University System News
USG NEWS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/08/09/georgia-lawmakers-more-p3-projects.html?page=all
Georgia lawmakers weigh more ‘P3’ projects
Dave Williams and Douglas Sams
Atlanta Business Chronicle
The Georgia Department of Transportation’s growing reliance on the private sector to help finance major highway projects could soon become a model for the rest of state government. A state Senate study committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting Aug. 20 to begin examining the potential of using public-private partnerships (P3s) in the construction of new state buildings and building renovations. …But no state agency has more experience working with the private sector than the University System of Georgia, which has been using so-called “public-private ventures” — a form of P3s — to help finance campus building construction since the 1990s.
www.gpb.org
http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/08/08/immigration-laws-conflict#
Immigration Laws Conflict
By Jeanne Bonner
ATLANTA — Undocumented students suing the University System of Georgia say their lives are on hold. An Obama administration order allows some to work legally. But state rules still bar them from Georgia’s top colleges. The conflict between state and federal status has spurred dozens of undocumented young adults to sue the Board of Regents.
www.universityherald.com
http://www.universityherald.com/articles/4162/20130808/ivelaw-lloyd-griffith-crowned-9th-president-fort-valley-state-university.htm
Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith Crowned the 9th President of Fort Valley State University
Posted by Stephen Adkins
Dr. Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith was named the ninth president of Fort Valley State University, June 21 by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Prior to Fort Valley, Griffith served as the provost at York College since 2007. During his tenure at York, Griffith was credited for increasing the number of full-time faculty by 30 percent, reorganizing the academic division and enhancing the research and scholarly climate. Griffith also introduced an undergraduate student research program.
www.wrbl.com
http://www.wrbl.com/story/23079244/csus-new-strategic-plan
CSU’s new Strategic Plan
By Naomi Keitt – email
COLUMBUS, Ga. – Columbus State University today unveiled a new strategic plan that’s the culmination of more than a year’s work and expected to guide CSU priorities through 2018. “This a blueprint for action,” CSU President Tim Mescon told an audience of more than 500 attending a faculty-staff welcome event that precedes Monday’s start of classes.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/08/09/business-classes-teach-students-to.html?page=all
Business classes teach students to speak up
Tonya Layman, Contributing Writer
Atlanta’s business schools have beefed up their offerings on communication skills and strategies over the last decade in response to feedback from employers, who say there is an ongoing need for better relationship-building abilities in the workplace. Communication has been an overarching theme in giving students at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business the tools they need to be successful, said Beverly Langford, business communication programs coordinator and clinical assistant professor at the Robinson College of Business. “We recently finished a strategic plan, Vision 2020, and communication is a key initiative,” Langford said.
www.beta.effinghamherald.net
http://beta.effinghamherald.net/section/6/article/22412/
Former first lady to speak at GSU
Staff report
Former first lady Laura Bush will speak at Georgia Southern University’s Hanner Fieldhouse on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. The appearance by one of the most admired American first ladies is part of the university’s Leadership Lecture Series which allows Georgia Southern students to learn from U.S. and world leaders.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/08/07/georgia-tech-walmart-opens-next-week.html
Georgia Tech Walmart opens next week
Amy Wenk
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech’s on-campus Walmart will open Aug. 14. The store will be the discount retailer’s third “Walmart on Campus” – its tiniest concept that’s much closer to a convenience store than a supercenter.
The roughly 2,500-square-foot store will be at 86 5th Street in Midtown’s Technology Square.
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/crime/employee-in-uga-chemistry-department-faces-counts-of-felony-computer/article_1cfe5c2c-002c-11e3-9782-001a4bcf6878.html
Employee in UGA chemistry department faces 34 counts of felony computer trespass
Staff reports
Warrants were issued Wednesday for a University of Georgia employee working in the Department of Chemistry on 34 felony counts of computer trespass. Rebecca Jane Pruett, an administrative assistant in the DoC, faces two warrants in Oconee County resulting from an investigation of unauthorized access to personal email accounts while she was working at the Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry. …Pruett, whose father Henry Schaefer is the director of the CCQC, was working in the CCQC office midway through last month but was moved into a new office three weeks ago.
