University System News

USG NEWS:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/a-push-to-remind-israelis-that-georgia-exists/ngQ4J/
A push to remind Israelis that Georgia exists
By Greg Bluestein
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CAESAREA, Israel — Countertop manufacturer Caesarstone decided its next manufacturing plant needed to be outside the woody hills of northern Israel and closer to overseas customers. It picked a far-flung site for its new gem: the coastal plain of southeast Georgia. …Georgia officials see potential for more growth. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Deal on Monday to talk about partnerships between institutions such as Georgia Tech and Israeli firms to develop new cybersecurity measures. Hank Huckaby, the chancellor of the Board of Regents, said he will make doing so a priority.

www.gwinnettdailypost.com
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2014/jun/23/ggc-receives-10-year-accreditation/
GGC receives 10-year accreditation
By Keith Farner
LAWRENCEVILLE — Five years after Georgia Gwinnett College received accreditation for the first time, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has reaffirmed the school at its June meeting, this time for 10 years. “This is a proud moment in the history of Georgia Gwinnett College,” GGC President Stas Preczewski said in a press release. “This reaffirmation demonstrates that the college complies with (the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges) Principles of Accreditation and meets the organization’s high standards. This accreditation is a testament to the teamwork of our faculty and staff, and their commitment to both academic excellence and student success.”

www.times-georgian.com
http://www.times-georgian.com/news/article_f1d2ca38-fb43-11e3-8398-0017a43b2370.html
UWG building to honor former dean and professor
The University of West Georgia’s business building has recently received approval by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents Committee on Real Estate and Facilities to be named J. Mark Miller Hall in honor of Dr. Mark Miller, the first dean of then-West Georgia College’s School of Business. Miller represents a myriad of “firsts” and has consistently made numerous contributions to UWG and the Richards College of Business throughout his career.

GOOD NEWS:
www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2014/06/23/3163203/bibb-school-board-revises-graduation.html
South Korean universities to collaborate with MGSC (5th article)
South Korean students will study information technology at Middle Georgia State College as soon as spring 2015. An agreement made formal on June 12 also creates opportunities for collaborative research, faculty training, faculty and student exchange and curricula development, according to a Middle Georgia State news release. Students from Mokwon University and Woosuk University will complete certification programs in information technology at Middle Georgia State that will be transferrable to their home universities.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.politics.blog.ajc.com
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2014/06/23/deal-meets-with-israeli-leader-to-discuss-cybersecurity/
Political Insider with Jim Galloway
Deal meets with Israeli leader to discuss cybersecurity
By Greg Bluestein
Jerusalem – You can forgive Benjamin Netanyahu for being rather focused on security during his meeting with Gov. Nathan Deal this morning. …Netanyahu, after briefing the delegation on the crisis, expressed interest in building an alliance with Georgia schools and firms specializing in cybersecurity. Board of Regents Chancellor Hank Huckaby, who was at the meeting, said he would work with Israeli counterparts to do so.

www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/jun/23/low-marks-teacher-training-georgia-why-cant-we-imp/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Middling marks for teacher training in Georgia. Why can’t we improve it?
The 2014 National Council on Teacher Quality review of 1,668 U.S. teacher preparation programs provides a bleak assessment of how well colleges of education are doing their jobs.
“With only 1 in 15 programs providing first-year teachers with solid preparation, it is clear we, as a nation, have a long way to go if we are going to do right by teachers as well as their students,” said Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality in a statement. In a statement on Georgia’s results, NCTQ said: Clayton State University earned national ‘Top Ranked’ status—a distinction awarded to 107 programs in the nation for overall strong performance. …“Given the increasing knowledge and skills expected of teachers, it is indeed disappointing that we could only find one exemplary program in Georgia. However, Georgia is by no means unique,” said Walsh.

