Daily Lumina News 051421

Shaersti Anderson, 19, is a single mother. She's also a full-time student at Parkland College in Champaign. The shift to online classes because of COVID-19 has been difficult for Anderson, causing added stress as she tries to juggle school work with taking care of her daughter.
Nationally, student parents make up 26 percent of the total undergraduate student population, and half of those parents are single parents. Meanwhile, childcare availability on college campuses declined from 53 percent in 2004 to 22 percent in 2015. That lack of support leaves students like Anderson scrambling to keep up with the dual demands of being a student and a parent.

As school districts search for ways to re-engage students after the pandemic, one district in California is finding success in a health career training program that has led to higher graduation rates, more students enrolling in college, and rave reviews from students and alumni.
The Oakland Health Pathways Partnership gives students hands-on job training and personal supports in a growing field, while helping to diversify the health care workforce where Blacks and Latinos are significantly underrepresented.

To encourage students and employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, West Virginia University is hoping to harness their desire for a more normal campus life. If it can reach targeted milestones of increased vaccination rates, the administration promises to relax certain restrictions and allow specified activities to resume.
To date, more than 300 campuses will require COVID-19 vaccinations for the fall. Many colleges, however, remain constrained by state orders and fears of pushback from their communities. Public health experts weigh in on whether voluntary vaccination thresholds like that at West Virginia University can work.

Rapid growth in college debt and families’ out-of-pocket expenditures on higher education—along with complaints from employers about the preparedness of the people they hire—have intensified questioning about the value of postsecondary degrees and credentials.
This episode of The Key explores a new report from the Postsecondary Value Commission that proposes a new way of judging whether colleges and programs are providing a good return on investment to their students, with a particular focus on whether they’re ensuring equity.

Colleges and universities say they value diversity, equity, and inclusion, but the faculty members doing this work are seldom recognized for it in any career-advancing way.
That’s about to change at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The Faculty Council there just overwhelmingly approved a new path to tenure and promotion centered on DEI work.

Before the pandemic, "Charles" would have described himself as someone on track for a scholarship down the road, maybe even at a college like Northwestern University. Then COVID-19 happened, and the one-time straight-A student was barely turning in any assignments.
COVID-19 has been a brutal blow for many high school students. In this photo documentary, several students from Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri, describe their personal challenges of living and learning during a pandemic—and how some determined teachers worked tirelessly to keep them from giving up.