University System News

2014 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION NEWS
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=269874
GA lawmakers to revive effort to expand gun rights
By The Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) Georgia lawmakers will be reviving an effort to expand gun rights, but will be starting over with new legislation and weighing the possibility of giving college presidents and religious leaders the option of whether to allow guns on public campuses and in places of worship, according to interviews with key lawmakers. Monday was the start of the legislative session and official business was mostly ceremonial and making preparations for the rest of the 40-day session. …One of the lingering questions from last session was what would happen to gun legislation, which had the support of gun rights groups but faced opposition from the Board of Regents. It failed to reach a final vote on the last day, after a conference committee was appointed to negotiate a deal between competing versions in the House and Senate.

Related article:
www.times-herald.com
http://www.times-herald.com/local/BC-GA-XGR–Georgia-Legislature-Guns-1st-Ld-Writethru2014-01-13T19-59-18
GA Lawmakers To Revive Effort To Expand Gun Rights

www.statesboroherald.com
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/56322/
Effort to expand gun rights coming
Lawmakers to try again to allow firearms in colleges, churches

www.cbsatlanta.com
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/24440573/state-lawmakers-to-consider-allowing-college-students-to-carry-guns
State lawmakers to consider letting college students carry guns
By Donna Rapado – email
ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) – State lawmakers are back at work now, the Georgia legislature in session as of today. One law legislators will consider again this year is whether or not to allow guns on state college campuses. Gun advocates say students should be able to protect themselves. But those against guns at school say it just creates more problems. Robert Eager of the Students for Concealed Carry chapter at Georgia Tech thinks the bill has a good chance of passing into law this year. Eager said it’s necessary because students are prime targets for criminals.

www.mdjonline.com
http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/24384729/article-Legislators-address-guns-at-universities?instance=special
Legislators address guns at universities
by Jon Gillooly
ATLANTA — Cobb lawmakers expect action will be taken this session on whether to allow licensed students 21 and older to carry guns on university campuses. But hey are mixed in their support of a “campus carry” law. State Rep. David Wilkerson (D-Austell) is an opponent. He said a bill that didn’t make it last year would have allowed students to carry guns on campus, but not in dormitories. “So basically, they would be allowed to walk around campus and have to leave them in their car, which I don’t know if I want to see someone put a gun in their car and then someone come by and rob it,” Wilkerson said.

www.mdjonline.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/2014-01-13/new-bill-expected-georgia-lawmakers-revive-effort-expand-gun-rights?v=1389665436
New bill expected as Georgia lawmakers revive effort to expand gun rights
From Wire Reports
ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers will be reviving an effort to expand gun rights, but will be starting over with new legislation and weighing the possibility of giving college presidents and religious leaders the option of whether to allow guns on public campuses and in places of worship, according to interviews with key lawmakers

www.wabe.org
http://wabe.org/post/2014-legislative-session-kicks-talk-gun-bill-and-education-spending
2014 Legislative Session Kicks Off With Talk of Gun Bill and Education Spending
By JONATHAN SHAPIRO
State lawmakers returned to the state Capitol Monday for the first day of the 2014 legislative session. On the House side, Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) welcomed back lawmakers. “Well good morning everyone. Hope you are all as excited to be back as I am and ready to go work.” In terms of actual legislation, the day was uneventful. But in short order, lawmakers are expected to consider loosening gun restrictions.

www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2014/jan/12/georgia-health-bills-likely-to-be-sidetracked/
Georgia health bills likely to be sidetracked
Health care not likely to dominate legislative agenda
By Andy Miller
ATLANTA — A safe prediction for the 2014 session of the General Assembly is that dozens of bills involving health care will be up for consideration. That’s the case every year under the Gold Dome. But given the likelihood this year of a short session, ending in mid-March, it’s also a good bet that many health bills will be sidetracked or stalled before they come to a vote.

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2014/01/11/2874697/election-season-casts-shadow-over.html
Election season casts shadow over 2014 legislative session
BY MAGGIE LEE
ATLANTA — As Georgia lawmakers prepare for their annual 40-day session in Atlanta, they may aim to finish quickly, keep the to-do list modest and return to work on their election campaigns. Or they may seek to do deeds worthy of stump speeches — on teacher pay, gun laws, the power structure in Macon-Bibb County and even the U.S. Constitution. And the state Legislature faces a situation that some of its newer members have never seen: state coffers filling up as the economy improves.

