University System News:
www.ajc.com
Georgia college system launches campus safety initiative
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/georgia-college-system-launches-campus-safety-init/nmJ8T/
Janel Davis and Shannon McCaffrey
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state’s public university system plans to implement a system-wide safety initiative over the upcoming academic year to provide consistency across campuses for ensuring student safety. Key to the plan will be hiring a system-wide coordinator to handle sexual violence cases and mandatory sexual assault training for all freshmen students at the system’s 30 public colleges and universities. The new initiatives were included as recommendations in a campus safety review completed and presented today. In August, University System Chancellor Hank Huckaby commissioned a task force of campus faculty and staff, student leaders and system administrators to review campus safety policies, including campus police, crime reporting and the handling of sexual assaults.
USG Institutions:
www.11alive.com
KSU students blame poor advising services, not racism in viral video
http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/kennesaw/2015/05/18/itsbiggerthanksu-students-video/27562763/
Eli Goodstein, University of Southern California
Olivia Graham, a junior KSU student, says she has always had awesome interactions with her own adviser, but she has had issues with other advisers in the past. “I once sought help from a woman who, as I was explaining my situation, wasn’t willing to listen to me”, says Graham. “She was so rude and frustrating. It’s discouraging to me that advisers, whose job it is to advise, can treat a student like that for just needing to get answers to a few quick questions.” Other students, like sophomore Erik Gijlstra, say the advising services at KSU are not as unhelpful as some students described on Twitter and Facebook. “I still have overwhelming faith in the effort KSU makes to assist students,” says Gijlstra. “It has been easy to get hold of an adviser even without an official appointment. I have the option to call, sign up online, and walk in and use a sign-in sheet. All three of these methods have worked for me, and every time I was greeted with polite service.” Gijlstra also says there is not enough information yet about the incident to make any decisions and believes a thorough investigation will provide closure for the incident.
www.wsbtv.com
KSU students stage sit-in after viral video
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/ksu-students-stage-sit-after-viral-video/nmJmk/
KENNESSAW, Ga. — A viral video showing the interaction between a student and an academic adviser at Kennesaw State University is shining a light on what students are calling a big problem. “This is an issue that people have been having forever,” said one student who attended a peaceful sit-in at the KSU Student Center. …While Dawson is on leave for two to three weeks while KSU investigates, students are refusing to go silent. With locked arms in the student center, students united in support of Bruce, students aimed to better the situation for those who follow them. “I’m just pretty much trying to get Kennesaw to evaluate their advisers,” Bruce said. The group has a list of six demands for the KSU administration, including a formal apology from Dawson to Bruce and a school wide-wide survey of students’ academic advisement experiences.
www.businessinsavannah.com
Georgia Southern rec center named for former president, first lady
http://businessinsavannah.com/bis/2015-05-18/georgia-southern-rec-center-named-former-president-first-lady
By: Business in Savannah
Georgia Southern University’s state-of-the-art Recreation Activity Center will be named after former university president and first lady Bruce and Kathryn Grube. Grube was Georgia Southern’s eleventh president and served from 1999 to 2009. During his tenure, the university became a Carnegie Doctoral/Research university and experienced record-breaking enrollment and significant improvement in academic quality as well as growth in facilities and other resources. Kathryn Grube contributed uncounted hours of volunteer work for the university and Statesboro.
www.bizjournals.com
UGA, Emory University partner to offer dual master’s degree in social work, divinity
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2015/05/18/uga-emory-university-partner-to-offer-dual-master.html
Phil W. Hudson
Atlanta Business Chronicle
The University of Georgia School of Social Work and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University have partnered to offer a dual master’s degree in social work and divinity. It is the first dual degree to be offered between the two universities. Athens, Ga.-based UGA said there currently are four other dual master’s degree programs in social work and divinity in the Southeast that are recognized by the Council for Social Work Education, which accredits social work programs, but none that requires coursework in grief and loss. Maurice Daniels, dean and professor in the UGA School of Social Work said the program will develop professionals uniquely equipped to deal with issues related to aging, addiction and other stressors.
