University System News

USG NEWS:
www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/aug/15/regents-adopts-8216mission-creep8217-policy/
Regents adopt ‘mission creep’ policy
By Terry Lewis
ATLANTA — The University System of Georgia Board of Regents on Wednesday approved a new “Institutional Function and Mission Policy” that will have a significant and long-term effect on the types of programs and services offered by all 31 of the state’s public Colleges and universities — including Albany State University and Darton State College. The new policy, which went into effect immediately, is aimed at ending the duplication of degree programs and prevent the overlapping of services — also known as “mission creep.”

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-08-14/regents-looking-more-efficiency
Regents looking for more efficiency
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
What might seem like different plans calling for greater efficiency, moves like the consolidation of schools such as Augusta State and Georgia Health Sciences universities are part of a longterm strategy to get greater value and more focus on student services, a University System of Georgia spokesman said. The system’s Board of Regents approved Wednesday a new Strategic Plan and also a new “sector policy” calling on the colleges and universities to more tightly focus on their particular missions, spokesman John Millsaps said.

GOOD NEWS:
www.mysouthwestga.com
http://www.mysouthwestga.com/news/story.aspx?list=196423&id=934599#.Ug5KReB5iCY
ABAC gets special designation
by FOX 31 News Team
TIFTON, GA — The University System of Georgia Board of Regents designated Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College as Georgia’s official Agricultural State College. In addition, for the first time in the history of the College, ABAC started the year with more than 1,000 students, nearly 600 of which are enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program, registered in its School of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

www.moultrieobserver.com
http://moultrieobserver.com/local/x1981937216/ABAC-ag-program-boasts-1-000-plus-students
ABAC ag program boasts 1,000-plus students
Staff Reports
The Moultrie Observer
TIFTON — Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is celebrating two events this month: a milestone in enrollment and special recognition from the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents. The Board of Regents recently designated ABAC as Georgia’s official Agricultural State College.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-08-15/uga-panhellenic-council-receives-national-recognition
UGA Panhellenic Council receives national recognition
By UGA NEWS SERVICE
The National Panhellenic Conference has recognized the University of Georgia Panhellenic Council with a College Panhellenic Achievement Award for the 2012-2013 academic year. The UGA council was one of 33 universities recognized and one of 19 universities that received the achievement award. The award acknowledges the council’s efforts to meet core competencies and excel at five of seven core functions: recruitment, structure, communication with the NPC area adviser, judicial procedures, community impact and relations, programming and academics.

www.wsav.com
http://www.wsav.com/story/23145697/ssu-to-offer-online-business-degree
SSU to Offer Online Business Degree
By Kim Gusby, Coastal Sunrise Anchor
SAVANNAH, GA -Starting this fall, Savannah State University’s (SSU) existing Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree will become the first to be offered online. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved the degree program Tuesday during its August meeting. …The online degree program is part of SSU’s Complete College Georgia (CCG) plan, which is part of a statewide initiative to increase the percentage of Georgians completing college from 42 to 60 percent by 2020.

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2013-08-15/gru-transition-program-begins-monday-east-georgia-state-students?v=1376616645
GRU transition program begins Monday for East Georgia State students
By Tracey McManus
Staff Writer
When Hunter Thompson received a rejection letter in the mail from Georgia Regents University, his hopes were only dashed for a minute. Attached to the letter was information about a new partnership with East Georgia State College, which allows students to take classes through ECSC on the GRU campus and transition to GRU as a sophomore under certain requirements. “From what I’ve seen, it looks like something I needed,” said Thompson, a 2013 Greenbrier High School graduate. East Georgia State College Augusta will launch on the GRU campus next week as a transition program for students who did not meet requirements for GRU but who hope to attend the university in the future.

www.beta.effinghamherald.net
http://beta.effinghamherald.net/section/22/article/22482/
GSU, Barrow to host job fair for veterans
Staff report
STATESBORO — U.S. Rep. John Barrow will host a veterans and military job fair at Georgia Southern University’s Nessmith-Lane Conference Center, 847 Plant Dr., on Tuesday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m The job fair is open to military service veterans, active duty military personnel along with National Guard and reserve component troops and military spouses.

ww.rockmartjrl.com
http://rockmartjrl.com/view/full_story/23335112/article-Albany-State–Technical-College-System-of-Ga–create-new-education–ladder–for-firefighters?instance=home_news_1st_left
Albany State, Technical College System of Ga. create new education “ladder” for firefighters
by Press release
Atlanta – A new collaborative agreement between Albany State University (ASU) and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) means that, for the first time in Georgia, firefighters can climb a seamless ladder in higher education leading to a bachelor degree in Fire Services Administration. The articulation agreement signed today by ASU President Everette J. Freeman and TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson enables graduates who earn an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Fire Science Technology from an accredited TCSG college to apply all of the credits earned toward a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Fire Services Administration at ASU.

