University System News
USG VALUE:
www.affordablecollegesonline.org
http://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/online-colleges/
54 Most Affordable Online Colleges
The following list of 54 affordable online colleges comprises some of the premier universities in the country, specializing in online education as a medium to deliver relevant coursework. Given today’s global economy, the importance of being able to work virtually is imperative, and gaining one’s education online will only become more common over time. Choose the right school for you. …9 Columbus State University,
Columbus, Georgia, Columbus State University, founded in 1958, has been ranked among the Top Universities in the South by US News & World Report. Its online graduate education programs were ranked best for 2013 and were recognized for arts, education, business and nursing. …12 University of West Georgia, Carrollton, Georgia, Cited by the Princeton Review as “one of the best overall bargains – based on cost and financial aid–”, the University of West Georgia offers online undergrad degrees in education, nursing, criminology, computer science, and business. …49 Georgia Southern University. Statesboro, Georgia, Founded in 1906 in Statesboro, Georgia Southern University today serves students with 117 academic majors at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. U.S. News & World Report’s Top Online Education Programs honored GSU’s distance education programs in business, nursing, education, and information technology, ranking them among the nation’s best.
USG NEWS:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-07-09/morehead-wil-be-asking-money-he-warns-alumni-reception
Jere Morehead: Billion Dollar Man?
By LEE SHEARER
New University of Georgia president Jere Morehead already has his hand out, asking for money. “When you see me, hold your wallets close at hand,” said Morehead, not quite joking as he addressed a crowd gathered on UGA’s North Campus near the statue of UGA founder Abraham Baldwin. University fundraisers are planning a major fundraising drive with a new UGA president now in office. Morehead’s main task in the months ahead will be leading that drive, hoping to raise more than $1 billion, he told groups he met with in his first week in office.
www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/jul/09/plan-to-move-albany-early-college-to-albany-high/
Plan to move Albany Early College to Albany High hits snag
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY, Ga. — The Dougherty County School Board voted unanimously Monday evening to tighten up several areas dealing with curriculum, shortly after Interim Superintendent Butch Mosely told the board that plans to move Albany Early College (AEC) to Albany High had hit a snag. At last month’s board meeting members expressed concern that the AEC was an unexpected $1 million line item in the district’s FY14 budget. At the time, the board asked Mosely to look into moving the school’s 360 students to Albany High School from Albany State University as a cost-savings measure. “We’ve run into a problem with Albany Early College … the school (Albany High) doesn’t have enough classroom space,” Mosely said.
RESEARCH:
www.businessweek.com
http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/127830-what-the-web-didnt-deliver-high-economic-growth
What the Web Didn’t Deliver: High Economic Growth
By Charles Kenny
Remember the year 2000, when all appeared to be smooth sailing in the global economy? It was a time of confident predictions of an epochal economic and political renaissance powered by information technology… Within the U.S., investment in the uses of the Internet for business applications led to wage and employment growth in only 6 percent of counties—those that already had high incomes, large populations, high skills, and concentrated IT use before 1995—according to a recent analysis by Chris Forman (Georgia Tech) and colleagues in the American Economic Review. Investments in computers and software did yield a return for most companies, but it wasn’t anything special. And although the Internet has made it easier for people to look for jobs, it hasn’t made much of a difference in reducing unemployment.
www.anentrepreneuriallife.com
http://anentrepreneuriallife.com/a-magnet-assisted-intubation-device-maid/
A Magnet-Assisted Intubation Device (MAID)
BY TIM HUNTLEY
In the fall of 2010, a team of students at Georgia Tech was asked to reverse engineer a medical device for an assignment in a biomedical technology class. According to team member, Shawna Hagen, “We went on eBay and bought a Laryngoscope because it was one thing we could afford.” A Laryngoscope is a critical aid in intubations, a common procedure to insert a tube into the trachea or windpipe to assist in breathing. Each year in the United States, over 40 million intubations are performed.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/jul/09/uga-president-jere-morehead-domestic-partner-benef/
Political Insider with Jim Galloway
UGA President Jere Morehead on domestic partner benefits: ‘We’ve gone as far as we can go’
Expect the University of Georgia to go no further on the issue of domestic partner benefits for employees without the approval of the Board of Regents or the Legislature, newly ensconced President Jere Morehead said Tuesday. And you can consider that approval highly unlikely. Morehead made his comments this morning in a first radio interview with Martha Zoller and Tim Bryant on WGAU (1340AM) in Athens. University officials have cited the lack of benefits for unmarried or gay couples as a competitive disadvantage, but Morehead pointed to a recent decision to extend employee-financed benefits.