www.statesboroherald.com
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/61140/
Inside Bulloch Business with DeWayne Grice – Dr. Keel: How to attract more biz to Statesboro
DeWayne Grice
Recently, I toured the site of the proposed Medient Studios off of I-16 in Effingham – A “field of dreams” idea of constructing the world’s largest movie studio 30 minutes from Statesboro. Since the tour, the company’s stock has tanked, the CEO ousted and the project has been scaled back dramatically. There is still a lot of “what if’s” that have to fall in place for this project to formally break ground. I am pulling for its success, because our community and Georgia Southern University have a lot to gain from it. I reached out to Dr. Brooks Keel, president of GSU, to get his take on Medient project and how we as a community can position ourselves to attract future projects. …Properly leveraging Georgia Southern is critical to our region’s economic success. Georgia Southern is a city within a city. GSU has an annual budget of $300 million plus, which is two and half times the budget of the city and county combined. They employee more than 2,400, which is almost four times as many employees as the city and county governments combined. Because of the sheer magnitude, I like to refer to Dr. Keel as the “Mayor” of GSU. Every decision he makes, is as critical to the success of our region as Statesboro Mayor Jan Moore or County Commission Chairman Garrett Nevil. I asked “Mayor” Keel, removing politics, budget or any other barriers, what are three things he would do immediately that would accelerate our growth.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/06/24/essay-critiques-mla-report-graduate-education#sthash.vDnvlwPB.dpbs
Don’t Capitulate. Advocate.
By 10 Humanities Scholars
We write as a group of concerned scholars in response to the recent Modern Language Association report on doctoral study in modern languages and literatures. We appreciate the efforts of the committee that produced the document and understand the reasoning behind several of its individual recommendations. At the same time, we feel strongly that this document misses two crucial opportunities: (1) To articulate the underlying structural conditions of the crisis it describes (including but not limited to dramatic cuts in education funding, the deep and ongoing reductions of tenure and tenure-track jobs, the systematic exploitation of adjunct and graduate student labor, and the expansion of senior administrative ranks); and (2) To campaign actively for the value of the scholarly practices, individual and collective, of its members.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-beta/real-double-shot#sthash.kiHDLrG1.dpbs
The Real Double-Shot
By Dan Butin
If the future of higher education is the question, Starbucks is not the answer. While the Starbucks-Arizona State University partnership got all the news last week (and far too many “venti” jokes), I would argue that we actually missed the real big story: Western Governors University (WGU) got top marks for its teacher preparation programs from the US News & World Report’s sponsored rankings done by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). The Starbucks story is glamorous, with big money, big names, and a seemingly scalable model for corporate-university partnerships. But at heart it’s simply yet another pathway into a pre-existing university system which will simply hire more adjunct faculty to teach more of the same courses in the same old way.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/academic-tech-spending#sthash.Z5IGYvoa.dpbs
Academic Tech Spending
By Joshua Kim
I’ve been spending some time with the EDUCAUSE CDS (Core Data Service) 2013 Executive Summary Report. What I’m hoping to figure out is where and how higher ed spends on technology. How much do we spend and where does the money go? These questions were in part inspired by a question that Brad Wheeler asks in his must-read essay in EDUCAUSE Review Speeding Up on Curves (January 2014): “What would it look like if we set a 2020 aspirational goal to reallocate 50 percent of the cost of administrative services (not just systems) into the core of the institutional mission—into scholarships, learning spaces, online learning, and research labs?”

www.msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-gi-bill-70-years-later
The G.I. Bill, 70 years later
By Steve Benen
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) yesterday published a tweet recognizing the anniversary of a landmark law.
“On this day in 1944, the “GI Bill” became law. For over 70 years it’s empowered generations of veterans.”
That’s right and I’m glad to see the House Speaker celebrate the occasion. But seeing Boehner’s message got me thinking about whether Congress would approve the G.I. Bill if it came to the floor today. The importance of the program should be obvious.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/shocking-secrets-revealed-what-big-libraries-pay-big-deals#sthash.t4cEpRS3.dpbs
Shocking Secrets Revealed! What Big Libraries Pay for Big Deals
Barbara Fister
For some time, librarians have questioned the wisdom of agreeing to confidentiality agreements when signing expensive subscription licenses, but many publishers seem to think they’re essential to their business practices. In 2009, Elsevier even went to court to try and stop scholars finding out what a public universities was spending on Science Direct using Washingon state’s open records law. The publisher’s argument that prices were a trade secret, and such secrecy benefited libraries failed to impress the judge, who dismissed their lawsuit with prejudice.

www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/06/24/how-arne-duncan-talked-about-common-core-without-mentioning-common-core/
Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
How Arne Duncan talked about Common Core without mentioning ‘Common Core’
Here’s how Education Secretary Arne Duncan just gave a speech that discussed the Common Core State Standards without actually mentioning the words “Common Core.” Duncan was in Texas on a trip that included an appearance in Austin at the 2014 annual convention of the National PTA, at which he gave a speech after being introduced by National PTA President Otha Thornton. In the speech (titled “A Vision for Better Education: Areas of Surprising Agreement” by the U.S. Education Department, which posted the speech here), Duncan talks about various education issues, including “new, higher learning standards that many states have adopted.” Of course he was talking about the Common Core State Standards. But the speech as posted on the department’s Web site has not a single mention of the words “Common Core” — even though Duncan used the word “standards” nine times. At one point in the speech, he talked specifically about the Core, but, again, didn’t mention the name of the initiative, according to the speech on the Web site.

