USG e-clips from April 10, 2015

USG Institutions:
www.usnewsuniversitydirectory.com
Best Engineering Graduate Programs for 2015
These schools are the best of the best, according to U.S. News and World Report
http://www.usnewsuniversitydirectory.com/articles/best-engineering-graduate-programs_14817.aspx#.VSfo5CgokwN
By Sherri Lonon
Earning a bachelor’s degree is often more than enough for students to break into the well-paying, challenging engineering field. For those who want to advance their careers, however, master’s programs deliver the credentials so often required to turn employers’ heads when higher tier positions become available… Georgia Institute of Technology. Tied for sixth place, this school has 535 full-time faculty members on staff with a student-faculty ratio of 4.2:1. The annual tuition costs run about $27,600 with such specialties offered as medical physics, biomedical and industrial engineering, among others.

www.jacksonsville.com
Dougas native endows Georgia Tech scholarship for students South Georgia
Applicants’ families must live inside 62-county area and earn less than $33,300 annually
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2015-04-08/story/dougas-native-endows-georgia-tech-scholarship-students-south-georgia
By Terry Dickson
Georgia Tech alumnus and Douglas native Francis Lott has long been bothered that too few South Georgia students attend his alma mater. Lott, who serves on a regional scholarship committee, said there have only been about three in 15 years. He’s come up with what he hopes is a $500,000 fix. The Francis and Diane Lott Scholarship Endowment was established to provide a debt-free education at Georgia Tech for those in South Georgia who couldn’t otherwise afford to attend. The scholarship will be part of the Wayne Clough Georgia Tech Promise program, which is named for a former Tech president who is also a Douglas native.

www.stlamerican.com
Gary May honored by President Obama
http://www.stlamerican.com/business/people_on_the_move/article_b63336f0-de34-11e4-a463-a7a4e7d0d53e.html
Gary S. May has been honored by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. May is dean of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech as well as a national advisor, lifetime member and former national chair of the National Society of Black Engineers.

www.northwestgeorgianews.com
GHC’s Phi Theta Kappa program awarded and honored at state award ceremony
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/lifestyles/hometown_headlines/ghc-s-phi-theta-kappa-program-awarded-and-honored-at/article_5736cbce-debd-11e4-b0a3-afe2881fd56d.html
Georgia Highlands College’s Phi Theta Kappa program brought home more honors than any other college in attendance at the All-Georgia Academic Team Awards luncheon in Atlanta. GHC students Hannah Lively and Michael Vanderberg from the Cartersville campus, Gena Carter and Hillary Rowell from the Marietta campus and Hali Bohannon and Lindsey Miles from the Floyd campus were honored at the Sloppy Floyd building in downtown Atlanta, overlooking the State Capitol. …To be eligible for this honor, students must be nominated by their college to the All-Georgia Academic Team. Nominees are selected based on leadership qualities, community service and outstanding academic performance. Students nominated become eligible for the All-USA Academic Team, the Coca-Cola New Century Scholars Scholarship and the All-USA Community College Academic Team and Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team scholarships. These programs award over $300,000 in scholarships every spring.

www.times-herald.com
UWG’s regional economic impact exceeds $455 million
http://www.times-herald.com/local/20150410-UWG-Economic-Impact-Report-14-inches
The University of West Georgia contributed over $455,593,962 million to the west Georgia regional economy in 2013. Marking the sixth year of consecutive growth, this amount is a significant increase from the previous year’s $442 million, according to a report commissioned by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) through University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. The report also found a $14.1 billion economic boost from institutions of higher learning across the state.

www.sfltimes.com
SAVANNAH STATE OFFERS IN-STATE TUITION TO FLA., ALA., S.C. STUDENTS
http://www.sfltimes.com/news/savannah-state-offers-in-state-tuition-to-fla-ala-s-c-students
STAFF REPORT
By Loretta D. Heyward
SAVANNAH — Savannah State University (SSU) has been approved to offer in-state tuition rates to residents of border States. This includes residents of Florida, Alabama and South Carolina. The effort is part of the Complete College Georgia initiative. The University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents (BOR) notes in its guidance document that “providing out-of-state tuition waivers for these select institutions expands the potential student body we can recruit for these institutions. … [And] allows us to take advantage of our existing USG infrastructure and capabilities to grow our enrollment.” Savannah State University is one of ten institutions to be approved for the waiver.

