University System News
2014 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION NEWS:
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/university-system-of-georgia-looks-at-privatizing-/ncsHk/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1
University System of Georgia looks at privatizing student housing
BY JANEL DAVIS – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
The University System of Georgia wants to get out of the student housing business, and officials want a tax exemption to help them do it. The plan would involve the University System’s Board of Regents shifting a collection of campus dorms to a private company in a long-term lease deal. The system would retain ownership of the buildings and land, but the company would operate and maintain the facilities.
USG NEWS:
www.timesfreepress.com
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/jan/20/georgia-university-system-to-consider-ban-on/
Georgia university system to consider tobacco ban on campuses
by David Cobb
On the way back to his apartment on the residential property of Dalton State College, Timon Wilson will sometimes make a quick stop. He is not a chain smoker, but as an 18-year-old freshman experiencing the rigors of college life for the first time, Wilson puffs an occasional cigarette after class. …With the exception of the smoking hut Wilson visits, Dalton State is a tobacco-free campus. In a 2008 survey at the school, 67 percent of participants voted for the ban, which includes smokeless forms of tobacco. But even the occasional smoke in a designated area by Wilson and other college students across Georgia may become a thing of the past in 2014. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia that oversees Dalton State, the University of Georgia and 29 other universities and colleges in Georgia heard a proposal to ban all forms of tobacco on member campuses at its first meeting of the year.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2014-01-20/city-matching-funds-not-needed-bond-funding?v=1390266407
City matching funds not needed to fund new GRU cancer center
State finance director says $45 million is available
By Tom Corwin and Susan McCord
Staff Writers
Augusta officials are scrambling to add $8 million in funding to help Georgia Regents University save more than $40 million in funding for a new cancer center. But a top state finance director said the money is already available and no matching funds are needed.
www.unionrecorder.com
http://www.unionrecorder.com/local/x1427967698/Communiversity-on-stand-by
Communiversity on stand by
Kyle Collins
The Union-Recorder
MILLEDGEVILLE —The former Shaw Building patiently awaits an exciting communiversity rebirth. While the final lease-purchase contract hasn’t received City of Milledgeville signatures to move forward, leadership behind the conceptual community-based public-private partnership encouraging learning, entrepreneurism and economic development are hard at work. Georgia College Associate Professor of Marketing Dr. Renée J. Fontenot said organizational action began months ago.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/uga-president-delivers-first-state-of-the-college-/ncrzP/
UGA president delivers first state of the college speech on Thursday
By Janel Davis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
University of Georgia President Jere Morehead is scheduled to deliver his inaugural state of the university speech on Thursday. Morehead, 56, took over the state’s flagship university last July, and was formally installed as president in November. Before taking the position, Morehead served as UGA’s provost. He began at the university in 1986 as a business professor. Morehead’s speech begins at 2 p.m. in the UGA Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.
www.usatodayeducate.com
http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/pulse/college-campuses-at-the-head-of-gun-debate
College campuses at the head of gun debate
By Valentina Caval
USA Today Collegiate Correspondent
Gun-rights advocates continue to press state legislatures to permit the carrying of concealed weapons on public universities—bringing the issue of gun control to college campuses across the USA. Guns remain banned from most college campuses, but pro-gun advocates have been lobbying for change at several universities, most recently in Florida, Georgia and Pennsylvania… Florida is not the only southern state debating gun-rights. Georgia legislators are expected to debate a law that would allow college students to carry guns, according to FOX News. Currently, Georgia Tech prohibits the carrying of weapons on areas of campus other than people in the law enforcement community. Robert Eagar — an alumnus at Georgia Tech and a leader in its Students for Concealed Carry chapter — shares a similar sentiment to Friday.
www.saportareport.com
http://saportareport.com/blog/2014/01/another-historically-black-university-faces-weak-finances-negative-credit-rating/?utm_source=Saporta+Report+List&utm_campaign=af93d23228-SR01_20_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bea7737106-af93d23228-232132309
SaportaReport
Another historically black university in Georgia faces weak finances, negative credit rating from Moody’s
By David Pendered
Another historically black university in Georgia has been dinged by a credit rating agency that reported the school had just 20 days of cash on hand on June 30, 2013 and now faces a $2 million shortfall. Fort Valley State University received a negative outlook from Moody’s Investors Services in a rating action dated Dec. 18. The rating came despite Fort Valley’s affiliation with the University System of Georgia, a relation that has helped Fort Valley in the past.