www.atlanta.citybizlist.com
UGA, Emory University Among ‘Most Desirable’ Varsities in America
http://atlanta.citybizlist.com/article/269774/uga-emory-university-among-most-desirable-varsities-in-america
By Sindhu Madhusudan
Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University, North Carolina’s Wake Forest University and Dallas-based Southern Methodist University are the three most desirable universities of 2015, according to Hinge. The popular dating app that introduces users to friends of friends compiled its list of the most desirable universities using two criteria: attractiveness of the alumni, indicated by the number of “swipe right” rates, or “likes” received by their profiles on its website; and academic ranking, using US News & World Report’s competitive ranking of national universities. Here are some of Hinge’s 30 most desirable universities: 20. University of Georgia Location: Athens, GA Attractiveness: These alumni are swiped right on 14.6% more than the average Hinge user. Intelligence: US News & World Report ranking: No. 62.
www.onlineathes.com
Restoration on UGA’s Arch begins Tuesday
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2015-05-19/restoration-ugas-arch-begins-tuesday
By University of Georgia
The University of Georgia Arch undergoes a preservation process starting today and continuing through the summer. During the process, the Arch will receive a thorough cleaning as well as new primer, paint and wiring. Preservation repairs will be made, and a corrosion treatment will be applied. UGA’s Facilities Management Division will complete the work prior to the start of fall semester.
Higher Education News:
www.onlineathens.com
Group sues over wording in gun-law revision
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2015-05-19/group-sues-over-wording-gun-law-revision
By Walter C. JonesMorris News Service
ATLANTA | Now that Gov. Nathan Deal and the legislature just finished with the new laws from this year’s legislative session, they’ve got to address a lawsuit over the wording of two bills changing the gun laws from last year. The advocacy group Georgia Carry filed suit against Deal and members of the Code Revision Commission for allegedly putting the wrong wording into the Official Code of Georgia, the document lawyers, judges and police depend on for saying what the law is. “The language that was in the bill didn’t show up in the code, and straightaway we started getting agencies saying that that bill was preempted by another,” said John Monroe, a leader with Georgia Carry and the attorney who filed the suit. …Deal and Attorney General Sam Olens both said last year that one bill effectively repealed the other when it comes to school zones. That was a key reason the governor on the signing sequence. Deal signed House Bill 826 first, on April 22 of last year. The next day he signed HB 60. …It came close to passing on the final day of the 2013 session and appeared stalled in 2014 until a compromise watered down some of the most controversial provisions, including some dealing with schools and college campuses.
www.nytimes.com
The In-State Tuition Break, Slowly Disappearing
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/upshot/the-in-state-tuition-break-slowly-disappearing.html?_r=1&abt=0002&abg=1
Kevin Carey
… Something similar has been happening in the market for higher education. Over the last decade, state governments and universities have been chipping away at a pillar of American opportunity: in-state tuition. Part of this story is familiar to anyone who has watched public universities raise tuition and fees, in some cases by 50 percent or more. But there’s another, less obvious, part of the story. Many of the most elite public universities are steadily restricting the number of students who are allowed to pay in-state tuition in the first place. A result is the creeping privatization of elite public universities that have historically provided an accessible route to jobs in academia, business and government. One of the most important paths to upward mobility, open on a meritocratic basis to people from all economic classes, is narrowing.
www.insidehighered.com
In-State Tuition for Vets Delayed
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/05/19/va-delays-requirement-student-veterans-receive-state-tuition
By Michael Stratford
The Obama administration has delayed a new federal requirement that public colleges and universities receiving GI Bill funding provide recent veterans with the benefit of in-state tuition, regardless of their residency. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Bob McDonald on Friday announced that he was pushing back the deadline for public institutions to comply with the in-state tuition provision of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act that Congress passed last August. The provision will now take effect Jan. 1 of next year instead of July 1, 2015. The law requires public institutions that want to continue receiving veterans’ benefits to charge in-state tuition to any veteran who has come off active duty within the past three years, regardless of whether he or she has established legal residency in the state. Veterans’ spouses and dependents must also receive the benefit.
www.insidehighered.com
Two-Thirds of Risk Managers Say Frats Are Major Liability
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/05/19/two-thirds-risk-managers-say-frats-are-major-liability
Two-thirds of college and university risk managers responding to a recent survey said they consider the risks associated with fraternities to be among the most significant risks facing higher education. When asked to describe how significant a liability risk fraternities are to an institution, half of the respondents said “medium risk” — defined in the survey as posing “significant liability risk” — and 14.3 percent said “high risk.” About 7 percent of the managers said fraternities present “no unusual risk.” …There was a sharp divide between risk managers at public and private institutions in how they view the advantages that fraternities provide to their campuses.