As Leonardo da Vinci applied his intricate knowledge of human anatomy to create timeless art, so 21st-century technology developers must combine technical skill with multi-disciplinary insight.

12/14/15
-by Denis Nekipelov, Associate Professor of Economics and Computer Science at the University of Virginia.

What skills do you need to get hired by top tech firms today?

As a professor of economics and computer science, I hear this question more than any other from students, and it’s the top question I ask of colleagues working at today’s major tech firms. Their answer is simple and daunting: “We want the full package.”
Leading-edge tech companies are defined by consumer-facing products and internal “startup-style” culture. Thriving in that environment requires knowledge of data sciences and social sciences. Graduates interested in tech will certainly need practical knowledge, but many will also need abstract theory. They must be able to appreciate the details and the big picture, to code and to codify.

If you look at any category in an app store, you see top mobile apps that get thousands of downloads and reviews and a very long tail of apps that barely get any consumer attention. Those forgotten apps have failed to appeal to enough people, often because developers did not analyze demand accurately or strategically monetize and market the product. Knowledge of human behavior — supported by science — can predict the success of digital products. Such knowledge comes in large part from the social sciences and humanities.

For example, a graduate who understands fundamental concepts like the Nash equilibrium — a game-theory concept holding that players’ strategies are based not on logic alone but on knowledge of other players — will better understand how consumers behave. A graduate who studied linguistics will be better equipped to develop artificial intelligence-based applications, which rely on a deep understanding of language. A graduate who studied music or art will be ready to design more compelling virtual environments.

This is not to say, though, that technology firms need purely social scientists. Tech firms’ startup culture means that new IT products, even larger ones like Microsoft Windows or Mac OS, are developed by very small teams. There is no room for a theorizing economist or a sociologist. The development process requires constant testing and changes to source code. The urgency increases when the product is first released: Early bugs must be detected and instantly fixed. Every team member needs to understand the technology at a minute level.

Consequently, the most compelling hire will be at once an engineer and a social scientist — a “New Renaissance Man.” As Leonardo da Vinci applied his intricate knowledge of human anatomy to create timeless art, so 21st-century technology developers must combine technical skill with multi-disciplinary insight. These employees are the “full package” — social scientists who can articulate principles of consumer behavior and manage complex computing infrastructure. They are computer scientists and engineers who can use economic models and sociology theory to accurately analyze, prove and meet consumer demand.

As an educator, I have to admit that the American higher education system is still far from developing that “New Renaissance Man.” Too often, the education community interprets demand for integrated fundamental knowledge as demand for number-crunching skills combined with some literacy in economics or business. This has led to a proliferation of “business analytics” and “data analytics” concentrations that focus narrowly on technical competence. This shortsighted strategy could lead to the development of skills that become antiquated before students graduate, as technology responds rapidly to changing demand.

The most employable graduates will have knowledge beyond specific infrastructure, programming language or statistical software. Their knowledge will be fundamental.
My advice to undergraduates would not be to take a class in Python, but instead take a class in the theory of algorithms. Similarly, do not take a class in online auctions; instead, take a class in game theory. Many undergraduates, especially those who find jobs with the Googles and Microsofts of today, already follow this strategy. However, they need more institutional support.

My advice to institutions is to develop more integrative interdisciplinary programs to adequately address 21st-century industry demand for talent. At the new Data Sciences Institute at the University of Virginia, we have found success in creating centers that foster interdisciplinary collaboration — one focuses on big data ethics, law and policy, another on how data science is transforming knowledge. We have also used reading groups and lecture series to gather faculty, students and private sector leaders in technology, economics, public policy and other key areas. We want students to not only develop and create technology, but also thoughtfully discuss its implications and accurately predict its outcomes, with sound social science backing up their conclusions.

Such efforts should be but the beginning, as the new landscape of the technology sector calls for increasing involvement of social science in places previously exclusive to engineering and computer science. Technology is changing at a rapid pace, and universities must prepare a skilled workforce that can easily adapt to even the most dizzying rate of change.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
– Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio

The findings reinforce advice that spending more at a for-profit school doesn’t pay off

-by Truman Lewis

You read it everywhere: advice to prospective college students that they look first to public community colleges rather than for-profit schools, which can be five times as expensive.

