University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
Georgia Regents announce Darton-ASU consolidation committee members
Committee to hold first meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2015/dec/04/georgia-regents-announce-darton-asu-consolidation/
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — University System of Georgia (USG) Chancellor Hank Huckaby has appointed members of the Albany State University (ASU) – Darton State College (DSC) Consolidation Implementation Committee and scheduled their first meeting at the USG System Office in Atlanta on Wednesday. The committee, nominated by ASU President Art Dunning and former Darton Interim President Paul Jones, will provide regular updates to the campus communities. Information about the proposed consolidation is available at http://www.consolidation.asurams.edu/
www.albanyherald.com
EDITORIAL: The road to the Albany State of tomorrow begins
Committee has critical role in the future of Southwest Georgia
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2015/dec/05/editorial-the-road-to-the-albany-state-of/
By The Albany Herald Editorial Board
With the release Friday of the names of the representatives of Albany State University and Darton State College who will serve on it, we now know the committee that will design the road map to a new, consolidated Albany State University. And the real work begins. Like any merger — whether it’s businesses combining or simply two people marrying — the details are critical. The details that this committee will iron out will be even more so because what it does will affect our entire region. This is a task that must be performed successfully, and with a great deal of foresight. Southwest Georgia needs a strong, vibrant university that is producing strong future leaders in an environment where everyone feels welcome and the community feels invested.
www.timesenterprise.com
State program aims to award degrees where they’re due
http://www.timesenterprise.com/news/state_news/state-program-aims-to-award-degrees-where-they-re-due/article_305cc042-9ae4-11e5-aef1-5799d1e879d7.html
By Jill Nolin
ATLANTA — Thousands of Georgians have unclaimed college degrees waiting for them, and education leaders want to find them. The state University System is fine-tuning its “Credit When It’s Due” program, which seeks out students who transferred from small colleges to larger ones, where they’ve since earned enough credit for an associate degree from their original school. As many as 8,000 students may qualify for the program each year.
USG Institutions:
www.wtoc.com
Black student group in metro Atlanta gets ready for resistance
http://www.wtoc.com/story/30671725/black-student-group-in-metro-atlanta-gets-ready-for-resistance
By Brittany Miller
ATLANTA (CBS46) – Atlanta Black Students United– a group of black college students throughout metro Atlanta–are preparing to resist. They’re protesting what they call “systemic and structural racism,” on college campuses and demanded their schools publicly declare their support for black students by November 30th. However, they said Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, Emory University, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Kennesaw State University all failed to respond to their list of demands by the deadline. “So that means that ATLBSU is holding you accountable to the fact that you failed to issue this statement,” said ATLBSU member and Emory University student Chelsea Jackson. Signs which read” ATTN: (school name) has not met our demands. #ATLBSU will initiate resistance have been posted all over social media. While some institutions said they have responded to the demands, students said they want to see action.
www.news-daily.com
School Notebook 12-5-15
http://www.news-daily.com/news/2015/dec/04/governor8217s-office-of-highway-safety-awards/ (3rd article down)
By Johnny Jackson
Clayton State’s fall commencement set Dec. 12
Fall commencement ceremonies for 460 graduates at Clayton State University are scheduled forDec. 12. …University System of Georgia Regent James Hull will deliver the commencement speech for the College of Business and the College of Health during the 9 a.m. ceremony.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
VSU Celebrates Fall 2015 Commencement
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/vsu-celebrates-fall-commencement/article_8c0126b2-9c75-11e5-8f36-b309f9f7138c.html
VALDOSTA — More than 1,400 students will be recognized during Valdosta State University’s fall commencement ceremonies Dec. 11-12.
www.mdjonline.com
Kennesaw baby wins $1,529 for her college fund
http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/26991013/article-Kennesaw-baby-wins-%241-529-for-her-college-fund
by Jon Gargis
KENNESAW — Isabella Branson may not be old enough to know where she wants to go to college, but she now has a little bit more money to help her get there. The 8-month-old daughter of Dave and Lisa Branson of Kennesaw was the youngest of six winners across the state in the Path2College 529 Plan’s “We Care, Child Care” sweepstakes. … The 529 plan is the only plan in Georgia that allows for a state income tax deduction for the amount of money put into the savings account. Earnings grow tax-deferred, and then the recipient takes the funds out for use on qualified education expenses. The account can be used as the recipient attends practically any college or university throughout the U.S., said Mitch Seabaugh, executive director of the Path2College 529 Plan. … Lisa Branson said she and her husband were glad to have something that can help fund their children’s education experience well before they reach school age. “I teach at Georgia Highlands College, so giving them money for college that can grow like this, of course I know the benefits of (a college education), and we have every intention of making sure they go college,” she said.
