University System News

CONSOLIDATION:
www.mdjonline.com
http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/23964073/article-Kennesaw-State-to-absorb-Southern-Polytechnic-in-big-merger?instance=secondary_story_left_column
Kennesaw State to absorb Southern Polytechnic in big merger
by Rachel Gray
MARIETTA — Students of Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University will unite under one school banner if a proposed merger of the two universities is approved by the state Board of Regents. On Friday, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby said he will ask the Board of Regents to approve the plan for consolidation in a couple of weeks. If approved, the merger would take effect Jan. 1, 2015.

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/kennesaw-state-southern-poly-to-merge/nbfMT/
Kennesaw State, Southern Poly to merge
By Ty Tagami and Kristina Torres
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby announced plans Friday to merge Southern Polytechnic State University into the larger Kennesaw State. The move, which stunned the polytechnic school’s 6,500 students, acknowledges an austere future in which nothing is off the table as the system looks to keep costs down.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-11-01/technical-college-merging-kennesaw-state
Technical college merging into Kennesaw State
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Georgia higher education leaders are expected this month to approve plans to fold a Marietta technical college into Kennesaw State University. The state’s university system chancellor, Hank Huckaby, will ask the Board of Regents to approve the merger of Southern Polytechnic State University with the existing Kennesaw State University.

Related article:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2013-11-01/southern-polytechnic-merging-kennesaw-state-final-approval-later-month?v=1383347158
Southern Polytechnic merging into Kennesaw State; final approval later this month

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/videos/news/students-plot-plan-to-stop-merger-with-kennesaw/vCHS2t/ (video)
Students plot plan to stop merger with Kennesaw State

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/college-merger-foes-to-fight-plan/nbhSd/
College merger foes to fight plan
By Janel Davis and Kristina Torres
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Days after the announcement that two metro Atlanta universities would be merged, much of the shock had been replaced by anger on one school campus Monday. More than 500 students and faculty at Marietta’s Southern Polytechnic State University turned out to get answers about the planned merger into the larger Kennesaw State University.

www.mdjonline.com
http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/23980147/article-Southern-Poly-students-don-t-go-quietly-into-merger?instance=home_lead_story
Southern Poly students don’t go quietly into merger
by Nikki Wiley
MARIETTA — Southern Polytechnic State University students are calling a plan to merge their school with Kennesaw State University a hostile takeover. They worry the value of their degrees will be cheapened and say the school’s identity will cease to exist. And, they say, there are plenty of reasons they didn’t opt to attend Kennesaw State in the first place, such as SPSU’s small class sizes and the school’s laser focus on technology. KSU President Dan Papp supports the plan and tried to assuage students’ fears at a forum on the SPSU campus Monday evening.

www.mdjonline.com
http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/23971909/article-SPSU-community-petitions-to-stop-merger?instance=special%20_coverage_right_column
SPSU community petitions to stop merger
by Rachel Gray
MARIETTA — Students, alumni and faculty of Southern Polytechnic State University are uniting to stop a “hostile takeover” of the SPSU campus by the University System of Georgia. On Friday, the University System of Georgia announced it will ask the Board of Regents later this month to sign off on a plan to merge the Marietta-based SPSU with Kennesaw State University, ten miles northwest. The consolidation would need final approval in January 2015. By Saturday morning, 550 supporters had signed two different petitions on change.org, an online forum that allows people to campaign on a wide range of issues.

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/11/03/2753905/hundreds-sign-petition-against.html
Hundreds sign petition against Ga. college merger
The Associated Press
MARIETTA, GA. — More than 1,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org against a plan to merge two metro Atlanta universities. The University System of Georgia announced late last week that the Board of Regents plans to merge Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta with Kennesaw State University. The plan calls for the consolidated school to be keep Kennesaw State University’s name, University System of Georgia officials have said.