www.wabe.org
http://wabe.org/post/georgia-tech-begins-first-mooc-based-degree-program
Georgia Tech Begins First MOOC-Based Degree Program
By MARTHA DALTON
Georgia Tech is offering a first-of-its-kind master’s degree program in computer science. Classes for the program are taught entirely through Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs. Several U.S. colleges offer MOOCs to undergraduates. The online classes are free and students can’t earn credit for them. Critics say that’s why many students don’t finish the courses. But Dr. Zvi Galil, the Dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Computing, says this program is more comprehensive.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2014-01-18/uga-programs-kindle-students-entrepreneurial-fires
UGA programs kindle students’ entrepreneurial fires
By LEE SHEARER
A former Miss Georgia, a big University of Georgia football player, a young man who delivers Meals on Wheels on a bicycle and a cartoonist for UGA’s student newspaper are among dozens of students hoping to shape their entrepreneurial ideas into reality this semester. About 50, including a handful who already have started businesses, packed a classroom in UGA’s Sanford Hall last week at a kickoff meeting for two semester-long programs sponsored by the Terry Entrepreneurship Program, part of UGA’s Terry College of Business. One program is the college’s annual “Next Top Entrepreneur” competition, in which students compete for a $5,000 prize and possible investment capital as they pitch their business ideas.
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/your-good-news/2014-01-17/armstrong-history-professor-honored-posthumously?utm_source=Morris%20Digital%20Works&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlinesfromSavannahnow.com#
Armstrong History professor honored posthumously
The Ossabaw Island Foundation recently honored the late Armstrong Atlantic State University History professor Dr. Mark A. Finlay as an Ossabaw Fellow at the non-profit organization’s annual meeting on Jan. 9 in Savannah. At the time of his death in October of 2013, Dr. Finlay was completing research for a book on the environmental history of coastal Georgia, with emphasis on Ossabaw Island, Ga.
www.palmbeachpost.com
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/feed/business/personal-finance/7-things-you-need-to-know-today/fWz64/
7 Things You Need to Know Today
By Laura Lorber
Inc.com
A roundup of the day’s news that can help you and your business succeed. 1. Twitter Means Business: Get ready to trim that sales pitch to 140 characters. Twitter is said to be nearing a deal with payments startup Stripe, and the social platform could become a full-fledged ecommerce tool. –Inc.com 2. Word to Crowdfunders: Looking to Kickstarter to raise funds for your next brilliant project? A study from Georgia Tech lists the best and worst 100 phrases for crowdfunding campaigns. –GigaOm
USG VALUE:
www.gwinettdailypost.com
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2014/jan/17/internet-exchange-project-connects-ggc-chinese/
Internet exchange project connects GGC, Chinese students
By Keith Farner
LAWRENCEVILLE — As a native of China, Rong Liu wishes he had the chance to interact in English with people across the world when he learned the language. As an assistant professor of English at Georgia Gwinnett College, the Suwanee resident is making that possible for students through something called the Language Exchange Pal Project. Liu, an assistant professor of English for academic purposes and his colleague, Hsi-Ling Huang, have expanded lessons about the Chinese language and culture through this project which complements classroom learning, cultural immersion and multimedia, according to a news release.
www.nerdwallet.com
http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/nerdscholar/2014/nerdscholar-favorites-top-coop-programs/
NerdScholar Favorites: Top Co-Op Programs
by Alexandra
Co-ops have long provided college students a way to earn money, gain valuable work experience, and position themselves for a full-time job after graduation, all while working toward a degree. Since its inception in 1906 at the University of Cincinnati, the co-op program, or cooperative education, has continued to gain popularity among students in all majors… After reviewing a multitude of co-op programs at schools across the country, here are seven of NerdScholar’s favorites… Georgia Institute of Technology: The largest voluntary co-op program in the nation, Georgia Tech filters 35 percent of its undergrads through co-op.