USG NEWS:
www.13wmaz.com
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/news/local/macon/2014/01/13/middle-georgia-state-president/4467161/
New Middle Georgia State President takes over
Katelyn M Heck, WMAZ
With only two weeks in central Georgia under his belt, Middle Georgia State College President Chris Blake says he’s already trying to make himself known around campus. “It’s something I hope very much to do is get to know why our students look to Middle Georgia State to help them with their lives,” says Blake. He is the first permanent president of the school since Macon State and Middle Georgia colleges merged, but he doesn’t want his impact to end there. Blake says he wants to transform Middle Georgia State from a college to a university.

www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2014/jan/13/asu-interim-president-dr-arthur-dunning-meets/
ASU Interim President Dr. Arthur Dunning meets with community
Dunning greets community at introduction reception
By Brad McEwen
ALBANY — Albany State University Interim President Dr. Arthur N. Dunning was greeted by members of the Albany community at a reception held on the school’s campus Monday. Dunning, who took over as interim president in late November following the unexpected departure of former ASU president Everette Freeman in October, used the reception to share some of his past experiences with Albany State and some of the things he hopes to achieve during his tenure.

CONSOLIDATION:
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/southern-poly-could-retain-engineering-college-nam/ncmpy/
Southern Poly could retain engineering college name in university merger
BY JANEL DAVIS – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
The school name won’t be retained, but the Southern Polytechnic State University label will likely maintain prominence on the engineering college of a new merged university.
SPSU, in Marietta, is in the midst of a planned consolidation with Kennesaw State University. If approved by an accrediting agency, the first class of students would enter the consolidated college in fall 2015. A 46-member consolidation committee of faculty, staff, students and administrators from both colleges is working on implementation plans about how the new university will be organized. A preliminary list of 13 academic colleges for the new institution includes a Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology. The engineering college name is a nod to SPSU’s signature programs and could be some concession for students.

www.therepublic.com
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/e42aa61ce5cb4a8c8f1bc3b92f5c67f0/GA–Kennesaw-State-Merger
Committee considers merging Kennesaw State, Southern Polytechnic State into 13 programs
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KENNESAW, Georgia — Representatives from Southern Polytechnic State and Kennesaw State University are working together to determine how their newly consolidated university should be organized. Kennesaw State officials said Monday that a 46-member committee composed of administrators, staff and students from both schools are considering merging the schools into 13 colleges that will make up the new Kennesaw State University.

Related article:
www.cbsatlanta.com
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/24439556/committee-meets-to-discuss-merger-of-ga-colleges
Committee meets to discuss merger of Ga. Colleges

www.mdjonline.com
http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/24383639/article-Group-debates-Southern-Poly–KSU-program-consolidation?instance=lead_story_left_column
Group debates Southern Poly, KSU program consolidation
by Rachel Gray
KENNESAW — A group overseeing the merger of Kennesaw State and Southern Polytechnic State universities will decide if consolidating 14 separate college programs down to 13 is enough to satisfy the Board of Regents. The group of 40 faculty and administrators met Monday to discuss which colleges will be given the Southern Poly brand name within the KSU system. The merger committee has been under pressure from SPSU students, faculty and alumni to preserve the Southern Polytechnic moniker for engineering degrees. The Board of Regents voted in November to merge KSU and Southern Poly as part of an ongoing cost-saving plan that could eventually include other mergers. Kennesaw State President Dan Papp said after the consolidation there will be “zero threat” of closing down a degree program because of lack of interest or low graduation rates.

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2014-01-13/augusta-left-out-georgia-regents-university-signs?v=1389666417
‘Augusta’ left out of Georgia Regents University signs
By Tracey McManus
Staff Writer
New signs being installed on Georgia Regents University campuses are missing one thing that was promised during the fierce public outcry over the renaming of the consolidated school – the word “Augusta.” In August, university officials revealed blueprints showing that “Georgia Regents University Augusta” would replace “Augusta State University” on the brick pillars at the school’s entrance on Walton Way and other gateway signs throughout the campuses. The plans for the $3.8 million project were vetted by students, faculty and staff members and authorized by the Board of Regents of the Uni¬ver¬sity System of Georgia, according to the university’s newsletter, GReport. University officials changed direction, however, and signs installed last month read “Georgia Re¬gents Uni¬ver¬sity” above “Uni¬ver¬sity System of Georgia,” with no “Augusta” in sight. “Basically I feel like they have stabbed every citizen of Augusta in the back by eliminating our name,” said Fleming Norvell, who donated money to build the school’s J. Fleming Norvell Golf House.

