GOOD NEWS:
www.bainbridgega.com
http://bainbridgega.com/news/publish/052413bsc.shtml
Cagle: BSC’s Expansion an Opportunity
by Carol P. Heard, BSC Communications
Supporters of Bainbridge State College thanked state leaders, including visiting Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Thursday for securing a $3 million expansion of a classroom building and saying the state-supported project is an opportunity and an investment. Lt. Gov. Cagle said it took vision to create Bainbridge State College, and it took investment for it to evolve into a regional economic engine. “We have the opportunity to continue to invest and continue to build something here that is going to make a difference, not just for us, but for generations to come,” the lieutenant governor said.
USG NEWS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2013/05/study-classrooms-at-uga-other.html
Study: Classrooms at UGA, other universities, empty most of week
Carla Caldwell, Morning Call Editor
A two-year study by the University System of Georgia shows classrooms at schools within the system are empty most of the week, reports Morris News Service. Of the 440 classrooms at the University of Georgia, the average is used just 18.5 hours per 40-hour work week, and when used, just two-thirds of the seats are full, according to the study. That is a 31 percent utilization rate, Morris notes. The highest utilization rate is 77 percent at Georgia Gwinnett College. That is five times higher than the lowest, Morris reports. Part of the reason for lower classroom use is the increase in online courses, which will change the demands for classrooms in the future, officials say.
Related articles:
www.universityherald.com
Study in Georgia System Shows Vast Underutilization of Classrooms
http://www.universityherald.com/articles/3327/20130525/study-georgia-system-shows-vast-underutilization-classrooms.htm
www.jacksonville.com
Study shows Georgia University classrooms are underutilized
System Chancellor Hank Huckaby says challenge is not in building capacity, but making good use of space
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2013-05-25/story/study-shows-georgia-university-classrooms-are-underutilized
www.11alive.com
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/293960/3/UWG-renames-Honor-House-in-honor-of-Dr-Wagner
UWG renames Honor House in honor of Dr. Wagner
Holly Pennebaker
CARROLLTON, Ga. — The University of West Georgia renamed the UWG Honors House to the Donald R. Wagner Honors House at a ceremony on Thursday. Wagner, according to Taylor Bryant of UWG, is the first dean of UWG’s Honors College and Professor Emeritus at UWG. The University System Board of Regents approved the renaming on April 17 under retiring President Dr. Beheruz N. Sethna. …Wagner is remembered for his leadership, along with helping to create Georgia’s Political Heritage Project. He helped establish UWG’s Master of Arts in Public Administration program and gave more than 30 years to university committees.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-05-24/regents-halt-work-office-uga-president-michael-adams
Regents halt work on office for UGA President Michael Adams
By LEE SHEARER
Michael Adams won’t be moving into an office in the University of Georgia’s Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries Building after all. Adams had planned to move into space on the Russell Building’s third floor after university workers converted a small classroom into an office suite for Adams to use after he steps down as UGA president June 30. Although Adams will no longer be the university’s president after that day, he will remain on the UGA faculty. …But now officials with the University System of Georgia have rejected the idea, after workers had begun getting the space ready for Adams’ use, including installing new wall dividers.
Now they will undo the work and reconvert the space in the southwest corner of the Russell Building into the small classroom it was before.
Related article:
www.redandblack.com
Reports: No new office for Adams in Russell Library
http://www.redandblack.com/ugalife/reports-no-new-office-for-adams-in-russell-library/article_5d6e28a4-c531-11e2-b224-001a4bcf6878.html
www.insideighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/28/documents-shed-light-details-georgia-tech-udacity-deal
The Fine Print
By Ry Rivard
The Georgia Institute of Technology’s plan to offer a low-cost online master’s degree to 10,000 students at once creates what may be a first-of-its-kind template for the evolving role of public universities and corporations.
When it agreed to work with Udacity to offer the online master’s degree in computer science, Georgia Tech expected to make millions of dollars in coming years, negotiated student-staff interaction down to the minute, promised to pay professors who create new online courses $30,000 or more, and created two new categories of educators — corporate “course assistants” tasked with handling student issues and a corps of teaching assistants hired by Georgia Tech who will be professionals rather than graduate students. New details about the internal decision making and fine print of Georgia Tech’s revolutionary effort are based on interviews and documents, including some that the university provided to Inside Higher Ed following an open records request.
