Daily Lumina News 062521

Call it the “great reassessment of work,” the “great resignation,” or the “big churn.” Whatever the case, today’s job market is facing massive upheaval amid growing evidence that millions of Americans are rethinking what they want from work.
There’s a shift underway—and whether it ends up being seismic or something smaller, it has major implications for the way we educate and prepare people for careers.

Freshman year is about figuring out who and what you like. Students begin pinpointing their interests, academically and otherwise, and determining how to pursue them. To facilitate this, colleges offer first-year students an abundance of people to meet and new things to try—and push them to take advantage of that at every turn.
This year’s rising sophomores—even those like Wyatt Ashton who technically spent a year living and learning on campus—didn’t have access to the full abundance. And they didn’t get that push. As a result, colleges will in many ways have two cohorts of first-year students this fall.

With the restoration of Pell Grants to incarcerated students, the expectation is that the number of higher education programs will grow, benefiting students, their families and communities, as well as departments of correction, as such programs improve prison environments.
These benefits will only be realized, however, if the programs offered are quality programs that lead to student learning, credits, and degrees, write Catharine Bond Hill and Meagan Wilson of Ithaka S+R in this op-ed.

Karla Mercado was 11 years old in 2012 when she saw President Barack Obama on TV announce the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Mercado is 19 now and a college student in Virginia. She is a newcomer to DACA—or at least she hopes to be.
Mercado is also part of a new generation of undocumented people who qualified for DACA during the Trump administration, which fought against the program. Now, they're relying on President Joe Biden to secure their future.

After a year upended by the pandemic, six high school graduates from around the United States spoke to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona about their hopes for the future of education. On their minds were issues like the digital divide, racial justice, and the challenges facing undocumented students.
From Brownsville, Tennessee, to the Bronx in New York City, they offered Cardona a window into their lives as students. They also challenged him about the ways schools are falling short in their communities—and possible solutions for change.

During the pandemic, Idaho colleges and universities have struggled to recruit students from several key demographics: in-state students, rural students, students from low-income households, and students of color.
Vaccines could help Idaho’s college campuses move past the pandemic. More face-to-face classes, fewer Zoom sessions. More events and activities, fewer health protocols. More predictability, less uncertainty. But even if campuses return to normal this fall, that doesn’t mean students will return to campus.