University System News:
www.getschooled.blog.ajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Are generous raises for Georgia college presidents defensible or necessary?
http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2015/05/28/are-generous-raises-for-georgia-college-presidents-defensible-or-necessary/
The Board of Regents has approved raises for most of the college and university presidents within the University System of Georgia. University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby defended the increases, which push the total compensation for two presidents to more than a million dollars. Huckaby said the raises were necessary to attract and retain college leaders in a competitive marketplace. Public college presidents in Georgia have long complained they are losing top faculty to better endowed private colleges, especially in science, math and engineering. It’s interesting presidents now are the ones getting the big pay hikes.
www.myajc.com
Georgia aggressive in helping veterans manage college hurdles
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/georgia-aggressive-in-helping-veterans-manage-coll/nmPrs/#1db36e70.3566685.735747
By Janel Davis – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most people meet Wesley McReavy’s service dog, Kiah, before they meet him. And McReavy is fine with that. A few years ago, McReavy was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Years in the military — including his last deployment to Iraq — had taken their toll, leaving the Marine and Army veteran with anxiety and uneasy feelings of being overwhelmed. Before Kiah and after a medical discharge in 2011, McReavy, 36, was content to spend most of his time at home, venturing out only when absolutely necessary. His condition could have been a barrier to a college degree, but this year he earned one from Georgia Perimeter College. Working closely with the school’s military and disability services teams, McReavy was able to complete his psychology studies with help from Kiah, who provides body blocks between strangers and her owner, cutting the hypersensitivity that can still make McReavy uneasy in some situations.That accommodation is one example of steps Georgia’s colleges and universities take to educate and graduate a significant part of the state’s population: veterans and their families, whose lives after the time in uniform can be difficult.
USG Institutions:
www.bizjournals.com
Georgia Tech eyes 60-acre Westside innovation district (SLIDESHOW)
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/05/29/georgia-tech-eyes-60-acre-westside-innovation.html
Urvaksh Karkaria
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech is leading an effort to expand a health and biosciences innovation district in Atlanta’s gritty Westside — a move that could inject high tech investment and jobs into an economically distressed area. The plan, which must first undergo a feasibility study, could involve broadening the 11-acre Technology Enterprise Park into a $500 million mixed-use industry focused hub. The development, which could initially encompass about 60 acres, would include a cluster of Georgia Tech research buildings on North Avenue and surrounding property owned by others, including the Atlanta Housing Authority, sources said. A more ambitious version sees the innovation district extending south beyond the Georgia World Congress Center and including the area immediately surrounding the new Atlanta Falcons stadium, a source said.
www.bizjournals.com
Developers seek incentives for $360M HPCC
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/05/29/developers-seek-incentives-for-360m-hpcc.html
Douglas Sams
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech and Atlanta developer Portman Holdings LLC are asking for economic development incentives to support a $360 million project in Midtown’s Technology Square. Earlier this month, Georgia Tech said it was moving ahead with the project, which would rise over Tech Square — one of the most active districts in Atlanta for job growth and investment. Tech recently got the OK from the state Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia to continue pursuing the project. The development would include what once housed the Crum & Forster building at 4th and Spring streets.
www.myajc.com
Invest Atlanta approves bonds for new NCR HQ
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/invest-atlanta-approves-bonds-for-new-ncr-hq/nmQJM/
By J. Scott Trubey – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The board of Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development agency, approved a larger than previously anticipated bond package to help aid in the company’s move from Gwinnett County to Midtown. The board approved four bonds totaling $314 million in a deal that also will involve property tax savings for NCR of $12.6 million. NCR announced plans earlier this year for a $260 million campus, but the higher bond total is a result of anticipated future growth, said Eloisa Klementich, Invest Atlanta’s managing director of business development. The city also approved earlier this year a $3.2 million grant to induce the move. The bonds are not backed by taxpayers. The previously said it would relocate 3,600 workers from the Duluth area to a tract near Georgia Tech’s Technology Square. The move, the company said, is designed to help woo top technology talent from the university.
