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The Assembly of First Nations has launched a national call to action on education, asking philanthropic organizations, higher education institutions and the corporate sector, among others, to support aboriginal education and skills training to ensure First Nations youth are able to reach their full potential. AFN calls for reconciling Aboriginal rights within Education Acts across Canada, creating secure indexed funding for First Nations education, First Nations curriculum and language immersion, and partnerships with the public and private sectors. AFN Call to Action

After two years of budget deficits approaching $2 million, Loyalist College has come in with a balanced budget, a $7 million reserve fund, and a 20% increase to its endowments. Some of the surplus will be invested in capital improvements, deferred maintenance, and equipment for the new Skills Centre, which opens this fall. A spokesperson for the College credits in part the Second Life virtual world program (which has generated contracts with military and other partners) as a strong revenue source.  Belleville Intelligencer  |  Loyalist media release 

Royal Roads University and the Canadian Medical Association have formed a collaborative partnership designed to enhance the quality of doctors as leaders across Canada. Royal Roads will investigate and develop effective blended learning models to enhance CMA's current suite of leadership programs, available to any CMA member. The CMA will establish a credential process allowing physicians to ladder into a graduate certificate or degree program at Royal Roads. CMA and Royal Roads are jointly exploring graduate-level programming in physician leadership.  Royal Roads News 

2 new varsity sports teams will join Humber College's Hawks crew this fall. The college will host its first men's baseball team, which will participate in the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association. Humber is also introducing women's rugby, which has been deemed an "introductory" sport for the first 2 years before it is officially called an OCAA varsity sport. Humber's assistant athletic director says that with the newly added facilities and varsity programs, the college is confident that it will stay in the forefront of athletics in Canada. Humber News

Carleton University graduate and computer science professor Dwight Deugo has developed an SMS-based technology that eliminates the need for pay-and-display parking. To use the service, users register at iParked.ca, where they are asked to submit their cell phone number, payment and vehicle information. When parking, customers send a text message from their cell phone indicating the parking lot and length of parking time required. They will receive a text-message acknowledgement and electronic receipt, as well as a text message warning when parking time is about to expire. “Imagine never getting a parking ticket again.” Carleton will pilot-test the technology in a single parking lot during July and August, and may be extended to other lots if successful. There is apparently “no equivalent 100% text-messaging parking solution in Canada.”  Carleton News

A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Higher Education finds that, statistically, concerns about rising tuition costs and labour force participation are unwarranted. Contrary to previous theories and assumptions, the researchers found that while students work more on an annual basis when tuition increases, the tuition effect was highly seasonal in nature: that is, students worked more hours in the summer, but not during the traditional school terms. The researchers therefore conclude that rising tuition has minimal impact on academic performance.  Macleans  |  Study Abstract  |  Full Study (PDF) 

According to a new study released by the consulting company Eduventures, for-profit colleges will enroll 42% of the adult undergraduate market by 2019, nearly doubling their current market share. Over the next 10 years, the study estimates that for-profit colleges will educate 60,000 more adult students than public institutions, and 800,000 more than private institutions. The authors predict that online education (an area in which for-profit colleges dominate) will continue to gain respectability, and will become the norm for adult learners.  The Chronicle of Higher Ed 

Much like Rick Miner’s recent report on the imminent labour market crisis in Canada (“Jobs without People, People without Jobs”), a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce suggests a similar mismatch in the US, between labour market skills demand and educational attainment of potential workers. According to the report, by 2018 the US economy will have jobs for 22 million new workers with PSE -- however, based on current projections, there will be a shortage of 3 million workers with a degree, and 4.7 million with a certificate. The lead author suggests that colleges need to become more career-oriented, and to overhaul their curricula to more closely align with the requirements of specific jobs.  Inside Higher Ed 

A consultant warns that “cheating is really pervasive in China,” and that Chinese students seeking undergraduate studies abroad often falsify their applications. Based on an informal survey of 250 Chinese high-school students, and conversation with parents and college-recruiting agents, Tom Melcher estimates that 90% of Chinese applicants falsify their recommendations, 70% get others to write their personal statements, 50% forge their high-school transcripts, 30% lie on financial-aid forms, and 10% list awards they did not receive. Some have blamed unscrupulous agents for the fraud, but Melcher blames parents: "Chinese parents make American helicopter parents look laid back." The report recommends hiring “covert” admissions officers in China to screen applications, and conducting interviews of applicants in their native language.  The Chronicle of Higher Ed 

Syncapse, a social media marketing firm, surveyed a panel of 4,000 North American consumers this month about their interactions with the top 20 brands on Facebook (including Nokia, Axe, Playstation and Red Bull). On average, those who had “liked” a brand’s official page were 28% more likely to continue using the brand, 41% more likely to recommend it to a friend, and spent $71.84 more on the brand annually. Adding together spending, loyalty, recommendations and earned media value, Syncapse calculates the average Facebook fan has a value of $136.38 – although they range from $270.77 down to $0. (Syncapse deducts 47 cents as the average cost to acquire a Facebook fan.) It should be noted that these fans would still have value without Facebook at all.  BizReport  |  Syncapse Report (PDF)