Augsburg University recently became one of 1,000 accredited four-year colleges and universities that have adopted the test-optional admissions policy, according to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing. International applicants should still be aware that the policy doesn’t always apply to students who attended high school outside of the U.S. At Augsburg, international applicants must submit minimum scores for one standardized test in order to meet the English proficiency requirement for admission. “The only difference is related to English proficiency,” said Devon Ross, Augsburg Director of Undergraduate Admissions, in the article.

Read full report at the U.S News website.

The Society for Human Resource Management, the nation’s leading human resources organization, highlighted Augsburg’s strong commitment to transit and environmental stewardship.

Following a 2015 survey in which 78 percent of Augsburg employees said they drove alone to work, the university aimed to reduce those solo trips by 28 percent, which it eventually did, the article noted.

Last December’s federal tax legislation made changes to employers regarding commuting benefits, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

“I don’t see it changing what Augsburg University does for our faculty and staff or our students, mainly because we have a strong commitment to both environmental stewardship and our community,” said Nicole Peterlin, Augsburg’s human resources specialist.

See the full story on the Society for Human Resource Management here.

Andy Aoki, department chair of political science and Sabo fellow at Augsburg University, recently appeared on KSTP’s Political Insider.

Aoki provided input on the tax bill, Gov. Mark Dayton’s emergency funding for public schools and more.

Watch the segment at the KSTP website.

In a recent MinnPost article, Harry Boyte said that commonwealth was a way for ordinary citizens to develop authority for their claims to equality. The commonwealth vision of civic construction made possible the creation of churches, schools and colleges, women’s organizations like the Council of Negro Women and labor groups like the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Boyte said.

“In a time of eroding faith in democracy and looming threats to the commons, from schools, colleges, and libraries to water resources, coastal areas, and public parks, remembering the commonwealth and the tasks of civic repair can generate the hope we need,” said Boyte, in the article. “The commonwealth vision makes democracy a way of life, not simply a trip to the ballot box, and puts citizens back in as its agents and architects.”

Boyte is a Senior Scholar in Public Work Philosophy at the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship at Augsburg University. He is the architect of the center’s public work approach to civic engagement and democracy, and the creator of Public Achievement.

In the 1960s, he worked for the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., as a field secretary with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the Civil Rights Movement, where he learned about the commonwealth and the claims from civic construction.

Read full article on the MinnPost website