Women's History Month Focuses on Current Issues, Locally and Globally

As Women’s History Month unfolds in the light of #METOO and #TIMESUP, two Hartford-area events bookend the month and underscore the evolving contributions of noteworthy women on the local and global scene. The World Affairs Council of CT and the University of Saint Joseph Women’s Leadership Center “work to motivate women to continue to be bold, to press for progress and take groundbreaking action that truly drives the greatest change for women locally and across the globe.”  The two organizations will present “Global Changemakers” on March 7, in observance of International Women’s Day.  The event, on the University campus, opens with a 5 p.m. reception followed by a 6 p.m. program and audience questions.

On campus will be:

Bayartsetseg Jigmiddash has held senior government positions in the justice sector and has been at the forefront of Mongolia’s far-reaching reform initiatives. Currently, she is CEO and Founding Director of Veritas Consulting. From 2012 to 2016, Jigmiddash served as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice of Mongolia, becoming the first woman appointed in this position. Under her leadership, the legal policy on gender-based violence has been significantly improved, including criminalization of domestic violence. Prior to this top civil service post, she served as legal advisor to the president of Mongolia, and has been involved in the judicial reform as well as abolishment of death penalty in Mongolia. She has extensive civil society experience and pioneered an array of initiatives to promote human rights and access to justice.

Stephenie Foster is a Partner in Smash Strategies and a former Senior Advisor and Counselor to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S Department of State. As a member of the leadership team, she coordinated, managed and implemented a wide range of policies and programs, including the women, peace and security initiative, women’s political participation and women’s economic empowerment. At the State Department, Ms. Foster represented the United States in various multilateral and bilateral forums. She served at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, focusing on women and civil society, travelling extensively throughout the country to work with individuals and organizations advancing the role of women in Afghan society. Ms. Foster served as Chief of Staff to two United States Senators, Barbara Mikulski and Christopher Dodd.

Josepha M. N. Musabyemariya is the United States Rwandan Community Abroad (USRCA) Commissioner for Gender and Social Affairs. She also is President of Rwandan Community Abroad (RCA) in Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia (DMV). She has more than 25 years of experience in handling special projects and initiatives designed to positively impact lives of people in her home country of Rwanda,  the communities in and outside DMV and around the globe. She works for the African Union in the U.S.  In this office, she was among the handful of individuals charged with setting up the African Union office in Washington DC which was just prior to the arrival and assumption of duties of the first Permanent Representative in 2006. Josepha’s passion lies in dealing with all issues concerning gender and women empowerment.

Later this month, “The Evolving Role of Women in Politics and Governance” will be presented by Duncaster, the Hartford area’s first LifeCare community, located in Bloomfield.  With more women than ever running for public office in the United States, including in Connecticut, organizers say, the discussion will focus on their evolving roles on the local and national political stage.  The panelists will include:

• State Senator Beth Bye of West Hartford
• Mayor Suzette De Beatham-Brown of Bloomfield
• Assistant Attorney General Claire Kindell of Bloomfield, a candidate for Connecticut Attorney General
• Mayor Erin Stewart of New Britain, who has an exploratory candidacy for statewide office.

The program will be moderated by Carole Mulready, the past president of the Great Hartford League of Women Voters.  It begins at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, March 23.  The event is free, but pre-registration is required.

Marijuana, Cellphones May Increase Pedestrian Fatalities, Federal Report Suggests; Fewer Deaths in CT as 23 States See Increase

Connecticut is one of 20 states that saw a decline in the number of pedestrian deaths in the first half of 2017, as compared with the first half of the previous year.  The trend nationally, however, is in the opposite direction, as 23 states saw pedestrian deaths increase.  Seven states were virtually unchanged.  And the trend in recent years has also been a rising death toll. The number of pedestrian fatalities increased 27 percent from 2007 to 2016, while at the same time, all other traffic deaths decreased by 14 percent. A new national study raises the possibility of a number of factors for the increase – an increase in the number of cars on the road, the increasing use of cell phones, and the use of marijuana, which has been legalized for recreational use in some states, including neighboring Massachusetts. The report suggests that it "provides an early look at potential traffic safety implications of increased access to recreational marijuana for drivers and pedestrians."

