University System News
USG NEWS:
www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/dec/12/albany-state-university-graduation-scheduled/
Albany State University graduation scheduled Saturday morning
Retired General Larry R. ellis, a member of the Board of Regents, will speak at the graduation
Staff Reports
ALBANY — A four-star Army general will deliver the keynote address at Albany State University’s fall commencement Saturday morning. Regent Larry R. Ellis, representing the 5th Congressional District of the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents and a retired Army general, will join ASU Interim President Dr. Arthur N. Dunning in a salute to the fall 2013 graduating class at 10 a.m. Saturday at the James H. Gray, Sr. Civic Center. Administrators will award 331 degrees to students at the education specialist, masters and undergraduate levels.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/georgia-tech-designs-its-udacity-pilot-to-avoid-failure/48947
Georgia Tech Designs Its Udacity Pilot to Avoid Failure
By Steve Kolowich
G.P. (Bud) Peterson, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is determined not to become the next casualty of a failed MOOC experiment. Mr. Peterson saw what happened at San Jose State University earlier this year: An experiment with Udacity, a company that specializes in massive open online courses, turned into an embarrassment for Mohammad H. Qayoumi, San Jose State’s president, after its first run, in the spring semester, produced underwhelming results. Georgia Tech is taking precautions to make sure its own high-profile experiment with Udacity does not meet a similar fate. The experiment is a fully online master’s program in computer science that Georgia Tech professors will teach on the Udacity platform with help from “course assistants” hired by the company. Mr. Peterson refuses to even call the Udacity collaboration an experiment. “This is a pilot,” he said in an interview with The Chronicle. “Experiments fail. I’m doing everything I can to make sure this does not fail.”
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/13/georgia-tech-admits-first-cohort-ahead-online-masters-degree-program-launch#ixzz2nMJp20WP
The First Cohort
By Carl Straumsheim
The Georgia Institute of Technology has admitted its first 401 students to the low-cost online master’s degree program in computer science created in partnership with massive open online course provider Udacity, and the January launch will be the first step toward seeing how scalable such a program can be. The fully online degree program has been highlighted as a potential business model for Udacity both before and after founder Sebastian Thrun’s much debated “pivot,” a profile in Fast Company that claimed Thrun “no longer believes the hype” about MOOCs.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/business/preparing-pr/ncJnp/
Preparing for PR
Changing communications landscape fuels need for public relations specialists
By Clare Morris
For EDU Atlanta
In this era of instant and very social communication, savvy company executives know that presenting and maintaining a positive image is a full-time job. Handling those responsibilities calls for trained professionals in public relations, an employment area that continues to grow. According to U.S. World & News Report, researchers at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predict that jobs for public relations specialists will grow by 23 percent between 2010 and 2020 — which translates into 58,200 open positions that will pay an average of approximately $58,000 a year. Those numbers were enough to earn PR specialist the 51st spot in the magazine’s 2013 list of Best Jobs. …At Georgia Southern, students who major in public relations start off with a core set of classes followed by specialties that cover a broad range of interests.
www.wsbtv.com
http://www.wsbtv.com/videos/news/audit-details-prohibited-purchases-by-officials/vCLG9K/
Audit details prohibited purchases by officials from Georgia Tech. (Video)
www.legalnewsline.com
http://legalnewsline.com/issues/unusual-lawsuits/246013-professor-alleges-ga-ag-uga-officials-sabotaged-defamed-him
Professor alleges Ga. AG, UGA officials sabotaged, defamed him
By JESSICA M. KARMASEK
ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) — A University of Georgia professor is accusing state Attorney General Sam Olens and university officials of sabotaging his study abroad programs and defaming him. Dezso Benedek filed his complaint in Fulton County State Court Tuesday. The named defendants include Olens; the university’s Board of Regents; former UGA President Michael F. Adams; Noel Fallows, a dean in the School of Arts and Sciences at UGA; Jane Gatewood, who works in UGA’s Office of International Education; Judith Shaw, who worked as director of the university’s Office of International Education; and Kasee Laster, who also works in the office.
