educators that has raised me and taught me.”

    With her Native American Studies background, she said she strives to balance Indigenous culture and Western education in a school setting.

    “The people, the past EAs, the language teachers, the teachers who’ve taught me that have poured into my education, I think is what brought me to today,” Lorilei said. “With this title and this beautiful award, I’m able to bring home not only Santo Domingo but to the Bernalillo Public Schools. I think the pressure of being the first Indigenous Teacher of the Year is making sure I’m honoring not only my school but my students and the community that I come from.”

    ‘Indigenizing’ the Education System

    Lorilei said that as Teacher of the Year, she will emphasize “Indigenizing” education in New Mexico, as well as supporting teachers’ mental health. The desire to bring more Native experiences, stories, and perspectives into public education is something that grew from her time in the UNM Native Studies program.

    “Going to (UNM’s) Native American studies program as a college student really opened my mind to this understanding of needing to know your culture, your history, the laws and the narrative that existed in Native community,” she said. “Things that weren’t necessarily told in the history books that I studied or in the papers that I wrote. Things not in the curriculum that I was offered as a public school student.”

    “So graduating from UNM NAS instilled this understanding that going back into the public schools that I work at… I had no choice but an obligation to encourage our district and hold our district accountable when adopting curriculums and encouraging Native history in the core curriculum,” she concluded.

    Lorilei said she and her fellow educators in the Bernalillo Public Schools “are blessed” to have a district leadership that understands the equity and value of bringing in Native languages and history as a core content. 

    She also said she feels very fortunate for the opportunity to work in a district that allows her the opportunity to build a curriculum that includes Indigenous history – subjects like the Pueblo Revolt, boarding schools, Native removal, sovereignty and decolonization, in a “school building that was not necessarily built for Indigenous education but built for Western education.”

    “As the first Indigenous teacher of the year, I feel like that also is my obligation and duty, is to work to continue to advocate, to educate, so that we can uplift Native narrative, history, stories in curriculum,” she said. “Not just in high student of color populations, but in districts across the state. 

    “It is a passion of mine to Indigenize education and bring Indigenous perspective in Western curriculum. And so that’s something that I’m going to really push toward and be passionate about and continue to advocate for moving forward,” she related.

    Prioritizing balance for teachers

    Lorilei also said she is “super passionate” about state leadership and school districts starting a movement around prioritizing teacher mental health. She said she plans to “really pour some energy in as Teacher of the Year.” As a teacher working at the high school level, she said implementing teaching materials and testing guides, and “doing all the things that I need to do as a teacher to be the best teacher” leaves her drained at times. 

    “Balancing all of that with my life and my culture and everything that I am as a human being, an auntie, a sister, a cousin, is very difficult,” she said. “I really think as a state and as a nation, we really need to take a deeper look into how we are healing our teachers. How are we showing up for them in capacities that include mental wellness? And that includes body health and that includes spiritual strength in whatever capacity that they connect to.”

    She concluded: “My goal and my hope is to really work with school districts, including mine, to have wellness days, wellness fairs, professional development days where teachers are paid to take time to take care of their mental health… because we’re so spread thin from the many, many things we have to do as educators. 

    “I’d really like to see us looking at an innovative way to address teacher wellness in ways that maybe the state and the nation haven’t before.”

    The New Mexico Teacher of the Year program is sponsored by The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. The award of $ 10,000 will go to Lorilei to help with professional development opportunities and support her travel needs.

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  • More Than Half of Financial Aid Employees Likely to Seek Other Employment Within the Next Year – CUPA-HR

    More Than Half of Financial Aid Employees Likely to Seek Other Employment Within the Next Year – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | May 13, 2024

    A majority of those who work in financial aid at the nation’s colleges and universities are job hunting, according to new research from CUPA-HR and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). What are they looking for? Better pay, opportunities to work remotely and a more flexible schedule.

    A new report examining pay, pay equity, staffing, representation and retention in the higher ed financial aid workforce outlines several findings from analyses of data of financial aid employees from CUPA-HR’s 2022-23 higher ed workforce surveys and the 2023 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey. Positions included in the analyses are chief student financial aid officers, deputy heads of financial aid and student financial aid counselors.

    The analyses found that more than half (56%) of financial aid employees are at least somewhat likely to seek other employment opportunities within the next 12 months, with 1 in 3 (33%) being likely or very likely to do so. Four in 5 (79%) rank a pay increase as one of the top three reasons they would seek other employment opportunities, while 3 in 5 (59%) rank an opportunity to work remotely as one of the top three reasons they would seek other employment opportunities. The desire for a flexible schedule is also ranked as a top reason for seeking other employment by nearly 2 in 5 (37%) financial aid employees.

