GOOD NEWS:
www.newtoncitizen.com
http://www.newtoncitizen.com/news/2013/jun/08/top-students-in-dual-enrollment-programs/
Top students in dual enrollment programs
By Michelle Floyd
CONYERS — Nowadays, some high school students are not satisfied to just graduate high school — some want to get a head start in college before they graduate. Even with the extra workload of taking college classes in high school, some of those students end up at the top of their graduating classes. Students have noted that they take the dual enrollment classes to prepare themselves better for college and have more freedom in choosing classes they are interested in taking. In the past few years, most of the valedictorians and salutatorians graduating from Newton and Rockdale public schools are in the dual enrollment program at Georgia Perimeter College or Georgia Piedmont Technical College, both with locations in Newton County. Some of these students have participated in dual enrollment for two years.”I think that you see many of them named Top 10, as well as valedictorians and salutatorians, because they are driven to do well early on, have strong support at home and are intellectually mature,” said Jeff Meadors, the dual enrollment coordinator at GPC.

www.mysouthwestga.com
http://www.mysouthwestga.com/news/story.aspx?id=907758#.UbXyveCTpGM
GSW awarded grant to improve student retention
by FOX 31 News Team
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) was awarded a $24,050 grant from the University System of Georgia (USG) for a project aimed at improving student retention. Georgia Southwestern’s proposal was one of only nine funded out of 28 submitted and will begin in Fall 2013. It is part of the Complete College Georgia (CCG) initiative focusing on innovative practices to retain students and add postsecondary graduates to the Georgia workforce.

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/06/09/2511562/middle-georgia-state-to-offer.html
Middle Georgia State to offer bachelor’s in criminal justice
By JENNA MINK
Peter Makaya has been waiting for this since 2010. That’s when the criminal justice bachelor’s degree program was approved at the former Middle Georgia College. But at the time, the institution could not afford to implement the program. Now that has changed. The college merged with Macon State College in January to form Middle Georgia State College, and the new school will offer a four-year degree in criminal justice beginning this fall. It’s another program for the college as it attempts to garner university status.

www.times-herald.com
http://www.times-herald.com/local/557650-20130608_Newnan-Hospital-Acquisition-Celebration-SQ
UWG Holds Newnan Hospital Celebration
by CELIA SHORTT
The University of West Georgia-Newnan held a Newnan Hospital acquisition celebration Thursday at the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society’s McRitchie-Hollis Museum to recognize and thank those who have made the redevelopment project possible. The old hospital on Jackson Street north of downtown Newnan will become the new UWG-Newnan campus after a renovation being undertaken by the city of Newnan in partnership with Coweta County and the Georgia Board of Regents.

USG NEWS:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/regents-sued-over-open-records-act/nYGtH/
Regents sued over Open Records Act
By Laura Diamond
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A former student journalist at Georgia Perimeter College filed a lawsuit against the State Board of Regents Monday for failing to turn over public records concerning the school’s $25 million budget shortfall. David Schick accused the University of System of Georgia of not complying with his open records request and for using delaying tactics.

www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/georgia-perimeter-gains-financial-footing-but-unce/nYCn8/?icmp=ajc_internallink_textlink_apr2013_ajcstubtomyajc_launch
Georgia Perimeter gains financial footing, but uncertainty remains
BY LAURA DIAMOND – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Everyone at Georgia Perimeter College knew this would be a difficult year.
The college cut $25 million to cover a budget shortfall discovered last spring. Nearly 9 percent of the staff was laid off. Faculty taught more classes this year. Students had fewer tutors, advisers and other services to help them succeed. As the school prepares to start a new fiscal year July 1, students, faculty and administrators hope Georgia Perimeter will slowly return to normal. This year was a roller coaster, and while the ride is over, everyone still feels a bit wobbly and unstable. That’s because the state’s fourth-largest public college faces several uncertainties:

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2013-06-09/mills-project-hinges-factory-repairs?v=1370844297
Mills project hinges on factory repairs
By Wesley Brown
Staff Writer
At the height of production in the mid-1980s, Sibley Mill bustled at the edge of downtown Augusta, producing 22 million pounds of denim each year. Since then, spindles have been de-threaded, more than 33,000 pieces of machinery have been scrapped and the bell tower has been silenced. …The state Board of Regents expressed interest in the vision this month, hiring Boston-based consulting firm Sasaki Associates to evaluate whether GRU should offer its support for the 15-year, $1 billion effort. The initial phase is expected to cost $1.5 million; $300,000 of the total was funded by the Augusta Commission last week. Assuming all parties say yes, Kwantinetz said the mills will be rebuilt to GRU’s requirements, possibly as soon as next spring.