Education News
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/24/public-hbcus-facing-tests-many-fronts-fight-survival#sthash.Y3AnC7Oc.dpbs
Fighting for Survival
By Ry Rivard
Elizabeth City State University faced a brief existential crisis last month when North Carolina lawmakers toyed with the idea of closing the historically black institution. The lawmakers backed off, but the episode was just one in a series of challenges facing the country’s 40 public historically black four-year colleges and universities.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/65128/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=b00dc8228253499491b47d38a22053e1&elqCampaignId=173
Corinthian Colleges, Education Dept. Reach Tentative Agreement
by Associated Press
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Corinthian Colleges Inc. and the U.S. Department of Education have reached an agreement that will allow the for-profit education company to receive an immediate $16 million in federal student aid funds and keep operating. The announcement comes just days after Corinthian cautioned that it may have to shut down because of its clash with U.S. regulators over student data and at a time when Corinthian is looking to sell off some of its schools.

Related article:
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/24/profit-chain-works-feds-phase-out-plan#sthash.5YHeivXa.dpbs
Corinthian’s Phasing-Out

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Corinthian-s-Crisis-Raises/147325/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Corinthian’s Crisis Raises Questions on an Unprecedented Scale
By Dan Bauman, Goldie Blumenstyk, and Sara Jerde
The U.S. Department of Education and Corinthian Colleges may have agreed on a way to keep the for-profit education company’s colleges open for the time being, but almost everything else about Corinthian and its fate is up in the air. And the fallout from the company’s crisis will be settling unpredictably for some time on its more than 75,000 students and the for-profit sector as a whole.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/06/24/education-department-again-delays-‘state-authorization’-rule#sthash.sLvw0Hie.dpbs
Education Department Again Delays ‘State Authorization’ Rule
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education is again delaying the deadline for when colleges must comply with a requirement that they obtain authorization from regulators in each state in which they are physically located. The rule was set to take effect next month, but the department announced Monday that it is pushing the deadline back to July 1, 2015. This is the second time the department has provided such an extension for a rule that many colleges have said is confusing. Some have also said the rule is being enforced unfairly. The regulation is aimed at setting some minimum standards for how a state approves colleges operating within its borders.

www.nationaljournal.com
http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-america/education/is-open-access-community-college-a-bad-idea-20140623
Is Open-Access Community College a Bad Idea?
The authors of the book Community Colleges and the Access Effect argue that low expectations and outside pressure to produce more graduates could doom community colleges.
By Janell Ross
A growing push to boost college graduation rates, sometimes called “The Completion Agenda,” has joined the short list of issues that enjoy support across the political spectrum. As the U.S. population becomes increasingly diverse, community colleges are often cited as the best solution for broad-based educational attainment. Currently, a majority of black, Latino, and Native American college students attend community colleges. So do significant shares of first-generation college students and those from low-income families. All told, nearly half of the U.S. undergraduate population is enrolled in community colleges. A new book, Community Colleges and the Access Effect, argues that the role that community colleges have come to play is in dire need of close examination and change.

www.news.yahoo.com
http://news.yahoo.com/faqs-u-news-community-college-directory-143000225.html;_ylt=AwrBJR98mKlTPXsA3gTQtDMD
FAQs on the U.S. News Community College Directory
U.S. News has just published its first Community College Directory. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about this new project.
Why is U.S. News publishing a directory of community colleges? U.S. News felt it was important to have key information about community colleges on our website because they play a crucial role in the U.S. higher education system. Community colleges not only educate traditional students but also put an emphasis on educating working adults. Two-year colleges have the benefit of enabling students to stay in their communities while attending classes. Many community colleges have developed partnerships with local businesses and industries to provide specialized certificate programs or other training to enable students to successfully move from school to employment.

www.finance.yahoo.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-costly-financial-aid-mistakes-143000207.html;_ylt=AwrBJR98mKlTPXsA5wTQtDMD
5 Costly Financial Aid Mistakes Community College Students Make
Financial aid helps put college within reach for millions of students, but a few common mistakes and misconceptions can cost students thousands. Community college students, who are more likely to be first-generation students and less likely to have college counseling before enrolling, are more susceptible to these errors. Experts at community colleges and college counseling centers say these five mistakes are ones students often make on the road to financial aid.