USG VALUE:
www.money.msn.com
http://money.msn.com/debt-management/best-values-in-public-colleges-for-2014-1
Best values in public colleges for 2014
North Carolina tops the list for the 13th year in a row, despite the shifting landscape in higher education.
By Susannah Snider, Kiplinger’s
Prices up almost 2 percent
We rank Kiplinger’s top 100 public colleges and universities based on measures of academic quality and affordability — among them, low student-faculty ratios, high graduation rates, reasonable price tags and rich financial aid, including need-based aid (grants, not loans) for students who qualify. These 10 schools are the cream of the crop of that already-elite list.
Facing out-of-state tuition at a public college can be daunting. The average annual sticker price for nonresidents at public colleges is $31,701, up from $30,704 last year, according to the College Board.
Rank (In-state) 10 – Rank (out of state) 13 UGA; Rank (In-state) 33 – Rank (out of state) 46 GA Tech; (Rank In-state) 94 – Rank (out of state) 94 University of North Georgia; Rank In-state) 95 – Rank (out of state) 97 Georgia College & State University

www.dailyreportonline.com
http://www.dailyreportonline.com/id=1202638102808/?kw=Georgia%20Tech%20Prof%20Advises%20White%20House%20on%20Balancing%20Privacy%20and%20Security&et=editorial&bu=Daily%20Report&cn=20140114&src=EMC-Email&pt=Morning%20News
Georgia Tech Prof Advises White House on Balancing Privacy and Security
Jonathan Ringel , Daily Report
A law professor at Georgia Tech’s business school is playing a key role in how President Barack Obama may balance government intelligence gathering and privacy.
Peter Swire, who joined the business school’s Law and Ethics program last fall, is set to testify today before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee as a member of the panel Obama appointed in the wake of sweeping revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Work on the panel interrupted Swire’s first semester at Georgia Tech—as well as his honeymoon. In August, he received a voice mail five days after his wedding, asking him to call Lisa Monaco, the president’s top anti-terrorism adviser.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/jan/14/will-southern-polytechnic-college-name-within-ksu-/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Will a Southern Polytechnic College name within KSU smell as sweet? Or leave a sour taste for alums?
Although Southern Polytechnic State University alums protested the decision by the Board of Regents to merger their school with Kennesaw State University, the merger went through. Now, there is an effort underway to assuage the unhappy feelings of Southern Tech alumni: A proposal to call the engineering college within KSU the “Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology.” I am not sure that this will mollify Southern Tech graduates, who are fiercely loyal to their school and grateful for the education they received there.

www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/jan/13/most-georgians-say-no-guns-campus-will-legislature/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Most Georgians say “no” to guns on campus. Will Legislature listen to them?
The majority of Georgia believes guns on campus are a bad idea, but will the Legislature do it anyway? …It’s always surprised me how the Georgia General Assembly disregards the opinions of the people most affected by a potential law. I once sat through a House Judiciary Committee hearing where 17 witnesses testified against a bill and only the sponsor testified for it. The committee went ahead and approved it. That may be the case with the campus gun bill, which has met with widespread opposition, including the Board of Regents.

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/kyle-wingfield/2014/jan/14/education-rankings-show-georgia-doing-better-not-g/
Kyle Wingfield
Education rankings show Georgia doing better, not good enough
The good news is Georgia now ranks 14th in the country in a new report by a group that advocates education reforms. The bad news is took only a C-minus to earn that spot.
We have a strong system for evaluating teachers and we do an average job of using those evaluations to guide the hiring, firing and placement of teachers, according to a new report card by Students First, the education-reform outfit started by former D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee. And we’re making up ground faster than almost all the other states. Beyond that … Meh.

