University System News
USG NEWS:
www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/nov/20/usg-names-dunning-as-albany-state-university/
Arthur N. Dunning appointed interim president at Albany State University
ASU Interim President Arthur Dunning comes from the University of Alabama
Staff Reports
ALBANY — Arthur N. Dunning has been named interim president at Albany State University by University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby. Dunning recently completed three years of service as vice chancellor for International Programs and Outreach for the University of Alabama System in Tuscaloosa. He is currently a professor and senior research fellow in the University’s Education Policy Center, where he serves on state and national boards and has teaching duties in the higher education program. He will begin his new assignment on Dec. 2, taking over from Kimberly Ballard-Washington, who served temporarily as interim president since Nov.1 following the departure of former president Everette J. Freeman.
Related articles:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2013/11/arthur-n-dunning-named-interim.html
Arthur N. Dunning named interim president at Albany State
www.therepublic.com
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/0673ff21fc654ac2ac85b8984f640777/GA–Albany-State-President
Dunning named interim Albany State president, worked 27 years for Ga.’s university system
www.redandblack.com
www.redandblack.com/uganews/awards-initiatives-addressed-at-uga-president-s-cabinet-meeting/article_7ed67d5e-5224-11e3-8dac-001a4bcf6878.html
Awards, initiatives addressed at UGA President’s cabinet meeting
Stephen Mays
The University of Georgia President’s cabinet discussed awards, initiatives and namings at its meeting Wednesday. President Jere Morehead opened with the news that UGA had been named an Innovation and Economic Prosperity university by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. “We’re only one of 16 institutions of higher education in this country to have been selected for this distinction by the Association of Public and Land-grant universities,” Morehead said. “This new APLU designation acknowledged universities that are working with public and private sector partners in their states and regions to support economic development activities through a variety of initiatives, including innovation and entrepreneurship, technology transfer, talent and workforce development and community engagement.” Morehead was also appointed to serve on APLU’s committee on research-intensive public universities.
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=268095
University System of Ga. approves UNG communications degree
By Alyson Shields Staff
OAKWOOD – The University of North Georgia (UNG) has announced that a four year communications degree program was approved by the University System of Georgia. …Marker said the first two years of the program can be taken at the Gainesville, Dahlonega or Oconee campuses, but the final years must be taken at the Gainesville campus.
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/georgia-tech-student-being-treated-for-bacterial-m/nbywD/
Georgia Tech student being treated for bacterial meningitis symptoms
BY ALEXIS STEVENS – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
A Georgia Tech student is hospitalized and being treated for symptoms consistent with those of bacterial meningitis, the school said Wednesday. But so far, she’s the only one on campus with symptoms, and a Tech doctor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he’s not anticipating an outbreak like the one that has sickened several students at Princeton University.
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=268097
Ga. Tech responds to suspected meningitis case
By The Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) Health officials at Georgia Tech say a student is being treated for a suspected case of bacterial meningitis. Dr. Gregory Moore told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a female undergraduate student is expected to recover. Officials have said about 100 students have seen campus doctors as a precaution. Officials have said the student’s housemates have also been given preventative medication.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-11-20/uga-consider-shedding-itself-wuga
UGA to consider shedding itself of WUGA-TV
By LEE SHEARER
The University of Georgia might divest itself of public television station WUGA. UGA President Jere Morehead on Wednesday appointed a group of administrators and faculty to get answers to some basic questions about the station, which became a financial drain on the university after the UGA Research Foundation bought the station five years ago. Morehead asked the group to determine how much money the university has invested in WUGA, how much money UGA spends to keep it going, and where the money is coming from.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2013-11-20/humane-society-claims-gru-violated-federal-laws-dog-experiments?v=1384998542
Humane Society claims GRU violated federal laws in dog experiments
By Tracey McManus
Staff Writer
An undercover investigation by the national Humane Society found Georgia Regents University purchased dogs for experiments from a dealer charged with violations of the Animal Welfare Act and that the university violated federal law when those experiments were performed without proper approval. According to the Humane Society of the United States, GRU purchased six hound dogs from Minnesota-based dealer Kenneth Schroeder, who has been repeatedly cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2011 and was charged with violating the Animal Welfare Act in September.
