University System News
USG VALUE:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2013-07-23/program-streamlines-gru-students-path-medical-school?v=1374614032
Program streamlines GRU students’ path to medical school
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
Joshua Dorsey turns 18 on Friday but already might have guaranteed himself a spot at the Medical College of Georgia. The incoming Georgia Regents University freshman will be one of four in an inaugural program designed to guide them from their undergraduate studies straight into medical school, as long as they meet academic benchmarks and test score requirements. Such programs – there are 44 at the 141 U.S. medical schools – make things easier for students and allow educators to shape the kind of education they want medical students to have, said Dr. John E. Prescott, the chief academic officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges.
GOOD NEWS:
www.gseagels.com
http://gseagles.com/headlines/12-athletics/13333-georgia-southern-university-and-nelligan-sports-marketing-announce-partnership
Georgia Southern University and Nelligan Sports Marketing Announce Partnership
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern University announced today that it has entered into a long term agreement with Nelligan Sports Marketing (NSM) that gives NSM the exclusive rights to manage the University’s athletics sponsorship and multi-media rights.
RESEARCH:
www.hreonline.com
http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/view/story.jhtml?id=534355776
The Trouble with Tenure
An academic study found that workplace longevity hinders performance. But to some HR experts, it’s not so cut and dried.
By Tom Starner
A recent academic study reported that, contrary to common HR thinking, experience — in this case job tenure — is not a predictor of improved performance. In fact, say the authors, the reality may be quite the opposite, meaning the longer the tenure, the more likely performance will suffer. The study, co-authored by Thomas Ng at the University of Hong Kong and Daniel Feldman, at the University of Georgia, looked at dozens of studies and other data to conclude that employers may be putting too much value on experience and tenure in a workforce.
www.mnn.com
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/400-pound-tiger-gets-a-root-canal
400-pound tiger gets a root canal
Tiger with a toothache
Most people would be (reasonably) afraid to reach into a Bengal tiger’s open mouth — but not the members of the Peter Emily International Veterinary Dental Foundation team, which recently visited Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary in Stockbridge, Ga., to do dental work on some very special patients. Tiger Lily, a 400-pound Bengal tiger, was the largest patient and she needed a lot of attention: four root canals, according to the animal sanctuary’s Facebook page. Anesthesiologists from the University of Georgia aided in the procedure.
www.csmonitor.com
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0723/Glowing-robots-New-skin-lights-up-when-touched
Glowing robots: New skin lights up when touched
Scientists have created an interface much like a smartphone touchscreen, but pliable.
By Elizabeth Barber, Contributor
… In April, Georgia Tech released a robotic skin covered in thousands of nanowire transistors that respond to pressure, and the next month, ROBOSKIN, an EU-funded collaborative project between European researchers, debuted the prototypes for electronic sensors that could be applied to various robot’s touch points.
www.science20.com
http://www.science20.com/science_20/your_dotage_do_you_want_human_or_robot_helping_you-110596
In Your Dotage, Do You Want A Human Or Robot Helping You?
By Hank Campbell
… “One open question was whether healthcare providers would reject the idea of robotic assistants out of fear that the robots would replace them in the workplace,” said Tracy Mitzner, one of the study’s leaders and the associate director of Georgia Tech’s Human Factors and Aging Laboratory, in their statement about the findings presented at the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Paris. ”
www.infectioncontroltoday.com
http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2013/07/is-a-common-food-fungus-worsening-the-aids-epidemic.aspx
Is a Common Food Fungus Worsening the AIDS Epidemic?
A type of fungus coating much of the stored corn, wheat, rice and nuts in developing countries may be quietly worsening the AIDS epidemic, according to a paper published today in the World Mycotoxin Journal. …the study authors were Seidu Inusah and Baogen Lu, MD, in the UAB departments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology; William Ellis, PhD, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi; Alberta Nyarko, MD, Kumasi South Regional Hospital in Kumasi; Timothy Phillips, PhD, Texas A & M University Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences; and Jonathan Williams, PhD, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Science.
www.miamiherald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/23/3516321/mit-interactive-videos-get-high.html
MIT interactive videos get high school students thinking like scientists
MIT Professor Richard Larson, a pioneer in education technology, got an idea for how to make math and science come alive for high school students when he watched a teacher at work in a chilly classroom in northern China. …The videos have titles like “How do mosquitoes fly in the rain?” with David Hu, who teaches biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology; “The respiratory system of birds,” with Seham Tahir Musa al Bohadja, a high school teacher in Saudi Arabia; and “Measuring distances in the Milky Way,” with Roger Hajjar, an astronomer at Notre Dame University in Beirut.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/54811/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=30efa89913404faf9754dac94f5fd317&elqCampaignId=33
Improving the Pathway to Higher Education
by Brian C. Mitchell
College access is a national imperative. Once ranked first in the world for a population with a college degree, the United States now ranks 12th among 36 developed nations. Projections indicate that by 2018, as many as 60 million Americans will lack the skills and credentials to join the knowledge economy.