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/06/03/2503539/fvsu-presidential-candidate-willing.html
FVSU presidential candidate ‘willing to be exciting and different’
Final FVSU presidential candidate speaks
By JENNA MINK
FORT VALLEY — When walking around his current campus in New York, Ivelaw Griffith notices several posters that spell out words of wisdom. He showcased one of those posters Monday at Fort Valley State University, as an example of his philosophies when it comes to leading a university. The poster focused on the importance of dreaming. Confronting some of the challenges at FVSU will “require us to have some dreams, some goals,” Griffith said.

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/ugalife/uga-students-resigned-as-interest-rates-on-loans-set-to/article_a940c1b6-cfbc-11e2-98b1-001a4bcf6878.html
UGA students resigned as interest rates on loans set to double
Randy Schafer
If nothing is resolved on Capitol Hill by July 1, students may want to rethink their financial aid plans. The interest rates for federally subsidized loans is set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8, which makes applying for loans a more delicate process. “I’m an independent student,” said 18-year-old sophomore Melissa Lehman. “I realize that graduating school debt-free is not really possible now … and I know that more than half of everybody that went to college has debt.” On May 31, President Obama urged students to keep a watchful eye on their state representatives during a press conference. And he criticized members of Congress, in hopes they’ll rectify House Resolution 119, which was drafted to combat the imminent interest hike.

USG VALUE:
www.globalatlanta.com
http://www.globalatlanta.com/article/26308/belgian-software-ceo-came-to-atlanta-by-chance-stayed-by-choice/
Belgian Software CEO Came to Atlanta by Chance. Stayed by Choice
By Trevor Williams
When Wim de Smet left Belgium in the mid-1990s, he was a young technology upstart in a culture that valued age. When the CEO of Alpharetta-based Exaserv returned to Europe, he was head of a software consulting company that had won business from global corporations… That hasn’t diminished Atlanta’s importance to Exaserv’s growth. About three-fourths of the company’s 75 employees are recruited from Georgia Institute of Technology and other local schools.

www.mashable.com
http://mashable.com/2013/06/09/google-the-internship/
Real Google Interns: ‘The Internship’ Movie Kind of Nails It
By Brian Anthony Hernandez
How accurately does The Internship, which arrived in theaters this weekend, portray tech giant Google’s environment and culture? We asked a real Google intern and a former intern-turned-full-timer just how well the Shawn Levy-directed movie depicts their employer. Comedians Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, playing two laid-off salesmen who apply and get internships at Google, step into a world where their characters’ digital skills are put to the test in mini challenges against their more tech-savvy and much younger fellow interns… Only parts of The Internship were filmed at Google’s global headquarters in Mountain View. The film’s set designers and talented crew recreated the environment at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

www.usnewsuniversitydirectory.com
http://www.usnewsuniversitydirectory.com/articles/google-internship-movie_13186.aspx#.UbXpuOCTpGN
The Internship Movie Places Spotlight on Google Company Culture, Interning
In the real world, getting an internship at Google is well worth the effort
By Erin Palmer
Interning at Google attracts the best and brightest young minds from all over the world. These coveted spots are full of scholars, innovators and future game changers. Sounds like the perfect place for two middle-aged former salesmen with no technical experience or digital know-how, right? That’s the premise for “The Internship,” the movie starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson that opens in theaters today… The film’s set was a replica of the company’s California campus on the actual campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Students from the university were even cast as “nerd” extras in the film. Google itself cooperated with the making of the movie.

