Ivy Tech discontinue withholding transcripts of students who have an outstanding balance
Ivy Tech Community College announced that the College will make available the transcripts of all students regardless of whether the student owes a balance to the College. Withholding transcripts has been a common way for most higher education institutions to incentivize students to pay debts. However, the practice makes it difficult for students to transfer and continue their education. In recent years, the College has explored a number of innovative ways to increase the graduation rate of its students. The new transcript policy, along with the Ivy+ tuition and books program and other initiatives encourage students to complete their degrees faster and with fewer barriers.
“Our primary goal at Ivy Tech Community College is to prepare individuals to achieve their goals and contribute to their families and their communities through high-wage careers,” said Sue Ellspermann, President of the College. “We are working to remove barriers in the way of achieving that goal, and this is a step we can take to move our students toward a better financial future.”
Nearly all (98 percent) of the 410 respondents to a 2016 survey from the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) indicated their higher education institutions hold transcripts as a debt collection tactic.
The new policy does not forgive debt, but it does provide a way forward for students to continue their academic pursuits, which in turn sets them up for greater financial prosperity. The policy positively impacts as many as 82,000 students statewide.
Purdue-developed imaging drug allowed surgeons to find additional cancer lesions
Cytalux, the first tumor-targeted fluorescent agent for ovarian cancer, was recently approved by the FDA.The drug was invented at Purdue University and will be released by On Target Laboratories, allowing physicians to identify additional cancerous lesions, which otherwise would have been left behind, in up to 27% more patients during ovarian cancer surgery. Philip Low, Purdue University’s Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery is the inventor of Cytalux, whose imaging agent is delivered via an IV injection between one and nine hours before the surgery for ovarian cancer. The fluorescent imaging agent binds to the cancer cells, allowing surgeons to find additional tumors in 27% of the patients, which would have otherwise been left behind, according to results of the Phase 3 clinical trial.
The drug works by ‘molecular jujitsu’ with Cancer cells dividing rapidly, much faster than normal tissue. To do this, they need folate, a type of B vitamin — and the cancer cells are ravenous for it. Low’s innovation was to tag a folate compound with a fluorescent dye and administer it intravenously to a patient before the surgery. In an analysis of a small-sized subgroup of patients during the clinical trials with patients who underwent surgery following chemotherapy (which is called “interval debulking surgery”) use of the imaging agent allowed additional cancer to be found in 40% of patients.
Indiana Women’s Basketball Hosts Fairfield
Indiana Women’s Basketball Is back in action when they host the Fairfield Stags tonight inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall tonight at 7pm. Indiana is coming off a 70-40 win over Penn State Monday Night. All five Hoosiers Starters scored in double figures and scored 66 of the teams 70 points. Indiana is 6-2 and 1-0 in the Big Ten. Mackenize Holmes leads the team in scoring with 16.5 and rebounds with 6.9 along with a team high 10 blocked shots. Ali Patberg averages 13.5, Grace Berger at 12.9 and a team high 40 assists, Nicole Carando-Hillary averages 10.8 and a team high 13 steals, and Aleska Gulbe averages 10.3 points per game. The Starters have scored 511 of the teams 560 points this season.
City of Bloomington seeks those interested in serving on Boards
Vacancies exist on the City of Bloomington boards and commissions listed below. Interested Bloomington city residents will find relevant information on each vacancy at the links provided, and are encouraged to apply through the City’s Onboard platform.
- BIDAC (Bloomington Industrial Development Advisory Commission)
- Bloomington Arts Commission
- Board of Zoning Appeals
- CDBG Funding Citizens Advisory Committee
- Commission on Aging
- Commission on Hispanic and Latino Affairs
- Commission on Sustainability(3)
- Commission on the Status of Children & Youth
- Environmental Commission
- Housing Quality Appeals Board(2)
- Parking Commission
This week in Hoosier History
1967 – Grammy award-winning violinist and conductor Joshua Bell was born in Bloomington. Bell would begin taking violin lessons at the age of 4, and appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 12. He graduated from Bloomington High School and later, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Bell debuted at Carnegie Hall age 17.
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