Computer science professor David Kotz has been appointed as the College's new associate dean for the sciences, Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt said in an e-mail to the faculty on Wednesday. Kotz will begin his four-year term in August, succeeding biology professor C. Robertson McClung, who has served as associate dean since 2004. Kotz graduated from the College in 1986 and joined the faculty in 1991. He has conducted extensive research in the fields of wireless networks and mobile computing, and has received several major funding grants, Folt's e-mail said. Kotz is currently studying security challenges in the use of mobile computing technology for health care, according to the e-mail.
Many low-income students choose not to attend college because of inadequate knowledge about available financial aid options, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. Although public and private organizations distributed $162.5 billion in financial aid for higher education last year, many students remain too overwhelmed by the extensive paperwork to apply for aid, according to the report. A college education has also become increasingly necessary for upward socioeconomic mobility, the report said. Low-income students are four times more likely to earn high incomes as adults with a college degree. Students from families with incomes in the top 20 percent of the population remain about five times more likely to graduate from college than their peers from the bottom fifth, according to the report.
Yale University has canceled its summer programs at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico this summer due to continued concerns about the swine flu outbreak, the Yale Daily News reported last week. The 19 students affected by the decision had planned either to take courses or work as interns this summer at Monterrey Tech through the Yale Summer Session and International Bulldogs Programs. Monterrey Tech officials requested the suspension of these programs until summer 2010, according to the Yale Daily News. Counselors at Yale's Center for International Experience and Undergraduate Career Services are currently working to help affected students secure alternate summer opportunities.