www.politics.blog.ajc.com
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2014/01/14/nathan-deal-gives-tentative-support-to-opt-in-provision-for-campus-carry-bill/#sthash.AJTqVqbi.dpbs
Political Insider with Jim Galloway
Nathan Deal gives tentative support to ‘opt in’ provision for campus-carry bill
Since the last legislative session ended without passage of legislation that would expand gun rights on college campuses, there’s been a push among lawmakers for an “opt-in” to allow college presidents to decide whether to allow guns on their campuses. The going wisdom is that the Board of Regents wouldn’t be as willing to fight the legislation since few — if any — college administrators would sign off on the changes. Yet lawmakers would still get to placate the Second Amendment advocates who roam the Gold Dome hallways. Last year’s deal fell apart when all 18 members of the Board of Regents signed a letter declaring their opposition to the changes. Since then, Gov. Nathan Deal has held meetings with legislators to hash out common ground. He’s still non-committal on the legislation, but when we grabbed him for an interview, he certainly suggested he remains a fan of the “opt in” strategy. – See more at: http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2014/01/14/nathan-deal-gives-tentative-support-to-opt-in-provision-for-campus-carry-bill/#sthash.AJTqVqbi.dpuf

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/01/13/is-teacher-education-really-a-disaster/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
Is teacher education a disaster?
One of the biggest debates in public education today is over how to best educate student teachers for the rigors of the classroom. This is the third and final part of a series on the subject by scholar Mike Rose, who is on the faculty of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and author of books that include Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education and Possible Lives: The Promise of Public Education in America. …By Mike Rose
College and university-based teacher education programs vary considerably by size, region, student body, nature and focus of curriculum, talent of instructional staff, status within home institution, balance of coursework and practice, relation with local district, and more. Some are excellent, some are good and experimenting with ways to get better, some are weak in some respects but decent in others, some are marginal and poorly run.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Shared-Governance-Tenure-and/143947/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Shared Governance, Tenure, and Academic Freedom Are Worth the Trouble
Online learning doesn’t have to be a Faustian bargain
By William Pannapacker
In a recent essay in The Chronicle, Kevin Carey urged readers to embrace technology, not tenure: “Shared governance, tenure, and academic freedom in the classroom are both indefensible and not worth the trouble.” The solution to academe’s woes, Carey seemed to argue, will involve getting rid of all three, expanding the use of online course delivery (presumably MOOCs), and turning professors—”the good ones, anyway”—into intellectual free agents who sell their expertise on the open market.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-beta/back-future
Back to the Future
Nathaniel Levy
At least with movies, the sequels rarely live up to the original. A little over two years into the great “disruption” what, if anything, can we say about MOOCs now that the version 2.0s are here? To find out, let’s go back to the future. 2012-2013 was called the “Year of the MOOC” by the New York Times. MOOC-related hype was everywhere. Expectations were high and outcomes were hard to predict. The courses were “experiments”—and producing them was exhausting.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/01/14/english-professor-scans-landscape-upon-forced-retirement-essay
Academe Quits Me
By D.G. Myers
Earlier this month I stepped into a classroom to begin the last semester of a 24-year teaching career. Don’t get me wrong. I am not retiring. I am not “burned out.” The truth is rather more banal. Ohio State University will not be renewing my three-year contract when it expires in the spring. The problem is tenure: with another three-year contract, I become eligible for tenure. In an era of tight budgets, there is neither money nor place for a 61-year-old white male professor who has never really fit in nor tried very hard to.

www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/column/2014-01-13/commentary-teacher-state-punishes-its-employees?utm_source=Morris%20Digital%20Works&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlinesfromSavannahnow.com#.UtVOYCjGEeU
Commentary: Teacher: State punishes its employees
By MELISSA MCCOY
I have been a teacher in Chatham County for seven years; before that, I worked another five as a revenue agent with the Georgia Department of Revenue. This year, the State of Georgia rewarded all state employees, current and retired, with a change to our insurance benefits that will prove catastrophic to many, such as myself, who are battling serious illnesses and still choosing work over disability. …This year, state employees found all their options for health insurance taken away. Our HMOs, PPOs and HRAs were replaced by one provider and one plan: the Blue Cross/Blue ShieldS HRA plan. Our only choice was between a high deductible and a high premium.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/60106/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=4c0c811aba3248e1a81d6e83e3d40f15&elqCampaignId=173
Fighting Inequality: Is Higher Ed Creating a New Class of Highly Educated Poor?
By Emil Guillermo
You’ll hear a lot these days about income inequality. But does higher ed only make matters worse? Here’s a typical middle-class situation in which both husband and wife work and the family still struggles to get by. Both are lucky to have jobs and make a combined average of $120,000. Good? Not by today’s corporate level standards. Add to our hypothetical family a kid who gets into a great college. But that’s no cause for celebration.