RESEARCH:
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/ugalife/uga-research-unveils-insight-into-a-debilitating-brain-disease/article_8ec31d90-d037-11e2-96a7-0019bb30f31a.html
UGA research unveils insight into a debilitating brain disease
UGA News Service
From the neurons that enable thought to the keratinocytes that make toenails grow–a complex canopy of sugar molecules, commonly known as glycans, envelop every living cell in the human body. These complex carbohydrate chains perform a host of vital functions, providing the necessary machinery for cells to communicate, replicate and survive. It stands to reason, then, that when something goes wrong with a person’s glycans, something goes wrong with them. Now, researchers at the University of Georgia are learning how changes in normal glycan behavior are related to a rare but fatal lysosomal disease known as Niemann-Pick type C (NPC), a genetic disorder that prevents the body from metabolizing cholesterol properly. The findings were published recently in the PNAS Early Edition.

www.11alive.com
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/295502/3/Drone-research-could-aid-Atlanta-traffic-management
Drone research could aid Atlanta traffic management
Doug Richards
ATLANTA — “Put your hand over it.” Dr. Javier Irizarry is talking to a visitor in his lab at Georgia Tech. Irizarry is firing up four motors on a battery-powered aircraft that’s the size of a small pizza. The visitor’s hand hovers over the aircraft, which gets airborne but gets only six inches of altitude. The hand prevents it from going higher. This could be the next big thing in traffic management.

www.weather.com
http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/tropical-caves-fill-gap-climate-record-20130607
Tropical Caves Fill Gap in Climate Record
Becky Oskin, LiveScience.com
Slick towers in a tropical island cave provide a 100,000-year climate record rivaling Greenland’s pristine ice cores, scientists say. The rare view into past rainfall patterns in the tropics fills a gap in global climate history during a crucial period. Ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica have revealed rapid swings in Earth’s climate in the last 100,000 years in the high latitudes. By studying stalagmites in Borneo, in the western Pacific Ocean, researchers at Georgia Tech now know how the tropics responded to the sudden climate shifts. The team discovered some of the abrupt changes did not affect the region, according to a study published today (June 6) in the journal Science Express.

www.forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2013/06/08/apple-loop-ios-7-debut-at-wwdc-apple-caught-up-in-prism-new-campus-brings-new-jobs/
Apple Loop: iOS 7 Debut At WWDC, Apple Caught Up In PRISM, New Campus Brings New Jobs
Connie Guglielmo, Forbes Staff
Keeping you in the loop on some of the things that happened around Apple this week… Beware bogus chargers. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology say it’s possible to hack into an iPhone charger and use it embed malicious software that can steal data from your smartphone, my colleague Andy Greenberg reported this week. “Despite the plethora of defense mechanisms in iOS, we successfully injected arbitrary software into current-generation Apple devices running the latest operating system (OS) software,” their talk summary reads. “All users are affected, as our approach requires neither a jailbroken device nor user interaction.” So the next time someone offers you use of their charger, just say no. That’s it for this week. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

www.cbsatlanta.com
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/22531553/georgia-aquarium-prepares-for-world-oceans-day
Georgia Aquarium prepares for World Oceans Day
By Will Frampton
ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) – Staff and crew at the Georgia Aquarium are preparing extra features for World Oceans Day on Saturday. Organizers said they’re designing the exhibits and features with kids and families in mind, to help make children more aware of the importance of protecting ocean life. Kids will be able to go on a scavenger hunt that takes them across the entire facility, and go through hands-on demonstrations and activities with researchers from Georgia Tech.

STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/metro-atlantas-future-growth-but-slower/nYFP6/?icmp=ajc_internallink_textlink_apr2013_ajcstubtomyajc_launch
Metro Atlanta’s future: growth, but slower
BY MICHAEL KANELL – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
After more than five long years of recession and its painful aftermath, metro Atlanta’s economy is struggling not only to recover but simply to close the gap with the national economy. The region fell harder than many U.S. metro areas and has emerged to find it is no longer the shiny boomtown that led the nation in growth for decades. Outsized ambitions have been downsized. “I think we are poised to out-perform the rest of the nation, but by a very small margin,” said Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. A few recent metrics show improvement, as well as the distance left.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.saportareport.com
http://saportareport.com/blog/2013/06/adopting-common-core-standards-makes-good-business-sense-for-georgia/
SaportReport
Adopting Common Core Standards makes business sense for Georgia
Posted in Guest Columns
By Guest Columnist DANA RICKMAN, director of policy and research for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education
Recently there has been no education topic more hotly debated than the Common Core State Standards. For those of you new to this debate, the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) are Georgia’s version of the national Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It is important to understand the purpose of the standards, why Georgia led the nation in adopting them and why they were created in the first place.