GOOD NEWS:
www.gpb.org
http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/08/07/partnership-helps-firefighters-earn-degrees#
Partnership Helps Firefighters Earn Degrees
By Associated Press
ALBANY, Ga. — The Technical College System of Georgia and Albany State University have created a program to provide firefighters a pathway to a bachelor’s degree. Albany State University officials said Tuesday that the collaborative agreement allows students who earn an associate of applied science degree in fire science technology to apply their credits to a bachelor’s of applied science in fire services administration at Albany State.
www.walb.com
http://www.walb.com/story/23075632/fire-service-bachelors-program-begins
Fire Service bachelor’s program begins
By Tara Herrschaft
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – The first students in a new four-year fire services administration program are about to start taking classes at Albany State University. What started as a partnership between Albany Tech and Albany State is spreading to colleges around the state… Helping firefighters earn bachelor’s degrees to help them with daily duties and to grown into administrative positions.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-08-08/uga-first-year-students-set-academic-criteria-records
UGA first-year students set academic criteria records
By UGA NEWS SERVICE
The University of Georgia is welcoming the most academically qualified first-year class in school history, with the highest GPA and SAT averages on record for entering freshmen. UGA also experienced a record number of applications with nearly 20,300 received for fall 2013 admission.
Related article:
www.redandblack.com
UGA’s freshman class breaks previous year’s academic record
http://www.redandblack.com/ugalife/campus/uga-s-freshman-class-breaks-previous-year-s-academic-record/article_b69bb8de-0045-11e3-8b5b-0019bb30f31a.html
www.my.georgiasouthern.edu
https://my.georgiasouthern.edu/index.php?option=com_content&id=1865
Professors Selected for NIH Training on Translational Health Disparities
Two professors from Georgia Southern University are on campus at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., for two weeks at the NIH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Translational Health Disparities course. Simone Charles, Ph.D., professor of environmental health sciences and John Luque, Ph.D., professor of community health from the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health were accepted as scholars for the research program. Only 20 percent of national applicants were invited to attend the NIH course.
USG VALUE:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/students-can-learn-about-life-in-college-at-mentor/nZHPF/
Students can learn about life in college at “mentor walk” event
By Ty Tagami
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Teenagers can learn about college life at the third annual Carolyn Young Mentor Walk at Georgia Tech Sept. 14. Named after the wife of Andrew Young, the event introduces teens and adolescents to college life, with discussions about college preparation, successful job interviews and money.
RESEARCH:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-08-07/georgia-researchers-study-new-flu-virus
Georgia researchers study new flu virus
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
Researchers in Georgia will be among scientists who will closely study an emerging strain of avian flu to assess its potential to cause a pandemic in humans. In correspondence published this week in the journals Science and Nature, the researchers announced that they will conduct what is called “gain of function” testing to see what happens when characteristics that could make avian influenza A H7N9 more easily transmissible or more lethal are added under carefully controlled laboratory conditions.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-08-07/uga-researchers-synthesize-asymmetrical-glycans
UGA researchers synthesize asymmetrical glycans
By UGA NEWS SERVICE
A team of investigators from the University of Georgia recently demonstrated the first method for synthesizing asymmetrical N-glycans. According to the study, published in the journal Science on July 25, the approach could lead to a better understanding of how viruses and bacteria enter cells and development of therapies to fight them.
www.wabe.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net
http://www.wabe.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net/post/project-engage-pt-iii-students-become-researchers
Project ENGAGE Pt. III: Students Become Researchers
By JIM BURRESS
When I last checked in on the Project ENGAGE scholars, they were going on “speed dates” to best match their interests with avialble mentors and specialized research labs. It’s been about a month since that visit, and now students have settled into their lab assignments and are working on topics from stem cell research to HIV treatment complications to osteoarthritis… “Yes. The people here are friendly. Travis, he’s my friend.” Travis is a Georgia Tech grad student and mentor Travis Meyer.
www.wabe.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net
http://wabe.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net/post/project-engage-pt-ii-speed-dating
Project ENGAGE Pt. II: Speed Dating
By JIM BURRESS
Since last check in, the 12 Project ENGAGE students have spent the better part of a month in bioscience boot camp. Now, they’re eager for the next phase—getting their hands dirty in a real Georgia Tech research lab. Before that happens, students must choose labs that best meet their interests; likewise, mentors have to decide which students will be the best fit. So they’re all going on a “speed date,” of sorts. Tables with one chair on each side line a seminar room inside the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience.
