North Dakota higher-ed board backs Senate budget proposal
Tammy Dolan, chief financial officer for the North Dakota University System, noted that the system will still need to go before legislators in the House, but added that having support from SBHE is always welcome. 5:03 pm, Feb. 25, 2021 ×
Nick Hacker, chair of the State Board of Higher Education, speaks during the board s Tuesday, June 30, meeting held in Bismarck. The meeting was streamed virtually for the public. Screenshot
In a rare move, the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education has endorsed the state Senate’s higher education budget mid-session.
Board members voted unanimously Thursday, Feb. 25, to give their support to Senate Bill 2003, which is the funding bill for the North Dakota University System.
jschramm@minotdailynews.com
Legislation that would expand a grant program for state universities and colleges to private schools received a mixed response from Minot legislators during Senate passage last Thursday.
Senate Bill 2030 allows the University of Jamestown and the University of Mary to participate in raising scholarship money only in the North Dakota University System’s Challenge Grant program. The program, established in 2013 for the state’s 11 institutions of higher learning, provides matching funds for locally raised donations, often directed toward student scholarships.
“I am of the feeling that we are obligated to take care of the institutions that are within the state budget,” Sen. Karen Krebsbach, R-Minot said at Saturday’s legislative forum, sponsored by the Minot Area Chamber EDC. “How far is this going to go?”
Briefs
Students honor workers for service during pandemic
Students of St. John’s Catholic School recently took to the streets to spread some joy and to thank the many area businesses for their effort and energy in continuing to provide service to the community during the pandemic.
The children created paper hearts, with inspiring messages of gratitude, which they then taped on storefronts and doors in the downtown area.
Their actions, that were part of Maine Catholic Schools Week, were inspired partly by Portland’s own St. Valentine’s Bandit, who annually and anonymously, tapes hearts up all over the city. The children would have preferred to deliver the sentiments themselves but were following COVID-19 protocols.
Photo credit: okrasiuk – adobe.stock.com Medical device manufacturers and contract sterilizers are working with regulators to reduce ethylene oxide (EO) emissions and develop alternative sterilization methods, while assuring product availability.
Public and governmental alarm about the use of ethylene oxide (EO) for sterilization of medical devices is driving device manufacturers, contract sterilizers, and other stakeholders to double down on developing sterilization processes that reduce or eliminate the use of EO.
“Ethylene Oxide Sterilization: An FDA & EPA Update,” presented during 2020 Virtual Engineering Week by Mac McKeen, fellow, regulatory science, at Boston Scientific, presents the regulatory lay of the land, as well as strategies for reducing reliance on EO. Watch the full 30-minute presentation in this video.
The UArizona Center for Digital Humanities project will create immersive scenarios that simulate typical experiences of discrimination. By Eric Swedlund, College of Humanities Feb. 1, 2021 Bryan Carter, Director of the Center for Digital Humanities, works with augmented and virtual reality technologies that create immersive and interactive experiences.
A University of Arizona researcher is embarking on a new project that uses virtual and augmented reality to re-create common experiences of racism and discrimination.
While the old idiom to walk a mile in someone else s shoes is a familiar reminder to empathize with others, it can be little more than an imaginative exercise. Using advanced immersive technology to place a person in a scenario can create a much more realistic experience, says