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/opinion/opinion-columns/2013-06-09/gru-cancer-center-making-strides?v=1370738874
GRU Cancer Center is making strides
By Samir N. Khleif, M.D.
Guest Columnist
(The writer is director of the Georgia Regents University Cancer Center.)
Since joining the Georgia Regents University Cancer Center a little over a year ago, my goal has been to build on current strengths as we work to become a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and another source of excellence in care for the state and region. Thanks to the support of many, we are well on our way. In his 2014 budget, Gov. Nathan Deal focuses on education and economic development – and health care. The governor firmly reiterated his support for the Georgia Regents University Cancer Center by doubling his budgetary support for our cancer research program, from $5 million last year to $10 million this year.

www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/opinion/2013-06-09/eagle-excitement-gsu-steps-it#.UbXh4uCTpGN
Eagle excitement: GSU steps it up
WITH A few shovels of dirt, Georgia Southern University is now on its way to making some big, exciting changes. Last Wednesday, university officials broke ground on a $10 million project to expand Allen E. Paulson Stadium, home of the Eagles, and gear up for Division I football. Until now, Paulson Stadium seated 18,000 spectators. With the stadium expansion, it will seat 24,000. Also included in the project are state-of-the-art features, new locker rooms, workout facilities, offices for coaches, meeting space and a Hall of Fame exhibit to honor legendary athletes who wore the blue and white. The decision to expand the stadium came along with the Eagles’ move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision next year, when it will begin playing in the Sun Belt Conference. …The decision to step up didn’t come overnight. It’s part of a process that started decades ago, when then-President Dale Lick and former University of Georgia defensive coordinator Erk Russell brought college football to Statesboro. Since then, GSU football fans have never looked back.

www.usatoday.com
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/06/08/sen-warren-congress-must-block-student-rate-hike/2403887/
Sen. Warren: Congress must block student rate hike
BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congressman John Tierney plan to join students and professors to highlight a July 1 deadline when the interest rate on federal students loans are set to double if Congress doesn’t act first. The interest rate on federal student loans is currently set at 3.4%. Warren and Tierney have introduced a bill intended to stop that rate from doubling. The bill would let students pay the same interest rate on their government loans that is offered to major banks.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Academic-Forgiveness-the/139691/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en
Academic Forgiveness: the Price of Pardon
By Jonathan Marx and David Meeler
Where does forgiveness end and enabling begin? It is a question all parents confront when raising a child, but it is also a difficulty that weighs upon policy makers across the country, including those in higher education. While nearly everyone is familiar with grade inflation, fewer know about grade-point-average distortion. This happens when institutions allow students to selectively omit poor grades from their GPAs, thus offering a new, manipulative path to greater retention and graduation rates. We recently investigated academic policies in eight public institutions across a Southern state, and used this sample to explore how institutional rules play a role in inflating students’ GPAs by creating incentives that undermine students’ work ethic, weaken the comparative value of the GPA, and waste human capital.

www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-06-08/family-relationships-help-your-child-prepare-college#.UbXkoeCTpGM
Family Relationships: Help your child prepare for college
By Michelle Aycock
College is a whole other world, which can be stressful.
Now that school is out, some parents may be faced with getting their child ready to start college in the fall. Going from high school to college can be stressful. It can be hard to leave behind friends, family and what is familiar for a new experience. Often the stress involved in making these big changes in such a small period of time is overlooked. College students can be faced with many forms of stress, such as getting good grades, developing new friendships and deciding on a career choice.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/06/10/essay-criticizes-pundits-who-claim-there-no-value-higher-education#ixzz2Vp2S1XGz
Stop Scaring Students
By Devorah Lieberman
It is high school graduation time, and some columnists here in California and nationally, in platforms such as Forbes and U.S. News & World Report, seem to be heralding in the season by carrying articles questioning the value of a college education. They report record unemployment levels among recent college graduates as the rationale for pursuing a trade right out of high school rather than pursuing a college degree.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/How-to-Repair-Income-Based/139697/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en
How to Repair Income-Based Repayment of Student Loans
By Thomas E. Petri
As Congress debates the issue of student-loan interest rates, several proposals have been put forward to extend current interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans or to reduce rates even further. However, if the goal is to protect students from unmanageable debt loads, income-based repayment is a far better tool than interest subsidies for both students and taxpayers, and should be the focus of reform efforts. That is why I introduced the Earnings Contingent Education Loans (ExCEL) Act, which would ensure that all students are protected by a streamlined and fiscally sustainable income-based repayment (IBR) program.

