University System News

USG NEWS:
www.myfoxatlanta.com
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/24222859/chinese-delegation-visits-clayton-state#ixzz2nduoYvrj
Chinese delegation visits Clayton State
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MORROW, Ga. (AP) – A Chinese delegation has visited Clayton State University, touring the campus and learning about its various programs. University officials say this week’s visit included 10 higher education officials from China and was part of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. The group also visited the Georgia Tech campus on Friday.

www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local/building-a-new-college-the-gwinnett-way/ncJw2/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1
Building a new college the Gwinnett way
Old-line power brokers willed a campus into existence
BY BRAD SCHRADE AND JAMES SALZER – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
The founding of Georgia Gwinnett College represents an extraordinary accomplishment: a new institution rising from the clay in Lawrenceville, sprouting classrooms, dorms and ball fields and — in just eight years — growing to nearly 10,000 students. In many ways, it is the story of Gwinnett itself: discreet, rich and deeply connected business leaders using their power and influence to shape the future — and sometimes mixing civic interests with their own. They’re often referred to as the “Gwinnett mafia,” their names familiar to anyone who has followed politics and development in Gwinnett: Wayne Mason, Richard Tucker, John D. Stephens and others.

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2013-12-13/humane-society-alleges-mistreatment-primates-georgia-regents-university?v=1387035186
Humane Society alleges mistreatment of primates by Georgia Regents University
By Tracey McManus
Staff Writer
Rhesus monkeys flip obsessively in circles and pace back and forth alone in their metal laboratory cages at a Georgia Regents University research facility. …The Humane Society of the United States alleged Friday that GRU is in violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act for not addressing clear distress shown by the majority of the roughly 50 primates in its research facilities. While federal law requires research labs to house non-human primates in social groups with certain exceptions, the Humane Society said all but two of GRU’s rhesus macaques are being singly caged 24 hours a day with little to no enrichment.

USG VALUE:
www.unionrecorder.com
http://www.unionrecorder.com/local/x1353063644/Georgia-College-ranked-as-top-value-public-college
Georgia College ranked as top value public college
GCSU Communications
MILLEDGEVILLE — Georgia College was ranked on “Kiplinger’s Personal Finance” magazine’s list of top public college values for 2014. The Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business and personal finance advice included Georgia College on its list of the top 100 public colleges based on the university’s commitment to delivering a good value to students.

www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=268885
UNG on Kiplinger’s ‘100 Best Values in Public Colleges’
DAHLONEGA – For the fourth year, the University of North Georgia (UNG) has been named to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s list of 100 best values in public colleges in the nation. The 2013-14 ranking cites four-year schools that combine outstanding education with economic value. UNG, also named to the list in 2010, 2011 and 2012, is one of only four public universities in Georgia to be named to the magazine’s list this year. UNG is ranked at 94, up two spots from the previous list. The University of Georgia is number 10, Georgia Tech is number 33, and Georgia College & State University is number 95. UNG was at the top of the list for lowest debt at graduation, with students’ average debt at graduation from UNG only $12,166.

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/uga-ranked-no-in-value-by-kiplinger-s/article_c6b1d26a-6500-11e3-91fe-0019bb30f31a.html
UGA ranked No. 10 in value by Kiplinger’s
Staff
University of Georgia again landed in the top 10 of the best values in public colleges in the nation, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s annual poll.
Kiplinger’s ranked UGA at No. 10 this year — four spots down from 2012’s ranking of No. 6, and lower than 2011’s ranking of No. 8.

www.wsav.com
http://www.wsav.com/story/24228727/georgia-tech
Georgia Tech to host interviews for veterans and transitioning military
By Liz Buckthorpe
Georgia Tech is hosting open interviews for veterans and transitioning military today. The event is part of the school’s Veteran Education, Training and Transition, or VET2, program.

