USG Institutions:
www.ledger-enquirer.com
Military Service Center to officially open at CSU’s University Hall
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2015/03/03/3594983_military-service-center-to-officially.html?rh=1
BY BEN WRIGHT
Columbus State University is making it a little easier for students who are veterans with the opening of a Military Service Center at University Hall. The grand opening on the lower level of the building is set for 12:30 p.m. Thursday. With five computers, copiers and other amenities, the center will serve veterans, Reservists, National Guard, active-duty soldiers and members of the Reserve Officers Training Corps. Susan Lovell, director of military enrollment in CSU’s Enrollment Services division, said on any given day 15 to 20 students connected to the military used the center.
www.education.tmcnet.com
Worldpay Makes $1 Million Gift and Mentorship Pledge to Accelerate FinTech Innovation in Georgia
http://education.tmcnet.com/news/2015/03/03/8154095.htm
Worldpay will expand its commitment to accelerating payments technology innovation with a $1 million gift and mentorship commitment to Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), company and university officials announced today.
www.times-herald.com
Shaw’s Love For Design Lands Him A Top Award
http://www.times-herald.com/business/20150301-BIZ-Shaw-32-inches-w-pix
by CLAY NEELY
While many teenagers may spend years discovering who they are, one Coweta native had a pretty good idea from the start. As a teenager, Steven Shaw knew he liked working with his hands, being creative, and working in problem-solving … Now at 22, Shaw is finishing his degree at Southern Polytechnic University and was recently named February’s “Face of Manufacturing” by the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP). The Enterprise Innovation Institute – Georgia Tech’s economic development arm – highlights a person involved in manufacturing every month as a way to showcase how much of an important role the sector plays in the state’s economy.
www.albanyherald.com
DARREL EALUM: Legislative session reaches midpoint
LEGISLATOR COLUMN: Transportation funding remains the big issue under the Gold Dome
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2015/mar/02/darrel-ealum-legislative-session-reaches-midpoint/
By Darrel Ealum
Last week marked the midpoint of our 2015 legislative session. With near unanimous support, we passed the Fiscal Year 2016 budget (HB 76), which will soon go before the Senate for revision and then to the governor for signature. The budget is the only legislation we in the General Assembly are required by our Georgia Constitution to pass. This year’s budget was established with an annual estimated revenue of $21.7 billion, which reflects a projected revenue increase of 4.5 percent above Fiscal Year 2015. …Last week was exciting for those of us who represent Albany at the Capitol. After well over 10 years of consideration, the Albany State University Fine Arts Facility (multi-purpose academic building) is in the House budget for the first time. Senate approval and the governor’s signature are still required before we can celebrate; however, our entire Dougherty County delegation is in unison behind this project, and we are working together for Albany and southwest Georgia.
University System News:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
US facing looming doctor shortage, group says
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2015-03-03/us-facing-looming-doctor-shortage-group-says
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
Despite a modest increase in the number of physicians trained each year, the country still faces a looming shortage of physicians, particularly in areas such as surgery or cancer care, the group that represents the nation’s medical schools said Tuesday. …The group released its first comprehensive reassessment of physician supply and demand in five years and found its estimate for the shortage to be between 46,000 and 90,000 by 2025. …Some states such as Georgia are providing funding to start additional residencies. This year, the General Assembly appropriated $5.275 million that the University System of Georgia is using to help start residencies at Georgia hospitals, said Ben Robinson, the executive director of the university system’s Center for Health Workforce Planning and Analysis.
www.wabe.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net
Democratic Senator Unveils Plan For Full Legalization Of Marijuana
http://wabe.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net/post/democratic-senator-unveils-plan-full-legalization-marijuana
By Michelle Wirth
Four states ─ Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington ─ and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for personal use. If a Democratic Senator gets his way, marijuana would become completely legal in Georgia too. On Tuesday, Sen. Curt Thompson, D-Tucker, released a plan to allow for the drug to be licensed, sold and grown in Georgia. …In the meantime, several Republican Senators are proposing a clinical trial for cannabis oil for those under age 18 with seizure disorders. The trials would be administered by the University System of Georgia.
Higher Education News:
www.ajc.com
House passes bill renaming tech college system
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/house-passes-bill-renaming-tech-college-system/nkMys/
Janel Davis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia House members approved a bill Tuesday that would change the name of the state’s technical college network despite concerns from former school presidents that the renaming would not benefit the system.
House Bill 315, sponsored by Rep. Chad Nimmer, R-Blackshear, renames the Technical College System of Georgia as the Georgia Career College System. The change is a priority for Gov. Nathan Deal, who proposed the move earlier this year as a way to rebrand and better market the system to students.
www.insidehighered.com
SAT Thresholds and Student Success
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/03/04/study-reveals-sat-thresholds-may-hinder-future-four-year-success
By Ashley A. Smith
For those students on the cusp of meeting minimum SAT requirements to enter college, where they choose to enroll could determine their chance of eventually earning a bachelor’s degree. Researchers from the College Board and Harvard University’s Kennedy School released a paper last month describing how students who are drawn out of four-year institutions to the two-year sector — due to minimum thresholds for SAT scores — have lower bachelor’s degree completion rates than those who attend four-year universities.
www.chronicle.com
How the Pressure on Public Colleges Plays Out in One State
http://chronicle.com/article/How-the-Pressure-on-Public/228121/
By Casey Fabris
Rising tuition costs at public universities, coupled with a decline in state support, have raised questions across the country about how those trends are affecting access to college, enrollment numbers, and graduation rates. In Virginia, which has 15 four-year public colleges, a new report offers some answers.
www.chronicle.com
After 6 Suicides, U. of Pennsylvania Takes a Tough Look at Its Campus Culture
http://chronicle.com/article/After-6-Suicides-U-of/228095/
By Casey Fabris
A cluster of suicides at the University of Pennsylvania has the campus facing tough questions about whether its culture discourages some students from getting the help they need. Last month the university, where six students have taken their lives in a 15-month period, released a report by a task force that recommended addressing what it described as a perfectionist culture among students. Members of the task force said that many students feel pressure to put on a “Penn Face”—a perfect front to hide the emotions, stress, or sadness that they might be feeling.
www.washingtonpost.com
Sweet Briar College to close because of financial challenges
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/03/03/sweet-briar-college-to-close-because-of-financial-challenges/
By Nick Anderson and Susan Svrluga
For more than a century, Sweet Briar College has offered women a liberal arts education in a pastoral setting near Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Equestrian programs, a tight-knit residential community and, lately, an engineering science degree, have been its hallmarks. On Tuesday, the college’s leadership abruptly announced its closure to stunned and tearful audiences of faculty and students. Officials cited “insurmountable financial challenges,” saying the 700-student college, founded in 1901, would shut down permanently in August. An $84 million endowment, officials said, was not enough to offset ebbing demand for their school in a tumultuous market.
www.insidehighered.com
Matching More With Less
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/03/03/uw-madison-chancellor-comes-under-fire-comments-about-how-she-matches-outside
By Colleen Flaherty
The chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison came under fire last month for publicly admitting to a tactic common among her counterparts at research universities. To keep top faculty members from accepting outside offers, she sometimes will reduce their teaching loads. Critics seized on Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s comments as an example of what’s wrong with higher education, saying that rewarding good professors by reducing their exposure to students was a kind of perverse incentive — and an expensive one, to boot. But how fair is the criticism, and just how common and how bad — if at all — is the practice? It depends on whom you ask.