USG VALUE:
www.times-georgian.com
http://www.times-georgian.com/news/article_a7f1341c-c4c2-11e2-b7fa-0019bb30f31a.html
Commissioner wants to monitor river for bacteria
Winston Jones/Times-Georgian
District 5 Commissioner Kevin Jackson is exploring the idea of monitoring the Chattahoochee River at the Carroll County boundary for E. coli and bacterial contamination. “A lot of Carroll County people use the river for recreation and many would like to know what the levels are,” Jackson said. “The closest location where the river is monitored is at Paces Ferry Bridge, which is near (Interstates) 75/285 in Atlanta. That’s a long way from us.” Jackson said he’s doing some investigation to see if it would be feasible for the county to do the testing. He said there are several ways it could be done. “A person can be easily trained and certified to do the sampling,” he said. “It could be a local person, or if the county wants to take it on, we could use the University of West Georgia.
RESEARCH:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-05-24/whale-addition-uga-natural-history-museum
Whale of an addition for UGA natural history museum
By LEE SHEARER
The Georgia Museum of Natural History was already one of the largest university-based natural history museums in the country, but it got a lot bigger this week. Volunteers and museum workers unloaded three large box trucks full of specimens on Friday, and much more is coming next week and in July, said museum director Bud Freeman. As officials with United Parcel Service, which coordinated the move, looked on, they unloaded literally tons of bones and animal skins.
www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/may/27/energy-conservation-benefits-states-farmers/
Energy conservation benefits state’s farmers
By Clint Thompson
TIFTON, Ga. — Gary Hawkins’ passion is conserving energy and natural resources Whether he’s working with solar energy or converting wastes into renewable energy, Hawkins’ job at the University of Georgia revolves around conservation. Conservation isn’t only about helping farmers leave a smaller ecological footprint — it’s about helping farmers make the most of what they have to work with, said Hawkins, a public service associate with the UGA Cooperative Extension Service. Waste management is one of three ways Hawkins helps farmers conserve their resources.
www.scnow.com
http://www.scnow.com/news/national/article_243eba36-c6de-11e2-b909-001a4bcf6878.html
Georgia Civil War camp turns up hundreds of artifacts
Associated Press | SAVANNAH, Ga. — In just three years of field work, researchers have turned up more than 600 artifacts — from suspender buckles to railroad spikes — at the site of a Civil War prison camp in southeast Georgia that remained virtually undisturbed since it was abandoned in 1864. And that’s only scratching the surface. Students and faculty from Georgia Southern University have plans this summer to dig deeper at Camp Lawton, a sprawling prison where the Confederate army once held more than 10,000 captured Union troops. But first they’re using cellphone chargers and a veterinarian’s X-ray machine to help with the painstaking work of cleaning and preserving items already uncovered.
www.wrbl.com
http://www.wrbl.com/story/22429932/researchers-ready-to-search-civil-war-pow-site-in-georgia
Researchers ready to search Civil War POW site in Georgia
By Associated Press
SAVANNAH, Ga. – Researchers and archaeology students are getting ready to break new ground this summer at Camp Lawton, a Civil War prison camp that stayed virtually undisturbed for nearly 150 years before it was discovered in southeast Georgia.
www.bits.blogs.nytimes.com
Disruptions: At Odds Over Privacy Challenges of Wearable Computing
By NICK BILTON
Perhaps the best way to predict how society will react to so-called wearable computing devices is to read the Dr. Seuss children’s story “The Butter Battle Book.” The book, which was published in 1984, is about two cultures at odds. On one side are the Zooks, who eat their bread with the buttered side down. In opposition are the Yooks, who eat their bread with the buttered side up. As the story progresses, their different views lead to an arms race and potentially an all-out war… “Most people are not talking about privacy here, they are talking about social appropriateness,” said Thad Starner, who is the director of the Contextual Computing Group at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a technical adviser to the Google Glass team. He said he believed most people are respectful and would not use their wearable computers inappropriately. Mr. Starner has been experimenting with different types of wearable computers for over 20 years, and he said that although some people are initially skeptical of the computer above his eye, they soon feel comfortable around the device, and him. “Within two weeks people start to ignore it,” he said. Over the years, his wearable computers have become less obtrusive, going from bulky, very visible contraptions, to today’s sleeker Google Glass.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.politifact.com
http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2013/may/24/nathan-deal/portrait-state-government-workers-has-gaps/
The Truth-O-Meter Says:
The state of Georgia lost 16 percent of its employees last year, and that percentage has risen over the past three years.
