University System News:
www.ledger-enquirer.com
Columbus State selected as a Georgia Film Academy site
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/education/article48690180.html
BY MARK RICE
Columbus State University is one of three sites in the state that will offer classes for the Georgia Film Academy’s inaugural semester. Registration is open for the academy’s spring 2016 semester at CSU, Clayton State University and Gwinnett Technical College. The Georgia Film Academy, a partnership between the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia, is the nation’s only statewide effort to train students to work in the film industry.
USG Institutions:
www.myajc.com
Accreditor approves Georgia State, Georgia Perimeter merger
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/accreditor-approves-georgia-state-georgia-perimete/npfRh/
By Janel Davis – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Regional accreditors gave final approval Tuesday to a merger between Georgia State University and Georgia Perimeter College. The approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges is the final step needed before the state’s Board of Regents gives the consolidated institution authority to operate as the new Georgia State University. The Regents are expected to take up the approval at their meeting in January.
www.macon.com
Middle Georgia State University approved to admit students to graduate programs
http://www.macon.com/news/local/education/article48622450.html
STAFF REPORT
Middle Georgia State University has been approved to admit and register students for its new graduate programs. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges gave the school permission to take the next step in offering two master’s degrees during the commission’s annual meeting in Houston, Texas. “We are grateful for the support of SACSCOC and mindful that there would be no Middle Georgia State University without the confidence of Chancellor Hank Huckaby and the Board of Regents,” the school’s president, Christopher Blake, said in a statement. “We are very excited to offer two highly marketable degrees to the citizens of Middle Georgia.”
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Georgia Gwinnett College looks to gradually end building leases
Gwinnett Tech experiencing 35 percent faculty turnover
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/education/georgia-gwinnett-college-looks-to-gradually-end-building-leases/article_65c389b5-99e3-528f-a52a-2d67e6a9f88d.html
By Keith Farner
LAWRENCEVILLE — Buildings were on the mind of Georgia Gwinnett College President Stas Preczewski on Tuesday morning as he updated Gwinnett legislators on progress at his school. Preczewski was one of two higher education speakers at a Tuesday morning breakfast at the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse as Mary Beth Byerly, vice president for institutional advancement at Gwinnett Technical College reiterated that the school is one of the fastest-growing two-year colleges in the country despite considerable faculty turnover. Recently, the newest construction has brought another building out of the ground at GGC as Preczewski said the continued building growth is matched by enrollment growth which was up six percent last year and signs this fall show that it will continue. Money for fixtures, furniture and equipment is requested to be in Gov. Nathan Deal’s upcoming budget as the school enters phase four of the Board of Regents building program which will feature the design of the next building construction.
www.thebrunswicknews.com
CCGA students snag international gaming honor
http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/ccga-students-snag-international-gaming-honor/article_76a8f71c-d398-5b36-b24e-abb90c4e5052.html?_dc=46593602048.233154
by Anna Hall
The College of Coastal Georgia now has a new, unique honor that has little to do with traditional academics, but everything to do with technology and team-based learning. Two students at the college recently earned the top spot in the International Minecraft Hunger Games competition. Students Mitchell Hodzen and Eli Golden won the regional, national and now international competition held in late November. It not only marked the first time the college has snagged the award, but also the first time the school had ever entered, said Debbie Holmes, dean of libraries with the college, who assisted students in organizing the gaming event.
www.onlineathens.com
Nuçi’s Space, Athens Music Project win $5,000 grants from Georgia Music Foundation
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2015-12-08/nuci-s-space-athens-music-project-win-5000-grants-georgia-music-foundation
By STAFF REPORTS
The University of Georgia Athens Music Project Oral Histories project and Nuçi’s Space are two of 12 statewide organizations awarded $5,000 grants from the Georgia Music Foundation’s inaugural Preservation, Education and Outreach Grant program. “Our board recognizes the critical funding needs of deserving music education and preservation programs across the state,” says board chair Dallas Davidson. “We are thrilled to launch a formal program to identify and support these organizations.” The Athens Music Project Oral Histories, which is administered by UGA’s Special Collections Libraries, collects, preserves and provides enhanced access to oral histories documenting the myriad of music history and communities in Athens.
www.savannahnow.com
Sea Grant funds diverse Coastal Georgia research
http://savannahnow.com/news/2015-12-06/sea-grant-funds-diverse-coastal-georgia-research
By Mary Landers
Investigations into plastic contamination of coastal sea life, a parasitic threat to Georgia shrimp and the economics of raising homes to reduce the effects of flooding are among research projects the Georgia Sea Grant College Program is funding. Seven new awards, totaling $815,736, were announced last month. By design, the projects have practical applications in Coastal Georgia. “Enabling university-based research to develop solutions for the unmet needs of Georgia’s coast, and linking that research to economic development, is a major focus of the Georgia Sea Grant College Program,” said Mark Risse, director of Marine Extension/Georgia Sea Grant, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach. The research projects are initially evaluated by a Georgia stakeholder review panel and are then ranked by an external technical science review committee to determine their scientific rigor, technical soundness and relevance to Georgia Sea Grant’s research priorities, which address current problems on the coast. … • Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, UGA, professor Jay Brandes, will conduct the first study of microplastics in Georgia waters.
www.onlineathens.com
Company that began at UGA sells for $8.4 billion on promise of orphan drug
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2015-12-08/company-began-uga-sells-84-billion-promise-orphan-drug
By LEE SHEARER
A company that began in a University of Georgia laboratory commanded one of the biggest price premiums in history in a multi-billion dollar takeover when the company sold this summer. It’s another winner in the fast-emerging orphan drug market. Connecticut-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals announced in May it would pay $8.4 billion for Synageva BioPharma, originally called Avigenics when UGA geneticist Bob Ivarie and businessman George Murphy founded the company nearly 20 years ago.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Diversity’s Elusive Number: Campuses Strive to Achieve ‘Critical Mass’
http://chronicle.com/article/Diversity-s-Elusive-Number-/234522?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elq=f3eb2a59fe774a4bb3cc769600f886ab&elqCampaignId=2026&elqaid=7165&elqat=1&elqTrackId=83279e695d0c4851be9d14c33d25189a
By Dan Berrett
Is there an optimal number of minority students on a college campus? At what point are diversity’s educational benefits broadly realized, and is there a threshold at which students from underrepresented racial groups feel welcome? Those questions are at the center of a series of affirmative-action cases at the Supreme Court and recent student demonstrations for improved racial climates.
www.insidehighered.com
What Trustees Think
Board members at comprehensive universities are often frustrated by their own lack of knowledge or understanding about the institutions they’re tasked with leading, a new report finds.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/09/report-outlines-trustee-frustrations-over-transparency-and-finances?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=1093a31c03-DNU20151209&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-1093a31c03-197515277
By Kellie Woodhouse
Trustees of comprehensive public universities don’t feel as though they have an adequate understanding of the finances at the institutions they lead, and many of them are concerned the boards they serve on merely rubber-stamp the proposals presented to them by administrators. These are two findings of a report from Public Agenda that surveyed trustees and presidents on the roles of public university and university system governing boards, and the challenges facing them. The report found that trustees often feel stifled by open-meetings laws and the public nature of their positions. It also highlighted tensions between trustees and university administrators, namely presidents. Some presidents reported feeling as though trustees don’t understand their universities’ missions, while some trustees said administrators are reluctant to lose control over big decisions.