USG Institutions:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
Insurance cut threatens UGA grad students
http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2015-08-24/insurance-cut-threatens-uga-grad-students
By Lee Shearer
Morris News Service
ATHENS, Ga. — University of Georgia graduate students are waiting to see whether the university will continue to help them pay for health insurance that is mandatory for many graduate students. Some universities recently have dropped the help in response to new guidance from the Internal Revenue Service, saying methods used by UGA and many other universities to help graduate students pay for health insurance are not in compliance with a provision of the federal Affordable Care Act.
www.washingtonmonthly.com
America’s Ten Most Innovative College Presidents
Higher Ed in the future may look a lot like what these leaders are doing right now.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2015/features/americas_ten_most_innovative_c_1057183.php?page=all
By Matt Connolly
College presidents don’t generally factor into the choices students make about where to apply. No high schooler calls her mother after a campus tour to breathlessly say, “Dr. Stevenson has a great ten-year capital projects fund-raising plan!” …With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of ten college presidents who are changing higher ed for the better. This is not a traditional ranking of which presidents are “best”; no credit is given for increasing the endowment, raising selectivity, or growing a school’s brand. And while you’ll find college rankings elsewhere in these pages, simply taking over a good school and keeping it good does not an exceptional leader make. Rather, these presidents have implemented specific, innovative programs in areas like affordability, diversity, research, and service. They’re the ones who, whether well known or not, are shaping the future of America’s schools.
MARK BECKER, Georgia State University, Becker has embraced big data as the president of Georgia State, using statistical analysis to greatly increase success for students who are racial minorities, low income, first in the family to attend college, or from other backgrounds historically associated with lower college achievement—which make up the vast majority of a campus population that’s getting less white and less rich.
www.noodls.com
CHOG celebrates record $1.35 million in donations
http://www.noodls.com/viewNoodl/29557365/georgia-regents-university/chog-celebrates-record-135-million-in-donations
The 2015 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals broadcast celebrated a record-breaking $1,356,058 in donations for Children’s Hospital of Georgia.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Celebration, which aired from noon to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, on WRDW-TV News 12, celebrated a record-breaking $1,356,058 in donations to benefit the services and programs at Children’s Hospital of Georgia, the area’s only children’s hospital. The total represents an accumulation of all CMN Hospitals fundraisers, campaigns, and other donations in 2014 to the children’s hospital from various supporters and partners, as well as new pledges and donations raised over the weekend through a telethon. This was the first CMN Hospitals Celebration for new Georgia Regents University President Dr. Brooks Keel.
www.noodls.com
Georgia Tech Ranks Seventh Globally for Engineering
http://www.noodls.com/viewNoodl/29551352/georgiatech—georgia-institute-of-technology/georgia-tech-ranks-seventh-globally-for-engineering
2015 ARWU rankings rate Georgia Tech’s engineering, computer science, and science programs among the best in the world.
The Georgia Institute of Technology ranks as the seventh best engineering university in the world, according to the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The annual rankings have been compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University since 2003. The data used in calculating the rankings is primarily focused on the quality of research, quality of faculty, and academic performance in several broad academic subject matter areas.
www.daltondailycitizen.com
Time-lapse video shows construction progress of Mashburn Hall
http://www.daltondailycitizen.com/news/time-lapse-video-shows-construction-progress-of-mashburn-hall/article_70151802-4a07-11e5-9010-8f5ae80fe16c.html
If you’re curious about construction of the new residence hall on the campus of Dalton State College, now there’s an easy way to monitor progress. A time-lapse video feed has been added to the Residential Life section of the new website (www.daltonstate.edu/new-housing). The camera will be in place throughout the duration of the construction of Mashburn Hall at Roadrunner Place, and it will take at least one photo daily, said Scott Bailey, vice president for Fiscal Affairs. …The residence hall will have 365 beds and will have one-, two- and three-bedroom suites with semi-private bathrooms. There will be a laundry area on each floor, as well as common spaces, game rooms, kitchen areas, an outdoor patio, an outdoor fire pit and a covered veranda.The Georgia Board of Regents recently approved the name Mashburn Hall, in memory of the late John Willis Mashburn, who established the John Willis Mashburn Charitable Trust to advance endeavors that boost higher education and economic development. …Corvias Campus Living, a private partner, will manage and maintain the housing complex for 65 years.