www.wabe.org
http://www.wabe.org/post/project-engage-pt-iv-personal-growth
Project ENGAGE Pt. IV: Personal Growth
By JIM BURRESS
Two months of hard work come down to a packed but non-descript seminar room on Georgia Tech’s campus. “The students know the rules,” Project ENGAGE co-founder Dr. Manu Plat informs the audience. Each student has five minutes to present his or her research, and as the minutes pass, scholars impress with their knowledge of everything from potential long-term side effects of HIV medication to stem cells’ role in treating osteoarthritis to “the effects of S1P and FTY720 on OP9 bone marrow stromal cells.”
www.myfoxatlanta.com
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/23051692/ga-tech-grad-creates-food-replacement-substance
Ga. Tech grad creates food replacement substance
By MYFOXATLANTA STAFF
ATLANTA –
A Georgia Tech graduate says he’s engineered a low-cost food replacement that could help in the fight against hunger. With soy and lentils as primary ingredients, Robert Rhinehart calls his product Soylent — a tongue in cheek reference to the Harry Harrison book that inspired the 1973 Charlton Heston film Soylent Green.
www.mashable.com
http://mashable.com/2013/08/07/google-glass-disabled/
OK, Glass: I Can’t Walk, So Help Me Explore
By Adam Popescu
Tammie Van Sant grew up in the mountains above Santa Cruz, Calif., where she spent her days riding horses, building forts in the massive redwood trees and hiking through the forests. Then a freak accident changed her life. In the car on the way home from work on a rainy day, her truck collided with another vehicle, causing her to flip several times. The impact broke her neck, leaving her paralyzed from the chest down… Google is paying close attention to how people like Van Sant and Blaszczuk are using Glass. At Georgia Tech, the company is working on two projects aimed at finding Glass applications for those with muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease. A collaborative effort between researchers at Carnergie Mellon University and the University of Rochester focuses on using Glass to help the blind.
www.myfoxatlanta.com
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/23075031/online-tool-helps-get-track-of-kids-vaccinations
Online tool helps keep track of kids’ vaccinations
By Beth Galvin, FOX Medical Team reporter
Pediatricians’ offices and health clinics have been slammed for weeks as thousands of kids try to get caught up on their back-to-school vaccinations. If you’re child falls behind, getting the child back on track can get pretty complicated, but a free, easy-to-use online tool may be able to help… A free online catch-up vaccine scheduler created by the Georgia Tech Research Institute and the CDC can help.
www.slate.com
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/08/mammograms_the_right_way_to_use_them.html
Reconsider the Mammogram
Yes, they result in false positives. But that’s because we’re using them incorrectly. A new model fixes that.
By Emily Herrmann
A recent cover story in the New York Times Magazine made a convincing case against the mammogram. The author’s main criticism was that mammograms result in many false-positives, which other research has confirmed. Women get treated for cancers they don’t have, or cancers that are noninvasive but which doctors at the moment can’t distinguish from the malignant ones. All of this leads to a lot of wasted money, stress, and distrust of the system as a whole. While this is almost certainly true, many in the scientific community prefer to look at mammograms in a different way. Mammograms are a life-saving screening method, but they are not being utilized properly. But there is a way to fix that. A group of researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Harvard Medical School have started to use risk factor models can help eliminate some of the harms associated with mammography and use it to its full potential.
www.bbc.com
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130805-what-wet-dogs-teach-a-mars-rover
Why wet dogs are a Mars rover’s best friend
A Golden Labrador shaking itself dry may sound like a mundane topic for a film. But couple it with the magic of ultra-slow motion cameras and you have something that has not only piqued the interests of nature lovers and the scientific community, but may also help design future Mars rovers. The idea for the film came about when the BBC’s Earth Unplugged team read a study by Andrew Dickerson of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/with-wearable-technology-a-new-measure-of-independence-for-some-with-disabilities/2013/08/06/e258757e-fde4-11e2-96a8-d3b921c0924a_story.html
Google Glass, other wearables may give the disabled a new measure of independence
By Hayley Tsukayama
It’s been 18 years since Tammie Lou Van Sant held a camera. But nearly two decades after a car accident left her paralyzed from the chest down, Van Sant is shooting again — thanks to a device that could be part of technology’s next big trend… Researchers at Georgia Tech, working with Google, already have turned to smartphones to teach sign language to the parents of deaf children, and they are experimenting with how a wearable device can speed up the process by eliminating some of the time it takes to load a lesson, since the screen can be so much closer to the face.
