University System News

USG NEWS:
www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2014/12/03/3459052_university-system-chancellor-addresses.html?rh=1
University System chancellor addresses Rotary Club
BY JEREMY TIMMERMAN
More than a million Georgians have started college without finishing, and Hank Huckaby wants to do something about it. Huckaby, chancellor of the University System of Georgia, talked to members of the Downtown Macon Rotary Club on Wednesday. The running theme was the University System’s efforts to operate under the “new norm” in modern education. “We know we can’t continue to do things the way we always have,” Huckaby said. One of the major programs he discussed was the “Go Back, Move Ahead” initiative aimed at getting adults to go back to school.

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/a-sense-of-belonging-minority-students-address-racial-divides-at/article_d1bcca9e-7a6b-11e4-a656-bf382d3664da.html
A sense of belonging: Minority students address racial divides at UGA
Mollie Simon
For Kalyn Wilson, attending the University of Georgia was more than just a decision about where to get a bachelor’s degree. “I remember when I was doing my research to go to college. I was looking at the demographics and the percentages of African Americans on campus because I didn’t want to go to a place that had that an imbalance,” said Wilson, a junior digital broadcast journalism and psychology major from Riverdale. “I wouldn’t say that it is a scale tipper or that I came here and feel completely out of place. I think it just becomes an issue when you have to go looking for something that makes you feel like you belong on campus.” According to the University System of Georgia’s fall 2014 semester enrollment report published at the end of October, UGA is 70.1 percent white, more than eight times the size of black community and 14 times the number of Hispanic and Latino students on campus. Because of the unequal racial makeup of the flagship university of Georgia, Wilson said some minority students may feel they will just become a number at UGA.

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/policing-ugapd-officers-train-for-worst/article_e6e1952c-7a65-11e4-8039-d73fbffbb2c5.html
Policing 2.0: UGAPD officers train for worst
Taylor West
As the semester ends, the University of Georgia Police Department is finishing the process of systematically implementing new equipment, bringing the force to increased levels of preparedness. “We are trying to plan and train for worst-case scenarios hoping they never happen,” said UGA Chief of Police Jimmy Williamson. “If we don’t think worst-case, we are going to get caught off guard.”

www.statesboroherald.com
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/64669/
Statesboro police to conduct alcohol compliance checks
From staff reports
The Statesboro Police Department announced Wednesday that it will conduct compliance checks of businesses licensed to sell alcohol this month. Before Dec. 25, the Police Department will conduct two covert operations covering retail and on-premises consumption license holders. The operations will check for compliance with state laws and local ordinances related to underage alcohol sales, the department said in a news release. …Statesboro police have stepped up alcohol compliance checks since the Aug. 28 death of Michael Gatto, an 18-year-old Georgia Southern University freshman, at Rude Rudy’s in University Plaza. A fellow Georgia Southern student, Grant James Spencer, 20, who was employed as a bouncer at Rude Rudy’s but was reportedly off-duty at the time of the incident, has been charged with felony murder and aggravated battery in connection with Gatto’s death, and the bar has since been closed. The Police Department conducted its last round of alcohol compliance checks on Oct. 11, during Georgia Southern’s homecoming weekend.

Related article:
www.statesboroherald.com
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/64664/
Georgia Southern University officials speak up as Statesboro wades back into bars vs. restaurants
Dean of students: “Changing the culture” should be focus

www.wsav.com
http://www.wsav.com/story/27531180/breaking-statement-from-georgia-southern-university-regarding-bowl-waiver-denial
BREAKING: Statement from Georgia Southern University Regarding Bowl Waiver Denial
By Ken Slats
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) today denied Georgia Southern University’s appeal for a bowl eligibility waiver after the institution submitted an appeal this week. The Eagles, winners of the 2014 Sun Belt Conference championship outright on Saturday finish their inaugural season with a 9-3 overall record and perfect 8-0 league mark. Georgia Southern will not submit another appeal as the process has run its course and taken to the highest levels that exist.