www.edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/07/10/36gillette_ep.h32.html?tkn=YQMFn0uqL08tGBQaKCBnAvrKpQJXsaVGdWyK&cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS1
The NCTQ Ed. School Rankings: A Response From the Front Lines
By Jack Gillette
Like many deans at schools of education, I have been following the media coverage of the release of U.S. News & World Report’s first-ever ranking of institutions that prepare teachers. The research behind these rankings was done by the National Council on Teacher Quality, a research and policy group based in Washington. The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education had urged its members to boycott participation in the study, arguing that its analysis of selected syllabi is an inadequate vehicle for determining quality. As anticipated, the publication of the rankings has, in fact, polarized positions further, while doing absolutely nothing to strengthen policy and practice in regard to the improvement of teachers and teaching.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/jul/10/new-higher-math-standards-present-challenge-georgi/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
EOCT results: New higher math standards present challenge to Georgia students
The state Department of Education released statewide data this morning on how high school students performed on the Georgia End of Course Tests. The most troubling performance was in Coordinate Algebra where only 37 perent of students met or exceeded the standard, meaning that 63 percent failed. The scores are a harbinger of the challenges Georgia students will face as they encouter higher standards in their classrooms.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/jul/10/cutting-georgias-dropout-rate-would-save-millions-/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
The Alliance for Excellent Education does some interesting research on the costs of high school dropouts. Here is the latest:
Cutting Georgia’s number of high school dropouts in half would save $111 million in annual Medicaid spending, according to a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education. The report, Well and Well-Off: Decreasing Medicaid and Health-Care Costs by Increasing Educational Attainment, examines Medicaid spending for the nation, all fifty states, and the District of Columbia on four key afflictions—alcoholism, heart disease, obesity, and smoking—as well as determines overall Medicaid savings. Support for the report was provided in part by State Farm as part of a series of documents that demonstrates the economic benefits from improving high school graduation rates. “An educated citizen is a healthy, productive, and happier citizen,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. “And, as this report shows, healthier citizens are also a great benefit to Georgia’s economic health.”
Education News
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-07-09/georgia-chamber-chief-warns-jobs-wars-urges-businesses-help-schools
Georgia Chamber chief warns of ‘jobs wars,’ urges businesses to help schools
By NICK COLTRAIN
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce chief warned of a coming “jobs war” that will pit region against region, not to mention country against country, while encouraging business leaders to work with schools to give the state every edge it can muster going forward. “There’s going to be hand-to-hand combat between, cities, counties and regions,” Georgia Chamber President and CEO Chris Clark told a crowd at its Regional Power Lunch on Tuesday at the Classic Center. …He encouraged businesses to work with school boards and districts to bolster Georgia’s odds, especially with “career clusters,” or class specializations to help guide students toward career paths. He called the state technical colleges the “envy of the world” and the University of Georgia the “envy of the country.”
www.npr.org
http://www.npr.org/2013/07/09/200447019/congress-still-squabbling-over-student-loan-rate-increase
Congress Still Squabbling Over Student Loan Rate Increase
By Alisa Chang
The Senate is planning to vote Wednesday on a plan to bring interest rates on subsidized federal student loans back down to 3.4 percent for one more year. The rate doubled on July 1 when the chamber failed to agree on a plan. While the Senate prepares to take the issue back up, college students are left staring at several competing proposals.
www.edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/07/10/36loans.h32.html?cmp=ENL-EU-SUBCNT
As Student-Loan Rates Rise, Advocates Fume
By Caralee J. Adams
Student financial-aid advocates are clinging to hopes that Congress will reverse the doubling of interest rates for federally subsidized student loans to 6.8 percent when it returns from recess, even as they voice disappointment about lawmakers’ failure to stave off the increase prior to the July 1 deadline.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/10/voluntary-performance-measures-gates-backed-group
New Yardstick of Quality
By Paul Fain
There is a growing belief in higher education that if colleges don’t figure out how to measure the quality and value of their product, lawmakers will do it for them. Eighteen institutions are trying to get ahead of the growing accountability push with the release today of a new set of performance measures. The Voluntary Institutional Metrics Project was more than two years in the works. It seeks to give a “holistic” view of the performance of private nonprofits, for-profits, community colleges, online institutions and one research university that is a member of the Association of American Universities (see box).
