UNIVERSITY SYSTEM NEWS
CSU on list for potential state-funded renovations
http://www.wtvm.com/story/25645652/potential-funding-for-csu-to-add-new-facilities-for-science-majors
WTVM-9
Posted May 29, 2014
If approved by Georgia Legislature, Columbus State University could soon see a multi-million dollar expansion adding new facilities onto the science building, Lenoir Hall, as well as a new learning commons area onto the library on the main campus.
3 recommended finalists for Georgia Highlands College president announced
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/news/education/recommended-finalists-for-georgia-highlands-college-president-announced/article_7cf2aecc-e82e-11e3-8751-001a4bcf6878.html
Rome News-Tribune
May 30, 2014
Board of Regents Chair Philip Wilheit Sr. and University System of Georgia (USG) Chancellor Hank Huckaby have announced the names of the three finalists for the Georgia Highlands College presidency.
Finalists named for next GHC Presdient
http://www.coosavalleynews.com/np107217.htm
Coosa Valley News
May 30, 2014
Board of Regents Chair Philip Wilheit Sr. and University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby has announced the three finalist that will take over as the next president of Georgia Highlands College. The recommended finalist are; Anita K. Bowles, vice president for Academic Affairs, Spartanburg Methodist College, Spartanburg, S.C. Donald J. Green, vice president for Extended and International Operations, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Mich. And, Al M. Panu, senior vice president for University Affairs, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, Ga.
3 finalists named for president of Georgia Highlands College
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/e078c5aa12094ab695535fe5bc45426e/GA–Georgia-Highlands-Finalists
The Republic, Columbus, Ind.
May 31, 2014
University System of Georgia officials have chosen three finalists for the open president position at Georgia Highlands College.
Online classrooms resetting education
The Hill
June 2, 2014
The increase in online courses has been particularly pronounced at colleges and universities, which are using new technology to attract non-traditional students who need the ability to juggle other responsibilities… The Georgia Institute of Technology, for example, is now offering the first fully online Master’s program in Computer Science using a MOOC platform. “As the first in the world to try this approach, Georgia Tech intends to put real force behind the advancement of higher education through technology,” said Charles Isbell, a professor at Georgia Tech.
Report show weapons use among Georgia Regents University Department of Public Safety’s officers
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2014-05-31/reports-show-weapons-use-among-georgia-regents-university-department?v=1401575010
The Augusta Chronicle
By Sandy Hodson and Travis Highfield
May 31, 2014
There’s an area of town that DaShaun McCord avoids if at all possible: Georgia Regents University. He isn’t the only one. …The Augusta Chronicle began an investigation of the GRU public safety department’s use of force and arrests after the July 11, 2013, acquittal of Fredrick Gibbons, whom Martin repeatedly stunned during a traffic stop. The investigation covers the time span when the university was called Medical College of Georgia and then Georgia Health Sciences University. Augusta State University and GHSU merged in 2013 to become GRU.
UNIVERSITY SYSTEM RESEARCH
Georgia research center broadens focus beyond pulp and paper
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2014-05-31/georgia-research-center-broadens-focus-beyond-pulp-and-paper
Athens Banner Herald
June 1, 2014
By Walter Jones
ATLANTA | A multidisciplinary research center at Georgia Tech is the latest to expand its focus beyond the pulp and paper industry, but industry insiders say it’s not a sign of economic weakness in the digital era. …Effective today, the Institute of Paper Science and Technology becomes the Renewable Bioproducts Institute. It’s following the example of the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, which is part of Georgia Southern University.
Ever Hear of a Patent Map? They Can Help Predict the Future
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231160#
Entrepreneur
June 1, 2014
… Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of a well-drawn patent map is its predictive potential. It’s possible to play detective, using intellectual property filings to anticipate how a particular company plans to diversify or predict an overarching trend before it breaks. For example, when mapping patents from 2001 to 2006, Jan Youtie, a researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology, noticed that Samsung had noticeably more patents in the biomedical realm than other companies with similar portfolios.
Bad data hampers pedestrian safety efforts
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/transportation/bad-data-hampers-pedestrian-safety-efforts/nf97W/
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
June 2, 2014
By Brad Schrade and Andria Simmons
According to state records, Atlanta City Hall is one of the most dangerous places to drive in Georgia, maybe in the world: 7,066 car accidents were reported at City Hall over a recent three-year period. [UGA will assist in compiling data] (subscription required)
NASA to test giant Mars parachute on Earth
http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/25662613/nasa-to-test-giant-mars-parachute-on-earth
Associated Press (NRP – Chicago Sun Times, Houston News and others)
June 1, 2014
The skies off the Hawaiian island of Kauai will be a stand-in for Mars as NASA prepares to launch a saucer-shaped vehicle in an experimental flight designed to land heavy loads on the red planet. … Robert Braun, space technology professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, called the project a “high-risk, high-reward effort.”