Related articles:
www.11alive.com
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/313695/40/Ga-Regents-Univ-accused-of-animal-abuse
Ga. Regents Univ. accused of animal abuse
www.wsbtv.com
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/georgia-university-under-fire-dental-experiments-d/nby8W/
Georgia university under fire for dental experiments on dogs
CONSOLIDATION:
www.mdjonline.com
http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/24093069/article-SPSU-administrator-talks-merger–growth?instance=home_top_bullets
SPSU administrator talks merger, growth
by Rachel Gray
A Southern Polytechnic State University administrator addressed a local business group Saturday morning to highlight the college’s recent growth and its imminent absorption by Kennesaw State University. On Wednesday morning, Vice President for Advancement Ron Dempsey took questions from a group of 70 people at the Marietta Area Council meeting for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce at the Mansour Center off Roswell Street.
USG VALUE:
www.wtoc.com
http://www.wtoc.com/story/24026353/georgia-southern-donates-to-bulloch-county-boys-girls-club
Georgia Southern gives to Boys & Girls Club
By Dal Cannady
STATESBORO, GA (WTOC) –
Three members of Georgia Southern’s staff won a golf tournament for state universities and gave the charity prize of the Boys & Girls Club of Bulloch County. A team representing Georgia Southern won the University System of Georgia Chancellor’s Cup golf tournament, which included a $1,500 donation on behalf of Georgia Southern to a charity of the University’s choice.
GOOD NEWS:
www.savannahtribune.com
http://www.savannahtribune.com/news/2013-11-20/Front_Page/SEDA_Announces_Gulfstream_And_Georgia_Tech_Allianc.html
SEDA Announces Gulfstream And Georgia Tech Alliance
The Savannah Economic Development Authority is pleased to announce, with its partners at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. and the Georgia Tech Savannah Campus, a strategic alliance that furthers each entity’s research, education and facilities objectives as well as the overall intent for the park to be a center for technical research and development, professional education and training.
www.philly.com
http://www.philly.com/philly/living/20131120_Parade_America___s_Smartest_Colleges_Revealed__Did_Your_Alma_Mater_Make_the_Grade_.html#urhqkOEJCWSryF0U.99
America’s smartest colleges revealed: Did your alma mater make the grade?
Hannah Dreyfus
Think Harvard or Yale ranks number one? Think again. Dr. Daniel A. Sternberg, Ph.D and his fellow data scientists at brain training company Lumosity recently unveiled their first list of America’s Smartest Colleges. Instead of using traditional college ranking methodologies, which depend heavily on standardized test scores and non-cognitive metrics (such as student faculty rations and capital endowment rates), the Lumos Lab team based results on rankings from over 70,000 college students at 456 universities who played Lumosity cognitive training games. These games challenged five cognitive areas: memory, processing speed, flexibility, attention, and problem solving. So, who took the top spot? Washington University ranked number one with Massachusetts Instution of Technology following closely behind. Harvard and Yale, the anticipated winners, ranked nine and ten on the list. Here is a complete list of the Top 50:… 23. Georgia Institute of Technology
www.savannahtribune.com
http://www.savannahtribune.com/news/2013-11-20/Front_Page/SSU_Professor_Receives_2013_Georgia_Professor_Of_T.html
SSU Professor Receives 2013 Georgia Professor Of The Year Award
The Slave Dwelling Project, Inc. Selects Savannah To Launch Premier Slave Conference In 2014
Mulatu Lemma, Ph.D., Professor of Mathematics at Savannah State University (SSU), was named the 2013 Georgia Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The U.S. Professors of the Year awards program celebrates outstanding educators across the nation. It is the only such national program that recognizes excellence in undergraduate education. …An attentive and generous educator, Lemma’s “early warning system” for his classes and willingness to spend weekends offering students extra help have earned him accolades near and far, including the 2010 SSU Distinguished Faculty Award and the 2012 University System of Georgia Board of Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award for regional and state university faculty members.
RESEARCH:
www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/georgia-tech’s-mooc-20
Georgia Tech’s MOOC 2.0?
