Industry News & Insights| February 13, 2026

This is the first installment of an ongoing column in the Provost Newsletter that tracks current news in the Higher Education Industry. Links are included to news sources, like the Chronicle, for your exploration. Some of these are innovations, or new practices that may inspire, while others will be related to the overall national challenges that higher education may be facing. I hope the highlights will be helpful as we continue to work through our transformation efforts: 

• EAB shared a new report pointing to significantly different forces in the higher education sector creating “less autonomy and tighter margins than in past downturns.” If there’s one report to read this week it would be this one. They point to many factors impacting our industry and suggest a gameplan to focus on “power jobs” (colleges are the best way to good jobs), fostering debate and civic literacy (something CUNY is actively engaging), and ways that colleges can engage national defense, health and infrastructure through public research and partnerships. They also hit the theme of external transparency to improve public perception. 
• A bill in Kansas that would weaken tenure has resurfaced (a similar bill last year didn’t pass). The new version asserts that tenure is not a property right. 
• Closures: Providence Christian College (California, founded in 2005) is closing, in part a casualty of the changes to funding for Hispanic serving institutions. Lourdes University (Ohio, founded in 1958) is also closing due to financial unsustainability. These were announced within days of one another and are the second and third closure of 2026. 
• The Education Department is pointing to positive results from FAFSA improvements. 
• In Indiana, post-graduation salaries are taking center stage as the legislature seeks to review and eliminate certain low-income majors. This one is important in terms of protecting students’ rights to choose their field of future endeavor. 
• Massachusetts’ Board of Higher Education is inviting 3 year undergraduate degree plans to encourage innovation toward affordability and workforce development. 
• My last item is a series of dialogues in Inside Higher Ed that I’ve been reading lately called “The Odd Couple” that matches Gordon Gee, former president of several institutions with faculty member and writer, Rachel Toor, in humorous text exchanges about the industry. 

Faculty Spotlight 

Elmer-Rico Mojica, PhD, Professor, Chemistry/Physical Sciences, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

Professor Mojica was recently awarded the 2025 American Chemical Society, New York Section's Outstanding Four-Year Undergraduate College and University Chemistry Faculty Teaching Award. This prestigious award recognizes his highly effective teaching, inspirational leadership, and dedication to student success in chemistry. 

Professor Mojica is the Director of Pace University's Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) that supports underrepresented students in STEM, and he also serves as Associate Director of the Forensic Science  Master's Program and faculty advisor for the Forensic Science Student Organization. Dr. Mojica has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Kenan Award for Teaching Excellence (2023), and the Homer and Charles Pace Faculty Award (2021). 

As a researcher, Professor Mojica specializes in Analytical Chemistry, having worked on various instrumental techniques (Chromatography, Spectroscopy, and Electrochemistry), analyzing chemicals of interest to biochemistry, nutrition, food science, and environmental science. He promotes undergraduate research with a seventy-five member research group called Mojica Research Group (also known as Team E.L.M.E.R- Together Everyone Achieves More and Every Lab Member Experience Research), all of whom are active in presenting at scientific conferences, and obtaining grants and awards. Of those seventy-five, thirty-six have publications in peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, he successfully incorporates popular media in teaching Chemistry dubbed as CHEMTERTAINMENT, which adds excitement to the challenging courses he teaches.