www.middlegeorgiaceo.com
Middle Georgia State School of IT Launches Center for Cybersecurity Education and Applied Research
http://middlegeorgiaceo.com/news/2015/12/middle-georgia-state-school-it-launches-center-cybersecurity-education-and-applied-research/
Staff Report From Middle Georgia CEO
Teaching and promoting cybersecurity to businesses, government and individuals are among the goals of a new center just launched by Middle Georgia State University’s School of Information Technology. The Center for Cybersecurity Education and Applied Research will provide an avenue for education and research in information assurance, computer network security, digital forensics, cryptography, risk assessment and mitigation, disaster recovery and management, security regulations and compliance and information security management.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA student wins $5,000 to create ticket-selling app
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2015-12-05/uga-student-wins-5000-create-ticket-selling-app
By HILARY BUTSCHEK
A University of Georgia student thinks he has an idea that will fill the sometimes half-empty concert venues and sports stadiums in Athens. Robert Enck, a third-year finance major, won a $5,000 investment in a Four Athens competition for the idea to create a smartphone application vendors can use to sell tickets at discounted prices.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
More than three decades later, student recalls teacher’s kindness
http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2015/12/04/more-than-three-decades-later-student-recalls-teachers-kindness/
University of Georgia education professor Peter Smagorinsky is a regular contributor to the AJC Get Schooled blog. Today, he shares a lovely essay about a former of student who reached out to him 35 years later to thank him. The man was not thanking Smagorinsky for what he taught him, but what he showed him — kindness, compassion and caring at a tragic point in his life.
www.thebrunswicknews.com
CCGA gets visit from therapy dogs
http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/ccga-gets-visit-from-therapy-dogs/article_2b159746-b22f-55eb-9267-4d9f81aa5fed.html?_dc=34634451847.52345
by Anna Hall
Late Friday afternoon, Jessica Rhodes had to give a major presentation on the topic of abnormal psychology to her professor and classmates. Adding to her workload, she and her college peers at the College of Coastal Georgia will be going through a rigorous round of final exams this week and next week. “It’s a stressful time of year, for sure,” said Rhodes, a junior majoring in education who also works as an aide at the college library. But it is also one of her favorite times of the year. During finals week, therapy dogs come to the library for several days to pay a visit to college students and to give them a slight reprieve from the pressure of the end of the semester with exams, final projects and presentations.
www.onlineathens.com
Peacemaker Han Park retiring after 45 years at the University of Georgia
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2015-12-04/peacemaker-han-park-retiring-after-45-years-university-georgia
By LEE SHEARER
One of the University of Georgia’s best-known and respected faculty members is retiring.
About 50 friends, UGA students, faculty and administrators gathered Friday to honor Han Park, who’s stepping down after 45 years as a faculty member — or put another way, 23 million minutes, according to Stefanie Lindquist, dean of UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs and one of several speakers at a reception in Park’s honor. Park, 76, is a professor of international relations, at least through the end of this month. He’s also a “world leader in the area of peace,” Lindquist said.
www.walb.com
Kirby Smart officially becomes UGA’s coach
http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/football/kirby-smart-officially-becomes-ugas-coach-1230-pm/npdFP/
By Staff reports – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATHENS —
The deal is done. Kirby Smart is Georgia’s football coach. The UGA executive committee officially approved the hiring Sunday. Smart has agreed to a six-year contract that will pay him approximately $3.75 million per season, according to a memorandum of understanding released by UGA on Sunday. Smart, 39, has been Alabama’s defensive coordinator for the past eight years. He is a former University of Georgia player.
www.13wmaz.com
Warner Robins couple makes promise to mother battling terminal cancer
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/life/2015/12/07/preston-promise-ceremony/76911642/
Katelyn M Heck, WMAZ
A young couple made a very special promise to their families Sunday afternoon. Jamie Preston and Jeremiah Stevens held a promise ceremony at Jamie’s home in Warner Robins. Jamie’s mom, Robin Preston, has been battling breast cancer since 2011 and recently found out the disease has spread to her brain, bones, and lungs. “A few weeks ago, we got some bad news,” says Robin’s husband Royal Preston. “We’ve stopped treatments, and they’re not expecting her to be with us much longer.” Jamie and Jeremiah, both 19 years old, say they plan to get married after they graduate from The University of West Georgia, but wanted to make sure Jamie’s mom got to be there when they exchange vows.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Bills in 10 States for Debt-Free College
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/12/07/bills-10-states-debt-free-college?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=2743fe76df-DNU20151207&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-2743fe76df-197515277
Legislators in 10 states will announce today that they are introducing bills in their respective legislatures to create debt-free options in public higher education. The effort is part of a push by backers of the idea — already endorsed by the major candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination — to demonstrate the state-level interest that would be necessary.
