USG eClips

University System News

USG NEWS:
www.whiotv.com
http://www.whiotv.com/news/ap/education/regents-to-seek-193b-budget-for-fy2015/nZtFw/
Ga. Regents seeking $49M more next fiscal year
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Georgia Board of Regents on Wednesday signed off on a $1.93 billion budget request for next fiscal year, which represents a $48.9 million increase over the current year. The requested 2.6 percent increase now heads to the governor’s office for consideration and doesn’t include $235.2 million that the board says it needs for facilities within the university system. The board also approved a separate budget requesting facilities funding.

Related articles:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
University System of Georgia seeks $49 million budget increase
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/2013-09-11/university-system-georgia-seeks-49-million-budget-increase

www.valdostadailytimes.com
Ga. Regents seeking $49M more next fiscal year
http://valdostadailytimes.com/todays-top-stories/x250212873/Ga-Regents-seeking-49M-more-next-fiscal-year

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/2013-09-11/georgia-regents-university-cancer-research-building-gets-boost?v=1378947935
Georgia Regents University cancer-research building gets boost
Morris News Service
ATLANTA — Construction of a cancer-research building at Georgia Regents University got two boosts Wednesday from the state Board of Regents. The board included $5 million in its request for funding next year from the governor to provide equipment for the building. The regents also approved a construction-management firm to oversee the project with funding already in hand.

www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/09/11/regents-eye-50-million-for-uga-projects.html
Regents eye $50 million for UGA projects
Jacques Couret
Senior Online Editor-Atlanta Business Chronicle
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents wants about $50 million from the state to build a science learning center and renovate Baldwin Hall at The University of Georgia. The Board of Regents submitted the request to Gov. Nathan Deal as part of its fiscal year 2015 budget request.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-09-11/regents-submit-budget-request-build-proposed-uga-science-learning-center
Regents submit budget request to build proposed UGA Science Learning Center
By UGA NEWS SERVICE
A proposed Science Learning Center to be built on the University of Georgia’s South Campus is one of two major capital construction projects approved by the Board of Regents today for submission to the governor as part of the fiscal year 2015 budget request.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/health/2013-09-11/money-st-marys-residencies-given-ok
Money for St. Mary’s residencies given OK
By WALTER C. JONESMORRIS NEWS SERVICE
ATLANTA — St. Mary’s Health Care System won approval Wednesday for another installment of taxpayer funds to help it create residency courses for new physicians. …During a Wednesday meeting, the Georgia Board of Regents granted $300,000 to St. Mary’s and $350,000 to Gwinnett Medical System in Lawrenceville as a second aid installment. The state will pay up to half of the costs in hiring faculty, preparing curriculum and even building renovations required by the medical-specialty accreditation agencies.

Related article:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
Regents OK money for hospital residencies
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2013-09-11/regents-ok-money-hospital-residencies

www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/enrollment-dip-hurts-university-system-of-georgia/nZtDq/?icmp=ajc_internallink_textlink_apr2013_ajcstubtomyajc_launch
Enrollment dip hurts University System of Georgia
BY KRISTINA TORRES – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
The University System of Georgia for more than a decade has banked on a steady increase in students to help soften the blow of repeated tuition hikes and state budget cuts. But no more. Enrollment during the 2012-13 academic year dropped by more than 3,660 students across Georgia, a fact acknowledged in a $1.93 billion budget request approved Wednesday by the state Board of Regents. The decline in overall credit hours translates to a $20.15 million decrease in what the regents are allowed to request in state funding.

www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/09/11/university-system-of-georgia.html
University System of Georgia enrollment falls again
Dave Williams
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chornicle
Enrollment is down in Georgia’s public colleges and universities for the second year in a row. An estimated 309,000 students are attending classes on University System of Georgia campuses this semester, down from 314,365 a year ago and 318,027 in the fall of 2011, John Brown, the system’s vice chancellor for fiscal affairs, told members of the Board of Regents Wednesday.

www.thenewsobserver.com
http://www.thenewsobserver.com/articles/2013/09/11/news/news01.txt
State farm tour makes stop at Mercier Orchards
Georgia agriculture officials, along with the president of the University of Georgia, visited Mercier Orchards Thursday on a statewide legislative farm tour. The tour included Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, Univ. of Georgia President Jere Moorehead, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean Scott Angle and state agriculture officials Tom McCall, Terry England, Jack Hill and John Wilkinson, who spent the day traveling to local farms and agribusinesses throughout Georgia to showcase Georgia agriculture.