www.csoonline.com
http://www.csoonline.com/article/737675/smartphones-could-evolve-into-password-killers
Smartphones could evolve into password killers
But much depends on the development of highly reliable biometric technology
The ubiquitous smartphone, which many people now depend on for business and in their personal lives, is emerging as a promising replacement for passwords used in authentication. Most experts agree that a password killer is necessary to bolster Web site security. People’s fondness for easy-to-guess passwords that are often used across sites has severely weakened their effectiveness. In addition, sophisticated decryption technology has made even encrypted passwords easily acquirable by hackers… Another possibility is phone sensors that can identify the user by the way he or she walks. Such technology, called gait recognition, is currently in the research stage at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-health-plan-to-restrict-abortion-coverage/nZJCP/
State health plan to restrict abortion coverage
By Greg Bluestein
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s health department waded into two thorny issues on Thursday that set a sharply different course on abortion policy and paves the way for a new insurance plan for the state’s 650,000 public employees. …Commissioner Clyde Reese also said he expected to name Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia the winner of a lucrative healthcare contract on Friday over the objections of the two current insurance providers, who claim the chaotic bidding process unfairly deprived them of a chance.
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=264333
Ga. to limit abortion coverage in employee plan
By The Associated Press
ATLANTA – Georgia will join seven other states that ban coverage of abortions in nearly all instances for those enrolled in the state employee health insurance plan. The decision Thursday by the board of the Department of Community Health means the policy will bypass state lawmakers, who didn’t take action on similar legislation earlier this year. In a statement, Gov. Nathan Deal took credit for finding a way to accomplish what he called a worthy goal.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/08/08/forbes-atlanta-no-22-for-business.html
Forbes: Atlanta No. 22 for business and careers
Jacques Couret
Senior Online Editor-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the best U.S. cities for business and careers includes four Georgia cities. …Atlanta was ranked No. 22; Savannah is No. 124; Augusta is No. 126; and Columbus is No. 190. …The city is also home to a number of post-secondary educational institutions including Clark Atlanta University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University as well as a host of others.”
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/08/09/driver-demand-speeds-panasonic-hiring.html
Driver demand speeds Panasonic hiring to 150
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America is planning an expansion in metro Atlanta, as the electronics giant relocates engineering work from Japan and wins new North American business.
Panasonic will hire up to 150 over the next couple of years and convert about 70,000 square feet of manufacturing space into engineering and product testing operations at its Peachtree City headquarters campus. Last year, Panasonic opened an innovation center at Georgia Tech.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/aug/08/freshman-class-uga-sets-academic-record/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Freshman class at UGA sets academic record
The new freshman class arriving at University of Georgia set a new academic bar for the Athens campus. According to UGA: The University of Georgia is welcoming the most academically qualified first-year class in school history, with the highest GPA and SAT averages on record for entering freshmen.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/aug/07/uga-researcher-our-choices-are-not-only-retention-/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
UGA researcher: Our choices are not only retention or social promotion
Amy Reschly is an associate professor of educational psychology and director of the School Psychology Program at the University of Georgia. I asked her to write a piece based on her recent academic paper with Sandra Christenson, “Grade Retention: Historical Perspectives and New Research,” published in the Journal of School Psychology. Additional information about grade retention and social promotion, including a summary of research, may be found at the National Association of School Psychologists website:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/aug/07/state-health-care-shift-notes-convention-expensive/
Political Insider with Jim Galloway
State health care shift is on: Notes from a convention of expensive people
…Oh, yes. At stake was a five-year contract to manage the health insurance coverage of 650,000 state employees – including most public school teachers — and the $3 billion in claims they make each year. It’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the insurance company that wins it. The governing board of the state Department of Community Health is set to award the contract today to Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which would mean a shift in insurance coverage for every state employee come October.