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-12-13/augusta-looks-follow-savannah-health?v=1386980291
Augusta looks to follow Savannah to health
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
To Dr. Kathryn Martin, it is a simple economic tradeoff. “The healthier we are, the wealthier we are,” said Martin, the associate dean of the Savannah campus for Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University and a member of the board of directors of Healthy Savannah. “The less we spend on health care, the more money we can spend on other things.” The Savannah group’s accomplishments were held up as an example Friday as researchers from GRU met with community groups to relaunch Healthy Augusta and determine first steps toward tackling community issues.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-12-14/athens-learning-software-company-moves-closer-target-consumers
Athens learning software company moves closer to target consumers
By LEE SHEARER
A company started by University of Georgia faculty members recently moved off the UGA campus into a space at the Clarke County School District’s Athens Community Career Academy. The company, IS3D, develops interactive educational software aimed at teaching core scientific ideas to high school students. Under the arrangement with the school district, the company gets 2,500 square feet of office and computer space while the school district will get to use the company’s growing line of software.

GOOD NEWS:
www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/dec/14/albany-state-university-graduates-set-for-new/
Albany State University graduates set for new beginnings
More than 300 graduate from Albany State University
By Jim West
ALBANY — Some 325 degree candidates, proud in their gowns and mortarboard hats, were the objects of attention at the 2013 Albany State University commencement exercises at the Albany Civic Center Saturday. …“Today, you will join a remarkable community of ASU alumni who have served as leaders and agents of change,” said Arthur N. Dunning, ASU interim president. “Yes, you will encounter obstacles, but always remember that you are prepared to conquer any challenge. Excellence is inevitable. We have full confidence in your ability to achieve. In keeping with the tradition of Albany State, we expect you to operate in your utmost potential.” In addition, degree candidates were addressed by Larry R. Ellis, 5th Congressional District, Board of Regents, University System of Georgia, and retired four-star general in the U.S. Army.

www.americastimesrecorder.com
http://www.americustimesrecorder.com/local/x1005126057/400-graduate-from-GSW-Saturday
400 graduate from GSW Saturday
The Americus Times-Recorder
AMERICUS — As it does this time each year, excitement filled the air Saturday in Convocation Hall of the GSW Student Success Center for Fall 2013 Commencement. Rob Watts, interim president of Georgia Perimeter College, was the keynote speaker as 405 students from places like China, India, Connecticut and Americus graduated from Georgia Southwestern State University.

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/health/2013-12-13/uga-awards-first-dual-masters-degrees-social-work-public-health
UGA awards first dual master’s degrees in social work, public health
By STAFF REPORTS
The University of Georgia awarded its first dual master’s degrees in social work and public health at commencement ceremonies Friday in Stegeman Coliseum. The social work and public health dual degree program, established in 2011 through a partnership between the School of Social Work and the College of Public Health, is the first of its kind in Georgia.

RESEARCH:
www.politico.com
http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/12/obama-gets-report-urging-national-security-agency-179610.html
Obama gets report urging National Security Agency surveillance reforms
By JOSH GERSTEIN
A review group President Barack Obama set up to suggest changes in the way the U.S. conducts electronic surveillance delivered its final report to the White House Friday, proposing a series of changes to programs thrust into the spotlight in recent months by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden… Members of the panel were former National Security Council official Richard Clarke, former Obama administration Office of Management and Budget regulatory chief Cass Sunstein, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell (who served into the Obama administration), former University of Chicago Law Dean Geoffrey Stone and privacy law expert Peter Swire, a business professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

www.ireport.cnn.com
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1068520
Capturing wasted electricity
By mahendradash
With one stomp of his foot, Zhong Lin Wang illuminates a thousand LED bulbs – with no batteries or power cord. The current comes from essentially the same source as that tiny spark that jumps from a fingertip to a doorknob when you walk across carpet on a cold, dry day. Wang and his research team have learned to harvest this power and put it to work. A professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Wang is using what’s technically known as the triboelectric effect to create surprising amounts of electric power by rubbing or touching two different materials together

www.spectrum.ieee.org
http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/graphenebased-nanoantennas-could-speed-up-wireless-networks
Graphene-based Nanoantennas Could Speed Up Wireless Networks
By Dexter Johnson
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology say they’ve demonstrated via computer modeling that nano-antennas made from graphene could enable networks of nanomachines. It’s not clear exactly what kind of nanomachines the researchers are referring to, but a guess is that they are something along the lines of Eric Drexler’s proposal nearly thirty years ago of universal assemblers… “We are exploiting the peculiar propagation of electrons in graphene to make a very small antenna that can radiate at much lower frequencies than classical metallic antennas of the same size,” said Ian Akyildiz, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, in a press release.

