University System News
USG NEWS:
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2013/nov/16/ggc-bucks-trend-sees-enrollment-rise/
GGC bucks trend, sees enrollment rise
By Keith Farner
The need for Georgia Gwinnett College has been touted by university administrators and local officials since it opened in 2006. But recent enrollment numbers back up that sentiment. In a report released this week by the University System of Georgia at a meeting of the Board of Regents, Georgia Gwinnett College was one of nine colleges or universities around Georgia to report an increase in enrollment of more than one percent since the fall 2012 semester. This fall’s enrollment at GGC rose by 3.2 percent since last year to give the Grizzlies 9,719 students.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2013-11-15/augusta-decline-was-among-young-people-gru-clarifies?v=1384567359
Augusta decline was among young people, GRU clarifies
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
When Georgia Regents University President Ricardo Azziz referred to a population decline in Augusta, he was talking about young people and not total residents, a senior official said Friday. He should have made that distinction but did not, the official conceded. Azziz touched off a firestorm earlier this week when he was updating the University System of Georgia Board of Regents and said Augusta’s population “has decreased by 10 percent” while noting a 70 percent increase in the Atlanta area. Azziz went on to say that is a reason GRU needs an Atlanta presence. In total population, Augusta has actually increased nearly 6 percent since 1990, figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2013-11-15/ceremony-marks-step-new-gru-building?v=1384567383
Ceremony marks step in new GRU building
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
The white beam scrawled with signatures was hoisted skyward Friday morning and lifted to the top of the J. Harold Harrison M.D. Medical Education Commons Building at Georgia Regents University. Big donors who gathered to watch the milestone ceremony of the building’s final beam being raised say it was an investment in the university and Augusta itself. Harrison, a Medical College of Georgia alumnus and former chairman of the school’s foundation who died last year, gave $10 million to help fund the building as part of a challenge grant; that, in turn, attracted $13 million more in donations.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/local/x520093057/VSU-celebrates-new-solar-power-canopy/?state=taberU
VSU celebrates new solar power canopy
Stuart Taylor
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA — On an ironically overcast and drizzly Friday afternoon, Valdosta State University held a ceremony celebrating the installation of a new, 10 kilowatt solar panel canopy. “We have enormous pressures in terms of resources,” said Michael Noll, VSU professor of geosciences and president of Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy. “We’re burning fossil fuels at ever-increasing rates and we’re fully, as 97 percent of scientists agree, responsible for global climate change. But in spite of that negative news … it’s important to recognize that we’re at the beginning of a second solar age.”
Related article:
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2013-11-17/valdosta-state-installs-solar-panels-campus?utm_source=Morris%20Digital%20Works&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AfternoonUpdate%3ALatestNewsfromSavannahnow.com#.Uooijyh5iCY
Valdosta State installs solar panels on campus
www.statesboro.wtoc.com
http://statesboro.wtoc.com/news/news/268031-georgia-southern-hosts-international-festival
Georgia Southern hosts International Festival
Submitted by WTOC Web Staff
STATESBORO, GA (WTOC)- Georgia Southern University hosts the 8th Annual International Festival on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mill Creek Regional Park. The festival is hosted by the Center for International Studies and celebrates the culture, music, art and food from around the world. Admission to the festival is free and open to everyone.
Activities include a Global Village where students from area middle, high and charter schools pick a country and create an educational display that showcases that nation. The students get their ideas and information from Georgia Southern’s Global Ambassador Program.
www.wjbf.com
http://www.wjbf.com/story/23973227/mills-project-consultantsave-the-a-an-embarrassment
Mills Project Consultant: “Save The A” An Embarrassment
By George Eskola, WJBF Senior Reporter
Augusta, GA – Matthew Kwatinetz, the Executive Director of the Augusta Regional Collaboration Project is the man city leaders are using to help persuade Georgia Regents University (GRU) and the University System of Georgia Board or Regents to expand to two historic mills and downtown. “The intent of the Commisison was to try and support the University, support growth of the university and do what we can to be a partner in it,” says Mayor Pro-Tem Corey Johnson. On the Internet, we found this, “The Augusta Regional Collaboration Projects GRU presentation by Matthew Kwatinetz”. It contains the city’s proposal for the “Mills Campus”, and the downtown “Cultural Campus”. But, it’s also says this: “Following the embarrassment of the ‘Save the A’, the Augusta Commission held closed door sessions to analyze how to best address directly reaching out the newly formed to support GRU.” So, based on the presentation, Augusta Commissioners met in secret to discuss being embarrassed by the ‘Save the A’ campaign.