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/06/09/2510350/oedel-is-higher-ed-worth-it.html
OEDEL: Is higher education worth it?
By David Oedel – Special to The Telegraph
When responding to questions about whether higher education is worth it, I’d be considered traitorous as a tenured law professor at an expensive, remarkably good law school, if I didn’t insist that higher education has intrinsic value. Higher education can have real merit, but even impressive values have to be weighed against costs. Are college and other higher-education costs fair? Should you or your loved ones go to college or graduate school and incur those costs? How can you or they pay for any costs incurred? And in that mix, what should be the federal role?

www.nytimes.com

Who’s Minding the Schools?
By ANDREW HACKER and CLAUDIA DREIFUS
IN April, some 1.2 million New York students took their first Common Core State Standards tests, which are supposed to assess their knowledge and thinking on topics such as “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and a single matrix equation in a vector variable. Students were charged with analyzing both fiction and nonfiction, not only through multiple-choice answers but also short essays. The mathematics portion of the test included complex equations and word problems not always included in students’ classroom curriculums. Indeed, the first wave of exams was so overwhelming for these young New Yorkers that some parents refused to let their children take the test. …These students, in grades 3 through 8, are taking part in what may be the most far-reaching experiment in American educational history. By the 2014-15 academic year, public schools in 45 states and the District of Columbia will administer Common Core tests to students of all ages. (Alaska, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia have so far held out; Minnesota will use only the Common Core English test.)

www.ideas.time.com

The Lessons of the Megalomaniac University President

The Lessons of the Megalomaniac University President
By Paul Campos
Doctorate students at Ohio State University listen as president E. Gordon Gee introduces them during commencement on May 5, 2013 If you want a glimpse into what has gone wrong with higher education in America, look no further than the brilliant career of E. Gordon Gee, who as of July 1 will be the ex-president of Ohio State University (and of Brown and Vanderbilt, as well as the flagship public universities of Colorado and West Virginia). If he had been born at another time, Gee might have sold patent medicines or swampy real estate or a new political party. Instead, he spent the past three decades selling the ever bigger business of American higher ed.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/universities-and-libraries-envision-a-federated-system-for-public-access-to-research/44147?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Universities and Libraries Envision a ‘Federated System’ for Public Access to Research
By Jennifer Howard
As federal agencies scramble to meet an August 22 deadline to comply with a recent White House directive to expand public access to research, a group of university and library organizations says it has a workable, higher-education-driven solution. This week, the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and the Association of Research Libraries are offering a plan they call the Shared Access Research Ecosystem, or Share. Share would expand on systems that universities and libraries have long been building to support the sharing and preservation of research.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Its-Not-What-You-Say-Its/139679/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
It’s Not What You Say; It’s What Google Says
By Gary A. Olson
At a national conference recently, I attended a panel on crisis management conducted by officials of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The panelists were explaining to college administrators how to manage campus emergencies. Halfway through a PowerPoint presentation, one of the speakers flashed a sentence up on the screen that read, “It’s not what you say; it’s what Google says.”

www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local/gridlock-guy-two-experts-say-cars-not-safe-during-/nYGPp/?icmp=ajc_internallink_textlink_apr2013_ajcstubtomyajc_launch
Gridlock Guy: Two experts say cars not safe during tornado
BY MARK ARUM – FOR THE AJC
Last week’s column presented controversial research from 2002 which suggested that a car might give limited protection from weak tornadoes. Two experts in the field, Marshall Shepherd, director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program, University of Georgia and president of the American Meteorological Society and John Trostel, director of the Severe Storms Research Center Georgia Tech Research Institute and president of the Metro Atlanta Chapter of the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association were concerned that people may misconstrue the study as hard fact. They asked to weigh in. This is their response:

