Daily Business Report-Sept. 7, 2016
San Diego State University rated high by the Princeton Review. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker Jr.)
SDSU Rated One of Nation’s Best
Schools For Undergraduate Education
San Diego State University has been listed as one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education by the Princeton Review — a first for the school.
The listings, which are published in the 2017 edition of “The Best 381 Colleges,” are based on surveys of 143,000 students attending 2,500 four-year colleges across the country. Students rated everything from their financial aid to on-campus food, and only about 15 percent of America’s four-year colleges made the cut.
“We are proud that the Princeton Review has recognized the quality of our programs,” SDSU President Elliot Hirshman said. “This ranking is a testament to the efforts of our faculty, staff and students and to our campus-wide focus on educational excellence.”
The Princeton Review rated SDSU highly for its admissions, academics, financial aid, quality of life and sustainability efforts. Key indicators in these areas include academic rigor of incoming students, student retention rates, six-year graduation rates, cost of attendance and diversity. The full SDSU profile can be viewed online here.
“San Diego State’s outstanding academics are the chief reason we chose it for this book and we strongly recommend it to applicants,” said Robert Franek, senior vice president and publisher of the Princeton Review and author of “The Best 381 Colleges.”
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ITT Technical Institute Closure
Affects 2 Campuses in County
By City News Service
ITT Technical Institute schools in National City and Vista are among the campuses permanently shuttered following a ruling barring it from accepting new students who receive federal financial aid.
Following a lengthy investigation, the U.S. Department of Education determined ITT Tech’s parent company, Indiana-based ITT Educational Services,Inc., was not in compliance with criteria set by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. In addition to the financial aid sanction, the federal agency planned to ramp up its oversight of the for-profit college’s finances due to “significant concerns” about its administrative capacity, organizational integrity, financial viability and its ability to serve students.
“Our responsibility is first and foremost to protect students and taxpayers,” U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said. “Looking at all of the risk factors, it’s clear that we need increased financial protection and that it simply would not be responsible or in the best interest of students to allow ITT to continue enrolling new students who rely on federal student aid funds.”
ITT Educational Services officials said the Department of Education’s sanctions forced them to cease operations and cancel its trade school classes for the September quarter. The company has also fired most of its employees, excluding those kept on to assist students with obtaining their records and assessing their educational options.
“It is with profound regret that we must report that ITT Educational Services Inc. will discontinue academic operations at all of its ITT Technical Institutes permanently after approximately 50 years of continuous service,” according to a company statement. “With what we believe is a complete disregard by the U.S. Department of Education for due process to the company, hundreds of thousands of current students and alumni and more than 8,000 employees will be negatively affected.”
Officials with ITT Educational Services said the government actions affecting its estimated 140 ITT Technical Institutes in 35 states “inappropriate and unconstitutional.” The ruling came down without a hearing, and the company was not allowed to appeal it.
ITT Tech students already enrolled in classes can continue to apply for federal financial aid to finish their coursework elsewhere, and may be eligible for a federal loan discharge, according to the Department of Education.
Community College District
Offers Help to ITT Students
The San Diego Community College District issued this statement regarding the ITT Tech Institute closure:
The San Diego Community College District is exploring how it might assist ITT Tech students following today’s announcement that ITT Tech has closed its doors. For some local ITT students, continuing their education at City, Mesa, or Miramar college may be a good option – but these students may face some challenges transferring their coursework. Since ITT Tech was not regionally accredited, students seeking to transfer credits may need to pursue credit by examination. Regardless, we welcome inquiries from ITT Tech students since we have a number of similar programs in career technical fields, and will do our best to assist them in completing their program of study.
Coleman University Welcomes
Students from ITT Technical Institute
Coleman University announced it will accept students currently enrolled in four programs at ITT’s School of Information Technology in National City and Vista, regardless of the length of time they have been in their degree programs.
“We were sorry to hear about the shutdown of ITT Tech campuses. Coleman is ready to help ITT Tech students from National City and Vista complete their degree programs, and we have taken steps to help ensure a smooth transition between programs,” said Norbert J. Kubilus, president and CEO, Coleman University. “We have identified six ITT Tech degree programs from which students can transfer a large number of ITT Tech units into our Cybersecurity and Software Development degree programs.”
