University System News:
www.danabarrett.com
ATP & Women on Wednesday
http://danabarrett.com/atp-women-on-wednesday/
In the headlines:
The Georgia Film Academy, whose mission is train more Georgians to be ready to work in the film and TV biz says they are ‘close to finalizing’ a partnership with Pinewood Atlanta Studios where they plan to build a permanent training facility. In the mean time, registration opened for the Georgia Film Academy Monday for classes that will be held at several University System of Georgia schools. Executive director Jeff Stepakoff says there are many more announcements yet to come.
USG Institutions:
www.walb.com
Farewell reception for Dr. Paul Jones on Thursday
http://www.walb.com/story/30710597/farewell-reception-for-dr-paul-jones-on-thursday
By Aaryn Valenzuela
Tomorrow Darton State College will host a farewell reception for Interim President Dr. Paul Jones, who’s leaving to take a position at Fort Valley State. They’ll host the reception starting at 11 a.m. in room 266 of the student center. Dr. Jones says he’s looking forward to his new job, but he will miss working in Albany.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
City to vote on VSU-area apartments
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/city-to-vote-on-vsu-area-apartments/article_493c70ac-9d94-5dce-b09d-b209ede2c7bb.html
By Joe Adgie
VALDOSTA — The Valdosta City Council is scheduled to vote on a proposed apartment complex across from Valdosta State University Thursday at its regular meeting. The 3.78-acre development, proposed for the corner of West Brookwood Drive and North Oak Street, was initially discussed in 2012 and was approved by City Council at its Oct. 11, 2012 meeting. The request from developers McAlister Development, which is responsible for the project, is to push back deadlines for construction and completion of the project. …Martin and Hanson said the complex was put on the backburner after enrollment declined at Valdosta State, a trend that continued to this year. However, in November, Valdosta State University Interim President Dr. Cecil Staton indicated the trend of declining enrollment could change soon. “We are pleased that our applications for Fall 2016 are approximately double what they were the same time last year,” Staton said in November. The proposed apartment complex would be a four-story development connected to a parking garage. Retail units would mark the bottom floor of the complex; apartments for students would be available on the remaining three floors.
www.wsbradio.com
Cobb County proposes an express bus route for millennials
http://www.wsbradio.com/news/news/local/cobb-county-proposes-express-bus-route-millennials/npdcS/
By Marcy Williams
Marietta, GA — If Cobb County commissioners approve, a Cobb Community Transit (CCT) bus route would cater to university students, carrying them from Kennesaw to midtown Atlanta. Route 10X would alleviate congestion of CCT Route 10. As an express route, there would be just seven stops between Big Shanty Park & Ride in Kennesaw and the Marta Midtown Station in Atlanta. The Marietta Daily Journal reports the trip ideally would take 90 minutes, end to end. From midtown Atlanta, students can easily access Georgia Tech, Georgia State and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
The Justices’ Questions on Affirmative Action
At Supreme Court hearing on case that could alter college admissions, no big surprises but lots of contentious exchanges — and anger over Scalia’s comments.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/10/supreme-court-justices-question-lawyers-key-affirmative-action-case?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=3adda94729-DNU20151210&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-3adda94729-197515277
By Scott Jaschik
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in a case that, if one side gets its way, could limit or even ban the consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions decisions. With the stakes high, many observers have been hoping for some indication of how the justices will rule in the case. But the strongest statements came from justices who have fairly consistent records on issues of race and education. Justice Antonin Scalia didn’t leave doubt about his disdain for affirmative action, and some of his comments angered advocates for minority students. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, by contrast, didn’t leave much doubt of her disdain for those who minimize the role of race in American society. But the votes of those two justices (and others who spoke) haven’t been much in doubt.
www.insidehighered.com
Paying to Ignore Racism
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2015/12/10/colleges-should-stop-paying-money-ignore-racial-problems-essay?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=3adda94729-DNU20151210&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-3adda94729-197515277
By Shaun R. Harper
Each year, college presidents, provosts, deans and other senior administrators hire researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education, where I serve as executive director, to spend three to four days on their campuses conducting what feels like nonstop focus groups with students of color and their white peers about the realities of race on campuses. Sometimes campus leaders ask us to focus our climate studies on faculty and staff. We also collect statistical reports from offices of institutional research that typically show racial disparities in enrollment, academic performance, graduation rates, promotions and salaries, and a range of other metrics. … For example, senior administrators at one university paid the center $25,000 to conduct a climate study two years ago. They didn’t like our findings. The person who commissioned the research wrote me an email in which she commented, “My colleagues and I think your findings are too harsh.” My response was, “The findings are what they are.” She replied by asking if I could somehow tone down what we found. I refused, as doing so would have been academically dishonest. … They were not ready to hear the truth. Hence, the report we furnished the institution was never publicly disseminated, as originally planned. Several students of color whom we interviewed contacted us months later asking where the report was because they never saw it. The sad reality is that the administrators at this university paid us an enormous sum of money to remain in denial about its racial problems. This had happened to us before and has occurred again since.
www.jbhe.com
Black Enrollments in Higher Education Continue to Drop
A new report from the U.S. Department of Education offers preliminary data on higher education enrollments in the fall of 2014. The report includes data on all students enrolled at Title IV institutions. These are educational entities that are permitted to participate in federal student financial assistance programs. In 2014, there was a total of 20,663,464 students enrolled in high education. Of these 2,726,098 were African Americans. Thus, Blacks made up 13.2 percent of all enrollments in higher education. This is down from 13.4 percent in 2013.
www.insidehighered.com
It’s the Little Things
Colleges are using data to find hundreds of students who are unaware that they are eligible to graduate. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking students if they’ve applied.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/09/using-data-driven-advising-colleges-find-more-students-eligible-graduate
By Carl Straumsheim
When it comes to graduation rates, some colleges are finding that small campaigns can lead to big improvements. Only 59 percent of the students who enrolled at a four-year institution in 2007 graduated with a degree by 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s national six-year graduation rate. There are many reasons why the remaining 41 percent didn’t. Maybe they changed majors, setting them back several semesters, transferred to a different college but found some of their courses didn’t follow, or ran into financial or personal issues that prevented them from finishing their studies.
www.jbhe.com
New Report Shows Graduation Rate Progress for Minority Students, But Blacks Trail Other Groups
New Report Shows Graduation Rate Progress for Minority Students, But Blacks Trail Other Groups
The Education Trust has released a new report showing progress has been made in the college graduation rates of minority students. However, significant racial gaps remain and progress for African American students has trailed the graduation rate improvements shown by students from other underrepresented minority groups. According to the report, between 2003 and 2013, overall graduation rates improved by 4.9 percentage points at public institutions and 2.3 percentage points at private, not-for-profit colleges and universities. The study found graduation rate progress at 328 of the 489 public colleges and universities studied.
www.chronicle.com
What People Want to Know About the Payoff of Different Degrees
http://chronicle.com/article/What-People-Want-to-Know-About/234520
By Beckie Supiano
For years, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce has produced data-rich reports on the job market for college graduates with various majors and levels of attainment. Lately, its work appears to be taking a tack even more oriented to consumers: Its most recent release is a college ranking based on the earnings of former students.We caught up recently with the center’s director, the economist Anthony P. Carnevale. In addition to explaining the center’s evolution, Mr. Carnevale shared his take on the role college rankings should play in students’ searches and the one question he says people always have about the labor-market return on a degree. The following conversation has been edited and condensed.