Related article:
www.firehouse.com
Albany State Univ., Technical College System of Ga. Create New Education Ladder for Firefighters
http://www.firehouse.com/press_release/11113329/albany-state-univ-technical-college-system-of-ga-create-new-education-ladder-for-firefighters

www.independentmail.com
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2013/aug/14/group-awarded-grant-for-neutering-program/
Group awarded grant for neutering program
Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black visited the University of Georgia on May 23 to announce 19 recipients of a spaying and neutering grant as part of the Dog and Cat Sterilization program. This program is funded by the purchase of dog and cat sterilization auto tags as well as tax-deductible donations.

USG VALUE:
www.suwanee.patch.com
http://suwanee.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/911-artifact-is-back-in-suwanee
9/11 Artifact Is Back in Suwanee
The piece of steel is resting on what will be a permanent artistic base.
Posted by Steve Burns
One of Suwanee’s most iconic figures has been returned to the city and is being prepared for permanent display. The 9/11 artifact that has been dubbed Remembrance is now resting on a base in Town Center Park, after having been in storage and to Georgia Southern University since its original arrival. …City officials felt better treatment was necessary, and so Georgia Southern artist Marc Moulton was commissioned last November to work up a permanent display.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/uconn-ranks-first-sierra-clubs-greenest-campuses-list
UConn ranks first on Sierra Club’s greenest campuses list
Green campuses matter because students are likely to continue environmental lifestyle after graduation, Sierra Club says
By: Matt Zalaznick
Some 600 sustainability-related classes and a 15 percent reduction in water use over the past several years pushed the University of Connecticut to the top of the Sierra Club’s 2013 list of greenest campuses. …Green campuses matter because students who study or practice environmentalism in college are likely to continue that lifestyle after graduation, the Sierra Club says on its website. …8. Georgia Institute of Technology

RESEARCH:
www.phys.org
http://phys.org/news/2013-08-nanoparticles-cancer.html
Researchers use nanoparticles to fight cancer
Researchers at the University of Georgia are developing a new treatment technique that uses nanoparticles to reprogram immune cells so they are able to recognize and attack cancer. The findings were published recently in the early online edition of ACS Nano.

www.healthcareitnews.com
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/national-pilot-engages-cancer-patients
National pilot engages cancer patients
Model could be replicated for other diseases
Bernie Monegain, Editor
Providing easy access to medical histories and treatment records is just one aspect of MyJourney Compass, a $1.7 million project funded by ONC and designed to help patients navigate the complex cancer treatment process and become more involved in their healthcare decisions. Based in Rome, Ga., the project is one of 10 challenge grants awarded by ONC across the country, and is one of only two focusing on healthcare consumers. It is operated through the Georgia Department of Community Health and managed by health information specialists at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2013/08/tree-killing-beetle-detected-in.html
Tree-killing beetle detected in Georgia for first time
Carla Caldwell, Morning Edition Editor
An invasive insect responsible for the death or decline of tens of millions of ash trees in 20 states has been detected in Georgia for the first time, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. …The Georgia Invasive Species Task force is executing the plan to prevent the spread of emerald ash bore beetles. The group includes the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia Forestry Commission, University of Georgia Department of Natural Resources and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

www.technologyreview.com
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518096/remotely-assembled-malware-blows-past-apples-screening-process/
Blows Past Apple’s Screening Process
Research unmasks a weakness of Apple’s App Store: new apps apparently are run for only a few seconds before approval.
By David Talbot
Mystery has long shrouded how Apple vets iPhone, iPad, and iPod apps for safety. Now, researchers who managed to get a malicious app up for sale in the App Store have determined that the company’s review process runs at least some programs for only a few seconds before giving the green light. This wasn’t long enough for Apple to notice that an app that purported to offer news from Georgia Tech contained code fragments that later assembled themselves into a malicious digital creature.

