Education News category, Page 3
Former Duquesne journalism professor Maggie Patterson dies
Maggie Jones Patterson, a revered journalism professor who mentored generations of student reporters at Duquesne University, returned to campus in October to help celebrate the student newspaper’s 100th anniversary. Just weeks later, the longtime educator and advocate for young journalists died Monday of a heart attack following surgery, leaving behind...
Colleges grapple with lukewarm perception of their importance
Joel Bauman has been involved in college admissions for 30 years, and he can’t remember a more challenging time than what he faces today. “It has become more cynical,” said Bauman, senior vice president for enrollment management at Duquesne University, “but you can’t blame families, given the financial situation.” Colleges...
Western Pennsylvania teachers get creative with classrooms in learning
Jessica Pilyih rarely sits at her desk. And her students don’t sit at theirs, either. “I am not a desk person,” Pilyih said as she sat at one of the semi-circular round tables inside her fifth-grade classroom at Holiday Park Intermediate School in the Plum Borough School District. “I have...
Schools starting to feel the pinch of state budget impasse
Art students at St. Joseph High School in Harrison spent a recent class learning the techniques of charcoal drawing — again. They were scheduled to be learning to use paints, but with government funding largely cut off because of the state’s ongoing budget impasse, the school doesn’t have money to...
Cornell University research funds to be restored in deal with Trump administration
Cornell University’s $250 million in federal grants were restored under a deal with President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Friday, the fifth such agreement to be struck amid a conservative crackdown on institutions. The agreement requires the university, known for its agricultural programs, to pay the government $30 million and...
Quaker Valley High School offering students new manufacturing, fabricating opportunities
A new hands-on course with recently acquired machines will soon begin at Quaker Valley High School. Pre-engineering and technology teacher Mike Santucci is gearing up to launch his manufacturing and fabrication course this month. It starts his second 12-week program this school year. Students are finishing up construction and home...
Pitt lab launches $42M project to merge latest in wheelchair, robotic arm tech
A laboratory in Pittsburgh’s Bakery Square is poised to make the next breakthrough in wheelchairs, a mostly stagnant industry with huge quality of life implications for millions of disabled Americans. Researchers at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and the U.S. Department of Veterans...
Point Park to help Ohio students hit by university program cuts
Students at public universities across Ohio are seeing their majors and programs disappear amid state-mandated restructuring and budget cuts. In response, Point Park University in Pittsburgh is stepping in to help. A new transfer scholarship, the Buckeye Fresh Start Scholarship, will support displaced Ohio students through additional funds and academic...
Carnegie Mellon president launches advisory board to review student mental health, well-being
A new advisory board at Carnegie Mellon University will evaluate students’ mental well-being and their academic experience. President Farnam Jahanian announced the university will roll out a President’s Advisory Board on Student Well-Being, Mental Health and the Academic Experience. Jahanian, in a letter to campus, said the board will review...
Longtime Penn-Trafford principal set to retire after 26 years in district
Longtime Penn-Trafford Principal Jim Simpson discovered his love of teaching while tutoring classmates in math at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Prior to enrolling in the university’s computer science program, the New Kensington native never considered a career in education. “I had my (general education) math courses and I ended up...
Franklin Regional in the running for billionaire’s $1M education award
Franklin Regional School District has a chance to become the first public education system to earn a $1 million prize for educators who exemplify outstanding, transformational innovation in learning. The district is among 23 contenders for the Yass Prize, a national award created by Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass and his...
PennWest review aims to make programs stronger; some existing could ‘sunset’
The goal of an ongoing review of academic programs at Pennsylvania Western University is to ensure offerings meet area workforce demands in a way that’s sustainable to the college, said James Fisher, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs. PennWest, a state-owned university comprising campuses in California, Clarion and...
Enrollment drops at Penn State’s closing branch campuses in Western Pennsylvania
While overall enrollment at Penn State’s main campus remains steady, universitywide enrollment this fall decreased by 1.6% over last year, and dropped 5.7% overall at branch campuses. According to Penn State data released this week, 386 students are enrolled at Penn State New Kensington this fall. That’s a 10.6% decrease...