USG VALUE:
www.northwestgeorgianews.com
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/business/word_on_the_street/uga-to-hold-open-enrollment-for-developing-government-manager-class/article_2baa2abc-635f-11e3-89be-0019bb30f31a.html
UGA to hold open enrollment for developing government manager class in Rome
The Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia will hold a first-ever open enrollment Management Development program in Rome beginning Feb. 19, 2014. The program, designed primarily for local government managers, will offer wide-ranging management and leadership training to a broad level of supervisory level city and county management team members.
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=268811
UNG students build cross-country trail for Oakwood school, community
By Staff
OAKWOOD – Thanks to some motivated students at the University of North Georgia (UNG), cross-country athletes at an Oakwood school will soon be off the back roads and on a running trail of their own. Students in the Introduction to Recreation and Leisure Studies course at UNG have completed construction of the circular trail, which winds throughout the Maranatha Christian Academy’s campus in Oakwood, through wooded areas, across a bridge, and over several hills. The UNG students decided to build the trail after learning that cross-country athletes at the school were running on local roads because they did not have a trail on campus.
GOOD NEWS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/12/12/hughes-family-gives-500k-for-new.html
Hughes family gives $500K for new student advisement program at KSU
Jacques Couret
Senior Online Editor and Social Engagement Manager-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Atlanta businessman and philanthropist Thomas W. Hughes and his wife, Barbara, donated $500,000 to support a new program for students in the Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University. The money will fund the college’s Hughes College-to-Career Leadership Program, which will address challenges undergraduate students face when making career choices and getting jobs after graduation.
RESEARCH:
www.medicalxpress.com
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-12-human-brain-dementia.html
Researchers use new map of human brain to study dementia
by James Hataway
Researchers at the University of Georgia are developing new maps of the human brain that promise to help in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Their project, supported in part by a five-year $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, compares the function of normal brains with those of patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, a condition characterized by declined memory or thinking ability.
www.biomassmagazine.com
http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/9775/cloning-technology-being-utilized-in-biomass-study
Cloning technology being utilized in biomass study
By Chris Hanson
Researchers at the University of Georgia are using cloning technology to develop faster-growing sweetgum trees that can be used for biomass energy generation or for pulp and paper production.
www.eetimes.com
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320379
Power Week-in-Review: Triboelectric Power Generator, GaN Partnership & Advanced Batteries Growth
Rich Pell
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are developing a series of power generators that use the triboelectric effect to capture otherwise wasted mechanical energy — such as from walking or vibration — to produce small amounts of electricity for powering portable devices and sensors. A special gap separation technique was used between the polymer sheet materials in the devices to reliably capture the charge produced from the triboelectrification. According to the researchers, a square meter of the single-layer material can produce as much as 300 W, and a variety of practical applications are being studied.
www.redorbit.com
http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1113026809/wasted-energy-converted-to-electricity-121213/
Harvesting Wasted Power Using TriboElectrification
Brett Smith
From ocean waves to the action of walking across a floor, energy is all around us. Now, a materials scientist from Georgia Tech has developed a system to capture that “wasted energy” and convert it into electricity. By using a phenomenon known as the triboelectric effect, a team led by Zhong Lin Wang has been able to create significant amounts of electric power by simply rubbing or touching two different materials together – according to a series of reports published across six different journals.
www.reuters.com
http://www.reuters.com/video/2013/12/12/reuters-tv-scientists-dig-deep-for-ants-excavation?videoId=274907010&videoChannel=118065
Scientists dig deep for ants’ excavation secrets
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are spying on ant colonies, conducting research that could one day lead to the development of ant-like robots that work together as a team. But first, the scientists want to know how the ants organize themselves to build their complex subterranean nests, and they’re using old and new technologies to find out. Ben Gruber has more.
www.popularmechanics.com
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/deep/jupiters-moon-europa-is-bursting-with-icy-geysers-16260205
Jupiter’s Moon Europa Is Bursting With Icy Geysers
Two studies of Europa, which is thought to have a subsurface ocean, are good news for the potential for life to exist on this icy satellite.