www.nytimes.com
Meal Plan Costs Tick Upward as Students Pay for More Than Food
By STEPHANIE SAUL
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Before his 35-mile commute through Appalachian hills to classes here at the University of Tennessee, Michael Miceli eats a gigantic breakfast. It is his way of getting through the day without spending money on a campus lunch. Food deprivation is merely one trick Mr. Miceli uses to minimize his college debt, now creeping past $22,000. So the $300 bill he got from the university this semester — for food — sent him into a tailspin. …Tennessee’s contract with its dining vendor, Aramark, is just one example of how universities nationwide are embracing increasingly lucrative deals with giant dining contractors, who offer commissions and signing bonuses to help pay for campus improvements and academic programs. It is part of a new model of raising money through partnerships with private vendors, officials say, and with state funding for higher education still below pre-recession levels, a way to replace lost revenue.
www.nytimes.com
Online Classes Appeal More to the Affluent
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Free online educational courses may not be democratizing education as much as proponents believe, a new study reports. John D. Hansen, a doctoral student at Harvard University’s School of Education, and his colleagues looked at registration and completion patterns in 68 massive open online courses, or MOOCs, offered by Harvard and M.I.T. The data covered 164,198 participants aged 13 to 69. In a study published in the journal Science, Mr. Hansen and his colleagues reported that people living in more affluent neighborhoods were more likely to register and complete MOOCs. Each increase of $20,000 in neighborhood median income raised the odds of participation in a MOOC by 27 percent, the researchers found. Yet the vast majority of MOOC participants are not the very affluent, who are comparatively small in number.
www.chronicle.com
What the Supreme Court Will Be Asking as It Revisits Affirmative Action
http://chronicle.com/article/What-the-Supreme-Court-Will-Be/234485?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elq=26ce0fb59e104aabb4093d05d1b96580&elqCampaignId=2003&elqaid=7128&elqat=1&elqTrackId=80c737a2f352458392f8ea1e03e08ab1
By Peter Schmidt
When the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on Wednesday in a legal battle over race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas, look for the justices to focus less on the broad debate over such policies than on nuts-and-bolts questions defining when they stray beyond established law. The Supreme Court has taken up the dispute before, handing down a June 2013 ruling in which a 7-to-1 majority held that lower courts had erred by approving Texas’ policy without giving it sufficiently strict legal scrutiny. The high court’s decision to revisit the case, Abigail Noel Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, No. 14-981, signals that at least four justices suspect that the lower courts again had failed to get it right in approving the university’s policy a second time. Conceivably, a majority of justices could reach beyond the narrow scope of the case to a question not presented by either party: whether to abandon the court’s past willingness to let colleges consider race as part of holistic admissions processes.
www.diverseeducation.com
Studies Show MSIs Best Value in Higher Education
http://diverseeducation.com/article/79340/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=41b45f8dd43f44db93eda1adf2e04c03&elqCampaignId=771&elqaid=88&elqat=1&elqTrackId=b27b6a91a02b4227864e8d8043043e68
by Jamal Eric Watson
PRINCETON ― When it comes to the best return on investment regarding a college education, minority-serving institutions (MSIs) across the United States continue to lead the way. That was the sentiment among dozens of MSI college presidents, professors, alumni and advocates who gathered recently at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) for a two-day conference that affirmed MSI’s current role within the higher education landscape. The National Minority Serving Institutions Return on Investment (ROI) Convening, sponsored by ETS and the Center for Minority Serving Institutions at the University of Pennsylvania, highlighted the ROI for MSIs, who serve minority populations that are often first-generation college students or hail from low-income backgrounds.
www.diverseeducation.com
Stop Questioning HBCU Relevancy and Learn from Our Success
http://diverseeducation.com/article/79343/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=41b45f8dd43f44db93eda1adf2e04c03&elqCampaignId=771&elqaid=88&elqat=1&elqTrackId=6f632d25f51449af9c4c457aece8231a
by Amanda Washington
Systemic and systematic inequity within our nation’s education system necessitated the creation of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). An HBCU is defined under the 1965 Higher Education Act as “a college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans.” In an era in which Black people have to remind the world that our very lives matter, it should come as little surprise that we are also pressured to prove that HBCUs, created to empower and educate us, also matter. This week I had the opportunity to attend The Return on Investment Convening, an assembling of university presidents, graduates, professors and those passionate about the success of minority-serving institutions (MSIs), hosted by The Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions and Educational Testing Service (ETS). Throughout the two-day conference, empirical data and personal testimonies spoke to the power of HBCUs and other MSIs, such as tribal colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Asian American and Pacific Islander-serving institutions. There is evidence that HBCUs and other MSIs consistently produce impactful and productive national and global leaders.
www.insidehighered.com
‘New Reality’ for Game Day Security
Following recent shootings in U.S. and terrorist attacks in Paris, some colleges and universities are adopting stricter security policies for sporting events.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/07/colleges-increase-security-football-stadiums-basketball-arenas?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=2743fe76df-DNU20151207&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-2743fe76df-197515277
By Jake New
The terrorist attacks in Paris last month were the deadliest attacks in France since World War II, killing 130 people and injuring nearly 370 others. Three of the suicide bombings occurred near the country’s national sports stadium, the Stade de France, where a security guard prevented a much larger tragedy by discovering a bomber’s suicide vest when the attacker tried to enter the stadium.