The Governors Highway Safety Administration (GHSA) released a 38-page study this week estimating that just under 6,000 pedestrians lost their lives last year, essentially the same death toll as 2016. The projected total in both years represent the highest levels seen since 1990, Governing magazine reported.  The number of states with pedestrian fatality rates at or above 2.0 per 100,000 population has more than doubled, from seven in 2014 to 15 in 2016. From 2015 to 2016, pedestrian fatalities in the nation’s ten largest cities increased 28 percent (153 additional fatalities), according to the GHSA report.

The number of miles traveled by vehicles increased nationally by 2.8 percent between 2015 and 2016 then rose another 1.2 percent the first half of last year, according to Federal Highway Administration data  The GHSA report noted that nearly 6,000 pedestrians died in motor vehicle crashes in 2016 and 2017, coming after a spike in the number of pedestrian deaths in 2015. "It has been more than 25 years since the U.S. experienced this level of pedestrian fatalities. Because both 2015 and 2016 saw large increases in pedestrian fatalities, the continuation of pedestrian fatalities at virtually the same pace in 2017 raises continued concerns about the nation’s alarming pedestrian death toll," the report stated.

“We’ve plateaued at a very bad place,” Richard Retting, who authored the report, told Governing. “This should not be a new normal.”

While pedestrian deaths have increased over the past decade, other types of traffic fatalities declined. Pedestrians accounted for 16 percent of all motor-vehicle related deaths in 2016, up from 11 percent in 2007. Federal data suggests nighttime collisions are a major problem -- three quarters of fatal crashes occurred after dark.

In Connecticut, there were 31 pedestrian fatalities in the first half of 2016; 20 in the first half of 2017, a decrease of 35 percent. Connecticut was one of 11 states, 2014-2016, where 20 percent or more of the pedestrian deaths were among people age 70 or older.  Connecticut's pedestrian fatality rate in 2016 was 1.73 per 100,000 population, which ranked 20th in the U.S.  In the first half of 2017, the state ranked 31st.

Retting told Governing that he suspects cellphone use by drivers and pedestrians could also be a culprit. The GHSA report stated that "Without stating a direct correlation or claiming a definitive link, more recent factors contributing to the increase in pedestrian fatalities might include the growing number of state and local governments that have decriminalized recreational use of marijuana (which can impair judgment and reaction time for all road users), and the increasing use of smart phones (which can be a significant source of distraction for both drivers and pedestrians).

The total number of multimedia messages sent has more than tripled since 2010.  The report also suggests a possible link with marijuana use.  According to the report, the seven states (Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington) and  DC that legalized recreational use of marijuana between 2012 and 2016 reported a collective 16.4 percent increase in pedestrian fatalities for the first six months of 2017 versus the first six months of 2016, whereas all other states reported a collective 5.8 percent decrease in pedestrian fatalities.

One example cited is Washington state, where marijuana was legalized in late 2012 and the first dispensaries opened in mid-2014.  According to data from the Traffic Safety Commission, Governing reported, Washington state saw an increase in 2015 and 2016 in fatal crashes where THC, the primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana, was present in blood tests of either the pedestrian or driver.

It was noted, however, that the totals, while higher, still remain relatively small. THC levels can be detected days or even weeks after marijuana use, and Washington state’s data also indicates that between 70 and 80 percent of drivers found to have THC also tested positive for alcohol or other drugs, according to that report.

The federal report also indicates that Connecticut DOT recently completed a statewide overhaul to replace old signage, including signs for pedestrian safety. "These are new, bright signs that are up to code," the report explained.  "The Highway Safety Office also launched an outreach and advertising campaign titled 'Watch for Me CT' which focuses primarily on pedestrian safety but also includes bicyclists."  Law enforcement training for this issue is currently being developed, the report said.

Nationally, there were 4,457 pedestrian fatalities in 2011 and 5,987 in 2016.  The data for the first half of 2017 is considered preliminary, and may rise higher as some state records are updated with additional data, the report indicated.