www.cnn.com
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2014/01/19/peter-swire-nsa.cnn.html
Obama adviser breaks down new spy limits
January 19, 2014
Peter Swire, 1 of 5 experts on Obama’s NSA adviser panel explains Obama’s new NSA changes & what they mean for Americans
www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/nsa-obama-speech_n_4619633.html
Member Of Panel Tasked With NSA Oversight ‘Quite Pleased’ With Obama’s Speech
Matt Sledge
Civil liberties groups are offering faint praise, at most, for the surveillance reforms outlined in President Barack Obama’s Friday speech on the National Security Agency, but the White House-appointed NSA review panel seems to be happy. And with the review panel on board, Obama will have one less headache to worry about. “His speech was excellent. I was quite pleased,” said University of Chicago Law School Professor Geoffrey Stone, a member of the panel. “I think at the high level of altitude, he stated the issues very well — explained the nature of continuing threats, which are real, but also explained the necessity of reviewing things.” The panel, which also included former acting CIA head Michael Morell, Harvard Law Professor Cass Sunstein, Georgia Institute of Technology Professor Peter Swire, and former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, surprised the political world last month with a surprisingly tough set of recommendations for NSA reforms.
www.theguardian.com
http://www.theguardian.com/media/media-blog/2014/jan/19/broadcasters-us-drop-pilot-tv-showson
US broadcasters are dropping the pilot – and picking up better television
Data gathered by platforms like Netflix, combined with TV executive instinct, are creating shows that audiences really want
Posted by Emily Bell
What is the best way to pick a winning TV show? For decades in the US broadcast industry the answer has been a creative “running of the bulls” known as pilot season. It starts now with a script frenzy and ends in the autumn when the new shows air and are either lauded and recommissioned into television eternity, killed instantly, or limp along for two or three seasons before dying a silent and unremarkable death… In a brilliant piece of exploratory technology journalism, the Atlantic writer Alexis Madrigal and Georgia Tech professor Ian Bogost recently took apart the Netflix algorithmic box of tricks which delivers more than 76,000 different types of viewing experience to its subscribers.
www.news.discovery.com
http://news.discovery.com/earth/plants/soil-dwellers-dna-may-change-as-planet-warms-140117.htm
Soil Dwellers’ DNA May Change as Planet Warms
BY TIM WALL
Even the ground beneath our feet may be changing as the climate warms. Communities of tiny, soil-dwelling lifeforms, or microbes, changed after above-ground temperatures were artificially raised for 10 years, in a recently completed experiment in Oklahoma. “In models of climate change it is a black box (for) what happens to the carbon in soil,” said study co-author Kostas Konstantinidis of Georgia Tech in a press release.
www.arstechnica.com
http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/01/is-your-refrigerator-really-part-of-a-massive-spam-sending-botnet/
Is your refrigerator really part of a massive spam-sending botnet?
Ars unravels the report that hackers have commandeered 100,000 smart devices.
by Dan Goodin
Security researchers have published a report that Ars is having a tough time swallowing, despite considerable effort chewing—a botnet of more than 100,000 smart TVs, home networking routers, and other Internet-connected consumer devices that recently took part in sending 750,000 malicious e-mails over a two-week period… I contacted Paul Royal, a research scientist at Georgia Tech who specializes in network and system security, and I asked for his take on the Proofpoint report and the additional information provided by Knight. He was skeptical, too.
www.boingboing.net
Crowdfunding phraseology: which descriptive words correlate with success?
Crowdfunding phraseology: which descriptive words correlate with success?
Cory Doctorow
In “The Language that Gets People to Give: Phrases that Predict Success on Kickstarter” (PDF), a paper for the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, Georgia Tech researchers from the School of Interactive Technology present the results of their statistical analysis of every single Kickstarter since June 2, 2012. The study attempted to determine which words and phrases correlated with success or failure in a Kickstarter campaign, after controlling for funding goals, video, social media connections, categories and pledge levels.
