University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
ASU hosts Governor’s High Demand Career Initiative discussion
Industry reps share skills needs at Governor’s High Demand Career Initiative session
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2015/oct/21/asu-hosts-governor8217s-high-demand-career/?news
By Brad McEwen
ALBANY — Representatives from several Southwest Georgia industries were at Albany State University Wednesday making it clear to local and state educators that a large part of those companies’ future success depends on finding a workforce that has a combination of varying technical skills and requisite soft skills to be successful. The panel discussion was part of the Governor’s High Demand Career Initiative (HDCI), in which Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal challenged members of the state’s economic development and educational communities to identify high demand careers and devise a way to provide the type of workforce that will attract industry to the state. The initiatives allows those involved with the training of Georgia’s workforce, primarily the University System of Georgia (USG) and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) to hear about workforce needs directly from the private sector.
USG Institutions:
www.walb.com
Financial aid issues still unclear at Albany State
http://www.walb.com/story/30316765/financial-aid-issues-still-unclear-at-albany-state
By Dave Miller
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – In August, WALB began receiving phone calls from Albany State students who said they were in “education limbo,” because the financial aid they were counting on to get the courses they needed to get their degrees at Albany State wasn’t available when it came time to register for fall classes. When we asked ASU management about this, we were told that the school was “looking into irregularities” within its financial aid department, and were given no details. We have since asked the Board of Regents for a copy of its audit, but so far, we have not received it. On August 27, WALB’s Aaryn Valenzuela reported that ASU officials said their investigation “would not interfere with students getting their financial aid.” They would not say if anyone had been fired or suspended in relation to the issue. But students still told us about problems that caused them to be unable to attend class, because the money was not there.
www.albanyherald.com
EDITORIAL: Albany State University president acts quickly, decisively
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2015/oct/21/editorial-albany-state-university-president-acts/
By The Albany Herald Editorial Board
The audit report by the University System of Georgia on reviews of financial for five students at Albany State University who also were working at the university had many troubling aspects to it, not the least of which was the revelation that over a nearly 30-year period one student who worked in the ASU Financial Office had received more than a quarter-million dollars in financial aid. That figure — $270,000 — is an attention-getter. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of attention that Albany State, the Albany community or the University System relishes.
www.onlineathens.com
Ribbon-cutting, fundraising planned for UNG’s Oconee campus
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2015-10-21/ribbon-cutting-fundraising-today-ungs-oconee-campus
By LEE SHEARER
The University of North Georgia’s Oconee County campus combines a fundraiser with a ribbon-cutting today at the college’s second annual “Oconeefest.” University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby and UNG President Bonita Jacobs are scheduled to be there for the event, beginning with a 5 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony at a recently opened building addition. The 14,000 square-foot addition contains three classrooms, language and science labs, faculty offices and more.
www.wgxa.tv
MGSU employees receive service excellence award
http://www.wgxa.tv/news/local/MGSU-employees-receive-service-excellence-award-335217031.html
By Sheron Smith
Melinda Rodgers and the Middle Georgia State University Enrollment Call Center team have received a Silver Award for service excellence from University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby. Rodgers and her team’s recognition is in the category of Front Desk/Help Center service excellence. Gold, silver and bronze awards are given. Another Middle Georgia State employee, Eyvonne Tapper, a Residence Life coordinator, earned honorable mention in the Individual of the Year category of the annual awards program. The Chancellor’s Service Excellence Awards were created to honor University System employees who have gone “above and beyond” their normal job responsibilities. This year’s awards ceremony took place Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Georgia Perimeter College’s Clarkston Campus.
www.wgxa.tv
MGSU student group holds domestic violence awareness forum
http://www.wgxa.tv/news/local/MGSU-student-group-holds-domestic-violence-awareness-forum-335259181.html
By Katherine Shepherd
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and students at Middle Georgia State University got to have their voice heard on Wednesday. The university’s Black Student Unification Group sponsored a discussion panel for the whole campus. Resources were made readily available to everyone on both the prevention and what someone can do to help victims.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
U of California Plans to Admit More In-State Students
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/10/22/u-california-plans-admit-more-state-students?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=fc286db93b-DNU201510022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-fc286db93b-197515277
Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California system, said Wednesday that she will soon release a plan to significantly increase the number of California residents admitted to UC campuses, The Los Angeles Times reported. Legislators have been urging her to move in that direction and even have offered financial incentives to the system to do so.
www.insidehighered.com
H-1B Under Scrutiny
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/22/h-1b-visa-program-comes-under-increasing-scrutiny?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=fc286db93b-DNU201510022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-fc286db93b-197515277
By Elizabeth Redden
The H-1B guest worker visa program has been coming under scrutiny lately. The program is important to colleges both in terms of their ability to hire postdocs and other researchers from abroad and, more indirectly, in providing a pathway for the international students they recruit to work in the U.S. after graduation. Many in higher education see the existence of such pathways as important in making the U.S. an attractive destination for international students, especially since some countries that compete with the U.S. for top graduate student talent offer easier and more straightforward routes from student to permanent residency status.
www.chronicle.com
Women’s Groups Urge Colleges and Government to Rein In Yik Yak
http://chronicle.com/article/Women-s-Groups-Urge-Colleges/233864?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elq=ded5d1c73801438caf5bddbdbc44d3cb&elqCampaignId=1669&elqaid=6653&elqat=1&elqTrackId=584c1693b3f3472781ddd16bffcc7115
By Peter Schmidt
WASHINGTON
Seventy-two women’s and civil-rights groups on Wednesday announced a campaign to enlist the federal government in pressuring colleges to protect students from harassment via anonymous social-media applications like Yik Yak. The groups have sent the U.S. Education Department a letter calling for it to treat colleges’ failure to monitor anonymous social media and to pursue online harassers as a violation of federal civil-rights laws guaranteeing equal educational access.
www.insidehighered.com
U of Florida Cancels Huge Pearson Contract
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/10/22/u-florida-cancels-huge-pearson-contract?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=fc286db93b-DNU201510022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-fc286db93b-197515277
The University of Florida on Wednesday announced that it is terminating a huge 11-year deal for Pearson to build and manage the university’s online programs. The announcement came in an internal email obtained and published by Politico Florida. The email says the university will be better able to serve online students by including them in general university operations and obtaining some new specialized help for some areas, such as marketing. The size of the deal (Pearson could have earned $186 million if it met all goals) has made it a target of criticism from some on campus. The agreement included a provision stating that Florida could withdraw or renegotiate if certain goals weren’t met. And out-of-state enrollment goals weren’t met, giving the university the option it is now exercising.