www.nytimes.com
Reaching for Silicon Valley
By NICK WINGFIELD
Joy Laskar was not what you’d typically think of as a threat to public safety. At the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where he was a professor of electrical engineering, Dr. Laskar did research on chip design. He mentored dozens of Ph.D. students and, over the years, started and sold a number of tech companies. The last one, called Sayana, created a promising wireless chip and was being courted by the likes of Samsung and Qualcomm. But on May 17, 2010, agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, wearing bulletproof vests, raided his university offices.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/health/2013-11-16/30k-sign-petition-demanding-uga-stop-training-obamacare-navigators
30K sign petition demanding UGA stop training Obamacare navigators
By WALTER C. JONESMORRIS NEWS SERVICE
ATLANTA – Some opponents of the Affordable Care Act say they have 30,000 signatures on a petition seeking to repeal the federal health reform law, and they’re calling on the University of Georgia to stop providing “navigators” to help people comply with it. Carolyn Cosby, chairwoman of the Canton T.E.A. Party & Georgians for Healthcare Freedom, said her organization is critical of the university for accepting a $1.7 million federal grant to provide navigators around the state.
GOOD NEWS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/11/14/top-of-the-list-areas-25-largest.html
Top of the List: Area’s 25 Largest Colleges and Universities
Jacques Couret
Senior Online Editor and Social Engagement Manager- Atlanta Business Chronicle
Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Nov. 15 print edition features the list of “Area’s 25 Largest Colleges and Universities.” Ranked by total enrollment for the fall 2013 semester, The University of Georgia tops at no. 1 with enrollment of more than 34,000 students. Georgia State University ranked second – with 32,000 students enrolled – while the University of North Georgia (formed by the merger of North Georgia College & State University and Gainesville State College in January) placed sixth.
www.midtown.11alive.com
http://midtown.11alive.com/news/education/495612-ga-tech-tops-most-millionaires-list
GA Tech tops “Most Millionaires” list
Submitted by Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech is the only school in the Peach State to make the top 100 on a list of universities that produce the most millionaires worldwide, Times Higher Education reports. Data research company WealthInsight and business magazine Spear’s compiled the list, which was dominated by U.S. schools, according to the Times report. Georgia Tech ranked No. 80, just behind University of Cape Town in South Africa and just ahead of Moscow State University in Russia.
www.wtoc.com
http://www.wtoc.com/story/23981855/gulfstream-seda-ga-tech-alliance-announced
Workforce training alliance launched
By WTOC Staff
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) – The Savannah Economic Development Authority announced Wednesday a new alliance between SEDA, the Georgia Tech Savannah Campus and Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. The University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents approved the strategic alliance Wednesday, which includes plans for a center for technical research and development, professional education and training.
www.times-herald.com
http://www.times-herald.com/local/20131115-UWG-and-Tanner-Health-System-celebrate-School-of-Nursing-Partnership
UWG, Tanner Celebrate Nursing School Partnership
by CELIA SHORTT
The University of West Georgia’s nursing program at its Carrollton and Newnan campuses will be named the Tanner Health System School of Nursing. UWG officials announced the naming earlier this week during a dedication ceremony cementing the two entities’ partnership.
RESEARCH:
www.militaryaerospace.com
http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2013/11/helicopter-software-planning.html
Industry asked for radar-evading software planning tools for special-ops helicopter pilots
By John Keller
Editor
U.S. special operations aviation experts are asking industry for new software tools to help helicopter pilots evade enemy radar and radar-guided missiles and weapons. Officials of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Special Operations Mission Planning Office (SOMPO) at Fort Eustis, Va., released a broad-agency announcement (H92238-14-R-0001) late last week for the Threat Modeling for Enhanced Helicopter Mission Planning program. This initiative seeks to add capability to the FalconView Portable Flight Planning Software (PFPS) based mission planning environment to improve the ability of helicopter pilots to analyze planned routes and mission scenarios. FalconView is a PC based mapping application developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute for the U.S. Department of Defense.