Education News
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/53815/
Schools Increase AP Participation and Pass Rates Among African-American Students
By Jamaal Abdul-Alim
Despite the push to broaden diversity among students who take Advanced Placement courses and exams, one of the oft-cited consequences, historically, is that overall pass rates for exams tend to decline. However, a small number of school districts have bucked the trend, according to a new report, titled The Road to Equity: Expanding AP Access And Success For African-American Students. Released recently by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, the report discovered that six school districts that increased or kept steady their participation levels in AP courses also saw their AP exam pass rates among African-American students improve enough to eventually catch up to their White peers. The school districts were identified from among 75 considered eligible for the Broad Prize, which is awarded each year to urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among low-income and minority students. The six school districts were the Cobb County School District of Georgia the Fulton County School System of Georgia, the Garland Independent School District in Texas, the Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky, the Orange County Public Schools in Florida and the San Diego Unified School District in California.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-06-08/morris-brown-trustees-turn-down-taxpayer-money
Morris Brown trustees turn down taxpayer money
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Trustees of Morris Brown College have turned down an offer of nearly $10 million in taxpayer money. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed had offered the money that would have eliminated the bankrupt school’s $35 million debt and solved its legal problems, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/ZAwB04). Morris Brown’s Philadelphia-based lawyer Anne Aaronson has said the city’s offer was insufficient because it covered the college’s debt but didn’t provide operating funds.

Related article:
www.diverseeducation.com
Morris Brown Trustees Reject $10M in Taxpayer Money
http://diverseeducation.com/article/53818/#

www.bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-05/student-aid-fraud-ring-members-rise-sharply-in-u-s-estimate.html
Student-Aid Fraud Ring Members Rise Sharply in U.S. Estimate
By John Lauerman
The number of applicants for U.S. student aid who were members of fraud rings, using bogus identities and credentials to apply for government grants and loans for college, has grown 82 percent since 2009, according to an Education Department analysis. The government lost about $187 million to such fraudulent applicants from 2009 through 2012, the agency’s Office of the Inspector General said today in a report. The Office of the Inspector General began calling attention to the vulnerability of online education providers to fraud rings in 2010. Two years ago, the office suggested that the Education Department establish a system for flagging applications from potential fraud conspirators, which the department has said it is acting on.

www.henryherald.com
http://www.henryherald.com/news/2013/jun/07/construction-track-southern-crescent-tech-campus/
Construction on track at Southern Crescent Tech campus
Officials: Completion in December, opening 2014
By Johnny Jackson
MCDONOUGH — The walls are going up at the future Southern Crescent Technical College campus in Henry County. Facilities and Operations Vice President Jim Brown said construction is on pace for a December completion, in time for a 2014 opening. Perry-based Parrish Construction Group is contracted to construct the campus’ first facility.

www.rn-t.com
http://www.rn-t.com/view/full_story/22839707/article-Career-academies-critical-for-industries–education-officials-in-the-region-address-the-need-to-replace-an-aging–experienced-workforce?instance=lead_story_left_column
Career academies critical for industries; education officials in the region address the need to replace an aging, experienced workforce
by Doug Walker, Associate Editor
Nearly half the workforce at Georgia Power Co. is eligible for retirement, whether because of their age or their years of service with the utility. That’s not an altogether unusual scenario for major industries across nation. And it’s a situation the education sector is increasingly trying to address, locally, through specialized high school programs. Paul Sabin is CEO of the new Bartow County College and Career Academy, which will open in August. He told business leaders in Adairsville last week that surveys indicate most seniors in high school have no idea what they want to do in terms of a job after school. …The Floyd academy is located on Tom Poe Drive off Cedar Avenue, near the main campus of Georgia Northwestern Technical College. That’s particularly convenient for the growing number of students taking advantage of dual enrollment programs at the technical school, Waters said.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/At-the-Ivies-Its-Still-White/139643/?cid=at
At the Ivies, It’s Still White at the Top
By Stacey Patton
The Ivy League’s senior leadership is overwhelmingly white and heavily male, data from the Education Department and from the eight colleges themselves show. Despite decades of antidiscrimination policies and affirmations of equality, there’s still little racial and ethnic diversity at the top at many of the colleges. That’s not because there aren’t qualified minority applicants, critics say. They’re tired of hearing that excuse. A major issue, they say, is how elite colleges are defining the word “qualified.”