www.wirelessdesignmag.com
http://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/news/2013/08/encryption-less-secure-we-thought
Encryption is Less Secure than We Thought
By Larry Hardesty, MIT News Office
Information theory — the discipline that gave us digital communication and data compression — also put cryptography on a secure mathematical foundation. Since 1948, when the paper that created information theory first appeared, most information-theoretic analyses of secure schemes have depended on a common assumption… “Some of the approximations that we’re used to making, they make perfect sense in the context of traditional communication,” says Matthieu Bloch, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

www.venturebeat.com
http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/15/coca-cola-to-open-startup-accelerators-in-nine-cities-including-berlin-and-istanbul/
Coca-Cola to open startup accelerators in nine cities including Berlin and Istanbul
Nina Fowler, VentureVillage
You say Coca-Cola, I say… startups? The beverage giant appears to hope so, with plans for accelerator programmes in nine cities including Berlin and Istanbul by the end of the year. The accelerators in Sydney and San Francisco have already launched. According to a presentation given by Coca-Cola VP of Innovation David Butler in Sydney in early August, the Mexico City programme should also already be active… It’s not the first foray for Coca-Cola into the world of startups. In 2001, the company formed a startup incubator in its home town Atlanta, Georgia, in partnership with Georgia Tech.

STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional/insurance-navigator-grants-announced/nZQPR/?icmp=ajc_internallink_textlink_apr2013_ajcstubtomyajc_launch
Insurance ‘navigator’ grants announced
Exchange opens in just six weeks, counselors in race against the clock
BY MISTY WILLIAMS – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Georgia will receive millions of federal dollars for a new workforce of health insurance “navigators,” or counselors who will help uninsured people find coverage on the state’s new exchange, the federal government announced Thursday. But the $3.8 million won’t go far, and just 46 days remain before the opening of the exchange, created by the Affordable Care Act. …Seedco is leading 14 community groups in Georgia that are focusing not just on navigators but also outreach events and other efforts to get out the word about the exchange. Federal officials awarded on Thursday a second $1.7 million grant to the University of Georgia to hire navigators.

Related article:
www.onlineathens.com
UGA to be 1 of 2 groups supplying Obamacare navigators
http://onlineathens.com/health/2013-08-15/uga-be-1-2-groups-supplying-obamacare-navigators

www.blogs.ajc.com
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-forward/2013/08/15/do-we-need-a-state-history-museum/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_forward
Atlanta Forward
Do we need a state history museum?
Moderated by Tom Sabulis
Last week, the AJC reported on a proposal by the governor to spend $17 million (in 2011 costs) to develop a state history museum in the old World of Coca-Cola building — to kick-start a new tourist zone near Capitol Hill in downtown Atlanta. A similar funding proposal failed twice before. Here are three views on the latest idea from experts in the field.
Telling why Georgia matters
By Jamil Zainaldin
The idea of a Georgia History Museum has existed since the mid-1990s. It is in the news again. Why history? Cicero said it best 2,000 years ago: “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” Why a state museum? It symbolizes place, tells our stories, and ties the “threads” of a jumbled past into something that “speaks” to us — that enlightens.

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-forward/2013/08/15/do-we-need-a-state-history-museum/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_forward
Better to help our existing museums
By Salvatore Cilella
Several months ago, aggrieved patrons and supporters of the Georgia State Archives were successful in overturning an ill-conceived effort by the secretary of state to virtually close the archives over “budgetary concerns.” Recently, Gov. Nathan Deal and a handful of legislators have been mulling over resurrecting the notion of a state history museum in the mausoleum known as the old “World of Coca-Cola” building near the perennially resuscitating Underground Atlanta.

