Home » Education & Workforce Development

Education & Workforce Development

Articles

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: If you’ve got the culture, you can share knowledge online

There’s a new buzzword just aching to make its way into your vocabulary. It’s “distributed cognition.” It means two or more heads are better than one. Nobody knows everything, so it’s a good idea to hook everybody together in big webs of knowledge. For many knowledge-management vendors, it’s a recycling of their sales pitches for knowledge bases and the like. The theory is that if you can get everybody busily contributing knowledge to an online location where others can use…

Read More

IU embraces RFID education: Radio frequency identification an essential part of supply management studies

Trucks and trains have been absent from the curriculums of most kindergarten classes for years. But at Indiana University in Bloomington, the toys are proving to be a valuable teaching tool. The Supply Chain Management Academy at IU’s Kelley School of Business employs the playthings to show students how radio frequency identification works. Known as RFID, the technology is expected to replace the familiar bar code. It consists of a tag imbedded with silicon chips that carry up to 96…

Read More

VIEWPOINT: Arts are a good investment for business

This summer, there are two red-letter days for the arts and cultural scene as well as our city and state: the official opening of the new home of the Herron School of Art on the IUPUI campus, which was set for June 3, and the dedication of the Indianapolis Art Center’s ARTSPARK Aug. 21. These events are only two of the many activities in 2005 that will help position Indianapolis as an arts and cultural destination, a goal set by…

Read More

Interns follow unique paths: Some internships offer more freedom, creativity

Internships can offer valuable learning experiences for college students looking to land the ideal job following graduation. But few provide an opportunity quite like the one extended by the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission in its quest to market the city as a cultural destination. By summer’s end, three undergrads will have traipsed the Hoosier state visiting fairs and festivals in a van decorated with the large, red arrow becoming synonymous with the promotional campaign. Whether their itinerary includes stops at…

Read More

Company helps keep students on course: College Network offers college-study assistance

There may be no shortcuts to a college education, but Indianapolis-based The College Network says it can offer some passing lanes for working people who want to add to their professional credentials. The College Network, 3815 River Crossing Parkway, Suite 260, is a nationwide business that publishes educational materials for adult students who want to earn an undergraduate degree, graduate degree or professional certification in their current field. TCN is not a school and does not provide degrees itself, but…

Read More

Long commute for former Lt. Gov.: Kathy Davis to lead South Bend tech firm

Her days as lieutenant governor are finished, but it didn’t take Kathy Davis long to find a new management role. She’s accepted a job leading South Bend-based telecommunications connectivity provider Global Access Point. “After we lost [the election] and I knew I’d be looking for a job, I thought it would be ideal if I could find some entrepreneur who was very technical and needed some help on the management side,” Davis said. “Then I was fortunate that opportunity came…

Read More

Not-for-profits affect state’s bottom line: Health organizations account for more than half of state’s not-for-profit workers

From 2000 to 2003, a period during which the state experienced an overall decline in jobs, employment in the notfor-profit sector grew. That finding, among others, is part of a study of not-for-profit employment in the state, and an update of a report issued two years ago, by Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Johns Hopkins University. The 5-percent increase in not-for-profit employment, compared with a 6-percent decline in the for-profit sector, suggests…

Read More

New providers fill up the market for air-rescue services: Indiana sees growth spurt in helicopter transport firms

Medical helicopters are filling the skies over Indiana in an unprecedented growth spurt that has sparked a heated debate about overuse and quality of care. A market once dominated by not-forprofit Clarian Health Partners’ LifeLine program has seen three out-of-state companies plant seven new helicopter bases in central and southern Indiana over the past few years. PHI Air Medical Group Indiana, a subsidiary of Phoenix-based PHI Air Medical Services, opened bases in West Lafayette, Anderson and Columbus last year. They…

Read More

Schools face prevalence of online plagiarism: Educators try to thwart growing cheating problem as Web sites make it easy for students to purchase papers

Cheaters beware. High schools and universities are turning up the heat on students who pilfer information for research papers or book reports. The term plagiarism originated from the Latin word plagiarius, which meant kidnapper, and has existed for centuries. But the creation of the Internet has made it much easier to lift published material without crediting the source. With a few clicks of the mouse, students simply can “cut and paste” the information they need. Or, for a fee, they…

Read More

Not-for-profit looks for way to continue its operations: Broad support must replace CILC’s sole funding source

It was supposed to be short-lived, an agency created solely to help Indiana schools tap emerging videoconferencing technology for distance learning. But a funny thing happened on the way to the virtual field trip. “We found it really wasn’t about the technology. It was about what you do with the technology,” said Ruth Blankenbaker, executive director of the Indianapolis-based Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration. “If you don’t have a reason to use it, what’s the point?” Teachers had to…

Read More

Anderson incubator represents ‘beginning’: Officials hope new center will help revive economy

Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems LTD is the type of high-tech company Anderson officials are coveting for their new small-business incubator, the Flagship Enterprise Center. Founded in 2002 by Pete Bitar, XADS has a contract with the U.S. Marine Corps to develop a long-range, wireless stun gun, known as the StunStrike system. The patent-pending technology delivers a non-lethal electrical current to disable a human target. The prototypes include a rifle that can fire up to 15 feet and a vehiclemounted unit…

Read More

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: With growth at both ends, job spectrum requires skill

When you study economic statistics for a living, it’s easy to lose perspective on a lot of things. Take the labor market, for instance. In any given month, millions of American workers are hired and fired, promoted, demoted and transferred. Some drop out of the labor force to raise children or to go to school, while others retire altogether or begin new careers. When the smoke clears after all those changes, the statisticians in Indiana and in Washington tally it…

Read More

Busy session for insurance forces: Compact passage highlights plethora of industry-related legislation considered by the General Assembly

State lawmakers also killed a bill that offers “mandate lite” health coverage and kept the topic of vicious dogs at bay during the 2005 legislative session. Insurance lobbyists and regulators say they just wrapped up one of the busiest sessions in recent memory. Topics ran a wide gamut and crowded committee calendars. Last year, five industry-supported bills made it through the General Assembly, according to Dan Tollefson, corporate counsel for the state Department of Insurance. This year, 15 did, and…

Read More

After 5 years, USTA ready to serve up 96th Street HQ: Raymond James, First Merchants sign on as tenants

The locally based Midwest division of the U.S. Tennis Association is preparing to break ground on a 25,000-square-foot headquarters and hall of fame building on East 96th Street after five years of planning and courting tenants. The two-story office building was first conceived in 2000, but has been held up more than four years by a search for other tenants during a soft office market. The organization recently scored two tenants, Florida-based Raymond James & Associates Inc. and Muncie-based First…

Read More

NOTIONS: An idyllic day dressed in ‘Blue Velvet’

Years ago, my wife and I registered our sons, Austin and Zach, for the Bank One 500 Festival Rookie Run. In what became an annual tradition, we’d drive the boys downtown early on the appointed Saturday in May, pick up their T-shirts and racing numbers, and wait for their age group to be called. At the appointed hour, Austin and Zach would line up with scores of other kids, run a few blocks up and back Meridian Street, and receive…

Read More

Finances another obstacle for Rose: University’s money problems predate controversial leader

In Terre Haute, his management style has come across like a bull in a china shop. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s faculty and students voted “no confidence” in his abilities. The university’s staff will soon take a vote of its own, and an upcoming trustee meeting will likely address the matter. But as the tide of opinion turned against Rose-Hulman President Jack Midgley, detractors stopped asking a fundamentally important question: Could Midgley be right about the need for change? Last September,…

Read More

HIGHER (cost of) EDUCATION: Students’ college burden continues to rise in Indiana

With state funding flat and operating expenses rising, Indiana’s public universities are turning to a familiar source to make up the difference-students. Tuition and mandatory fees at state institutions are set to climb an average of 5 percent next school year and higher in 2006-2007, if proposed rates stand. That’s a far cry from the double-digit increases most universities imposed just a few years ago, but observers say it’s worrisome nonetheless. “Tuition has been rising at twice the rate of…

Read More

Mansion tenant’s HQ networks with history: Levey building’s interior design mixes new with the old

At the Louis Levey Mansion on North Meridian Street, the blending of past, present and future greets visitors as they walk through the heavy arched doors of Networks Financial Institute’s headquarters. In the entry hallway, a receptionist with all the latest technology on her desk sits under a Victorian-era stained-glass skylight. Around her, contemporary art hangs next to elaborately carved wood molding on the walls. Futuristic glass-and-chrome lighting fixtures hang from the ceilings, one of which has an original painted…

Read More

VIEWPOINT: Our future is in good hands of our youth

Earlier this month, as I dispensed diplomas and handshakes in my final undergraduate commencement as a university president, I was struck by the realization that the optimistic parade of young people passing across the stage began their college experience under a shadow large and ominous enough to swallow all hope. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, unfolded when these young men and women were fresh out of high school and barely settled into their residence halls-many of them far…

Read More

Firm eyes national growth following design merger: CSO SchenkelShultz could bring more offices into fold

The two design firms joined forces to become CSO SchenkelShultz and consolidated more than 100 employees at the north-side office CSO previously occupied by itself at Parkwood Crossing. The combined firm might become much larger, however, if a long-term plan unfolds to bring more locations under the umbrella. Based in Fort Wayne, SchenkelShultz has nine remaining locations in Indiana, Florida and North Carolina separate from the merged office in Indianapolis. The merger could be a first step to a deeper…

Read More