USG e-clips from June 19, 2015

USG Institutions:
www.bizjournals.com
The 100 Most Influential Atlantans for 2015
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2015/06/19/the-100-most-influential-atlantans-of-2015.html#g38
Hank Huckaby
Chancellor, University System of Georgia
G.P. “Bud” Peterson, President, Georgia Tech; Mark Becker, President, Georgia State University; Daniel Papp, President, Kennesaw State University

www.bizjournals.com
Most Influential Atlantans speak
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/06/19/most-influential-atlantans-speak.html
Mark Meltzer
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Each year, Atlanta Business Chronicle names its 100 Most Influential Atlantans, the people with the power to create change in metro Atlanta. For the first time this year, we surveyed the group, asking them for their ideas and recommendations on several important issues. And more than 30 responded. We asked them how to improve K-12 education in metro Atlanta, what to do about traffic, and what challenges the area faces that should receive more attention. And finally, we asked the Most Influential Atlantans which leaders they admire. …Bud Peterson, President, Georgia Tech

www.daltondailycitizen.com
Georgia Tech says Dalton company is in the ‘sweet spot’
http://www.daltondailycitizen.com/news/georgia-tech-says-dalton-company-is-in-the-sweet-spot/article_2cf4d9d2-1568-11e5-a510-63628a38ddf9.html
By Charles Oliver
Precision Products, which is now located in Dalton on North Dug Gap Road, hosted an open house on Wednesday, welcoming Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “We are here as part of a tour to see how the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership is working with companies such as Precision Products to help them grow,” said Peterson. Peterson said Precision Products is in the “sweet spot” that the manufacturing extension partnership aims to help. It’s a small but growing company with a vision for its future, he said, but without some of the resources to fully reach that vision. The partnership brings in people from Georgia Tech who can help those companies achieve that vision.

www.bizjournals.com
Georgia Tech graduate students first overall in NASA competition
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2015/06/georgia-tech-graduate-students-first-overall-in.html
Carla Caldwell
Atlanta Business Chronicle
A student team from Georgia Institute of Technology placed first overall in the graduate division of a NASA and National Institute of Aerospace contest that challenges students to solve real-life space exploration challenges.

Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Debt-Free and (Mostly) Detail-Free
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/06/19/debt-free-movement-colleges-see-challenges-and-opportunities-few-details
By Michael Stratford
As the idea of debt-free college swirls around the Democratic presidential campaign and some liberal policy circles, the groups that represent colleges and universities are sizing up what it might mean for them. For the most part, they’re just waiting to see details. So far, debt-free college remains a largely high-minded goal, and the plans from the politicians embracing it have been vague. What is clear, though, is that a shift to debt-free college would likely represent a fundamental change from the current financing system of American higher education.

www.insidehighered.com
How to Better Serve Returning Adult Students
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/06/19/how-better-serve-returning-adult-students
Up to 35 million Americans have enrolled in college at some point but failed to earn a degree or certificate. A new report from Higher Ed Insight, a research firm, tracks the challenges adult students face when they return to college. The 69-page document is an evaluation of the Lumina Foundation’s adult college completion work. It seeks to describe what works with this population, in part by looking at local, state and national partnerships that bring together higher education and employers to better serve and engage returning adult students.

www.ajc.com
Georgia trails other states on educational spending
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/georgia-trails-other-states-on-educational-spendin/nmggb/
Georgia ranked near the bottom among U.S. states when it came to investing in education after the Great Recession, according to two new reports. The state spent $4,466 per pupil during the 2011-12 school year, below the 50-state average of $6,189, according to a June report by the Center for State and Local Finance at Georgia State University. Georgia spent less than all it’s adjoining states except Florida, ranking 40th.

www.neatoday.org
States Turn Backs on Higher Ed, Leaving Feds and Families with Bill
http://neatoday.org/2015/06/18/states-turn-backs-on-higher-ed-leaving-feds-and-families-with-bill/
By Mary Ellen Flannery
Funding sources for U.S. public colleges and universities have turned topsy-turvy over the past decade as states have backed away from their investment in the public good and the federal government has increased it, a new report from the Pew Charitable Trust shows. Specifically, between 2000 and 2012, state spending on higher education fell 37 percent, while federal dollars increased by 32 percent. But the two kinds of money are not simply interchangeable, and the switch has significant implications for institutions of higher education. Put simply, state money primarily goes to the colleges — to pay for academic programs and staffing, and other operational expenses. Federal money primarily goes to the student to pay for tuition, often in the form of Pell Grants or government loans. Consequently, the only way that institutions can recoup the loss of state funds is to raise tuition.