www.tiftongazette.com
ABAC opens Veteran Success Center on campus
http://www.tiftongazette.com/news/abac-opens-veteran-success-center-on-campus/article_21f29012-4824-11e5-af11-3b1cd761b193.html
TIFTON—Faculty, staff, students and administrators from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College honored one of their own Friday during the opening of the new Veteran Success Center in J. Lamar Branch Hall. ABAC alumnus Harold Bascom “Pinky” Durham Jr. was awarded the Purple Heart and Medal of Honor posthumously for his bravery on Oct. 17, 1967 during the Vietnam conflict when he gave his life for his country. In an announcement on April 23, ABAC President David Bridges said ABAC will develop an area on campus to showcase memorabilia from Durham, Tifton’s only Medal of Honor winner, as well as creating a Veteran Success Center.
www.tiftongazette.com
ABAC goes 3-D in science and mathematics
http://www.tiftongazette.com/news/abac-goes–d-in-science-and-mathematics/article_ef8bddd2-4755-11e5-b7bf-9b95e676f9a5.html
Special to The Gazette
TIFTON – Students in the School of Science and Mathematics at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College are stepping into the future through a new dimension– three -dimensional printing has arrived at ABAC. A new tool to benefit students, faculty and staff at ABAC, 3-D printing or additive printing is a process of making 3-D solid objects from a digital file using additive processes. In an additive process the object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the entire object is created.
www.mdjonline.com
KSU’s HR program now offered on Saturdays
http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/26820499/article-KSU-s-HR-program-now-offered-on-Saturdays
by MDJ staff
The College of Continuing and Professional Education at Kennesaw State University will be making an additional offering to its Human Resources Management SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP program. The new course will run on Saturdays, giving students another option to the previously established Thursday evening class. The first class will be Sept. 26 and will run every other Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at KSU Center.
www.csmonitor.com
Podcast: Half-life of secrets, golden age of surveillance, and the US military’s Starship Enterprise
On The Cybersecurity Podcast, Passcode’s Sara Sorcher and New America’s Peter Singer interview leading privacy and Internet scholar Peter Swire and Palo Alto Networks’ Chief Security Officer Rick Howard.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/2015/0820/Podcast-Half-life-of-secrets-golden-age-of-surveillance-and-the-US-military-s-Starship-Enterprise
By Sara Sorcher, Staff writer
Is law enforcement “going dark” in its pursuit of criminals and terrorists as default security protections for consumer devices get stronger, or does the proliferation of technology and expansion of online communications mean we’re living in a Golden Age of Surveillance? What more could the US do to reform its surveillance practices? Why is it so difficult for the government to keep secrets in the Digital Age – and will the threat of leakers such as Edward Snowden exposing classified surveillance programs persist? Leading privacy and cyberlaw scholar Peter Swire (Georgia Tech) joins New America’s Peter Singer and Passcode’s Sara Sorcher to answer all those questions and more on The Cybersecurity Podcast.
www.chronicel.augusta.com
Georgia Regents students seek alternatives to costly textbooks
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/business/local-business/2015-08-21/georgia-regents-students-seek-alternatives-costly-textbooks
By Jenna Martin, Staff Writer
Valencia Smith and Audrianna Walker lamented Friday after leaving the Georgia Regents University bookstore, where each paid about $500 on required course materials for this semester. Both sophomores have student loans to help cover textbook costs, on-campus housing and tuition. Smith and Walker, who held two bags full of books each, estimated their student debt had already topped $10,000 after just three semesters. …At the GRU on-campus bookstore, where some new textbooks cost upwards of $300, Neely said students could save 25 percent by buying used instead of new and up to 75 percent by renting instead of buying. The bookstore’s rental program has expanded in the past two years to 300 textbooks, Neely said. As the national student loan debt soars above $1 trillion, more cost-friendly alternatives to the traditional print copy will likely keep increasing in popularity.