Related article:
www.farms.com
Morehead tours ag centers
http://www.farms.com/news/better-beef-through-breeding-66971.aspx

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/ratings-system-to-potentially-decide-uga-students-federal-aid-fate/article_d88151dc-1339-11e3-ab32-001a4bcf6878.html
Ratings system to potentially decide UGA students’ federal aid fate
JAMIE GOTTLIEB
Getting a pretty penny from the federal government may require more than before with President Barack Obama’s possible new ranking system. Obama called to tie federal financial aid to a new U.S. government rating of college costs and performance, according to an article from Bloomberg. The system would rank colleges against their peers, and students attending higher rated schools would receive more financial aid than others.

www.flagpole.com
http://www.flagpole.com/news/news-features/2013/09/11/a-shifting-skyline-1
A Shifting Skyline
By Blake Aued
Anyone who hasn’t set foot in downtown Athens since last football season might have a tough time recognizing the skyline. The same applies to people who’ve lived here their whole lives. An unprecedented development boom is transforming downtown. Within a couple of years, downtown’s population could triple, as about 3,000 new residents, mainly University of Georgia students, move into four massive new apartment complexes and a number of smaller projects in various stages of completion.

www.wsbradio.com
http://www.wsbradio.com/news/news/students-georgia-tech-remember-911/nZszC/
Students at Georgia Tech remember 9/11
Georgia Tech is among colleges and universities nationwide holding ceremonies to remember the terrorist attacks on September 11. It’s the tenth year students on the Atlanta campus have organized an event that includes placing 2,977 flags on Skiles Lawn for each of the victims.

www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=265480
UNG marks 9/11 anniversary with candlelight ceremony
By Staff
DAHLONEGA – Hundreds of students, faculty and staff members at the University of North Georgia (UNG) were joined by the community on Wednesday night for a candlelight ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of 9/11. The ceremony held on UNG’s Dahlonega Campus by the Corps of Cadets and the Student Government Association (SGA) included recognition of local first-responders, veterans and members of the Georgia Army National Guard.

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/campus/fbi-agent-uga-students-commemorate-sept-through-education/article_c3fa02cc-1b59-11e3-9713-001a4bcf6878.html
FBI agent, UGA students commemorate Sept. 11 through education
Arvind Deol
John Newton sees Sept. 11 as a day of remembrance and vigilance. He also sees it as a day of necessary education. “People don’t think that bad things can happen to them, but in fact they happen more often than you’d like,” said Newton, the emergency operation manager for The University of Georgia’s Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness. …To educate students to be prepared for these kinds of emergencies, Newton’s office held its annual anti-terrorism awareness event Wednesday afternoon.

GOOD NEWS:
www.unionrecorder.com
http://unionrecorder.com/local/x72684858/Georgia-College-among-2014-Best-Regional-Universities
Georgia College among 2014 ‘Best Regional Universities’
GCSU Communications
MILLEDGEVILLE — U.S. News & World Report continues to rank Georgia College as a best public university in the South. Georgia College was designated 10th among the top public regional universities and was Georgia’s only university to be ranked in that category.

www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/us-news-public-college-ranking_n_3908997.html
Best Public Schools: U.S. News & World Report Releases 2014 Ranking
The Huffington Post
Once again, California’s public universities dominate the U.S. News and World public school rankings. The 2014 list remains relatively unchanged from recent years, in spite of new changes made to the ranking methodology, such as reducing the weight of students’ high school class standing and increasing the weight of the schools’ graduation rates. The Unviersity of California-Berkeley held onto the top spot for the 16th year in a row, while Penn State University made a notable leap into the top 10, rising up five spots from last year. (Photo gallery: Georgia Tech #7)

www.wsav.com
http://www.wsav.com/story/23412248/georgia-southern-named-2014-military-friendly-school
Georgia Southern Named 2014 Military Friendly School
By Kim Gusby, Coastal Sunrise Anchor
STATESBORO, GA – For the third year in a row, Georgia Southern University has been named a Military Friendly School® by G.I. Jobs magazine for its efforts to provide educational opportunities to America’s veterans, active-duty troops and their families.

www.wsav.com
http://www.wsav.com/story/23390686/gsus-annual-day-for-southern-campaign-underway
Update: A Day for Southern Soars to Record Donations
By Kim Gusby, Coastal Sunrise Anchor
STATESBORO, GA – Update:
Georgia Southern University alumni, faculty, staff and supporters in Statesboro and Bulloch county made history Tuesday during the 40th annual A Day for Southern by donating a record $2,111,160 during the annual fundraising campaign. The Georgia Southern University Foundation will use that money for academics, athletics, scholarships, faculty and staff along with community resources including the Performing Arts Center, the Georgia Southern Museum and the Center for Wildlife Education and the Lamar Q Ball Jr. Raptor Center.

www.times-herald.com
http://www.times-herald.com/local/20130912-Newnan-DDA-_-new-restaurant
Meat & Greet To Open On Jefferson St.
by CELIA SHORTT
…At the DDA’s meeting, Newnan Business Development Director Hasco Craver gave another update on the Newnan Hospital Redevelopment Project to create a new University of West Georgia Newnan satellite campus.

