UNIVERSITY SYSTEM – GOOD NEWS

Ga. college partners with Chinese University
http://www.northjersey.com/news/education/215032031_Ga__college_partners_with_Chinese_University.html
NorthJersey.com
July 11, 2013
[from the Associated Press] AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Georgia Regents University has partnered with a Chinese university to create an institute focused on advancing Chinese language studies and enhancing multicultural awareness. Georgia Regents University officials said Wednesday that the Confucius Institute is a partnership between GRU and Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine that aims to provide language and culture instruction to health professionals.
See related articles:
Ga. Regents Creating Confucius Institute
http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/07/11/ga-regents-creating-confucius-institute
GPB News
GRU works with China university
http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2013-07-11/gru-works-china-university?v=1373570554
Augusta Chronicle
July 11, 2013

ASU, SWGTC partnership begins
http://timesenterprise.com/news/x1952119976/ASU-SWGTC-partnership-begins
Thomasville Times-Enterprise
July 11, 2013
THOMASVILLE — Albany State University and Southwest Georgia Technical College are officially partners, teaming up to offer Southwest Georgia students the chance to fulfill the dream of obtaining a college education. In August, 2012 the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia and the University System of Georgia approved three collaborative articulation agreements between ASU and SWGTC. The approval opens the way for SWGTC students who complete the associate degree in early childhood education, criminal justice or social work to transfer to Albany State for the bachelor’s degree.
UNIVERSITY SYSTEM – VALUE

GGC’s economic impact nearly $300 million
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2013/jul/11/ggcs-economic-impact-nearly-300-million/
Gwinnett Daily Post
July 12, 2013By Keith Farmer
LAWRENCEVILLE — Long known as an economic engine for Gwinnett and the surrounding region, a study this week detailed Georgia Gwinnett College’s economic impact as nearly $300 million.

Savannah area universities contribute millions to economy
http://savannahnow.com/exchange/2013-07-11/savannah-area-universities-contribute-millions-economy#.UeBWkT7wK5F
Savannah Morning News
July 11, 2013
An annual study of the University System of Georgia’s economic impact on the state reports a 7.4 percent increase from fiscal year 2011 to 2012. In cash, that’s a jump of $980 million, from $13.2 billion to a new high of $14.1 billion of direct and indirect spending in regions served by the system’s 31 colleges and universities.

Study shows SSU has $148M impact on economy
http://beta.effinghamherald.net/section/22/article/22090/
Effingham Herald
July 11, 2013
SAVANNAH — An annual study of the economic impacts of University System of Georgia institutions released Wednesday proved that Savannah State University continues to be a major force in the local economy, pumping approximately $148 million into the Savannah metropolitan area during fiscal year 2012. The report updates similar studies conducted on behalf of the USG Board of Regents by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. It quantifies the economic benefits SSU conveys to Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, Liberty and Bulloch counties.

Dalton State’s regional economic impact exceeds $112 million
http://daltondailycitizen.com/local/x1614274670/Dalton-State-s-regional-economic-impact-exceeds-112-million
Dalton Daily Citizen
July 12, 2013
Dalton State College remains a significant economic driver for northwest Georgia, pumping more than $112 million into the regional economy last year and supporting nearly 1,400 jobs, according to a report released this week by the University System of Georgia.

College has $70M economic impact
http://www.southeastgeorgiatoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11095&Itemid=117
Southeast Georgia Today
July 12, 2013
July 12– How much did the service region of East Georgia State College benefit economically in fiscal year 2012 from having the college located in this region? According to the newly released report from the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, it benefitted $70 million in 2012.