CT Saves Week Focuses on Individual Finances (Not State Finances)

When the Legislative Office Building hosts a Financial Education Expo on Wednesday as part of Connecticut Saves Week, there may be more than one passerby suggesting that legislators pay particular attention, given that the state budget has been perpetually out-of-balance in recent years. The Expo, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., is open to the public.  Connecticut Saves Week, which runs through March 3, is part of America Saves Week, which began in 2007.

In addition to the expo at the State Capitol complex, there are three financial action workshops this week at American Job Centers around the state, with a focus on setting financial goals, reducing expenses and improving credit. They are being held from 9 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday in Hamden, 1 to 3 p.m. on Tuesday in Bridgeport and 9 to 11 a.m. on Thursday in Hartford.

UConn Extension will also be holding a Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck workshop series at its New Haven County Extension Center from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on March 5 and March 12 (The first of three sessions was held on Feb. 26).

“These workshops are designed to help individuals and their families take charge of their educational and career goals by providing budgetary guidance that will lead to future success,” said state Labor Commissioner Scott D. Jackson. “Whether the plan is to purchase tuition and books, buy a car to get to work, or start a savings plan, the end goal is improving economic security and employment opportunities for our residents.”

According to a May 2016 report from the Federal Reserve, 46 percent of adults surveyed said they could not cover an emergency expense costing $400.  Results from the 2015 FINRA Investor Education Foundation US Financial Capability Study indicate that among Connecticut residents, 48 percent do not have emergency funds, 52 percent have not set aside money for children’s college education, and 18 percent are spending more than their income. Financial literacy is offered in some Connecticut schools, but it is not required by the state for high school graduation.

Chris Lee, president of Connecticut JumpStart, a local nonprofit that works to get financial literacy into schools, told WNPR in December 2017 that a part of the state’s budget problem might be because lawmakers aren't very financially literate, the news station reported.

"I've always said I think a lot of members of the House and Senate both need to take some financial literacy courses and get some background in it before they go in to do some budget talks just to understand how all this stuff works," Lee told WNPR. "They don't understand financial literacy and they don't understand why it's important."

A financial literacy survey of high school and college students in Fairfield and New Haven counties and surrounding areas conducted last year showed 29 percent of local young adults do not have checking accounts or regularly use only cash, highlighting the need for expanded financial literacy education.  The survey was conducted by Stamford-based Patriot Bank.

An online “pledge” is available for interested individuals that will trigger periodic information, advice, tips, and reminders sent by email or text message, designed “to help you reach your savings goal, ” according to the CT Saves website.

The Connecticut Saves campaign encourages residents to assess their savings and save automatically to achieve financial goals. It is coordinated by UConn Extension and partners that include the Connecticut Department of Banking; the Connecticut Department of Labor; Connecticut State Library; Hartford Job Corps Academy; People’s United Bank; Human Resources Agency of New Britain, Inc.; Connecticut Association for Human Services; the Better Business Bureau Servicing Connecticut; Chelsea Groton Bank; and Community Renewal Team.

Private Schools in Connecticut Among Most Expensive in USA

If you’re considering sending a child to private elementary or high school, know that there’s virtually nowhere in the United States more expensive in Connecticut. The average cost of private high school tuition in Connecticut, $31,413, is the second most expensive in the nation, just behind Vermont ($31,532) and just ahead of Massachusetts ($30,186).  New Hampshire and Main round out the top five most expensive states for private high school tuition.

The most expensive average elementary school tuition cost is also on the East Coast, and Connecticut leads the way.  The average private elementary school tuition is $13,412, with Massachusetts ($10,822), New Hampshire ($10,773), Virginia ($10,755), and New York ($10,513) rounding out the top five.

The average cost of private school tuition has grown at a rate that is higher than inflation over the past 20 years, according to data analyzed by the website hommuch.net   The site indicates that administrative employee compensation has been the main catalyst for the increases in private school expenses, noting that the rise in the volume of employees who have a larger compensation package than a typical teacher has created the upward trajectory in private school tuition costs.

The website Private School Review indicates that the private elementary school average is $9,263 per year and the private high school average is $14,017 per year.