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/54513/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=44c5cfd4de9b460fb8b3fafee574f1a9&elqCampaignId=37
Expert Says Education Leaders Need to Stick to Task
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
WASHINGTON — In order to improve persistence among diverse groups of students, higher education leaders should shun rhetoric and instead research and attack the root causes of failure. Those were some of the key points that Anthony S. Bryk, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, made Tuesday at the annual meeting of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, or SHEEO.
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324867904578596182597793170.html
Tuition Rises Fastest for In-State College Students
New Education Stats Show How Schools Coped With Budget Cuts During the Recession
By DOUGLAS BELKIN CONNECT
Tuition at four-year state schools increased at a faster rate for in-state students than their out-of-state classmates in the past three years, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education. The report highlights the tricky balancing act public schools faced as they grappled with significant cuts state legislators made to their budgets during the recession.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/54472/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=a212d659a9c94c3d8251ff7dc7b66ee5&elqCampaignId=33#
Missouri, Kansas Public Colleges Say Minority Recruitment Efforts Unaffected
by Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some major public colleges in Missouri and Kansas say a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action won’t affect their efforts to recruit minority students because race already is not a factor in admission standards. However, increasing diversity on campus by recruiting more minorities remains an important goal, according to officials at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Kansas and Kansas State University.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/07/10/retention-agenda-new-compilation-articles-available
‘The Retention Agenda’: New Compilation of Articles Available
Inside Higher Ed is today releasing a free compilation of articles — in print-on-demand format — about retention. The articles aren’t today’s breaking news, but reflect long-term trends and some of the forward-looking thinking of experts on the changes colleges are making to focus not just on admitting students but on keeping them on track to a degree.
www.mywesttexas.com
http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_14b5d106-e828-11e2-a78b-0019bb2963f4.html
Education: Ruling puts new focus on whether Texas’ ‘Top 10 Percent’ admissions rule is working
By Jeffrey Weiss | The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — The U.S. Supreme Court recently kicked the University of Texas affirmative action admission plan back to lower courts for “strict scrutiny.” The “Top 10 Percent” rule will likely get a closer look. The rule, created by the state Legislature in 1997, guarantees admission to state colleges for students with the best grades in any Texas high school. It was created after courts killed the state’s prior affirmative action plan. The rule’s designers wanted to open the door to more blacks and Hispanics, bring in more rural applicants and blunt the effect of the SAT and ACT tests. How well did it work? The University of Texas at Austin’s answer to the Supreme Court is: Not well enough; other measures are needed to ensure sufficient diversity.
www.gainesvillebizreport.com
UF Lands $8 Million Federal Award for Supercomputing Research
UF LANDS $8 MILLION FEDERAL AWARD FOR SUPERCOMPUTING RESEARCH
The University of Florida on Thursday received an $8 million federal award and was named one of six universities nationwide tapped to conduct high-performance computing simulations aimed at addressing some of the world’s most complex problems. The award from the National Nuclear Security Administration and accompanying designation as a center of excellence is a direct result of UF’s drive to boost its high-performance computing abilities, said David Norton, UF vice president for research.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/10/museums-look-university-partners-put-them-viable-financial-path
A Home for Artifacts
By Kevin Kiley
Despite all the hand-wringing about the long-term financial viability of higher education institutions, one group of institutions views universities as a rock-solid bet on which to stake their futures: museums. And that’s likely because many of them face larger existential threats than their counterparts in higher education. In the past few years, multiple museums and other nonprofit cultural institutions — struggling financially in the wake of the 2008 recession — have turned to colleges and universities for help, asking them to strike partnerships with or acquire them in a bid to provide financial sustainability.