University System News:
www.news.vice.com
President Obama, VICE, and US Students Talk Student Debt Issues in Roundtable Discussion
https://news.vice.com/article/president-obama-vice-and-us-students-talk-student-debt-issues-in-roundtable-discussion
By Olivia Becker
The biggest financial issue facing young Americans today is not the decline of manufacturing jobs or the housing collapse, but mounting student debt. To tackle this issue, VICE hosted a roundtable discussion, moderated by VICE founder Shane Smith, with President Barack Obama and five students who discussed the challenges surrounding student debt and the pursuit of higher education in America. The conversation took place on Tuesday, March 10, after the president unveiled his new student loan reform plan, called the Student Aid Bill of Rights, to a crowd of students at the Georgia Institute of Technology. All five of the students who participated in the discussion — two are still in high school and three are in college — are currently trying to find ways to pay for their undergraduate degrees.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA-Ga. Power solar farm on Regents agenda
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2015-03-16/uga-ga-power-solar-farm-regents-agenda
By LEE SHEARER
University of Georgia officials hope the state Board of Regents take a shine to the university’s proposal for a solar farm.
The board’s real estate and facilities committee might consider on Wednesday a proposal to lease 10 acres to the Georgia Power Company for the demonstration solar farm on UGA land.
www.clatl.com
Student DJs file Board of Regents appeal over GSU’s role in WRAS deal
http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2015/03/16/student-djs-file-board-of-regents-appeal-over-gsus-role-in-wras-deal
Posted by Max Blau
The fight for Album 88’s future doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon. After months of protests, heated meetings, and unsuccessful negotiations, Georgia State University student DJs have filed an appeal with state officials to contest the deal that handed over most of the radio station’s airtime to Georgia Public Broadcasting. …According to incoming WRAS General Manager Hannah Frank, university officials required GSU students to pay fees that ultimately went to fund a new $676,000 radio transmitter. The appeal says the university has shown “blatant disregard” for the Board of Regents’ policies because money earmarked for WRAS students’ needs has largely benefitted a third-party organization.
USG Institutions:
www.wtoc.com
Final CSU Presidential candidate speaks at public forum
http://www.wtoc.com/story/28534094/final-csu-presidential-candidate-speaks-at-public-forum
By WTVM Web Team
COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) – Columbus State University hosted two forums Monday for its final remaining presidential candidate, Dr. Jose Maria Griffiths. Dr. Griffiths is Vice President of Academic Affairs at Bryant University in Rhode Island. She spoke about transparency on college campuses at her forum. “There are two things I think that are important moving forward as an institution,” Dr. Griffiths said. “One is that everybody has had the opportunity to provide input and second everybody understands where the decision came from.”
www.wtoc.com
VSU over halfway to its capital campaign goal
http://www.wtoc.com/story/28531559/vsu-over-halfway-to-its-capital-campaign-goal
By Colter Anstaett
VALDOSTA, GA (WALB) – As of Monday, Valdosta State University was more than halfway to its goal of raising around $53 million in private funds by 2019. The university announced Monday that since it began its first ever official capital campaign on July 1st, 2014 around $30 million in private donations had been raised. The university had also gained around 3,800 new donors through the campaign as of Monday.
www.manufacturingchemist.com
Georgia State University to develop anticancer compounds with Cisen
http://www.manufacturingchemist.com/news/article_page/Georgia_State_University_to_develop_anticancer_compounds_with_Cisen/106728
Georgia State University in the US has signed a licence agreement with Cisen Pharmaceutical Company, a comprehensive pharmaceutical enterprise in China, to develop cancer fighting compounds designed by Georgia State researcher Dr Binghe Wang, in collaboration with Professor Muxiang Zhou of Emory University, a cancer biologist. Georgia State and Cisen are working together to develop compounds to treat leukemia. The same compounds can also be applied to numerous cancers. Through the partnership, Georgia State and Cisen will conduct clinical trials and develop a product for the Chinese market. – See more at:
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Crossing State Lines
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/03/17/california-community-college-system-signs-transfer-deal-nine-hbcus
By Ry Rivard
California’s 112-campus community college system is making it easier for graduates to attend historically black colleges and universities across the country. The system is launching a new program that guarantees students admission to nine HBCUs if they graduate with an associate degree. The deal allows a student with 60 community college credits to enter the historically black colleges as a junior. The deal serves twin goals. It helps two-year students from California find a place to get a four-year degree if they want to leave the state. It also helps historically black colleges find students as some struggle with enrollment declines. …There are no HBCUs in California, and the deal may be a precedent-setting agreement between a state system and a series of public and private colleges in other states.
www.chrocicle.com
Education Dept. Considers Creating Not 1 but 2 College-Ratings Systems
http://chronicle.com/article/Education-Dept-Considers/228531/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
By Kelly Field
Washington
The Education Department, under continued fire over its planned college-rating system, is considering creating two systems, an agency official said at a policy briefing here on Monday. The first ratings system would be geared toward consumers and be based on raw outcomes metrics. The second would be geared toward policy makers and researchers, and would rely on metrics adjusted for student and institutional characteristics, the official told attendees at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual policy briefing. Only the second system would be used to measure accountability. The shift appeared designed to answer criticism that the department was trying to do too much with one system.
www.chronicle.com
Despite Progress, Only 1 in 4 College Presidents Are Women
http://chronicle.com/article/Despite-Progress-Only-1-in-4/228473/?cid=at
By Audrey Williams June
Over the past several years, a range of other institutions, including public flagships, liberal-arts colleges, historically black institutions, and community colleges have hired their first female presidents. They include the University of Virginia, Middlebury College, Alabama State University, and Pueblo Community College. Despite the progress, including at some of the nation’s most elite institutions, women remain significantly underrepresented among college presidencies — and the numbers have barely budged. Women make up about a quarter of college presidents nationwide, a share that has remained about the same for at least a decade.
www.insidehighered.com
The Impact of Free Tuition
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/03/17/high-tenn-promise-participation-numbers-boost-fafsa-completion-rates-state
By Ashley A. Smith
Tennessee’s free community college program is exceeding expectations. Demand remains high and the state’s completion rates for federal aid applications are up, which is putting colleges on notice about a likely influx of students. “We couldn’t be happier where we are,” said Mike Krause, executive director of the Tennessee Promise program. …Tennessee saw the largest growth of any state in FAFSA completions from February 2014 to February 2015, said Emily House, director of research at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. The deadline for filing in the Tennessee Promise initiative was Feb. 15.