By John Wenz
Two exciting blasts of news have scientific minds swimming—with the possibility of life in Europa’s ocean. Today scientists announced evidence pointing to the possibility of ice plumes firing upward at the poles of Europa, potentially connected to the subterranean ocean on this icy moon of Jupiter… The second study, which found evidence of the Hadley cells, comes from a team led by Krista Soderlund of the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics and Britney Schmidt of Georgia Institute of Technology.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/12/13/observation-units-may-cut-er-costs.html
Observation units may cut ER costs, study says
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Observation units in hospital emergency rooms can not only shorten patient stays and decrease inpatient admissions, but save the health-care system $5.5 billion to $8.5 billion annually, according to Emory University researchers. Many patients who seek emergency room or emergency department (ED) treatment are not well enough for immediate discharge, but are often not sick enough to be admitted. These patients are increasingly being treated as outpatients in observation units, according to a statement… The findings suggest that the psychometric instruments used to measure feelings of energy were more sensitive to change with exercise than those used to measure feelings of fatigue. Vaccine patch project. Emory University and Georgia Tech researchers are studying the benefits of a microneedle patch that will allow minimally trained personnel to deliver influenza and tetanus toxoid vaccines to the skin of pregnant women in developing countries.
www.govtech.com
http://www.govtech.com/computing/2013-The-Year-in-Robots.html
2013: The Year in Robots
A new robot that detects cracks in tunnel walls could save governments money on inspection crews, and represents yet another invention in a series of robots released in recent years.
By Colin Wood
A robot that detects cracks in tunnels now joins the many other robots being used by governments today. Under development now for the European Union’s ROBINSPECT program, the semi-autonomous tunnel-inspecting robot consists of a small unmanned vehicle connected to a crane and robotic arm with various sensors. A working prototype is expected to be finished sometime next year… The tunnel inspecting robot is similar to another type that provides comparable functionality, but on the ground, rather than on tunnel walls. Developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute, the prototype robot not only uses a stereoscopic camera to generate a “crack map,” but fixes those cracks on the fly using 12 sealant nozzles.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/12/13/alpharetta-plans-center-to-spur-tech.html?page=2
Alpharetta plans center to spur tech startups
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Alpharetta, best known for its sprawling office parks populated with Fortune 500 tech workers, plans to court the region’s startup community. The city plans to open an innovation center to foster entrepreneurship and mobile technology development… Alpharetta, best known for its sprawling office parks populated with Fortune 500 tech workers, plans to court the region’s startup community.The city plans to open an innovation center to foster entrepreneurship and mobile technology development… Several studies have shown that startups have accounted for the vast majority of job growth in America, said Michael Hersh, general manager of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a technology business incubator at Georgia Tech.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/atlantech/2013/12/solar-cell-maker-suniva-scores-45m.html
Solar cell maker Suniva scores $4.5M DOE grant
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Two metro Atlanta cleantech firms have received a combined $10.6 million in federal grants. Norcross-based solar cell maker Suniva Inc. has received a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The grant will be used to develop technologies that can reduce the cost of solar panels to below 50 cents/watt with improvements that increase solar energy converting power, while decreasing manufacturing costs. Suniva, a Georgia Tech spin-off, began producing monocrystalline solar cells at its 100,000-square-foot Norcross facility in October 2008. Suniva, today, manufactures 450 megawatts of photovoltaic cells globally, including 200 megawatts at its cell and module facility in Norcross.
STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/general-assembly/2013-12-12/georgia-lawmakers-get-jump-pre-filing-bills
Georgia lawmakers get a jump on pre-filing bills
By WALTER C. JONESMORRIS NEWS SERVICE
ATLANTA – Bills to establish term limits, place the Ten Commandments on the Capitol grounds and to make “Merry Christmas” legal in public schools are among those lawmakers considered important enough to file before next year’s legislative session starts. …Another bill introduced the same day is the only one in this year’s batch sponsored by a Democrat and a Republican, and the Republican is the only member of the House leadership to have a pre-filed bill. HB 697, by Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Smyrna, and Higher Education Appropriations Chairman Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, would raise the amount of HOPE Scholarships to cover the full tuitions of students in technical colleges.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/dec/13/thousands-sign-free-online-courses-only-handful-fo/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Thousands sign up for free online courses, but only a handful follow through
With the early promise of online courses failing to materialize, higher education is rethinking its fascination with MOOCs, massive open online courses. MOOCs became the rage three years ago after a pioneering Stanford professor drew 160,000 students to his online computer course. The University System of Georgia is one of 10 public systems and universities taking a collaborative look at how MOOCs could increase access and make a degree less expensive. Most elite schools, including Georgia Tech and Emory University, are involved in the movement launched by Stanford professor and Google “Street View” co-creator Sebastian Thrun.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/dec/12/does-anyone-read-those-college-essays-yes-and-more/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Getting into college: Your essay may help more than you realize
Maggie Anderson had a successful career in marketing communications, producing video and writing. She is the author of “Do You Stand Out Enough?” She also coaches executives and entrepreneurs how to use their communications more powerfully. Recently, she began coaching students individually and in workshops on how to write an essay for college applications that gets them noticed at the college of their choice. Here is a piece by her on that topic.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2013/dec/11/smith-wesleyan-grad-makes-her-mark-at-uga/?opinion
SMITH: Wesleyan grad makes her mark at UGA
By Loran Smith
College campuses. I love ‘em. Especially my favorite, which happens to be the nation’s oldest state-chartered university where I have been employed — with the exception of one brief separation — since the ’60s. When I traveled Ga. Highway 15 to enroll in Athens, the Classic City, I had no idea where life would take me. After a few weeks on campus, I knew I never wanted to live anywhere else. If you are affiliated with a college, you have unending cultural and social options. You often realize that you don’t know how much good work takes place on campus. Learned faculty researching, innovative and creative, with the goal of making life better for the world.
Education News
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/58113/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=8f688eca4a274aeaa0a63dd5513025fb&elqCampaignId=146#
State Colleges, Universities Advised to Embrace Change
by Jamal E. Mazyck
SAN FRANCISCO – With the theme of Higher Education Forging a State Agenda, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) kicked off its annual conference Wednesday with an emphasis on adaptation and innovation. For example, Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor of California, noted in the opening session of the Higher Education Government Relations Conference that school presidents, chancellors, administrators and policy makers need to move away from the old “business models of the 1960s and get with it.” He cited the success of MOOCs (massive online open courses) as a signal to institutions that “the way they are operating is obsolete.”
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/58103/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=8f688eca4a274aeaa0a63dd5513025fb&elqCampaignId=146#
UCLA Study Funded by Actress Puts Focus on Latinas
by Ronald Roach
A study released last week by University of California at Los Angeles researchers with support from actress Eva Longoria has put a high profile focus on the potential of U.S. Latinas for educational attainment and success.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Senators-Say-Accreditors-Are/143589/
Senators Say Accreditors Are Ineffective and Beset by Conflicts of Interest
By Kelly Field
Washington
Key U.S. senators raised doubts about higher-education accreditation at a hearing on Thursday, citing the system’s “conflicts of interest” and its lack of “bright line” standards for judging colleges. They wanted to know why so few colleges lose accreditation each year, and they questioned whether accreditors were doing enough to ensure institutional quality and accommodate innovation. And while they stopped short of calling for a complete overhaul of accreditation, they agreed the system needs updating.
Other News
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303293604579254091118767268
House Passes Budget Agreement in 332-94 Vote
Deal Boosts Discretionary Spending for Most Domestic, Defense Programs
By Janet Hook
WASHINGTON—Lawmakers took a step away from the confrontational politics and brinkmanship that has roiled the economy in recent years, as the House on Thursday passed a budget bill designed to avoid a government shutdown next month and relax spending limits in the next two years. The bill passed with a wide bipartisan margin, on a vote of 332-94. Voting for the measure were 169 Republicans and 163 Democrats, while 62 Republicans and 32 Democrats voted against.
www.nytimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/us/politics/house-budget-vote.html?ref=politics&_r=0
House Passes Budget Pact and Military Abuse Protections, but Not Farm Bill
By JONATHAN WEISMAN and JEREMY W. PETERS
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday approved a bipartisan budget accord and a Pentagon policy bill that would strengthen protections for victims of sexual assault. But as it wrapped up its business for the year, it left unfinished a major piece of domestic policy — the farm bill — making it likely that Congress will not deal with it until January.