www.networkworld.com
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/111613-rise-seen-in-use-of-276031.html
Rise seen in use of Google service for mobile botnets
Google Cloud Messaging serving as conduit for sending data from C&C servers
By Antone Gonsalves, CSO
Mobile botnets are on the rise and cybercriminals are using the Google Cloud Messaging service as a conduit for sending data from command-and-control servers to malware, a new report says. In its latest IT Threat Evolution report, Kaspersky Lab said the third quarter was “undoubtedly the quarter of mobile botnets,” as cybercriminals tried to improve the ways they manage their networks of infected Android devices… Nevertheless, the overall rate of infection on Android devices is very low. A study by the Georgia Institute of Technology found an infection rate of 0.0009 percent, or roughly 3,500 out of more than 380 million mobile devices.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2013-11-17/jones-common-core-debate-set-continue-georgia
Jones: Common Core debate set to continue in Georgia
ATLANTA — Although much of the Common Core Curriculum is already being implemented, the controversy about it hasn’t waned. Activists on both sides of the issue are sharpening their arguments for the next battle, which will come during the 2014 legislative session, to be followed by the election campaigns for various state offices.
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/11/17/reject-common-core-tests-in-grades-k-2-weingarten-carlsson-paige/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
Reject Common Core tests in grades K-2: Weingarten, Carlsson-Paige
Here is a post about the Common Core State Standards and early childhood learning, by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and early childhood education expert Nancy Carlsson-Paige. Carlsson-Paiage is professor emerita of early childhood education at Lesley University in Cambridge and author of Taking Back Childhood. She previously co-authored a tough critique on this blog about the Core’s approach to early childhood development, which you can read here. It should be noted that Weingarten has been a vocal supporter of the standards, though also highly critical about the way the initiative is being implemented across the country, in fact saying that it was worse than the rollout of Healthcare.gov. This post first appeared on the AFT website.
www.cherokeetribune.com
http://cherokeetribune.com/bookmark/24069965-SPSU-to-KSU-The-premise-is-wrong
SPSU to KSU: The premise is wrong
by Roger Hines
Roger Hines of Kennesaw is a retired high school teacher and former state legislator.
One could say that the Georgia Board of Regents pulled a fast one in its decision to merge Southern Polytechnic State University with Kennesaw State. Not that the ongoing discussion of the merger was fast. Merger talks had been going on for some time, but the announcement of the decision itself was not only ill-timed but also downright disrespectful. As long ago as September 2011, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby suggested the merger, along with mergers for other colleges and universities as well.
www.nique.net
Shifting rising tuition costs into reverse
By Kenneth Marino
There is a saying that I am rather fond of—paying for college is like buying a brand-new car every year and driving it off a cliff. For the 2012-2013 school year, out-of-state students paid around $27,000 for tuition. This is roughly the price of a new 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. This is far better than the BMW 3-series you would need to destroy to pay for Harvard, and I suppose in-state students only need to sacrifice a high-end scooter to pay the approximately $10,000, but I can’t help but think there’s something wrong with this wanton destruction of motor vehicles. According to Southern Regional Education Board’s data, in 1986, out-of-state tuition and fees at Tech cost only $5,007, worth about $11,000 today. This trend is not encouraging. …The University System of Georgia has also acknowledged the problem. In their Strategic plan, the Board of Regents notes that “concerns about affordability are greater than ever” and that promises that USG will maintain its longstanding commitment to collegiate access, affordability and value.
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/views/our-take-need-based-scholarships-lacking-at-uga/article_b1bebd0c-4fbe-11e3-be8a-001a4bcf6878.html
Our take: Need-based scholarships lacking at UGA
A college degree is the baseline for education. High school diplomas and some degree of higher education are expected of member of the millennial generation. We’re taught that without a B.A., we will be overlooked in the job market. But with a four-year degree becoming the norm, why are there not more efforts to extend the opportunity of a college education to all students, no matter which financial background they come from?
www.business.time.com
The Real Reason New College Grads Can’t Get Hired
By Martha C. White
It’s because college kids today can’t do math, one line of reasoning goes. Or they don’t know science. Or they’re clueless about technology, aside from their myriad social-media profiles. These are all good theories, but the problem with the unemployability of these young adults goes way beyond a lack of STEM skills. As it turns out, they can’t even show up on time in a button-down shirt and organize a team project. The technical term for navigating a workplace effectively might be soft skills, but employers are facing some hard facts: the entry-level candidates who are on tap to join the ranks of full-time work are clueless about the fundamentals of office life.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/No-More-Digitally-Challenged/143079/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
No More Digitally Challenged Liberal-Arts Majors
How to give B.A.’s in arts and humanities more career options without abandoning the life of the mind
By William Pannapacker
One of my roles as director of a program in the “digital liberal arts” is to close the gap between what our students are learning and the expectations of the job markets in their fields.