www.technewsworld.com
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/emerging-tech/79638.html
Ford Steps on the Driverless-Car Gas
By Rachelle Dragani
TechNewsWorld
Ford’s vision for a driverless car future likely will materialize in phases. Vehicle-to-vehicle communications could become mainstream in the mid-term, with autopilot capabilities permitting vehicle “platooning.” Cars traveling in the same direction would be able to sync their movements to create denser driving patterns. In the longer-term, cars could have fully autonomous navigation and parking… Ford’s autonomous vehicle initiative is one of several long-term research investments in the area. Researchers are optimistic about potential benefits of autonomous driving technology to consumers, said Panagiotis Tsiotras, professor and director of the Dynamics and Control Systems Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “To begin with, autonomous vehicles do not violate traffic signs or speed limits. People with long commutes can instead spend the time reading or catch up with friends, family or work,” he told TechNewsWorld.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/georgia-to-offer-its-own-common-core-test/ncLss/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1
Georgia to offer its own Common Core test
BY WAYNE WASHINGTON – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
This coming spring, nearly two dozen states across the country will be field testing a new standardized assessment designed to determine if students are meeting the national set of academic standards called Common Core. Georgia won’t be one of those states. Georgia’s decision to pull out of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a collection of state education officials designing a new Common Core test, pleased some opponents of the national standards. But it also raises a big question: How, exactly, will Georgia learn if its students are meeting the new standards?

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2013-12-13/nesmith-lets-build-brand-georgia
NeSmith: Let’s build a brand for Georgia
By DINK NESMITH
Mayo Clinic. MD Anderson. Cleveland Clinic. Johns Hopkins. Silicon Valley. Research Triangle. When you hear or read those names, what do you think? Each is a distinctive brand with global recognition. When people hear or read “Georgia,” what do they think? Billy Payne, in 1996, branded Atlanta as home of the Centennial Olympics, but that luster has 17 years of dust on it. We’re the Peach State, but South Carolina grows more peaches. …Somewhere I read that if you have more than three priorities, you don’t have any.” Here’s my short list: …• Education: We can’t be a world leader when we are a leader in high school dropouts. The education cycle can’t stop after 12 grades, either. Georgia has some outstanding colleges, technical colleges and universities. If we are to be competitive, Georgians must leverage the educational opportunities available.
• Economic development: Jobs — good-paying jobs — can work magic, allowing people to answer their own needs. And here’s where our colleges and universities play key roles.

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://beta.mirror.augusta.com/opinion/editorials/2013-12-14/snuff-already
Snuff already
Georgia should make its entire university system smoke-free
By Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
Imagine a member of the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents issued this proposal: “Henceforth, any student, staff member or visitor on any of the state’s 31 public college campuses would have permission to spew, into the air, unlimited amounts of formaldehyde, arsenic, benzene, asbestos and dozens of other known cancer-causing agents all over campus – in every classroom, dorm room, dining hall and library.” You’d probably think that regent was out of his mind. If anything, you’d want someone to propose the exact opposite. Which is precisely what Regent Thomas Hopkins is proposing.

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-value-added-qanda-heres-how-one-rocket-scientist-engineered-his-hiring-process/2013/12/14/151b116c-5eb4-11e3-be07-006c776266ed_story.html?tid=hpModule_88854bf0-8691-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394
The Value Added Q&A: Here’s how one rocket scientist engineered his hiring process
By Thomas Heath
My recent trip to Orbital Sciences, the rocket and satellite manufacturer located outside Washington, was so interesting that I decided to devote another column to the company. It took several years to get the interview with Orbital’s chief executive and co-founder, David W. Thompson. The 58-year-old rocket scientist had a lot to say about the business of space travel, and about how to keep the excitement pumped up at a hit-driven company built on space exploration… You have several former astronauts on your staff. Why do you hire former astronauts? The same reason we like to hire kids from MIT and Georgia Tech, Michigan and CalTech.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/12/16/essay-arguing-major-changes-are-coming-higher-education
Change Is Coming
By Dan Greenstein
Dan Greenstein is the director of postsecondary success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
That college you have your eye on for your teenager? It may be going out of business. Your alma mater, too. Here’s why: we keep seeing reports that the financial model undergirding much of higher education is weak and getting weaker. The way colleges are financed is out of date with the demands of a much larger student population. Few people outside higher education are aware of this, but college and university leaders are deeply concerned.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/12/16/essay-key-value-shouldnt-change-amid-calls-higher-education-reforms
Disrupting the Disruptors
By James Grossman
James Grossman is the executive director of the American Historical Association.
Education is a public good.
Those five simple words should stand at the center of all conversations about higher education; participants in such conversations should recite them on a regular basis. Instead, I hear the drumbeat language of “disruption” — new models of higher education will do to “legacy” colleges and universities what the steamboat did to the sailing vessel, or more recently, what Amazon did to Borders.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2013/12/16/essay-prestige-factor-picking-graduate-school-and-evaluating-job-offers
Pride, Prejudice, Prestige
By Heather Dubrow
Heather Dubrow is the John D. Boyd SJ Chair in the Poetic Imagination at Fordham University.
On hearing that I had just turned down an offer from a highly regarded state research university in favor of Carleton College, the renowned professor, my former teacher, informs me that I am making a serious mistake with my career.…Nonetheless, they gesture toward tense and sometimes toxic issues. To what extent should the perceived prestige of institutions or of types of institution shape decisions about job offers? That question introduces a prior but closely related one: How should such rankings affect debates about which graduate school to attend?

