University System News
USG NEWS:
www.universitybusiness.com
http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/timothy-l-killee-named-president-university-illinois-system
People Watch
Timothy L. Killeen named president of the University of Illinois system
University System of Georgia appoints Tom Hackett interim president of Columbus State University
By: Lauren Williams
…Other people news: The University System of Georgia has named Tom Hackett interim president of Columbus State University. He has served as provost and VP for academic affairs.
www.fnance.yaho.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/where-highest-lowest-state-tuition-133000749.html
Where to Find the Highest and Lowest In-State Tuition in Each State
Attending a public college in your home state may seem like a no-brainer for saving money on a four-year degree. But in-state tuition can vary dramatically among schools, even within a single state… Below are the schools in each state with the highest and lowest in-state tuition and fees among ranked public colleges reporting data to U.S. News… Georgia: Georgia Institute of Technology: $11,394. U.S. News rank and category: 35 (tie) National Universities; Georgia Gwinnett College $5,352 RNP, Regional Colleges (South)
www.inquisitr.com
http://www.inquisitr.com/1689346/creationist-professor-warned-stop-interjecting-personal-beliefs-into-classroom-immediately/
Creationist Professor Warned: Stop Interjecting Personal Beliefs Into Classroom Immediately
Georgia Southern University has warned a creationist professor that if he doesn’t stop promoting his own religious beliefs in the classroom, he will face personnel action, “up to and including” firing. It started with student complaints about the professor and contact to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Now, the creationist professor will have to keep his beliefs out of class assignments, or face repercussions.
www.610kvnu.com
http://www.610kvnu.com/politics/78443eaf823307cc193a42d60e0e7900
Congressmen Write Letter to 18 Universities Urging Them to End Use of University Debit Cards for Student Tanning
Credit: Architect of the Capitol(WASHINGTON) — Five congressmen on Thursday wrote a letter to 18 universities urging them to disallow the use of university debit cards by students for indoor tanning. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that the 18 universities allow the use of student debit cards for tanning services, an agreement that the reps. say “constitute an endorsement and even encourage indoor tanning,” which they note “has been designated a carcinogen by the World Health Organization.” The letter was sent to Indiana University, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Southern New Hampshire University, the universities of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pittsburgh, Texas at Austin, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Vermont, Virginia Tech, Western Kentucky University, Clemson University and Georgia Southern University.
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=283113
UGA paid more than $40,000 for Gurley’s legal help
By The Associated Press
ATHENS – The University of Georgia paid an attorney more than $40,000 to represent Todd Gurley while he sought reinstatement from the NCAA after he was suspended for accepting money for autographs. Details obtained through an open records request show the school paid Alabama attorney William King $43,301 for the star running back’s legal help.
GOOD NEWS:
www.patch.com
http://patch.com/georgia/gwinnett/ggcs-2000th-graduate-highlights-fall-commencement-0
GGC’s 2,000th Graduate Highlights Fall Commencement
Georgia Gwinnett College graduated nearly 300 at Thursday’s celebration, bringing the number of Grizzlies alumni to more than 2,200.
By Scott Bernarde
Strategic growth once again positioned Georgia Gwinnett College to reach another important milestone in its institutional history. The fall semester graduating class of almost 300 brings the total number of Grizzly alumni to more than 2,200. Thursday’s ceremony held at the Gwinnett Arena was attended by more than 2,000 people.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/ggc-graduates-mark-new-milestone/njXLR/
GGC graduates mark new milestone
Karen Huppertz
With a graduating class of almost 300, Georgia Gwinnett College brought its total number of Grizzly alumni to more than 2,200 this week. As Angelo F. Cifuentes of Lawrenceville crossed the stage at the Gwinnett Arena Thursday he was introduced as the 2,000th graduate of GGC.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2014-12-17/uga-hold-fall-commencement-friday
UGA to hold fall commencement on Friday
A total of 2,355 students are eligible to walk in the University of Georgia’s fall commencement ceremonies on Friday. That includes 1,858 undergraduates and 497 graduate students. The undergraduate ceremony is set for 9:30 a.m. Friday and the graduate ceremony is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. that day. Both are to be held in Stegeman Coliseum and tickets are required.