www.thebrunswicknews.com
New waiver will benefit college
http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/new-waiver-will-benefit-college/article_8cf436eb-61ff-5156-a123-1d224c2e6497.html
By ANNA HALL
College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick is looking a little more interesting to high school graduates in bordering states. In addition to it being a four-year institution on the Georgia coast, the college can now offer less costly, in-state tuition rates to students in Alabama, Florida and South Carolina. The border resident waiver for College of Coastal Georgia and nine other state colleges was recently approved by the University System of Georgia. The waiver for College of Coastal Georgia will start in the 2015-2016 academic year.

www.bizjournals.com
Moving HIT forward in Georgia
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/04/10/moving-hit-forward-in-georgia.html
Amanda Shailendra & David Hartnett
More than 50 years ago, a group of Georgia health-care professionals, management engineers and academics saw a need to enhance and develop new practices to improve health-care information management, forming a society at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This society not only laid the foundation that would birth one of the largest health IT (HIT) partnerships in the world, Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), but has also emphasized Georgia’s leadership in this industry. This month, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Metro Atlanta Chamber will partner with 10 Georgia-based public and private entities to highlight the state’s robust HIT ecosystem at HIMSS annual conference, HIMSS15. With the growing need to improve health-care accountability and doctor-patient interaction, health-care entities, small and large, are entering into the most disruptive period the industry has ever seen.

www.examiner.com
AT&T continues to make big investments in Georgia
http://www.examiner.com/article/at-t-continues-to-make-big-investments-georgia
Rick Limpert
AT&T has invested almost $5.4 billion over three years on local networks in the state of Georgia. AT&T is the leader when it comes to wireless service in the state of Georgia and it’s no accident. AT&T has made no secret that it invested nearly $5.4 billion in its wireless and wired networks in Georgia between 2012 through 2014. This has made the networks more reliable, faster and perform better for residential and business customers… · DAS (Distributed Antenna System) additions or expansions at Augusta National, the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Dome, Turner Field, Emory University

www.bizjournals.com
Southern Co. plans innovation center at Tech
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/04/10/southern-co-plans-innovation-center-at-tech.html
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer- Atlanta Business Chronicle
Southern Co. is the latest Fortune 500 corporation to plant a research and development outpost at Georgia Tech. The Atlanta-based utility holding company will open a roughly 6,000-square-foot “Energy Innovation Center” at Tech Square, where employees will work on next-generation energy technologies and products.

www.bizjournals.com
German aerospace supplier scouts Georgia for $500M advanced manufacturing project; 700 jobs
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/04/10/german-aerospace-supplier-scouts-georgia-for-plant.html
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer- Atlanta Business Chronicle
A German aerospace supplier is scouting sites in Georgia for a more than $500 million advanced manufacturing development that would employ about 700. Weber Metals, a subsidiary of Meinerzhagen, Germany-based conglomerate Otto Fuchs KG, produces forged aluminum and titanium alloy parts mainly used in the aerospace industry. …Weber is considering Southeast states including the Carolinas, Alabama and Tennessee, as it looks to expand U.S. production capacity to meet growing demand for aircraft, according to a source familiar with the plans. …The aerospace manufacturing sector, like the auto industry, is gravitating to the Southeast, lured by a growing skilled workforce, robust supply chain infrastructure and a low-cost operating climate, said Karen Fite, a director at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. In the Peach State, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State University generate the skilled engineering talent that aerospace manufacturing requires. Georgia Tech, which offers an aerospace degree, is a source of industry talent and research, particularly around lightweight composite material, digital manufacturing and power management.

www.onlineathens.com
Judge dismisses claims of impropriety in UGA professor’s case
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2015-04-09/judge-dismisses-claims-impropriety-uga-professors-case
By WALTER C. JONESMORRIS NEWS SERVICE
ATLANTA | A judge dismissed a case Thursday alleging the state was dishonest in how it handled a University of Georgia professor’s tenure hearing five years ago. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter threw out the case after a half-hour trial in which he ruled the only witness inadmissible. “This case is over,” he said with a wave of his hand. “… I don’t have time for this.”

www.accesswdun.com
Ex-UGA officer threatens lawsuit over medical amnesty law
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/4/302543/ex-uga-officer-threatens-lawsuit-over-medical-amnesty-law
By Associated Press
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) A former University of Georgia police officer has threatened to file a $5 million lawsuit against the state Board of Regents after he was fired for refusing to arrest two drunk, underage students who needed medical help, his lawyer said Thursday. Former officer Jay Park thought the students were protected under a new alcohol and drug amnesty law and was fired for trying to clarify the meaning of the law with local state lawmakers, the ex-officer’s attorney, Michael Puglise, told The Associated Press. Park responded to a 911 call from worried friends of an 18-year-old UGA student who was seen stumbling on campus Sept. 26, according WAGA-TV (http://bit.ly/1EbPSJK). Park called his supervisor to ask if the student was protected under a new medical amnesty law, but he was told to arrest her, Puglise said.

