University System News

2014 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION NEWS:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/senate-approves-budget-with-more-money-for-schools/nd66f/
Senate approves budget with more money for schools; Dems say not enough
By James Salzer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Senate backed a $20.8 billion election-year state budget Thursday that adds more than $300 million in new education spending for teacher raises and additional school days, but some Democrats said it wasn¹t enough. The spending plan for fiscal 2015 ‹ which starts July 1 ‹ was approved 51-4. Sen. Jason Carter, D-Atlanta, who is running for governor this year, and three other Democrats opposed it. The House passed its version of the budget last month, so the chambers will have two weeks to negotiate a final spending plan before the session is scheduled to end March 20.

Related articles:
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=272061
Georgia Senate backs $42B budget plan

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2014-03-06/georgia-senate-backs-42b-budget-plan
Georgia Senate backs $42B budget plan

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/senate-puts-in-extra-raise-money-for-its-own-staff/nd7KM/
Senate puts in extra raise money for its own staff
By James Salzer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State agencies next year will give many employees their first raises since the Great Recession, but the Senate wants to give the lieutenant governor¹s office and the chamber¹s budget office a little something extra. The Senators approved a spending plan Thursday that could enable Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle¹s staff and the Senate Budget Office staff to get bigger raises than most other state workers. Some who voted for the budget said that wasn¹t disclosed to the chamber before it voted on the spending plan.

USG VALUE:
www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/06/worlds-best-universities-2014_n_4914230.html
World’s Best Universities: Times Higher Education’s 2014 Global Reputation Ranking
The Huffington Post | by Tyler Kingkade
Hooray, America! In a new ranking from Times Higher Education, the United States holds 13 slots in the list of the 20 universities with the best reputationsŠ Although the list’s American universities are largely Ivy League schools, two publics — the University of California Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses — make the top 10. Penn State University, Georgia Tech, UC-San Diego, Purdue and the universities of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Washington and Texas are all in the top 50. How well state colleges did was of particular interest to THE.

www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/11-underrated-colleges-great-education-2014-3#ixzz2vHTSIZ6t
11 Underrated Colleges Where You Can Get A Great Education
Peter Jacobs
Last week, we wrote about a new ranking from QS that found that Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are the best American universities for 80% of academic subjects. However, we wanted to find out what schools shined outside of the Boston-based powerhouses. Using U.S. News & World Report’s university rankings as a reference, here are the best specific academic programs that you don’t need to go to a top ranked school forŠ Georgia Institute of Technology: Statistics & Operational Research (#5), Electrical & Electronic Engineering (#7), Materials Sciences (#7).

USG NEWS:
www.covnews.com
http://www.covnews.com/section/1/article/50514/
GPC dedicates garden to memory of Cline at Daffodil Festival
…The festival also celebrated and brought back to Newton County¹s consciousness the late Pierce Cline. Georgia Perimeter College¹s Student Government Association President Leanna Whitaker helped Cline¹s widow, Margie Cline, cut the ribbon on the brand new Pierce Cline Memorial Garden. Pierce Cline died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gherig¹s disease, in 2012. The garden is a celebration of Pierce Cline¹s legacy in helping to bring GPC to Newton County from Rockdale County, founding scholarships and helping out in various programs to promote the growth of both the school and the community. Faculty and staff from GPC helped raise the money to build the garden, which will now serve as a place of reflection and rest and as an outdoor classroom for students.

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/georgia/students-urge-uga-to-make-arch-more-accessible/nd6yT/
Students urge UGA to make arch more accessible
The Associated Press
ATHENS, Ga. — Some University of Georgia students are urging administrators to make the school’s signature arch accessible to everyone so they can participate in campus traditions. The Athens Banner-Herald reports that people with limited mobility disabilities can use a ramp to get to the UGA Arch. But Khaled Alsafadi, who will graduate this year, wants to be able to go through the Arch as other students do as part of the school’s graduation tradition. Alsafadi uses a wheelchair to get around. He can get to the Arch, but not go through it because of its steep steps leading down from the UGA campus to a sidewalk beside Broad Street.

Related article:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2014-03-06/uga-arch-accessibility-sought?v=1394103258
UGA Arch accessibility sought

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/campus/ramsey-student-center-paid-for-fee-redirected/article_c96a09e0-a4b2-11e3-a97a-001a4bcf6878.html
Ramsey Student Center paid for, fee redirected
Stephen Mays
At the end of the 2013 fiscal year, the principal cost of the Ramsey Student Center was paid in full, but the student fees are not going away. Financing for Ramsey came from the mandatory $80 student Facilities fee paid by University of Georgia students at the Athens and Buckhead campuses. This fee also funds the Tate Student Center expansion and the basic user fees for Ramsey.

www.onlinethens.com
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2014-03-07/ksu-talks-artist-after-removing-her-work
KSU in talks with artist after removing her work
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
KENNESAW, Ga. ‹ Kennesaw State University officials say they’re considering the idea of displaying artwork that school officials ordered removed from the opening of a new museum on campus. The artwork included words from a 19th-century letter by Georgia novelist Corra Harris about the lynching of a black man near Newnan. ŠKSU said in a statement this week that school officials have been talking with the artist, Ruth Stanford, and are considering re-instating the piece in the museum with “related programming.”

