University System News:
www.rockdalecitizen.com
Streamlined Move on When Ready advantage for high school students
http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/news/2015/jul/30/streamlined-move-on-when-ready-advantage-for-high/
By Manny Fils
COVINGTON — High school students have the chance to earn college credits in a new way with recent changes to Move On When Ready. “In the old days dual enrollment was when a student took some courses in high school and some courses at (college). The Move on When Ready students took all their classes (at a college),” Georgia Perimeter College Newton Campus Move On When Ready coordinator Amanda Boone said. “Now the program has been streamlined… It’s dual credit, so while you’re sitting in the Georgia Perimeter College U.S. history course, you’re at the same time receiving credit for U.S. history in high school.” The major change in the Move On When Ready program is that as of July 1 all costs for tuition, mandatory fees and books are covered for the student through state appropriations and post-secondary institutions, leaving the students to be responsible only for items labeled as course materials, such as calculators or software packages.
www.theatlantic.com
A College Without Classes
Forget credit hours—in a quest to cut costs, universities are simply asking students to prove their mastery of a subject.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/a-college-without-classes/400115/
ALANA SEMUELS
…But a new model is upending the traditional college experience, and has the potential to change the way universities—both new and old—think about learning. Called competency-based education, this new model looks at what students should know when they complete a certain degree, and allows them to acquire that knowledge by independently making their way through lessons. It also allows students who come into school with knowledge in a certain area to pass tests to prove it, rather than forcing them to take classes and pay for credits on information they already know. …Since then, dozens of universities, have signed on to the Competency-Based Education Network, making a commitment to design and deliver competency-based degree programs. They include not only small technical college and community colleges, but also large universities: the University System of Georgia, University of Maryland, Purdue University, and DePaul. By fall of 2014, three Big Ten institutions, including the University of Michigan, had announced degree programs that use the competency model.
www.news-daily.com
Local students get collegiate accolades
School Notebook 8-1-15
http://www.news-daily.com/news/2015/jul/31/local-students-get-collegiate-accolades/
By Johnny Jackson
JONESBORO — A few Clayton County residents have received recognition through Georgia State University in Atlanta.
Happenings at Clayton State
• Clayton State University faculty members are have been recognized with grants under a new University System of Georgia Affordable Learning Georgia initiative, which focuses on reducing the costs of textbooks and the enhancement of GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library and ALG’s parent initiative. Three grants to Clayton State total $81,600 and will reduce the cost of texts for Clayton State students in communications and media studies, psychology, physics and chemistry courses, starting with the fall 2016 semester.
USG Institutions:
www.americantowns.com
VSU Receives Models of Excellence Award for Student Success Initiatives
http://www.americantowns.com/ga/valdosta/news/vsu-receives-models-of-excellence-award-for-student-success-initiatives-23636302
Valdosta State University received the Summer 2015 University Business Models of Excellence Award for using data to improve retention, academic success, campus life engagement, and graduation rates. This is the sixth national and international award that VSU has received for innovation and data analytics.
www.globaltrademag.com
GEORGIA TECH AND NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE LAUNCH NEW LOGISTICS RESEARCH CENTER
Work Will Focus on How Demographic and Economic Changes Effect Supply Chains
http://www.globaltrademag.com/global-trade-daily/news/georgia-tech-and-national-university-of-singapore-launch-new-logistics-research-center
Written by Peter Buxbaum
The National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Georgia Institute of Technology recently launched a Center for Next Generation Logistics. The virtual center will work with government agencies and industry to perform cutting-edge research in logistics and supply chain systems.
www.onlineathens.com
Former Emory exec named interim UGA spokeswoman
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2015-07-31/former-emory-exec-named-interim-uga-spokeswoman
By LEE SHEARER
A veteran university marketing and communications professional will be the interim replacement for the University of Georgia’s departing vice president for public affairs, Tom Jackson. University officials also plan to change the name of the division Jackson led from “Public Affairs Division” to “Division of Marketing and Communications” once a permanent replacement is named to replace Jackson. …Jackson and Kelly Kerner, UGA’s vice president for development and alumni relations, have been saying the university needed to add marketing expertise, Pharr said. UGA is looking “to strengthen our position among national research universities and promote the recognition of the University of Georgia brand,” she said. The university is also looking for someone with expertise in social media, Pharr said. “We want the school’s academic stature to rise,” she said. In the meantime, Jan Gleason, a former assistant vice president for marketing at Emory University, will assume Jackson’s responsibilities as of Saturday.
