Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/233379
headlines Reining in Tuition and Debt OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY in Ada has announced "The Ohio Northern Promise," an initiative designed to reduce tuition, lower student debt, and help students graduate in four years. With the goal of bringing tuition closer to prerecession rates, the school will drop tuition by 20 percent to 25 percent from 2013–2014 rates; net tuition for current undergraduates will be frozen next year at 2013–2014 levels. To lower student debt, the school will offer a "Four-Year Graduation Guarantee" in most undergraduate programs. Students who meet specific standards and expectations for progress toward a fouryear degree, but who are unable to graduate in four years, will receive an additional semester at no cost for completing the degree. The Ohio Northern Promise was developed after a year of meetings with students and faculty to discuss how the institution might sustain academic excellence while making it more affordable. "The conventional high-tuition and high-financial aid model is not working today and is no longer sustainable," observes Daniel DiBiasio, president of the university. "This is a way forward that seeks to make a quality education more available to the best students we can attract. It's all about affordable excellence." The Theater of Business BUSINESS SCHOOLS HAVE often turned to the dramatic arts to teach students about leadership, decision making, and timeless human emotions. Two schools have launched new partnerships that again match business with theater to give their students an edge in the workplace: ■ The John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University in Missouri has partnered with COCAbiz, the business training division of the local Center of Creative Arts, to provide one-year MBA students with a series of applied, arts-based learning workshops. 12 January/February 2014 BizEd Cook School students will participate in three workshops with the goal of developing new ways of thinking about business challenges and working together creatively. In one workshop, professional theater artists will guide students through improvisation exercises. School administrators believe the instantaneous decision-making skills required during these unscripted acting lessons will transfer easily to high-velocity business environments in which leaders must react with little time for analysis. More information about the partnership is available at business.slu.edu/cocabiz. ■ Babson College of Wellesley, Massachusetts, has welcomed the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) as its resident theater company; CSC presents free Shakespeare productions to more than 100,000 people annually in the Boston area. At Babson, CSC will bolster the school's arts and academic programs to enhance synergies between entrepreneurship and the arts. To that end, CSC personnel will take positions in Babson's Sorenson Center for the Arts, while Babson professor Beth Wynstra will serve as faculty director of the center. B U LL'S EYE /G LOW I MAG ES; GARY HOU LDE R /G LOW I MAG ES "Dramatic arts teach students about leadership and decision-making."