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/breaking-news/burned-tech-student-dies-injuries/nd7FW/
Burned Georgia Tech student dies from injuries
By Alexis Stevens
The Georgia Tech graduate student burned over 90 percent of his body last month died Thursday, the Institute said. Saamer Akhshabi was burned in a Feb. 4 explosion inside his apartment, where investigators found a suspected Molotov cocktail and several plastic bottles filled with gasoline and kerosene. Akhshabi, 26, was transported in critical condition to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died early Thursday, Georgia Tech shared with the campus.

RESEARCH:
www.i-programmer.info
http://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/7003-moocs-march-forward.html
Computer Science MOOCs March Forward
In our regular monthly round up of Computer Science MOOCs we have options that will be of interest if you want to undertake a course of study rather than a one-off course.
For those looking to gain a postgraduate qualification in Computer Science the news this month is that the application period for the Fall 2014 intake fpr Georgia Tech Online Masters of Science in Computer Science Online opened on March 3 and will close on May 11. Š By enrolling in the class, you’ll get project-planning advice and feedback on what you build to improve your portfolio. You’ll also have a personal Coach throughout the course who will review your code, provide guidance on your project, answer questions about the class, and help keep you on track when you need it. After your final project review, you’ll also go through an exit interview that Udacity will use to issue a verified certificate of accomplishment that is recognized by leading tech employers.

www.techcrunch.com

TC Makers: Check Out The Georgia Tech Invention Studio Where Students Build The Future

TC Makers: Check Out The Georgia Tech Invention Studio Where Students Build The Future
Posted 19 hours ago by John Biggs
When you give Dr. Craig Forest an inch, he takes a mile. The mild-mannered Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Georgia Tech helped set up the Invention Studio on the first floor of a nondescript engineering building at the heart of the university¹s verdant campus. Founded in 2009, the 3,000 square-foot space grew and grew, eventually taking over the entire lobby and multiple workshops. The Studio, which features 3D printers, laser cutters, injection molding machines, and literally everything else a maker could want, is now a powerhouse and sponsors line up to donate cash to the free, 24-hour hacker space. ³A lot of the students who came out of here have started their own companies. They instantly know how to design and build things,² said Forest as he took me through the studio.

www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2014/03/07/atlanta-research-team-developing-flu.html
Atlanta research team developing flu vaccine patch
Ellie Hensley
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Less than half of the U.S. population gets their flu shots every year, and one big reason may be a fear of needles ‹ approximately 20 percent of the general population is afraid of needles and injections. But there is a new alternative on the horizon. A team at Georgia Tech, in collaboration with Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is developing a patch that could deliver the same vaccine into the skin nearly painlessly.

www.spectrum.ieee.org
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/cyborg-drumming-arm-makes-amputee-into-superhuman-musician
Cyborg Drumming Arm Makes Amputee Into Superhuman Musician
By Evan Ackerman
Gil Weinberg at Georgia Tech designs robots that make music. Not robots that play music, but robots that can actually create music, creatively improvising new melodies based on analysis of existing ones, allowing them to have jam sessions either by themselves, or with human musicians. Weinberg’s newest project also involves musical robots collaborating with musical humans, except in a much more direct way, with the design of a cybernetic upgrade that gives a drummer who’s missing an arm a robotic arm with a musical mind of its ownŠ Weinberg says such robotic synchronization technology could potentially be used in the future by fully abled humans to control an embedded, mechanical third arm during time-sensitive operations.

www.news.discovery.com
http://news.discovery.com/tech/alternative-power-sources/stomp-a-foot-light-1000-led-bulbs-140305.htm
Stomp a Foot, Light 1,000 LED Bulbs
BY AFP
Out at sea, gentle waves provide power for thousands of homes. In cities, dancefloor moves generate electricity for nightclubs. In the countryside, hikers use leg power to recharge their phones. It is an alluring goal of clean, reliable power free from geo-political risks — and scientists said it lies within reach, thanks to a smart way to harvest energy called tribo-electricity. And you thought it stopped at solar panels? Trace Dominguez has the lowdown on some strange new ways to harness the sun’s rays. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology said they had built a simple prototype device that converts stop-start movement into powerŠ Zhong Lin Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering, described the invention a breakthrough. “Our technology can be used for large-scale energy harvesting, so that the energy we have wasted for centuries will be useful,” he told AFP by email.

www.saportareport.com
http://saportareport.com/blog/2014/03/free-app-provides-riders-with-more-information-on-transit-arrival-times/
Free app provides riders with more information on transit arrival times
By David Pendered
A free app from researchers at Georgia Tech is the latest step toward providing transit passengers with the integrated information they need to know about the region’s public transit systems.The app now provides arrival time for MARTA trains. It previously had provided arrival times for MARTA buses and Georgia Tech’s shuttles. Over time, developers plan to add arrival data for other transit systems in the Atlanta area. “For bus and shuttle stops where there is no sign for next arrivals this app is the rider’s only source of information,” app co-founder Kari Watkins said in a statement Tech released Wednesday.

