University System News:
www.wabe.org
Ga.’s College System Chancellor Talks Education Issues, More
http://wabe.org/post/ga-s-college-system-chancellor-talks-education-issues-more
By WABE STAFF
Thousands of Georgia students are going back to school this week. Most of the attention is focused on elementary and high school children, but Georgia’s colleges and universities are getting ready for a new year, too, with the start of the fall semester. The head of the University System of Georgia, Chancellor Hank Huckaby, has led the system for four years now. Huckaby joined Rose Scott and Denis O’Hayer on “A Closer Look” to discuss Georgia’s educational system, college mergers, funding, fee increases and more.

www.bizjournals.com
Georgia Film Academy names Jeffrey Stepakoff its first executive director
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2015/08/04/georgia-film-academy-names-jeffrey-stepakoff-its.html
Ellie Hensley
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The Georgia Film Academy has its first executive director — Jeffrey Stepakoff, a tenured professor of film and television writing at Kennesaw State University. He is now tasked with heading the effort to coordinate programs, curriculum and special learning experiences for students enrolled in Georgia’s university and technical college systems. The academy will be a virtual institution with the ability to operate where needs and opportunities exist across the state.

www.myajc.com
Georgia’s colleges pay attention to veterans
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/georgias-colleges-pay-attention-to-veterans/nm3tR/#5a07af56.3566685.735815
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…His condition could have been a barrier to a college degree, but this year he earned one from Georgia Perimeter College. …Earlier this year, McReavy was among more than 800 veterans to graduate from institutions in Georgia’s public college and university system. More than 960 military-affiliated students — either active-duty, reservists or veterans and their dependents and spouses — graduated this spring from the state’s technical college system. Based on last year’s numbers, about 2.8 percent and 3.5 percent of University System and tech college system graduates had some military affiliation. Georgia has been one of the most aggressive states at helping service members and their families.

www.myajc.com
Tuition has risen again for Georgia colleges
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/tuition-has-risen-again-for-georgia-colleges/nm3tc/#0bb76651.3566685.735815
By Janel Davis – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Students at all of Georgia’s 30 public colleges and universities will pay more in tuition this fall. Tuition was increased by 9 percent at two of the largest schools, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, and 2.5 percent at 20 other schools in the University System. Rates at the remaining eight institutions are up between 3 percent and 9 percent.

USG Institutions:
www.bizjournals.com
Intel, Georgia Tech team to boost women and minorities in computer science and engineering
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2015/08/04/intel-georgia-tech-team-to-boost-women-and.html
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) will invest $5 million at Georgia Tech over the next five years to boost the number of woman and minorities in computer science and engineering. “It is a national imperative that the U.S. continue to enhance the engagement of students of all backgrounds in STEM fields to create a more robust economy,” said Gary May, dean and Southern Company Chair in the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech. “The higher education and private sectors must combine forces to achieve the impact that is necessary. As a national leader in producing outstanding underrepresented engineering graduates, Georgia Tech is pleased to partner with Intel in this transformative initiative.”

www.noodls.com
MCG alum wills $278,000 to CHOG
http://www.noodls.com/viewNoodl/29332710/georgia-regents-university/mcg-alum-wills-278000-to-chog
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Though it angered some when she got accepted into medical school, Dr. Martha Smith McCranie didn’t hold a grudge. “They thought we were displacing men who could work their entire careers, you know? But I was not going to let that interfere with my learning,” said McCranie, one of just three women in the Medical College of Georgia Class of 1945. …It’s that generous spirit and a love for children that led the former pediatric psychiatrist to leave a $278,000 estate gift for the Children’s Hospital of Georgia. “She wanted to gift the medical community in some way,” Higgins said. …CHOG is also the place where many of today’s MCG students at Georgia Regents University acquire clinical skills. …”She was genuinely interested in every person she met and wanted to make sure they felt welcome and heard,” Higgins added. “She loved her family, and she loved MCG.”

www.georgiatrend.com
MISSION POSSIBLE
How Georgia’s military communities are responding to closures, cuts and consolidation.
http://www.georgiatrend.com/August-2015/Mission-Possible/
Anna Bentley
In Georgia, a Navy school and two Army bases shuttered by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process are finding new life by way of redevelopment that addresses the state’s shortage of healthcare providers and bolsters its strengths in film production and logistics. … The Navy Supply Corps School (NSCS) in Athens, which had been training Supply Corps officers near UGA’s main campus since 1954, was consolidated in the 2005 BRAC to the Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island – a decision that wasn’t entirely unexpected. …UGA had big ideas for the NSCS site. Described by Pharr as a “mid-size college campus,” the site was ideal for the university’s new Health Sciences Campus, which now is home to the College of Public Health and the Georgia Regents University (GRU)/UGA Medical Partnership to combat the state’s growing drought of healthcare providers. …Winnie Davis Hall, originally built in 1902, now houses the administrative offices of the GRU/UGA Medical Partnership. …“[The College of Public Health and GRU/UGA Medical Partnership] together will be addressing the state’s critical need for healthcare providers, and at the same time, they’re helping our local and state economy.”