In a ranking of the best private schools in Connecticut this year, the website Niche listed Choate Rosemary Hall (Wallingford), The Hotchkiss School (Lakeville), Hopkins School (New Haven), Kent School (Kent), Greenwich Academy (Greenwich), The Taft School (Watertown), Loomis Chaffee School (Windsor), Brunswick School (Greenwich), Miss Porter’s School (Farmington) and Westminster School (Simsbury) as the top 10.

Report Reflects Good News, Continuing Challenges for Women, Girls in Eastern CT

Women and girls in Eastern Connecticut are progressing in many ways, but gender equity is elusive in many others, according to a new report.  The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut commissioned DataHaven to develop a report on the Status of Women and Girls in Eastern Connecticut, and the findings provide an insightful snapshot of disparities that persist, and challenges that remain and may increase, as well as diminish, in the years ahead. The purpose of the 26-page report, explains the Community Foundation’s President and Chief Executive Officer Maryam Elahi, is “to help inform and guide thoughtful conversations and inspire local ideas for social and policy advancements and investments.”   It is designed to be a “platform for action” to increase opportunity, access and equity for women and girls in Eastern Connecticut, officials indicated.  It is the first time that such a report was developed.

Among the key findings:

• Young women are achieving in school, but greater educational attainment has yet to translate to economic equality.
• Positive educational outcomes and economic equality are further out of reach for women of color.
• Many occupations remain segregated by gender, and women make up a majority of part-time workers.
• Women are at greater risk of financial insecurity, with single mothers at the greatest risk. 25% of all children in Eastern Connecticut live with a single mother, and 90% of single-parent households are headed by a mother.
• Women in Eastern Connecticut are healthy, with a life expectancy of about 82 years—slightly above the national average, but below the state average.

The report also found that:

• The opioid epidemic continues to ravage our communities, with deaths of women in 2016 more than double those of 2012.
• Young women are at heightened risk for many mental health conditions. 35% of female students reported feeling hopeless or depressed vs. 19% of male students, and women are three times more likely to attempt suicide than men.
• Violence against women continues to be a major public health problem. Almost 5,000 women in Windham and New London counties received services from domestic violence shelters.

The report defines Eastern Connecticut as the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut service area:  42 towns that include 453,000 people, 227,000 women.  The population of the region is 80% white, 9% Latina, 4% Black and 4% Asian.  Approximately 33,700 residents, or 7 percent, are foreign born.  Looking ahead, the report noted that the population of women ages 65 and up is projected to grow significantly over the next decade; estimated to increase 44 percent by 2025.

Continuing racial disparities are highlighted by the finding that among 90 percent of girls in the region’s class of 2016 graduated high school within four years, yet nearly 20 percent of women in New London and Windham/Willimantic lack a high school diploma.

The report noted that “a persistent gap” exists for women with degrees in STEM fields. Overall, 51 percent of men vs. 30 percent of women majored in science and engineering fields. Encouragingly, of 25-39 year-old women with degrees, 37 percent majored in the sciences. This is higher than previous generations.

Although women comprise 76 percent of educators, only 11 out of 41 superintendents in the region are women.  The report also found that 25 percent of businesses are women-owned.

“Women’s equality,” Elahi said, “is not just a women’s issue. It affects the wellbeing and prosperity of every family and community.”

The Community Foundation has organized public forums to discuss the report findings.  The first was held last week in Hampton, the next is February 15 in New London.

New Haven-based DataHaven’s mission is to improve quality of life by collecting, sharing, and interpreting public data for effective decision-making. The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut serves 42 towns and is comprised of over 490 charitable funds, putting “philanthropy into action to address the needs, rights and interests of the region.”

Need Accreditation? New England Commission Gives CT Regents Extensive To-Do List

If you were attempting to convince the accrediting board for higher education that no harm will come to the quality and caliber of students’ education when 12 community colleges are merged into one, would 51 suggestions for revisions of the initial preliminary draft be nothing more than a series of helpful hints or harbingers of real danger ahead? Time will tell.  As will the final draft of the submission, which must be provided less than a month from now on March 16.  That’s when the Connecticut Board of Regents must send the final version of its consolidation plan for the state’s 12 community colleges to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). The proposal is for a “system wide consolidation of administrative functions and the administrative reorganization of the 12 community colleges.”