GOOD NEWS:
www.statesboroherald.com
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/64672/
Georgia Southern University’s Doctor of Psychology program accredited
Special to the Herald
The American Psychological Association’s Council on Accreditation has formally accredited Georgia Southern University’s Doctor of Psychology program in clinical psychology, the university announced Wednesday. “The Psychology Department’s achievement of accreditation for the Psy.D. program provides the program and the department with significant national recognition,” said Jean Bartels, Ph.D., the university’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “This prestigious accreditation will provide current and future students with the assurance that their program is of the highest quality and has recognition which will open doors for internships and employment after graduation.”

www.statesboroherald.com
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/64683/
Ground broken for new GSU student health center
$8.3 million project to expand student care
BY Al Hackle
If construction stays on schedule, one year from now, Georgia Southern University students will get on-campus care in a new Health Center with three times as many exam rooms as the current clinic. Officials broke ground Wednesday afternoon for the $8.3 million, 39,000-square-foot Health Center, across from the Performing Arts Center on Plant Drive. The planned facility will not be about “bells and whistles,” but meets a critical need, said Dr. Brian DeLoach, the center’s medical director.

Related article:
www.wtoc.com
http://www.wtoc.com/story/27540234/georgia-southern-breaks-ground-on-new-health-center
Georgia Southern breaks ground on new health center

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/uga-breaks-ground-on-baldwin-hall-expansion-renovation-project/article_cf5287d2-7a7d-11e4-9a49-13c1fe5b253f.html
UGA breaks ground on Baldwin Hall expansion, renovation project
Nate Harris
University of Georgia administrators, professors, students and state legislators spoke and took part in a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday afternoon to mark the beginning of a renovation and expansion project of Baldwin Hall on North Campus. The building, constructed in 1938, served as a Navy pre-flight school during World War II and now houses the School of Public and International Affairs and the sociology and anthropology departments in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/uga-college-of-environment-and-design-ranked-among-best-us/article_bb7de786-7999-11e4-8d09-5b4f951cd344.html
UGA College of Environment and Design ranked among best US schools
Nicolle Sartain
The University of Georgia College of Environment and Design was recently ranked in the top 10 best schools in the U.S. The college’s bachelor’s and master’s landscape architecture programs were ranked fourth and tenth in the nation, respectively, by Design Intelligence magazine in the 2015 edition of America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools.

www.northwestgeorgianews.com
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/sports/basketball-georgia-higlands-men-ranked-no-in-latest-poll/article_d9c38b58-7b27-11e4-86f3-0f8f70cdfa6c.html
Basketball: Georgia Higlands men ranked No. 23 in latest poll
Staff Reports
Georgia Highlands’ men’s basketball team entered the National Junior College Athletic Association poll this week at No. 23. The Chargers, in only their third year of existence, currently boast a 7-1 record with the lone loss coming to No. 3 ranked Northwest Florida State College. …“The real reason we are nationally ranked is because we are 7-1 but the big thing is that to be nationally ranked you have to beat nationally ranked teams. This is only the third year of our existence so nobody really knows about Georgia Highlands around the country,” Highlands coach Phil Gaffney said.

RESEARCH:
www.allvoices.com
http://www.allvoices.com/article/100002663
Low vitamin D levels contribute to SAD
Debbie Nicholson
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression related to changes in seasons. SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. Most people with SAD experience symptoms starting in fall and continue through the winter months. According to Dr. Alan Stewart, PhD, associate professor at the University Of Georgia College Of Education “Rather than being one of many factors, vitamin D could have a regulative role in the development of SAD.” In a international research partnership between UGA, the University of Pittsburgh and the Queensland University of Technology in Australia had reviewed the possible contributions of vitamin D on seasonal depression.

www.newstimes.augusta.com
http://newstimes.augusta.com/odds-ends/2014-12-03
GSU graduate will take part in research (2nd article)
Tirrell Williams, a native of Martinez, was selected to participate in ground breaking research that investigated a New Heat Exchanger for Ideal Cooling and Optimization to Achieve Dilute Premixed Combustion with Biofuels Stratification for Low Emissions and High Efficiency. The purpose of the research project was to design and develop an alternative method of cooling the turbocharged engine without compromising the safety of the operator.