http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-forward/2013/08/15/do-we-need-a-state-history-museum/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_forward
Logical location deserves discussion
By A.J. Robinson
It’s good news to hear that the state is reconsidering the concept for a Georgia history museum. Whether or not it is an actual museum and/or occupies the old World of Coca-Cola site, the time is right to explore the notion of a state-of-the-art facility that would celebrate Georgia’s past, present and, most importantly, future.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/views/our-take-it-takes-a-village-to-overcome-obesity/article_4ef15f28-0517-11e3-8f14-001a4bcf6878.html
Our Take: It takes a village to overcome obesity
If there was only one thing Georgia did well, it would be food. With southern fried chicken, flaky, butter soaked biscuits and sweet tea abounding, it’s not hard to see why this southern fried state has a reputation for big trucks and even bigger waistbands. But putting stereotypes aside, obesity is a serious issue with a number of negative health implications affecting an individual’s quality of life. And the University of Georgia is making great strides to combat this problem, for the sake of both its students and the rest of the state.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/08/16/us-should-change-plus-loan-program-protect-borrowers-and-taxpayers-essay#ixzz2c8UMBHzx
The PLUS Loan Problem
By Justin Draeger
This week, the U.S. Department of Education announced changes to the PLUS loan underwriting standards that may help previously denied PLUS loan applicants obtain loans. This will be welcome news to previously approved loan applicants who found themselves unexpectedly denied last year. But federal PLUS loans can be risky business for graduate students and parents of undergraduates who can use them to borrow up to the full cost of attendance at college.

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/08/15/teach-for-americas-dirty-little-secret/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
Teach For America’s ‘dirty little secret’
Teach For America is famous for many things these days, including its five-week summer training institute in which newly selected corps members are “prepared” to take over classrooms with high-needs students. Here is a perhaps surprising look at the five-week institute, how it has changed over the years and what that means to teacher training.

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/08/16/how-students-are-being-set-up-to-fail/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
How students are being set up to fail
Are school children being set up to fail? Jeff Bryant, an associate fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future, thinks so and explains in this post. Bryant is the owner of a marketing and communications consultancy that serves organizations including Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, PBS, and International Planned Parenthood Foundation. He writes extensively about public education policy at The Education Opportunity Network. Follow Jeff on Twitter: jeffbcdm

Education News
www.gainesvilletimes.com
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/87230/
Study adds fuel to fire over school standards
Report shows Common Core doesn’t measure up to previous performance gauge
By Carly Sharec
A return to school means a return to Common Core standards in math and English language arts, but a recent report shows that the standards may not be in the best interest of the state’s educational system. Sen. William Ligon, R-Brunswick, released independent study results Aug. 5 that showed the previous Georgia Performance Standards were more rigorous and detailed than Common Core.

www.nytimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/education/new-education-standards-face-growing-opposition.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&
School Standards’ Debut Is Rocky, and Critics Pounce
By MOTOKO RICH
The Common Core, a set of standards for kindergarten through high school that has been ardently supported by the Obama administration and many business leaders and state legislatures, is facing growing opposition from both the right and the left even before it has been properly introduced into classrooms. Tea Party conservatives, who reject the standards as an unwelcome edict from above, have called for them to be severely rolled back.

www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/a-healthy-conversation/2013/08/emory-gets-12m-to-study-hiv-epidemic.html
Emory gets $12M to open HIV research center for women
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Emory has received $11.9 million to study the HIV epidemic among women. The award, from the National Institutes of Health, will help create one of four new clinical research sites for the first time in the South. The five year grant is part of a recent expansion of the Women’s Interagency HIV Cohort Study (WIHS).