www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/atlantech/2014/03/flatiron-building-redevelopment-could.html
Flatiron redevelopment could turn Downtown Atlanta into startup hub
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
The redevelopment of the historic Flatiron Building in downtown Atlanta could trigger a startup renaissance in the city’s core. A real estate developer plans to convert the 117-year old building into an entrepreneurial hub. Atlanta Business Chronicle first reported the plans Feb. 28. If successful, the building is likely to have a gravitational pull, luring young companies to a marginalized office market. There is well-documented precedent. The Advanced Technology Development Center, a tech business incubator at Georgia Tech has helped turn Midtown into ground-zero for tech startups. More recently, Atlanta Tech Village in Buckhead has drawn startups to nearby buildings including Tower Place and Piedmont Center.

www.astrobio.net
http://www.astrobio.net/index.php?option=com_retrospection&task=detail&id=6050
From Soup to Cells: Measuring the Emergence of Life
The story of life’s origin is one of the great unsolved mysteries of science. The puzzle boils down to bridging the gap between two worlds–chemistry and biology. We know how molecules behave, and we know how cells work. But we still don’t know how a soup of lifeless molecules could have given rise to the first living cellsŠ The first step is to jumpstart chemical evolution, and get a pool of lifeless molecules to form a basic chemical network. While at Georgia Tech, Sara Walker and her colleagues developed a new model for chemical evolution based on the environment on early Earth.

www.ibtimes.co.uk
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mexican-drug-war-shows-rising-violence-leads-numbing-social-media-posts-1439038
Mexican Drug War ‘Shows Rising Violence Leads to Numbing of Social Media Posts’
By Mary-Ann Russon
Researchers with the Georgia Institute of Technology have used the Mexican drug wars to demonstrate that there is a significant link between increased violence and the growing desensitisation of social media posts. Researchers analysed the patterns of violence in four Mexican cities, using official homicide statistics and a prominent narcotics blog, together with all Spanish-language Twitter postings. “General psychological research has demonstrated that prolonged exposure to violence, whether directly or word of mouth or through media reports, can have lasting and detrimental impact including emotional numbness or desensitisation,” said Munmun De Choudhury, who led the research team.

STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2014/03/06/state-tax-revenue-rose-5-in-february.html
State tax revenue rose 5% in February
Jacques Couret
Senior Online Editor and Social Engagement Manager- Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia’s revenue from various taxes was up 5.3 percent in February, but sales tax revenue took a dive due to legislation that replaced the traditional automobile sales tax with a one-time title tax and consumer spending tempered by cold weather and snow storms.

www.mysouthwestga.com
http://www.mysouthwestga.com/news/story.aspx?list=194943&id=1015677#.UxoBfigrseU
New year brings drop in state unemployment
by FOX 31 News Team
ATLANTA, GA — The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 7.3 percent in January, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 7.4 percent in December. The rate was 8.6 percent in January a year ago. “This is the seventh consecutive month that the unemployment rate has declined,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “The rate fell because 15,928 more Georgians were employed and the number of new layoffs for January fell to the lowest level in eight years.”

www.globalatlanta.com
http://www.globalatlanta.com/article/26801/ceo-workforce-sealed-porsche-headquarters-deal-for-atlanta/
CEO: Workforce Sealed Porsche Headquarters Deal for Atlanta
By Trevor Williams
When Porsche Cars North America decided to move its Sandy Springs headquarters, it wasn’t a given that that German automaker would stay in the metro Atlanta area. “We were absolutely prepared to move if we had good reason to,” Chief Executive Detlev Von Platen told a German business conference at Emory University last week. Porsche applied its elaborate scoring system to 73 sites, weighing factors like logistics, transportation, workforce, land costs and others. Cities and states all over the country rolled out the red carpet, offering incentives designed to woo the iconic sports car brand and the jobs and prestige it would bring. In the end, Atlanta’s ability to attract and keep talented workers set it apart from the rest, along with the unique piece of property near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport where Porsche is putting its consolidated head offices and a new test track, Mr. Von Platen said.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.georgiatrend.com
http://www.georgiatrend.com/March-2014/Georgia-View-Changing-Of-The-Guard/
GEORGIA VIEW: CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Bill Crane
Few institutions place greater value on seniority and tenure than legislative bodies. These customs date back all the way to the days of the Roman Senate. As regular followers of the doings under the Gold Dome remember, order was restored in the state Senate last year following the restoration of many of the powers, granted by tradition but not by statute or the Georgia Constitution, to the lieutenant governor. But it was changes under a different dome that began the current flow of dominoes here. Georgia’s senior U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss announced early that he would not seek re-election in 2014. Three members of Georgia’s House delegation, including its most senior member, Congressman Jack Kingston (District 1, Savannah), are leaving behind the reasonably safe seats they now hold to seek membership in what remains perhaps the world’s most exclusive club, the U.S. Senate. And while this congressional trio also has plenty of competition for that honor, their seats in the 1st, 10th and 11th Districts are now ripe for the picking by an ambitious state legislator or two. …The General Assembly is thus expected to complete its work in near record time, exiting both chambers prior to St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17, and leaving only nine Tuesdays until election day, with early voting beginning as soon as April 28. Prior to this year, candidates were typically qualifying that third week of April, following the wrap of the legislative session.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/college-scorecard-next-healthcaregov
College scorecard: the Next HealthCare.gov
Roll Call
Among the many recommendations to the White House for how it could have better handled the rollout of its HealthCare.gov website was a public declaration by eight Democratic senators suggesting that established entities and companies with relevant expertise should have played a larger role in the process. In other words, the federal government shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel when much of what it’s trying to accomplish already exists. Still, this is a mistake many fear will be repeated as the administration introduces its college ratings plan.

