University System News:
www.americustimesrecorder.com
New GSW graduate never loses sight of goal
http://www.americustimesrecorder.com/news/new-gsw-graduate-never-loses-sight-of-goal/article_2ea348e8-f5b2-11e4-8386-03b472ac81a7.html
by Beth Alston
Earns degree after 32 years
AMERICUS — Getting a degree is becoming more important now than ever. Within the next 10 years, 60 percent of jobs will require a college degree, but at the present, less than 45 percent of the Georgia workforce is prepared to meet this need. The demand for college credentials may even call for adults to return to college in order to remain economically competitive. For people who have been out of the college game for a while, however, going back may be difficult. To make it easier for adults in Georgia to return to college and to earn a degree, the Office of the Governor developed the “Go Back. Move Ahead.” campaign through a collaboration between the University System of Georgia (USG) and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG). Soon-to-be-graduate of Georgia Southwestern State University, Lisa Battle-Jackson from Leslie, has proved that it is possible to return to college as an adult and succeed.
www.accesswdun.com
UNG to break ground on new residence hall in Dahlonega
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/5/309108/ung-to-break-ground-on-new-residence-hall-in-dahlonega
By Derreck Booth
DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia (UNG) is embarking on building project that will create room for 536 more students to live on campus in Dahlonega. School officials and Corvias Housing plan to break ground on the new four-story building on Tuesday afternoon. The additional student housing will go at West Main Street and Walker Drive, across the street from the UNG Dining Hall. The goal with the project, according to university officials, is to address a housing shortage on the Dahlonega campus.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
School officials bemoan lack of college tracking
Measuring success proves to be difficult task for high schools
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2015-05-09/school-officials-bemoan-lack-college-tracking?v=1431221720
By Tracey McManus
Staff Writer
…High schools use college fairs, guidance counselors, campus visits and other strategies to push students to apply for and make the leap to a post-secondary education. But with no comprehensive tracking system in place to follow students from high school to college, school districts across the state, and most across the nation, have no way to measure how successful they are in getting students there. The Georgia Department of Education began tracking college attainment by district and individual school in 2012, but this only includes students who attended an institution in the University System of Georgia or Technical College System of Georgia. The state is not able to track those who went out of state or to private schools in Georgia, which skews the numbers and creates a void in data that could determine the strengths and weaknesses of curriculums, officials say.
USG Institutions:
www.wtoc.com
Gov. Deal visiting Georgia Southern to sign bill
http://www.wtoc.com/story/29029036/gov-deal-visiting-georgia-southern-to-sign-bill
By Brian Cheaves
STATESBORO, GA (WTOC) – Georgia Governor Nathan Deal will be on the campus of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro on Monday. The purpose of his trip is to sign a key piece of legislation pertaining to the state budget.
www.barnesville.com
Chancellor addresses GSC grads
http://www.barnesville.com/archives/8261-Chancellor-addresses-GSC-grads.html
Posted by Walter Geiger in Top Stories
University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby told members of the Spring 2015 graduating class that “…using your college education to serve a worthwhile cause that is greater than yourself is one of the most fulfilling investments you can make.” Huckaby addressed 226 graduates and an estimated crowd of 1,500 who were gathered on Lambdin Green at the center of the Gordon State College campus. Huckaby noted that, “few of us are entrepreneurs, and even fewer are billionaires. “But investing your time and talent in the act of giving can be as rewarding as giving money. In many cases, it is even more rewarding and does more to nurture you as a person.” Degrees were conferred to 226 students of the 340-member class.
www.bizjournals.com
KSU receives $250,000 Conrad N. Hilton Foundation grant
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2015/05/ksu-receives-250-000-conrad-n-hilton-foundation.html
Carla CaldwellMorning Edition Editor-
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Kennesaw State University’s Center for Sustainable Journalism has received a $250,000 grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The grant will fund CSJ’s production of stories and videos about youth affected by substance use and youth transitioning out of foster care.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Georgia Gwinnett students take home national technology awards
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2015/may/09/georgia-gwinnett-students-take-home-national/
By Keith Farner
Georgia Gwinnett College students fared well recently in a national competition of students pursuing a career in the technology industry. Three students won first place awards and the team won second place in 14 categories as more than 2,000 students from the United States and Canada took part in the competition. It all took place at the Association of Information Technology Professional National Collegiate Conference. GGC’s Lissa Pollacia, assistant dean and professor of information technology, said she’s taken students to the conference for many years, but it’s the first time a team won three national championships.