Braille technology moves into the 21st century
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/01/braille-technology-moves-into-the-21st-century/
The Raw Story
June 1, 2014
… In an attempt to make braille more accessible, the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed an app called BrailleTouch. This transposes the six-figure braille keyboard to the smartphone.
EDITORIALS/OPNIONS/ESSAYS/BLOGS
Good Vibrations Bring Braille into the 21st Century
http://www.livescience.com/46028-good-vibrations-bring-braille-into-the-21st-century.html
Live Science
June 1, 2014
… The news that the world’s first braille mobile phone has gone on sale is a step in the right direction but it is also clear that more people need to learn braille in the first place… In an attempt to make braille more accessible, the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed an app called BrailleTouch. This transposes the six-figure braille keyboard to the smartphone.
A Good Hook
http://www.georgiatrend.com/June-2014/Neely-Young-A-Good-Hook/
Georgia Trend
June 2014
By Neely Young
Griffin and Spalding County are going green. The community between Atlanta and Macon has a new idea called an eco park. … “We want to have the first green park in Georgia,” says Executive Director David Luckie, who has been with the Griffin-Spalding County Development Authority for 21 years. “Georgia Tech did a study for us, and only three successful parks of this nature are located in the U.S.”
State lawmakers need bug lessons
http://savannahnow.com/column/2014-05-31/tom-barton-state-lawmakers-need-bug-lessons#.U4zVUcaFy25
Savannah Morning News
By Tom Barton
May 31, 2014
You work hard. You achieve. You live a better life. These are cherished American values. Except in Georgia. Here, if you’re an undocumented student and trying to get ahead, some state lawmakers act like you’re a bug to be squished — even if the federal government has given you permission to be in this country, so you can work and go to school.
Abandoning a world of ideas: Disinvited commencement speakers represent a blow to free speech
http://chronicle.augusta.com/opinion/editorials/2014-06-01/abandoning-world-ideas?v=1401663900
The Augusta Chronicle
June 1, 2014
College is supposed to open one’s mind to a world of ideas. So why are so many college students so closed-minded? And why are their colleges bowing to their demands to silence those with whom they disagree?
Time for commencement speeches to graduate?
http://www.dailypilot.com/opinion/tn-dpt-me-0601-apodaca-20140531,0,7262911.story
The Daily Pilot
June 2, 2014
By Patrice Apodaca
Is it a sign of the times that commencement speeches have become controversial? This year has been marked by a string of protests at college campuses across the country against the people invited to deliver keynote addresses at graduation ceremonies. Among those targeted was former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Some Rutgers University students opposed her scheduled appearance there because of her role in the Iraq War.
Let’s Clarify the “College Is Worth it” Conversation
http://www.forbes.com/sites/akelly/2014/05/31/lets-clarify-the-college-is-worth-it-conversation/
Forbes
May 31, 2014
The current debate about higher education has reached an odd status quo: tuition prices and student debt are up, wages for college grads are down, and the wage premium attached to bachelor’s degrees is higher than ever. We’re questioning whether college is “worth it” at the same time that completing some form of postsecondary education is more important to economic success than ever before. Parsing these trends—and figuring out what they tell us about the value of going to college—is complicated business. To do it right, you’ve got to consider all possible outcomes and the probabilities attached to them, specify the right counterfactual, consider selection effects, and so on…
Mind the Gap
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/06/02/essay-says-achievement-gaps-are-often-left-out-remedial-reform-discussions#sthash.fLlxX6Yo.dpbs
Inside Higher Education
June 2, 2014
By John Squires and Angela Boatman
…Students assigned to remedial education in college are not a uniform group, and the colleges they attend are far from homogenous. Treating them as such masks important differences in opportunity and achievement due to differences in students’ prior academic preparation, incoming skill level, age, race, income and status as first-generation college students.
QuickWire: Harvard and MIT Release Scrubbed MOOC Data
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/quickwire-harvard-and-mit-release-scrubbed-mooc-data/52977?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Chronicle of Higher Education (Blogs)
May 30, 2014
“De-identified” records of more than a million people who took part in the first year of massive open online courses offered by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been released to researchers, the two institutions said on Friday. The institutions said the records had been “subjected to a careful process of de-identification: removing personally identifiable information, using best practices including aggregation, anonymization via random identifiers, and blurring to reduce individuality of sensitive data fields, among other techniques.”