Coleman University will accept almost all ITT Tech units for bachelor degree programs for Information Systems & Cybersecurity and Software Development, and over half of the units for Network Systems and Software Development associate degree programs. Students in the Electrical Engineering degree programs may transfer up to one-third of the ITT Tech units into Coleman’s Cybersecurity degree programs. Coleman is waiving the application fee and degree residency requirements for students transferring from ITT Tech programs.
Each student’s situation is unique. Coleman has developed transfer guides that map ITT Tech units into Coleman units. Students from ITT Tech are encouraged to contact a Coleman admissions officer at (858) 499-0202 or Admissions@coleman.edu to discuss their transfer options.
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Gildred Development Co. Acquires
Industrial Building in Carlsbad
Gildred Development Co. has acquired an industrial building in the Raceway Business Park in Carlsbad for an undisclosed price. The seller was Lionshead Investments.
The 20,142 square foot building is parceled into two suites and includes dock high and grade level loading.
At the time of Gildred’s purchase of the property, approximately 34 percent of the building was occupied by a tenant with a long-term lease.
Lee & Associates represented the buyer and seller in the transaction.
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SANDAG Tax Measure
Opponents File Lawsuit
By City News Service
Opponents of Measure A, which would hike San Diego County’s sales tax by a half-cent to fund infrastructure projects, announced on Tuesday that they’ve filed a lawsuit challenging the accuracy of supporters’ ballot statements.
It’s the second court action involving the veracity of local ballot arguments. A judge said he would rule next week on the statement provided by opponents of Measure B, a planned residential development in the Lilac Hills section of Valley Center.
The San Diego Association of Governments placed Measure A on the ballot, and it has received the blessing of the San Diego Taxpayers Association. It’s opposed by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, with some environmental and labor organizations.
“Measure A supporters are playing fast and loose with the facts,” said Ricardo Ochoa, legal counsel to the Quality of Life Coalition. “The simple truth is Measure A is deceptive and does more harm than good to San Diego County communities.”
The lawsuit alleges that phrases in the argument in favor of Measure A that tout “reducing fares for seniors, students, the disabled and veterans” and improving “water quality by treating polluted runoff” are misleading because nothing in the proposition guarantees that the extra revenue would be used for those purposes.
A petition that lists Gretchen Newsom, political director of the San Diego chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, demands that Registrar of Voters Michael Vu delete the alleged inaccurate statements. The document notes that ballot materials need to go to the printer by Sept. 14.
Vu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Supporters of Measure A contend it would raise $18 billion over the next several decades to pay for freeway improvements, surface street repairs and mass transit projects.
In the Measure B case, opponents said every word of their ballot statement and rebuttal was taken from the county’s analysis of the proposition or statements by the developer, Accretive Investments. Real estate broker Paul Schumann of Fallbrook is listed as the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed last week.
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Air Force Wants Enlisted Personnel
To Account for Most Global Hawk Pilots
ExecutiveGov
The U.S. Air Force plans to fill at least half of the service’s RQ-4 Global Hawk pilot crew with enlisted airmen over the next several years amid operational demand and pilot shortage challenges, DoD Buzz reported Friday.
Brendan McGarry writes the Air Force aims to recruit more enlisted airmen to fly the Northrop Grumman-built spy drone after opening the post to all career fields.
“By 2020, the Air Force hopes to have a little more than half of its 198 RQ-4 pilots be enlisted airmen,” Maj. Bryan Lewis, an Air Force spokesman, told Military.com.
“And by that point, roughly 70 percent of the 121 airmen flying Global Hawk missions on a day-to-day basis — not performing other duties such as staff positions at the wing — will be enlisted airmen.”
The Air Force has 33 Global Hawks in its inventory as of fiscal 2015 and larger inventories of armed drones such as General Atomics‘ MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, the report said.
McGarry writes the Air Force has not clarified if the expected Global Hawk enlisted pilots will also eventually pilot the armed variants.
Sgt. Kimberly Pollard, RPA enlisted specialty manager, announced in August that the Global Hawk program has expanded the eligibility requirements for RQ-4 pilots to include all Air Force specialty codes.