Georgia Tech’s College ready to roll out online master’s program
By: Ed Finkel
It won’t quite be describable as a MOOC at first. But that’s one direction that Georgia Tech’s College of Computing can imagine going with its soon-to-be-rolled-out online master’s program, which will start as a pilot in January. The program has received national attention in part because of a $2 million investment from AT&T—and because Georgia Tech is charging only $6,600 in tuition, compared to $45,000 that traditional master’s students from out-of-state would pay.
www.latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-granite-mars-volcano-red-planet-maven-weirder-20131120,0,6850484.story#ixzz2lHib3tO9
Granite on Mars? Red Planet gets weirder and weirder
By Amina Khan
As NASA’s MAVEN mission heads toward Mars, scientists say they’ve discovered highly unusual, light-colored rock on the mostly dark-toned Red Planet – and two teams have dueling ideas of what such pale rock could be. Could it be granite, the stuff found in fancy kitchen counter tops on Earth? Or could it be anorthosite, the rock that characterizes the bright highlands of the moon? Either way, the two papers published in Nature Geoscience indicate that Mars’ inner workings may have been more complicated, and its rock collection more diverse, than planetary scientists once thought… But NASA’s Curiosity rover recently picked up signs of lighter rock as it explored Gale Crater, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has also found signs of paler areas in several different spots in the southern highlands. The European team and the Georgia Tech teams each picked out their favorites to study
wwwbizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/11/20/georgia-tech-gets-doe-funding-to.html
Georgia Tech gets DOE funding to investigate methane hydrates
Jacques Couret
Senior Online Editor and Social Engagement Manager-Atlanta Business Chronicle
The U.S. Department of Energy gave Georgia Tech researchers $480,000 to investigate ways to analyze methane hydrates, an untapped potential energy resource.
Georgia Tech researchers will design, build, and test a new borehole-sampling tool that will allow direct, in-place measurements of methane hydrate-bearing sediment properties by reaching beyond the zone disturbed by drilling. The tool will be field deployed to collect never-before-acquired data to evaluate resource recovery, seafloor stability, and gas hydrate responses to environmental changes.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2013-11-20/yarbrough-congratulations-new-uga-president
Yarbrough: Congratulations to new UGA president
By DICK YARBROUGH
Congratulations, Dr. Jere Morehead, on your investiture as the 22nd president of the University of Georgia. I wish I could have been there Tuesday for the ceremony, but I had a long-scheduled conflict on that day. Otherwise, I would have been there barking “Woof! Woof!” to show my pleasure in having you officially recognized as the leader of my beloved alma mater. The solemn occasion probably didn’t lend itself to woof-woofing, but I suspect you would have gotten a kick out of hearing it. You are a Bulldog through and through.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/nov/20/white-suburban-mom-fires-back-arne-duncan-common-c/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
A white suburban mom fires back at Arne Duncan. ‘Common Core is a one size fits all approach.”
I read this letter from New York mother and education activist Ali Gordon on Diane Ravitch’s blog earlier this week, but it is fast spreading across the Internet. A school board member in her Long Island town, Gordon wrote the letter in response to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s comment Friday that much of the opposition to Common Core is coming from white suburban moms. Dear Secretary Duncan,
Education News
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/the-technology-that-could-help-more-community-college-students-graduate/?utm_campaign=1121ccnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=f465ba3e56e84988af2885483e2da0bd&elqCampaignId=138
The Technology That Could Help More Community College Students Graduate
Source: The Atlantic
Community colleges are good at helping students who have a clear sense of direction. But the sprawling, underfunded campuses often offer little guidance for those who don’t know what they want to study, or what to expect from college. Improving on-campus advising could become an imperative for two-year schools if the Obama administration’s proposed college-ranking system ends up rewarding institutions for graduating students on time. Software developed by Washington research and consulting company Education Advisory Board has helped four-year schools like Georgia State University increase graduation and retention rates. As the company tries to develop a similar product for two-year schools, it finds itself up against a much bigger challenge.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/21/president-private-college-argentina-has-unusual-idea-finance-higher-education#ixzz2lHsjGmRq
Ads Instead of Tuition
By David Matthews for Times Higher Education
Could a university ever adopt the Google business model and offer tuition for free? This may seem an ever-more-unlikely prospect as governments the world over struggle to finance the growing demand for higher education — often levying tuition fees to plug the gap. But the president of Austral University, a private institution in Argentina, believes that universities could be on the cusp of a “breakthrough” in how they finance student education.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/21/study-documents-impact-state-bans-affirmative-action#ixzz2lHt3zbEK
Affirmative Action Alive and Dead
By Scott Jaschik
For all the debate about what the U.S. Supreme Court says about the constitutionality of affirmative action, much of the action in the last two decades has been at the state level. Referendums have barred public colleges and universities from considering race in admissions decisions in states such as California, Michigan and Washington. A new study in the journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis finds that these bans have in fact been followed by the public colleges in what the research calls “post-affirmative action states.”