Now a study by researchers at the University of Missouri finds that hiring managers show no preference for hiring people with for-profit college credentials compared to those holding comparable credentials from public community colleges.

“Tuition at for-profit colleges can be as much as five times higher than at two-year community colleges,” said lead researcher Cory Koedel. “When people are weighing their higher-education options, tuition cost and the ability to gain employment after school should be considered heavily. This study shows that no significant difference exists with respect to generating employer interest between individuals with community college and for-profit degrees. For many people, community college may be the better option financially.”

Random résumés
For their study, Koedel, Rajeev Darolia, an assistant professor in the MU Truman School of Public Affairs, and their co-authors, randomly generated thousands of résumés that included either a for-profit college credential, a two-year community college credential, or only a high school diploma. The researchers then sent the résumés to a number of job openings for open positions in fields including sales, customer service, information technology, medical assistance and office, and administrative assistance. T

They found that hiring managers called back to inquire about fake candidates at the same rate, regardless of whether the candidates held community college or for-profit credentials.

“It is clear that employers are not placing any kind of higher value on for-profit credentials relative to community college credentials,” Koedel said. “While for-profit colleges may be a good solution for some people, they are expensive, and our study indicates that there are other, more cost-effective education options that are perceived similarly by employers.”

This study was published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.

YOU ARE NOT A TEACHER UNTIL YOUR FIRST DEATH THREAT!!!

-by Ogeche Emechebe

“Computer science isn’t typically a required course in high school, but according to one Wisconsin professor, it’s one that’s necessary.

Dennis Brylow, associate professor of math, statistics and computer science at Marquette University, is working to double the amount of high schools that offer computer science courses in Wisconsin.

In 2013, Marquette University received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to promote computer science courses in Wisconsin high schools. The 3-year grant is intended to boost the number of computer science teachers in the state. Currently, less than 7 percent of Wisconsin high schools offer computer science courses.

“We came up with a three-pronged plan to try to increase the number of teachers and to permanently fix the pipeline that provides new teachers,” Brylow said. “We applied to the National Science Foundation and it took about three years of getting the proposal accepted, but it’s brought a million dollars to Wisconsin to essentially double the amount of computer science teachers in the state.”

Several groups came together to apply for the grant, including the computer science faculty at Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s computer science department, the Wisconsin chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association and advisers from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The first part of the process is to get existing computer science teachers on board to teach an introductory course, calledExploring Computer Science. In summer 2014, professors from UCLA came to Milwaukee to teach the course to local teachers. Now that the teachers are trained, the goal is to have them train other teachers in the state to build a team of experts.

Exploring Computer Science, which also has an introductory course curriculum for students, has been implemented in 18 school districts across the state, including six public high schools in Milwaukee that have added computer science programs since the grant.

The course was first introduced at public schools last year. Brylow said so far the feedback has been positive and has inspired some students to pursue computer science further.

The second piece of the plan consists of easing the process for computer science teachers to receive their license. Getting certified is difficult, according to Brylow. According to one report from the Computer Science Teachers Association, the process is described as “confused, disparate, and sometimes absurd.”

UW-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater are the only universities left in the state that offer programs to get certified, after many universities began dropping the program in the 1990s.

“Whitewater has graduated three computer science teachers in the past five years and La Crosse has graduated zero in the past five years,” Brylow said. “So we identified that one of the problems is nobody knows how to teach this one critical course called the Computer Science Teaching Methods course.

“So the second prong of the grant was designing a modern version of this course using all the latest research and running initial versions of it this summer and next, and building it in a way that will be easy to adopt at other universities,” he said.

Also helping raise the level of expertise in local classrooms is the fact that Wisconsin is one of only two states (Arizona is the other) requiring that a computer science teacher be licensed or certified in computer science to teach the course. They are also the only states that have specific regulations on what a computer science teacher should know.

Andrew Kuemmel, a computer science teacher at West High School, was on the leadership team of the National Science Foundation grant. Kuemmel, who teaches Computer Science Principles, is working on creating an Advanced Placement version of the class, which is expected to roll out in the 2016-17 school year. West High School currently has three computer science classes and has offered its classes for around 30 years now.

“My students learn about how search engines work, how we process big data, and what is the impact of computing in society,” Kuemmel said.