www.chornicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/bottomline/college-fund-raisers-are-bullish-on-giving/
College Fund Raisers Are Bullish on Giving
By Lee Gardner
Even as the economy continues a plodding recovery, college fund raisers have higher expectations for their hauls this year and next, according to the results of a new survey released on Wednesday. Fund raisers responding to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Fundraising Index estimated they would see 7.1-percent growth in giving for the 2013 fiscal year, beating the 5.9-percent growth predicted in the same survey last year and surpassing the 20-year average growth rate of 5.8 percent.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/08/08/competency-based-education-puts-efficiency-learning-essay
Democratic Limits of “Customized”
Amy Slaton
When concerns about the quality of education swept the nation in the 1990s, test results were said to promise a reliable measure of instructional effectiveness. They offered a way to make comparisons across teachers, schools and students, all while assuring good value for Americans’ tax or tuition dollars. Faith in data, long built into U.S. educational practices, now came to support the ideal of schooling as a fair, honest, and well-managed service.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/pros-and-cons-degree-creep
The Pros and Cons of Degree Creep
By Matt Reed
Why are nurses being required to get higher degrees, while teachers are being told not to? In nursing, there’s a slow but steady move afoot to require nurses to have bachelor’s degrees in nursing, rather than associate’s degrees. This is a major issue for community colleges that, like my own, are barred legislatively from offering bachelor’s degrees. To the extent that hospitals and other desirable clinical sites give preference to students in bachelor’s programs, community college programs have to work harder to provide our students what they need.
www.blogs.edweek.org
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2013/08/5_questions_about_the_californ.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1
Six Questions About California CORE Districts’ Waiver
By Michele McNeil
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan provoked a lot of strong opinions when he granted a precedent-setting waiver under the No Child Left Behind Act to eight California districts last week. These “CORE” (for California Office to Reform Education) districts now have sweeping flexibility to implement their own accountability systems, separate from the state of California’s, and the ability to largely police themselves with help from a new independent oversight panel.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/08/09/essay-impact-californias-controversial-bill-new-forms-instruction#ixzz2bTZs5vXQ
Dead or Dormant?
By Phil Hill and Dean Florez
California’s controversial bill to allow third-party, online courses to count for credit at the three public systems of higher education has met an ignoble end. Or has it? On July 31, we learned that Senate Bill 520 (SB 520), authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, is being moved to the two-year file, and will remain dormant for at least a year. Is this a telling defeat for powerful state politicians who went too far in trying to advance online education options, or did the process of introducing the bill and debating it in public actually create the same goals and opportunities that drove the bill in the first place?
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Good-the-Badthe/141011/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in the Student-Loan Deal
By Christine Lindstrom
Over the past several weeks, the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act has made its way through the Senate, the House, and on to the president’s desk for his signature. The new law is a 10-year plan that was billed as making student loans affordable. But it is impossible to reduce the student-debt burden without answering two key questions: What is the cost of running a student-loan program?
Education News
www.csmonitor.com
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2013/0808/New-York-test-scores-hint-at-hard-road-ahead-for-Common-Core
New York test scores hint at hard road ahead for Common Core
New York is among the first of 45 states to test students as it implements new standards for college- and career-readiness. The poor results mean the Common Core reforms will require patience.
By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, Staff writer
The controversy surrounding New York State’s latest test scores hints at the difficult path most states can expect to tread as they begin to align tests to new Common Core State Standards in English and math. Just 31 percent of the state’s students in grades 3 to 8 were deemed proficient in math and in English language arts (ELA) on the new tests, compared with about 65 percent in math and 55 percent in ELA on last year’s tests. …For those who support the Common Core, a set of standards for college- and career-readiness in the 45 states that have voluntarily adopted them, the drop in New York’s scores offers a more honest benchmark.
www.edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/08/08/01esea.h33.html?tkn=NYOFz7ZlLT0NwpXhtsgabXxCrGDlABiXb5Xj&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1
Obama Administration Aloof as Lawmakers Tangle Over ESEA
By Alyson Klein
Not since passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 has Congress been so outwardly engaged in K-12 policy, yet most advocates remain pessimistic that there will be a new version of the flagship federal education law anytime soon. A big part of the reason: The Obama administration has little incentive to see a bill to revise the Elementary and Secondary Education Act advance in the current legislative climate, in which lawmakers seem more likely to erode, rather than support, the president’s policy priorities.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/New-Student-Loan-Rates-Are-Set/141029/
Student-Loan Changes, With Lower Rates for Now, Are Set to Be Signed Into Law
By Lee Gardner
Washington
President Obama is expected to sign legislation on Friday that will lower federal student-loan interest rates¬—for now, at least. The law, known as the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013, will allow all undergraduates to borrow at a 3.9-percent interest rate this fall and graduate students to borrow at 5.4 percent, with both rates tied to the 10-year Treasury note.