Related article:
www.ledger-enquirer.com
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/11/03/2777602/hundreds-sign-petition-against.html
Hundreds sign petition against Ga. college merger

www.11alive.com
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/311839/3/Hundreds-sign-petition-to-stop-SPSU-KSU-merger
Hundreds sign petition to stop SPSU-KSU merger
Atlanta Business Chronicle
MARIETTA, Ga. — Students, alumni and faculty of Southern Polytechnic State University are fighting what they say is a “hostile takeover” of the SPSU campus by the University System of Georgia, reports the Marietta Daily Journal. The USG Board of Regents will consider a proposal this month to consolidate the schools. The planned merger is part of an ongoing system-wide series of institutional consolidations aimed at gaining efficiencies and cutting costs. By Monday morning, more than 2,200 supporters had signed two different petitions on change.org, an online forum that allows people to campaign on a wide range of issues.

www.gpb.org
http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/11/01/uga-wants-more-black-men-on-campus
UGA Wants More Black Men On Campus
By Leah Fleming
MACON, Ga. — According to the U.S. Department of Education,there are more than 1.4 million black men in college right now. The University of Georgia has some of the highest retention and graduation rates of African-American males in the country. While these facts sound pretty good, an issue remains.

USG NEWS:
www.gpb.org
ttp://www.gpb.org/news/2013/11/03/are-college-graduates-workforce-ready
Are College Graduates Workforce Ready?
By Ellen Reinhardt
ATLANTA — The University System of Georgia has two missions- make sure Georgia high school graduates are prepared for college and college graduates are ready for the workforce. University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby says colleges have complained for years that high school graduates are not prepared for higher education. Now the system is stepping back and owning up to its share of responsibility for high school graduates’ lack of preparation, starting with evaluating teacher education.

www.therepublic.com
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/97d0ad4e2558444eac207fcd434ab4f3/GA–UGA-Investiture
University of Georgia preparing investiture ceremony for new president
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Georgia — The University of Georgia is preparing an investiture ceremony for its 22nd president, Jere Morehead. UGA officials said in a statement Monday that the ceremony is Nov. 19 and will include remarks from Gov. Nathan Deal, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby, University System of Georgia Board of Regents Chair William NeSmith and others.

USG VALUE:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/business/learning-goes-work/nbg4F/
Learning that goes to work
Continuing education programs provide students with tools to use in their careers
By Laura Raines
For EDU Atlanta
Do you need more skills and training for the workplace but don’t have the time or means to earn a college degree? Many colleges and universities offer shorter-term, targeted education through their continuing and professional education departments. Market-driven, often industry-specific, and highly competitive, these programs specialize in education you can use. After doing some research, Toby Miller, 44, found an IT certificate program close to home at Southern Polytechnic State University’s Continuing Education Center in Marietta. No stranger to fitting an education around a work schedule, Miller earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Georgia State University in 2002 while he was enlisted in the Army and, afterward, serving in the Georgia National Guard.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-11-03/annual-field-trips-uga-clarke-students-part-new-plan
Annual field trips to UGA for Clarke students part of new plan
By LEE SHEARER
Thousands of students from Clarke County public schools visited the University of Georgia campus this fall as UGA and the school district embarked on a plan to bring the students to the campus at least once a year. An outgrowth of a continuing partnership between Clarke schools and UGA’s College of Education and community efforts to improve Clarke’s graduation rates, the so-called “Experience UGA” program will give every Clarke student the chance to visit UGA at least 13 times before they graduate from high school.

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/science_health/uga-cooperative-extension-to-help-farmers-create-atlanta-food-hub/article_335f1efa-42af-11e3-854d-001a4bcf6878.html
UGA cooperative extension to help farmers create Atlanta ‘food hub’
Daniel Funke
When Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent Todd Leeson started his new job on Oct. 1, the seed for a new locally grown food community near Atlanta was planted.
“[What] we are hoping to solve is to keep the area at least 70 percent rural,” he said. “We want to bring back the small family farm into the area of Chattahoochee Hills.” When Leeson came to work, a UGA Cooperative Extension within the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences initiated a collaborative funding project with the Chattahoochee Hill Country Conservancy in south Fulton County to promote the sustainable development of local agriculture. The project primarily focused on supporting local farmers in their production and sale of crops in Chattahoochee Hills, a small rural town about 30 minutes south of Atlanta. …The project hopes to aid farmers to provide citizens of Atlanta with more locally grown food, while providing a model for responsible agricultural techniques.

