University System News:
www.news.wabe.org
With Legislation, Ga. Lawmaker Wants To Slow Tuition Increases
http://news.wabe.org/post/legislation-ga-lawmaker-wants-slow-tuition-increases
By JOHNNY KAUFFMAN
A Georgia lawmaker wants to slow tuition increases drastically at Georgia’s public colleges and universities. Legislation from state Rep. Matt Ramsey, R–Peachtree City, would keep four-year schools from increasing tuition beyond the rate of inflation. He said rates are going up too fast. …Ramsey’s proposal calls for a constitutional amendment to allow lawmakers to limit tuition costs. The amendment would require approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate, as well as approval from Georgia voters. In a statement, the University System of Georgia said it’s committed to keeping college affordable for students.
USG Institutions:
www.redandblack.com
Donation to help homeless and foster system students access college
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/donation-to-help-homeless-and-foster-system-students-access-college/article_f350a938-d39c-11e5-b122-b36debe0bf63.html
Kate Huller
A $500,000 gift to the University of Georgia’s J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development will expand leadership opportunities for UGA students who have experienced homelessness or who have been in foster care. Donated by Donald Leebern Jr., a University System of Georgia Board of Regents member, the money will establish the Suzanne Yoculan Leebern Fund, named for the Gymdogs coach who retired in 2009. “We are proud that this fund provides students a safety net to help them reach their dreams of graduating from UGA,” said Leebern, the namesake of the fund. The fund will be distributed to certain qualified students and will go toward expenses related to orientation, meal plans, travel, housing, furnishings, books, supplies, social opportunities, campus mentoring and emergency and crisis funding, said David Meyers, public service associate in Youth and Family Development at the Fanning Institute.
www.facilityexecutive.com
Georgia Tech Cleaning Program Earns Green Seal of Approval
http://facilityexecutive.com/2016/02/georgia-tech-cleaning-program-earns-green-seal-of-approval/
The Georgia Institute of Technology’s newly-certified Green Cleaning Program is one of only six higher education campus programs in the U.S. to be recognized under the the Green Seal Standard for Cleaning Services (GS-42). Georgia Tech’s Green Cleaning Program was certified by Green Seal™ — a nationally recognized organization that provides stringent standards and certification to protect human health and the environment — for its leadership in sustainable cleaning. “We are extremely proud of the Building Services Department achieving the Green Seal GS-42 certification, which is a testament to Georgia Tech’s dedication to improving human and ecological health through better processes and technology,” said Assistant Vice President of Facilities Management Mark Demyanek.
www.redandblack.com
UGA partners with GeoVax Labs to create vaccine for the Zika virus
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/uga-partners-with-geovax-labs-to-create-vaccine-for-the/article_cdd5e436-d403-11e5-b05e-5b496de397c0.html
Mia Falcon & Heather Bryan
The University of Georgia has partnered with GeoVax Labs to develop a preventive vaccine for the Zika virus, according to Dr. Ted Ross, professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Infectious Diseases. “UGA is developing the [virus-like particle] vaccine to stimulate the immune system and GeoVax has a proprietary delivery system to express the vaccine inside the human body to elicit antibodies that will protect a person when exposed to the real Zika virus,” Ross said.
www.news.wabe.org
Georgia Tech Team Part Of Gravitational Wave Discovery
http://news.wabe.org/post/georgia-tech-team-part-gravitational-wave-discovery
By LISA HAGEN
The news of gravitational waves rolled out across the globe this morning, but a group of students and faculty at Georgia Tech have been quietly savoring the discovery for months. As David Reitze, executive director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), made the announcement at a press conference in Washington D.C., a packed watch party at Georgia Tech cheered. Gravitational wave astrophysicist Deirdre Shoemaker helped lead the school’s researchers. She said she was asleep the morning the wave came through. “So we just started getting emails, and I don’t know about the rest of these guys, but I was like ‘What? Wait a minute.’ And when I found out it was a black hole I was like ‘Yes! Take that, neutron stars!'” said Shoemaker, who fielded a slew of physics questions from students and others.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
‘Breakpoint’ in Higher Ed
Author discusses his new book on “the changing marketplace” facing colleges and universities.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/02/16/author-discusses-new-book-changes-higher-education-marketplace?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=966a9fc75e-DNU20160216&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-966a9fc75e-197515277
By Kellie Woodhouse
How much does higher education need to change to preserve the qualities of colleges and universities that are important to students, faculty members and society? That’s the question Jon McGee asks and answers in his new book, Breakpoint: The Changing Marketplace for Higher Education (Johns Hopkins University Press). He argues for the importance of developing plans collaboratively but also being willing to execute those plans. McGee, vice president for planning and public affairs at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, responded to questions about the book in an email interview.
