USG Institutions:
www.myajc.com
Lawmakers grill Tech leaders on student hearings, punishment
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/lawmakers-grill-tech-leaders-on-student-hearings-p/nqCGy/
By Janel Davis and Shannon McCaffrey – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State legislators grilled Georgia Tech’s president Monday amid complaints that the school has unfairly punished those accused of sexual assault and other wrongdoing. Tech has been hit with a pair of lawsuits by students who were expelled after being found responsible — unfairly they say — for sexual misconduct. The state Board of Regents overruled the school this month and reinstated one of the students. Tech is also under fire for disciplining a fraternity accused of hurling racial slurs at a black female student, something the fraternity says did not happen. The cases’ common thread: allegations that Tech failed to provide the accused students due process. Tech President Bud Peterson’s appearance before a subcommittee that controls university funding was the first time he has publicly addressed the controversy. It comes as the state Board of Regents is crafting systemwide policies to provide uniformity at Georgia’s 29 public colleges and universities. Tech has already moved to revamp some of its policies.
www.live5news.com
Reception held in Albany for Darton Interim President
http://www.live5news.com/story/31054036/reception-held-in-albany-for-darton-interim-president
By Shannon Wiggins
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Darton State College introduced its new interim president to Albany officials Monday night. City and Chamber of Commerce leaders met Dr. Richard Carvajal at a reception in his honor.
Carvajal says in the last month he’s gotten to know more about Darton and Albany. He wanted to let leaders know the direction in which the school is moving and how Darton and Albany State leaders are working together during the consolidation process.
www.13wmaz.com
Middle Georgia State students fight cyber crime
http://www.13wmaz.com/story/tech/2016/01/25/middle-georgia-state-students-fight-cyber-crime/79290876/
Sheera Poelman, WMAZ
As we become more connected to the rest of the world through our technology, protecting our personal information is becoming a greater challenge. Law enforcement around the world has named cyber crime one of the fastest growing concerns they have, and a program at Middle Georgia State University is joining the fight. “Middle Georgia State University is part of a 4 year, national science foundation grant, part of the grant is to build that next digital forensics workforce,” says Johnathan Yerby, an assistant professor with Middle Georgia State University. MGSU is the only institute in Central Georgia that offers a concentration in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics. The program has incorporated a $50,000 lab that has the same capabilities that equal what the GBI uses at their headquarters in Atlanta. The goal of the program is to train students for the current situation with Cyber Security, while preparing them for the future of the industry, Forensic Security.
www.accesswdun.com
University of North Georgia faculty, staff pursue projects aided by presidential awards
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/1/364661/university-of-north-georgia-faculty-staff-pursue-projects-aided-by-presidential-awards
By AccessWDUN staff
For the third year, University of North Georgia (UNG) President Bonita C. Jacobs has presented awards totaling nearly $300,000 to faculty and staff to support them in pursuing professional development opportunities and research projects. “This past year’s projects resulted in significant professional development experiences around the globe, research, authored books and presentations to professional organizations,” Jacobs said. “The impact on our faculty and staff, and, in turn, on our students, has been incredibly meaningful and has moved us forward in a number of ways.”
www.daltondailycitizen.com
Letter to the editor: A bridge to the future
http://www.daltondailycitizen.com/opinion/letter-to-the-editor-a-bridge-to-the-future/article_a1f038f2-c3dd-11e5-86b3-a35b0a87249c.html
A few years ago, staff and students at Brookwood School began an extraordinary journey. Teachers began to recognize the unique opportunities for environmental learning offered by the proximity of wetland areas at Lakeshore Park. Science education became an authentic learning experience taking place in nature’s outdoor classroom. Since then, hundreds of students have engaged in a variety of place-based science lessons in the wetland. Students have become citizen scientists as they participate in real research in partnership with Dalton Middle School and Dalton State College. Because of this work and other related projects, Brookwood School was named a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) school by the Georgia Department of Education, the only elementary school outside the Atlanta area to be recognized.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Faulty Predictions?
New study suggests the SAT may over- or underpredict first-year college grades of hundreds of thousands of students.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/26/new-research-suggests-sat-under-or-overpredicts-first-year-grades-hundreds-thousands?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=0f02e8085b-DNU20160126&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-0f02e8085b-197515277
By Scott Jaschik
The College Board has claimed for decades that the SAT’s strength is that it predicts the grades students will earn in the first year of college. But what if, in many cases, it doesn’t? A study released Monday suggests that hundreds of thousands of students a year may have SAT scores that predict they will receive either better or worse grades than they are actually likely to receive. While the SAT may predict accurately for many others, the scholars who have produced the new study say it raises questions about the fairness and reliability of the SAT (including the new version about to be unveiled), which remains a key part of the admissions process at many colleges and universities.
www.insidehighered.com
Digital Distractions
The use of devices in the classroom for nonclass purposes is on the rise. A new report explores some of the reasons why.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/26/study-use-devices-class-nonclass-purposes-rise?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=0f02e8085b-DNU20160126&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-0f02e8085b-197515277
By Carl Straumsheim
Students waste about one-fifth of class time on laptops, smartphones and tablets, even though they admit such behavior can harm their grades, a new report found. The average student uses those devices for “nonclass purposes” — in other words, texting, emailing and using social media — 11.43 times in class during a typical day. Since the survey was first conducted in 2013, the number of times students check their devices has increased from 10.93, according to the results. Bernard R. McCoy, the associate professor of journalism at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln who conducted both surveys, said the trend is likely to continue as new devices hit the mainstream.
www.insidehighered.com
Florida State Settles With Student in Sexual Assault Case
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/01/26/florida-state-settles-student-sexual-assault-case?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=0f02e8085b-DNU20160126&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-0f02e8085b-197515277
Florida State University has settled with the former student who said she was raped by the university’s star quarterback in 2012. The university on Monday announced that it agreed to pay the student, Erica Kinsman, and her lawyers $950,000, as well as to commit to a five-year plan for sexual assault awareness, prevention and training programs.
www.insidehighered.com
Proposed Merger Prompts Outcry at Cornell
A proposal to merge Cornell’s three business schools into a unified College of Business raises faculty and alumni concerns about shared governance and institutional culture.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/26/cornell-alumni-and-faculty-members-protest-proposed-college-business?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=0f02e8085b-DNU20160126&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-0f02e8085b-197515277
By Ellen Wexler
When faculty members and alumni are as attached to their program as they are to their university, institutional politics get personal. That’s a lesson Cornell University has been learning over the past month, ever since it announced in mid-December its proposal to create a College of Business. If approved by the Board of Trustees later this week, the proposal will merge the School of Hotel Administration, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. Since the announcement, concerned faculty members and alumni have pushed for the administration to take a step back. They worry about the implications of the merger, but at the heart of the criticism is concern with how the decision was made: alumni are loyal to their individual schools and don’t feel like they’re being listened to. And faculty members, who assert that these kinds of decisions are often made through faculty channels, believe they should have been a part of the decision-making process.
www.insidehighered.com
The Rise of Competency-Based Education
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/01/26/rise-competency-based-education?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=0f02e8085b-DNU20160126&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-0f02e8085b-197515277
Inside Higher Ed is pleased to release today “The Rise of Competency-Based Education,” our latest print-on-demand compilation of articles. This compilation is free and you may download a copy here.