www.gainesvilletimes.com
University of North Georgia lengthens its global reach
New programs allow international reach for school
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/109650/
By Kristen Oliver
Not many American universities have pending agreements with universities in countries like Serbia and Vietnam, but the University of North Georgia does. As the state military college, UNG has an obligation and incentive to expand its international initiatives. This school year, the university made lengthy strides in the area.
www.wabe.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net
Atlanta Students Aim For The Stars With Rocket-Building Class
http://wabe.drupal.publicbroadcasting.net/post/atlanta-students-aim-stars-rocket-building-class
By Shelby Lin Erdman
Students at Frederick Douglass High School are aiming for the stars with a little help from their college counterparts. Georgia Tech is working with Frederick Douglass High to develop a curriculum to help get young people interested in engineering and aerospace careers well before they reach college. And it might be working. The kids in Aaron Campbell’s ninth grade class are working with Georgia Tech students to build model-style rockets.
www.bizjournals.com
Portman Holdings emerges as front-runner to develop Tech’s HPC project
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/real_talk/2015/05/portman-holdings-emerges-as-front-runner-to.html
Douglas Sams
Commercial Real Estate Editor- Atlanta Business Chronicle
Portman Holdings has emerged as the front-runner to develop a $300 million mixed-use project for Georgia Tech in Midtown’s Technology Square. Portman was competing for the project against another longtime Atlanta real estate company, Cousins Properties Inc. (NYSE: CUZ), Atlanta Business Chronicle reported earlier this year. The project would rise over Tech Square on the site that housed the Crum & Forster building at 4th and Spring streets. It would add up to 750,000 square feet of new development to Tech Square, including a new 600,000-square-foot office building anchored by Georgia Tech, and a High Performance Computing Center.
www.nepr.net
Planetary Society Set To Launch Solar Sail Experiment
http://nepr.net/news/2015/05/09/planetary-society-set-to-launch-solar-sail-experiment/
by: Scott Neuman
The Planetary Society is preparing to launch a tiny satellite into orbit later this month as the first phase in testing a solar sail as a means of spacecraft propulsion — an idea that has been kicking around in the science (and science-fiction) literature for at least a century. The satellite, LightSail, no larger than a loaf of bread, is contained within the somewhat larger Prox-1 satellite developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
In Program’s Second Year, U.S. Will Offer Colleges $60 Million in Grants for Attainment
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/in-programs-second-year-u-s-will-offer-colleges-60-million-in-grants-for-attainment/98555?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
By Andy Thomason
Colleges can apply for $60 million in grants through the U.S. Department of Education’s second “First in the World” innovation competition. The grants are meant to fund “the development and testing of innovative approaches and strategies to improve postsecondary education attainment,” the department said in a news release on Friday.
www.insidehighered.com
Debt-Free Catches On
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/05/11/push-liberals-debt-free-college-gains-traction-2016-democratic-campaign
By Michael Stratford
After a concerted push over the past several months from liberals and progressive groups, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign appears to be on the cusp of embracing a debt-free college plan. The Democratic front-runner’s campaign manager promoted the idea last week during an interview on CNBC. “What voters are looking for is someone to be a champion for everyday people,” the campaign manager, Robby Mook, said. “For young people, that’s debt-free college.”
www.insidehighered.com
Brick by Brick
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/05/11/educause-releases-blueprint-next-generation-learning-management-systems
By Carl Straumsheim
The next-generation learning management system shouldn’t be a system at all, but a “digital learning environment” where individual components — from grade books to analytics to support for competency-based education — fit together like Lego bricks, a new white paper recommends. “The Next Generation Digital Learning Environment: A Report on Research,” released last month, advances Educause’s initiative to examine how faculty members and students feel about their learning management systems and what they want from them in the future. The effort, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is known as the Next Generation Digital Learning Environment Initiative.
www.chronicle.com
In France, a Free Tech School Shakes Up Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/article/A-Tech-School-With-No-Degrees/230035/?cid=wc
By Paul Hockenos
Paris
In the United States, Silicon Valley often symbolizes the outside forces disrupting traditional higher education. For the French, it’s not a location or even a technology company, but a nonprofit school known simply as “42.” It doesn’t provide a degree, charges no tuition, and offers only a training program in computer science. But after starting just two years ago, 42 has already shaken up how some here think about teaching, the value of credentials, and how best to prepare students for technology jobs. And it’s been wildly popular. Some 70,000 people from Europe, the United States, and elsewhere applied last year for 900 openings, giving it an admissions rate lower than Harvard’s. Critics say its approach has few, if any, lessons for universities, and 42 lacks the state certification that’s required here to give it the imprimatur of legitimacy.