GOOD NEWS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2013/11/2-atlanta-area-schools-named-top.html
2 Atlanta-area schools named “Top Schools for Construction Management”
Carla Caldwell, Morning Edition Editor
Two Atlanta-area schools are named to a Top 10 list of “Top Schools for Construction Management Degrees” compiled by Rock & Dirt, a blog serving the construction equipment industry. Rock & Dirt says it based the rankings on information compiled by the National Center for Educational Statistics. The schools are Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville at No. 7, and Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta at No. 9.

www.walb.com
http://www.walb.com/story/23851887/gsw-provides-food-safety-net
GSW provides food safety net
By Dave Miller
AMERICUS, GA (WALB) – Information from Georgia Southwestern State University- College students, who often live on tight budgets, rely on their meal plans each semester. But, if a meal plan does not last the entire semester, some college students have difficulty paying for food. At Georgia Southwestern State University, the Office of Campus Life is tackling this issue with the new food pantry program, “Feed the Future.” The food pantry is stocked by donations of non-perishable food items or items with an extended shelf-life from the community.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-11-04/uga-traffic-injury-prevention-institute-gets-grant
UGA Traffic Injury Prevention Institute gets grant
CONYERS — The University of Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute has been awarded a $640,000 grant to continue statewide education programs. The university says the grant comes from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The institute’s education programs focus on child passenger safety, parent and teen driving safety and senior driver education.

RESEARCH:
www.athens.patch.com
http://athens.patch.com/groups/university-of-georgia/p/uga-to-help-test-companion-animals-suspected-of-ingesting-contaminated-food-or-drugs
UGA to Help Test Companion Animals Suspected of Ingesting Contaminated Food or Drugs
The UGA Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories in Athens and Tifton will team up with the FDA to do the testing.
Posted by Rebecca McCarthy
By Kat Gilmore
The University of Georgia Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories, located in Athens and Tifton, are collaborating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network to evaluate diagnostic samples from companion animals in suspect cases of exposure to contaminated foods or drugs to help protect human and animal health.

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/science_health/uga-psychology-professor-learns-what-monkeys-see-humans-do/article_ff5c74ce-42b1-11e3-9287-001a4bcf6878.html
UGA psychology professor learns what monkeys see, humans do
Arvind Deol
A University of Georgia psychology professor is using monkeys to discover the basics of learning. To see whether humans are alone in the ability pick up skills, Dorothy Fragaszy and other collaborating authors from around the world began studying humans’ closet ancestors, the primates. Fragaszy is also the director of the Primate Cognition and Behavior Laboratory, a psychology department laboratory dedicated to answering psychological questions through the study of primates. The study was funded by National Geographic, The LSB Leakey Foundation, a research organization dedicated to the study of human origin and the University of Georgia and took place in both South Africa and Fazenda Boa Vista and its adjacent lands in Brazil.

STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/governor-turns-magazine-ranking-into-political-pit/nbhKX/
Governor turns magazine ranking into political pitch
BY GREG BLUESTEIN – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
A niche publication’s blessing of Georgia’s business climate wouldn’t typically garner much attention. But for Gov. Nathan Deal, who seeks a second term on a platform of job creation, Site Selection magazine’s endorsement of the state became the unofficial kickoff of his quest for a second term. In an elaborately staged Statehouse event, Deal stood side by side with Republican lieutenants and corporate executives from Home Depot and UPS as he portrayed the magazine’s endorsement of Georgia as the top place to do business as validation for his first term in office. He quickly followed with a not-so-subtle pitch for a second.

www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/11/04/georgia-has-no-1-biz-climate.html
Georgia has No. 1 biz climate
Dave Williams
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Economic development trade publication Site Selection magazine has ranked Georgia’s business climate the nation’s best, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Monday. “For three years, I’ve said I wouldn’t stop until we got to the top, and I haven’t,” the governor declared during a news conference at the Capitol. “Even in light of today’s announcement, we’re not going to stop. We’re just beginning.”