The case for student loan indexing
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_25873844/case-student-loan-indexing
The Daily Democrat
June 2, 2014
By Atif Mian and Amir Sufi
…The federal government plays a major role in the student debt markets; 85 percent of all outstanding student loans are owed to the government. Policymakers are debating reform of student loan programs, and their decisions will have an enormous impact on the manner in which students finance higher education. We believe they should recognize that the central problem with student loans is that they force graduates to bear a disproportionate amount of risk for circumstances completely outside their control.
HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS
GNTC president: Tech school graduates in demand for industry, manufacturing
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/business/gntc-tech-school-graduates-in-demand/article_73200178-e94c-11e3-9216-001a4bcf6878.html
Rome News-Tribune
June 1, 2014
With close to a quarter of all jobs in the region connected to the manufacturing sector, Georgia Northwestern Technical College President Pete McDonald said a traditional four-year degree is no longer automatically the best choice for young people preparing to enter the workforce.
Chattahoochee Tech about to mark a milestone
http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/25217811/article-Chattahoochee-Tech-about-to-mark-a-milestone?instance=lead_story_left_column
Marietta Daily Journal
June 1, 2014
Local news pertaining to higher education has been dominated for the past eight months or so by the pending merger of Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University. Almost lost in the shuffle, unfortunately, has been an upcoming milestone for another local educational landmark: Chattahoochee Technical College, which celebrates its 50th birthday this week.
Symbolic Slap at Social Sciences
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/02/house-passes-nsf-funding-bill-takes-slap-social-sciences#sthash.TECVR46n.dpbs
Inside Higher Education
June 2, 2014
By Michael Stratford
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives early Friday morning approved an increase in overall funding for research at the National Science Foundation but also endorsed an effort to pare social science studies that the agency funds.
Failing the Faith Test
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/02/erskine-struggles-find-president-who-meets-its-religious-requirements#sthash.UtMvMogV.dpbs
Inside Higher Education
June 2, 2014
By Scott Jaschik
Many religious colleges strive to have presidents who reflect the faith of the college, but many others — especially from denominations that are small — have grown more flexible on the issue.
Fired Over a Beer Can?
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/02/professor-says-charleston-southern-fired-him-over-beer-can-image#sthash.tf9T11BC.dpbs
Inside Higher Education
June 2, 2014
By Scott Jaschik
Students of Paul Roof — not to mention the many fans of his award-winning facial hair — are outraged that he was fired Friday by Charleston Southern University.
A Curriculum for the Selfie Generation
http://chronicle.com/article/A-Curriculum-for-the-Selfie/146873/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Chronicle of Higher Education
June 2, 2014
Students seldom relish required courses. They are often seen as a burden that everyone would rather get out of the way—a bit like flossing. Some colleges think they’ve found a solution: They have adopted a curricular approach fit for a generation of oversharers and made the courses all about the students. Courses with names like “Making Life Count,” “The Meaning of Life,” and “Concepts of the Self” appear in the pages of course catalogs, often as general-education or required offerings. Dozens of colleges list courses in “the good life”—helping students recognize, realize, and maximize it.
North Carolina Senate Backs Off Plan that Could Have Killed a Black College
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/06/02/north-carolina-senate-backs-plan-could-have-killed-black-college#sthash.CEHKAMZB.dpbs
Inside Higher Education
June 2, 2014
The North Carolina Senate dropped plans to call for a study that could have led to the closure of Elizabeth City State University, a historically black institution.
Harvard and MIT Release MOOC Student Data Set
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/06/02/harvard-and-mit-release-mooc-student-data-set#sthash.RPELGwZF.dpbs
Inside Higher Education
June 2, 2014
Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the two universities behind the massive open online course provider edX, on Friday released the data sets behind the data visualization tool Insights.
Oil boom sends gusher of cash to Texas Universities
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20140531-oil-boom-sweeps-money-to-texas-universities.ece
The Dallas Morning News
June 2, 2014
By James Osborne
…As the oil shale boom sweeps West Texas more than 170 years later, the University of Texas and Texas A&M are reaping a windfall from what was once cattle grazing land.
Nontenured faculty leading push toward unions on U.S. Campuses
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023740945_facultyunionxml.html
The Seattle Times
June 2, 2014
By Katherine Long
Seattle University faculty member Larry Cushnie doesn’t know if he’ll have a job teaching political science from one quarter to the next. Hired to teach from term to term, he believes a union can bring more predictability to his profession.
How campus safety could affect college choices
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/education/how-campus-safety-could-affect-college-choices
Marketplace
June 2, 2014
By Annie Baxter
Campus safety is on the minds of many college-age women these days. Female students were among the targets in the deadly attacks last week near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. But even before then, sexual harassment and assault on college campuses were making headlines. In the past couple months, the U.S Department of Education has published the names of about 60 schools its Office for Civil Rights is investigating for their handling of Title IX offenses, which involve sexual violence (see the full list here).