Daily Lumina News 072820

Leaders of historically Black colleges and universities are grappling with a challenge others in higher education don’t fully share: how to reopen their campuses to a population that has proven especially vulnerable to COVID-19.
Several HBCUs are planning for some in-person classes this fall; others are opting for online-only instruction. And that has its own challenges. Black students who lack sufficient access to resources for online learning could drop out or fall deeper into debt by transferring to a more expensive university closer to home.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, El Paso Community College in Texas was already shifting from being primarily an academic transfer institution to expanding more of its career and technical education (CTE) programs because of a local demand for those skills among employers.
It's not alone. More two-year colleges are ramping up their CTE programs to help dislocated and unemployed individuals find good-paying jobs during the current economic climate.

Within days of the COVID-19 pandemic forcing businesses to shut down, or dramatically change their operations, unemployment skyrocketed. Now Hoosier workers and business owners are left wondering how to piece things back together.
On this episode of All In, Lumina Foundation's Chauncy Lennon, Jason Kloth of Ascend Indiana, and Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute offer their thoughts about the critical workforce skills needed for Indiana’s economic recovery.

At a time when the nation is in the throes of both a movement for racial justice and a raging pandemic that is disproportionately affecting people of color, what can leaders across higher education learn from minority-serving institutions, especially in terms of supporting students and becoming more inclusive?
Five presidents of minority-serving institutions discuss meeting students’ needs, amplifying their voices, and fighting racism.