www.gainesvilletimes.com
Fixes on way for ‘free-for-all’ parking at UNG
More spaces, charging docks planned at Dahlonega campus this fall
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/111613/
By Kristen Oliver
Parking can be a headache for commuter students on any college or university campus. It’s an issue being addressed at the University of North Georgia. Over the summer, several construction projects began to benefit student drivers on all four campuses. Most projects are not finished yet, but should be this fall. …Officials say the Dahlonega campus will soon gain approximately 245 parking spaces in the parking lot behind the Library Technology Center. This project is expected to be completed in September.
www.albanyherald.com
Gov. Nathan Deal: Georgia has nearly emerged from Great Recession
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2015/aug/21/gov-nathan-deal-georgia-has-nearly-emerged-great-r/
Dawin Walden, The Moultrie Observer
MOULTRIE (TNS) — Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal dropped by Moultrie Thursday and offered positive remarks to a gathering of the community’s economic leaders, declaring that the state has “about escaped the great recession.” Deal noted that the state’s “rainy day fund” is up to $1.3 billion, stating that it was almost empty when he went into office. He said his objective is to get it up to $2 billion. The governor also noted that the state continues to maintain a AAA bond rating. More and more movies are now being made in Georgia, and he said there is a need for people who work behind the cameras building sets and performing other tasks. In that regard, Deal noted that one of the largest sound stage operations in the country has opened in Fayette County, just outside of Atlanta metro. …He also said there is a demand for “precision engineering” skills. This has to do with people who can go to work in an industry and be able to operate and repair equipment. Deal said Georgia Southern University has begun a “precision engineering” program — one of a few in the Southeast.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
How to Help the Students With No Homes?
http://chronicle.com/article/How-to-Help-the-Students-With/232549/
By Kelly Field
The scars on Christine Banjo’s arms are still there — faint marks from the bed bugs that bit her when her family was living in a motel room during her high-school years. “Battle wounds,” she calls them: a faded but constant reminder that the college junior has been chronically homeless since she was 7. During the school year, Ms. Banjo, who is 20, lives in the dorms at Norfolk State University. But on summer vacation and during other breaks, she has no set place to go. …Her situation is not that unusual. Nationwide, close to 60,000 “unaccompanied homeless youth” receive federal financial aid as independent students. There are probably thousands more who aren’t applying for aid or who are receiving aid as financial dependents, advocates say. …On some college campuses, administrators are taking a broader view of what it means to be homeless, and they are responding with programs aimed at getting more homeless students into — and through — college.
www.chronicle.com
How an App Helps Low-Income Students by Turning College Life Into a Game
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/how-an-app-helps-low-income-students-by-turning-college-life-into-a-game/57229
by Sarah Brown
Studying in the library, getting help from a tutor, even cheering at a college football game — all of those activities carry a little extra reward for low-income students at Ball State University. The university is in its second year of offering a mobile application called “Ball State Achievements,” designed for students who come to Ball State on federal Pell Grants. …Colleges are constantly experimenting with ways to secure better outcomes for low-income students, who are increasingly being admitted and enrolling but have far lower graduation rates than other students. …Mr. Huer points to research showing that students who participate actively in campus life are more likely to achieve academic success. The app’s goals, he says, are to make sure low-income students — many of whom are the first in their families to go to college — are aware of the dozens of opportunities on campus, and to whittle them down into digestible bites. The game-like structure rewards students’ engagement throughout the academic year.
www.diverseeducation.com
New Law Requires Colleges Take Steps to Address Sex Assault
http://diverseeducation.com/article/77391/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=444bfea6172649fea278be59f973f75d&elqCampaignId=415&elqaid=88&elqat=1&elqTrackId=36c5c83aee3040d6b65926582d1b132f
by Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) – A new state law will require Illinois colleges to take steps to prevent and respond to sexual assault.