Portrait of state government workers has gaps
During a speech last month at the Atlanta Press Club, Gov. Nathan Deal lauded state workers for what they do and for doing it without pay increases. In fact, it’s been six years since an across-the-board merit pay bump, he said. And that’s led to some negative results. “The state of Georgia lost 16 percent of our employees last year and that percentage has risen over the last three years,” Deal said. “So when people are being siphoned off out of state government into private business because the salaries are so much more favorable, then those are things the state has to be cognizant of.” We wanted to know more about Deal’s 16 percent claim, so we decided to check it out. …Also of note, the percentages do not account for employees of the University System of Georgia or the Board of Regents for that system. The University System employed 43,020 workers in fiscal 2012, but no information on employee turnover was available, a spokesman said.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2013-05-24/nesmith-diploma-isnt-enough-get-job
NeSmith: Diploma isn’t enough to get a job
published Friday, May 24, 2013
We are in the middle of graduation season. Graduates of all levels are waving diplomas. Many are looking for jobs. But no matter what level of their education, they need to hear what Randy Jackson has to say. No, he’s not the Randy Jackson of “American Idol.” The Randy whom I heard can’t help you get a Carrie Underwood-type recording contract, but he can help improve your chances of getting a job. Maybe the paycheck won’t be from his company. But if you do what he recommends, you will be more marketable as a candidate for employment. Randy Jackson is vice president of Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/opinion/college-parents-can-help-undo-kids-brainwashing/nX4W9/
College parents can help undo kids’ brainwashing
By Thomas Sowell
This time of year, as college students return home for the summer, many parents may notice how many politically correct ideas they have acquired on campus. Some of those parents may wonder how they can undo some of the brainwashing that has become so common in what are supposed to be institutions of higher learning.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Studentthe-Spark/139459/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
The Student and the Spark
By Charles Rinehimer
It’s been said that education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire. Well, I teach high-content biology courses, so I have filled a lot of buckets. And I am sure my students would be glad to tell you what they think I have filled them with. But every semester I will see it: A student looks up from his notes and makes eye contact. He moves up a few rows. He asks a question, tentatively at first, then more frequently, and soon at a level above that of the lecture. He’s gotten the spark.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/saysomething/2013/05/27/students-propose-tuition-increase-for-faculty-raises/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Students Propose Tuition Increase for Faculty Raises
By Beckie Supiano
“Since students pay so much for their education here, we decided that we could not tolerate a decrease in the quality.”
Michael Kutz
University of Washington
Whether a college is a good value depends not only on what students pay, but also on what they get for their money. That’s why a student group at the University of Washington led by Michael Kutz has proposed increasing tuition to support faculty raises—unless the state comes through with more financial support.
www.forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/giovannirodriguez/2013/05/27/who-will-remake-puerto-rico-for-the-21st-century-social-economy/
Who Will Remake Puerto Rico for the 21st-Century Social Economy?
Giovanni Rodriguez, Contributor
In late 2011 — a year that helped me take a major turn in my career — I visited Puerto Rico to speak at a conference. I hadn’t thought about it too much before I got there, but when I did, it struck me: last time I set foot on the island (or archipelago, as my savvier Puerto Rican friends like to say), was 1972. Yes, it had been forty years (40) since my last visit. I was confronted – no, assaulted – with a number of things to think about. What’s new? What’s different? What’s the opportunity today for people who care about Puerto Rico, a club that’s much bigger than one might think… There’s also The Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, which is helping to stimulate job creation and commercial product development across a broad range of technology sectors. In the mainland, MIT, Harvard, Yale, and the Georgia Institute of Technology all have leaders who have developed programs serving Puerto Rican education and the economy.
