University System News
USG VALUE:
www.forest-blade.com
http://www.forest-blade.com/news/education/article_6f572b40-673b-11e3-9d91-0019bb2963f4.html
EGSC to open Military Student Resource Center
East Georgia State College is opening a new Military Student Resource Center in January. The center is dedicated to providing active duty, reserve service members, veterans and dependents of service members with convenient high quality services. The center also features a lounge for students to relax and study. … “My office serves to bridge that gap and assist the students in navigating the road from the admission process through graduation.”
GOOD NEWS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/12/17/whos-on-top.html
Who’s on top: 2013’s Top of the Lists
David Allison
Editor-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Top of the List: Area’s 25 Largest Colleges and Universities
Ranked by total enrollment for the fall 2013 semester, The University of Georgia tops at no. 1 with enrollment of more than 34,000 students.
RESEARCH:
www.atlantaintownpaper.com
http://www.atlantaintownpaper.com/2013/12/uga-study-says-city-briarcliff-financially-viable/
UGA study says City of Briarcliff is financially viable
By collin
The City of Briarcliff Initiative has posted the results of an independent cityhood feasibility study to its website at briarcliffga.org. The study was conducted by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.
STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/complications-from-immigration-law-cause-headaches/ncPCm/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1
Complications from immigration law cause headaches at Georgia schools
BY ROSE FRENCH – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
A state law meant to crack down on illegal immigration is burdening schools with paperwork and threatening or delaying student-related events, educators complain. …Abiding by the law, known as Senate Bill 160, is proving to be a challenge because many school accounting systems are not well-equipped to collect the information, state auditors said. Plus, some vendors outside Georgia are not providing the affidavits or other documentation — leaving students and teachers in a lurch when trying to plan important events. …At the college and university level, studies-abroad programs are also running into the issue of vendors not providing the affidavits, she added.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/alma-mater/law-school-enrollment-collapse-are-liberal-arts-colleges-next
The Law School Enrollment Collapse: Are Liberal Arts Colleges Next?
By Steven Bahls
As a former law school dean and now college president, I have been following the collapse in law school enrollments closely enough to see it as a warning sign for liberal arts colleges. Here are the three lessons we can learn from the collapse in law school enrollment.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-beta/its-not-mooc-its-movement
It’s Not a MOOC, It’s a Movement
By Cathy N. Davidson
In January 2014, HASTAC, the nonprofit open learning network we founded in 2002 and now 12,000+ network members strong, will be mounting an international #FutureEd initiative designed to inspire thousands of students and professors to think together in innovative ways about the “History and Future of Higher Education.” …Legislatures incongruously slash public funding to education right when more, not less, investment in public education is necessary. At the same time, venture capitalists are clamoring to MOOCs. It’s not clear if that is from a desire to find the best ways to promote future learning or merely done with the hope of short-term profits.
Education News
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/georgia-wins-another-federal-education-grant51-mil/ncPXB/
Georgia wins $51 million education grant
By Nancy Badertscher
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia has won a second multimillion-dollar federal education grant — one aimed at improving learning for the state’s youngest children, it was announced early Thursday. The state will receive $51 million over four years to expand access to high-quality child care for low-income families, to increase training for early childhood teachers and to put extra resources into areas of the state where test scores and other indicators show the greatest need.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/12/18/emory-university-the-nations-top.html
Emory University the nation’s top green university
Jacques Couret
Senior Online Editor and Social Engagement Manager- Atlanta Business Chronicle
The U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools named Emory University the No. 1 higher education institution in its “Best of Green Schools 2013” report.
Emory was noted for having “among the highest number of square feet of LEED-certified space of any campus in America,” according to the USGBC.
www.mcduffieprogress.com
http://www.mcduffieprogress.com/article_6272.shtml
A dozen new nurses graduate from Augusta Tech program
By Linda Green
“When opportunity knocks, open the door and accept the challenge. You will be surprised at what you will accomplish” was one of the encouragements that 12 entry-level nurses received Tuesday morning. The 12 graduates of Augusta Technical College’s practical nursing program were pinned by relatives and friends after receiving guidance and inspiration from Linda Graves.
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/states-four-year-colleges-battle-community-technical-colleges-for-state-funding/?utm_campaign=1219ccnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=f4e00763e7124cf0b781688516acf9cb&elqCampaignId=164
State’s four-year colleges battle community & technical colleges for state funding
Source: thelensnola.com
A sharp disparity in how much money the state doles out to Louisiana’s colleges and universities is causing a major behind-the-scenes fight in the top echelons of higher education. The dispute pits the state’s two-year community and technical colleges against its four-year institutions, with a few exceptions.
www.insidehighereducation.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/19/white-house-science-council-recommends-us-accreditors-support-moocs
Go Easy on MOOCs
By Carl Straumsheim
President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has a message for the federal government and regional accreditors: Go easy on the MOOCs. In a report released on Wednesday, the council of engineers and scientists recommends the federal government not interfere with vendors and providers experimenting with massive open online courses and other forms of distance education.
