University System News
USG NEWS:
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/georgia-public-college-enrollment-numbers-trending/ncCtg/
Georgia public college enrollment numbers trending down
BY JANEL DAVIS – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
An economy that sent more people to the workforce instead of the classroom, tougher requirements for financial aid, and a higher bar for admissions are among the factors that contributed to a drop in enrollment at the state’s public colleges and universities for the second year in a row. The overall decrease reduced the system wide enrollment about 1.6 percent from around 314,000 students last fall to about 309,000 for the same time this year, according to figures released last month by the University System of Georgia. Enrollment is down almost three percent from the all-time of high of 318,000 in 2011.
www.wjbf.com
http://www.wjbf.com/story/24147987/2014-budget-funds-mills-marketing
2014 Budget Funds Mills Marketing
By George Eskola, WJBF Senior Reporter
Augusta, GA – Augusta is putting its money where its mills are. As you know, the city is proposing that Georgia Regents University (GRU) take over the historic Sibley and King Mills as part of its expanding campus. This week, Augusta Commissioners doubled down on the plan by approving #300,000 to market the properties to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. “It’s investing in the future of the consolidated University and it’s expansion of its footprint in the city’s center. This is something we approved last year. It was unfunded this year, it’s been approved and it’s funded. That’s very important to continue the work with the University,” says Mayor Deke Copenhaver.
www.harvardmagazine.com
http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/12/harvard-mit-online-education-views-changing
What Modularity Means for MOOCs
Reporting to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) at length for the first time since he was appointed vice provost for advances in learning last September, Peter K. Bol highlighted shifts in the landscape for the much-publicized massive open online courses (MOOCs). At the December 3 faculty meeting, Bol noted that: People who register for free MOOCs, like those offered on edX, differ from conventional students, and are not using them like conventional courses Students enrolled in higher-education institutions seem disinclined to take advantage of not-for-credit MOOCs. Faculty members are increasingly interested in using edX technology to produce “modules”—short units covering a single subject, background information, a problem set, or elements of a larger course—rather than entire courses, which entail an enormous investment of their time and energy… Some MOOC enterprises are shifting from a focus on college and university courses to vocational education and tutoring. Udacity is the principal example; its Georgia Institute of Technology partnership offers an online master’s degree in computer science, with Udacity tutoring—and financial support from AT&T.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/12/06/ad-agencies-evolve-to-meet-digital.html?page=all
Ad agencies evolve to meet digital demands
Randy Southerland, Contributing Writer
Some folks in advertising will tell you that the traditional agency is dead. Others say it’s very much alive, but vastly changed by a fragmented market and technology-empowered consumers. The transformation of the advertising agency has occurred only within the last decade. For almost a century after agencies got their start with magazine advertising in the late 1800s, they have operated by creating and placing ads on commission, according to marketing expert Ken Bernhardt, professor emeritus at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business… “We’ve evolved our digital skills a lot over the years,” said Milhous, adding that the company now recruits tech-savvy experts from institutions like Georgia Tech – something they never did in the past.
www.dailyreportonline.com
http://www.dailyreportonline.com/PubArticleDRO.jsp?id=1386300765744&kw=Ga.%20Immigrant%20Students%20Seeking%20in-State%20Tuition&et=editorial&bu=Daily%20Report&cn=20131205&src=EMC-Email&pt=Afternoon%20News&slreturn=20131105154538
Ga. Immigrant Students Seeking in-State Tuition
By Kate Brumback
The Associated Press
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — A judge said Thursday that he needs more information and time to decide the case of a group of young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and want the Georgia university system to grant them in-state tuition. The roughly three dozen young immigrants have been granted temporary permission to stay in the U.S. under an Obama administration policy introduced last year. They filed a lawsuit in August asking a judge to instruct the university system’s Board of Regents to allow them to qualify for in-state tuition. At a hearing Thursday, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Mark Anthony Scott heard arguments on the state’s request to move the case to Fulton County Superior Court because that’s where the Board of Regents is located. Charles Kuck, a lawyer for the young immigrants, argued that the board can be sued in any county where it has a school.