Education News
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324125504578508981551931820.html
States Raise College Budgets After Years of Deep Cuts
By AMY SCHATZ
After cutting spending on public colleges and universities during the economic crisis, many state governments have begun to boost higher-education budgets once again. Lawmakers in Indiana recently approved a $500 million funding increase over two years for state colleges and universities, a 14.6% increase, following four years of cuts. New Hampshire’s governor has proposed increasing the university budget for the coming academic year by $20 million, or 37%. And state lawmakers in Florida recently approved a budget that increases higher-education funding by $314 million, or 8.3%, following seven years of cuts.
www.chornicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/2013-05-27/georgia-offers-70000-online-resources?v=1369682521
Georgia offers 70,000 online resources
Parents, students and teachers now have access to information
By Walter C. Jones
Morris News Service
ATLANTA — The Internet age came a step closer to education in Georgia this month as the state put online its catalog of 135 digital courses and 20,000 instruction resources. Students, parents and teachers now have a listing of all the courses available in Georgia. They may be offered in one of eight district Internet-based charter schools that require full-time enrollment or in the Georgia Virtual School, which has a cafeteria approach allowing individual courses to supplement enrollment in a traditional school, home school or other charter schools. Courses on the Georgia Virtual School are free to anyone, even college students brushing up on skills they might have glossed over in high school, but there is a fee for anyone wanting academic credit.
Related article:
www.jacksonville.com
Georgia moves forward in digital education
135 courses, 20,000 instruction resources available
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2013-05-25/story/georgia-moves-forward-digital-education
www.npr.org
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=186861023
Some States Push Back Against New School Standards
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Some states are pushing back against a set of uniform benchmarks for reading, writing and math that have been fully adopted in most states and are being widely put in place this school year. The new Common Core standards replace a hodgepodge of educational goals that had varied greatly from state to state. The federal government was not involved in the state-led effort to develop them but has encouraged the project. While proponents say the new standards will better prepare students, critics worry they’ll set a national curriculum for public schools rather than letting states decide what is best for their students.
www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/05/28/2495055/online-courses-changing-college.html
Online courses changing college classrooms — especially in the humanities
By JOHN KEILMAN — Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — It was the sort of discussion that happens hundreds of times a day in America’s college classrooms — an English professor and her students grappled with Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem, “To a Skylark,” trying to pry meaning from words written nearly two centuries ago. This conversation, though, had a decidedly 21st-century twist. It was conducted in cyberspace, with the professor, Sara Cordell of the University of Illinois at Springfield, speaking over a chat room audio feed, and the students typing their impressions into a text box. …Virtual education at the college level has exploded during the past decade, with one survey finding that about a third of all students today take at least one class online. The humanities, though, remain a relative rarity in the digital world.
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/masters-degree-programs-surge-at-nations-colleges-and-universities/2013/05/25/938462fa-b726-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
Master’s degree programs surge at nation’s colleges and universities
By Nick Anderson
The nation’s colleges and universities are churning out master’s degrees in sharply rising numbers, responding to a surge in demand for advanced credentials from young professionals who want to stand out in the workforce and earn more money. From 2000 to 2012, the annual production of master’s degrees jumped 63 percent, federal data show, growing 18 percentage points more than the output of bachelor’s degrees. It is a sign of a quiet but profound transformation underway at many prominent universities, which are pouring more energy into job training than ever before.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/More-Young-Adults-Hold/139473/
More Young Adults Hold Degrees, a Boost in the Job Market, U.S. Says
By Beckie Supiano
Washington
The educational attainment of young Americans has increased over the past two decades, and those who have completed more education earn more money, on average, and are more likely to be employed. That’s just one corner of the picture painted by “The Condition of Education 2013,” the annual treasure-trove of data from the U.S. Department of Education, released on Thursday.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/28/candace-thille-moves-stanford#ixzz2Ua4jSXNJ
Open Learning Pioneer Heads West
By Doug Lederman
Since long before the advent of massive open online courses, Candace Thille’s project to fuse learning science with open educational delivery, developed at Carnegie Mellon University, has been heralded as one of higher education’s most significant and promising developments. Friday, Thille essentially launched stage two of her research-based effort to expand the reach and improve the quality of technology-enabled education, with word that she (and at least part of her Open Learning Initiative) would move to Stanford University.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/28/harvard-professors-demand-greater-role-oversight-edx#ixzz2Ua4t5Dpt
Harvard Profs Push Back
By Scott Jaschik
Fifty-eight faculty members have called for Harvard University to create a new faculty committee to consider ethical issues related to edX, the entity created by the university and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to provide massive open online courses. The letter urges the creation of the committee to consider “critical questions” about edX and its impact on Harvard and also on “the higher education system as a whole.”