www.georgiatrend.com
TIFTON | TIFT COUNTY: THE ROAD MOST TRAVELED
Retail, Distribution and Agriculture
http://www.georgiatrend.com/August-2015/Tifton–Tift-County-The-Road-Most-Traveled/
David Shivers
If you ask in South Georgia where all the roads lead, the likely answer is Tifton. The county seat of Tift County, with its confluence of U.S. highways 41, 82 and Interstate 75, is a regional hub for healthcare, retail, agriculture, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, as well as a major stopping point for motorists on their way to Florida destinations. …Of course, you can’t talk about Tifton and Tift County without talking about agriculture. “Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in the state of Georgia,” says Dr. Joe West, chair of the chamber board and assistant dean of the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Tifton campus. “It’s by far the No. 1 industry in South Georgia, and our campus, being right in the heart of what we call ‘production agriculture,’ is a major player.” Agricultural research in the labs at UGA Tifton have gained it worldwide recognition. “We have about 85 Ph.D.s, 65 with the University of Georgia and 20 with the USDA Agricultural Research Service,” West says. “We’ve got almost 500 people who work at the experiment station, so economically we have a big impact in this community; and we benefit from this community’s support.”

Higher Education News:
www.accesswdun.com
WalletHub: Ga students among worst for student loan debt
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/8/327256/wallethub-ga-students-among-worst-for-student-loan-debt
By accessWDUN staff
A new study puts Georgia college students among the worst in the country when it comes to the amount of student loan debt they’ve accrued. According to Jill Gonzalez with WalletHub, Georgia sits at number 47. One of the factors, she said, was the jobless rate for post college-age people. …The study also found around 61 percent of college students in Georgia take on loan debt to go to school, which is about average for the U.S. Georgia did better on dollar amount of the debt.

www.sun-sentinel.com
Florida’s unpaid college loans nearly double U.S. average
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/personal-finance/fl-florida-student-default-20150804-story.html
By Donna Gehrke-White
Florida has almost double the national rate of student loans that are delinquent or in default, according to a new study. More than a fifth of Florida’s students loans — 21.5 percent — are delinquent or in default, according to WalletHub.com, a personal finance website. Nationwide, 11.1 percent of student loans are late or unpaid. One reason may be Florida’s high unemployment rate among people ages 25 to 34 — 6.8 percent in June compared with 5.5 overall, the study found. The rate also is sharply higher than the 3 percent to 5 percent for those ages in other states, said WalletHub spokeswoman Jill Gonzalez.

www.insidehighered.com
Finding the Right Match
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/08/05/conference-and-new-research-takes-broader-look-college-match-challenge
By Paul Fain
WASHINGTON — Only a small number of top-performing high school students from low-income backgrounds get admitted to elite colleges. This so-called undermatching problem has gained the attention of academic researchers, the White House and the news media in recent years. Yet the studies that initially triggered this worry were focused on the much broader issue of the numerous barriers low-income students face in trying to get to college — usually a public one — and earn a degree. A research conference the American Enterprise Institute hosted Tuesday tried to shift the “college match” conversation away from the Ivy League and back to its initial focus on more typical students and institutions. The event featured discussions of seven new working papers, which covered a wide swath of the topic.

www.huffingtonpost.com
Fraternity Groups Push Bills To Limit College Rape Investigations
In some circumstances, colleges would be forbidden from expelling a student for sexual assault.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fraternity-groups-college-rape_55c10396e4b0e716be074a7f?utm_hp_ref=college&kvcommref=mostpopular
Tyler Kingkade
Senior Editor/Reporter, The Huffington Post
Colleges would not be allowed to punish a student for committing sexual assault unless the alleged victim agrees to report their attack to police, under a pair of new bills pushed by national fraternity organizations and opposed by higher education groups. The North-American Interfraternity Conference and the National Panhellenic Conference, umbrella groups representing fraternities and sororities, are promoting legislation that calls for new protections for students accused of rape. The legislation, introduced last week in the House of Representatives, would also limit the cases that colleges can investigate.

www.chronicle.com
When California Eliminated Its Higher-Ed Commission, Little Was Lost, Speaker Says
http://chronicle.com/article/When-California-Eliminated-Its/232165/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
By Eric Kelderman
Newport, Calif.
Ken O’Donnell, an administrator in the California State University system, says life without a statewide coordinating board “ain’t that bad.” But that doesn’t mean some things aren’t lost without such an agency, he says. And it doesn’t mean there won’t be a role for a coordinating group in the future. Mr. O’Donnell, senior director of student engagement and academic initiatives and partnerships, spoke here on Tuesday at a meeting of the State Higher Education Executive Officers. He delivered a frank assessment of the California Postsecondary Education Commission, which was eliminated by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011, as an easy way to cut $2 million from a state budget reeling from the impact of the recession. The presentation on Tuesday was more than just a history lesson. Although California is one of few states without a statewide coordinating agency, both Oregon and Washington have taken steps in recent years to limit the roles and responsibilities of such bodies.