While I don’t think liberal-arts education should be at the service of employers, I do think it is important to enable our B.A.’s to build careers that allow them to continue what they valued about their undergraduate experiences.
Education News
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/effingham-now/2013-11-14/lt-gov-hosts-business-and-education-summit-effingham#.UopBaCh5iCY
Lt. Gov. hosts business and education summit in Effingham
By DeAnn Komanecky
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle held his annual business and education summit at Effingham College and Career Academy on Thursday. The summit, in its third year, brings business and education leaders together to discuss partnerships that can create the workforce needed by Georgia companies. Cagle said the College and Career Academies are helping ensure companies have workers with those skills that are necessary to compete in a 21st century marketplace.
Related article:
www.beta.effijnghamherald.net
http://beta.effinghamherald.net/section/6/article/23356/preview/
Cagle calls for state to produce best workers
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/lawmakers-hear-a-lot-on-education-listening-tour/nbqRP/
Lawmakers hear a lot on education listening tour
BY WAYNE WASHINGTON – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Usually, they’re the ones doing the talking. State Rep. Brooks Coleman of Duluth and state Sen. Lindsey Tippins of Marietta, Republicans who chair the House and Senate education committees, hold great sway when the Legislature is in session. In recent weeks, however, both men have been traveling across the state on an education listening tour In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Coleman said they’ve gotten an earful.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/18/debating-role-student-learning-federal-ratings-plan#ixzz2l0BROYOk
How Best to Assess?
By Serena Golden
ST. LOUIS – As the Obama administration pushes ahead on a controversial plan to create a new federal system for rating colleges – with a focus on affordability, access and outcomes – the subject of how best to assess higher education learning and other outcomes was a particularly hot one here at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/18/studies-question-effectiveness-state-performance-based-funding#ixzz2l0Bg7waQ
Performance Funding Underperforms
By Doug Lederman
ST. LOUIS — Around the country, legislators have rushed (and continue to rush) to adopt systems that allocate funds to colleges based partly or heavily on performance indicators rather than enrollment, as has historically been the case. A new round of research on such programs suggests that, to the extent states are trying to increase degree completion, the programs generally do not work.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/bill-would-require-instructional-technology-to-be-accessible-to-all/48383?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Bill Would Require Instructional Technology to Be Accessible to All
By Megan O’Neil
Legislation introduced on Friday in the U.S. House of Representatives would require colleges either to make instructional technology accessible to disabled students or to provide them with equivalent, alternative resources. Rep. Tom Petri, a Wisconsin Republican and senior member of the House education committee, said his bill would ensure that disabled students were given equal treatment as technology plays a larger and larger role in instruction.
www.finance.yahoo.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/recovery-widens-u-education-gap-125500011.html;_ylt=A2KLOzIUcoZSnXsAyeHQtDMD
Recovery Widens U.S. Education Gap
The U.S. recovery, now in its fourth year, has accentuated the connection between education and economic well-being. Differences in educational attainment have been a major factor in unemployment, as workers with college or advanced degrees are having an easier time finding jobs. The unemployment rate for high school graduates is hovering just above 7.3%, while the jobless rate for holders of college degrees older than 25 has been less than 4% since September 2012. The gap between the two rates, which reached 600 basis points during the depths of the Great Recession, has yet to return to its historical average since 1992, which is 296 basis points.
www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/nov/16/albany-technical-college-among-top-community/
Albany Technical College among top community colleges
College expert praises Albany Tech at planning session
By Brad McEwen
ALBANY — Community college consultant and expert Dr. Terry O’Banion, who was in Albany recently to meeting with Albany Technical College leaders as they evaluate the institution’s six month objectives, said the school was one of the best community colleges in the state and the country.