USG VALUE:
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-09-11/uga-host-college-fair-high-school-students
UGA to host college fair for high school students
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Ga.— The University of Georgia is set to host a regional college fair for high school juniors and seniors. The annual Georgia Probe College Fair is scheduled for Sept. 16 from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Classic Center. Representatives from more than 100 colleges and universities across the Southeast are expected to attend. The college fair is meant to give parents, students and others interested in higher education a chance to get detailed information from specific colleges without having to travel too far.

RESEARCH:
www.forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2013/09/11/want-an-online-college-degree-google-it/
Want An Online College Degree? Google It
Troy Onink, Contributor
Inside Higher Ed reported today that Google and edX are partnering to offer an open-source MOOC — massively open online course — platform. The announcement means that virtually anyone will be able to create online course offerings. This move is likely to cause further disruption in the race among edX’s competitors, Udacity and Coursera, to gain the high ground in the creation and delivery of online education… The key part of this announcement is that the platform is open-source, which will allow not just educational institutions to create content, but employers, too. Co-op based education at institutions like the University of Cincinnati, Drexel, Northeastern, RIT, University of Massachusetts at Lowell and Georgia Tech already do this to some degree with a combination of classroom time and on-the-job training.

www.blogs.courier-journal.com
http://blogs.courier-journal.com/watchdogearth/2013/09/11/louisville-to-plan-for-managing-urban-heat/
Louisville to plan for managing urban heat
by James Bruggers
Responding to concerns about Louisville’s growing urban heat island, city officials have secured a $60,000 grant to help draw up a plan to address the problem. The mayor’s office this morning said Louisville is among nine communities in the country to receive the grant from the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities and its partner, the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. An urban heat island is a metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to a lack of vegetation and large amounts of impervious surfaces, or concrete. According to a study by the Georgia Institute of Technology, Louisville’s core might be heating up faster than other large U.S. cities, relative to the surrounding countryside in research first reported in The Courier-Journal in May 2012.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.times-herald.com
http://www.times-herald.com/opinion/20130912-Rants-and-Raves
Rants, Raves & Really?!?
A look back at the week’s highs, lows and whatevers: …RAVE: Our Carrollton-based University of West Georgia was named one of the “Best colleges in the Southeast” by the Princeton Review. …RAVE: And speaking of UWG — “Houston, we have groundbreaking.” Monday was the official golden shovel dig for the new Newnan branch of UWG.

www.educatedquest.com
http://www.educatedquest.com/eds-public-ivy-schools-for-2013-14/
Ed’s Public Ivy Schools for 2013-14
Ed’s School Profiles, Featured by Ed Quest
This week is the start of the college ranking season, the best time to announce my Public Ivy Schools for 2013-14. I set Public Ivy schools to high standards for costs as well as freshman retention and graduation rates. …Which leads to our Public Ivy list. Schools that have made the list for the first time appear in bold. …Georgia Institute of Technology …University of Georgia

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/sep/11/does-middle-class-and-their-kids-deserve-hope-or-s/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Does the middle class — and their kids — deserve HOPE? Or should scholarship target poor?
The AJC had several great stories this week to mark the 20th anniversary of the HOPE Scholarship. The stories trace the changes in the program over the years and the criticisms of those changes.
One fact cannot be denied: HOPE has exploded.

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/sep/11/sonny-perdues-defense-common-core-bankers/
Political Insider with Jim Galloway
Sonny Perdue’s defense of Common Core … to bankers
By Greg Bluestein
Common Core seems an unusual topic for a meeting of bankers. But former Gov. Sonny Perdue, who has become one of the biggest GOP champions of the controversial educational guidelines, gave an impassioned defense for the standards at a Mortgage Bankers Association of Georgia meeting today.

www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/column/2013-09-12/commentary-lack-pre-k-hurts-too-many-kids#.UjHJBeB5iCa
Commentary: Lack of pre-K hurts too many kids
By BOBBY CAGLE
Bobby Cagle is commissioner of Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.
During a recent visit to Savannah, I saw firsthand how parents, providers, teachers, the faith community and local officials share this interest in helping our children build a solid educational foundation. Your Aug. 27 editorial, “Quality Pre-K: Make scores mandatory,” largely supported this mission. But it raised questions about Georgia’s Pre-K program and new Quality Rated program that I feel need clarification.