Related article:
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/presidential-advisers-brief-obama-on-moocs-and-offer-advice/49159?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Obama Is Advised to Let Market Forces Decide Fate of MOOCs
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/immigrant-students-in-va-seeking-in-state-college-tuition/2013/12/17/5329fd1a-6431-11e3-91b3-f2bb96304e34_story.html
7 immigrants brought here as children sue for in-state Virginia college tuition rates
By Justin Jouvenal
Giancarla Rojas is not an American citizen, but she has an American dream. The Falls Church resident, whose parents brought her here illegally from Bolivia as a child, has worked doggedly to become the first in her family to attend a four-year college. She won a reprieve to stay in this country under an Obama administration initiative, maintains a 3.8 grade-point average at a community college and has a résumé packed with volunteer work, but George Mason University is still out of reach. The 19-year-old cannot afford the out-of-state tuition of $29,000 a year Virginia charges people with her immigration status, so she and six other students filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Arlington County Circuit Court arguing that they should be able to pay the same lower rates as other longtime Virginia residents.
www.insidehighereducation.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/19/dean-and-cfo-can-it-work
Two Hats, One Man
By Ry Rivard
Piedmont College’s business school dean and chief financial officer are one and the same: John Misner, a former investment banker who jokes that sleep is “an overrated commodity.” Misner is perhaps the only CFO/dean in the country. His is a “morph job” that came along in part because of Piedmont’s small size and his bosses’ trust.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Texas-Legislators-Weigh/143675/?cid=at
Texas Legislators Weigh Whether a Regent Should Be Impeached
By Katherine Mangan
Austin, Tex.
An avalanche of open-records requests by a member of the University of Texas system’s Board of Regents has touched off a controversy that has cost the flagship more than $1-million, sullied its reputation, and stymied recruiting efforts, the campus’s president, Bill Powers, told state lawmakers on Wednesday. Mr. Powers was addressing a panel in the Texas House of Representatives that is considering whether to recommend impeaching the regent, Wallace L. Hall Jr., for abusing his position by deluging the university system with requests for about 800,000 pages of documents.
www.insidehighereducation.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/19/kansas-regents-adopt-policy-when-social-media-use-can-get-faculty-fired
Fireable Tweets
By Scott Jaschik
In September, the University of Kansas suspended David W. Guth, a tenured journalism professor, after he responded to the shootings at the Washington Navy Yard with this comment on Twitter: “#NavyYardShooting The blood is on the hands of the #NRA. Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters. Shame on you. May God damn you.”
Many pro-gun politicians called for Guth to be fired, but he kept his job and the suspension has since been lifted. Officials also learned that the state’s public universities didn’t have a policy that explicitly permitted the dismissal of faculty members and other employees over their use of social media.
www.insidehighereducation.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/12/19/strengthening-ties-between-colleges-and-employers
Strengthening Ties Between Colleges and Employers
A new report from the Center for American Progress proposes reforms to improve the connection between higher education and employers.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/59583/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=d70e4d7ed3aa4355a80f076d71f927a4&elqCampaignId=146#
Center for American Progress Urges ‘Game-Changing’ Higher Education Reforms
By Ronald Roach
WASHINGTON – In an effort to bring new ideas and policy recommendations to the ongoing national discussion on higher education reform, the Center for American Progress think tank released a pair of reports Wednesday that highlight three higher education reform models. In “A Path Forward: Game-Changing Reforms in Higher Education and the Implications for Business and Financing Models” and “Meeting Students Where They Are: Profiles of Students in Competency-based Degree Programs,” Center for American Progress (CAP) officials put forth reform ideas “to improve and strengthen the connection between higher-education systems and employers, and urges an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach to boost program completion, reduce educational costs, and improve the overall quality of the nation’s postsecondary education system.”
Related article:
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/tech-enabled-alternatives-must-be-part-of-education-reform-report-says/49069?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Tech-Enabled Alternatives Must Be Part of Education Reform, Report Says
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/harvard-medical-school-is-fined-24000-over-treatment-of-monkeys-in-research/70685?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Harvard Is Fined $24,000 Over Treatment of Monkeys in Research
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has fined Harvard Medical School $24,036 for animal-welfare violations in its care of monkeys used in research, The Boston Globe has reported. Four of those violations involved the death of an animal.
www.insidehighereducation.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/12/19/congress-oks-budget-eliminates-set-aside-some-loan-servicers
Congress OKs Budget, Eliminates Set-Aside for Some Loan Servicers
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a compromise budget bill that sets federal funding levels for the rest of this fiscal year and next year. Lawmakers passed the deal on a 64-36 vote and sent it to President Obama, who supports the measure and is expected to sign it into law. Higher education advocates supported the legislation because it is expected to alleviate automatic, across-the-board cuts to research funding and campus-based student aid programs.