www.blogs.ajc.com
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-forward/2014/03/06/guns-on-campus-2/
Atlanta Forward
Gun bill a huge step back for Georgia
By John Eaves
John Eaves is chairman of the Fulton County Commission.
Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech: These are names we now associate with a horrifiying image — students fleeing schools as their peers are gunned down by disgruntled loners or, more frighteningly, by their own classmates. Price Middle School and Ronald E. McNair Academy are institutions much closer to home where we recently experienced near misses: A Jan. 2013 shooting at Price wounded a 14-year-old boy; and last August, a gunman barricaded himself in McNair offices and fired at police. Miraculously, no one was hurt in that ordeal. House Bill 875 increases the possibility that Georgia students may once again be subjected to such dangers. The bill, if it becomes law, increases the chances of violence by expanding the list of public places where a concealed firearm can be carried.

www.blogs.ajc.com
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-forward/2014/03/06/guns-on-campus-2/
Atlanta Forward
Decrease penalties for law-abiding citizens
By David Sharpe
David Sharpe is president of Students for Concealed Carry at Georgia Tech.
House Bill 875 includes many reforms to concealed carry laws. The provision which has garnered the most attention is the one which would decriminalize carrying a concealed firearm on public college campuses for Georgia Weapons Carry license holders. Currently, a GWL holder can be convicted of a misdemeanor on the first offense and a felony on the second offense for carrying on campus. If 875 passes the Senate, the only penalty will be a $100 fine. This bill is a step in the right direction. Every person has a fundamental right to defend himself, and that right should not be revoked when stepping onto a college campus. The bill would only decriminalize concealed carry for those who can already legally carry elsewhere.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/how-finances-affect-college-choices
How finances affect college choices
The Huffington Post
Over the next month or so, letters of acceptance will be in the mailboxes and inboxes of millions of anxious college-bound seniors and returning adults across the country, which means decision making is in full swing from now until May 1st. The U.S. Department of Education is currently pondering the creation of a new Postsecondary Institutional Ratings System (known as PIRS) to help Americans make smart choices about their college selection.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/seven-guiding-questions-student-retention
Seven guiding questions for student retention
Educational Policy Institute
Keeping students in school seems harder than it should be. Today’s students appear to be less prepared, have more emotional baggage, and have a different set of expectations than prior cohorts. It’s arguable whether any or all of this is true, but for the average campus professional, it seems so.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/should-higher-education-produce-happiness
Should higher education produce happiness?
The Hechinger Report
It was an unexpected query for a panel entitled: “Can the liberal arts survive in an age of innovation,’’ and just one of the many dozens of discussions that have been taking place at SXSW.edu, a packed and often frantic festival of ideas, technology, workshops and networking. The questioner said his experience discussing the great books and getting a graduate degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland truly made him happy; he also acknowledged that it cost about $40,000.

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/03/06/why-a-student-privacy-bill-of-rights-is-desperately-needed/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
Why a ‘Student Privacy Bill of Rights’ is desperately needed
The growing use of technology has allowed for the collection of mass amounts of data on students. Control over personal information has been lost by students and the risks to student privacy have risen dramatically. In this post, Khaliah Barnes, director of the Student Privacy Project and administrative law counsel for the non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center, lays out a Student Privacy Bill of Rights that gives back to students control over information about their lives.

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/biz-beat/2014/mar/06/atlanta-no-2-tech-salaries-adjusted-cost-living/
Atlanta No. 2 in tech salaries adjusted for cost of living
By Christopher Seward
Before accepting a job offer, college graduates with STEM degrees and professionals in related fields might want to consider a new study that ranks cities based on average annual tech salaries that have been adjusted for cost-of-living expenses. Atlanta ranks No. 2 in the nation when it comes to offering the largest tech salaries that have been adjusted for cost of living expenses, such as housing, groceries, utilities and other necessities, according to the study by TriNet, a company that provides cloud-based human resources services.

www.za.celebriaty.yahoo.com
http://za.celebrity.yahoo.com/news/state-movie-making-capital-world-hint-not-california-170300981.html
What State Is the Movie-Making Capital of the World? Hint: It’s Not California or New York
By Todd Cunningham | The Wrap
When it comes to major movies, California is no longer the world’s production capital — that would be Louisiana, according to a new study released Thursday. Eighteen of the 108 films released last year that were produced by the major studios and the five biggest independents were shot in the Bayou State, according to the 2013 Feature Film Production Study from FilmL.A., the region’s non-profit permitting agency. Paramount’s “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” Focus Features’ “Dallas Buyers Club” and Warner Bros.’ “Grudge Match” were among the movies shot in Louisiana. California and Canada were next with 15, followed by the U.K. with 12 and the state of Georgia with nine.