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/09/12/what-does-quality-teacher-mean-anyway/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
What does ‘quality teacher’ mean anyway?
In the big push for “quality teachers,” the question about what that means gets short shrift. Here’s a piece on the subject by Mike Rose, a professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and author of several books. His most recent works are “Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education, and “Public Education Under Siege,” which he co-edited with Michael B. Katz.

Education News
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/09/11/desire2learn-acquires-adaptive-learning-startup
Desire2Learn Acquires Adaptive Learning Startup
Learning management system provider Desire2Learn is putting its $80 million in venture capital funding to use, acquiring its third startup in less than a year. This week, the company announced it has acquired the adaptive learning company Knowillage, which produces LeaP, a system that can index an institution’s academic materials. If a student is struggling with a particular topic, LeaP can suggest content that allows the student to attack the topic from a different angle.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/09/11/investment-529-college-savings-plans-grows
Investment in 529 College Savings Plans Grows
Investment in 529 college savings and prepaid tuition plans reached a record level in the first six months of 2013, according to a midyear report released Tuesday by the College Savings Plan Network.

www.nation.time.com

All Hail MOOCs! Just Don’t Ask if They Actually Work


All Hail MOOCs! Just Don’t Ask if They Actually Work
Despite booming enrollment and enthusiastic administrators, scant research offers little evidence that online courses are effective
By Jon Marcus / The Hechinger Report
Dozens of top universities and colleges are scrambling to get in on the latest trend in higher education, massive open online courses known as MOOCs. Enrollment is ballooning by the hundreds of thousands each semester. A third of administrators say they think residential campuses will eventually be obsolete. Google just announced it’s teaming up with Harvard and MIT to create “a YouTube for MOOCs.” And The Economist asked this summer if the courses portend “the fall of the ivory tower.”

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/few-surprises-in-nsf-report-on-san-jose-state-u-test-of-udacity-courses/46535?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Few Surprises in NSF Report on San Jose State U. Test of Udacity Courses
By Lawrence Biemiller
With financing from the National Science Foundation, a San Jose State University research team has taken a close look at a high-profile experiment in which the institution offered “augmented” online courses last spring in partnership with the online-learning company Udacity. The team released its long-awaited report late Wednesday, and it contains many more tables than surprises.

Related article:
www.insidehighered.com
The Full Report on Udacity Experiment
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/09/12/after-weeks-delays-san-jose-state-u-releases-research-report-online-courses#ixzz2eghHg2pR

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/09/11/the-nsa-sponsors-cyber-operations-training-at-universities-heres-what-students-learn/
The NSA sponsors ‘cyber operations’ training at universities. Here’s what students learn.
By Caitlin Dewey
Last week, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh became one of the latest — and most prestigious — schools to partner with the National Security Agency on a program designed to recruit young cyberspies. The NSA has run this “cyber operations” program since 2012, working with Northeastern University, Dakota State, the University of Tulsa and the Naval Postgraduate School to design curricula that match the agency’s intelligence and infrastructure needs.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/55914/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=e4b2b343c01145ffb6ad97210ed857d0&elqCampaignId=62#
On 9/11 Anniversary, Lawmakers Seek Help on Veterans Education
by Charles Dervarics
Advising, mentoring and support services are critical if veterans and active-duty military are to succeed in postsecondary education today, witnesses said at a congressional hearing held Wednesday on the 12th anniversary of the September 2011 terrorist attacks. “As more troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan, postsecondary institutions now face the largest influx of student veterans on campus since World War II,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who chairs the House higher education subcommittee that held the hearing.

www.edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/09/11/03mindset_ep.h33.html?tkn=OMMFBUpoZuQwY4qvMMvS1tu%2BEpDD9iqQZV0U&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1
‘Growth Mindset’ Gaining Traction as School Improvement Strategy
By Sarah D. Sparks
New Orleans
It’s one thing to say all students can learn, but making them believe it—and do it—can require a 180-degree shift in students’ and teachers’ sense of themselves and of one another. While expressions like the “soft bigotry of low expectations” underscore the effects of teachers’ and students’ mindsets on academic success, it has proved difficult to pin down whether and how it’s possible to change those attitudes once established.