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/stratedgy/mooc-met-movies-and-address
The MOOC, the Met at the Movies and The Address
By Dayna Catropa
In today’s world, we can transition from college student to operagoer to museum visitor without closing our laptops. Technology is changing the way we build communities and share information. MOOCs are bringing a new dimension to online education and also helping faculty to create and incorporate digital elements into their on-campus courses, as noted in the Harvard Magazine article, “What Modularity Means for MOOCs.”

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/revenue-model-my-moob
A Revenue Model for My MOOB?
By Joshua Kim
I’m starting to get the feeling that the venture capitalists and philanthropists backing this Technology and Learning MOOB (massively open online blog) are running out of patience. They want a sustainable revenue model. They want some ROI. They want it sooner than later. I’ve been trying to point out that we’ve been focused on building a large user base, and that monetization opportunities will arise when enough people are participating in this MOOB. I’ve been saying that these are early days of the MOOB movement, and that we simply can’t know what financial opportunities will reveal themselves once MOOBs are established.

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/13/education-dept-to-recognize-same-sex-marriages-for-federal-financial-aid-purposes/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
Education Dept. to recognize same-sex marriages for federal financial aid purposes
The U.S. Education Department announced Friday that the federal government will now recognize all legal same-sex marriages for the purposes of applying for and receiving federal financial aid. Here’s the statement from the department:

Education News
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/general-assembly/2013-12-13/athens-area-lawmakers-field-concerns-education-spending
Athens-area lawmakers field concerns on education spending
By NICK COLTRAIN
Athens-area social service advocates on Friday pressed the local state legislative delegation on the importance of pumping cash into education. …Without predicting outcomes, Williams said he expects lots of grandstanding with the education debate and rumors of vouchers cutting into general education budgets. Frye echoed prior criticisms of taking from public schools to make way for charter schools. …Cowsert said there was initial interest among legislative leadership in bumping budgets to give teachers a raise only to hear push back from local districts that matching the associated salary increases could wreck their budgets. The majority of districts in the state are still running fewer school days as a cost-saving measure.

www.northwestgeorgianews.com
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/region/news/high-tech-jobs-fueling-rome-s-economic-growth/article_5436de8e-645a-11e3-9ac7-001a4bcf6878.html
High-tech jobs fueling Rome’s economic growth
By Doug Walker
Rome jumped up 35 slots in the Milken Institute’s annual analysis of best-performing small metropolitan cities in the United States. …While no one is quite ready to compare Rome to Silicon Valley, the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce’s initial Rome-Floyd 20/20 plan focused on taking advantage of the community’s medical and higher education assets. …“Each of the strategies — whether it’s the recruitment of the Georgia Regents University Medical College of Georgia and Georgia Tech, the new fiber networking capabilities, the continued work to increase per capita income — it has all paid off for additional opportunities here.”

