Metropolitan State University offers
study abroad
Seven Metropolitan State University students recently returned from a trip to Nicaragua led by Dr. Kathryn Kelley, associate professor of the Communication, Writing and Arts department. The students, ranging in age from 22 to 60, spent half of their days doing volunteer work at the local community center and the other half studying Spanish. Weekends were comprised of traveling and shopping. The entire two-week trip cost roughly $1,000. Dr. Kelley’s theory on studying abroad is that money shouldn’t be the deciding factor. “Can you learn something about the culture, about yourself and have a good time?” is all she asks of her students...
A chat with the chancellor
Metropolitan State University is one of the seven state universities in the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities (MnSCU) system, which also is the parent organization of the state’s 25 community and technical colleges. James H. McCormick, Ph.D., became the third chancellor of the MnSCU system in July 2001 and is responsible for 54 campuses and 10 attached centers and service sites. None of the MnSCU institutions are affiliated with the four campuses of the University of Minnesota system.
Dr. McCormick, your duties as chancellor cover all 25 of Minnesota’s two-year state colleges and all seven four-year state universities. How much and how often does your work cause you to be on the road at over 50 locations?
Last year, I drove nearly 17,000 miles visiting campuses. I believe that an important part of my job is visiting campuses and talking directly with students, faculty, staff, local business leaders...
University of Minnesota under FIRE
In recent months the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) department at the University of Minnesota came under scrutiny after releasing plans to incorporate their Teacher Education Redesign Initiative (TERI), which directs the university’s teacher education program. As part of the initiative, this proposal would require teachers to “take a political litmus test to enforce an ideology centered on a narrow view of cultural competence,” according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE)...