A letter from NEASC’s Barbara Brittingham to Jane Gates, provost of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, which is led by the Board of Regents for Higher Education, runs seven pages and is filled with questions, suggestions, cautions and requests for significantly more detail on plans.

Among the issues flagged by the NEASC’s Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, were two described as “overarching”:

1) low graduation rates (9 of the 12 institutions had graduation rates for first-time/full-time students below 15% in the 2017 reviews; certainly this rate is highly imperfect, but the percent of community colleges that were below 15% is significantly higher than in other New England states with multiple community colleges); and

2) finances, with the Commission expressing concern for 10 of 12 community colleges in their most recent comprehensive evaluation or interim report. With a proposal to remove $28 million from the collective budgets, the Commission will need to know, among other things, that students will be at least as well served as now and that there are appropriate resources available to support the programs and services being offered. Please include more evidence about the claims made, especially about the need for fewer staff once the consolidation is accomplished.

NEASC also indicated that “We cannot tell in any useful detail what is being removed from each institution in the way of positions, services, contracts, or other expenses. We understand that some (much?) of the reduction in personnel expenses will come through attrition, but we cannot tell what the contingencies are for replacing key personnel who leave during the next several years.”

The accrediting commission is asking for:

• who will be doing what, the timeframe, and expected outcomes
• the cost and timeline to implement new features
• examples of work that has already been accomplished or is substantially underway
• a multi-year budget, incomes and expenses, that reflects each of the campuses, the expenses of the central community college office, and expenses associated with the regional offices.
• Information on the many people now located at the various campuses that would be reassigned to work in Hartford at the system office

The Board of Regents was also directly cautioned “not to unintentionally mischaracterize the words or positions of the Commission,” pointing out an instance in the draft in which a policy was incorrectly attributed to NEASC.

It also notes the proposal’s claim that one financial aid system will “support more students, increase enrollment, and therefore increase tuition and fee revenue.”  The NEASC Commission directs the Board of Regents to “please include evidence to support the claim.”  It also asks for cost and time estimates regarding the Board’s claim that “functions that are currently maintained by each campus could be automated” and evidence to support the claim that a “consolidated structure is well-suited to address the opportunity/achievement gap that exists” in Connecticut.

Among the questions raised about the academic integrity of the proposed consolidation, NEASC includes this:  “With the proposed centralization and the proposed elimination of department chairs and program coordinators, it is not clear how the programs will be coordinated and overseen at the institutional level.”

Questions were also raised about the “aggressive” timeline for curricular changes, whether two years for students to complete discontinued programs is realistic, and planned changes in the number of student services professional and support staff.

The CT Mirror first published the NEASC response to the Board of Regents for Higher Education draft plan.  The Board of Regents has denied The Mirror’s request for a copy of the plan submitted to NEASC, saying it was a draft submitted for feedback and not ready for public release, the news site reported.

According to CSCU booklets, over the course of the past five years, the institutions of the system have collectively experienced a “precipitous decline” in headcount enrollment, both full-time and part-time, of undergraduate and graduate students. From fall 2011 to fall 2016, enrollment declined 11.1%, from 95,962 students to 85,318 students. Among the CSCU System’s 17 institutions, 16 experienced enrollment declines ranging from 29.4% to 0.6%. Three of the institutions experienced declines greater than 20 percent.  Among the CSCU System’s 17 institutions, 16 experienced enrollment declines ranging from 29.4% to 0.6%. The state has also reduced funding to the colleges and universities, a key driver in the consolidation plans.

As Demographics Change, Connecticut Extends Borders, Colleges Seek More Diverse Student Population

When it comes to college tuition, Connecticut’s borders are expanding and colleges across the state are focused on potential students that likely wouldn’t have on the radar screen only a few years ago.  The impetus is a declining population of college-age students, expected to intensify over the next decade particularly in the Northeast, and declining financial support from state governments.  The results are dramatic efforts to further diversify the student populations - in geography, income, ethnicity and other factors, including offering the lower in-state tuition to out-of-state students. In the case of Connecticut, the state Board of Regents, which oversees four universities and 12 state colleges, has proposed merging the colleges into one statewide college with 12 campuses in a controversial plan that has drawn doubts and substantive questions from students, faculty, and legislators in Connecticut, and the region’s accrediting board, the New England Board of Higher Education, which is considering the plan.  It would be the largest merger of colleges in New England’s history, and the resulting college would be among the largest in the nation.