Kuemmel said there’s been an increase in students taking computer science courses, with enrollment in such classes at about 200. All grade levels are able to sign up for it. “

http://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-community-colleges/15076/

-by Mark Huffman, 8/31/15, ConsumerAffairs.com

“While policymakers have wrung their hands over the increasing cost of a college education, and students and families have been buried deeper in student loan debt, community colleges have evolved into an efficient, practical, and affordable educational choice.

That’s the conclusion of a study of the nation’s community colleges by WalletHub, a personal finance website, which finds in some cases community colleges are outperforming four-year colleges and universities.

Community colleges have long been associated with students who couldn’t win acceptance to a traditional college or university, and with non-traditional students – those returning for their education while holding down a full-time job.

“Much of their ‘second-rate college’ stigma stems from three factors: price, demographics and graduation times,” the authors write. “Although their relatively cheaper tuition rates are a clear incentive, affordability also signals subpar educational quality to skeptics. And with an average student age of 28, the nontraditional profile of the typical community-college attendee perpetuates a misconception — one that assumes these students flunked out of high school and consequently failed admissions standards at ‘real’ universities.”

The study points out that a vast majority of non-traditional students are balancing their studies with jobs, family, or both — commitments that often limit their enrollment to one or two classes per semester and force them to delay graduation.

Drawing traditional students

But increasingly, as college tuition costs have skyrocketed, many traditional students have chosen to attend a community college for their first two years – at much less cost – then finish at a traditional four-year college, drastically reducing the cost of a bachelor’s degree.

The WalletHub study also notes that in 22 states, community colleges have expanded to include four-year bachelor’s degree programs in high-demand fields.

Besides their low cost, the study finds schedule flexibility, rigorous coursework, and smaller class sizes make community colleges appealing to a wider number of students. Of course, some of these institutions are better than others.

Ratings

The WalletHub study compared 670 community colleges in the U.S. to find the best, relying on a total of 17 key metrics, ranging from the cost of in-state tuition and fees to student-faculty ratio.

Among the winners is Dine College of Arizona, which scored the lowest cost of in-state tuition and fees.

Guttman Community College in New York spends the most per student. It was also tops in Highest Level of Collaborative Learning and Highest Level of Student-Faculty Interaction.

Renton Technical College took top honors for the Highest Graduation Rate.

Six schools – West Georgia Technical College; Alabama Southern Community College; Dine College; Rich Mountain Community College in Arkansas; Columbia College and Porterville College, both in California, tied in the important category of Lowest Student Loan Default Rate.

Northern Oklahoma College was judged to have the Highest Return on Educational Investment.

According to the College Board, the average in-state tuition at a community college is $3347. That compares to $9,139 for in-state tuition at a public four-year university.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwn0R1PFUwU

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
CAREER PLANNING
Coping with “Career Menopause”
-by Bronwyn Fryer
OCTOBER 28, 2009

“Night sweats. Heart palpitations. Crying jags. Mood swings. I’m a 55-year old woman, well and gratefully past that hormonal “change of life.” So what the heck was this thing?

My brilliant (and younger) colleague Julia Kirby took me out for a glass of wine and patted my arm. “Don’t worry,” she told me sympathetically. “It’s career menopause.” Count on Julia to consistently deliver le mot juste.

I’ve always loved my job, but for ages I’ve been feeling something else — call it a longing for greater self-fulfillment — tugging at me. Relatives and friends have had brushes with death, or have died. I, too, have felt the shadow of my own mortality. I’ve been aching to write The Great American Novel, or volunteer for the Peace Corps, or sing in my own band, or do some other as-yet-undefined-thing — before it’s too late.

I’ve spent sleepless nights wondering whether I could possibly afford to make a career change — an especially crazy idea in a down economy.

Those of us in Jethro Tull’s “Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die” cohort are caught in a bind. We’re working at full-tilt because we have dependents and financial obligations — we can’t afford to retire early. At the same time, we’re getting tired and thinking of downsizing. We are proud of our well-honed experience and skills, but we’re also yearning to polish long-neglected aptitudes or build new ones. Many of us are frustrated and restless.

I called Marc Freedman, who runs a think tank called Civic Ventures. His organization studies issues affecting boomers who are undergoing psychic, generational, physical and economic transitions.