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Diversity-Offices-Arent-What/139633/
Diversity Offices Aren’t What They Used to Be
By Ben Gose
Ronald Taylor, a sociologist who became a top diversity officer at the University of Connecticut, had built one of the broadest campus-diversity offices in the country by 2008. UConn’s Office of Multicultural and International Affairs, a part of the provost’s office, was responsible not only for cultural centers, ethnic-studies departments, and the equal-opportunity office, but also for several international units that typically aren’t included under diversity programs. Among those were the European-studies department, other area-studies programs, and the study-abroad office. Then Mr. Taylor retired from his position as senior vice provost; a new university president came on board; and the diversity office was largely dismantled.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/New-Test-to-Measure-Faculty/139695/?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en
New Test to Measure Faculty Collegiality Produces Some Dissension Itself
By Peter Schmidt
Can a written test determine whether a faculty member is a bully or a jerk or an all-around pain in the neck? Two higher-education consultants believe they have an instrument that does just that. They call it the Collegiality Assessment Matrix, and they are promoting it to colleges as a tool for both professional development and faculty evaluations.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/10/former-american-u-professor-charges-institution-age-discrimination-and-lack#ixzz2Vp1jxgvu
Unprofessional Tenure Denial?
By Colleen Flaherty
In her 50s and without a doctorate, Maria Ivancin wasn’t the typical tenure candidate, but she felt confident in her chances. She brought decades of experience in strategic communications to American University’s School of Communication, and had received positive reviews throughout her probationary period. And she was applying for tenure on American University’s Professional Achievement Track, which values practice over theory.
So when Scott Bass, provost, denied Ivancin tenure, despite unanimous endorsements from her colleagues, she decided to challenge him. In a civil complaint filed recently in Washington, Ivancin alleges age discrimination on Bass’s part and breach of contract.

www.mystatesman.com
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/business/stem-skills-seeping-into-more-blue-collar-jobs/nYGZn/
STEM skills seeping into more blue-collar jobs
A week before a major STEM conference kicks off in Austin, a new report finds that tech and math skills are necessary for 1 of every 5 U.S. Jobs
BY DAN ZEHR – AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
The walls have started to rise in North Austin, forming the shell of HID Global’s new $35 million manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and customer service center.
The company has begun to hire the first handful of the 276 workers it pledged to employ in exchange for $3.5 million in local and state tax incentives, although it won’t start hiring in earnest until later this year. Yet already — months before the plant has installed its first machine or produced its first security or identity-authentication card — the expectations for its employee base reflect the widespread transformation sweeping through the U.S. workforce. A Brookings Institution study released Monday reports that the number of jobs that require proficiency in science, technology, engineering or math — the so-called STEM fields — is much larger than previously considered.

www.brookings.edu
http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/06/10-stem-economy-rothwell
The Hidden STEM Economy
By: Jonathan Rothwell
Workers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields play a direct role in driving economic growth. Yet, because of how the STEM economy has been defined, policymakers have mainly focused on supporting workers with at least a bachelor’s (BA) degree, overlooking a strong potential workforce of those with less education but substantial STEM skills. An analysis of the occupational requirements for STEM knowledge finds that: As of 2011, 26 million U.S. jobs—20 percent of all jobs—require a high level of knowledge in any one STEM field. STEM jobs have doubled as a share of all jobs since the Industrial Revolution, from less than 10 percent in 1850 to 20 percent in 2010.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/10/academic-researchers-using-crowdfunding-platforms#ixzz2Vp23rjvh
Crowdfunding Academic Research
By Lauren Ingeno
When a professor from a small liberal arts college in central Pennsylvania decided to take on a massive research project two summers ago, he went through the usual, often futile, process of applying for federal and private grants. But when funds were short a year later, he went down a nontraditional route — turning to the public and the Internet for help.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/10/nsf-releases-guidelines-complying-law-barring-support-political-science#ixzz2Vp1uSkmq
Wiggle Room for Political Science?
By Scott Jaschik
WASHINGTON — The National Science Foundation on Friday announced its rules to carry out new Congressional restrictions on supporting research in political science. While political scientists hate the restrictions in just about any form, several experts said Friday that the NSF appears to be trying to comply with the law in a way that indicates a willingness to continue to support some research in the discipline. The ban on NSF funding of political science research was approved by Congress in March, the culmination of several years during which Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, urged the enactment of a ban.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/10/new-russian-law-requiring-some-ngos-register-foreign-agents-seen-chilling#ixzz2Vp2DxrsZ
Scholars as ‘Foreign Agents’
By Elizabeth Redden
The Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies has written a letter raising concerns about a new Russian law requiring nongovernmental organizations to register as “foreign agents” if they receive money from foreign sources and are found to be engaging in “political activity.” Among the targets of the new law is the Levada Center, Russia’s preeminent independent polling agency, which has been deemed by prosecutors to be /ngaging in “political activity” and is threatened with closure.