Related articles:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-12-05/georgia-immigant-students-seeking-state-tuition
Georgia immigrant students seeking in-state tuition
www.ctpost.com
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Ga-immigrant-students-seeking-in-state-tuition-5036832.php
Ga. immigrant students seeking in-state tuition
www.necn.com
http://www.necn.com/12/05/13/Ga-immigrant-students-seeking-in-state-t/landing_nation.html?&apID=948a6d3e3a204355ab332422c59b0239
Ga. immigrant students seeking in-state tuition
www.wabe.org
http://wabe.org/post/students-sue-board-regents-over-tuition-policy
Students Sue Board of Regents Over Tuition Policy
www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/12/05/2816141/mercer-student-seeks-in-state.html
Mercer student seeks in-state tuition for immigrants with temporary resident status
www.gpb.org
http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/12/05/undocumented-immigrants-sue-to-go-to-college
Undocumented Immigrants Sue To Go To College
By Jeanne Bonner
DECATUR, Ga. — A case pitting undocumented college students against the University System of Georgia began Thursday in DeKalb County Superior Court. The case pivots on whether it’s a violation of federal policy to bar the students from top public colleges. The first court appearance concerned one simple question: whether the case should proceed in Fulton or DeKalb County. Speaking to a packed courtroom, Judge Mark Anthony Scott noted a “strong interest” in the case. But he said he needs more time to decide where it should proceed. On top of barring undocumented students from some schools, the Board of Regents requires them to pay out-of-state tuition at others. Does ‘Lawful Presence’ Mean Legal?
www.cbsatlanta.com
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/24149062/uga-professor-sues-ga-attorney-general-on-charge-of-racketeering
UGA professor sues GA Attorney General and others for racketeering
By Jeff Chirico
FULTON COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) – A University of Georgia professor accused the state’s attorney general of mob-like criminal activities in a lawsuit filed in Fulton County state court Thursday. In a nearly 100-page amended complaint, Dezso Benedek alleged the University System of Georgia, the Attorney General of Georgia, the Board of Regents, former UGA president Michael Adams and others conspired to fabricate and spread false allegations and evidence against Benedek ‘with the intent to harm him –in a pattern of illegal activity under the RICO statute.’ The complaint also alleged defendants tampered with evidence and committed wire and mail fraud.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2013-12-05/humane-society-united-states-official-will-join-dog-protest?v=1386293443
Humane Society of the United States official will join dog protest
By Meg Mirshak
Staff Writer
A top official from the Humane Society of the United States will join a rally Saturday protesting the use of dogs in animal experiments at Georgia Regents University.
www.ledger-enquirer.com
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/12/05/2839402/state-considers-consolidating.html
State considers consolidating public library service for the disabled
BY MARK RICE
State officials are considering consolidating public library service for disabled patrons, and the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries could win or lose in that decision. It’s too early to know whether the Georgia Public Library Service will reduce its eight centers for the disabled to four and which ones would survive such a cut, but that’s the discussion CVL director Alan Harkness heard at a state meeting this week.
RESEARCH:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/12/05/georgia-tech-patenting-micro-aerial.html
Georgia Tech patenting ‘micro aerial vehicle’
David Allison
Editor-Atlanta Business Chronicle
As Amazon.com talks about a plan to deliver packages with flying drones, Georgia Tech researchers are developing their own new mini flying machine. According to a U.S. patent application made public today, Tech researchers have developed a dragon fly-like, remote controlled “micro aerial vehicle,” or MAV. It’s a battery powered flying machine with up to four wings that can hover and take off and land vertically. While Tech doesn’t say exactly how big the MAV would be, it notes that U.S. defense agencies require them to be smaller than six inches in any direction and weigh less than 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces.
www.athens.patch.com
http://athens.patch.com/groups/university-of-georgia/p/uga-researchers-cloning-trees-for-biomass-energy-and-the-pulp-and-paper-industry
UGA Researchers Cloning Trees for Biomass Energy and the Pulp and Paper Industry
The process identifies which cloned seeds will make the best trees.
Posted by Rebecca McCarthy
By April Bailey
University of Georgia researchers are working to produce faster-growing sweetgum trees by growing embryogenic sweetgum cultures in bioreactors. These are computer-operated systems used for growing cells under controlled conditions.
STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.northwestgeorgianews.com
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/business/gov-deal-to-visit-mohawk-plants-in-dalton-summerville-and/article_3979deb6-5df2-11e3-8833-001a4bcf6878.html
Gov. Deal to visit Mohawk plants in Dalton, Summerville and Rome today
by Doug Walker
Underscoring the importance of hanging onto and creating jobs in Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal is slated to make an appearance at the Mohawk facility on Lavender Drive in Rome around 10 a.m. today. Mohawk announced plans for an $85 million investment in its facilities in Rome and Dalton on Wednesday, to boost its capacity to spin recycled BCF yarn.
The company plans to use $31 million to convert the Rome plant at 420 Lavender Drive, where more than 230 jobs will be retained. The remainder will be spent on the Dalton plant, creating more than 400 jobs.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.saportareport.com
http://saportareport.com/blog/2013/12/from-poverty-to-plenty-atlanta-could-be-a-case-study-for-efforts-to-reduce-blight/
From poverty to plenty: Atlanta could be a case study in reducing blight
Posted in David Pendered
Two events Wednesday cast outlooks on poverty in metro Atlanta and a path that could lead one poor area toward prosperity.A Harvard University professor confirmed a shocking report released earlier this year – social conditions in metro Atlanta are such that it is the worst major urban region in the country in terms of children born into poverty moving into the middle or upper economic classes. At another event, Georgia Tech students outlined their ideas for revitalizing two poor neighborhoods near the Falcons stadium. Some recommendations address the very problems named in the Harvard study that are associated with intergenerational poverty.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/12/06/higher-ed-disruptions-doomed-fail-without-addressing-state-faculty-essay#ixzz2mhUyRam6
Innovation — Doomed to Fail?
By Adrianna Kezar
Innovation is the catchword of the day. You’ve heard the speeches and read the op-eds. Higher education needs to innovate: teach differently and use more high impact practices, improve completion rates, integrate new technologies, assess student learning, engage in interdisciplinary teaching and research, help students transition successfully to college – among other improvements. I have been involved with many such reform efforts in the past two decades, but the same problem emerges persistently as we try to innovate – there are no core faculty to do the work over time, no plans for faculty engagement, no blueprints for professional development.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/quickwire-digital-tools-for-college-prep-still-miss-many-students/48785?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
QuickWire: Digital Tools for College Prep Still Miss Many Students
By Hannah Winston
As more and more aspects of higher education become digitized or enhanced by technology, the process of applying to college and planning a successful career there has followed suit. The problem? Students still fall through the cracks. A new report looks at the plethora of digital tools marketed to students to help them get into and make the most of college. It tackles individual websites and mobile apps, like College Confidential and Find Tuition, and provides a comprehensive look at what each offers.
Education News
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Ahead-of-Summit-White-House/143459/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Ahead of Summit, White House Asks Colleges to Commit to Needy Students
By Kelly Field
Washington
The White House is asking participants in next week’s higher-education summit to commit to taking concrete steps to help more low-income students enroll in and complete college.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/06/obama-administration-asks-colleges-set-goals-lower-income-student-success#ixzz2mhTdnQUe
White House Meeting With Homework
By Paul Fain
WASHINGTON — President Obama has once again invited a group of college leaders to a meeting at the White House. But to participate in the confab next week attendees must make a new commitment aimed at helping lower-income students – and they have to submit those goals in writing.
www.timeshighereducation.co.uk
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/upturns-bitter-harvest-for-us-community-colleges/2009518.article
Upturn’s bitter harvest for US community colleges
Expert points to ill effects of ‘countercyclical’ enrolment
US rural community colleges face a battle to survive in the face of declining state funding and falling enrolment, an expert has warned. J. Noah Brown, president and chief executive officer of the Association of Community College Trustees, told Times Higher Education in a podcast interview that the “huge increase” in community college enrolment during the recession had ceased, leaving many institutions at risk of closure.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Deeper-Debt-Hits-Many/143461/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Many New Ph.D.’s Emerge Deeper in Debt Than in the Past, Survey Shows
By Lindsay Ellis
More than 51,000 students earned Ph.D.’s in 2012, a 4.3-percent increase over the 48,908 in the previous year, according to data released on Friday by the National Science Foundation. And as graduates continue to face a challenging academic job market, those new Ph.D.’s who graduate with debt are shouldering heavier burdens than ever before, the data show.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/06/grad-students-rethink-union-strategies-following-nyu-uaw-deal#ixzz2mhUW23yC
‘Changing the Terrain’
By Colleen Flaherty
Graduate students hoping to unionize at private institutions had for years been counting on a National Labor Relations Board ruling to set a new precedent for their legal status. The decision was expected in a case involving graduate students at New York University who wished to vote to form a union affiliated with the United Auto Workers. If the board ruled in favor of the students, it could have effectively reversed a 2004 ruling that said graduate student teaching assistants at private universities did not have a right to collective bargaining.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/06/association-formed-bring-standards-agency-based-international-recruitment-looks#ixzz2mhUBLhHp
Making Nice
By Elizabeth Redden
MIAMI – The first day of the fifth annual conference of the American International Recruitment Council featured no small share of self-reflection and, yes, some self-congratulation.