www.nytimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/21/education/online-courses-attract-degree-holders-survey-finds.html?ref=todayspaper
Online Courses Attract Degree Holders, Survey Finds
By TAMAR LEWIN
About 80 percent of people who enrolled in a massive open online course, or MOOC, from the University of Pennsylvania had already earned a bachelor’s degree, according to a survey of 34,000 students who had at least started one of the 24 courses the university offered on the Coursera platform.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/moocs-are-reaching-only-privileged-learners-survey-finds/48567?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
MOOCs Are Largely Reaching Privileged Learners, Survey Finds
Most people who take massive open online courses already hold a degree from a traditional institution, according to a new paper from the University of Pennsylvania. The paper is based on a survey of 34,779 students worldwide who took 24 courses offered by Penn professors on the Coursera platform. The findings—among the first from outside researchers, rather than MOOC providers—reinforce the truism that most people who take MOOCs are already well educated.
Related article:
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304337404579210333924340594
Most MOOC Users Well-Educated, Study Finds
Online college-level courses have more to do before they eliminate barriers to higher education
www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/putting-cost-calculations-perspective
Putting cost calculations in perspective
The right MOOC business model will vary by institution, experts say
By: Ed Finkel
Online education providers say university and college clients considering developing MOOCs as a long-term strategy need to think about the economies of scale gained and how long courses can last before the content gets out of date.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/21/department-education-teases-expansion-experimental-sites#ixzz2lHsscBK4
Expanding Experimentation
By Carl Straumsheim
ORLANDO — The U.S. Department of Education will “within days” seek input on how to relax regulations governing federal financial aid for initiatives experimenting with alternative forms of measuring student learning, including competency-based education. To avoid a top-down approach, the department will solicit recommendations from people within higher education on responsible ways to flex its authority.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/21/controversy-and-important-questions-around-uconns-proposal-limit-outside-credits#ixzz2lHpdw1pV
What Goes into a Degree?
By Paul Fain
The University of Connecticut touched a nerve this month with a proposal to limit the number of credits its traditional, non-transfer students can earn at other institutions while enrolled at UConn. The plan drew fierce criticism from community colleges and state lawmakers before being put on hold. But the flap was mostly a tempest in a teapot.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/When-Support-Services-Exist/143195/?cid=at
When Support Services Exist, Veterans Fare Well in Class, Report Says
By Libby Sander
When the Post-9/11 GI Bill took effect, in 2009, some observers worried that veterans might not succeed at college. But new research shows that where support services for veterans exist, those students do well in the classroom. The new analysis, which is being released this week, looked at 741 student veterans at 23 colleges.
www.nytimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/21/education/patenting-their-discoveries-does-not-pay-off-for-most-universities-a-study-says.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=1&
Patenting Their Discoveries Does Not Pay Off for Most Universities, a Study Says
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Universities try to cash in on discoveries — gene splicing, brain chemistry, computer-chip design — but the great majority of them fail to turn their research into a source of income, according to a new study from the Brookings Institution. Research universities have “technology transfer” offices that make thousands of business deals annually for the use of their patents. But in any given year, at about seven of eight universities, the resulting revenue funneled into university budgets is not even enough to cover the cost of running that office, said the study’s author, Walter D. Valdivia.
Other News
www.gpb.org
http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/11/18/twiggs-county-library-set-to-close-2-weeks-after-grand-opening
Twiggs County Library Set To Close 2 Weeks After Grand Opening
By Leah Fleming
MACON, Ga. — A brand new 1.7 million dollar library in Twiggs County is set to close Tuesday night due to lack of funds. Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal joined local officials in cutting the ribbon just two weeks ago. The library was built with mostly state money. Its operating budget is funded locally. There are three things that a community needs to be successful: good schools, a functional local government and a library. That’s according to Billy Humphries, acting chairman of the Twiggs County library’s board of trustees.
Related article:
www.infodocket.com
http://www.infodocket.com/2013/11/20/georgia-new-public-library-in-twiggs-county-closes-due-to-lack-of-funding/
Georgia: The New Public Library in Twiggs County Closes Due to Lack of Funding
www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/11/19/2786015/twiggs-library-closed.html
New Twiggs library closed