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/16/amazon-restricts-students-bringing-certain-textbook-rentals-across-state-lines
Books With Borders
By Lauren Ingeno
Students who rent textbooks through Amazon.com’s Warehouse Deals, Inc. may be unknowingly agreeing to an unusual condition: They are not permitted to cross state borders with their books.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/How-Youth-Serving-Groups-Can/141161/
Alliance Suggests Ways That Youth-Serving Groups Can Help Students Understand College Costs
By Katherine Mangan
Groups that serve young people and their parents play an important, but overlooked role in helping students understand how much college costs, how to manage debt, and which colleges offer the best fit for their financial means, according to a new report.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/despite-financial-concerns-most-parents-still-value-college/36133?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Despite Financial Concerns, Most Parents Still Value College
By Sara Lipka
For all the public questioning of the value of college, more parents of teenagers are convinced it’s a good bet, although they are worried about scraping together the cash to make it. Nearly nine in 10 parents said college was very important to their children’s futures, a new survey shows, up from about eight in 10 last year.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/16/new-form-competency-based-learnings-first-batch-graduates#ixzz2c8TE1Ju9
Experimental College’s First Graduate
By Paul Fain
A groundbreaking form of competency-based education now has its Patient Zero. Zach Sherman, a 21-year-old sanitation worker in Ohio, earned a self-paced associate degree from College for America in early June — just shy of 100 days after he enrolled in the online program. Sherman is the first completer among a group of five College for America students who have successfully earned its competency-based general studies degrees.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Defense-Department-Proposes/141155/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Defense Department Proposes New Rule for Institutions Receiving a Military Education Benefit
By Kelly Field
The Defense Department has issued a proposed rule updating the memorandum of understanding that institutions must sign to participate in its Tuition Assistance Program for active-duty servicemembers.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/a-virtual-cotton-club-rises-with-an-open-source-engine/45463?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
A Virtual Cotton Club Rises, With an Open-Source Engine
By Sara Grossman
Second Life, the virtual world many professors use for experiential learning, is no longer big enough for one University of Arizona professor. Bryan Carter, an assistant professor of Africana studies, has been using the virtual world to teach students about the Harlem Renaissance since 2005. But as technology has advanced, Mr. Carter has been looking to evolve his virtual city as well. Now the virtual-life company Utherverse is building a new digital replica of Harlem during the 1920s, based on a street grid Mr. Carter has provided. The company is relying on the Unity engine, a cross-platform game engine that employs open graphics standards. It’s “a huge step up” from Second Life, Mr. Carter said in an e-mail.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/16/u-south-florida-softens-financial-management-plan-after-administrator-resigns#ixzz2c8U1AigT
Principled Resignation
By Carl Straumsheim
The University of South Florida announced on Wednesday that it would ease off on a one-year budget plan that some faculty members called “draconian,” but the change of heart comes only after a senior administrator resigned in protest.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Ending-Vacation-Home-Perk-NYU/141157/
Ending Vacation-Home Perk, NYU Seeks to Mend Fences
By Jack Stripling
When the New York University faculty geared up for a vote of no confidence in President John E. Sexton this past December, the chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees said he was blindsided. Here was a university president who had helped transform an institution, spearheading bold international efforts and earning a reputation as a tireless fund raiser. Yet some professors described Mr. Sexton as an autocrat, and they seized on his compensation and luxurious perks as evidence of his remove from the common plights of faculty and students.

www.freep.com
http://www.freep.com/article/20130814/NEWS05/308140105/phishing-university-of-michigan
University of Michigan warns of spear phishing e-mails that duped employees
By Tammy Stables Battaglia
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
Phishing, most likely by overseas shysters, hooked staff members at the University of Michigan in two recent incidents when they provided passwords that allowed others to redirect pay deposits or obtain Social Security numbers, according to police. The U-M Police Department sent out an alert today warning staff and students of the crimes. The department describes spear phishing, as e-mails made to look like official university messages targeting U-M students and staff.

www.edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/08/15/01nagb.h33.html?tkn=NOQFKjx2K4iWEjVnMaSlVwxRH7Fj6FMU4Ocr&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2
Assessment Governing Board Defines ‘College Prepared’
By Sarah D. Sparks
Baltimore
The governing board for the tests known as “the nation’s report card” has marked its own definition of what makes a student academically prepared for college. At a meeting here this month, members of the National Assessment Governing Board, which supervises the National Assessment of Educational Progress, voted 17-2 to adopt language that will define the new “college prepared” scores in reading and mathematics on the assessment.

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/business/local-business/2013-08-15/georgia-labor-commissioner-touts-local-tech-and-healthcare?v=1376547025
Georgia labor commissioner touts local tech and healthcare fields
By Jenna Martin
Staff Writer
Though Augusta’s unemployment rates are hovering near 9.3 percent, Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler pointed to the area’s tech and health care sectors as continual bright spots in the local economy. “Even in the worst days of the recession, the medical community continued to hire,” said Butler, who was in Augusta on Wednesday to speak at a CSRA Society of Human Resources Management meeting. “And it was strong again this last month.” …Butler emphasized the importance of cultivating a skilled workforce to meet the future demand for adept workers. He noted Georgia’s top technical colleges and university system as contributing factors for ensuring that occurs across the state.