GOOD NEWS:
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2014/jan/17/ggc-installs-permanent-art-collection/
GGC installs permanent art collection
By Keith Farner
LAWRENCEVILLE — Carolina Blatt-Gross figured if her Georgia Gwinnett College art students were involved in original art work, they would connect more with their course content and environment. The finished products of that idea now hang on the second floor of the GGC Student Center, the school’s Center for Teaching Excellence and the School of Liberal Arts’ dean’s suite. …“Most students take art appreciation to meet a core requirement, so participating in the full arc of artistic production from conceptualization to installation seemed a great way to make the content more meaningful,” said Blatt-Gross, an assistant professor of art. “Students tend to be more invested in their campus and have more positive feelings toward it if they have some control over its appearance.” Four classes participated in the project that took about six weeks to finish the art that was designed using acrylic paint on canvas for nine works. Blatt-Gross said she hoped the project caused her students to better communicate in visual terms.
RESEARCH:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2014-01-20/uga-research-farm-oconee-be-dedicated-today
UGA research farm in Oconee to be dedicated today
By LEE SHEARER
Federal, state and local politicians will join University of Georgia President Jere Morehead and other UGA administrators today to dedicate the university’s new research farm in Oconee County. Already about 20 research projects are underway on the farm near Watkinsville in areas such as sustainable grazing, carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2014-01-15/researchers-say-niacin-could-prevent-colon-cancer
Researchers say niacin could prevent colon cancer
Niacin tames colon inflammation, cancer
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
David Harbeson has been taking niacin for years to help with his cholesterol levels and to boost the HDL or good cholesterol. Now researchers at Georgia Regents University say it might also be protecting him from colon inflammation and colon cancer. …It is further evidence of a remarkable balance for good health maintained between bacteria in the gut, diet, and the body, the GRU researchers said.
www.bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/wearable-tech-pioneer-on-the-future-of-google-glass-wP_for5YTc~lqgCwy1He7Q.html
Wearable Tech Pioneer Predicts Google Glass Future
(Bloomberg) — Georgia Tech Director of Contextual Computing Group Thad Starner discusses wearable computing and Google Glass technology on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg West.”
www.azorobotics.com
http://www.azorobotics.com/news.aspx?newsID=5159
Novel Control System Makes Robots More Intelligent
Using arm sensors that can “read” a person’s muscle movements, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have created a control system that makes robots more intelligent. The sensors send information to the robot, allowing it to anticipate a human’s movements and correct its own. The system is intended to improve time, safety and efficiency in manufacturing plants.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/opinion/were-giving-schools-money-and-flexibility/ncq6J/
We’re giving schools money and flexibility
BY NATHAN DEAL
My overarching priority for the 2014 legislative session is to ensure that we build a strong educational foundation for every student in our state. That’s why my budget calls for the addition of $547 million for k-12 education, the largest single increase in k-12 funding in seven years. Though the state budget has not included teacher furloughs or decreased instructional days since I took office, this additional funding will provide our local school systems with the resources and flexibility to address the most critical needs of their students and teachers.
www.politifact.com
http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2014/jan/21/nathan-deal/deal-says-more-working-georgia-financial-crisis/
The Truth-O-Meter Says: “(M)ore Georgians have jobs than at any other time since October 2008.”
Deal says more working in Georgia since financial crisis
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal sounded as optimistic as Ronald Reagan in the early moments of his State of the State address. “The state of our state is excellent and it is a great day in Georgia,” the Republican said. Excellent is a strong word considering the economic doldrums that Georgia has faced since 2008, when the American financial system nearly collapsed. But things are getting better, particularly the job market, Deal said. “(M)ore Georgians have jobs than at any other time since October 2008,” the governor said in his prepared remarks. Is this correct, we wondered.