www.wabe.org
http://www.wabe.org/post/georgia-freshmen-begin-career-pathways-program
Georgia Freshmen Begin Career Pathways Program
By MARTHA DALTON
This year, Georgia high schools are implementing a program called Career Pathways. The program asks ninth graders to choose a field of study they’ll follow throughout high school. …The courses were developed in partnership with businesses, the Technical College System of Georgia, the University System of Georgia, and K-12 teachers. Plunkett expects the program to reap big rewards.
www.constructionequipmentguide.com
http://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/CGTC-Invests-in-New-Health-Sciences-Building/20914/
CGTC Invests in New Health Sciences Building
By: Cindy Riley – CEG CORRESPONDENT
Students exploring technology-related careers can now enjoy a cutting-edge facility in Millidgeville, Ga., offering everything from virtual patients to sophisticated computer labs. In April 2013, Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) in Macon held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new center for health sciences building at its Millidgeville campus. The facility is 77,704 sq. ft. (7,218.9 sq m) and cost roughly $15 million.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/07/university-libraries-look-reduce-licensing-costs#ixzz2bHfjj5c1
No More Double-Spending
By Ry Rivard
College students likely spend hundreds of thousands of dollars extra per year on buying rights for digital versions of readings to which they have free access. Some college and university libraries have been attempting to rein in the duplicative charges, which stem from journal articles and other assigned readings that students are told to buy for class even though the material is freely available to them through library holdings.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/07/u-virginia-changes-much-praised-aid-program-require-loans#ixzz2bHft2zqo
Access If You’ll Borrow
By Scott Jaschik
The University of Virginia has won widespread praise for a program to cover essentially all costs for low-income students. And the program appears linked to increasing numbers of such students enrolling. But citing the high costs associated with those increases, the university is now making its aid packages less generous — and will start to require that loans make up part of the package.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/08/californias-two-year-colleges-roll-out-transfer-degrees-while-lawmakers-consider
Fast Enough on Transfer in California?
By Paul Fain
For nearly three years California’s community colleges have been working with the California State University System to comply with a state law requiring guaranteed transfer pathways for graduates of the two-year institutions. Now some state lawmakers want to nudge the process along.
www.wabe.org
http://wabe.org/post/ga-state-officials-get-help-detect-autism-early-children
GA State Officials Get Help to Detect Autism Early in Children
By Elly Yu
Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning is partnering with Emory University and a local health organization to train specialists in detecting autism early in children. Intervention before the age of 3 has the greatest impact on autism, but the average age of diagnosis happens between 4 ½ and 5 ½ years old. That’s why the Marcus Autism Center along with Emory University is training people working with young children.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/55125/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=9c9065bb07dd4b1aa4044f1ffdf727ff&elqCampaignId=33#
Florida International Program Cultivating STEM Candidates Early
by Maria Eugenia Miranda
…Under the leadership of FIU President Mark Rosenberg, Becerra-Fernandez is changing that lack of exposure to resources for underrepresented minorities through a number of initiatives, including the Life Sciences South Florida initiative, which strives to foster innovation by supporting nascent science, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries; create programs to increase STEM student and work force development; and recruit and retain talent in the South Florida region.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/08/researchers-wait-see-if-students-want-transfer-credits-moocs
Rubber Hits the Road
By Ry Rivard
Whether massive open online courses will help traditional college students significantly cut costs remains to be seen, but a smattering of institutional trials may soon help tell. More than a half-dozen institutions have made clear they will grant transfer credits to students who successfully complete certain MOOCs from low-cost online providers, mainly Coursera and Udacity. An untold number of other colleges may be quietly wrestling with the issue of transfer credits for MOOCs, perhaps at the request of students themselves. …Georgia State University announced in January that its departments would consider granting prior learning transfer credits for students who had taken MOOCs and could demonstrate they’d learned something, either through an exam or an oral interview with professors.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/MOOCs-May-Not-Be-So-Disruptive/140965/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
The MOOC ‘Revolution’ May Not Be as Disruptive as Some Had Imagined
By Steve Kolowich
In California, the MOOC revolution came to a halt unceremoniously. Sen. Darrell Steinberg, the leader of the State Senate, quietly decided to put his online-education bill on the back burner last month. The bill, introduced with fanfare in March, originally aimed to push public universities to award academic credit to students who succeeded in some massive open online courses offered by outside providers. But now that the universities have promised to expand their own online courses, the senator sees no immediate need to let outside providers through the door, says his spokesman, Rhys Williams.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/09/northern-arizona-universitys-new-competency-based-degrees-and-transcripts#ixzz2bTZC8V47
Competency-Based Transcripts
By Paul Fain
Students who enroll in a new competency-based program at Northern Arizona University will earn a second transcript, which will describe their proficiency in the online bachelor degree’s required concepts. The university will also teach students how to share their “competency report” transcripts with potential employers.
