University System News:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
GRU presidential search committee talks qualities
Characteristics sought in new president voiced
http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2015-02-26/gru-presidential-search-committee-talks-qualities
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
As they went around a circle of tables in a conference room Thursday at Georgia Regents University College of Dental Medicine, members of the presidential search committee offered what qualities they would like to see in the school’s next leader, from “dynamic” to “empowering” to “innovative” to “a great communicator.” The committee held its initial meeting to receive its charge from University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby to find a replacement for Ricardo Azziz. It will be responsible for advertising, wading through a national pool of candidates assembled by consultant Parker Executive Search, interviewing and then sending to the system’s Board of Regents three to five candidates for final consideration. Huckaby said ideally the finalist would be named before Azziz steps down June 30 but “the odds are not real high that will happen.”
Related article:
www.wsfa.com
GRU presidential search committee to hold first meeting
http://www.wsfa.com/story/28208920/gru-presidential-search-committee-to-hold-first-meeting
USG Institutions:
www.wtvm.com
New college center caters to student veterans
http://www.wtvm.com/story/28213560/new-college-center-caters-to-student-veterans
By Catherine Patterson
BAINBRIDGE, GA (WALB) – Colleges around the nation are welcoming more non-traditional students and veterans back to finish their education. Bainbridge State College just opened a new facility to help these students as they enter a new chapter in their lives.
www.wabe.org
Georgia National Guard Among First For Cyberdefense Soldiers
http://wabe.org/post/georgia-national-guard-among-first-cyberdefense-soldiers
By ELLY YU
Georgia’s Army National Guard will house one of three new U.S. cyber protection teams to support the military’s efforts against virtual attacks. “We’re very excited about developing this new capability,” Samuel Blaney, chief warrant officer for the Georgia National Guard, said. He said the team will be comprised of about 25 soldiers ─ men and women who work as civilians in information technology or similar fields. The team can be mobilized to help both state and federal agencies in the event of a cyberattack, Blaney said. The Georgia National Guard has already been training in cybersecurity with the Georgia Tech Research Institute and will have its next training session in March.
www.myajc.com
UNG to develop digital textbooks
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local/ung-to-develop-digital-textbooks/nkKC4/
By Mark Woolsey – For the AJC
A trio of faculty teams at the University of North Georgia has been awarded nearly $62,000 in grants to create no-cost digital textbooks in education, math and chemistry. The grant money was awarded by Affordable Learning Georgia, a University System of Georgia initiative aimed at cutting textbook costs. School officials said the e-texts will save UNG students nearly $1 million in the 2016 academic year. The school has alrerady seen several other successful e-textbook projects.
Higher Education:
www.chronicle.com
The Ever-Growing World of College Rankings
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Ever-Growing-World-of/190437/
By Goldie Blumenstyk
Another day, another college ranking. Or so it seems. Last year at least three new rankings emerged from national publications or major companies, joining a long line of magazines that have entered the rankings game since U.S. News & World Report started publishing its list annually, in 1985. With the August 2014 debut of Money magazine’s Best Colleges, the ranks of rankers now include Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Forbes, and The Washington Monthly, along with employment-focused companies like LinkedIn, which introduced its University Rankings in October, and PayScale, which will release its sixth annual return-on-investment ranking in March, just before U.S. News publishes the latest edition of its Best Graduate Schools.
www.insidehighered.com
Day of Protest
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/26/adjuncts-deem-national-walkout-day-success
Colleen Flaherty and Kaitlin Mulhere
It started as a simple question on social media: What would happen if adjuncts across the country walked out on the same day, at the same time? That question got answered Wednesday — sort of — on the first-ever National Adjunct Walkout Day. There were some big walkouts at a few institutions but, for a variety of reasons, adjuncts at many more colleges and universities staged alternative protests, such as teach-ins, rallies and talks. Still, the movement led to unprecedented levels of conversation on many campuses, in the media and elsewhere about the working conditions of the majority of college faculty (those off the tenure track). And as a result, adjunct activists declared the day a success — while wondering what comes next.
www.jbhe.com
Good News and Bad News for South Carolina State University
On Monday February 16, more than 1,000 supporters of South Carolina State University held a rally at the State House to protest a proposal from a subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee that would close the school for two years. The good news is that the plan to close the university appears to be dead in the water. But after hearing that the university has accumulated a deficit of $17 million, $4 million more than it had a year ago, the full House Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously to fire the university’s president Thomas Elzey and the entire board of trustees.
www.insidehighered.com
Living Up to the Hype
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/26/accelerated-associate-degree-track-cuny-pays-and-earns-fans
By Paul Fain
President Obama recently praised a City University of New York experiment to help more students graduate from community college. So did faculty unions, which have pushed back hard on other ideas that emanate from CUNY’s central office. Fans of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) like its comprehensive approach to dismantling the hurdles low-income students face. And the results are compelling. …So far 8,672 students have enrolled in ASAP, according to CUNY, at 7 of the system’s colleges (see list below). But the new study suggests that the program could be expanded, perhaps even broadly, without getting too expensive.
www.insidehighered.com
Student Says University Required Her to ‘Prosecute’ Attacker
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/02/26/student-says-university-required-her-prosecute-attacker
A female student is suing the State University of New York at Stony Brook, saying that the university required her to “prosecute” and cross-examine the student she accused of assaulting her. The female student had to create exhibits, write an opening statement and pursue witness testimony, she told The Journal News. The preparation, she said, took 60 hours and the hearing lasted 5 hours. In the end, the accused student was found not responsible for sexual misconduct. The lawsuit is seeking monetary damages and a court order banning the practice of requiring sexual assault victims to “prosecute their own cases and to cross-examine and be cross-examined by their assailants.” The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has urged colleges to not allow such a practice. Stony Brook is one of two SUNY institutions under pending Title IX investigations by the office.
www.chronicle.com
Senate’s Revamped Sexual-Assault Bill Puts More Pressure on Colleges
http://chronicle.com/article/Senate-s-Revamped/190487/
By Katherine Mangan
A bipartisan group of 12 U.S. senators introduced legislation on Thursday that is aimed at curbing sexual violence on campuses in ways that protect both victims and accused students. The changes reflect heightened attention over the past six months to the due-process rights of accused students. The Campus Safety and Accountability Act, sponsored by six Democrats and six Republicans, builds on legislation that was introduced over the summer but never came to a vote. The new version was strengthened with additional input from sexual-assault survivors, students, colleges, law enforcement, and advocacy groups, according to one of its main sponsors, Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat. A companion bill is expected to be introduced soon in the House of Representatives.
www.nytimes.com
Review: ‘The Hunting Ground’ Documentary, a Searing Look at Campus Rape
By MANOHLA DARGIS
“The Hunting Ground,” a documentary shocker about rape on American college campuses, goes right for the gut. A blunt instrument of a movie, it derives its power largely from the many young women and some men recounting on camera how they were raped at their schools and then subsequently denied justice by those same schools. Their stories — delivered in sorrow and rage, with misting eyes and squared jaws — make this imperfect movie a must-watch work of cine-activism, one that should be seen by anyone headed to college and by those already on campus. The movie arrives in the midst of a vigorous, sometimes furious and at times crudely simplistic national discussion about sexual assault. Fueling that discussion is the Obama administration, which has made the issue a priority. In 2014, the White House released guidelines on how campus rapes are to be treated.