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/opinion/cost-of-excellence/ncqqL/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1
SPENDING ON SCHOOLS
Cost of excellence
BY MAUREEN DOWNEY – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Here is a question repeatedly asked under the Gold Dome and never answered: How much does it cost to educate a child in Georgia to excellence? And here’s why the answer continues to evade us: No one really wants to know. Even when learning the answer will go a long way toward putting Georgia in a position to demand no-excuses accountability for results from its schools. A true estimate of the cost of excellence would force Georgia to invest far more in education than it’s willing to do, especially in rural Georgia districts that lack the property tax base to compensate for ongoing state cuts.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/jay-bookman/2014/jan/20/georgians-are-already-winners-2014-elections/
Jay Bookman
Georgians are already winners in 2014 elections
Elections matter. Obviously, they matter because they determine who holds important decision-making positions, such as governor and president. But they matter in less obvious ways too. For example, November may still be a long way off, but the 2014 elections have already had a marked effect under the Gold Dome in Atlanta. The realization that Georgia Democrats will have a viable, articulate and well-funded candidate on the ballot for governor this fall is changing both the policies that are being implemented by Georgia Republicans as well as the rhetoric used to defend those policies. Take Wednesday’s State of the State speech by Gov. Nathan Deal.
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/opinion/students-need-soft-skills-hard-facts/ncnw5/
Students need soft skills, hard facts
BY PETER SMAGORINSKY
Peter Smagorinsky is Distinguished Research Professor of English Education at the University of Georgia.
Hank Huckaby, chancellor of the University System of Georgia, was feted by Gov. Nathan Deal last spring with the proclamation of Hank Huckaby Day. Among Huckaby’s own proclamations in the days surrounding his day of recognition was his statement that Georgians are not filling employment needs “because students are studying the wrong things. … If you can’t get a job, and you majored in drama, there’s probably a reason.” Although Huckaby’s beliefs referred to students in college, they are often applied to k-12 school curricula. Education, from this perspective, prepares people directly and exclusively for specific jobs. Any course of study that does not serve this utilitarian end is a study of “wrong” material and unlikely to prepare one for employment.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/opinion/editorials/2014-01-18/stand-augusta
Stand up for Augusta
Georgia Regents University’s president has abused his power — and this city — for too long
By Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
The signs were all around us. No one can say Augusta wasn’t warned about Georgia Regents University President Ricardo Azziz and the increasingly negative toll his leadership would take on our community:
www.ledger-enquirer.com
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2014/01/19/2903564/in-education-any-and-all-progress.html
In education, any and all progress is welcome news
We’ll take our good news in public education whenever and wherever we can get it. As it happens, this week has brought us at least some encouragement on the education front from both sides of the Chattahoochee. First comes the report that both Russell County and Phenix City Central high schools have seen their graduation rates rise dramatically over the last two years. According to the Alabama Department of Education, the rates rose by 10 percentage points, a statistically significant increase by any standard. …Those are improvements worth celebrating — but the numbers still aren’t good enough. The state average was 80 percent for 2013, meaning neither Central nor Russell has yet reached that level, though both have edged closer. More welcome news: The state average has risen 8 percentage points since 2011, meaning both local high schools would have met or exceeded the old state average.
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/opinion/response-to-recent-conversation/ncnxQ/
Response to recent conversation
BY MAUREEN DOWNEY – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog had a range of reactions to a poll in which 78 percent of Georgians said they opposed allowing guns on the state’s college campuses. Despite concerns from the public and universities, the General Assembly is expected to take up a bill that would expand where guns can be carried, including churches and colleges. Here is a sampling of reader comments:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2014-01-18/jones-guns-dope-could-enliven-legislative-session
Jones: Guns, dope could enliven legislative session
By WALTER JONES
ATLANTA — Two controversial issues keep popping up in conversations under the Gold Dome so far in the week-old legislative session — guns and marijuana.
Many of the issues lawmakers grapple with are either very complex or painfully dull, or both, and don’t spark much passion, especially among the general public.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/jan/20/states-following-law-affirmative-action-bans/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
States following the law on affirmative action limits in college admissions
A new study finds that levels of affirmative action – defined as the percentage point advantage black, Hispanic and Native American college applicants had over otherwise similar non minority applicants – fell in eight states after such policies were banned through referenda, judicial rulings as occurred in Georgia, or administrative decisions. The study said those eight states saw a significant reduction in the level of affirmative action at their public colleges, which runs counter to a common narrative that minority applicants have an edge in getting into Georgia’s premier campuses.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/jan/16/teach-america-sends-its-graduates-classroom-and-bo/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Teach for America sends its graduates to the classroom and the board room
Teach for America has never pretended that its only goal was to place high-minded college graduates in struggling schools for short stints before they headed off to law school or graduate programs. TFA always wanted to imbue its teaching corps with an ongoing civic commitment to education and create a wave of activists working to reform education on multiple fronts.