The law requires colleges to provide a confidential adviser to sex assault victims. They also must notify victims of options available to ensure their safety, such as orders of protection or changing class schedules or campus housing. Colleges also must adopt a fair process for adjudicating allegations of assault and train students and employees on preventing violence. Attorney General Lisa Madigan pushed for the law, which Gov. Bruce Rauner signed on Friday. It takes effect in August 2016.
www.wsj.com
About 7 Million Americans Haven’t Paid Federal Student Loans in at Least a Year
Figures translate into about 17% of all borrowers being severely delinquent
http://www.wsj.com/articles/about-7-million-americans-havent-paid-federal-student-loans-in-at-least-a-year-1440175645
By JOSH MITCHELL
WASHINGTON—Nearly seven million Americans have gone at least a year without making a payment on their federal student loans, a staggering level of default that highlights how student debt continues to burden households despite an improving labor market. As of July, 6.9 million Americans with student loans hadn’t sent a payment to the government in at least 360 days, quarterly data from the Education Department showed this week. That was up 6%, or 400,000 borrowers, from a year earlier. The figures translate into about 17% of all borrowers with federal loans being severely delinquent—and that share would be even higher if borrowers currently in school were excluded. Additionally, millions of other borrowers who haven’t hit the 360-day threshold that the government defines as a default are months behind on their payments.
www.foxbusiness.com
Should Colleges Pay for Student Loan Defaults?
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2015/08/21/should-colleges-pay-for-student-loan-defaults/
A college education does not come with a warranty. All a degree does for you, at least in theory, is open more doors of opportunity — it does not guarantee that you will get a job in your field. However, college costs have risen sharply — over 1,100% since 1978, which is more than four times the cost increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As a result, too many graduates are dealing with onerous levels of student debt, making repayment difficult if they do find a job in their chosen profession and nearly impossible if they do not. …While it is unrealistic for colleges to guarantee a job to their graduates, it is reasonable to expect colleges to consider cost control measures to make their degrees more affordable. Unfortunately, there is little economic incentive for colleges to control costs while the demand for a college education stays high.
www.washingtonpost.com
How the attempt to fix student loans got bogged down by the middlemen
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/how-the-education-department-turned-into-a-massive-bank/2015/08/23/7618f2fa-1442-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html
By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel August 23 at 7:35 PM
The Education Department has grown into one of the biggest money lenders in the country, overseeing a $1.2 trillion portfolio of student debt rivaling the entire loan business of JPMorgan Chase with a staff roughly the size of the National Weather Service. But instead of fulfilling a presidential mission of remaking and simplifying a confusing and corrupt system that enriched financial firms at the expense of taxpayers — and ultimately the nation’s college students — serious problems have emerged. The government hired contractors to service and collect the loans, but state and federal authorities have accused the companies of ignoring borrowers’ requests for help, misleading them about their rights and mismanaging their payments.
www.hechingerreport.com
Colleges shift to using ‘big data’ — including from social media — in admissions decisions
Like other industries, schools turn to data to predict how applicants will fare
http://hechingerreport.org/colleges-shift-to-using-big-data-including-from-social-media-in-admissions-decisions/
by EMMANUEL FELTON
Applicants for this year’s freshman class at Ithaca College didn’t have to send their standardized test scores. If they did, the scores were considered, but so were some surprising other factors — how many friends and photos they had on social media, for instance. The same big data techniques that are transforming other industries are seeping into the college and university admissions process to help predict whether students will succeed and graduate. …The point is simple: to increase graduation rates by using big data to identify the kinds of students who experience has proven are most likely to stick around.
www.insidehighered.com
3 Ways That Higher Ed Will Look Different in 2025
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/3-ways-higher-ed-will-look-different-2025
By Joshua Kim
Thinking clearly about higher ed in 2025 requires that we reconcile 3 contradictory somewhat trends:
Trend #1 – Learning Will Be Much Improved: …Trend #2 – Campuses and Classrooms Will Be Much Nicer: …Trend #3 – Postsecondary Inequality Will Be Greater:
www.washingtonpost.com
Cornell’s new president: It’s time to look at higher education through a different lens
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/08/24/cornells-new-president-its-time-to-look-at-higher-education-through-a-different-lens/
By Elizabeth Garrett
We in higher education have been on the defensive lately, amid persistent and legitimate concerns about the rising cost of college education, its purpose and its value. In response, we cite compelling data on the higher wages of college graduates compared to those without degrees, and we describe the intangible values of a liberal arts education that enhance an individual’s joy in life and ability to fulfill the demands of citizenship. To move this conversation forward, it is time to look at higher education through a different lens – one framed by the inseparable qualities of freedom and responsibility.