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/morris-brown-close-to-settling-debt/ncLJx/
Morris Brown close to settling debt
Bankrupt college could regain accreditation in 12 to 18 months
By Steve Visser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Morris Brown College, the embattled school that has served thousands of first-generation students, is on the cusp of settling its more than $30 million debt, regaining accreditation and revamping its academic program, officials said Saturday. … The federal bankruptcy court has given preliminary approval to a school plan to sell off three buildings, including the Middleton Twin Towers dormitory, the student center and the post office. The plan also calls for development of other school property in partnership with private developers to raise $12.5 million to settle with creditors who hold $34 million in outstanding debt. …Moreover, the African Methodist Episcopal Church with which the school is affiliated, has bought another $7 million of Morris Brown’s debt fro one of the larger creditors, which the school will repay on muhc more favorable terms, Hicks said.

Related articles:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2013/12/morris-brown-unveils-plan-to-get-out.html
Morris Brown unveils plan to get out of bankruptcy

www.wabe.org
http://wabe.org/post/morris-brown-college-unveils-plan-emerge-bankruptcy?utm_referrer=http%3A//m.wabe.org/%3Futm_referrer%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwabe.org%252Fnews%23mobile/50346
Morris Brown College Unveils Plan to Emerge from Bankruptcy

www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2013/12/report-emory-president-no-27-in.html
Emory president No. 27 on highest-paid list
Carla Caldwell, Morning Edition Editor
Emory University President James W. Wagner is ranked No. 27 in a new report that looks at compensation received by 550 chief executives at 500 private nonprofit colleges.
Wagner made $1,200,633 in total compensation and had a base salary of $870,403, according to the report compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education.. Figures are based on 2011. Wagner was ranked No. 22 on last year’s list based on figures from 2010.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Executive-Compensation-at/143541/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en#id=table
What Private-College Presidents Make
Executive Compensation at Private Colleges, 2010
Use The Chronicle’s exclusive database to explore the compensation of private-college presidents, featuring tools to put those numbers in context.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Executive-Compensation-at/143541/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en#id=table
Executive Compensation at Public Colleges, 2012 Fiscal Year

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Complexity-Drives-High-Pay-for/143605/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Boards Justify High Pay for Presidents
After all, they say, running a large private university is like running a small city
By Jack Stripling
Robert J. Zimmer is a man of few peers. The University of Chicago president, who heads one of the nation’s wealthiest institutions and gets free housing in a major metropolis, earned almost $3.4-million in 2011, making him the highest-paid private-college leader in the United States that year, a Chronicle analysis has found. …Ron B. Seifert, who advises college trustees on presidential compensation, said there were few people qualified to run a major research institution with a multibillion-dollar budget. “It would be really difficult for you to prove to me that the challenges associated with running a $200-million institution are the same as somebody running an institution at $2-billion,” said Mr. Seifert, vice president of Hay Group. “They are inherently different in terms of the managerial skills required.”

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Highest-Paid-Presidents-Face/143599/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Highest-Paid Presidents Face Backlash, Study Finds
By Jonah Newman
When defending compensation of $1-million and more for college presidents, trustees and university officials often repeat a simple refrain: Attracting the best talent costs money. In 2011 the 10 highest-paid private-college presidents cost their institutions an average of about $2.3-million each. Some trustees would say that’s a bargain compared with the amount a high-caliber president can bring in through fund raising. But the actual cost to a university of having one of the highest-paid presidents in the country may be more than just salary and benefits, according to a new working paper.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/16/education-department-recognizes-same-sex-marriages-student-aid-purposes
FAFSA, Post-DOMA
By Michael Stratford
The U.S. Education Department will now recognize the marriages of same-sex couples for the purposes of distributing federal financial aid, officials announced Friday.
The policy change is the result of the Supreme Court’s decision in June that invalidated part of a federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited agencies from recognizing same-sex marriages.

www.sun-sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/highered/fl-tougher-college-admissions-20131214,0,6059190.story
Florida colleges become more selective
By Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel
Students may find that being average is no longer good enough if they want to land a spot in a Florida university. Even schools once considered easy to get into are turning away students who would have been admitted in the past. …”Colleges and universities are looking to increase their admissions criteria. The better students you attract, the more likely they are to stay and complete,” said Troy Miller, a senior researcher for the Florida College Access Network, a student success advocacy group affiliated with the University of South Florida. “And it’s better for an institution’s prestige and rankings.”