www.dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140110-can-upward-mobility-cost-you-your-health.ece
Can upward mobility cost you your health?
By Gregory E. Miller, Edith Chen and Gene H. Brody
Gregory E. Millerand Edith Chen are professors of psychology and fellows of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. Gene H. Brody is professor of human development and family studies and the director of the Center for Family Research at the University of Georgia.
Americans love a good rags-to-riches story. Even in an age of soaring inequality, we like to think that people can still make it big here if they work hard and stay out of trouble. The socioeconomic reality of most of the last four decades — stagnant wages, soaring income and wealth inequality, and reduced equality of opportunity — have dented, but not destroyed, the appeal of the American dream. Those who do climb the ladder, against the odds, often pay a little-known price: Success at school and in the workplace can exact a toll on the body that may have long-term repercussions for health.

www.realclearmarkets.com
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2014/01/13/environmental_obstructionists_are_harming_the_environment_100836.html
Environmental Obstructionists Are Harming the Environment
By Jeffrey Dorfman
Jeffrey Dorfman is a professor of economics at the University of Georgia
Environmentalists spend some of their time and energy on positive campaigns, trying to change things for the better (as they see it). Unfortunately, they also spend a lot of time being obstructionists and blocking progress. In many cases, the environmentalists’ obstructionism actually ends up harming the environment. The two most obvious examples are the Keystone Pipeline and GMO foods.

Education News
www.gainesvilletimes.com
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/94160/
Speakers oppose Common Core education standards
Opponents say classroom standards lack rigor, are tied to social issues
By Carly Sharec
Nearly 100 residents attended a meeting Monday in Gainesville with speakers against education standards that have been adopted by multiple states in the country, including Georgia.
“Confronting the Common Core,” presented by Concerned Women for America of Georgia in partnership with the American Principles Project, portrayed the standards as academically weak while being invasive of student privacy.

www.tampabay.com
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/florida-education-leaders-recommend-changes-to-controversial-common-core/2160761
Florida education leaders recommend changes to controversial Common Core benchmarks
Kathleen McGrory, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE — Hoping to incorporate public input and assuage criticism, state education officials on Monday released 98 proposed changes to the controversial Common Core State Standards and christened them the Florida Standards. The suggestions represent additions and minor tweaks to the national benchmarks, which have been adopted in more than 45 states and outline what students should know at each grade level.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/George-Siemens-Gets-Connected/143959/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
George Siemens Gets Connected
By Steve Kolowich
Arlington, Tex.
When George Siemens was in the seventh grade, in the early 1980s, he committed what his parents believed to be a sin: He used a computer. It was a Commodore PET, a precursor of the personal computers that would soon reshape the world and everything in it. To his parents, conservative Mennonites, the computer was akin to a false idol. They held that technology—and higher education, for that matter—steered people away from God. But Mr. Siemens had made his choice. And decades later—in 2008, when he was a researcher at the University of Manitoba—he helped invent the massive open online course, or MOOC.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/14/budget-negotiators-reach-deal-would-increase-nih-spending-pell-grant-award
Accord on Appropriations
By Michael Stratford
WASHINGTON — Congressional budget negotiators on Monday reached an agreement on funding levels for individual federal programs that would increase spending on the National Institutes of Health and student aid programs. The accord, which would finance the federal government through through September, restores many — but not all — of last year’s across-the-board budget reductions to scientific research and campus-based aid. Advocates for higher education and research funding described the proposal as a mixed bag.