“An enormous number of people your age are hitting the career wall,” Marc told me. “You’ve been working very hard for a long time. The ‘pause’ in the term ‘career menopause’ catches it exactly. It feels awkward, uncomfortable, personal, and lonely. But you’re not alone at all.” Marc observed that at my stage of life there is no clearly-defined path, as there is for my college-bound daughter. “You are in a do-it-yourself situation.”

According to a survey by Civic Ventures:

• A majority of Americans in the 40-70 age bracket want work with more meaning (i.e., work that contributes directly to society such as teaching, healthcare, government or nonprofit work).
• 2/3 of those interested in what Freeman calls “encore careers” want to use their skills and experience to help others.
• Those most interested in ‘encore careers’ are trailing-edge boomers – ages 44-50.
• And get this: 84% of those who found jobs in education, healthcare, government and nonprofit work say they get a huge amount of satisfaction in their jobs.

So what are we all make of this? If we want to “retire retirement,” what other options do we have?

I finally hit on a solution that works for me. I’ve changed jobs — I’m no longer a senior HBR editor but a “contributing” editor. I love the title. (Hey — I’m contributing!) In my new role I’m off the payroll but working on freelance projects for my company. I’m also diving into new undertakings — volunteering in a hospice, songwriting, and catching up on the part of me that’s been ignored for a very long while.”

-by Chris Rickert
6/16/15

Employers worry about labor shortages. One man’s shortage is another man’s raise!!!

Besides finding qualified workers, concerns over rising health care costs are also prevalent.

“If more than four years of total Republican control of state government isn’t providing the companies that belong to Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce with the skilled employees they need, then maybe they should try doing more of what they should have been doing already: Hire unskilled people with brains and work ethic and train them themselves.

WMC President and CEO Kurt Bauer is only the latest business representative whose rhetoric suggests workers should be showing up for their first day on the job ready to contribute to the company’s bottom line.

And if workers haven’t shelled out their own money for the training they need, they should be able to rely on legislators to force the taxpayers to shell out.

“Wisconsin business leaders are becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of qualified workers as well as the lack of action by politicians to address the issue,” Bauer said in a statement detailing the results of the latest WMC survey of business leaders.

The survey and meetings with WMC members show worker shortages run the gamut, Bauer told me, from entry-level to more advanced positions, from machinists to IT professionals.

The group supports funding technical colleges and Wisconsin Fast Forward, a state worker-training grant program, as ways to close the skills gap. It also participates in state efforts to reinvigorate company apprenticeship programs.

WMC’s latest survey didn’t try to ascertain how much WMC members themselves were doing to train workers, but Bauer said that’s something the lobbying group encourages, too.

“The strategy and approach changes depending on the sector of the economy, but apprenticeships, internships, part-time jobs, etc., are all part of the solution,” he said.

“Businesses that ‘grow your own’ will have a major leg up on their competitors.”

That’s good to hear, because it’s not as if Gov. Scott Walker’s administration, its allies in the Legislature and taxpayers have been doing nothing.

Technical colleges have seen cuts, but Wisconsin Fast Forward has approved the award of $12.5 million in grants since its creation in 2013, according to the Department of Workforce Development, and DWD and Walker’s office said more than $100 million went to worker training in the 2013-15 budget.

But neither should elected officials, taxpayers and job seekers have to do everything.

I’ve had a lot of jobs in my life, none of which I was specifically trained for by anybody but my employers.

Before I was allowed near one of the massive woks at the Chinese restaurant where I worked, for example, I spent hours cutting up vegetables into variously shaped tiny pieces under the tutelage of my boisterous and politically incorrect Asian boss.
Think “The Karate Kid,” but with food and more profanity.

The benefit for my employers is that I was a blank slate upon which they could write their way of doing things. The benefits for me were skill sets I was paid to attain.

Among the benefits to taxpayers was they didn’t have to foot the bill for the schooling I needed in order to make one mean Szechuan beef — that is, until I was actually able to make them one mean Szechuan beef.”

Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/columnists/chris-rickert/chris-rickert-businesses-who-need-trained-workers-should-well-train/article_00fa9a1b-fb0b-58f1-8781-0f621c7f1e19.html#ixzz3dFTJ49gd

6/3/15 • By Pat Schneider

A new study reveals that the vast majority of colleges look at student disciplinary records during the admissions process, a practice that college access advocates call a civil rights issue that disproportionately bars students of color and students with disabilities from higher education.