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323968704578652153207781508.html
Stanford Students Offered New Diplomas After Clerical Error
Wrong Signature on Original Documents; Degrees Still Valid
By RIVA GOLD
Thousands of new Stanford University graduates have been offered replacement diplomas as a result of a clerical error that lead to the wrong signature being used on the documents. Stanford’s registrar informed recipients that diplomas issued over the last four academic quarters incorrectly carry the signature of former Board of Trustees Chairwoman Leslie Hume, who was succeeded by current Chairman Steven A. Denning in July 2012. The error didn’t invalidate the students’ degrees or affect official transcripts. “The diploma is not a legal document,” the university wrote on its website. “It is a commemoration of your achievement in earning a degree.”
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/09/study-points-gaps-between-how-journalism-educators-and-journalists-view-j-schools#ixzz2bTZXLROA
The J-School Bubble
By Colleen Flaherty
Journalism instructors assign much more value to a degree in the discipline than do practicing journalists, according to a new Poynter study. Some 96 percent of journalism educators believe that a journalism degree is very important or extremely important when it comes to understanding the value of journalism.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/08/british-universities-sponsor-soccer-teams-attract-foreign-students#ixzz2bMlEkoY6
Soccer and Foreign Students
By David Matthews for Times Higher Education
With just over a week to go until the start of another Premier League season, football [American soccer] fans are not the only ones taking a keen interest in the fortunes of their local clubs. Universities are using the competition’s huge global audience, estimated at 643 million households during the 2010-11 season, to entice overseas students to their campuses.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/09/accused-rape-men-allege-discrimination-under-title-ix#ixzz2bTZOFDjm
Going on Offense With Title IX
By Allie Grasgreen
With increasing frequency, women are filing federal complaints against colleges accused of failing to address sexual assault. Heightened awareness of students’ rights and colleges’ obligations under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination, has led to a wave of protests.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/07/fat-shaming-professor-faces-censure-university#ixzz2bHg4ItUA
#Penalty
By Lauren Ingeno
Geoffrey Miller, a psychology professor, has been censured by the University of New Mexico, two months after he sent out a fat-shaming Twitter post that caused an angry Internet uproar. It may have taken Miller less than a minute to write out this message and hit the “Tweet” button: “Dear obese Ph.D. applicants: if you didn’t have the willpower to stop eating carbs, you won’t have the willpower to do a dissertation #truth.” But the consequences of that tweet will last much longer.
www.news.yahoo.com
http://news.yahoo.com/ucla-deans-travel-rock-stars-tuition-soars-midde-135007936.html
UCLA deans travel like rock stars as tuition soars out of midde-class reach
A shocking investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting demonstrates that several deans at the University of California, Los Angeles have run up outrageous tabs for travel and entertainment. Expense records obtained by CIR through California’s Public Records Act indicate that UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and 17 various deans who oversee the state-funded school managed to use up approximately $2 million on travel and entertainment from 2008 to 2012. The most flagrant abuses have come in wasteful spending on airfare.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/09/ncaa-restructuring-imminent-pac-12s-larry-scott-muses-why-and-how-it-might-happen
How to Fix Division I
By Allie Grasgreen
For the first time in a while, the idea that the biggest and richest college athletics programs might circle their wagons and form a new, exclusive, best-of-the-best competitive body seems less like lofty speculation and more like an imminent necessity. Conference commissioners, football coaches and even academic watchdog groups like the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics have endorsed the idea in recent weeks.