Northeastern, does anybody know?

[revert79]

Hello!  Just curious if there is a Julian Assange type out there who wants to leak the big news about Northeastern's expansion (?) to Portland Maine.

[mamselle]

Interesting....they seem to be fulfilling the "North-" part of their name, at least...in 2018 they broke ground in Burlington for a new campus there..

   https://news.northeastern.edu/2020/01/22/the-deadline-is-approaching-for-the-2020-huntington-100-get-your-nominations-in/

Do you mean this?

   https://www.pressherald.com/2020/01/24/northeastern-university-to-make-major-announcement-in-portland/

Interesting....oh, I already said that.

Are they taking over a campus or building another new one, I wonder...seems like a couple theology schools went out a few years ago there.

M.

[mamselle]

Two articles (can't link now) suggest an Information Studies-type program is in the works.

Since one guesses such programs also already existed at U Me. and their cohorts, this seems disingenuous.

Or maybe they'll get away with it.

I was thinking they might have bought one of the theological school campuses that failed, but those are not nearby, so I guessed wrong on that.

La vie continue (life goes on...)

M.

[revert79]

I saw an article too-- quote:
"The graduate education and research institute will focus narrowly on digital engineering, genomics, and life sciences with an emphasis on the intersection of human beings, artificial intelligence and genomes". This is intended as part of the "knowledge economy" (!)

They are making the announcement today at some point.  I find this very mysterious and strange.  The former Theological Seminary rented space in a UCC church in downtown Portland, so I don't think that site would be a good option for these folks who may not appreciate the idea of a supernatural creator too much.

Is this common, for universities to spring up branch campus sites all over the country?  I feel like I have seen it before...what are the implications?

[Hibush]

I saw an article too-- quote:
"The graduate education and research institute will focus narrowly on digital engineering, genomics, and life sciences with an emphasis on the intersection of human beings, artificial intelligence and genomes". This is intended as part of the "knowledge economy" (!)

Is this common, for universities to spring up branch campus sites all over the country?  I feel like I have seen it before...what are the implications?

Those are very trendy topics, so setting up satellite institutes to do that sort of thing is a model for big institutions. Typically, they would be in a place where there is a lot of academic activity as well as new business. For this particular set of intersecting specializations, I'd want to put the institute in Boston. For a Boston institution to put it in Maine is a curious choice, though I hear Portland is innovating its economy.

[pigou]

Is this common, for universities to spring up branch campus sites all over the country?  I feel like I have seen it before...what are the implications?

Around the country and around the world. Carnegie Mellon has a satellite location in Silicon Valley, for example, which is great for doing applied robotics and software engineering work. NYU has campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.

I'm not sure what kind of implications you are looking for. It tends to be a good boost to the local economy and can attract new businesses who are active in that sector. Companies can also more easily send their employees there for a sort of mid-career Masters. The universities themselves benefit from tuition revenue (if a company pays, you don't need scholarships), increased brand recognition, and access to joint research projects with companies that often have more resources.

Why Portland, Maine is anyone's guess. Boston has gotten huge for biotech. This might be a push by Maine to expand from finance into biotech and attract some of these startups looking for an area with lower cost of living. Probably doesn't cost them a lot and diversification has its upsides (and biotech brings in a lot of money).

[mamselle]

The MIT apron, the 128 belt, and even the 495 belt are getting glutted and expensive.

So getting out of Boston makes sense.

M.

[Hibush]

We have the answer to why Portland.
"David Roux, who grew up in nearby Lewiston and graduated from Harvard before building a fortune as a Silicon Valley investor, is giving $100 million to Northeastern University."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/business/economy/portland-maine-economy.html

They are likewise skeptical of success outside of the few cities where these activities are concentrated.
"Innovators, apparently, do best when they are around other innovators. They and the firms that hope to employ them flock to the same handful of places. So Mr. Roux's initiative is rowing against a powerful tide.

Mr. Roux bet that Portland offers the right sort of setting, with a few tech companies already established and with Boston, a technology-rich megacity, just two hours away."

[spork]

This arrangement could work very well. The difference in real estate costs with Boston makes Portland a potentially attractive location for university faculty and start-ups.

[professing]

I can't necessarily speak to the bigger issues at play here, other than what has already been exposed (the investor's personal history and interest in the expansion). However, many in the Boston area have been expressing for years how the cost of living has pushed the Boston suburbs into Maine already. Former factory towns in Southern Maine (right outside of Portland) have been shocked at the sudden influx of residents and rising costs of living. It may also be due to many areas of the country (and their transplanted workers) already used to 1+ hour commutes.

I am curious what the U of Maine and the respected Maine LACs may be pondering about this expansion too. I'm personally not surprised Northeastern has been driven to expand, as it has often struck me as having a lot in common with some of the other private R1s with a similar drive to increase their profile.

[backatit]

I saw an article too-- quote:
"The graduate education and research institute will focus narrowly on digital engineering, genomics, and life sciences with an emphasis on the intersection of human beings, artificial intelligence and genomes". This is intended as part of the "knowledge economy" (!)

Is this common, for universities to spring up branch campus sites all over the country?  I feel like I have seen it before...what are the implications?

Those are very trendy topics, so setting up satellite institutes to do that sort of thing is a model for big institutions. Typically, they would be in a place where there is a lot of academic activity as well as new business. For this particular set of intersecting specializations, I'd want to put the institute in Boston. For a Boston institution to put it in Maine is a curious choice, though I hear Portland is innovating its economy.

Portland is exploding in social and intellectual capital these days (it's my hometown and I visit frequently). I'm really impressed with some of the tech hubs they're pulling in, so this actually makes some sense to me. It's also a bedroom community for Boston these days (they have a direct train line and lots of telecommuting hub offices there) so it's not as surprising.

[Parasaurolophus]

I heard an ad for Northeastern on the radio the other day. On a Canadian station. In Canada.


It was weird. I've never heard such a thing before. At least, not here. They were bragging about their international campuses, which I had no idea they have.

[nescafe]

I'm waiting for Google to open its Fresno office any day now. Put another way, I'm skeptical that COL is the reason NU is doing this. Most of these professional grad degree programs are tuition farms; what I do know about NEU (more than the average husky but less than Joseph Aoun) leads me to presume this is a cash grab, and not more than that.

But hey, Northeastern already has branch campuses in Seattle and Charlotte, and a quick google reveals more in the SF Bay Area and Toronto. So what do I know.

[Parasaurolophus]

But hey, Northeastern already has branch campuses in Seattle and Charlotte, and a quick google reveals more in the SF Bay Area and Toronto.

I had a quick look. Tution is, like, $32-34.5k. Versus $6590 at the University of Toronto.

It just... seems so unlikely to work in Canada. I mean, I guess they'll get people. But it's a harder scam to pull when everyone in the country knows that everywhere else is cheaper, a third of the country has a university degree (and so knows that it's cheaper), and private universities are almost nonexistent, and everyone knows they're a scam.

Since the degrees are all online, I conclude that they're counting on people abroad not knowing any of that, and just associating a university in Toronto with the University of Toronto. I guess they can double down on the scam by promising international "students" a work permit upon completion of the degree. Not unlike what my own (legitimate! But rinkydink and ethically suspect) institution does to boost undergraduate enrolment.

Wow.

[mamselle]

Northwestern's big pull is their emphasis on working internships for which students are paid.

I taught there for 2-3 years as an adjunct in art history. Students were basically good, for the most part; the campus is very well-kept.

M.