www.smart-grid.tmcnet.com
MHG Expands Research and Development Capabilities through Exclusive Arrangement with The University of Georgia
http://smart-grid.tmcnet.com/news/2015/05/28/8197048.htm
Dr. Paul Pereira, CEO and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors at MHG is pleased to announce the company has increased their research and development capabilities by opening their own specialty labs and gaining access to equipment at the University of Georgia. With this agreement, MHG has the ability to use many of the University’s unique resources to further advance formulas to meet customer needs. The specialty labs at the University allow researchers to determine certain properties and characteristics of bioplastic formulas that have been created at the Bainbridge facility.
www.bbc.com
‘Swarm robots’ could be used for future rescue operations
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32690720
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have been exploring ways of making robots work together and communicate with each other. Those behind the research believe “swarm robots” could prove useful in providing relief following natural disasters.
www.onlineathens.com
Charges dismissed against demonstrators who protested Regents policy on undocumented students
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2015-05-29/charges-dismissed-aganst-demonstrators-who-protested-regents-policy-undocumented
By Lee Shearer
Charges were dropped against nine young people arrested in a January protest about undocumented students’ rights on the University of Georgia campus. UGA police arrested the nine, including four UGA students, when they refused to leave a Moore College classroom following a teach-in that went beyond the building’s normal closing hour. But the Athens-Clarke County Office of the Solicitor decided prosecuting the cases would not serve the public interest nor the interests of justice, according to paperwork the Solicitor’s office filed Wednesday.
www.ajc.com
Police: Valdosta State protester who fled arrested in Tampa
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/police-valdosta-state-protester-who-fled-arrested-/nmQhb/
Alexis StevensAlexis Stevens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After more than a month on the run, the man accused of having a gun during a protest at Valdosta State University was arrested, according to police. Eric E. Sheppard Jr., 21, was arrested Thursday morning at a Tampa home and booked into the Hillsborough County jail. He was being held without bond late Thursday and is expected to be extradited to Georgia.
www.dailyreportonline.com
Suspect Arrested in 2002 Death of Georgia College Professor
http://www.dailyreportonline.com/id=1202727688071/Suspect-Arrested-in-2002-Death-of-Georgia-College-Professor?kw=Suspect%20Arrested%20in%202002%20Death%20of%20Georgia%20College%20Professor&et=editorial&bu=Daily%20Report&cn=20150528&src=EMC-Email&pt=Afternoon%20News&slreturn=20150429093503
The Associated Press
SWAINSBORO, Ga. (AP) — Investigators have arrested a new suspect in the 2002 death of a college professor in Swainsboro. Multiple news outlets report Phillip Scott Kirby Sr. was charged Wednesday with murder in the death of Emily Pestana-Mason. She was an associate professor at East Georgia College. Authorities say she was stabbed in the neck while her two daughters were home. The victim’s husband, Walter C. Mason Jr., was charged earlier with murder in her death.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
A Global Education Opens Doors, but Leaves Many Shut Out
http://chronicle.com/article/A-Global-Education-Opens/230511/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
By Karin Fischer
Boston
Employers say that international experience matters in hiring decisions. Chief executives fret that today’s graduates lack the skills to succeed in a global economy. Even the U.S. secretary of education, Arne Duncan, in recorded remarks to the annual conference here this week of Nafsa: Association of International Educators, called global education a must-have. “In the 21st century,” Mr. Duncan said, “a quality education is an international education.” For all the talk, you might be tempted to think that every American graduates from college with a diploma and a well-stamped passport. The reality is far different. Study-abroad participation remains persistently low; less than 10 percent of all undergraduates go overseas.
www.insidehighered.com
Indicted for Cheating
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/05/29/chinese-nationals-indicted-elaborate-cheating-scheme-standardized-admissions-tests
By Elizabeth Redden and Scott Jaschik
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced the indictment of 15 Chinese nationals for what authorities called an elaborate scheme that allowed some people to fraudulently win admission to American colleges and to gain U.S. visas. According to the indictment, some Chinese individuals took the SAT, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) while pretending to be other Chinese individuals, who had registered for the tests and wanted to attend college in the United States, or at least to get a visa permitting them to do so. Those taking the tests imported fake Chinese passports and inserted their photographs, but with the names of others, so it would appear that the person taking the test was the one seeking to enroll in the United States.