The number of high school graduates in Connecticut is expected to drop 14 percent from 2012-13 to 2025-26, according to reports citing U.S. Department of Education statistics, driven by the nation’s second-largest proportional decline in public school students over the next 10 years. CT Mirror reported this week that “The major organization that accredits colleges has said many questions need to be answered before the new college system is awarded accreditation, which is essential to make students eligible for federal financial aid and to guarantee the college’s degrees have educational value.”

Fall student headcount at the 12 colleges has dropped from a peak of 58,253 in 2012 to 50,548 in 2016, the lowest level in a decade.  The four state universities (Central, Eastern, Southern and Western) have seen enrollment decline from 36,629 in 2010 to 33,187 in 2016, the lowest level in this century.

Even in advance of the merger plan, the Board of Regents has been extending lower tuition offers in every direction, reaching out to students in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and even New Jersey, making offers that the Regents hope will be tough to refuse.

Eight of Connecticut’s public colleges and universities extended in-state tuition to residents of neighboring states this academic year, primarily in response to declining enrollment and seeking to boost income.  The initiative expanded a pilot program by previously implemented at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, just south of the Massachusetts border.  Asnuntuck saw a 34 percent increase in students from the Bay State since the program began in June 2016.

Norwalk, Housatonic and the Danbury campus of Naugatuck Valley community colleges extended in-state tuition to New York residents, and t hree Rivers Community College in Norwich does the same for Rhode Island residents.  Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted offers in-state tuition to Massachusetts residents, and Quinebaug Valley Community College in Killingly offers in-state tuition to Massachusetts and Rhode Island residents.

At Norwalk Community College, for example, the in-state tuition program reduces the cost for full-time tuition from $12,828 to $4,276 for the 2017-18 academic year, a savings of $8,552 for New York residents, the Norwalk Hour reported.

In addition, students from New York and New Jersey considering Western Connecticut State University will be able to pay in-state tuition — less than half the current rate for out-of-staters – beginning in the fall.  After receiving Board of Regents approval, the university announced a two-year pilot program to combat declining enrollment. Under the new pricing, students from the two states will pay $10,017 a year instead of the $22,878 out-of-state rate, the Danbury News-Times reported.  The program extends a smaller across-the-border recruitment effort that offered seven Hudson Valley counties in-state rates last fall, which led to an increase in students residing in those counties from 74 in the fall of 2016 to 243 in 2017.

The Boston Globe reported this month that the nation’s high school population “is becoming increasingly diverse and increasingly unable to afford high tuition prices. Additionally, experts predict a major drop in the number of high school graduates overall after the year 2025 — especially in New England — because people have had fewer babies since the 2008 economic recession. As a result, local colleges will have to work harder to bring students to campus and offer them significantly more financial assistance. And some of them, experts predict, will find this a daunting new calculus, leading to more college mergers and even closures.”

At Trinity College in Hartford, the Globe reported, “Angel Perez, the vice president for enrollment and student success, met with his staff to formulate a plan for how they will recruit amid the expected demographic shifts.  “This is the biggest challenge higher education has right now,” Perez told the Globe. When Perez sends out his recruiters each year, he urges all of them to seek out low-income, first-generation students, even though it can be more time-consuming and expensive, the Globe reported. The paper noted that they “meet students not only during the day at high schools but increasingly at after-school programs that help such students successfully make it to college.”

The Globe also noted that in a report released in December, Moody’s Investors Service “changed its outlook for the higher education industry from stable to negative because of the expected slowing of tuition revenue growth.”

