University System News:
www.onlineathens.com
UGA faculty groups ask Deal to say no to guns on campus
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2016-03-16/uga-faculty-groups-ask-deal-say-no-guns-campus
By LEE SHEARER
The University of Georgia’s two largest elected faculty groups say they want Gov. Nathan Deal to veto a bill allowing guns on UGA and other Georgia college campuses. And if he doesn’t, he should at least allow colleges to opt out, according to a resolution approved by one of those groups, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Senate. The Franklin College Senate on Tuesday adopted a statement opposing the law that would open campuses to guns, HB 859, which has passed both houses of the Georgia legislature. Deal has expressed concerns about problems with the bill but called for fixes to those problems rather than threatening a veto. On Wednesday, the University Council followed up, adding a last-minute agenda item that said simply the council joins the Senate, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby, the state Board of Regents and UGA President Jere Morehead in opposing the bill. The council statement, proposed by communications studies professor Barbara Biesecker, passed unanimously.
USG Institutions:
www.valdostadailytimes.com
VSU, Georgia Piedmont form partnership
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/vsu-georgia-piedmont-form-partnership/article_acf7c24c-7398-50f7-999d-6ed3909014bc.html
VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University signed articulation agreements with Georgia Piedmont Technical College Monday, simplifying student transition between the two institutions of higher education. The Pathways Program agreement will allow Georgia Piedmont Technical College students with an associate of applied science in one or more of the articulated programs to maximize the transfer of credits in order to complete either a bachelor of science in organizational leadership, a bachelor of applied science in human capital performance, or a bachelor of science in office administration and technology in two years or less at Valdosta State University, said Dr. Joseph G. Weaver, director of Off-Campus Programs at VSU.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
GGC hosts Vietnamese teaching delegation
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/education/ggc-hosts-vietnamese-teaching-delegation/article_9740dbcf-b24a-55c5-ab4f-90abdf864675.html
By Keith Farner
As part of Georgia Gwinnett College’s reciprocal agreement with a Vietnamese university, the school is hosting a delegation of nine college professors. The professors are from Thai Nguyen University of Technology of Thai Nguyen City, Vietnam. The visit is part of a memorandum of understanding with TNUT, which offers a mutual academic and cultural exchange. This summer, 12 Georgia Gwinnett students will visit Vietnam to study math, tropical biology and stay at TNUT. …In 2013, officials from both schools announced the first memorandum of cooperation, and a delegation from TNUT visited GGC during its annual International Week observance. Since then, GGC has MOUs with Hanyang University and Sookmyung Women’s University both in Seoul, South Korea, Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania and the University of Prizren in Prizren, Kosovo.
Higher Education News:
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
High school students have to decide not only where to go to college, but whether to go
http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2016/03/16/high-school-students-have-to-decide-not-only-where-to-go-to-college-but-whether-to-go/
Keeping with our college theme over the last day, here is some practical advice for high school students from Carol Barash, author of “Write Out Loud” and founder and CEO of Story2.
By Carol Barash
The college landscape is shifting rapidly, with families asking which colleges are best and which are worth the cost. Here are some questions to help you decide what school you should attend, and how college fits in your larger work and life plan. What if you are admitted to the colleges you want? If you’re choosing between colleges, ask yourself: Am I ready for college?
www.chronicle.com
In New Rule on Student-Loan Forgiveness, 2 Lawmakers Demand Fewer ‘Hoops’
http://chronicle.com/article/In-New-Rule-on-Student-Loan/235731?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=34c6d116fa0645ec85bdb0c61b8175b9&elq=9ad9ea1f4274483ebc8600d3eac11cd4&elqaid=8294&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2689
By Kelly Field
WASHINGTON
Two members of Congress pressed the U.S. Education Department on Wednesday to make it easier for student-loan borrowers to have their loans forgiven if they were defrauded by colleges. The agency’s latest debt-relief plan is a “vast improvement” over the original, they said, but still too restrictive. The lawmakers — Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Maxine Waters of California, both Democrats — said the department’s latest draft of a “borrower defense” rule, which a panel of negotiators is revising this week, would set up too many hurdles to loan forgiveness.
www.insidehighered.com
The Cost of Being Decent to Adjuncts
New paper argues that colleges can’t afford to improve the pay and working conditions of those off the tenure track. Activists slam the analysis.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/03/17/paper-argues-adjuncts-push-better-pay-and-working-conditions-prohibitively-expensive?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=317bbf5d0f-DNU20160317&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-317bbf5d0f-197515277
By Colleen Flaherty
Even if the adjunct movement for better working conditions succeeds, most adjuncts will lose. That’s one bold claim of a recent paper on the costs associated with a number of the movement’s goals, such as better pay and benefits. While activists and scholars have been quick to criticize what they call the paper’s inherently flawed logic, the study’s authors say it is a first step in a more critical dialogue on the adjunct “dilemma.” “Our goal in this paper is neither to affirm nor to deny that universities owe adjuncts more than they currently receive,” reads “Estimating the Cost of Justice for Adjuncts: A Case Study in University Business Ethics,” published in the Journal of Business Ethics. “Instead, our goal is to show that any attempt to help adjuncts faces unpleasant trade-offs and serious opportunity costs. Due to budget constraints and other factors, many proposed solutions to the adjunct crisis are likely to harm rather than help most current adjuncts. Even if adjuncts deserve much more, it may not be possible to give them what they deserve.”