www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-e-huot/going-away-to-college-still-matters_b_4633567.html
“Going Away” to College Still Matters
Anne E. Huot
President, Keene State College
There is a lot of discussion today about the value of higher education, what it should look like, and what it costs. Online learning and MOOCs are hot topics. These are all valid areas of discussion, and it’s important to recognize that college does look different to students of various ages, backgrounds and geographic locations. And yes, college in this country is too expensive — something that must change, while also providing the facilities, faculty, and curriculum that students need to succeed after graduation. In the midst of all this talk, however, it’s important to focus on the young people — our next generation of leaders. What are the benefits of college to these young people, who are just starting to learn about themselves?
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/01/20/the-education-departments-strange-new-report-on-teaching/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
The Education Department’s strange new report on teaching
One of the most controversial issues in public education today is the use of “value-added measures” to evaluate teachers and principals. What these measures, known as VAM, purportedly do is to calculate the “value” of a teacher in student achievement through complicated formulas that use student standardized test scores as a base. Assessment experts have repeatedly warned that VAM should not be used for any high-stakes decisions because the results are unreliable but that hasn’t stopped school reformers from VAM anyway in systems across the country, with support from the Obama administration.
www.nytimes.com
The Vicious Circle of Income Inequality
Economic View
By ROBERT H. FRANK
Almost every culture has some variation on the saying, “rags to rags in three generations.” Whether it’s “clogs to clogs” or “rice paddy to rice paddy,” the message is essentially the same: Starting with nothing, the first generation builds a successful enterprise, which its profligate offspring then manage poorly, so that by the time the grandchildren take over, little value remains. Much of society’s wealth is created by new enterprises, so the apparent implication of this folk wisdom is that economic inequality should be self-limiting. And for most of the early history of industrial society, it was. But no longer. Inequality in the United States has been increasing sharply for more than four decades and shows no signs of retreat. In varying degrees, it’s been the same pattern in other countries.
Education News
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/other-local-pensions-vulnerable-to-spiking/ncqqT/
Other local pensions vulnerable to spiking
By Russell Grantham – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Like much about pension politics these days, there’s disagreement on when pension perks are a wise employee retention policy, and when they cross over into pension abuse. Experts also disagree about how much abuse there is. Pension plans were traditionally designed to replace a certain percentage of employees’ regular pay. And traditional pensions have long reserved the biggest pay-offs for long-term employees, who typically earn their highest pay late in their careers. In these systems, pensions are typically based on an average of the last three to five years of pay. Still, critics say some government retirement systems’ rules allow senior employees to reap bigger benefits than they deserve, helping to drain pension assets and potentially leaving taxpayers and younger employees on the hook.
www.times-georgian.com
http://www.times-georgian.com/news/article_b6884f5e-8099-11e3-a672-0019bb30f31a.html
More students participating in dual enrollment
Colton Campbell/Times-Georgian
Cosmetology runs through Alexis West’s blood. So when the Central High senior learned last year that she could take cosmetology classes at West Georgia Technical College, accruing high-school credit and college credit concurrently, she jumped at the chance. “My grandmother and great-grandmother did hair, and I just love it too,” she said, walking through the halls of the College and Career Academy. …West is a dual enrollment student, one of 100 in Carroll County Schools. Students who are juniors or seniors at one of the county’s five traditional high schools or its College and Career Academy can participate in the program, taking classes either at WGTC or the University of West Georgia.