Biz leaders aim to boost city’s innovation cred
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/07/12/biz-leaders-aim-to-boost-citys.html?page=all
Atlanta Business Chronicle
July 12, 2013
… the Metro Atlanta Chamber — through its recently formed Business Higher Ed (BHE) Council — aims to change that reputation as well as foster a closer collaboration between the region’s companies and its colleges and universities… Georgia Tech President Bud Peterson suggested a couple of other model regions. “Two examples that come to mind are Mountain View California and its relationship to Stanford University and other California research institutions, and the Boston area, including its research universities,” Peterson wrote in an email. (Subscription required)

AirWatch creates star on Georgia’s tech map
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/07/12/airwatch-creates-star-on-georgias.html?page=all
Atlanta Business Chronicle
July 12, 2013
Within what is being dubbed the “Silicon of the South,” Atlanta’s North Fulton area, in particular, is earning reputation as a haven for techies. … It is the kind of growth that will solidify Atlanta as a leading technology player, said Dabbiere, who selected the area based on its talent and convenient East Coast time zone, as well as engineering and technology schools such as Georgia Tech. (Subscription required)

UNIVERSITY SYSTEM – RESEARCH

NSF, USDA, DOE award grants to improve predictions of climate change
http://www.supercomputingonline.com/news/nsf-usda-doe-award-grants-to-improve-predictions-of-climate-change#sthash.WKX31DIk.dpuf
Supercomputing Online
July 11, 2013
…To help find answers, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal agencies have awarded new grants to study the consequences of climate variability and change… Collaborative Research: EaSM2–Wildfires and Regional Climate Variability – Mechanisms, Modeling, and Prediction: Yuhang Wang, Georgia Tech (jointly funded with DOE).

Researchers say heirloom crop varieties hold secret of meeting global food demands
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-07-11/researchers-say-heirloom-crop-varieties-hold-secret-meeting-global-food-demands
Athens Banner Herald
July 11, 2013
University of Georgia geneticists Scott Jackson, director of the UGA Center of Applied Genetic Technologies, and John Burke, professor of plant biology and director of the UGA Plant Center, have coauthored an editorial in the July 4 edition of Nature explaining the need to revive old varieties for breeding programs. …Geneticists in Jackson’s lab are currently working with wild varieties of rice, soybean and common bean to identify traits that can be bred into modern crop varieties to make them more resilient.

Startup helps 3D printing take flight
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/07/12/startup-helps-3d-printing-take-flight.html
Atlanta Business Chronicle
July 12, 2013
A Georgia Tech startup has developed a 3D printing technology to transform the way costly metal parts, such as aircraft engine turbine blades, are designed and made. (Subscription required)

UNIVERSITY SYSTEM – ISSUES

Dreamers Deferred
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/july_august_2013/ten_miles_square/dreamers_deferred045634.php
Washington Monthly
July/August 2013
… But probably the biggest reason states haven’t been eager to accommodate DACA students is electoral politics. Undocumented immigrants simply aren’t very popular with voters—especially Republicans, and especially in the Deep South. Indeed, two southern states, Alabama and South Carolina, bar undocumented students from even attending public colleges and universities, and a third, Georgia, denies them admission to its flagships, the University of Georgia andGeorgia Tech. That goes for students with DACA status, too.

UGA community members fight decision on domestic partner benefits
http://www.redandblack.com/ugalife/campus/uga-globes-fights-decision-on-domestic-partner-benefits/article_c829fa92-ea39-11e2-b467-001a4bcf6878.html
The Red&Black
July 12, 2013
By Brad Mannion
Following the decision of the University of Georgia Foundation on June 21, affiliates of the school have taken action to help provide domestic partners of UGA employees with health benefits. Headed by Ericka “Ricky” Roberts, an academic advisor in the UGA Honors Program and treasurer of Athens PRIDE, an online petition is available with the idea that enough voices may change the outcome and readdress the question.

EDITORIALS/OPINION/ESSAYS/BLOGS

The Editor’s Desk: Time for a change in evaluating public education
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2013-07-11/editors-desk-time-change-evaluating-public-education
Athens Banner Herald
July 11, 2013
By Jim Thompson
So once again, state education officials have released data on standardized tests administered to Georgia’s public school students, and once again, local media and local school officials have engaged, respectively, in inquiring about and providing context for how well, or how poorly, or how whatever, local students have performed.

