Reported by Education Dive, The Wichita Promise Move initiative is in the process of relocating 50 enrollees, 75% of whom come from outside Kansas, to receive paid schooling and a guaranteed job upon completion. The goal is to creatively meet the skills gap and hiring needs for their respective communities and employers.

Reported by Campus Technology, while much of smart room design prognostications focus on technological novelties, Indiana University’s smart classroom prototype – designed by their IT department after prioritizing the results from faculty focus groups – focuses more on time-savings activities for both faculty and students alike.

Reported by Education Dive, panelists at the annual EDUCAUSE conference all reinforced the importance of establishing a strong data governance on campus, but focused on creating a culture where no single department “owns” data, but all help steward and inform the institution’s data.

Reported by EdSurge, Marist College offers Online Teaching Workshops for their on-campus faculty to become more comfortable with the technology and pedagogical best practices of online instruction.

Reported by EdSurge, Adler College, still in the planning and fundraising stages, aims at re-thinking the first two years of a student’s collegiate career.

Reported by Education Dive, SNHU’s acquisition of Chicago-based LRNG, a leader in game-based learning and digital badges, is an attempt to utilize community-based digital learning as competency-based credit for their College for America program.

Reported by EdSurge, with Amazon looking to hire 25,000 new employees at each of their new New York City and DC locations, how can our institutions effectively graduate students prepared to feed this employee pipeline? And for more than the obvious computer science need, but for the marketing, sales and other functions as well.

Reported by Education Dive, 900 responses to an Educause Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) report show that often, no single unit owns student outcomes – and therefore, that creates a huge risk that no one does. While Institutional Research, Student Affairs, and Information Technology all commonly assume different responsibilities on campus, from tracking attendance and academic performance to return on investment post-graduation.

Reported by EdSurge, Facebook has launched 13 free digital up-skilling and career advice courses designed to serve as a bridge for workforce re-entry or re-fresh. At only nine minutes long each, these micro-content courses are part of a broader trend toward re-skilling outside of traditional degree programs.