Yale, UConn Fall Among Peers as Full-Time MBA Enrollment Continues Nationwide Decline

Full-time two-year MBA programs in the United States have seen declines in application volumes since 2014. Last year, only one-third (32%) of programs reported increased application volumes; 64 percent saw declines, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council’s Application Trends Survey 2017. When Bloomberg Businessweek ranked the nation’s business schools offering two-year full-time MBA programs, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the MIT Sloan School of Management topped the list, issued in late-2017.  Among Connecticut business schools, Yale University ranked at number 16 and the University of Connecticut placed at number 66.  Yale dropped two places from the previous year, UConn dropped three.  In 2015, Yale ranked #11.  A total of 85 schools nationwide received rankings.

Each school’s ranking is based on surveys of recruiters, alumni, and students, as well as recent graduates’ success at landing jobs and securing high starting wages. The methodology Bloomberg Businessweek uses to arrive at its annual MBA ranking involves weighting each of five principle factors: 35 percent for the Employer Survey score, 30 percent for the Alumni Survey score, 15 percent for the Student Survey score, 10 percent for the Job Placement Rate score, and 10 percent for the Starting Salary score.

UConn’s employer survey rank was 77 among the 85 business schools tallied, the job placement rank was 67, and the student survey rank was 73.  The bright spots in the rankings were UConn’s alumni survey rank, 48^th, and salary rank, 39^th.

Yale’s top rankings were in the alumni survey (9^th) and salary survey (15^th), with the School of Business ranked 21^st in the employer survey, 27^th in the student survey and 42nd in the job placement rankings.

The Graduate Management Admission Council report, issued in September 2017, pointed out that “For many years, U.S. programs have come to rely on international candidates to add to their application pipeline. However, the recent change in political administration became a concern among potential international candidates. Three-quarters (75%) of programs reported declining international application volumes.”

That same month, the Wall Street Journal reported that “applications to full-time M.B.A. programs in the U.S. fell for a third straight year, the latest signal that business schools are struggling to entice young professionals out of a strengthened job market.”  Fortune later reported that “while applications to business school overall have declined over the past three years, this isn’t necessarily the case across the board. On the contrary, the top-ranked business schools are seeing a massive influx of interest from students. Yale University’s School of Management, for example, has seen a whopping 45% increase in applications since 2013.”  Harvard increased by 11 percent during that period; UPenn’s Wharton School by 3 percent.

In addition to Yale and UConn, full-time MBA programs are in place at Connecticut schools including Fairfield, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, Central Connecticut, and the universities of Hartford and New Haven.

Number of World Language Students in Connecticut More Than Triples Over Past 25 Years

In 1991, 65,252 students were enrolled in world languages in Connecticut’s K-12 schools.  A dozen years later, in 2003, that number had climbed steadily, reaching 95,154.  By 2015, another 12 years later, the number of students taking language instruction had more than doubled, to 208,627 during the 2015-16 academic year. Data provided to CT by the Numbers by the state Department of Education also showed that nearly one-quarter of those students were taking Spanish.  Also, during those two and a half decades, the number of students taking Chinese language instruction has grown from less than 100 to more than 5,500.

Twenty-five years ago, in 1991, the most popular languages taught were Spanish, with 37,963 students; French, with 17,281; Latin, with 4,764; and Italian, with 2,989.  There was also a smattering of German (1,290 students), Russian (318), and Portuguese (193).  The number of students other languages was relatively tiny – 72 were learning Chinese, 67 were taking Japanese and 36 were in Polish language classes.   

By 2003, the most frequent world language choices for Connecticut students had not changed, but the numbers had jumped.  Spanish grew from just under 38,000 students to just over 62,000.  The number of French students was virtually unchanged, and would drop slightly in the years following, as the number of Latin students grew from just under 5,000 to just over 7,500 and the number of students taken Latin closed in on doubling from just under 3,000.

By 2015-16, there were 54,308 taking Spanish, plus another 2,142 taking Spanish for Native Speakers.  Just under 27,000 students were taking French, and 5,500 taking Chinese. The ratio of French students to Chinese students had dropped from more than 200 to 1 in 1991 to about 5 to 1 by the 2015-16 school year.

Slightly more than 7,000 students were learning Italian in 2015-16, more than double the number in 1991. Arabic, which barely registered in 1991, was being taken by 343 students and Russian was the language of choice for 86 students by 2015-16.