First rule when in a ditch, stop digging
http://www.macon.com/2013/07/12/2553332/first-rule-when-in-a-ditch-stop.html
The Macon Telegraph
July 12, 2013
Just in case you missed it, several schools made improvements on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, but there is a telling paragraph in The Telegraph July 10 story: “Though some of the most troubled schools lost even more ground, schools that had low passing rates generally posted strong gains from last year’s results.”

A brighter outlook for higher education in California
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-dirks-uc-tuition-20130712,0,2189269.story
Los Angeles Times
July 11, 2013
Under the leadership of Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown and University of California President Clark Kerr, the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education in California created a unique three-way collaboration between the university, the public and the state, a partnership that propelled the state to the forefront of scientific discovery, the arts, innovation and economic growth. At the core of that partnership was the idea of access. As Kerr noted, it was the first time in history “that a state or a nation would promise there would be a place ready for every high school graduate or person otherwise qualified.”

Blackboard May Double or Triple Spending on Software Development
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/blackboard-will-double-or-triple-spending-on-software-development/44743
Chronicle of Higher Education
July 11, 2013
Blackboard Inc. is changing, with plans to focus more on innovation than on simply fighting for market share, says the company’s new president and chief executive, Jay Bhatt, who took office just seven and a half months ago. In the past 16 years Blackboard has grown into one of the largest education-technology companies, and in 2011 it came under new ownership, after being purchased for $1.64-billion by an investor group led by Providence Equity Partners. In recent years the company has also faced new competitors and new questions about how technology fits into learning.
HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

Cost Estimate Threatens Student Loan Compromise
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/07/12/cost-estimate-threatens-student-loan-compromise
Inside Higher Education
July 12, 2013
A tentative deal reached late Wednesday night to tie interest rates on federal student loans to the market seemed ready to collapse late Thursday, after the Congressional Budget Office estimated the compromise’s costs at $22 billion over 10 years, The New York Times reported.

U.S. News: University of Michigan charges highest out-of-state tuition of U.S. Public colleges
http://www.annarbor.com/news/university-of-michigan-has-highest-out-of-state-tuition-of-us-public-colleges/
Ann Arbor.com
July 11, 2013
…according to a recent news report, out-of-state University of Michigan students are not just paying more — they’re paying the most. U.S. News and World Report analyzed the non-resident tuition at public colleges and found that in 2012-13 U-M students paid the highest rate, at $39,109 of any public research university in the nation.

Value of Associate Degree Before Transfer
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/07/12/value-associate-degree-transfer
Inside Higher Education
July 12, 2013
Community college students on average will receive more economic benefit from their higher education if they complete an associate degree before transferring to a four-year institution, according to new research from the Community College Research Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

Coming Up Short
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/12/loyola-new-orleans-enrollment-shortfall-will-mean-large-budget-cuts
Inside Higher Education
July 12, 2013
By Kevin Kiley
…The large shortfalls at both Loyola and St. Mary’s, combined with what finance officials expect to be numerous smaller enrollment and revenue shortfalls at other institutions, raise the specter of a more widespread dropoff in higher education enrollments and revenue that college administrators have feared since the 2008 recession. The combination of increased financial need among prospective students, declines in traditional college-going populations, greater competition over students from both public and private institutions, and a decreased willingness on the part of some families, particularly wealthy ones, to pay high tuition prices – particularly at non-elite private institutions – might be resulting in a market that can’t sustain so many students. St. Mary’s College is public, but it bills itself as competing with private liberal arts colleges.

HBCUs Ask White House for More Resources
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/07/12/hbcus-ask-white-house-more-resources
Inside Higher Education
July 12, 2013
WASHINGTON — A group of former presidents and chancellors of historically black colleges and universities have sent a letter to President Obama requesting more resources to make their institutions “comparable and competitive” with predominantly white colleges.

Class Action Against TIAA-CREF
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/12/class-thousands-professors-suing-retirement-provider
Inside Higher Education
July 12, 2013
By Lauren Ingeno
A federal judge has granted class action status to a lawsuit charging that TIAA-CREF wrongfully retained investment income from the accounts of instructors at private colleges and universities around the country.