www.virtual-strategy.com
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2014/12/04/vibralign-awards-realigning-america-scholarship-georgia-southern-university-student-emera#axzz3KwV8zczO
VibrAlign Awards Realigning America Scholarship to Georgia Southern University Student Emerald Simons
Georgia Southern undergraduate student Emerald Simons, competed for, and won, the VibrAlign national Realigning America Scholarship award. The award provides her with a scholarship that will allow one year’s use of a state-of-the-art laser shaft alignment system in the University’s Engine Performance Laboratory. …Emerald’s technical paper on shaft dynamics, researched and written under the supervision of Dr. Soloiu, was selected and she won a $500 scholarship and use of the Fixturlaser XA laser alignment system, equivalent to a $24,000 rental package with support, for one year. …Her graduate level research is on sound and vibrations analysis under the supervision of Dr. Valentin Soloiu, the Allen E Paulson Distinguished Chair. Emerald and Dr. Soloiu are building the most advanced vibrations lab in the southeast region of the United States.

Related article:
www.digitaljournal.com
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2376763
VibrAlign Awards Realigning America Scholarship to Georgia Southern University Student Emerald Simons

www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/sports/college-sports/2014-12-02/athens-group-develops-rivalry-crowded-app-market
Athens group develops a ‘Rivalry!’ in crowded app market
By FLETCHER PAGE
The phone buzzes and lights up to reveal two simple words that express the sentiments of the entire Bulldog Nation. Go Dawgs! flashes on the screen. It’s short and to the point, but captures the passion of a college football fan base. That’s the premise behind Rivalry!, a free iPhone app created by a group of university of Georgia students and local programmers.

STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2014-12-03/first-bills-filed-ga-legislature-range-pot-sexual-abuse-college-athletics?utm_source=DAILY+NEWS+BRIEFINGS&utm_campaign=574853524f-Decem&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6d6ecc7eae-574853524f-303226457
First bills filed for Ga. legislature range from pot to sexual abuse to college athletics
By WALTER C. JONESMORRIS NEWS SERVICE
ATLANTA | Marijuana, horse racing, driving with cellphones, child sexual abuse, the minimum wage and college athletics are some of the topics of pre-filed legislation so far. With campaigns concluded, Georgia lawmakers are filing bills ahead of the legislative session that starts Jan. 12. As of Wednesday, 17 general bills and one constitutional amendment have been filed in the House of Representatives while senators have only filed two bills and one amendment. Marijuana was one of the most talked about topics in the last session, and it is likely to be again.

www.wsbtv.com
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/lawmaker-introduces-new-bill-legalize-medical-mari/njLFf/?utm_source=DAILY+NEWS+BRIEFINGS&utm_campaign=574853524f-Decem&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6d6ecc7eae-574853524f-303226457
Lawmaker introduces medical marijuana bill in Georgia
By Lori Geary
ATLANTA — Families of children with severe seizure disorders were at the State Capitol Wednesday, gearing up for another fight in the hopes to legalize medical marijuana in Georgia. State Sen. Curt Thompson, a Democrat from DeKalb County, has opened up a discussion by filing a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana, much like Colorado’s law. Thompson says the additional revenue raised would go towards transportation infrastructure and education if it were to pass in Georgia.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/68213/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=052688c05f974ab29f53e4a25c6c8386&elqCampaignId=415
Higher Education: Identifying the Senior Team
by Brian C. Mitchell
There are big changes coming in American higher education. College and university governance must accommodate these changes and shape rather than be shaped by them. The changes reflect both the simple reality that the financing structure doesn’t work and that external forces will impose new challenges and opportunities upon senior leadership. What steps can college administrators take to prepare for these changes? The first step is to understand who governs the university.