www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lance-hosey/urbanization-why-cities-are-smarter_b_4914383.html
Why Cities Are Smarter
Lance Hosey
Chief Sustainability Officer, RTKL and member of the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment
Urbanization is happening rapidly. Is this good or bad?Š Thomas Jefferson was not a fan of cities, and neither were some of this country’s greatest thinkers, including Emerson, Thoreau, Henry James, and Frank Lloyd Wright, who called the American city “a parasite of the spirit.” More recently, commentator George Will has gone so far as to call urbanization a liberal plot to rob people of their freedomŠ Because higher density and mixed uses promote more casual exercise, larger cities often are healthier. A Georgia Tech study indicates that every 30 minutes per day spent in a car increases the likelihood of obesity by three percent, whereas walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods decrease it by seven percent.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/03/07/are-state-systems-endangering-our-public-flagship-universities-essay
Are Systems Bad for Flagships?
Robert Berdahl, Steven Sample and Raquel M. Rall
For much of the past century, public higher education in the United States has been governed by various forms of state university control. These ³systems² and their governing boards define and harmonize the educational interests and needs of their respective states with campus strategic plans, allocate state resources, oversee capital development, and try to buffer institutions from excessive intrusion by politicians and state agencies — important roles all. And, because state higher education systems often comprise institutions located in all regions of the state, they are believed to be able to generate more general legislative support for higher education than might be possible for any single institution.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/why-21st-century-learning-should-be-more-19th-century
Why 21st Century Learning Should Be More Like the 19th Century
By John Warner
At Higher Ed Beta, Steven Mintz, Executive Director of the University of Texas System¹s Institute for Transformational Learning, argues in ³Five Ways that 21st and 20th Century Learning Will Differ² that we are in the midst of a data-driven educational transformation. I would say that he offers predictions, except they aren¹t so much predictions as commands, as he utilizes the future imperative throughout:

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/4-ways-we-will-support-21st-century-learning
4 Ways We Will Support 21st Century Learning
By Joshua Kim
Steven Mintz¹s article Five Ways that 21st and 20th Century Learning Will Differ does a beautiful job of laying out how “teaching and learning in the early 21st century differ from its 20th century². The far-reaching developments for learning that Mintz¹s foresees include:

Education News
www.cherokeetribune.com
http://cherokeetribune.com/view/full_story/24703809/article-Common-Core-bill-generates-concern-among-lawmakers–Critics-warn-there-may-be–unintended-consequences-?instance=home_top_bullets
Common Core bill generates concern among lawmakers; Critics warn there may be ‘unintended consequences’
by Michelle Babcock
Barbara Jacoby
Local lawmakers are waiting to see what changes come from the House Education Committee before drawing conclusions on a bill that some say could fundamentally change the way Georgia adopts common education standards. Senate Bill 167, referred to as the Common Core bill, could go before the House for a vote next week, and some say it could provide a way for the state to pull out of the widely debated Common Core Standards. But some critics warn there may be unintended consequences from the bill that passed in the Senate on Feb. 25 and crossed over for review in the House of Representatives.

www.csmonitor.com
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2014/0306/Georgia-cites-educational-sovereignty-in-move-to-abandon-Common-Core-video
Georgia cites ‘educational sovereignty’ in move to abandon Common Core (+video)
Georgia was a leader in devising a ‘common core’ of education standards for 45 states. But state lawmakers are targeting the Common Core an anti-Washington crusade that could echo nationwide.
By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer
Georgia Republicans, rebelling against what they see as a federal schoolhouse grab, may succeed in a first-in-the-nation bid to derail the so-called Common Core school standards while returning more control of math, social studies, and science curricula to local school districts in the Deep South state. Common Core, the new standard for public schools in 45 states and the District of Columbia, began as a push by state governors and business interests to encourage better-educated public school graduates, and Georgia was among the leaders. But now Georgia is leading a charge to bar federal interference in what students are taught or how they are tested, including the use of federal funds to reward states that adopt the Common Core. It’s a backlash that’s playing out in states ranging from South Dakota to New York.

www.daily-tribune.com
http://www.daily-tribune.com/view/full_story/24703663/article-City-schools–Coomer-speak-on-Common-Core-bill?instance=homesecondleft
City schools, Coomer speak on Common Core bill
by Mark Andrews
During the Cartersville City Board of Education¹s regular work session on Thursday, Common Core-based Senate Bill 167, which currently aims to eliminate the standards in Georgia, dominated much of the evening¹s discussion. With the Georgia Legislative session ending Friday, March 14, Superintendent Howard Hinesley weighed in on the bill and Common Core in general. ³We support those standards and it has become a branding issue because the words Common Core have created, in my judgement, a number of issues because it¹s tied to the federal government in this state,² Hinesley said. ³…This [SB] 167 is really scary because if they eliminate the standards, you won¹t have anything to assess against, and really, if you read the standards, algebra is algebra but, under Common Core, it¹s something weird to some people. It¹s a major political issue, and if you notice, the governor has seemed to get it because he said Œwe¹re going to tweak it,¹ because he understands the [assessment] side.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/what-new-sat-will-look
This is what the new SAT will look like
The Atlantic
The College Board says it is emphasizing “delivering opportunity” to all students and making the SAT more reflective of high school academics. “It is time to admit that the SAT and ACT have become disconnected from the work of our high schools,” Coleman said in a press conference. He also said he hoped the changes would remove the “sense of mystery and dismantle the advantages that people perceive in using costly test preparation.”

www.covnews.com
http://www.covnews.com/section/163/article/50444/
New SAT: The essay portion is to become optional
WASHINGTON (AP) ‹ Essay optional. No penalties for wrong answers. The SAT college entrance exam is undergoing sweeping revisions. Changes in the annual test that millions of students take will also do away with some vocabulary words such as “prevaricator” and “sagacious” in favor of words more commonly used in school and on the job. College Board officials said Wednesday the update ‹ the first since 2005 ‹ is needed to make the exam better representative of what students study in high school and the skills they need to succeed in college and afterward. The test should offer “worthy challenges, not artificial obstacles,” said College Board President David Coleman at an announcement event in Austin, Texas.

www.jbhe.com

Will Changes to the SAT Help College-Bound Blacks?