http://www.times-georgian.com/news/article_2d9d9da6-809a-11e3-95be-0019bb30f31a.html
Charity official: Homeless problem here runs deep
Winston Jones/Times-Georgian
The recent cold snap has focused public attention on homeless people in Carroll County who are living outdoors, but that is just the “tip of the iceberg” of a much larger local homeless problem, according to an administrator of nonprofit charities. “The freezing temperatures highlighted the ‘urban camper,’ the guy living under the bridge,” said Kim Jones, president of Community Foundation of West Georgia. “However, most of our homeless are living in short-stay motels, in their cars or with family or friends. These are the homeless people that nobody sees.” …The Foundation will host a Jan. 28 Homeless Summit 2014 to bring together people from all around the area to seek strategies for working on the problem. …Two speakers will lead off the event to give people a picture of the face of homelessness. Chelsea Shelton is a University of West Georgia student who became homeless in high school after her mother got cancer and could no longer work. Many people did not know she was homeless until her high school graduation.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/credit-for-moocs-effort-hits-a-snag/49573
Credit-for-MOOCs Effort Hits a Snag
The American Council on Education said last year that it would run an experiment on ways to help MOOC students redeem success in the free online courses for credit at traditional universities. But that project, like earlier efforts to turn MOOC success into college credit, has run into obstacles. “The wheels turn slowly,” Ray Schroeder, the project’s director, said in an email. “No data has been collected yet.”
http://chronicle.com/article/Bracing-for-Demographic/144085/
Bracing for Demographic Shifts, Colleges Face Tough Trade-Offs
By Eric Hoover
Demographic projections have inspired doomsayers and daydreamers alike. The sky-is-falling contingent says the declining number of white, affluent high-school graduates will sink many tuition-dependent colleges. Meanwhile, optimistic observers predict that population shifts will compel institutions to transform themselves by embracing underrepresented students like never before.
http://chronicle.com/article/Demographic-Data-Let-Colleges/144101/
Demographic Data Let Colleges Peer Into the Future
By Sara Lipka
Until just a few years ago, colleges could anticipate classes of high-school graduates each bigger than the last. Two decades of steady supply drove enrollment growth and let campuses be choosy, gathering freshmen with good test scores and parents who could pay. But those days are over. Peer into kindergarten classrooms across the country, and you will see fewer students. For every 100 18-year-olds nationally, there are only 95 4-year-olds.
http://chronicle.com/article/State-Higher-Education/144081/
State Higher-Education Spending Continues Slow Recovery
By Eric Kelderman
Total state spending for higher education showed a marked improvement, increasing nearly 6 percent between the 2013 and 2014 fiscal years, according to the results of an annual survey. Beneath the numbers, however, lies a more complex story showing the slow and uneven recovery of state budgets.
Related article:
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/20/state-higher-ed-funding-rebounds-not-yet-where-it-was-recession#ixzz2qzmAeH1a
State Higher Ed Budgets Rebound
http://chronicle.com/article/College-Leaders-Leave-White/144075/
College Leaders Leave White House Summit Inspired to Act
By Kelly Field
Washington
President Obama and college presidents set aside their differences over his administration’s proposed college-rating system on Thursday, convening at the White House for a daylong summit on college access. In a speech Mr. Obama made no mention of the system, which would judge institutions based on measures of access and affordability, and the proposal came up only a couple of times in conversations at the event. Instead, the president and the 140 college leaders, business people, foundation heads, and nonprofit executives he had assembled for the summit focused on ways they could work together to get more low-income students into, and through, college.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/60230/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=ed21dd823df4402bb193a270ec9abf1f&elqCampaignId=196
New Study Quantifies Impact of College Ratings
by Jon Marcus, The Hechinger Report
Being named a top party school by the Princeton Review could cost a university an 8 to 9 percent decline in the percentage of out-of-state students who enroll. That’s among the conclusions of a new study that measures the impact on higher education of controversial annual college rankings. Being named one of the 25 best colleges by U.S. News & World Report gets an institution 6 to 10 percent more applications than it would otherwise receive, the research, published in the journal of the American Educational Research Association, shows. Making the top 20 for academic quality in the Princeton Review pushes up the number of applications by 2.3 percent.
www.nytimes.com
Palestinians Divided Over Boycott of Israeli Universities
By MATTHEW KALMAN
ABU DIS, West Bank — The recent decision by the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli universities has sharply divided American higher education. Palestinian academics, however, have widely welcomed the move as a sign of long-overdue support from their peers overseas. Still, opinions here are not unanimous.