www.northwestgeorgianews.com
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/associated_press/business/state_national/georgia-named-no-state-in-u-s-for-business-by/article_f9008616-4567-11e3-9c55-0019bb30f31a.html
Georgia named No. 1 state in U.S. for business by Site Selection magazine
Gov. Nathan Deal announced today that Georgia’s business climate has been named No. 1 in the nation by Site Selection magazine, one of the nation’s top economic development trade publications. “Making Georgia the premier state in the nation for business has been a strategic goal from day one of my administration,” said Deal. “We have worked hard to stay ahead of the curve and anticipate business needs not only today, but in the future. Achieving this national recognition means we are on the right track and reminds us of the importance of continuing to strive for excellence in all we do.”

Related article:
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/exchange/2013-11-04/georgia-named-no-1-state-us-business#.UnlC5Ch5iCY
Georgia named No. 1 state in U.S. for business

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/nov/02/repairing-hit-blue-collar-georgia/
Political Insider with Jim Galloway
The final price tag for what was one of the state Capitol’s biggest economic blunders of 2011 – albeit an unintentional one — surfaced this week. Two and a half years ago, in an attempt to shore up the lottery-fueled HOPE scholarship program, the Legislature signed off on Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan for raising the academic bar for university recipients. One little-noticed portion of the measure was the new requirement that students in the separate Technical College System of Georgia would have to maintain a 3.0 grade point average, rather than a 2.0, to maintain the HOPE grants that paid for their training to become welders, machinists, dental hygienists and such. And those grants, even if kept, would no longer cover the full cost of tuition.

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/11/03/2753001/evans-georgias-technical-colleges.html
EVANS: Georgia’s technical colleges and workforce need HOPE
By STACEY EVANS — Special to The Telegraph
Rep. Stacey Evans represents District 42 (Smyrna), in the Georgia House.
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of visiting Central Georgia Technical College President Dr. Ivan Allen and his incredible staff. We talked extensively about what Central Georgia Tech does for the region, and how the General Assembly can better support their tireless work.

www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/nov/04/southern-poly-students-will-rally-today-against-pr/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Southern Poly students rally today against proposed merger with Kennesaw. Will it matter?
Opponents of a new plan to merge Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University plan to protest today at a 4 p.m. forum with the college presidents and 6 p.m. rally on the Southern Poly campus. The merged school would carry the Kennesaw State name. The plan has riled students and alums of Southern Poly, which is in Marietta. Opponents have created a petition, which had 2,557 signatures as of 9:45 a.m. Monday.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/11/05/essay-flaws-common-application
The Real Problem With the Common App
By Theodore A. O’Neill
There is a certain uneasy pleasure to be taken, if one has had some argument with the Common Application, in the awareness that the current misfirings of the new version of the application has caused so much grief to so many people. Of course, some of the people who are inconvenienced, or, driven near mad, by the slow and painful release and correction of the new Common Application website are the very people who have taken great trouble and invested considerable time in the attempt to make the new version of this application available.

