University System News:
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Front page editorial in UGA student-run newspaper: Almost no one wants guns on college campuses
http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2016/03/18/front-page-editorial-in-uga-student-run-newspaper-almost-no-one-wants-guns-on-college-campuses/
Students are increasingly speaking out against the campus carry bill, which passed both the House and Senate and now is in the hands of Gov. Nathan Deal. Deal is facing tremendous pressure from the gun lobby to sign House Bill 859, but he risks the ire of parents and students who believe legalizing guns on campuses is a mistake. I attended a Leadership DeKalb education program yesterday where dual-enrolled high school students from DeKalb Early College Academy said they opposed guns on the Georgia State University campus where they take classes. Deal himself has expressed concerns about the high school students who attend college under state acceleration programs. The real possibility parents will be fearful about sending their 16-year-olds to classes with armed college classmates was first raised by local college instructor Rick Diguette in a Get Schooled blog piece last month. Go back and read his column if you missed it. Now comes a student-written editorial on the front page of the University of Georgia independent student-run newspaper, the Red & Black:
USG Institutions:
www.myajc.com
U.S. education secretary talks college completion at Georgia State
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/us-education-secretary-talks-college-completion-at/nqmr9/
By Janel Davis – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Newly confirmed U.S. education secretary John King visited Georgia State University on Wednesday to get a firsthand look at the the school’s methods for getting students graduated. The Georgia State visit was the first stop on the federal education department’s “College Opportunity Across America” tour. King, who was confirmed for the position this week, was joined by education department undersecretary Ted Mitchell. They heard from Georgia State students and advisers about the intensive advising, student monitoring and data-tracking system that has helped keep students on track and become a national and statewide model … King’s visit comes the same week Congress confirmed him for the top education position. He replaces former education secretary Arne Duncan, who stepped down in December after seven years.
www.styrk.com
ASU releases Guiding Principles for consolidated institution
http://www.styrk.com/posts/asu-releases-guiding-principles-for-consolidated-institution
ALBANY — The 40-member Consolidation Implementation Committee (CIC), consisting of members from Albany State University and Darton State College, has developed four documents that are intended to address and embrace the university’s heritage and position it as a premier institution. The “Guiding Principle” document, released Thursday, is the second of four which will make up the core values of the new Albany State University. The remaining two, “History” and “Vision” have yet to be released. Last week, the university released its New Mission statement which omitted the school’s HBCU (historically black college or university) designation. That omission prompted a student protest which culminated in a sometimes testy exchange between ASU President Art Dunning and some students at the ASU Student Center afterward. …Thursday afternoon the university released the second document.
www.coosavalleynews.com
GHC continues ongoing partnership with “Go Back. Move Ahead.” statewide initiative
http://coosavalleynews.com/2016/03/ghc-continues-ongoing-partnership-with-go-back-move-ahead-statewide-initiative/
Posted By: Tony Potts
By 2025, more than 60 percent of jobs in Georgia will require some type of postsecondary degree. Currently, only 42 percent of the state’s population is prepared. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, University System of Georgia (USG) Chancellor Hank Huckaby and Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) Commissioner Ron Jackson announced Georgia’s “Go Back. Move Ahead.” in 2014 and it has worked to encourage many of the more than one million Georgians who have completed some college to return and finish their degrees. To reach the 60 percent needed for the state to remain economically competitive, Georgia Highlands College has continued to aid in this ongoing effort to add 250,000 college graduates—whether they earn a one-year certificate, an associate degree or a bachelor’s—beyond current graduation levels to the state of Georgia.
www.knoxvilletimes.com
GSU biologist gets $1.9 million NIH grant to fight heart disease
http://www.knoxvilletimes.com/index.php/sid/242306183
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) gave Georgia State University biologist Ming-Hui Zou a four-year, $1.9 million grant to fight cardiovascular disease. Zou, the founding director of GSU’s Center for Molecular and Translational Medicine and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, studies the roles of oxidant signaling and oxidative damage in cardiovascular systems.
www.onlineathens.com
ARMC to welcome first group in new medical residency program
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2016-03-17/armc-welcome-first-group-new-medical-residency-program
By LEE SHEARER
Athens Regional Medical Center will reveal the names of the hospital’s first group of medical residents today. After a few weeks of orientation, the 15 new medical school graduates will begin work in July as ARMC launches a residency program in internal medicine after years of planning. Hospital officials scheduled a 1 p.m. ceremony to mark the occasion in ARMC’s Medical Services Building, one hour after a “Match Day” ceremony at the Augusta University-University of Georgia Medical Partnership, on the nearby UGA Health Sciences Campus in Athens’ Normaltown neighborhood. On Match Day, medical school graduates across the country learn where they’ve been assigned for graduate medical education.
www.bizjournals.com
Georgia Tech unveils prototype of golf cart made for disabled children (PHOTOS)
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/03/17/georgia-tech-unveils-prototype-of-golf-cart-made.html
Phil W. Hudson
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
A team of Georgia Tech students teamed up with E-Z-GO, Jones Global Sports and The Chiari and Syringomyelia Foundation Inc. to unveil a prototype of the first golf cart designed for children with disabilities. The motorized vehicle was developed from a golf cart donated by Augusta, Ga.-based E-Z-GO. The Chiari and Syringomyelia Foundation reported Georgia Tech was specifically chosen to develop the prototype as it is the noted alma mater of the legendary golfer Robert Tyre “Bobby” Jones Jr. who earned a Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech. Jones suffered from CSF, a spinal disorder that had a profound effect on his golf career towards the end of his life, leaving him bound to a wheel chair.