www.getschooled.blog.ajc.com
http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2014/12/03/893/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Teachers must work 24 years on average to earn $75,000. It’s faster in APS.
A report released today by the National Council on Teacher Quality examines how many years teachers have to work before they earn an annual salary of $75,000. Among large Georgia districts, the range is 12 years for teachers in the Atlanta system to 22 years in DeKalb. Most districts are closer to DeKalb than APS. In reviewing mostly large school districts, the study “Smart Money” found it takes teachers 24 years on average to get to $75,000. The study found the length of time varied throughout the country.

www.getschooled.blog.ajc.com
http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2014/12/03/nations-ceos-skills-gap-is-real-and-costly-students-today-must-have-stem-skills/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Nation’s CEOs: Skills gap is real and costly. Students today must have STEM fluency.
A new survey of CEOs of major U.S. corporations released today reveals deep concerns over lagging U.S. science and math skills. Nearly 98 percent of the CEOs reported the skills gap hurts their business. In the CEO survey by Change the Equation and the Business Roundtable, business leaders described a costly shortage of workers skilled in science, technology, engineering and math. To mark the release of the survey, four CEOs participated in a panel where they shared their perspectives and experiences.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Video-Drunk-on-Camera/150237/
Drunk on Camera
How our culture portrays alcohol as central to the college experience
By Julia Schmalz
I’m Shmacked. Blacked Out Media. Red Cup Nation. Three companies that share one business plan: to sponsor college parties, film them, and sell the vision that this is what campus life is all about. For many students, it’s a compelling vision. In the media, and in the entertainment world, alcohol has long been hyped as an integral part of the college experience. That fantasy is well-established. But now, social media lets students play a starring role.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/If-Students-Have-Time-to-Get/150241/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
IF STUDENTS HAVE TIME TO GET DRUNK, COLLEGES AREN’T DOING THEIR JOB
By Kevin Carey
A few years ago, I found myself sitting in the corner of a campus student lounge, talking to a 19-year-old named Jessica about what brought her to college, how much she studies, and why her weekends almost never involve getting drunk. She wasn’t a teetotaler for religious reasons and it wasn’t because there were many other fun things to do. Her college was in Rochester, Minn., which, in midwinter, consists mainly of subzero temperatures and a lot of elderly sick people in and around the Mayo Clinic. After three days there, the hotel bar seemed particularly enticing. Jessica wasn’t a party animal for two reasons. First, she had a lot of school work to do. The University of Minnesota’s Rochester campus is new and unusual. There are only two majors: health professions and health sciences. The classes are small and the workload demanding. Jessica told me she spends 30 to 40 hours per week studying outside of class, far more than the typical undergraduate. Second, there is no organized collegiate-drinking infrastructure in Rochester.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/What-Can-Colleges-Do-About/150243/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
What Can Colleges Do About Binge Drinking?
Share your thoughts, and ask the experts.
This week we’re publishing a series of features about alcohol’s hold on campus. Drinking dominates the college experience, but it poses severe risks for students: injury, sexual assault, death—not to mention the more common flunking or dropping out. For years colleges have tried to tackle the problem, but little of what they’ve done has had real impact. How can colleges control excessive drinking—or can they? Lots of research is out there, but what really works?

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Protecting-the-Party/150233/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
PROTECTING THE PARTY
With focus on sexual assault, students look out for one another while drinking just as much
By Robin Wilson
It was a typical Saturday night at the house on Park Street where the Union College men’s hockey team goes after games to unwind and party. Sébastien Gingras, a 6-foot-1 defenseman, noticed a classmate hovering around a young woman who looked unsteady. Mr. Gingras watched them. “She was a freshman, and this was a guy from outside the team who had the reputation of trying to get girls when they were drunk,” he says. After a while, “the guy was sitting next to her on a couch, trying to get her to leave.” So Mr. Gingras, a junior, asked one of his teammates to call the guy over to distract him while Mr. Gingras checked the young woman’s ID and walked her back to her dorm. Hanging out, drinking, and hooking up are for many students just a part of life in college. They’re also a common backdrop for sexual assault. As many as four in five campus assaults involve drinking, studies have found. Plenty of those cases hinge on whether a woman was drunk or incapacitated, and therefore unable to give consent. Messages about preventing sexual assault now come at students from many directions: campus and federal officials, the news media, their peers. And what students are hearing has started to influence their behavior. They’re paying more attention, and they’re looking out for one another.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/4-Campuses-Respond-to-Risky/150235/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
4 Campuses Respond to Risky Drinking
By Beth McMurtrie
California State U. at Chico Changing a Party Culture
Lehigh U. Keeping Tabs on Fraternities and Sororities
Yale U. Ivies Have Problems, Too
U. of Nebraska at Lincoln ‘24/7, 365’