In opening panel discussions and in a 19-page written history of the development of the association, which formed in 2008 with the goal of professionalizing and accrediting international recruitment agencies, leaders of AIRC considered the association’s next steps now that it has succeeded in largely breaking the taboo on the use of commissioned agents overseas.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/57919/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=3b887b2dde8a464982f45225a3f34fb9&elqCampaignId=146
Report: California Black College Student Achievement Caught in Persistent Opportunity Gap
by Ronald Roach
The baccalaureate degree attainment rates comparing African-American and White students in California fell by just one percentage point from an 18.7-point gap in 2000 to a 17.7-point gap in 2011. This achievement gap is one of several highlighted by a Los Angeles-based higher education advocacy group in a new report on Black student college completion and achievement. On Thursday, the Campaign for College Opportunity (CCO) organization released “The State of Blacks in Higher Education in California: The Persistent Opportunity Gap” research report, which details the lack of noteworthy progress of Blacks in California higher education. “Across all three public sectors of higher education—the California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California—Blacks have the lowest completion rates for both first-time freshmen and transfer students,” the report states.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/57695/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=3b887b2dde8a464982f45225a3f34fb9&elqCampaignId=146
Just the Stats: Majority of College-Bound Students Select Wrong Majors
By Olivia M. Blackmon
…According to a recent study released by ACT, College Choice Report Part 1: Preferences and Prospects, nearly 80% of high school students taking the ACT selected a major they intended to declare in college. However, 64% of those students choose a major that did not fit with their academic strengths and interests. Gender played a role in selecting a major, as more females (82%) than males (77%) had planned their college majors.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/06/mooc-research-conference-confirms-commonly-held-beliefs-about-medium#ixzz2mhUKxKEM
Confirming the MOOC Myth
By Carl Straumsheim
ARLINGTON, Texas — The story so far: Massive open online courses have yet to live up to their potential. But unlocking that potential could already be a pilot at a community college, state university or private institution. More than 200 scholars from institutions all over the world have gathered here at a conference hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington to hear preliminary results from the MOOC Research Initiative, a grant program founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and administered by Athabasca University in Canada.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/from-a-million-mooc-users-a-few-early-research-results/48841?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
From a Million MOOC Users, a Few Early Research Results
Preliminary results of a study of 16 massive open online courses offered through the University of Pennsylvania show that only a small percentage of people who start the courses finish them—and that, on average, only half of those who register for the courses even watch the first lecture.
www.jbhe.com
Report Documents Huge Shortage of Black Women Faculty in STEM Disciplines
Report Documents Huge Shortage of Black Women Faculty in STEM Disciplines
A new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research finds that minority women are vastly underrepresented in STEM disciplines on the faculties of colleges and universities in the United States. In 2010, underrepresented minority women (Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and multiracial) made up just 2.1 percent of all faculty in STEM disciplines whereas minority women in these groups are about 13 percent of the total U.S. working-age population. The gap between the percentage of Black women in STEM faculty posts and the percentage of Black women in the general working-age population is wider than for any other racial or ethnic group.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/NIH-Considers-Shift-of-Focus/143465/?cid=at
NIH Considers a ‘People, Not Projects’ Approach to Awarding Grants
By Paul Basken
The cash-strapped National Institutes of Health is considering potentially major changes in its grant-awards system, including a greater reliance on a system that evaluates researchers rather than their proposals. Addressing his advisory committee on Thursday, the agency’s director, Francis S. Collins, said that a decade of experience with the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award Program has proved that approach’s success, and that it’s time to consider expanding it throughout the agency.