University System News:
www.myajc.com
Ga. lawmaker sues U.S. over guidance on campus sexual misconduct cases
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/ga-lawmaker-sues-us-over-guidance-on-campus-sexual/nq892/
By Janel Davis – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A state lawmaker critical of the way colleges handle sexual-misconduct cases has sued the federal government, saying it forces colleges to abide by policies he calls unconstitutional. Rep. Earl Ehrhart’s lawsuit claims that U.S. Department of Education policies have caused colleges and universities to spend taxpayer dollars unnecessarily, because they must abide by the rules or risk losing federal funding. Since 2011, the federal department has ordered colleges to adopt tougher sex-discrimination measures or face the loss of billions in financial aid. This tougher approach was spurred by a “Dear Colleague” letter to colleges from the department’s Office for Civil Rights. Federal education department officials “say the policies are just guidance, but then they threaten to take away (a college’s) federal funding if they don’t abide by them,” Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs said Thursday.

www.insidehighered.com
Georgia Lawmaker Sues Education Department
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/04/22/georgia-lawmaker-sues-education-department?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=d5dd13dea5-DNU20160422&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-d5dd13dea5-197515277
A Georgia legislator is suing the U.S. Department of Education, arguing that the department “exceeded [its] authority” when it released the 2011 Dear Colleague letter instructing colleges on how to prevent and punish campus sexual assault.
Similar to arguments made by congressional Republicans, Earl Ehrhart, a Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives, said that the letter serves as more than guidance and, instead, “advances new substantive rules and creates binding obligations on the affected parties” under threat of severe penalties. “The defendants exceeded their authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act when they circumvented the requisite notice and comment rule making while nonetheless enforcing the Dear Colleague letter as binding law,” the lawsuit states.

www.politics.blog.ajc.com
Nathan Deal’s defense of making college sports spending a 90-day secret
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/04/21/nathan-deals-defense-of-making-college-sports-spending-a-90-day-secret/
Greg Bluestein
Tamar Hallerman
It was not on his legislative agenda, but Gov. Nathan Deal defended the measure he signed into law this month that gives the University of Georgia and other public college athletic associations far more time to respond to open records requests. Our AJC colleague Dan Chapman asked him Wednesday why he signed Senate Bill 323, which allows the athletic departments at UGA, Georgia Tech and other state colleges to wait 90 days before responding to Open Records Act requests. Athletic associations, like all state agencies, previously had three days to acknowledge the requests. “The members of the General Assembly felt that that was necessary and I’m sure Greg and you have already tried to figure out how long it takes for the University of Alabama to respond to similar inquiries already being made of the University of Georgia as well,” he told Chapman. “We’ll see how long it takes you to get a response from them.”

USG Institutions:
www.ajc.com
Tech Square’s second phase to be called Coda
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/tech-squares-second-phase-to-be-called-coda/nq8Rx/
J. Scott Trubey
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Noted Atlanta developer Portman Holdings and Georgia Tech on Wednesday formally launched Coda, the second phase of the popular Midtown Atlanta Technology Square development, to woo high-tech companies and foster the commercialization of new technologies. Portman is the owner of the 21-story tower, with Tech its anchor tenant and the magnet to draw private sector firms. Tech Square, since its launch more than a decade ago, has become a magnet for innovation labs and high-tech companies. NCR is building its world headquarters nearby and companies such as WorldPay,

www.thebrunswicknews.com
CCGA’s Coastal Entrepreneur Concept Project awards to-be business students for efforts
http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/ccga-s-coastal-entrepreneur-concept-project-awards-to-be-business/article_6e5d2982-6fd0-5058-b85b-79eb7a2ce601.html?_dc=506980116757.946
By ANNA HALL The Brunswick News
Earlier this month, Briana Fields received the final word: she had officially been accepted to College of Coastal Georgia. The Brunswick High School senior already knows she wants to study secondary education, with an emphasis on biology.
Her future plans got a boost Wednesday when she was awarded a $1,000 prize to be used on campus, for books, dining fees or whatever other extra costs she needed to fund. Fields and her teammates all earned the prize money by winning the inaugural Coastal Entrepreneur Concept Project through College of Coastal Georgia.