“Education Suspended: The Use of High School Disciplinary Records in College Admissions,” found that three-quarters of colleges and universities collect high school disciplinary information, and that 89 percent of those institutions use the information in making admission decisions. The study, conducted by the Center for Community Alternatives, also found that half of all high schools disclose disciplinary information to colleges, even though they are not required to do so.

What’s more, 75 percent of colleges that include disciplinary records in admissions do not have written policies on how to use them and 62 percent of high schools have no written policies on disclosure of the records.

The Center for Community Justice, a New York-based nonprofit organization, advocates on behalf of students involved in the criminal justice system.

Since a 2012 release of federal data showing that African-American students and students with disabilities were disproportionately suspended and expelled, school districts across the country — including the Madison Metropolitan School District — have been revamping discipline policies in an effort to end the disparity.

This study looks at how the disparate impact of school discipline practices may follow students beyond their K-12 years.

“The stark racial disparities in the application of suspension and expulsion make the use of this information a civil rights issue,” the authors write.

Officials from the Center for Community Justice are calling on college admissions officers to stop asking for the disciplinary files of students and for high school officials to stop providing them.

“In the absence of data that show how many students are accepted or rejected once they disclose a disciplinary record, it is not enough for college admissions counselors to offer assurances that a school disciplinary record is not likely to impede admission to college,” the study’s authors conclude. “Moreover, vague assurances will do little to assuage the fears of students who are the most vulnerable to school suspension – poor students of color, whose life experiences have subjected them to exclusion in many social domains.”

As for the high schools’ participation, one argument raised by the study appeals to the to high schools’ self interest.

“High schools do not benefit from disclosing the information because it may limit access to higher education for their students,” Emily NaPier, a senior research associate and spokesperson for the CCA, told Education Week.

5/29/15

-By Jessie Opoien | The Capital Times

Changes proposed for public education in Wisconsin are drawing national attention.

While the Legislature’s budget committee prepares to take up proposals to cut $300 million from the University of Wisconsin System and to make expansive changes to the Department of Natural Resources, the rest of the state — and country — is still taking note of sweeping changes to Wisconsin’s education system approved last week.

The Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss published a rundown on Thursday under the headline, “What the heck is going on with Wisconsin public education?” And earlier this week, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers called one provision in the 29-page proposal passed by the Joint Finance Committee “breathtaking in its stupidity.”

While Strauss focused largely on funding for public and private schools, Evers was referring to a provision that would allow DPI to grant teaching licenses to people with a certain amount of work experience and teacher training who wish to teach technical courses. They would not be required to hold a bachelor’s degree.

Also under the bill, teaching licenses for those who wish to teach English, social studies, math or science could be granted to anyone with a bachelor’s degree who demonstrates proficiency and has relevant experience in the subject.

Evers said those changes would give Wisconsin the most relaxed licensing standards for teachers in the nation.

“It essentially says whoever you hire will be licensed, and for me that’s a huge step in the wrong direction,” he told the Wisconsin Radio Network.

Another ‘first’ prompting objections within DPI: “for the first time ever, there is no increase in state imposed revenue limits over the next two school years, while voucher and independent charter school payments are increased in each year.”

The provision also would grant a gradual expansion of the statewide voucher program. Initially, participation would be capped at 1 percent of the students in each district, but in 11 years the limit would be lifted.

The expansion would be modeled after the state’s open enrollment system, with tax money following the student. It would increase the amount of per-pupil aid for taxpayer-funded voucher schools to $7,200 per K-8 student and $7,800 per high school student.

Democratic lawmakers on Thursday decried that provision, citing a legislative memo that says the expansion could send up to $800 million in taxpayer money to private voucher schools over the next decade.

According to the memo, prepared for Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, “Although a long-term estimate of payments for incoming statewide choice program pupils is speculative at this time, total payments from 2015-16 to 2024-25 could range from an estimated $600 million to an estimated $800 million.”

Jim Bender, president of School Choice Wisconsin, called the memo “speculative,” while Democrats accused Republicans of diverting money from public education to benefit private schools.

Republican lawmakers have said throughout the budgeting process that funding K-12 education is a priority for them.

Under their budget motion, public schools would retain a $127 million cut proposed in the governor’s budget for the 2015-16 school year. The following year, they would receive about $70 million more than Walker proposed. But Democrats say the voucher expansion negates any good done by that measure.