According to “The State of Languages in the U.S.: A Statistical Portrait,” Connecticut was one of seven states, along with New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, where more than 30 percent of K-12 students were enrolled in language. As of 2014, only twelve states had more than one in four elementary- and secondary-school students studying languages other than English.

The report was published by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2014, noting in the introduction that “While English continues to be the lingua franca for world trade and diplomacy, there is an emerging consensus among leaders in business and politics, teachers, scientists, and community members that proficiency in English is not sufficient to meet the nation’s needs in a shrinking world.”

“What a lot of Americans remember is language as an academic pursuit,” Marty Abbott, director of education for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages told the nonprofit organization Great Schools in 2016.  “They learned a lot about a language, how to conjugate every irregular verb. Today, the emphasis is on developing students’ communications skills — what they can do with a language. That’s a radical departure.”

There were approximately 191,000 students taking a world language in Connecticut in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years; that number jumped to more than 208,000 the following year, in the most recent data available from the state Department of Education.  Data for specific languages may vary, as course descriptions differ from district to district in Connecticut.

Michelle Obama Influences Children's Trick-or-Treat Choices, Yale Study Says

The conclusion is striking:  Michelle Obama’s initiative to reduce childhood obesity has influenced children’s dietary preferences. Researchers estimated that viewing a photograph of Michelle Obama’s face caused children to be 19 percent more likely to choose fruit over candy, on Halloween.  The experiment – Yale University researchers - was conducted on a New Haven porch over three consecutive Halloweens, and the results are published this month in a journal of the Public Library of Science (PLOS). The participants were 1,223 trick-or-treaters in New Haven over three years; on average, 8.5 years old and 53 percent male (among children whose gender was identifiable). To be eligible for inclusion in the study, trick-or-treaters had to be over the age of three.

The porch of a home had photographs clearly visible in front of the trick-or-treating children.  One was of Michelle Obama.  The other side, the “comparison” side in the study, “had a photo of Ann Romney (2012), a photo of Hillary Clinton (2014, 2015), or no photo (2014, 2015).”

At both sides of the porch, children were asked their age and whether they would prefer to receive fruit (a box of raisins) or candy (a more typical small packaged piece of name-brand chocolate such as Snickers or Milky Ways). Each child was given the option (fruit or candy) that they requested.

“The experimental set-up allows us to measure what proportion of children chose fruit instead of candy when in the presence of an image of Michelle Obama’s face, as well as the proportion of children who chose fruit instead of candy when not in the presence of an

image of Michelle Obama’s face,” the researchers pointed out.

Publishing the research are Peter M. Aronow, Dean Karlan, Lauren E. Pinson.  Peter Aronow is Assistant Professor of Political Science and in the Institute for Social and Policy Studies and of Public Health at Yale University; Dean Karlan is a Professor of Economics at Yale; Lauren Pinson is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Yale University.

The experiment was conducted in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven, which is about one mile from the Yale University campus, and contains many single family homes owned by Yale faculty, as well as some multi-family homes in which many graduate students live, the study explained. “There are also low income neighborhoods within a mile of this neighborhood,” and “due to the high level of activity during Halloween, many families drive from further away in order to trick-or-treat in this neighborhood.”

The study provides background, explaining that “During her tenure as First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama has spearheaded one of the largest public health initiatives focused on childhood obesity. In 2010, Obama unveiled her Let’s Move Initiative, aimed at fostering a healthy lifestyle and reducing childhood obesity. As the public face of the campaign, Obama urged healthy eating and exercise in a variety of classic and social media venues accessible to minors and their parents, including appearances on Sesame Street and Oprah and posts of online videos.”

In regards to the results, the researchers caution that “we ran the experiment on a day where candy is readily available, the influence on children’s dietary preference for fruit instead of candy may differ from other days of the year; for instance, perhaps children are more willing to choose fruit since it is unique for the holiday, or children are less willing to choose fruit because they are under the influence of sugar consumption.”

PLOS was founded in 2001 as a nonprofit Open Access publisher, innovator and advocacy organization with a mission to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication.