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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 14/06/2024

Victoria's favorite thing about Davidson: "I love Davidson for the people. The community way of life at Davidson is just amazing. And also the various opportunities for skill development and leadership, and the Hurt Hub."

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 14/06/2024

Victoria's favorite part of working with C2i: "My favorite project so far has been on the test-optional admissions policy. It was fascinating seeing how Covid-19 and peer influence impacted the various schools and their test policies."

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 14/06/2024

Meet Victoria Ochieng '27, one of our Summer 2024 student staff members! Victoria is from Nairobi, Kenya, and has been with C2i since she started at Davidson last fall.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 12/06/2024

Abby's favorite thing about C2i: "I love all the learning that comes with the work we do! I get to understand so much more about each topic I research." Abby's favorite thing about Davidson: "I love all the friends I have made here and the future opportunities Davidson and its alumni provide."

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 12/06/2024

Introducing our next summer student staff member, Abby Hulka '25! Abby is a rising senior Psychology major from Chapel Hill, NC, and has been working with C2i for one year.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 11/06/2024

Sarah's favorite thing about Davidson: "The supportive community of such awesome and wonderful people! Everyone is invested in each other's success and always excited to help you out or cheer you on."

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 11/06/2024

Sarah's favorite thing about C2i: "I love the opportunity to be involved in exciting and impactful research as well as the access to excellent professional development opportunities. I feel incredibly supported by the C2i team and I learn something new every day!"

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 11/06/2024

Introducing our second full-time summer staff member, Sarah Butchko '25! Sarah is a rising senior Educational Studies major, and has been working for C2i since March 2023.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 10/06/2024

This week, we'll be introducing our summer student staff members, starting with Natalie Russell '25! Natalie will be with us on campus all summer. She is a rising senior Communication Studies major from Durham, NC, and has been working with C2i since May 2023. Welcome, Natalie!

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 22/05/2024

Since the pandemic, there has been an uptick in the unionization of residence life and research employees, which often include students. 3 in 5 unionization elections are organized by the SEIU or the AFL-CIO. These elections are more common in union-friendly states and well-resourced institutions.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 22/05/2024

The original C2i student data collection used in this study is unique in that it includes all campus employees, not just faculty. Most previous research has ignored the unionization efforts of staff such as maintenance workers, food workers, and campus security.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 22/05/2024

The study examines trends in unionization at private colleges and universities since 2007. It finds that the majority of unionization efforts were organized by staff (67.86%), followed by contingent faculty (~30%).

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 22/05/2024

This month The Annenberg Institute at Brown University posted a working paper on campus unionizations authored by C2i student Steve Mirabello '25, Assistant Director Rylie Martin, and Founding Director @chrismarsicano.bsky.social. Check it out at the link below! edworkingpapers.com/ai24-966

edworkingpapers.com

Organizing the Academy: Unionization Efforts in Higher Education

Labor organization efforts grew following the pandemic in the United States at tech companies, automakers, and even higher education institutions. This brief examines unionization trends at private co...

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 08/05/2024

This is one of many trends to keep an eye on as higher education evolves throughout the 21st century.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 08/05/2024

They predict that this trend may persist after the pandemic, particularly among marginalized groups. However new data from the National Student Clearinghouse show an increase in college enrollment among 21+ year-olds, suggesting that gap years may have become more popular due to COVID.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 08/05/2024

Using data from a Fall 2020 C2i student collection, the team attributes this pattern to a relaxation of high school graduation standards and students' deterrence from going to college due to online instruction during the height of the pandemic.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 08/05/2024

The paper explains the COVID-related changes in high school graduation and college entry rates over recent years. While college entry rates declined during the pandemic, especially at community colleges, high school graduation rates actually increased.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 08/05/2024

C2i's Founding Director Chris Marsicano and Assistant Director Rylie Martin (Davidson College) teamed up for this project w/ Douglas Harris (Tulane University), Feng Chen (Liaoning University), Ann Bernhardt (Texas A&M University), and Paul Von Hippel (University of Texas at Austin).

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 08/05/2024

Highlighting more C2i publications from this semester! In January, a paper using C2i data was published in The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. Read it here: muse.jhu.edu/pub/207/arti...

muse.jhu.edu

Project MUSE - The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Educational Attainment

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 02/05/2024

This anomalous behavior may reflect an attempt to avoid paying the tax or to generate outside revenue to offset the tax's cost. The team's findings will become increasingly relevant in the near future as more institutions are subjected to the endowment tax.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 02/05/2024

The team modeled a universe in which the TCJA was not passed and compared the alternate behavior to institutions' actual responses. Although it doesn't look like schools are systematically avoiding the tax, there is evidence for anomalous behavior.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 02/05/2024

The paper examines whether these institutions subsequently changed their behavior to avoid the tax, perhaps through enrolling more students to reduce the value of the endowment per student, increasing tuition, or reducing financial aid.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 02/05/2024

In 2017, the TCJA imposed a 1.4% tax on the net investment income for private colleges and universities with at least $500,000 in endowment assets per student and over 500 full-time tuition-paying students.

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 02/05/2024

Last month, #C2i leaders @chrismarsicano.bsky.social and Rylie Martin, in collaboration with CJ Ryan and Ann F. Bernhardt, got their paper on higher ed's response to the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 published in the Florida Tax Review. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

Gaming the Endowment Tax

The 2017 law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enacted a tax on private, non-profit college and university endowments for the first time. Institutions w

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 01/05/2024

Steve Mirabello '25 presented his comparative analysis of global universities' COVID-19 responses and their Quacquarelli Symonds rankings. His research suggests that certain universities rose in the rankings as a result of their decision to move classes online.

Steve Mirabello '25 and his research poster

Steve's research poster: "Ranking Decisions: A Comparative Analysis of Universities' COVID-19 Responses and Quacquarelli Symonds Rankings"

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 01/05/2024

Sarah Butchko '25 presented her research on how school choice in Northern Ireland is influenced by existing social inequalities, drawing a parallel to problems in the US education system.

Sarah Butchko '25 and her research poster

Sarah's research poster: "School Choice in Northern Ireland: Is it working and should we use it?"

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 01/05/2024

Nina Worley '26 and Victoria Stutto '25 presented a series of case studies showing the relationship between test-optional policies, standardized test scores, and Pell grant recipients at US liberal arts colleges.

Nina and Victoria posing in front of their poster

Nina and Victoria's poster: "Recent Trends in Test-optional Policies at Liberal Arts Colleges: Case studies showing the relationship between test-optional policies, test scores, and Pell grant recipients"

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 01/05/2024

4 of C2i's student workers presented at Davidson College's Verna Miller Case Symposium this morning. Check out their presentations here!

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 29/04/2024

Early this morning, C2i founder and director @chrismarsicano.bsky.social was interviewed by @cnn.com on what divestment from Israel would look like for American colleges and universities. Find the transcript here: transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnr/dat...

transcripts.cnn.com

CNN.com - Transcripts

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The College Crisis Initiative (C2i) @c2initiative.bsky.social · 29/04/2024

This Wednesday, Davidson students will be presenting their research at the annual Verna Miller Case Symposium on campus. Poster presentations will be in the E. Craig Wall Academic Center from 10-11:30am and 2:30-4pm. More information here, including a schedule of events and a list of presenters:

vmcsymposium.davidson.edu

Verna Miller Case Symposium – Celebrating Student Research, Community Projects and Creative Work

Celebrating Student Research, Community Projects and Creative Work

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