Category: Learning
Digital Education Leader to Move University Beyond MOOCs
Chrysanthos Dellarocas, the Richard C. Shipley Professor of Management at the Questrom School of Business, is named to the new position of Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Innovation. He had been leading the Digital Learning Initiative (DLI), the team that, in part, developed the massive open online courses (MOOCs), the popular computerized classes that can reach a global student audience. In his new post, Dellarocas will oversee the DLI and two other University groups: the Center for Teaching & Learning and the educational technology team in Information Services & Technology.
Innovative University-Wide General Education Program Proposed for 2018
The proposal calls for BU undergraduates to develop core skills, knowledge, and habits of mind through both coursework and cocurricular programs that will prepare them to succeed. Called the BU Hub, the proposal is the work of a 14-member faculty task force that solicited input from hundreds of members of the University community in dozens of meetings over 15 months.
New MED Curriculum Aimed at Stemming Explosive Rise in Opioid Misuse
To address the opioid overdose crisis in Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker had asked the deans of the commonwealth’s four medical schools (BU School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, and University of Massachusetts Medical School) for help in designing a list of core competencies needing to be covered during medical school to help combat prescription drug misuse, addiction, and overdose fatalities.
BU Ranks #32 in Global Universities, Says U.S. News & World Report
BU jumps five spots in the latest ranking of the best “global universities” by U.S. News & World Report, rising to 32 from last year’s 37. It is the magazine’s second annual compilation in this category, and “affirms how competitive we continue to be among the world’s premier research universities,” says Jean Morrison, University provost and chief academic officer.
BU Ranks in Top 50 Universities Nationwide
Boston University moves up one notch, from 42 to 41, in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of the nation’s colleges and universities. BU is also named to the lists of “high school counselors’ top college picks,” “foreign student factor,” and “best colleges for veterans.”
Yawkey Foundations Gift Goes to Work
Over the summer, the Yawkey Nonprofit Internship Program provides stipends for 14 BU sophomores and juniors. The program, which pays a stipend of $1,500 for an internship during the academic year and $3,000 for a summer internship, is funded by the Yawkey Foundations, which pledged $10 million in September 2014.
A CFA Center for All Things Beethoven
The new College of Fine Arts Center for Beethoven Research, a resource for all things Beethoven and a magnet for scholars from around the world, has been a work in progress since 2012. The center, based in the School of Music department of musicology and ethnomusicology, features a digitized library and is collaborating with Beethoven centers around the world to host events and conferences.
University to Expand Big Data Expertise
The University Provost launches a data science faculty hiring initiative to bolster BU’s leadership in the burgeoning field and advance the University’s focus on interdisciplinary research. With more and more disciplines seeking to harness the power of data science, BU will hire up to six data scientists over the next three years in such areas as computer science, statistics, and systems engineering. Data scientists use mathematical models to analyze voluminous data and draw knowledge from it that can be used in a variety of applications, from health care and business to design and communications. The new faculty members will augment ongoing hiring in data-science-related disciplines.
Center for Systems Neuroscience
As brain science takes a prominent position on the nation’s research agenda, BU launches a new interdisciplinary research center to explore the roots of psychiatric diseases and neurological impairments.
The Center for Systems Neuroscience (CSN) is led by Michael Hasselmo, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of psychological and brain sciences. The inaugural director, Hasselmo says the center’s researchers will work to further enhance the understanding of how brain systems mediate behavior. “We plan to build on the exciting research of neuroscience faculty at Boston University,” he says. “And we will foster new collaborations to generate experimental and computational advances in the field.”
New Pardee School of Global Studies Opens
The Pardee School of Global Studies is BU’s newest college and has the simple yet monumental mission of improving the human condition around the globe. It was founded with the $25 million donation of Frederick S. Pardee (Questrom’54, ’54, Hon.’06) and offers five majors: international relations, Asian studies, Middle East and African Studies, European Studies, and Latin American studies.