Will Changes to the SAT Help College-Bound Blacks?
The College Board has announced sweeping new changes to the SAT college entrance examination. The test has been criticized on many fronts but one of the major complaints is that the examination handicaps college access for Blacks and other minorities. And the results on the SAT test shut out many Black students from some scholarship competitions.

www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/morris-brown-gets-approval-for-property-sale/nd7JL/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1
Morris Brown gets approval for property sale
Clark Atlanta wants say in property use
BY JANEL DAVIS – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Morris Brown College got court approval Thursday to market and sell its property through a real estate broker. But whoever wants to buy the property will have to deal with the college¹s neighbor, too. The college plans to sell much of its 36-acre campus, and has already begun marketing the property. Facing about $30 million in debt, the embattled institution filed for bankruptcy in August 2012. ŠTied up in the sale is an agreement with Clark Atlanta University involving 17 acres the university long ago gave Morris Brown. The agreement requires the land be used for educational purposes, or be returned to Clark Atlanta.

www.gainesvilletimes.com
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/96514/
United Way launches reading initiative
Adults encouraged to read to youth 15 minutes daily
By Carly Sharec
…Kendle was speaking at the Read, Learn, Succeed breakfast Thursday to kick off United Way of Hall County’s initiative to engage parents and community members in making sure all children have the opportunity to succeed academically before reaching kindergarten. “This initiative began with a conversation last summer with our school systems and the business community and other nonprofits that support education,” United Way Vice President of Resource Development Joy Griffin said. “It quickly became obvious to us … there was a need to better prepare our children to start school ready to learn, to give them the opportunity to have that great success.” She said research has shown the first few years of life are the most critical in developing the necessary reading skills to lead to that success.

www.news.yahoo.com
http://news.yahoo.com/spending-associated-atlanta-technical-college-63-million-impact-233500878.html;_ylt=AwrBEiJM8BlTcVoAPhfQtDMD
Spending Associated with Atlanta Technical College Has $63 Million Impact in Region
UGA economist: technical colleges are ‘an enduring pillar’ of state’s regional economy
ATLANTA, March 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — How much does the area served by Atlanta Technical College (ATC) benefit economically from spending that is either directly or indirectly related to the college? According to Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, it adds up to $63,965,060. The economic impact is in a new report from Dr. Humphreys that details his analysis of economic data from the Technical College System of Georgia for the 2012 fiscal year.

www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=272092
Economic impact of LTC, NGTC totals $76M
By Staff
ATLANTA – How much do the areas served by North Georgia Technical College (NGTC) and Lanier Technical College (LTC) benefit economically from spending that is either directly or indirectly related to the schools? According to Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, it adds up to more than $76 million – $40.7 by LTC and $35.2 by NGTC. The economic impact is in a new report from Dr. Humphreys that details his analysis of economic data from the Technical College System of Georgia for the 2012 fiscal year.

www.northwestgeorgianews.com
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/news/local/spending-associated-with-georgia-northwestern-technical-college-has-impact-in/article_20c7c580-a565-11e3-b29e-0017a43b2370.html
Spending Associated with Georgia Northwestern Technical College has $68,963,126 Impact in Region
How much does the area served by Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) benefit economically from spending that is either directly or indirectly related to the college?
According to Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, it adds up to $68,963,126.
The economic impact is in a new report from Dr. Humphreys that details his analysis of economic data from the Technical College System of Georgia for the 2012 fiscal year. …Statewide, the $315 million state appropriation for the TCSG in 2012 helped to train almost 153,000 technical college students, contributed to $1.2 billion in direct and indirect spending in communities throughout Georgia, and was a factor in almost 15,000 public and private sector jobs.

www.moultrieobserver.com
http://www.moultrieobserver.com/local/x334192552/Moultrie-Tech-has-a-26-million-impact
Moultrie Tech has a $26 million impact
Staff Reports
The Moultrie Observer
MOULTRIE — How much does the area served by Moultrie Technical College benefit economically from spending that is either directly or indirectly related to the college?
According to Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, it adds up to $26,095,668.

eww.savanahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/exchange/2014-03-06/savannah-tech-economic-impact-totals-57-million#.UxoHYigrseV
Savannah Tech economic impact totals $57 million
By Savannah Morning News
Savannah Technical College’s economic impact on its four-county service area reached nearly $57 million in the 2012 fiscal year through spending directly or indirectly related to the college, according to a study released by the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth, conducted his analysis of economic data from the Technical College System of Georgia for 12 months from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012. The study found that Savannah Tech’s spending results in 707 public and private sector jobs. Statewide, Humphreys reported, one in every 264 nonfarm jobs in Georgia occurs because of spending associated with a technical college system campus.