www.nytimes.com
The Student Loan Debacle
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat of Massachusetts, spoke up for poor and middle-class Americans last week when she excoriated the federal government for making money on the student loan program. She also criticized Republicans for killing bills earlier this month that would have prevented interest rates on subsidized student loans from doubling. Rates on those loans have jumped from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, further burdening one-third of all college students who use them to pay for an education.
www.policymic.com
http://www.policymic.com/articles/56163/moocs-are-going-to-ruin-your-college-education
MOOCs Are Going to Ruin Your College Education
Polina Kroik in Media & Tech
Despite ongoing debate about the benefits of massively open online courses (MOOCs), such courses have been greeted with unabated enthusiasm by administrators at financially strapped public universities. The State University of New York, the Georgia Institute of Technology, San Jose State University (SJSU), and many others have signed agreements with the for-profit start-ups Udacity and Coursera, and the non-profit edX, to offer MOOCs through their systems.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2013/07/24/essay-adjustments-adjuncts-need-make-land-jobs-new-institutions
Adjunct Adjustments
By Luke Niebler
Across the country, many adjuncts have found their hours reduced in anticipation of the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, department heads need to hire more adjuncts in order to make up for the reduced adjunct adjunct hours. This means that countless contingent academics will begin peddling our classes at multiple colleges and universities in order to make ends meet.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/07/24/cal-state-sets-6-no-raise-presidential-salaries
Cal State Sets 6 No-Raise Presidential Salaries
The board of the California State University System on Tuesday set the salaries of six campus presidents, and officials made a point of saying that none of the salaries represented an increase over what the presidents’ predecessors had earned, The Los Angeles Times reported. …The system has been criticized in the past by politicians, students and faculty leaders for significant raises for new presidents over what previous presidents had earned.
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/opinion/stop-patent-trolls/nYzBM/
Stop patent trolls
BY JON POTTER
Jon Potter is president of the Washington, D.C.-based Application Developers Alliance.
Atlanta’s tech start-up community has a lot to be proud of. Companies are emerging from Georgia Tech, being nurtured in communities like Hypepotomous and Atlanta Tech Village, and getting funded locally.
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/07/23/how-common-core-could-affect-every-state-even-those-that-reject-it/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet by Valerie Strauss
How Common Core could affect every state — even those that reject it
Not all states approved the Common Core State Standards, and some of those that did are now reconsidering whether to implement them. But it turns out that the standards could wind up affecting students in every state — even if their legislatures reject the initiative.
Education News
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/georgia-oklahoma-say-common-core-tests-are-too-costly/2013/07/23/e95b312e-f3c9-11e2-aa2e-4088616498b4_story.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
Georgia, Oklahoma say Common Core tests are too costly and decide not to adopt them
By Lyndsey Layton
Citing costs, Georgia and Oklahoma have decided against adopting standardized tests being created by a consortium of states as part of the new Common Core national academic standards. And politicians in other states — including Indiana and Florida, which has been a leader in the development of the Common Core — are voicing similar concerns, suggesting that more defections could be on the way.
www.edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/07/23/37test.h32.html?tkn=ZMPFUglwQ3Vx1rC3b8kI%2Fg4HjmaIncqJgT7n&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2
States Ponder Costs of Common Tests
By Catherine Gewertz
With yesterday’s news that PARCC tests will cost $29.50 per student, all states in the two federally funded common-assessment consortia now have estimates of what the new tests will cost. And they’re sorting out how—and in some cases, whether—to proceed with the massive test-design projects.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/House-Panel-to-Consider-Bill/140513/
House Panel to Consider Bill to Limit Education Dept.’s Rule-Making Authority
By Goldie Blumenstyk
Washington
A bill that would bar the U.S. Department of Education from developing a new “gainful employment” rule and other higher-education regulations, and that would eliminate a host of existing consumer-protection regulations, is slated for a vote on Wednesday before a key committee of the House of Representatives. The measure is unlikely to pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate but is notable for the boldness with which it seeks to limit the agency’s authority—so much so that one higher-education leader privately called it an “affront” to the department.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/House-Republicans-Warm-to/140511/
House Republicans Warm to Immigration Proposal Resembling Dream Act
By Cory Weinberg
Washington
Republicans in the House of Representatives showed signs of support on Tuesday for easing the path to citizenship for students who are in the United States illegally—a step that many conservatives previously opposed but that now falls in line with the chamber’s piecemeal approach to immigration reform. In testimony at a House Judiciary Committee hearing, two Republican congressmen said they supported giving a shot at citizenship to people who had immigrated illegally as children, a group known as “Dreamers,” if they were attending college or serving in the military.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/54827/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=30efa89913404faf9754dac94f5fd317&elqCampaignId=33
TN Lawmaker to Propose Tuition Freeze
by Lucas L. Johnson II, Associated Press
NASHVILLE Tenn. — A Republican state lawmaker says he wants to freeze tuition at Tennessee’s colleges and universities despite criticism from education officials that such a proposal would eliminate funds needed to sustain essential programs and basic operation. Sen. Jim Summerville of Dickson announced this week that he plans to file legislation during the next session to keep tuition at the current rates for several years. The Tennessee Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee system recently adopted tuition hikes ranging from 3 to 6 percent.