www.kiplinger.com
http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-public-colleges/
Kiplinger’s Best College Values
Sort and compare the 100 top values in public colleges and universities. Use the arrows at the top of any column of data to rank any list of colleges by critical cost and financial-aid metrics. For more information on a particular college, click the college’s name for a complete data sheet. …10 University of Georgia …17 Georgia Institute of Technology
RESEARCH:
www.healthitoutcomes.com
http://www.healthitoutcomes.com/doc/leidos-invests-in-public-health-informatics-at-georgia-institute-of-technology-0001
Leidos Invests In Public Health Informatics At Georgia Institute Of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology received a donation from Leidos, a national security, health and engineering solutions company, to support The Interoperability & Integration Innovation Lab (I3L), a virtual and physical laboratory for health information technology. The $40,000 donation supports the development of a pilot demonstration at I3L to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare. The pilot demonstration includes collaboration with the Georgia Department of Public Health and University of Georgia Public Health Department.
www.wired.com
http://www.wired.com/2014/12/where-stolen-smart-phones-go/
The Secret World of Stolen Smartphones, Where Business Is Booming
BY MATTHEW SHAER
…That’s why street theft of mobile devices—or “Apple picking,” as it’s known—has been such a widespread crime in recent years. According to Consumer Reports, 3.1 million Americans were the victims of smartphone theft in 2013, up from 1.6 million in 2012. The mobile security firm Lookout believes that one in 10 smartphone users in the US have had their phones stolen; 68 percent of those victims never saw their device again. Nationally, about one-third of robberies now involve a smartphone… And Polo Chau, an assistant professor of computing at Georgia Tech, is researching an authentication protocol that would memorize the highly individualistic ways in which a user swipes and types on a touchscreen. Mated to a security system, such software could power down a phone it concluded was being accessed by an unauthorized user.
www.insurancenewsnet.com
http://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2014/12/18/georgia-state-cdc-study-us-taxpayers-bear-financial-burden-of-smoking-related-d-a-580349.html#.VJSFd1L_o
Georgia State/CDC study: US taxpayers bear financial burden of smoking-related disease
NewsRx
By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at VerticalNews Health — Cigarette smoking generates as much as $170 billion in annual health care spending in the United States, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at Georgia State University’s School of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and RTI International.
www.noodls.com
http://www.noodls.com/viewNoodl/26325603/the-university-of-georgia/uga-skidaway-institute-scientists-map-wassaw-sound
UGA Skidaway Institute scientists map Wassaw Sound
Skidaway Island, Ga.- A research team from the University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography has completed the first high-resolution, bathymetric (bottom-depth) survey of Wassaw Sound in Chatham County. Led by Skidaway Institute scientist Clark Alexander, the team produced a detailed picture of the bottom of Wassaw Sound, the Wilmington River and other connected waterways. The yearlong project was developed in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
www.phys.org
http://phys.org/wire-news/180362516/penn-and-uga-awarded-234-million-contract-for-pathogen-genomics.html
Penn and UGA awarded $23.4 million contract for pathogen genomics database
At the turn of the millennium, the cost to sequence a single human genome exceeded $50 million, and the process took a decade to complete. Microbes have genomes, too, and the first reference genome for a malaria parasite was completed in 2002 at a cost of roughly $15 million. But today researchers can sequence a genome in a single afternoon for just a few thousand dollars. Related technologies make it possible to capture information about all genes in the genome, in all tissues, from multiple individuals. …Since 2000, a team led by University of Pennsylvania and University of Georgia scientists has been responsible for developing genome database resources for microbial pathogens, including the parasites responsible for malaria, sleeping sickness, toxoplasmosis and many other important diseases. To ensure this important work will continue, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease has awarded the institutions a new contract for 2014-15 worth $4.3 million. Assuming annual renewal, this five-year award is expected to total $23.4 million.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions:
www.getschooled.blog.ajc.com
http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2014/12/19/university-of-georgia-makes-top-10-list-of-best-buys-in-public-colleges/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
University of Georgia makes top 10 list of best buys in public colleges
For the second year in a row, the University of Georgia makes the top 10 best public college values, a list Kiplinger’s compiles “based on a high four-year graduation rates, low student-faculty ratios, reasonable price tags and generous need-based aid for students who qualify.” Kiplinger’s writes:
www.usnews.com
http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2014/12/18/analyzing-colleges-graduation-rates-for-low-income-students
Analyzing Colleges’ Graduation Rates for Low-Income Students
U.S. News data show which schools succeed at graduating students with Pell Grants.