Higher Education News:
www.myajc.com
Invest Georgia selects manager to help fund startups
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/invest-georgia-selects-manager-to-help-fund-startu/nm9JS/#5d88125b.3566685.735810
By Greg Bluestein – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A long-stalled Georgia program that uses government dollars to attract venture funding for homegrown startup firms is showing signs of life. The Invest Georgia initiative, a favorite of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and the Metro Atlanta Chamber, this week selected an investment consultant to manage the $10 million in state funds flowing through its coffers. The program’s board tapped LCG Associates for a one-year contract out of a pool of three finalists. Charles Thompson, an Invest Georgia board member, said the firm’s “purposeful approach” helped it win the business. The initiative was launched in 2013 by supporters who hoped that using state dollars could attract enough venture capital to help transform Georgia into a tech hub. But lawmakers didn’t allocate money to fund the program the first year, and the $10 million it had in the bank this year came only after Gov. Nathan Deal shifted money from the higher education system.
www.myajc.com
Congress could take “months” negotiating No Child overhaul
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/congress-could-take-months-negotiating-no-child-ov/nm9pT/
By Ty Tagami – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As Congress went on recess this week, leaders pledged to eventually negotiate the differences in competing bills aimed at a long-awaited overhaul of the No Child Left Behind Act. Rep. John Kline, a Republican from Minnesota who has led his party’s negotiations in the House, issued a statement saying he is confident a compromise can be reached “in the coming months.” He and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. met to discuss a conference committee that would resolve the differences in competing bills passed by both chambers in July.
www.insidehighered.com
20% of Common App Colleges Won’t Require Essay
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/07/31/20-common-app-colleges-wont-require-essay
The Common Application, which historically has required colleges to use an essay to demonstrate commitment to “holistic” admissions, last year announced that it would allow its members to no longer require an essay.
www.insidehighered.com
Making Work-Study Work
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/07/31/federal-work-study-pays-best-students-public-colleges-increases-debt-loads
By Paul Fain
Students who participate in federal work-study are more likely to graduate and get a job after college. But those who get the biggest academic benefits from the program — low-income students at public colleges who would have worked anyhow — are the least likely to receive the federal grants.
www.chronicle.com
In Sign of the Times for Teaching, More Colleges Set Up Video-Recording Studios
http://chronicle.com/article/In-Sign-of-the-Times-for/232051/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
By Meg Bernhard
There’s a studio-building boom at colleges, as more campuses work to support experiments in online and hybrid teaching. Some of the new campus studios, like Harvard’s, rival those at television stations, equipped with green screens, multiple cameras, and microphones. Others are more low-key, housed in a quiet room with a video camera and proper backlighting. Despite different setups, the purposes are the same. In the age of iPads and smartphones, teaching techniques are trying to catch up with the technologies that surround us. On-campus studios provide one way of doing that.
www.chronicle.com
3 Things to Know About Higher Education in Prisons
http://chronicle.com/article/3-Things-to-Know-About-Higher/232057/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
By Beckie Supiano
The Obama administration is expected to announce on Friday that it will allow some prisoners, all of whom have been barred from receiving federal Pell Grants since 1994, to receive them under a limited pilot program. The change is small in scope, but it sends a strong signal. Debates about educating inmates — and especially using taxpayer money to do so — are often heavy on heated rhetoric and light on facts. Let’s see if we can even the balance a bit.