Related article:
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Budget-Agreement-Would-Give/143999/?cid=at
Budget Agreement Would Give NIH and Pell Grants a Boost

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/common-apps-board-begins-review-of-organization-and-technology/37539?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Common App’s Board Begins Review of Organization and Technology
by Eric Hoover
The Common Application’s Board of Directors has hired a consulting firm to conduct a “complete and expeditious review” of the organization’s structure and technology, according to emails the board recently sent to members. As Nancy Griesemer, an independent college counselor and blogger, first reported on Monday, the board held an “off-cycle” meeting in December to discuss the technical problems that have dogged the revamped online application since last summer.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/college-registrar-creates-the-yelp-of-higher-education-software/49267?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
College Registrar Creates the ‘Yelp’ of Higher-Education Software
by Megan O’Neil
Education technology now has its own version of popular, user-generated review sites like Yelp and Amazon. Mark A. Baker, associate registrar at Whitworth University, in Spokane, Wash., last week made public Software PhD, which is designed to allow educators and vendors to exchange frank, constructive views about education software.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/14/mla-meeting-digital-humanists-share-both-research-and-success-stories
Digital Humanities in Demand
By Carl Straumsheim
CHICAGO — Have the digital humanities gone mainstream? Sessions on the role of technology in humanities scholarship at the Modern Language Association’s annual meeting last week may have made up less than 10 percent of the conference’s overall schedule (and almost everything seemed overwhelmed by the tumult over the Israel censure vote), but speakers and attendees alike said they felt the contents of those sessions had changed from previous years. While earlier conferences often discussed the potential of the digital humanities, this year’s meeting frequently featured traditional research methods alongside data visualization, gaming and text mining.

www.chronicle.com
https://chroniclevitae.com/news/272-mla-subconference-wrap-up-if-you-feed-them-they-will-come?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
MLA Subconference Wrap-Up: If You Feed Them, They Will Come
Sydni Dunn
Staff Reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education
In the days leading up to last week’s Modern Language Association convention, a surprising amount of talk swirled around an unaffiliated shadow conference in the same city. The upstart MLA Subconference, held at Columbia College Chicago last week, was billed as a free, two-day gathering of primarily graduate students, contingent workers, and autonomous intellectuals who wished to discuss issues facing higher education. So how’d it come off? Pretty well, say the event’s organizers. And according to participants and attendees I spoke with, the inaugural meeting exceeded expectations.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/14/ucla-produces-statement-designed-protect-faculty-inappropriate-open-records-requests
Protecting Faculty Records
By Colleen Flaherty
Saying that “frivolous” open records requests for faculty members’ emails and other communications have a potential chilling effect on academic freedom, a joint faculty-administrative body at the University of California at Los Angeles has drafted a first-of-its-kind statement to protect the confidentiality of frank, collaborative exchanges among scholars discussing their research.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/14/study-finds-countries-fund-freely-and-regulate-loosely-have-best-higher-ed
Recipe for Strong Higher Ed
By Bernard Lane for The Australian
Governments that are tight-fisted and keen to exercise control are least likely to preside over a higher education system of quality. In a paper on what sets apart strong national systems, the University of Melbourne’s Ross Williams and colleagues point out that most countries with high output in teaching and research put in plenty of resources. The authors also stress the role of government policy and regulation that allows universities freedom to innovate, manage their affairs and attract talented staff.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/14/mesas-committee-academic-freedom-has-rejected-boycotts-while-condemning-abuses
Another Approach
By Elizabeth Redden
Amid the clamor over the American Studies Association’s resolution endorsing the boycott of Israeli universities, the Middle East Studies Association has been more or less silent. The association’s Committee on Academic Freedom last weighed in on the subject of academics boycotts in 2005, issuing a letter opposing them after Britain’s Association of University Teachers approved a resolution to cut off academic cooperation with Haifa and Bar-Ilan Universities. “We find thoroughly objectionable the call of the AUT to refrain from any and all scholarly interaction with the entire professional staff of two universities because of the policies of the state in which they are situated,” the committee wrote then.
Asked today about MESA’s stance on the boycott, the association’s leaders still point to that 2005 letter of opposition.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/former-chair-of-house-education-committee-will-retire/71369?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Former Chair of House Education Committee Will Retire
By Nick DeSanits
Rep. George Miller of California, a former chairman of the House of Representatives’ education committee who now serves as its top Democrat, announced on Monday that he would retire after four decades in Congress. As the committee’s chairman, Mr. Miller helped lead efforts to revamp the federal student-loan system, such as the 2010 legislation that ended bank-based student lending.

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www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/14/george-miller-veteran-lawmaker-higher-education-issues-retire
Rep. Miller Calls It Quits