www.wnem.com
Immigration activist speaks at CSU
http://www.wnem.com/story/28767614/immigration-activist-speaks-at-csu
By WTVM Web Team
COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) – A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist speaks Columbus State University aiming to open up a dialogue on immigration. Jose Antonio Vargas spoke April 9 at CSU’s Cunningham Conference Center about his take on the immigration debate. Vargas wrote a New York Times Magazine essay revealing himself as an undocumented immigrant in 2011, and he shared his thoughts on the issue Thursday night.

Higher Education News:
www.ajc.com
Emory explains scholarships for immigrants without legal status
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/emory-explains-scholarships-for-immigrants-without/nkqnj/
Jeremy Redmon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Emory University is estimating fewer than a half a dozen immigrants eligible for a special reprieve from deportation will enroll at the university this year after it begins offering them a new scholarship. Asked where the money will come from and how much will be available, a spokeswoman for the private research university would identify the source only as “Emory institutional resources.” “There is no predetermined formula for this,” Nancy Seideman, an Emory spokeswoman, said in an email in response to questions The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sent the university this week. “Scholarship awards, if needed, will be awarded on a case-by-case basis.” Emory’s initiative is important for immigrants without legal status because they don’t qualify for federal student aid. Plus, Georgia bars them from attending some of its public universities – including the University of Georgia – and paying less expensive in-state tuition rates at others.

www.insidehighered.com
Emerging Path to Federal Aid
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/04/09/political-pressure-builds-new-accreditation-and-aid-pathway-upstart-providers
By Paul Fain
A scenario in which a student can use a Pell Grant to help pay for a bundle of edX courses no longer seems so far-fetched. Political support is building for a system to encourage and oversee higher education upstarts that don’t look or act like colleges, such as online course providers and coding boot camps. And these emerging players soon may have a pathway to accreditation and even federal financial aid eligibility, albeit in limited or experimental form. There are many differences among this group, which includes Udacity, General Assembly, StraighterLine and other noninstitutional providers. But none of these companies offers degrees or operates within the heavily regulated confines of traditional colleges.

www.chroicle.com
At Least 15 Athletics Programs to Offer More Than $4,000 in Extra Aid to Athletes
http://chronicle.com/article/At-Least-15-Athletics-Programs/229229/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
By Brad Wolverton and Sandhya Kambhampati
The University of Tennessee and four other major-college athletics departments are set to offer players an additional $5,000 or more in scholarship assistance starting this fall, according to a Chronicle analysis of financial-aid allowances at the 65 wealthiest NCAA institutions. Ten other athletics programs have plans to distribute at least $4,000 more in aid. The money, part of a new spending allowance approved in January by the five biggest conferences, allows Division I colleges to cover the full cost of players’ scholarships. Previously, colleges could cover only the cost of a basic scholarship — tuition, fees, room and board, and books. …Spending power among the five biggest conferences — the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-12, and Southeastern — varies greatly. Georgia Institute of Technology – ACC – Old Scholarship $23,028 – New Scholarship $24,748 – Difference in Scholarship $1,720

www.chronicle.com
LinkedIn Will Buy Online-Learning Company for $1.5 Billion
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/linkedin-will-buy-online-learning-company-for-1-5-billion/96953?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
by Andy Thomason
LinkedIn announced Thursday it has agreed to acquire the online-learning company lynda.com for $1.5 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports. It is the social-networking giant’s largest acquisition to date, and signals its continued expansion into the education realm. lynda.com offers more than 2,900 courses online, which include video tutorials for various skills.

www.nytimes.com
Should Students Sit on Sexual Assault Panels?
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/education/edlife/12edl-12forum.html?_r=0
By ADAM LIPTAK
It was a bland bit of guidance from the Department of Education, cast in legal language and tucked into a footnote two-thirds of the way through a 46-page document about how colleges and universities should address sexual assault on campus. But it did not sit well with Celia Wright, president of the student body at Ohio State University. The footnote “discourages” having students sit on conduct boards in cases concerning sexual violence. Ohio State and many other campuses no longer let students serve … The issue is part of a larger debate about how campus conduct hearings should coexist with the criminal justice system when addressing matters as serious as rape.