www.insidehighered.com
Library Access vs. Library Security
Many campus libraries are open to those with no affiliation with the colleges and are proud of that tradition — even as it sometimes raises safety issues.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/03/18/san-jose-state-university-library-attack-highlights-safety-issues?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=fe7a196d3e-DNU20160318&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-fe7a196d3e-197515277
By Josh Logue
Around 9 p.m. on March 8 a woman — mid-50s, no affiliation with San Jose State University — was washing her hands in a restroom on the second floor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library on campus. Another woman, who officials said was also unaffiliated and hiding in that bathroom, attempted to attack her. The woman who was attacked screamed and, with the help of a third library patron, chased the attacker away. The university’s police made an arrest almost immediately. Episodes like that are relatively infrequent, and that one in particular was resolved without incident, though it alarmed many on campus. It also highlights an issue facing many universities, especially those located near large numbers of people unaffiliated with the institution: how to provide a safe environment for students while remaining open and accessible to the public at large. …Georgia State University was forced to confront this issue head-on several months ago, when the president ordered the library on campus closed to the public after a series of armed robberies inside the building. Library North, on Georgia State’s campus in the middle of Atlanta, will remain closed to the public for at least a few more weeks, said its dean, Jeff Steely, as the cameras there are upgraded and increased and sign-in procedures are improved.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Getting Traction in Closing the Inequality Gap (video)
http://chronicle.com/article/Video-Getting-Traction-in/235713?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=0d01f40bd3cb4efe8dc6dba4a224588d&elq=16e2905c4d5e4b14a8470826bf30ec42&elqaid=8312&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2698
By Karin Fischer
The Education Trust’s president, Kati Haycock, says colleges that are serious about helping low-income students succeed should make it their job from Day 1. “Institutions turn out to be much more powerful in determining student success than we ever knew,” she says. Transcript coming soon.
www.jbhe.com
Survey Examines How College Presidents Are Dealing With the Racial Climate on Their Campuses
Survey Examines How College Presidents Are Dealing With the Racial Climate on Their Campuses
The Center for Policy Research and Strategy of the American Council on Education conducted a survey of college and university president to determine their views and to ask how they have reacted to recent campus protests regarding diversity and inclusion. To garner a larger response, the survey asked respondents to remain anonymous. The center has released a preliminary report on some of their findings with more data forthcoming. Nearly one half of all presidents at four-year colleges and universities reported that there had been organized protests or events on diversity and inclusion at their campus. Where protests have occurred, 86 percent of the presidents said that they had met with students about their demands or concerns on more than one occasion. More than one half of all four-year college or university presidents said that the racial climate on campus had become more of a priority over the past three years.
www.insidehighered.com
A Rare Focus on All-Male Groups
Harvard singled out its final clubs as especially dangerous places for women. Victims’ advocates and researchers argue more colleges should take a similarly hard look at fraternities.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/03/18/harvards-report-condemning-all-male-organizations-rare-company
By Jake New
Last week, Harvard University released a report of recommendations on preventing and dealing with sexual assaults on campus. The report is similar to many other sexual assault reports released in recent years, with recommendations that include creating more detailed policies and providing more prevention education and training to students. Where the Harvard report differs is in its emphasis on the university’s final clubs — wealthy, private, historically male-only organizations that often draw comparisons to fraternities. Few other college and university efforts to prevent sexual assault have so sharply focused on such male organizations. A review of more than a dozen similar university reports released in recent months reveals that this focus on all-male organizations is unusual, even on campuses where many of the complaints about sexual assault and sexist treatment of female students focus on fraternities. Harvard, however, devoted three full pages of the 20-page report to final clubs, and included addressing “the distinctive problems presented” by the organizations as one of the task force’s six key recommendations.
www.chronicle.com
Stop Worrying About Guns in the Classroom. They’re Already Here.
http://chronicle.com/article/Stop-Worrying-About-Guns-in/235744?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=902074338a0f4dd18e30aa0a6f540dc5&elq=16e2905c4d5e4b14a8470826bf30ec42&elqaid=8312&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2698
By Erik Gilbert
If you work at a Texas college and are worried by the prospect of having guns in your classroom, relax. The new campus-carry law changes your risk of gun violence very little. I can almost guarantee that if you have a few semesters of teaching under your belt, at some point there have been students with guns in your classroom. If those illegally armed students were not moved to violence by the content of your course or the statements of their fellow students, it seems highly improbable that a new group of legally armed students will prove to be more volatile or violence-prone than their scofflaw peers. If you really think that there are no guns on college campuses in Texas, or elsewhere, because there is a law that forbids having guns on campus, you are mistaken. On my own campus in Arkansas, despite a strict prohibition on guns, in the last decade there has been at least one accidental discharge of a gun in a dorm room, several students who have been found to have guns in their cars, and at least one faculty member who was caught with a gun in on-campus faculty housing. And those are just people in “casual” possession of guns with no intention of causing harm or mischief who ran afoul of the campus police because they were foolish or indiscreet with them. Given these incidents and what I know about the prevailing regional attitudes toward guns, I have to assume that significant numbers of students, and possibly faculty, bring guns on campus regularly.