Education News
www.wabe.org
http://wabe.org/post/gov-deal-focus-education-funding-new-advisory-board?utm_source=DAILY+NEWS+BRIEFINGS&utm_campaign=574853524f-Decem&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6d6ecc7eae-574853524f-303226457
Gov. Deal To Focus On Education Funding With New Advisory Board
By CANDACE WHEELER
Earlier this week, Gov. Nathan Deal announced the new members of his education advisory board. It’s made up of superintendents, principals, school board members and other educators. In his second term, Gov. Deal wants to look at amending the grade school funding formula.

www.stateimpact.npr.org

Anti-Testing Groups Help Students Opt Out Of Florida Standardized Assessments

Anti-Testing Groups Help Students Opt Out Of Florida Standardized Assessments
BY GINA JORDAN
“Opt Out” groups are pushing back against what they say is too much standardized testing in Florida. The tests are changing as the state transitions to Florida Standards – an offshoot of the Common Core standards being implemented around the country. Two-dozen groups have been formed at the district level to help parents learn the procedure for opting their students out of the tests.

www.jacksonville.com
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2014-12-03/story/year-partners-fscj-get-low-income-students-corporate-workplace
Year Up partners with FSCJ to get low-income students into the corporate workplace
By Drew Dixon
When college students come from a lower-income background, the deck is often stacked against them in graduating to the corporate world. Many simply don’t understand the culture, let alone what to wear in job interviews or in the workplace. A nonprofit program is teaming up with Florida State College at Jacksonville to help create a pipeline for some of those students to corporate America. Year Up, based in Boston and operating in about a dozen cities, will begin the program Jan. 8 with an office at FSCJ’s downtown campus. But efforts are well underway to recruit more businesses to participate in the program.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/68216/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=052688c05f974ab29f53e4a25c6c8386&elqCampaignId=415
South Carolina State University Wins Approval for $12M Loan
by Diverse Staff
South Carolina State University received a lifeline Wednesday in the form of a $12 million loan from the state as the result of approval from the Joint Bond Review Committee. The school, the state’s only public historically Black college, has been operating at a $10.8 million deficit. The money is owed primarily to vendors. Dogged by governance issues and the financial shortfall, S.C. State had been put on probation by an accrediting body in June.

www.insidehighered.com
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/12/03/vassar-professors-essays-about-racial-profiling-and-racism-attract-attention
Black and Not Feeling Welcome
By Colleen Flaherty
What’s it like to be a faculty member of color at a predominantly white institution? Two essays this week by Vassar professors paint complex pictures of achievement, disappointment, pride and outrage. The pieces have captured lots of attention on social media, as well as from Vassar’s administration. Many say the professors’ experiences speak to faculty diversity concerns on many campuses, including those that don’t fit the cloistered, elite Vassar profile.

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/68219/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=052688c05f974ab29f53e4a25c6c8386&elqCampaignId=415
Obama Promises Funding, Resources in Response to Tribal Nations’ Education ‘Emergency’
by Catherine Morris
When President Barack Obama visited the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in June of this year, he and the First Lady met privately with a group of Lakota teenagers. President Obama described how moved he was by the candid conversation they shared about the challenges the young people faced growing up watching family and loved ones grapple with poverty, suicide, addictions to drugs and alcohol, and violence. …Speaking at the 2014 White House Tribal Nations Conference, Obama described that visit as the catalyst for a number of new policies he hopes to see enacted to better the current educational and economic outcomes of all tribal nations in the U.S.