Q: You write that “colleges and universities today must be understood for what they are: large-scale business enterprises.” This is a notion that many in academe, especially faculty members, resist. How do you suggest academics begin understanding and embracing this paradigm?
www.insidehighered.com
Shared Governance in Crisis
The events in recent weeks at Mount St. Mary’s University and Suffolk University have abruptly shattered notions of shared governance, to the detriment of their campuses.
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/02/16/mount-st-marys-and-suffolk-shared-governance-gone-awry-essay?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=966a9fc75e-DNU20160216&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-966a9fc75e-197515277
By Susan Resneck Pierce
The highly publicized student protests this past fall often challenged the notion of shared governance as it has been historically practiced. Student demands at institutions public and private, large and small, have sought to substitute the judgment of students for that of the faculty in areas such as the curriculum, hiring, tenure, promotion and the grading system. Many students understandably are not aware either of how decisions are made on their campus or who is responsible for which aspects of their institution. As a result, a number of presidents have responded to student demands by reaffirming the importance of shared governance, approaching the protests as offering opportunities for (with apologies for the cliché) teachable moments. Some have noted that student protests have long had a place in higher education. And many of course have supported such goals as fostering greater diversity and seeking to end both systemic racism and the kinds of microaggressions that can cause pain to students.
www.chronicle.com
The Uncertain Path to Full Professor
Vague criteria may signal to some faculty members that a promotion to the top is out of their reach
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Uncertain-Path-to-Full/235304?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=1bf1def5f38d45368af7dd260e52e7a5&elq=242d1a3fc28e4ba584dd7938a6f0012f&elqaid=7887&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2440
By Audrey Williams June
They have national, even international reputations for groundbreaking research and scholarship. They write lauded books, win coveted prizes, draw graduate-student disciples. Their institutions and their disciplines tap them as leaders. They’re full professors, the elite class of the professoriate. But the path that scholars must follow to join their ranks is hardly clear-cut, which can make it more difficult for some people — particularly women and minorities — to get there. Any successful bid takes several years of striving to meet institutional expectations that are often expressed as lofty rhetoric. …While the tenure process has an established timeline, the requirements and timing of further promotion are murkier.
www.chronicle.com
New Credential Aims to Make Professors Into Better Teachers
http://chronicle.com/article/New-Credential-Aims-to-Make/235306?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=e2bef3e3562b4a17b21c39ec4f8b1e39&elq=242d1a3fc28e4ba584dd7938a6f0012f&elqaid=7887&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2440
By Corinne Ruff
Even though he has taught in college classrooms for years, Miguel Cervantes-Cervantes, an assistant teaching professor in biological sciences at Rutgers University at Newark, recently went back to the classroom himself to learn how to teach. He participated in a pilot project of a new credentialing program for college teaching designed by the Association of College and University Educators, a for-profit company that argues that college teaching needs help. Rutgers was one of 12 colleges in the pilot program, which took place in the fall of 2015. To earn the teaching credential, Mr. Cervantes-Cervantes said, he watched videos about effective teaching strategies, took quizzes, and participated in a message group with fellow classmates. The company, known as ACUE, hopes to roll out the program nationwide soon, on a model where the course is purchased at the institutional level and offered to the faculty. In the future, faculty members may be able to sign up for training individually.