www.wctv.tv
http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/Spending-Associated-With-Wiregrass-Georgia-Tech-Has-Huge-Impact-On-Region-248898341.html
Spending Associated With Wiregrass Georgia Tech Has Huge Impact On Region
Valdosta, GA – How much does the area served by Wiregrass Georgia Technical College benefit economically from spending that is either directly or indirectly related to the college?
According to Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, it adds up to $55,199,383.

www.texastribune.org
http://www.texastribune.org/2014/03/04/algebra-ii-will-still-remain-required-course-most-/
Despite New Law, Algebra II Still a College Requirement
by Aamena Ahmed
Though a new law removes algebra II as a core requirement for a high school diploma, many Texas universities say they will not change their admissions standards to drop the advanced math course anytime soon. Instead, universities will likely continue to raise the threshold for new applicants, said Dominic Chavez, spokesman for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. “The trend has been higher admissions standards to attract and retain higher-caliber students,” Chavez said.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/idaho-lawmakers-approve-bill-allowing-guns-on-campuses/73987?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Idaho Lawmakers Approve Bill Allowing Guns on Campuses
by Nick DeSantis
The Idaho House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation that would permit concealed guns to be carried on the state¹s public-college campuses, The Spokesman-Review reported. The House passed the measure by a vote of 50 to 19. The state Senate approved the bill last month. The measure would exempt dormitories and venues such as stadiums and auditoriums that have a seating capacity of more than 1,000 people.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/61081/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=5febeb8bff424ac38b7bc68982343197&elqCampaignId=173
Survey: Coast a Growing Factor in College Decisions
by Lisa Leff, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO ‹ A new survey of the nation¹s college freshmen has found that the percentage attending their first-choice school has reached its lowest level in almost four decades, as cost and the availability of financial aid have come to play an influential role in decisions of where to enroll. The annual survey released Wednesday, conducted by UCLA¹s Higher Education Research Institute, found that while more than three-quarters of those who started college last fall were admitted to the school they most wanted to attend, only 57 percent ended up going to their top school.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/61078/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=5febeb8bff424ac38b7bc68982343197&elqCampaignId=173
Experts: Stereotyping Huge Barrier to Engaging African-American Males on Campus
by Jamal Mazyck
ANAHEIM, Calif. ­ As the diversity conversation continues at the 16th annual community college-centered League Innovations Conference, African-American male success in higher education remained a focal point. A report by Dr. Shaun R. Harper of the University of Pennsylvania, which showed Black male completion rates to be the lowest among both sexes and all racial/ethnic groups, provided the framework for a panel discussion on debunking stereotypes and engaging Black and minority men on campus.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/students-educators-call-lawmakers-restore-need-based-college-aid
Students, educators call on lawmakers to restore need-based college aid
Examiner.com
In 2009 the Ohio legislature reduced the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) from $395 million to $171 million, and required low-income students at community colleges to use federal Pell grants to cover tuition expenses before using state grants. The changes made nearly 20,000 community college students ineligible for the OCOG, the coalition said.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/maine-babies-automatically-get-500-alfond-college-scholarship-money
Maine babies automatically get $500 in Alfond college scholarship money
Bangor Daily News
Though the intent of the program established by the late Dexter Shoe magnate Harold Alfond is to provide every Maine student with a college savings account, only 40 percent of eligible babies are enrolled.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/03/07/progressive-groups-launch-new-campaign-tackle-student-debt-college-affordability
Progressive Push on Debt
Michael Stratford
A coalition of progressive groups on Thursday formally began a new campaign aimed at curbing rising student debt and reducing the price of college. The group of think tanks, student organizations, consumer advocates, and unions is targeting the country¹s ³increasingly dysfunctional system of higher education,² said Anne Johnson, executive director of Generation Progress, the youth division of the Center for American Progress, which is an organizer of the campaign.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/03/07/us-data-show-2008-graduates-hit-hard-recession
Recession Hit 2008 Grads Hard
By Andrea Watson
Americans who received bachelor’s degrees in 2008 were roughly twice as likely to be unemployed after a year than were their peers who graduated in 1993 and 2000, the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics said in a report Thursday. Mostly to blame, the researchers said: the recession. Within one year of completing a bachelor¹s degree, 2008 graduates had an unemployment rate of 9 percent, compared to 4 percent for 1993 graduates and 5 percent for those who earned bachelor’s degrees in 2000.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/61075/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=5febeb8bff424ac38b7bc68982343197&elqCampaignId=173
Alabama State University Supporters Rally over Budget
by Phillip Rawls, Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama State University students and supporters rallied in the rain outside the Statehouse on Thursday to make sure a big budget cut is restored to their university. ³Let¹s let them know we have no fear and we will fight for our institution,² university President Gwendolyn Boyd told the crowd. The education budget passed by the state Senate for the upcoming school year would cut ASU by more than $10 million, or one-fourth of the amount it got this year. Other universities would get about the same amount they are receiving this year or slightly more. Boyd told supporters Thursday to go inside the Statehouse and raise their voices for fairness.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Advocates-of-For-Profit-Higher/145233/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Advocates of For-Profit Higher Education Make Their Case to Lawmakers
By Mark Keierleber
Washington
When representatives of Tennessee¹s for-profit higher-education sector walked into U.S. Rep. Phil Roe¹s office on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, they brought with them one agenda item. In the previous few hours, they had already been in four meetings with policy makers, and they still had one more meeting to go. If the Education Department¹s pending “gainful employment” rule went into effect, they were telling lawmakers, their futures‹and their students¹ futures‹would be uncertain. The “obtuse and ill-defined” rule, they argued, would limit access to higher education for some students and impose unfair regulations on colleges.