by Bob Morse
U.S. News has used exclusive data to analyze how successful colleges and universities have been at graduating their low-income students compared with their overall student bodies. This analysis measures the relative graduation rate performance of students who have received Pell Grants, which are federal financial aid awards for low-income families. The Pell Grant program most often serves undergraduates with family incomes of less than $20,000. Measuring the success of low-income college students is a key goal of a federal college rating plan originally outlined by President Barack Obama. However, it’s unclear if the government’s college ratings will be able to include that measurement, given the current inadequacies of the data collected by the U.S. Department of Education… The table below shows the top-performing schools in the National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges rankings categories, where Pell Grant students are graduating at or close to the same high graduation rates as the overall student body. All top perfomers are listed. Georgia Tech: 6-year graduation rate: 82. 6-year Pell Grant graduation rate: 81. Difference: -1. Rank and category: 35, National Universities
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Why-the-Admissions-Office-May/150883/
Why the Admissions Office May Be Part of the Problem of College Access
By Jon Boeckenstedt
Access to college is a hot issue these days, with policy makers and colleges looking for ways to enroll more low-income, first-generation, and minority students. Many people see the admissions office as a key part of the solution. But as a longtime admissions professional, I suspect just the opposite is true: That the admissions office, especially at highly selective institutions, is the agent that keeps these students out of college in the first place, by creating a game that is heavily skewed in favor of students from high-income, well-educated families. I don’t believe that this is a matter of purposeful, overt discrimination, but rather a reliance on traditional means of evaluating students coming out of high school, and our own belief about what will make a student successful.
Education:
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Obama-s-College-Ratings-Plan/150939/
Obama’s College-Ratings Plan Arrives, but Most Specifics Stay Behind
By Kelly Field
Washington
The college-ratings plan that the Education Department is releasing on Friday can best be described as incremental. The plan, the product of more than a year of discussion and debate, is less a proposal than a progress report—an update on metrics the department is considering using in its system. It’s unlikely to assuage colleges’ concerns, but it’s unlikely to increase their anxiety, either. Which measures might factor into the ratings? The list includes a number of expected metrics, like a college’s average net price, its students’ completion rates, and the percentage of its students receiving Pell Grants. It also includes labor-market outcomes and loan-repayment rates—measures that proved controversial during the protracted fight over the “gainful employment” rule.
www.insidehighered.com
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/12/19/education-department-releases-draft-framework-its-college-ratings-plan
Ratings Plan Arrives, Details Scant
By Michael Stratford
WASHINGTON — After nearly a year and a half of public debate over its proposed college ratings, the Obama administration on Friday provided the first glimpse into how it will structure such a system, including the criteria it will use to judge colleges. The administration’s “framework” identifies nearly a dozen metrics that officials are planning to use — but leaves a host of important questions unresolved (highlights here; full release here). The department published more details Friday morning.
www.insidehighered.com
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/12/19/creation-obamas-college-ratings-tested-education-department
Behind the Ratings
By Michael Stratford
Friday’s release of a college ratings “framework” was a relatively anticlimactic milestone that capped months of speculation, delays and sometimes-fierce criticism from higher education leaders. The U.S. Department of Education published just a handful of pages of information, much of which underscores what officials have been saying publicly for months. There are, however, some new details about how the administration plans to approach the ratings. And the department released an expanded version on Friday. The document is the product of more than a year of scrambling by several dozen officials and staffers at the Education Department and other federal offices to meet President Obama’s August 2013 directive to create a ratings system.
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/early-admission-rates-for-class-of-2019/2014/12/18/67db5036-86c4-11e4-9534-f79a23c40e6c_story.html
Early admission rates for Class of 2019
By Nick Anderson December 18
The first wave of admission decisions is in for the Class of 2019. Here are admission rates for the early round at some highly selective schools. We’ll update as we get more data. These are culled from news releases. For comparison, previously disclosed admission rates for the Class of 2018 are noted in parentheses. Caveat: It’s important to remember that the Class of 2018 data is aggregated: those rates represent offers and applications from both the early and the regular rounds.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Comparing-Lots-of-Colleges/150937/
Why Comparing Lots of Colleges Might Not Help as Many Students as You’d Think
By Beckie Supiano
There has been a proliferation of consumer information meant to help prospective students choose a college. A number of those tools seem to take it for granted that prospects will embark on a broad, national search. They assume that prospective students are shopping around, just as they might for a car or some other big-ticket consumer item, and that they’re willing to pick up and move anywhere in the country. That kind of college search might dominate hand-wringing news articles and cocktail-party chatter, but it’s far from standard. For many students, the set of choices is not the thousands of colleges sprinkled across the country or the name brands clustered at the top of U.S. News & World Report’s rankings. It’s the contained, sometimes even sparse, group of colleges within a reasonable radius of home.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/68481/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=3bebc335c4154a579123649aa17a5df9&elqCampaignId=415
Mississippi Universities Win Final OK to Raise Tuition
by Jeff Amy, Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s College Board gave final approval Thursday to plans for the state’s eight public universities to raise tuition by an average of 3.2 percent this fall.