Related articles:
www.jacksonprogress-argus.com
Georgia labor commissioner shares good news, bad news about job market
http://www.jacksonprogress-argus.com/news/2013/aug/12/georgia-labor-commissioner-shares-good-news-bad/

www.cherokeetribune.com
Commissioner: ‘We are trying to get Georgians back to work’
http://cherokeetribune.com/bookmark/23368377

www.accessnorthga.com
Georgia’s unemployment rate rises to 8.8 percent in July
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=264527

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/55316/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=bae2e31f354d4a1dbdfc3987511ba5dd&elqCampaignId=33#
African American Higher Ed Goals Addressed in Johns Twitter Interview
by Lois Elfman
As executive director for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans, David Johns often utilizes social media to promote awareness and dialogue about how to achieve success in higher education. “We need to ensure that all Black children know they can go to college [and] expect to graduate from college,” tweeted Johns during an hour-long Twitter interview on Thursday afternoon.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/55334/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=bae2e31f354d4a1dbdfc3987511ba5dd&elqCampaignId=33#
College Board Approves New Medical School Building for Umiss
by Jeff Amy, Associated Press
JACKSON Miss.—The University of Mississippi Medical center plans to start construction on its new medical school building this fall. The College Board Thursday approved increasing the budget for the building to $35.5 million, using $31 million in state bonds that the Legislature approved borrowing earlier this year. The board also approved $10 million to move, replace and add to utilities to accommodate the new building.

www.bostonglobe.com
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/08/11/state-ties-community-college-funding-students-improvement/J8BOFMPu3BvjGXBi4DzTdL/story.html
Mass. ties community college funding to results
State will establish goals for students at schools
By Marcella Bombardieri
Massachusetts has launched a new way of funding community colleges, for the first time tying a large portion of each college’s budget to its ability to improve graduation rates, meet the state’s workforce needs, and help more minority students thrive. The state’s move to so-called performance funding is one of the most ambitious in the nation; about half of each school’s allocation will hinge on such factors when it is fully phased in within a couple years.

www.jbhe.com
http://www.jbhe.com/2013/08/thurgood-marshall-college-fund-joins-forces-with-the-opportunity-funding-corporation/
Thurgood Marshall College Fund Joins Forces With the Opportunity Funding Corporation
In 1970, the Nixon administration established the Opportunity Funding Corporation (OFC). The OFC’s mission was to help Black-owned businesses with capital, credit, and business mentoring in an effort to create jobs and business opportunities in African American neighborhoods. Now the OFC has merged with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), a group representing 47 publicly operated historically Black colleges and universities.

www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/feds-say-community-college-accreditation-commission-is-out-of-line/
Feds Say Community College Accreditation Commission is Out of Line
Source: ivn.us
The accreditation crisis taking place at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) took a turn in favor of campus advocates. The US Department of Education got involved, and sent the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) a notice that it is “out of compliance” with federal regulations.

www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/for-profit-university-targets-community-college-students/
For-profit university targets community college students
Source: AmericanIndependent.com
The University of Phoenix plans to roll out more than 100 new partnerships with community colleges in the coming year – a strategy that, if successful, will provide a much-needed financial and reputational boost to the nation’s largest for-profit school.

www.blogs.edweek.org
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2013/08/qa_bill_gates_teaching_edtech_philanthropy.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2
Q&A: Bill Gates on Teaching, Ed Tech, and Philanthropy
By Benjamin Herold
Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently dipped into the coffers of bgc3—his personal office, think tank, and incubation engine—to make a multimillion-dollar investment in Graphite, a new venture from the San Francisco-based nonprofit Common Sense Media that aims to provide teachers with easy-to-search, Consumer Reports-style peer reviews of ed-tech products. In conjunction with Graphite’s launch, Gates offered to respond via email to some questions from Education Week and our Twitter followers. While downplaying the overall capacity of philanthropy to impact public education systems, Gates said he hopes his investment in Graphite can help spur a “virtuous cycle” between ed-tech entrepreneurs and teachers.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/55297/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=bae2e31f354d4a1dbdfc3987511ba5dd&elqCampaignId=33#
Obama Administration Plans Changes to Parent PLUS Loans
by Dianne Hayes
In response to outcries from congressional leaders, organizations, parents and students, the U.S. Department of Education plans to make changes to the PLUS loan programs to address the growing crisis in higher education that has blocked as many as 400,000 students nationwide from enrolling in college, according to figures from the United Negro College Fund.

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/education-secretary-pledges-more-help-for-parents-seeking-college-loans/2013/08/15/cff5e2ba-05c1-11e3-88d6-d5795fab4637_story.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
Duncan pledges more help for parents seeking federal college loans
By Nick Anderson
The Education Department is taking new steps to help parents obtain federal college loans if their applications are rejected because of minor problems in their credit history — an effort to address complaints about tighter lending standards that has hurt enrollment at historically black colleges and universities.