www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304585004579417411487177766?mg=reno64-wsj
Can This Online Course Get Me a Job?
New Service Aims to Help Navigate Sea of Web Classes With Links to Explicit Employment Opportunities
By CAROLINE PORTER and MELISSA KORN
As rapid developments in online learning shake up higher education, students face a dizzying array of course, degree and certification options with little sense of which path will lead to a job. Now, efforts are under way to fill that void and offer some structure to an otherwise difficult-to-navigate and fast-growing market. Apollo Education Group Inc., best known for its University of Phoenix for-profit college, is expected to launch an “online marketplace” dubbed Balloon on Tuesday. It will start with a catalogue of nearly 15,000 technology classes from big-name course providers including Microsoft Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Coursera and Udacity, and explicitly link them to job opportunities.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/service-aims-navigate-sea-web-classes-links-explicit-job-opportunities
Service aims to navigate sea of web classes, links to explicit job opportunities
The Wall Street Journal
Apollo Education Group Inc., best known for its University of Phoenix for-profit college, is expected to launch an “online marketplace” dubbed Balloon. It will start with a catalogue of nearly 15,000 technology classes from big-name course providers including Microsoft Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Coursera and Udacity, and explicitly link them to job opportunities.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/ibm-helps-schools-train-tomorrows-big-data-professionals
IBM helps schools train tomorrow’s big data professionals
U.S. News
Between now and 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a faster-than-average increase in employment opportunities for computer and information research scientists. Several factors are contributing to this growth, including the demand for better technology, cyber security and data mining services. However, the road to becoming computer and information research scientists is a long one that requires individuals to pick up numerous skills along the way.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Johns-Hopkins-U-Plans-Its/145155/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Johns Hopkins U. Plans Its First Policy on Academic Freedom
By Benjamin Mueller
The Johns Hopkins University, long considered a standard-bearer of academic freedom, has decided it is time to formally spell out its standards on a professor¹s right to speak. In the wake of controversies over the past year that involved faculty speech, the university announced last month that it would convene a panel of students and faculty members to write the university¹s first-ever formal statement of principles on academic freedom.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/oklahoma-state-settles-anti-choice-student-group-over-campus-displays
Oklahoma State settles with anti-choice student group over on-campus displays
RH Reality Check
Last year, Cowboys for Life, a student group represented by the conservative legal advocacy organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), sued OSU officials after the university denied its request to display and hand out anti-abortion materials prepared by the outside anti-choice advocacy group Justice for All near the OSU Student Union.
According to the complaint, OSU’s policies regulating student speech gave administrators “unbridled discretion” to regulate student speech that quashed anti-choice student groups free speech rights.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/federal-accountability-and-financial-pressure-survey-presidents#ixzz2vHaK1EEO
Federal Accountability and Financial Pressure: A Survey of Presidents
Doug Lederman and Scott Jaschik
College presidents generally agree that their institutions should be reporting much more information about the career and other outcomes of their graduates — they just don’t necessarily want the federal government doing it, Inside Higher Ed’s new survey of college presidents reveals. Three-quarters of presidents say their institutions should be reporting the debt levels, job placement rates and graduate school enrollment rates of recent graduates, for instance (though fewer say they are doing so now). But just half of campus leaders agree that it is “appropriate for the federal government to collect and publish data on career and other outcomes of college graduates” (with public and for-profit college leaders much more likely to say so than their private nonprofit peers), and just 13 percent believe the government has a “good chance” of collecting such data accurately.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/03/07/students-fuel-interest-bitcoin-higher-education#ixzz2vHaacHJZ
Paying It Forward
By Carl Straumsheim
Before the University of Puget Sound could accept what has been called the first bitcoin donation to a U.S. university, Sherry Mondou had to clarify a laundry list of concerns.
³The risks that came to my mind were: Could there be a way for hacking or some way for the gift to be stolen while it¹s in process?² Mondou, the university¹s vice president for finance and administration, said. ³By accepting bitcoin, is there some association with criminal activity? The big one was, really, in the end, how could we avoid the currency volatility?²

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/03/07/debate-over-plan-break-pennsylvania-system
Debate Over Plan to Break Up Pennsylvania System
Some Pennsylvania legislators are working on a plan that would allow the larger institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education to break away and become independent “state related” universities, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/03/07/victory-u-profit-shuts-down
Victory U., a For-Profit, Shuts Down
Victory University, a for-profit institution in Memphis, is shutting down, Memphis News Channel 3 reported.

www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/towson-university-posts-lowest-campus-crime-rate-decades
Towson University posts lowest on-campus crime rate in decades
The Baltimore Sun
According to data provided by the university, the only violent crime on campus reported in 2013 was a robbery. The university reported no homicides, rapes or aggravated assaults on campus. TU Police Chief Bernie Gerst attributed the low rates, which amount to 5.24 instances of serious crime per 1,000 students, to a number of different factors.