www.news-sentinel.com
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130911/NEWS/130919963/1005/MOVIES
New program at Ivy Tech to help African-American men stay in school
By Ellie Bogue of The News-Sentinel
Less than 1 percent of the African-American men who enter Ivy Tech Community College ever graduate. A new program is working to change that number. A group of faculty members have started an academic and social support group for these students. The program, the African American Male Initiative, AAMI, has several goals.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/55918/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=e4b2b343c01145ffb6ad97210ed857d0&elqCampaignId=62#
College Scorecards and Affordability for Minorities
By Matthew Lynch
…In order to reach his goal of leading the world in percentage of college graduates by 2020, Obama has been vocal about lowering the cost of the college process and providing more targeted, useful programs that address the needs of the economy. He has also called for more investments in community colleges and individual vigilance on the part of colleges to help rein in costs of higher education. This new “college scorecard” proposal is just one more step in that direction. Like public K-12 schools, colleges would be held more accountable by the federal government and would be compared to each other through data that truly matter.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/09/12/humanities-doctoral-programs-show-unexpected-boost-new-students#ixzz2eghRprFR
More Humanities Ph.D.s
By Scott Jaschik
New doctoral enrollments in the arts and humanities have been been going up very modestly — an average of 1 percent annually — for a decade. But data being released today by the Council of Graduate Schools show that in the fall of 2012, arts and humanities doctoral programs saw a 7.7 percent increase — a surprising jump given the difficulty many new Ph.D.s in those fields have in finding jobs.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Graduate-School-Enrollments/141577/
Influx of Foreign Students Drives Modest Increase in Graduate-School Enrollments
By Stacey Patton
Enrollments in graduate programs at American colleges and universities have increased modestly, driven largely by a rise in international students, according to a report being released on Thursday by the Council of Graduate Schools. From the fall of 2011 to the fall of 2012, first-time enrollment in graduate certificate, education-specialist, master’s, and doctoral programs increased by 1.8 percent, to more than 461,000 students, reversing two consecutive years of declines, says the report, “Graduate Enrollment and Degrees: 2002 to 2012.”

www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/community-college-enrollment-up-with-prop-30-funds/?utm_campaign=0912ccnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=4f874066291c4e1d9cf94bb594f0a503&elqCampaignId=69
Community college enrollment up with Prop. 30 funds
Source: sfgate.com
For the first time in years, California’s community colleges are opening their doors to more students – about 60,000 more – instead of turning them away. College officials on Wednesday credited Proposition 30, the tax increase approved by voters in November, for propelling a happy domino effect across the college system: More money pays for more courses, which allows more students to enroll.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Second-Round-of-Gates-Project/141581/?cid=at
Second Round of Gates Project Aims for ‘Convergence’ on Financial-Aid Reforms
By Beckie Supiano
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, continuing to explore ideas for using financial aid as a lever to improve student success, has selected the grant recipients for the second round of its Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery project, foundation officials have told The Chronicle.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Panel-Members-Push-for-Changes/141579/?cid=at
Panel Members Push for Changes in Draft ‘Gainful Employment’ Rule
By Kelly Field
Washington
Round 1 of negotiations over the U.S. Education Department’s revised “gainful employment” rule wrapped up on Wednesday, with the formation of six working groups that will submit proposals to the department by the end of the month. Under draft regulatory language the department released last month, career-oriented programs would lose their ability to receive federal student aid if two measures of their graduates’ ability to repay their student loans—a debt-to-income ratio and a debt-to-discretionary-income ratio—exceeded certain cutoffs.

www.edtechmagazine.com
http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2013/06/vine-the-latest-social-revolution-in-higher-education?goback=%2Egde_2203905_member_272869598#%21
39 Colleges Using Vine to Engage with Students and Alumni
Somewhere between YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, Vine is the perfect platform for sharing.
JIMMY DALY
Vine is the latest social networking platform to gain traction on mobile devices. The app, owned and operated by Twitter, allows users to share six-second videos and is catching on quickly. Silicon Valley venture capitalist Mary Meeker mentions Vine in her 2013 Internet Trends Report and tech blog BGR addressed the app in a recent post: Vine’s monthly active user base soared from 2% to nearly 8% of iPhone owners in the U.S. between January and April. According to Onavo, Vine’s engagement growth in May is far faster than that of WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Chrome, Snapchat or other rivals. As a matter of fact, Vine’s engagement growth is more than seven times faster than Snapchat’s.