University System News:
www.diverseeducation.com
Merger Creates Higher Education Success Story
http://diverseeducation.com/article/76423/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=e6282117f0bb46b287c0faad69193b11&elqCampaignId=415&elqaid=88&elqat=1&elqTrackId=81fdfb679d9b4a4b888e9ff4b6031d96
by Jamal Eric Watson
Merging two universities into one is hardly an easy feat. But administrators at Kennesaw State University (KSU) have successfully done just that, creating a national blueprint that will likely be replicated as more colleges and universities look to consolidation as an answer to help cut costs and streamline academic programs. Earlier this year, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the consolidation plans between KSU and Southern Polytechnic State University, transforming this new institution of higher education into one of the largest universities in the nation. Consolidating these two relatively young institutions located within 10 miles of each other made sense to Dr. Daniel S. Papp, who has been president of KSU since 2006.
USG Institutions:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
New GRU president talks of building relationships
http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2015-07-20/new-gru-president-talks-building-relationships?v=1437449078
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
The office walls were bare and there were few books on the shelf Monday for new Georgia Regents University President Brooks Keel as he paused during his first day. “It’s a blank slate,” he said, in more ways than one. But he has already brought in a key adviser from his former post at Georgia Southern University, he already has ideas of how to better connect his two very different campuses and he is already looking forward to greater connections in health care. Keel has brought in Augusta native Russell Keen, the vice president of external affairs at Georgia Southern, to serve in a similar capacity at GRU and be his chief of staff.
www.myajc.com
Tech firm GeoDigital to expand in Midtown
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/tech-firm-geodigital-to-expand-in-midtown/nm3gY/
By J. Scott Trubey – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A digital mapping firm involved in autonomous vehicle research plans to relocate its North American headquarters from Canada to offices in Midtown Atlanta, in a move that result in about 50 new high-tech jobs, the company and state economic development officials said Monday. The company is joining a spate of recent corporate expansions in the greater Midtown area, including Worldpay US, Sage Software and the future headquarters of NCR. A news release states the company will occupy offices in Atlantic Station, and the company’s website lists an Atlanta address at 271 17th Street. …The company said it plans to have apprenticeships with Kennesaw State University and Georgia Tech.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA study finds Southeast’s rural landscapes pose potential risk for salmonella infection
http://onlineathens.com/health/2015-07-21/uga-study-finds-southeasts-rural-landscapes-pose-potential-risk-salmonella
Researchers from the University of Georgia have determined that various freshwater sources in Georgia, such as rivers and lakes, could feature levels of salmonella that pose a risk to humans. The study is featured in the July edition of PLOS One. Faculty and students from four colleges and five departments at UGA partnered with colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Georgia Department of Public Health to establish whether or not strains of salmonella exhibit geographic trends that might help to explain differences in rates of human infection.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Moody’s Upgrades Higher Ed’s Outlook From ‘Negative’ to ‘Stable’
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/moodys-upgrades-higher-eds-outlook-from-negative-to-stable/102213?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
by Andy Thomason
Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded its outlook for the higher-education sector from “negative” to “stable,” citing expected increases in state funding and federal research funding. Higher education had been assigned a “negative” outlook since January 2013.
www.ajc.com
Parents spending more on college, worrying less
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/parents-spending-more-on-college-worrying-less-abo/nm3q9/
Janel Davis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Families are spending more on college but are less worried about economic factors affecting their ability to pay for it, according to a new report by student lender Sallie Mae. Parent income and savings are the top source of college funding, covering 32 percent of the costs, surpassing scholarships and grants (30 percent) for the first time since 2010, The “How America Pays for College” report found. Parents spent 16 percent more money on college, for an average cost of $24,164 in tuition, room and board, living expenses and other costs during the 2014-2015 academic year, compared to $20,882 the previous year. The change was fueled largely by a 25 percent spending increase by high-income families.
www.ajc.com
Increased college costs means more student loans
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/increased-college-costs-means-more-student-loans/nm4C3/
Christopher Quinn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The numbers of U.S. college students who are taking out loans to stay in school and complete their educations is climbing rapidly, according to a review of data by the Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group. …The information being released this morning notes that states pulled back on college and university support during the Great Recession and years leading up to it, and the schools shifted the costs to students. At the same time, numbers from the U.S. Department of Education analyzed by Wells Fargo shows that the net price for attending college (minus all grants and aid) is up more than 100 percent between 1995 and 2012.
www.insidehighered.com
Experimenting With Aid
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/07/21/feds-mull-experiment-aid-and-accreditation-alternative-providers
By Paul Fain
The U.S. Department of Education continues to work on its plan to grant experimental federal aid eligibility to partnerships between accredited colleges and alternative providers, such as job skills boot camps, coding academies and MOOCs. A wide range of experts have been summoned to the White House for a meeting at the end of July to discuss this growing space. And department officials say they are seeking comments on how best to spot and ensure quality with nontraditional providers.
www.chronicle.com
Colleges Seek Diversity, but ‘Admissions Calculus’ Hasn’t Changed
http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Seek-Diversity-but/231769/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
By Eric Hoover
Few selective colleges have changed their admissions practices since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin two years ago, according to a report released on Tuesday by the American Council on Education. Yet many institutions, it found, have since embraced various strategies for increasing racial and socioeconomic diversity in their student body.