Education News
www.wabe.org
http://wabe.org/post/look-common-core-classroom?nopop=1
A Look at the Common Core in the Classroom
By Martha Dalton
There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding a new set of education standards called the Common Core. Georgia is one of 45 states that have adopted the standards. But some state Republican lawmakers want Georgia to opt out. Others strongly support the Common Core. As legislators debate the standards, Georgia English/Language Arts and math teachers still have to teach them. WABE visited one DeKalb County high school to see how they’re doing that and whether the controversy has had any effect.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/bottomline/is-college-worth-it-two-new-reports-say-yes-mostly/
Is College Worth It? 2 New Reports Say Yes (Mostly)
By Scott Carlson
In recent years, folks as different as Mitt Romney, Peter Thiel, William J. Bennett, and the disaffected people of the Occupy movement started turning their attention to the cost of college—and the underlying question always seemed to be whether college was still worth its cost. There has been a lot of evidence to suggest that college is indeed worth it, and plenty of studies and pundits lining up to tout the evidence.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/first-generation-students-lag-in-college-readiness-report-finds/37181?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
First-Generation Students Lag in College Readiness, Report Says
By Beckie Supiano
About a quarter of high-school graduates who took the ACT in 2013 met all four of its college-readiness benchmarks, in English, reading, mathematics, and science. But students whose parents did not go to college fared quite a bit worse: Only 9 percent of them met all four benchmarks. That finding comes from a report, “The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2013: First-Generation Students,” released on Monday by ACT and the Council for Opportunity in Education, a nonprofit group focused on access to college.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/57246/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=7c1b93058741416ea008d27dae4b2c76&elqCampaignId=62#
Hefty Debt Dissuades Blacks from Attending Med School
By Jamal Watson
…The numbers are telling, according to a new report released by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and published in the journal PLOS. The report suggests that the reason for the decline in Black enrollment in medical schools can be attributed to the rising educational costs. While Asian students, according to the report, are overrepresented in medical schools by 75 percent, African-American students are underrepresented by 100 percent.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/In-Big-Shift-India-Heats-Up/142823/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
In Big Shift, India Heats Up and China Cools Off in U.S. Graduate Enrollments
By Karin Fischer
In a sudden role reversal, the number of Indian students entering American graduate schools this fall exploded, while the share of new graduate students from China increased only modestly. First-time graduate enrollments from India, which had stagnated in recent years, surged 40 percent, according to a report out Tuesday on international graduate-student trends. But after seven consecutive years of double-digit growth, the number of Chinese students beginning graduate programs in the United States was up just 5 percent.

www.miamiherald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/04/3731769/mexican-colleges-look-to-expand.html
Mexican colleges look to expand in U.S. to serve immigrants
BY MATT KRUPNICK
THE HECHINGER REPORT
LYNWOOD, Calif — In an ethnically themed shopping center called Plaza Mexico just south of Los Angeles, a public university from the Mexican state of Colima has planted its flag. Alongside the shopping center’s stores and taquerias, the University of Colima offers mostly remedial education in reading, writing and math to about 100 Mexican immigrants. But a handful of students here are preparing to take their final exams for Mexican degrees, just one of several recent efforts by Mexican universities to branch into providing full-fledged university educations in the United States.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/57255/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=7c1b93058741416ea008d27dae4b2c76&elqCampaignId=62#
Diverse Conversations: Staying Afloat in Financially Turbulent Times
by Matthew Lynch
In these uncertain times, colleges and universities are forced to come up with innovative ways to deal with funding cutbacks and revenue shortfalls. In this installment of “Diverse Conversations,” Lewis Duncan, president of Rollins College, dispenses advice on how institutions can strategically manage their resources to help them thrive during these financially turbulent times.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/bottomline/billionaire-gives-100-million-to-uc-san-diego-for-stem-cell-research/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Billionaire Gives $100-Million to UC-San Diego for Stem-Cell Research
By Andy Thomason
The philanthropist T. Denny Sanford will donate $100-million to the University of California at San Diego in an effort to quicken the development of the institution’s stem-cell research for human medical treatment. The donation will create the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, which will combine four existing operations, including the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, to which Mr. Sanford gave $30-million in 2008.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/negotiators-offer-proposals-ahead-of-2nd-session-on-gainful-employment-rule/68717?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Negotiators Offer Proposals Ahead of 2nd Session on ‘Gainful Employment’ Rule
By Nick DeSantis
The U.S. Department of Education has posted online a series of proposals submitted by negotiators who are seeking to shape its revised “gainful employment” rule, ahead of a negotiating panel’s second formal gathering, set to take place this month.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/3-Top-Concerns-Obamas/142825/?cid=at
3 Big Challenges Obama’s College-Rating Plan Will Face at Public Forums
By Kelly Field
Washington
President Obama’s college-rating system isn’t public yet, but it’s already generating plenty of controversy. Critics worry that the plan, which would judge colleges and universities based on measures of access, affordability, and student outcomes, will punish institutions that serve low-income students and those that prepare graduates for high-need but low-paying professions. The critics also cite gaps in existing data and warn of a host of unintended consequences, including the dumbing down of standards and the tightening of admissions criteria.