www.articles.chicagotribune.com
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-12-01/business/ct-biz-1201-law-school-declines-20131201_1_law-school-enrollments-elite-schools
Law schools adjust to lower enrollments
Job market tough for their graduates; heads of institutions confront financial pressures that many have never dealt with
By Ameet Sachdev, Chicago Tribune reporter
Amy Cramer, who finished law school in 2011, was one of the fortunate ones, if you define fortunate as finding a temporary job as an employee benefits consultant for $18 an hour soon after graduation. More than 14 percent of her classmates at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago had not found any job nine months after graduation. Cramer recently joined the ranks of unemployed lawyers when her contract job ended in October. …In 2010, a record of more than 52,000 students started law school, according to data compiled by the American Bar Association, which accredits U.S. law schools. Since then, enrollments have fallen nationally amid a dwindling pool of applicants.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/College-Completion-Push-Fails/143619/
Despite Push for College Completion, Graduation Rates Haven’t Budged
By Katherine Mangan
With all of the president’s preaching, lawmakers’ legislating, and foundations’ financing, you might expect college-completion rates to be inching up, at least slightly. But a report out this week from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that the nation’s six-year graduation rate hasn’t budged.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/16/survey-distance-education-provider-shows-important-metrics-missing-or-withheld#ixzz2ne3JRT00
Incomplete Rates
By Carl Straumsheim
Colleges and universities that offer distance education are increasingly building their courses to conform with widely accepted best practices for all of higher education, but a study by the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies shows many institutions fail to collect crucial data needed to track the effectiveness of programs.

Related article:
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/many-colleges-cant-track-completion-rates-online-course-survey-finds/49005?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Many Colleges Can’t Track Completion Rates, Online-Course Survey Finds

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/edx-drops-plans-to-connect-mooc-students-with-employers/48987
edX Drops Plans to Connect MOOC Students With Employers
By Steve Kolowich
Can taking a MOOC help a student land a better job? Proponents of the massive open online courses hope so. Each of the major MOOC providers—Coursera, edX, and Udacity—has expressed interest in helping connect employers to well-qualified job applicants who succeed in their online courses. But now, after a failed experiment, edX says it is giving up on job-placement services.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/59477/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=fa22e7f7c84b4a7e926421a2047f7be1&elqCampaignId=146#
Diverse Conversations: Preparing Students for the Labor Force
By Matthew Lynch
College is supposed to prepare students for their future careers, but half of America’s employers believe that today’s graduates are unprepared for the labor force. For this week’s installment of “Diverse Conversations,” I spoke with Dr. Lynn C. Owens, Associate Professor of Communication at William Peace University in Raleigh, NC, about her research on the intersection of higher education and the labor force.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/16/feds-move-next-step-gainful-employment-negotiations-end-stalemate
No Consensus on ‘Gainful Employment’
By Paul Fain
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education’s rulemaking session on “gainful employment” regulations ended Friday in a stalemate.
A panel of department-appointed negotiators was unable to reach consensus on the proposed standards for vocational programs at for-profit institutions and community colleges. Dissent came from representatives of both the for-profit and consumer-group camps.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/59469/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=fa22e7f7c84b4a7e926421a2047f7be1&elqCampaignId=146#
UC President Janet Napolitano Advises College Officials on Building Relationships with Lawmakers
By Lydia Lum
SAN FRANCISCO—An improved national economy has allowed government funding of public postsecondary education to rebound, but this is actually the worst time for higher education executives to be lenient about lobbying legislators for additional money. That was the consensus last week among the chiefs of California’s three public higher education systems during the annual Higher Education Government Relations Conference, which concluded Friday.

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www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/a-former-beauty-queen-finds-success-getting-her-ha/ncJsp/
A former beauty queen finds success getting her hands dirty
BY MATT KEMPNER – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
When Mitzi Moore’s marriage fell apart, the stay-at-home mom and former Miss Georgia Southern needed to reinvent herself. …(My dad’s plumbing business) had several hundred employee. Growing up I hadn’t thought anything about plumbing. Girls didn’t do that. They still don’t — there’s not very many that do. I got married. I went to college. I got my bachelors in management. …Soon after she became a plumber, Moore’s dad decided to retire. He asked his daughter if she wanted to take over running the business. She said no: she didn’t think she was ready to lead such a large operation. So he sold the business to another plumbing company. Moore stayed on with the new company as a manager. But eventually she and her dad launched a new plumbing venture. It would be her business, backed by his money and advice.