Related article:
www.chronicle.com
Harvard Professors Call for Greater Oversight of MOOCs
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/harvard-professors-call-for-greater-oversight-of-moocs/43953?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Outsourced-Lectures-Raise/139471/
Outsourced Lectures Raise Concerns About Academic Freedom
By Steve Kolowich
Students at Massachusetts Bay Community College this year got a rare opportunity to take a computer-science course designed and taught online by some of the top professors in the field. The 17 students in a programming course at MassBay’s Wellesley Hills campus watched recorded lectures and completed online homework assignments created by professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and offered as a massive open online course through edX, a nonprofit MOOC vendor co-founded by MIT.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/28/ucla-tells-professors-not-apply-major-new-pharmaceutical-grant#ixzz2Ua52oUOe
Fast Track or End Run?
By Scott Jaschik
These days many research universities are constantly looking for new grant competitions and encouraging their faculty members to apply. On Friday, the University of California at Los Angeles took the unusual step of telling professors not to apply to a major new grant competition from a pharmaceutical company, saying that the program violated university rules. An e-mail marked “urgent” was sent Friday to all faculty members and deans about the Discovery Fast Track Competition, which was just announced this month and for which the sponsor — GlaxoSmithKline — is approaching faculty members directly, bypassing technology transfer offices at universities.
www.edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/05/22/32el-studentresearch.h32.html?tkn=QSYFO8Xjzh4fbPTZtW5vQA%2Bc4nc964mlMo6Y&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1&intc=EW-ELDC13-ENL
Teaching Students Better Online Research Skills
Improving web research tactics is a priority
By Leslie Harris O’Hanlon
Sara Shaw, an elementary school teacher in Avon, Mass., realized she needed to teach online research skills several years ago when her students kept turning in projects riddled with misinformation. The flawed material often came from websites the students used. They took the information as fact, when it often was just someone’s personal opinion. Ms. Shaw thinks teaching online research skills is even more critical than it was just a few years ago. More than ever, information is literally at the fingertips of students through smartphones, tablet computers, and other digital devices. “They will go on Google and type a word, and that is the extent of their research skills,” said Ms. Shaw, who taught 5th grade for 10 years and now teaches special education at Ralph D. Butler Elementary School. “There is so much more to doing research on the Internet.” She is one of many teachers and librarians who are explicitly teaching online research skills, such as how to evaluate a website’s credibility, how to use precise keywords, and how to better mine search engines and databases.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/53526/#
NISOD Conference Honors Bumphus; Looks at Issues at Community Colleges
by Imani Evans
On Tuesday morning, Diverse will present Dr. Walter Bumphus, president of the American Association of Community Colleges, with the Diverse Champions Award via satellite at the National Institute for Staff & Organizational Development’s (NISOD) 35th annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence in Austin, Texas. …“The Champions Award is looking at community college leaders who have a commitment to diversity,” said David Pluviose, executive editor of Diverse. “For me, it’s exciting because it gives an opportunity for us at Diverse to recognize the exceptional work of community colleges in helping first-generation minority students — giving them a chance that no one else will give them.” NISOD is the outreach arm of the Community College Leadership Program (CCLP) at the University of Texas at Austin. It provides professional development opportunities and experiences to community and technical college faculty, staff and administrators. …Pluviose participated in a panel discussion that explored the media’s portrayal of two-year schools and how those schools can effectively challenge the most widely held misperceptions about community colleges. Pluviose was joined on the panel by Roy Jenkins, associate professor of English at Georgia Perimeter College;
Related article:
www.ccnewsnow.com
The NISOD Conference Examines Professional Development Opportunities and Experiences at Community and Technical Colleges in the U.S.
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/the-nisod-conference-examines-professional-development-opportunities-and-experiences-at-community-and-technical-colleges-in-the-u-s/