    Other Findings

    • Institutions with the highest number of FAFSA applications have far more student financial aid counselors than institutions with the lowest number of FAFSA applications. At each increase in FAFSA application quartile, the median number of student financial aid counselors per institution doubles (or nearly doubles). Institutions with the greatest number of FAFSA applications on median have six more student financial aid counselors than institutions with the least number of FAFSA applications.
    • On median, institutions have four financial aid employees working in one of the three examined positions. Thirteen percent of institutions have a one-person financial aid office. Even the institutions that process the lowest number of FAFSA applications tend to have need for more than one person working in their office – over half of these institutions have at least three people in their financial aid office.
    • The representation of people of color declines as the level of financial aid position increases. The representation of people of color is almost two times higher among student financial aid counselors than among chief student financial aid officers. The representation of women overall among chief student financial aid officers is lower than the representation of women within the lower-level financial aid positions, but the difference is much smaller than the declines seen for people of color.
    • Pay equity is lower among chief student financial aid officers than among lower-level financial aid positions. Black women and Hispanic or Latino men are paid equitably within student financial aid counselor and deputy head of student financial aid positions, but not within the chief student financial aid officer position. At each increase in position level, White women’s pay relative to White men in the same position decreases. White women are paid equitably to White men in student financial aid counselor positions but are paid only 94 cents per $1 paid to White men in chief student financial aid officer positions.
    • Among financial aid employees, years in position is lowest among student financial aid counselors. Of all financial aid positions, student financial aid counselors have the highest concentration of people who have been in their position for fewer than two years (43%). Retention is better among deputy heads of student financial aid and chief student financial aid officers; one-third have been in their position for 10 years or longer.

    Read the full report, The Higher Education Financial Aid Workforce: Pay, Representation, Pay Equity, and Retention, and explore the interactive graphics.



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  • Retirement Plan Changes and Workplace Protections for Pregnant Workers Included in Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Bill – CUPA-HR

    Retirement Plan Changes and Workplace Protections for Pregnant Workers Included in Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Bill – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | January 10, 2023

    On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the $1.7 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (omnibus bill) to fund the federal government through fiscal year 2023 (FY 2023). Given the “must-pass” nature of the bill, the omnibus bill also served as a vehicle for policy unrelated to government funding that was unlikely to pass as a standalone bill in Congress. Below outlines some of the highlights that will impact higher education generally and human resources specifically.

    SECURE 2.0

    Notably, the new law includes changes to the access and use of individual retirement funds. Provisions from a package of retirement-related bills, referred to as SECURE 2.0, were ultimately included in the final omnibus package. Specifically, the new law included the following provisions, in addition to others not listed here:

    • Automatic 401(k) and 403(b) plan enrollment: The new law requires employers to automatically enroll employees into newly created 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans at a rate between 3 to 10 percent of eligible wages. Employees will then have the option to opt out of the enrollment. Employers with 10 or fewer employees and companies in business for less than three years are excluded from this requirement.
    • Expanded eligibility for part-time employees: The law requires employers to provide the option to participate in employer retirement plans for part-time employees who work between 500 and 999 hours for at least two consecutive years (lowered from three consecutive years previously required).
    • Emergency expenses and savings accounts: Employees would be allowed to withdraw up to $1,000 from retirement accounts for qualified emergency expenses without facing early withdrawal penalties if the worker is under 59.5 years old. Additionally, the law allows employers to offer employees an emergency savings account through payroll deductions for amounts up to $2,500.
    • Matching employer contributions for student loan payments: Employers will be allowed to make contributions to their company retirement plan on behalf of employees who are paying student loans and are not contributing to a retirement account as a result.
    • Roth treatment of employer contributions: The new law grants employers the option to amend their retirement plans and allow employees to choose their employer’s matching and non-elective contributions to be made as Roth contributions.
    • Multiple Employer and Pooled Employer Plans for 403(b) plans: The new law allows employers to participate in Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs) and Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs) for 403(b) plans.

    The final law also included several changes to individual activity with respect to their retirement plans, including an increase to the “catch-up” contribution limits of up to $10,000 for older retirement savers and an increase to the age an individual is required to begin taking minimum distributions from their retirement accounts, which is now effective at age 73 and effective at age 75 effective in 2033.

    Workplace Protections for Pregnant Workers

    Additionally, Congress was able to agree on the inclusion of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers in the omnibus bill.

    Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

    Passed by the House in May 2021, the PWFA specifically declares that it is an unlawful employment practice for employers with 15 or more employees to do any of the following:

    • fail to make reasonable accommodations to known limitations of such employees unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on an entity’s business operation;
    • require a qualified employee affected by such condition to accept an accommodation other than any reasonable accommodation arrived at through an interactive process;
    • deny employment opportunities based on the need of the entity to make such reasonable accommodations to a qualified employee;
    • require such employees to take paid or unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided; or
    • take adverse action in terms, conditions or privileges of employment against a qualified employee requesting or using such reasonable accommodations.

    Though the bill enjoyed bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, Republicans opposed bringing the bill to a Senate vote without the inclusion of a religious exemption for employers. Such exemptions were provided in the omnibus bill’s version of the PWFA, ultimately helping lead to its passage.

    PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act

    The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act passed the House of Representatives in October 2021 with bipartisan support. The bill aims to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to expand access to breastfeeding accommodations in the workplace for lactating employees and builds upon existing protections in the 2010 Breaktime for Nursing Mothers Act by broadening breastfeeding accommodations and workplace protections. In the new law, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act is expanded to include salaried employees exempt from overtime pay requirements under the FLSA as well as other categories of employees currently exempt from such protections, such as teachers, nurses and farmworkers. It also clarifies that break time provided under this bill is considered compensable hours worked so long as the worker is not completely relieved of duty during such breaks, and it ensures remedies for nursing mothers for employer violations of the bill.

    Similar to the PWFA, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act did not reach a Senate floor vote, leaving the omnibus bills as one of the last options for passage before the 117th Congress’s term expired.

    Immigration Provisions

    Due to the situation at the southern border, the new law excluded any major immigration overhauls, such as the Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act, which would have addressed the immigration visa backlog and made changes to the H-1B visa program. Additionally, protections for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and Dreamers that have been threatened by recent court decisions were not included in the final bill enacted into law.

    Despite the exclusion of important reforms, the new law reauthorized several expiring immigration programs that are already utilized by institutions of higher education, including additional funds for the E-Verify program.

    Higher Education Funding

    Several provisions were included in the omnibus package that will increase funding for a variety of higher education programs. Notably, the bill includes a $500 increase to the maximum Pell Grant a recipient can receive, raising the total to $7,395 for the 2023-24 award year. Additionally, the bill included funding increases for Federal Work-Study grants, Title III and V programs, Postsecondary Student Success Grants, and the TRIO and GEAR UP programs.

    CUPA-HR will continue to analyze the provisions included in the FY 2023 funding bill and will keep members apprised of any additional noteworthy provisions included in the law.



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  • Association Leaders Gathered to Learn, Laugh and Launch a New Year at the 2022 ALP! – CUPA-HR

    Association Leaders Gathered to Learn, Laugh and Launch a New Year at the 2022 ALP! – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | July 20, 2022

    CUPA-HR’s Association Leadership Program (ALP) has taken place every July for more than two decades, bringing together chapter, region, and national board members; association staff; key corporate partners; and other invited guests. After two years of meeting only virtually, these leaders were finally able to meet again in person last week.

    “We’re Still Standing!”

    The HR challenges of the past two years have included leading emergency COVID-19 response, exploring a new frontier of flexible work, and addressing unprecedented talent recruitment and retention challenges. Through it all, higher ed HR professionals have been on the front lines, adapting and transforming the workplace with resourcefulness, leadership and strategic insights.

    To celebrate that strength and resilience, CUPA-HR president and CEO, Andy Brantley, and national board chair, Jay Stephens, kicked off the two-day meeting with Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” playing in the background and issued an irresistible photo challenge for attendees. (Be sure to check out the photos posted to Twitter with the hashtag #cupahr22.)

    Building Knowledge and Connection

    The ALP’s highly interactive program included:

    • tips for managing chapters and developing a leadership pipeline
    • updates on CUPA-HR’s work on Title IX and other public policy imperatives
    • a practical overview of CUPA-HR’s DEI Maturity Index and new Research Center
    • a discussion of winning strategies for higher ed’s post-pandemic war for talent
    • a presentation on cultivating trauma-informed practice in higher education leadership

    Beyond the programming, however, what attendees valued most about the event was the opportunity to validate their campus experiences in conversations with peers, rekindle the motivation behind their work, and take away great ideas for transforming their HR teams and their institutions in ways big and small.

    Interested in Taking Your Professional Development Further?

    CUPA-HR’s volunteer leaders have committed to advancing the profession and the mission of CUPA-HR. They understand the complexities of higher ed HR, and they want to enhance the knowledge and skills they need to lead their institutions into the future.

    Are you ready to take that next step in developing your leadership skills, shaping the profession, and gaining one-of-a-kind access to successful practices and HR professionals from across the country? Then CUPA-HR leadership — in a chapter, at the region level, or even on the national board of directors — might be right for you. Learn more about how you can get involved.

     

     



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