Thanks so much, kathleen, and welcome, everyone. Its great to see you all this morning. Thank you for attending todays first of two summits on innovation in education. And a special thanks to all of you who are going to present this morning. Were excited and grateful to have so much knowledge and expertise in one room, and i know were eager to hear from all of you. I want to say a quick word about the focus on innovation. This year, i embarked on a rethink school tour where we visited learning environments and institution that are taking creative approaches to education for students of all ages. I continue to travel the country to see the great work thats being done, and ive been inspired by the innovative educators and administrators ive met thus far, but theres still not enough. We need more like them and like you. The reality is that there are a number of challenges and opportunities facing Higher Education, and washington, d. C. , does not have all the answers. Government is not th
[applause] thank you all so much. President marsh, speaker mccutcheon, members of the alabama legislature, chief justice stuart, justices of the alabama supreme court, distinguished guests, and my fellow alabamians. [applause] yall please be seated. What a game. [laughing] [applause] i was honored to attend last nights game, and witnessed a remarkable victory for the university of alabama, which brings another National Title to the great state of alabama. [applause] im proud of the entire alabama football team. Their victory is another example of excellence in our state striving for continued excellent. We are so very proud of them. As we begin the 2018 legislative session, we recognize alabama has experienced a significant transformation in government since the first day of the 2017 legislative session. On this occasion last year, i sat where my friend president del marsh sits tonight. And now due to a Successful Transition in State Government, i humbly stand before you as the 54th go
[ applause ] [ applause ] thank yall so much. Thank you all so much. President marsh, speaker mccutchen, members of the alabama legislature, chief justice stewart, justices of the alabama supreme court, distinguished guests, and my fellow alabamians [ applause ] yall please be seated. What a game. [ laughter and applause ] i was honored to attend last nights game and witness a remarkable victory for the university of alabama, which brings another National Title to the great state of alabama. [ applause ] im proud of coach saban and the entire alabama football team. Their victory is another example of excellence in our state, striving for continued excellence. We are so very proud of them. As we begin this 2018 legislative session, we recognize that alabama has experienced a significant transformation in State Government since the first day of the 2017 session. On this occasion, i sat where my good friend, president dale morris sits tonight. And now, due to a Successful Transition in St
This. Id like to open it up to questions. I know we have, again theres a lot of interest we have several issues and a lot of them are interconnected as we saw. Who is first . I under how important is the popes science background to the development of his ideas . I know hes got degrees in chemistry . Actually the vatican has held several conferences on science to help educate both the staff. And i think its very interesting in the encyclical, he speaks to the importance of having a dialogue with science. And, you know, i think theres a misperception sometimes borne from a lengthy history that the Catholic Church is somehow hostile towards science. I think thats really an outdated perception. Engagement with the Scientific Community has been very strong, not just on Climate Change. The encyclical talks about gmos. In a very nuanced and interesting way that talked about technology. So ill say two things. First of all, i think it isnt just this pope bumt the Catholic Church has a strong in
Twoyear school. And the Graduation Rates are extremely low. They get automatic guarantee to get into unc chapel hill. It has been phenomenal. And if you meet some of those students, you would be blown away. One of them i met grew up in nigeria from a very poor family, wartorn area. Saw is a poster of unc and dreamed about being at unc. How she ever made it i cant tell you. Went to unc, head of her class in nursing, going to medical school. So we have to keep remembering not all students will do the traditional path. But if were going to make accessibility, affordability the brand for our nation, we need to do this. We need to start before. We need to give the support they need. We need the advising on the ground. And we need to continue to draw from such a broad range that we dont miss so many students who are out there. If we start doing that and we have programs that can help universities do this and we have programs that can do it in places where graduation is what they do, i think