www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/11/17/2781949/central-georgia-tech-looks-abroad.html
Central Georgia Tech looks abroad with new global initiative
BY JENNA MINK
As colleges across the nation continue to struggle with a weak economy, Central Georgia Technical College is taking a different approach — it’s going global. The college has kicked off its global initiative, reaching out to faculty, students and employers in other countries. It’s a way to expose students to different cultures and bring revenue to the college and the region, officials say.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/57498/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=774598b2e4354484b2964870298a798e&elqCampaignId=62#
Survey: Students Forgoing Advisers Who Can Help Them Graduate
At a time when research shows that academic advising is a key to helping college students graduate on time, most say they aren’t getting it. Sixty percent of students say someone other than an academic adviser is a primary source of information about their schoolwork. About a third of freshmen and 18 percent of seniors rely on friends and family, and another 18 percent on faculty who are not assigned as their advisors.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/57495/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=774598b2e4354484b2964870298a798e&elqCampaignId=62#
Poll: Minorities More Likely to Say College Degree is Key to Success
By Ronald Roach
U.S. minorities believe more strongly than Whites that young people need a four-year college degree to attain success, a new poll shows. In addition, minorities expressed substantially more belief than Whites in the idea that the U.S. economy will benefit if President Obama’s goal of increasing the proportion of Americans with postsecondary degrees by 2020 is met.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Angered-by-MOOC-Deals-San/143137/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Angered by MOOC Deals, San Jose State Faculty Senate Considers Rebuff
By Steve Kolowich
Mohammad H. Qayoumi, president of San Jose State University, has spent much of the year turning his campus into a testing ground for new online-teaching tools. But apparently he’s also been testing the patience of faculty members, who say the idea of shared governance has been all but forgotten as he has sought technology that might eventually help the university teach more students for less money. Now the faculty is striking back.
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/career-focused-high-school-curriculums-draw-corpor/nbtYW/
Career-focused high school curriculums draw corporate dollars
BY ROSE FRENCH – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Asfand Sheikh types on a keyboard used to operate a robotic arm resembling something straight out of science fiction or a video game.
But this is no game for the 17-year-old. He’s trying to land a job in Georgia’s carpet manufacturing industry, whose biggest companies have given money to fund the robot and other equipment to schools to train students like Sheikh. “I would love to go work” for a carpet manufacturer, said Sheikh, who attends Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy in Dalton. “I already know some of the software, so it would be a lot easier for me to work there.” Businesses across the state are playing an increasingly active role in Georgia education, contributing millions of dollars for equipment and other resources to schools and helping shape curriculum as part of an effort to prepare students to work for them or in related industries. The outpouring from business is tied to the state Department of Education’s new “Career Pathways” program, which directs ninth-graders to pick one of 17 broad career “clusters,” such as energy and manufacturing.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/18/how-new-president-supposed-clean-house#ixzz2l0BGsnPq
Cleaning House
By Ry Rivard
Robert Sternberg became president of the University of Wyoming in July, started building a new leadership team and was gone long before he could finish. Sternberg, a renowned psychologist, had a brisk tenure as president and came to at least one solid conclusion: “as wonderful as the University of Wyoming is, it may not be the best fit for me as president,” he said in a statement last week announcing his immediate departure after four months.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/18/pearson-report-student-outcomes-review-investments-part-efficacy-initiative#ixzz2l0BrQYWi
Pearson’s Pursuit of Efficacy
By Carl Straumsheim
Pearson will spend the next five years developing a framework to measure and publicly report its products’ efficacy and impact on learning outcomes, the education giant announced on Friday. Although its road map is incomplete today, Pearson says its push for efficacy will in in a few years permeate every way in which the company does business. Beginning in 2018, Pearson will publish a report that will eventually track student learning outcomes across all its markets and products — from its MyMathLab software to its investments in South African higher education. How the company will reach that goal, however, is less clear.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Co-Author-of-Academically/143135/?cid=at
Co-Author of ‘Academically Adrift,’ Richard Arum, Joins Gates Foundation
By Dan Berrett
An author of an influential 2011 book that cast doubt on academic rigor in higher education has joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a senior fellow on educational quality.
Richard Arum, a professor of sociology and higher education at New York University, is working for the Seattle-based foundation for a one-year stint.