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/tuition-goes-up-at-n-c-community-colleges/
Tuition goes up at N.C. community colleges
Source: BizJournals.com
For the fourth consecutive year, it will cost a little more to take classes at a community college in North Carolina. In the 2013-14 academic year, colleges will charge $71.50 per credit, up from $69 last year, for North Carolina residents. In recent years, college tuition has increased sharply, now doubling since the rate in 2003-04. The rate was $42 per credit in 2008-09 and $56.50 in 2010-11. Increased tuitions are due to economic factors.
www.floridatoday.com
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20130723/TURBOMOM/130723005/Fewer-parents-can-pay-college-tuition?nclick_check=1
Fewer parents can pay college tuition
Written by Megan Kowalski and Hadley Malcolm
USA TODAY
As families continue to recover from the recession, they’re relying less on their own income and savings and more on grants and scholarships to finance a college education than in previous years, according to Sallie Mae’s How America Pays for College study to be released Tuesday. The study, which surveyed a group of 1,602 undergraduates and parents of undergraduates earlier this year, shows that grants and scholarships are used more than any other type of funding, covering 30% of total college costs for a typical family. Five years ago, only half of families reported using grants and scholarships to pay for college. This year, two-thirds of families did, the study shows.
Related article:
www.live.wsj.com
U.S. NEWS
Parents Shell Out Less for Kids in College
http://live.wsj.com/video/parents-shell-out-less-for-kids-in-college/8A05C456-EA7A-4508-96C4-4FA765562825.html?KEYWORDS=%2522Higher+Education%2522#!8A05C456-EA7A-4508-96C4-4FA765562825
www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/university-of-florida-lobbyist_n_3641577.html
University Of Florida Students’ Lobbying Firm Helps Put Issues In Front Of Congress
CaitlinMacNeal
WASHINGTON — When students have wanted to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill, traditionally they’ve delivered petitions to Congress, organized a rally or started a grassroots advocacy campaign. But the University of Florida’s student government is trying to get lawmakers’ attention by means more often available only to big industries — by hiring a federal lobbyist.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/24/increasing-number-universities-are-creating-international-health-safety-and-security#ixzz2Zxr0pbrY
In Case of Emergency
By Elizabeth Redden
Inés DeRomaña, the principal analyst in charge of health, safety and emergency response for the University of California’s systemwide Education Abroad Program, would be hard-pressed to describe a “typical” problem she confronts in her job. …There’s also the work on the front end: ensuring that mental health services are adequately covered by the university’s travel health insurance plan or working intensively with an individual student with a preexisting health condition prior to departure to help him or her have a smooth study abroad experience.
www.businessweek.com
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-23/a-ucla-program-tailored-to-the-needs-of-big-data
A UCLA Program Tailored to the Needs of ‘Big Data’
By Francesca Di Meglio
The big data phenomenon is getting bigger by the minute, and no where is that more apparent than in the Masters in Financial Engineering program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. An increase in the big-data jobs has resulted in a surge of 470 applications to the program, up from 266 in 2012.
www.edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/07/24/37naep.h32.html?tkn=XWSFjintSc1tarwBowLttmHfKt77SXIkUIav&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1
When Bad Things Happen to Good NAEP Data
By Stephen Sawchuk
The National Assessment of Educational Progress is widely viewed as the most accurate and reliable yardstick of U.S. students’ academic knowledge. But when it comes to many of the ways the exam’s data are used, researchers have gotten used to gritting their teeth. Results from the venerable exam are frequently pressed into service to bolster claims about the effect that policies, from test-based accountability to collective bargaining to specific reading and math interventions, have had on student achievement. While those assertions are compelling, provocative, and possibly even correct, they are also mostly speculative, researchers say.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Scholarly-Group-Seeks-Up-to/140515/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Scholarly Group Seeks Up to 6-Year Embargoes on Digital Dissertations
By Stacey Patton
The American Historical Association has published a new policy statement that “strongly encourages” graduate programs and university libraries to allow new Ph.D.’s to extend embargoes on their dissertations in digital form for as many as six years.
Related article:
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/24/historians-association-faces-criticism-proposal-embargo-dissertations#ixzz2ZxqfrR8q
Embargoes for Dissertations?
www.news.ufl.edu
http://news.ufl.edu/2013/07/23/sid-martin-best/
Sid Martin Biotech Incubator ranked world’s best for biotech in global benchmarking study
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator was ranked “World’s Best University Biotechnology Incubator,” according to an international study conducted by the Sweden-based research group UBI. The inaugural benchmarking report was based on an extensive analysis of 150 incubators in 22 countries.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/54824/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=30efa89913404faf9754dac94f5fd317&elqCampaignId=33
Students Ask Feds to Investigate USC Rape Cases
by Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — University of Southern California students have filed a federal complaint alleging the school ignored or mishandled sexual assault and rape cases. Students who alleged they were raped held a news conference on Monday announcing that they filed a complaint in May with the U.S. Department of Education. They say the school failed to take action against alleged attackers, even when they confessed. The Education Department says a civil rights investigation is underway.