University System News
GOOD NEWS:
www.georgiatrend.com
http://www.georgiatrend.com/January-2014/100-Most-Influential-Georgians/
100 MOST INFLUENTIAL GEORGIANS
Georgia Trend’s annual listing of the state’s most powerful and influential citizens who affect the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians. Plus, a roster of Notable Georgians.
Edited By Jerry Grillo
Ricardo Azziz, President, Georgia Regents University; Mark Becker, President, Georgia State University; Henry “Hank” M. Huckaby, Chancellor, University System of Georgia; Dr. Bonita Jacobs, President, University of North Georgia; Timothy Mescon, President, Columbus State University; Jere W. Morehead, President, University of Georgia; Dink NeSmith, President/Co-owner, Community Newspapers, Inc., Member, Board of Regents; Dan Papp, President, Kennesaw State University; G.P. “Bud” Peterson, President, Georgia Tech; Kessel D. Stelling Jr., Chairman and CEO, Synovus ; T. Rogers Wade, Executive Director, Governor’s Defense Initiative; Philip Wilheit Sr., President, Wilheit Packaging and Marketing Images , Chairman, University System, Board of Regents; Ronald Jackson, Commissioner, Technical College System of Georgia; NOTABLES Rajeev Dhawan, Director, Economic Forecasting Center, Georgia State University; Jennifer Frum, VP for Public Service & Outreach, UGA; Samantha Joye, Professor, University of Georgia; Ben Tarbutton III, Assistant Vice President, Sandersville Railroad Company, Board of Regents member; Bill Young, Former Chair, UGA Foundation
USG NEWS:
www.thecrier.net
http://www.thecrier.net/news/article_5061153a-71b7-11e3-a840-0019bb2963f4.html
GPC enrollment swells with help from non-traditional learners, dual enrollees
Naomi Norelli is a 26-year-old Conyers mom studying biology and psychology. Savannah Smith and Taylor Lewis are 16-year-olds studying biology and pre-nursing, respectively. The ages might be a decade apart, but the students represent two of the largest student demographic populations at Georgia Perimeter College. According to the Fall 2013 Board of Regents Enrollment Report, GPC has the largest in-state population of nontraditional and dual enrollment students among all 31 University System of Georgia institutions.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/dec/26/common-core-we-once-wanted-beat-soviets-now-we-are/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Common Core: We once wanted to beat the Soviets. Now, we are following their lead in education.
Here is a guest piece by Stephen Owens, a graduate of Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone. A a teacher for six years, Owens is a doctoral candidate in educational policy at the University of Georgia.
By Stephen Owens
As the arguments over the Common Core State Standards continue to rage in Georgia, it is worth taking a step back and noting its origins. Reforms like the Common Core have been around for centuries of education, but Georgians should be more interested in how the United States has gotten to a place where each new reform is accepted if it just promises to undo the work of the last.
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/30/ed-dept-pours-43-million-into-reform-program-with-questionable-results/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
Ed Dept. pours $43 million into reform program with questionable results
The U.S. Education Department is pouring $43 million more in federal funds into a program that is aimed at improving the lowest-performing schools but has had highly questionable results. The department announced last week that seven states would receive more than $43.4 million through the School Improvement Grants program: Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Wisconsin (see each state award below). The money is given to individual state educational agencies, which are then tasked with running a competition in which school districts can compete for some of the money by showing their need for the cash and their plans to improve under one of four approved models for change.
Education News
www.ledger-enquirer.com
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/12/30/2877790/sun-belt-hopes-for-rebirth-in.html
Sun Belt hopes for rebirth in manufacturing to boost economy, exports
BY ELENA SCHNEIDER AND ANDREA MAYEUX
GREENSBORO, N.C. — At an aviation hangar on the campus of a community college in Greensboro, N.C., three students crouched over a jet engine, discussing its deconstructed parts. One of them, Keith Brown., a 28-year-old military veteran, returned to school to study aviation systems technology because he “always had a thing for airplanes.” For Brown, the effort at Guilford Technical Community College is personal. But for officials in North Carolina, Mississippi and other states, it’s part of a renewed focus on changing manufacturing’s rusted reputation – and boosting exports and the jobs that come with them.
www.nationaljournal.com
http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-america/education/5-higher-ed-trends-for-2014-20131230
5 Higher-Ed Trends for 2014
The underlying forces that drove change in 2013 aren’t likely to change in the new year: declining public funding, changing demographics, advancing technology, and a tough job market.
By Sophie Quinton
A number of education trends made their mark in 2013, from massive open online courses to evaluating colleges based on their graduation rates. The underlying forces that drove change this year aren’t likely to change anytime soon: declining public funding, changing demographics, advancing technology, and a tough job market. Here are five trends we’ll be watching next year, with special attention to how they affect minority and at-risk students.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Chronicle-List-This/143485/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Special Reports
The 2013 Influence List
The people who shaped higher education this year made their mark through the courts; through the power of an idea; through the act of writing an open letter; even in death. Here are 10 individuals who have had a lasting impact.
Athletes’ Champion; Symbol of the Powerless; Statehouse Persuader; Anti-Rape Activist; Open-Access Hero; Investment Adviser; Race-Blind Advocate; Influential Customer; MOOC Busters; Opportunity Makers; Honorable Mentions
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/legislators-consider-ending-audits-of-nc-community-college-enrollment-classes/?utm_campaign=1231ccnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=a558622c8865498bb82d84e9d5a640bc&elqCampaignId=171
Legislators consider ending audits of NC community college enrollment, classes
Source: charlotteobserver.com
Each year, a small auditing unit within the state community college system recovers hundreds of thousands of dollars in improperly claimed instruction expenses at the state’s 58 community colleges. The audits range from courses with much lower attendance than previously reported to classes with students who shouldn’t have been in them in the first place.
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/college-accreditors-under-pressure-to-crack-down/?utm_campaign=1231ccnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=a558622c8865498bb82d84e9d5a640bc&elqCampaignId=171
College accreditors under pressure to crack down
Source: hechingerreport.com
When City College of San Francisco was given a year to rein in a massive debt, fix deteriorating facilities, and bring its academic courses up to standards, it wasn’t state or federal regulators threatening to close the college if it didn’t respond. Nor was it parents, legislators, or impatient bankers. The shutdown warning came from an obscure organization probably unknown to most of the 80,000 students who attend the huge community college: the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, one of six regional accreditors that license two- and four-year institutions.
www.nytimes.com
Computers Jump to the Head of the Class
By MICHAEL FITZPATRICK
TOKYO — If a computer could ace the entrance exam for a top university, what would that mean for mere mortals with average intellects? This is a question that has bothered Noriko Arai, a mathematics professor, ever since the notion entered her head three years ago. “I wanted to get a clear image of how many of our intellectual activities will be replaced by machines. That is why I started the project: Can a Computer Enter Tokyo University? — the Todai Robot Project,” she said in a recent interview. Tokyo University, known as Todai, is Japan’s best. Its exacting entry test requires years of cramming to pass and can defeat even the most erudite. Most current computers, trained in data crunching, fail to understand its natural language tasks altogether. Ms. Arai has set researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Informatics, where she works, the task of developing a machine that can jump the lofty Todai bar by 2021. If they succeed, she said, such a machine should be capable, with appropriate programming, of doing many — perhaps most — jobs now done by university graduates.