URBANA, Ill. – Affirmative action policies (AAP) such as quota systems based on racial or socio-economic criteria are often recommended as a way to increase enrollment of underrepresented students in higher education. But those policies can be controversial and their results are sometimes questioned.

URBANA, Ill. – School test scores often show gaps in performance between white and non-white students. Understanding the complex reasons behind this can help reduce those gaps and promote social equality, explains Mary Paula Arends-Kuenning, associate professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois.

Arends-Kuenning is co-author of a study that analyzes math test scores for 9^th-grade students in Brazil and breaks down the characteristics associated with performance gaps between different racial groups.

URBANA, Ill. – Children are losing their connection to nature.

It’s more than an unfortunate abstraction. Scientists say our increasingly indoor lifestyle negatively affects our health and well-being, not to mention our drive to protect the natural world. And it may be hampering kids’ ability to learn and thrive. A new e-book, published by Frontiers in Psychology, examines the many ways putting children back in contact with nature could make them more successful in school and in life.

URBANA, Ill. – This month, the Illinois State Board of Higher Education voted to officially approve the merger of the agricultural education and agricultural communications programs in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. The new program, Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications (ALEC), went into effect immediately following the decision. 

The merged program will host agricultural education, agricultural communications, and organizational and community leadership.

URBANA, Ill. – Technology in the agricultural industry continues to expand, and with it, the demand for employees prepared to work for agricultural companies. In an effort to build a talent pipeline, The Climate Corporation (Climate), a subsidiary of Bayer, made a $500,000 investment in a new major at the University of Illinois. Leading the digital agriculture revolution, the university launched a first-of-its-kind major combining computer sciences and crop sciences, which the Climate gift benefits.

URBANA, Ill. – Pet lovers and veterinary professionals wishing to learn more about the nutritional needs of their furry friends will soon be able to complete an online certificate program in companion animal nutrition. The first-of-its-kind program draws on the expertise of global leaders in companion animal nutrition in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois.

URBANA, Ill. – Colleges and universities across the nation often make it part of their mission to equip students to be next-generation leaders in the workplace, offering a variety of leadership experiences and programs for students.

But just how successful these programs are in training long-term leaders can be difficult to assess.

URBANA, Ill. – Spending time in nature boosts children’s academic achievement and healthy development, concludes a new analysis examining hundreds of studies.

URBANA, Ill. –The Autism Program at the University of Illinois will partner with Illinois Career Services and the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services at U of I to host a professional development training seminar aimed at helping adult individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome and autism in finding employment that works for them.

The seminar is set for Wednesday, March 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the iHotel and Conference Center in Champaign.

URBANA, Ill. – This summer marked the fifth year for Jennifer Fishburn’s vegetable garden’s current location. “Besides the okra, this was the least amount of produce that I have ever harvested,” says the University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator. “Squash bugs killed the squash plants, tomato plants succumbed to disease and lack of fertility, and rabbits ate all the green bean plants.”