www.ngregister.com
http://www.nhregister.com/social-affairs/20140622/connecticuts-end-to-remedial-college-classes-brings-new-ways-to-help-students
Connecticut’s end to remedial college classes brings new ways to help students
By Rachel Chinapen, New Haven Register
A piece of legislation that put college dreams on hold for hundreds of high school seniors resulted in something positive: new partnerships and more conversation about curricula alignment. Signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in 2012, P.A. 12-40 requires state colleges to abandon lower-level, no-credit remedial courses and embed support into entry-level courses or a college-readiness program by the fall semester of 2014.

www.finance.yahoo.com
http://news.yahoo.com/most-community-college-experience-140000678.html;_ylt=AwrBEiFKmalTbDgAtwXQtDMD
Make the Most of the Community College Experience
By Devon Haynie
Earning a community college degree can be a daunting task, particularly for students juggling work, school and family commitments. With so much on their plates, students may feel as if the time flies by before they can maximize their success at school. But that doesn’t have to be the case, experts say. Regardless of whether community college students plan to get a job or another degree after graduation, they can get the most out of their community college experience by by being proactive about their finances, their academics and their school relationships, experts say.

www.usnews.com
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/06/24/benefits-of-college-still-outweigh-costs-fed-study-says?int=a08108
Benefits of College Still Outweigh Costs, Fed Study Says
Declining wages of those with just a high school diploma help boost the wage premium of higher education.
By Katherine Peralta
Even in the face of rising student loan delinquency rates, increasing tuition costs and still-tough employment prospects for recent college graduates, the benefits of a degree outweigh the cost, according to a New York Federal Reserve study released Tuesday. The earnings of a college degree – bachelor’s or associate – have fluctuated over time but have had average returns of about 15 percent over the past 10 years, the report showed. This is in large part because wages for those without a college degree have steadily declined, which boosts the college wage premium while worsening the prospects of the less educated, according to the report.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/24/scientists-note-nsf-push-data-mentoring-grant-proposals#sthash.LUr67v8X.dpbs
Mentor or Risk Rejection
By Colleen Flaherty
Grant applicants to the National Science Foundation lately might have noticed a new bit of commentary from reviewers: Requests for more hard data on how they’re going to mentor their students, and improve as mentors going forward.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/06/24/chasing-dollars-more-colleges-may-sell-beer-games#sthash.xbzvUlja.dpbs
Chasing Dollars, More Colleges May Sell Beer at Games
USA Today reports that more universities are reconsidering the bans many of them have had on the sale of beer at sporting events, especially football games. …But institutions such as Southern Methodist University — after an experiment with alcohol sales at men’s basketball and other games that earned it more than $100,000 in profit — will sell beer at its games beginning this fall, USA Today said.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/06/24/oregon-athletes-accused-sexual-assault-suspended-10-years#sthash.mL26MXsH.dpbs
Oregon Athletes Accused of Sexual Assault Suspended for Up to 10 Years
Three former University of Oregon men’s basketball players accused of sexually assaulting a female student will be suspended from the campus for as long as the alleged victim remains enrolled at the university, The Oregonian reported. The suspension could last between 4 and 10 years.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/24/mccaskill-campus-sexual-assault-legislation-coming-after-august-recess#sthash.62rUOPKo.dpbs
Sexual Assault Bill Ahead
By Michael Stratford
WASHINGTON — Two Senate Democrats who are working on legislation to combat campus sexual assault said Monday that they expect to introduce a bipartisan bill when Congress returns from its August recess. Wrapping up a series of roundtable discussions to solicit input on legislation, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri said that while she’s open to incorporating the proposal into the coming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, she’s also prepared to advance it separately and more quickly.

Related article:
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Is-Reporting-Campus-Sex/147327/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Is Reporting Campus Sex Assaults to the Police Discouraged? a Senator Asks

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/jp/penn-state-slowed-sandusky-inquiry-by-withholding-records-report-says?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Penn State Slowed Sandusky Inquiry by Withholding Records, Report Says
by Andy Thomason
By withholding records for more than a year after they had been subpoenaed, officials at Pennsylvania State University “undoubtedly slowed the investigation” into the former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, in a scandal that rocked Penn State in 2011, a new report says. The 339-page report is the result of an investigation led by the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office into the three-year period leading up to when Mr. Sandusky was charged with several dozen counts of child molestation.