Does ‘6-7’ make you feel old and out-of-touch? Here’s why it’s so popular.
How are you feeling? “6-7.” How tall are you? “6-7.” What time is it? “6-7.” This week, Dictionary.com announced “6-7” (pronounced “six-seven”) as its Word of the Year, putting the nonsense internet slang trend that’s exploded among Gen Alpha and Gen Z – and frustrated parents and teachers – back...
Chartiers Valley to deploy AI school safety platform
Chartiers Valley School District will work with a Carnegie Mellon University spinout to deploy a threat detection system at district buildings. School directors on Tuesday, Oct. 28 approved a five-year contract with CurvePoint for the Wi-AI Perimeter Threat Detection system. Wi-AI transforms standard Wi-Fi signals into a real-time safety system...
AI chatbot, ‘Skilly,’ to answer prospective Point Park University students’ questions
Prospective Point Park University students may soon be asking admissions questions to an AI chatbot. Skilly, a chatbot developed by SkillyAI of Pittsburgh, will assist Point Park’s admissions office in responding to questions from potential students and their families, said Marlin Collingwood, university vice president of enrollment management. “We’re in...
Union: PennWest to furlough more than a dozen employees
Pennsylvania Western University plans to furlough employees at its campuses in California and Clarion because of financial and enrollment challenges. Earlier this month, PennWest notified AFSCME Council 13 that it intends to furlough more than a dozen employees at California and Clarion beginning Nov. 16, according to the union. Union...
Lisa Lambert named Chatham University president
Lisa Lambert, a longtime professor and administrator at Pittsburgh’s Chatham University, has been named the university’s 21st president. “Chatham has been a central part of my life for many years, and I am truly grateful and honored to be named Chatham University’s president,” Lambert said in a statement. “As president,...
CMU study on brain-hand interaction could improve prosthetics
When people sit down for a meal, they don’t think about what to do with their hands when eating. It’s just second nature. Yet, their hands are constantly adapting posture and grip to the cutlery, food and drinks on the table, in order to enable the goal of eating. “Our...
Pitt-Greensburg cybersecurity program receives national recognition
Michael Pry is finally seeing the outcome of a goal he has worked toward for four years. The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg information technology instructor said the Hempfield campus cybersecurity program has been recognized by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. Pitt-Greensburg joins at least 494...
Westmoreland Intermediate Unit looks to borrow millions, warns of possible layoffs during budget impasses
The Westmoreland Intermediate Unit wants to borrow $2 million to keep services and programs operating during the ongoing state budget crisis, the organization’s leader said. If the Intermediate Unit board of directors approves borrowing the money through a revenue anticipation loan, it can avoid disruptions through the remainder of the...
Social media’s impact on children topic of panel discussion on ‘Anxious Generation’
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg communications professor Jessica Ghilani likens the design of social media platforms to casinos without windows. The introduction of algorithmic sorting to Facebook in 2009 paved the way for social media platforms to generate endless streams of content for users — a system Ghilani describes as...
Pitt to deploy new AI tool to assist students, faculty
Studying and coursework might look a little more high-tech at the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt has signed a universitywide agreement with Anthropic and Amazon Web Services for an AI model — Claude for Education — that can pose open-ended questions and offer support for students, preparing them for professional AI...
Dyslexia simulation reveals challenges 20% of population faces
Hailey Levin has known for years that her daughter is dyslexic. But experiencing for the first time what it might be like for her, she said, was almost heartbreaking. Levin was among about two dozen people, largely parents like herself, who participated in a dyslexia simulation event the Pennsylvania branch...
University of Virginia strikes deal to pause Trump administration investigations
WASHINGTON — The University of Virginia has agreed to abide by White House guidance forbidding discrimination in admissions and hiring, becoming the latest in a growing list of campuses striking deals with the Trump administration as it tries to pause months of scrutiny brought by the U.S. Justice Department. The...