Under the plan, Delta State University and Mississippi Valley State University would keep tuition flat for the third year. The other six universities would increase charges from 2.5 percent to 5 percent. Mississippi residents would pay a statewide average of $6,718 for two semesters of full-time tuition and fees, up by $272.
www.jbhe.com
The Racial Gap in Doctoral Degree Awards
The National Science Foundation recently released its annual report on doctoral degree recipients in the United States. The annual Survey of Earned Doctorates reports that universities in the United States conferred 52,749 doctorates in 2013. Of these, 2,167, or 4.1 percent, were earned by African Americans. African Americans earned 6.4 percent of all doctoral degrees awarded to U.S. students. Therefore, African Americans earned about one half the number of doctorates that would be the case if racial parity with the Black population prevailed.
www.jbhe.com
Strategies for Increasing the Number of Black Students in STEM Fields
Strategies for Increasing the Number of Black Students in STEM Fields
There have been many studies exploring the reason for the small percentage of Black and other minority students in STEM disciplines. But a new study led by Andrew C. Campbell, a professor of biology at Brown University, takes a different approach. Professor Campbell took 50 minority students from 15 different colleges and universities on a retreat and asked them about the shortfall. The students at the retreat identified eight ideas that could be used to increase the number of Black and minority students in STEM fields:
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/68472/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=3bebc335c4154a579123649aa17a5df9&elqCampaignId=415
My Brother’s Keeper: The Role of HBCUs in Supporting Young Black Men
by Julius Davis, Ohmar Land and Wilbur Parker
Last February, President Barack Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper initiative with the intent of providing support to boys and young men of color to help them reach their full potential. He outlined six goals associated with the initiative: 1) getting a healthy start and entering school ready to learn; 2) reading at grade level by third grade; 3) preparing them in high school for college and career; 4) completing post-secondary education or training; 5) successfully entering the workforce; and 6) keeping them on track and giving them second chances. The president’s initiative is a worthwhile effort, but it is not the first of its kind. There are many men and organizations, HBCUs in particular, that were working with boys and young men of color across the nation long before the president announced his program. They should be applauded and supported in their work.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/At-Top-Athletics-Programs/150917/
At Top Athletics Programs, Students Often Major in Eligibility
By Jonah Newman
When the University of Oregon Ducks and the Florida State University Seminoles meet on New Year’s Day for the first college-football playoff game ever, the two teams will have more in common than just dominance on the gridiron and a place in sporting history. They’ll also have an academic link: On each team about one-third of the players are majoring in social sciences, a multidisciplinary liberal-arts major. At both institutions only about 3 percent of all students graduate with a bachelor’s degree in general social sciences. That means that Ducks and Seminoles football players are roughly 10 times as likely as their peers to be pursuing this general-studies major.
www.washingtontonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/12/18/german-researchers-discover-a-flaw-that-could-let-anyone-listen-to-your-cell-calls-and-read-your-texts/
German researchers discover a flaw that could let anyone listen to your cell calls.
By Craig Timberg
German researchers have discovered security flaws that could let hackers, spies and criminals listen to private phone calls and intercept text messages on a potentially massive scale – even when cellular networks are using the most advanced encryption now available. The flaws, to be reported at a hacker conference in Hamburg this month, are the latest evidence of widespread insecurity on SS7, the global network that allows the world’s cellular carriers to route calls, texts and other services to each other. Experts say it’s increasingly clear that SS7, first designed in the 1980s, is riddled with serious vulnerabilities that undermine the privacy of the world’s billions of cellular customers. The flaws discovered by the German researchers are actually functions built into SS7 for other purposes – such as keeping calls connected as users speed down highways, switching from cell tower to cell tower – that hackers can repurpose for surveillance because of the lax security on the network.