www.thegeorgeanne.com
A campus worth keeping, Professors reflect on the ever changing university
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/features/article_945030ac-9934-57d9-8462-b41fc78ce50d.html
By Annie Mohr The George-Anne contributor
The year is 1989: Madonna is at the top of the billboard charts, the Berlin wall won’t come down until November and Georgia Southern University is known as Georgia Southern College. That was 27 years ago, and yet for some professors it seems like merely months. The scenery has changed but the spirit and community of the University has outlasted the tests of time. With the passing years , the university has taken on a new identity, created a bowl-winning football program and excelled academically. So much has changed, but a small group of professors have stayed to watch these transitions take place. …According to Rich the same relaxed atmosphere that he noticed over two decades ago, still holds true to the campus. He notes that the campus itself has changed drastically, with new buildings being added in the recent years. His office used to be a classroom that belonged to the home economics department, which no longer exists. Despite the architectural modifications to campus, longtime professors have seen little change in the vibe of the school. “[There are] Good working relationships and an acceptance you can’t find most places,” David Alley, a spanish professor that arrived at the University in 1988, said.

www.moultrieobserver.com
Archway hears how local team is changing health culture here
http://www.moultrieobserver.com/news/local_news/archway-hears-how-local-team-is-changing-health-culture-here/article_c05a6c6a-0800-11e6-aae3-4ff66ede17a3.html
By Dwain Walden
MOULTRIE — Childhood obesity has been among the top health topics for more than a decade now. And efforts to combat this problem that can lead to heart disease, diabetes and other ailments vary. In November of 2012, Colquitt County shared a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant of $2.5 million with Athens, Ga., to launch a multi-plexed effort to “take a bite” out of childhood obesity. The grant comes to the community via a cooperative effort of The Archway Project, the Healthy Colquitt County Coalition, Moultrie YMCA and the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health.

www.insidehighered.com
Why Higher Education Needs to Be More Future-Focused
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-beta/why-higher-education-needs-be-more-future-focused
Steven Mintz
As the threat of MOOCs and for-profit education fades, so too does the sense of urgency that drives innovation. Yet anyone who thinks that a decade from now higher education will look much as it  does today is sadly mistaken. A host of trends are already well underway that spell the end of one era and the beginning of another… The wealthiest, most prestigious institutions are best positioned to adapt to shifting circumstances by expanding development efforts, increasing funded research, and leveraging their brand. Most institutions, in contrast, face severe challenges as they seek to tap new revenue streams. Only a handful of institutions have embraced strategies that are making a fundamental difference in their business models. Some – including Arizona State University, Georgia Tech, and Southern New Hampshire – have developed successful corporate partnerships, to provide training or degrees.

Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
One University’s Response to Students’ Demands on Race: Radical Transparency
http://chronicle.com/article/One-University-s-Response-to/236187
By Corinne Ruff
When student protesters first issued a list of demands they said were needed to improve the racial climate at Emory University, Ajay Nair didn’t want to think his campus had a problem. But Mr. Nair, Emory’s senior vice president and dean of campus life, recalled what it was like to be a student of color at a predominantly white institution. It wasn’t easy. As he spoke with the young activists, “I felt like I had failed,” Mr. Nair says. Without systemic change, he imagined, a very similar set of demands would hit his desk in a few years, followed by another variation on the same frustrations a few years after that. So simply dedicating more money to the diversity programs Emory had in place wouldn’t be enough, he decided. The university needed to make every one of its students’ 13 demands a priority.

www.insidehighered.com
Defunding Diversity
Tennessee Legislature votes to cut all state funds for office that promotes diversity at state’s flagship university, where students walked out of class to oppose the legislation.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/22/both-houses-tennessee-legislature-vote-bar-use-state-funds-university-diversity
By Scott Jaschik
On Thursday, both the Tennessee House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill to cut the entire $436,000 state appropriation for an office at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville that promotes diversity at the state’s flagship university.
Republican legislators in both houses have for months been criticizing the diversity office, which students have been rallying to support. On Tuesday, hundreds of students walked out of class to protest the bill, and many of the students sat on university walkways to block movement. Many students who marched in the protest said that a Confederate flag hanging outside a dormitory window they passed (above) offered a perfect illustration of why the university needs the diversity office. More protests are being planned for this weekend. It remains unclear whether Governor Bill Haslam, a Republican, will sign the bill. A spokeswoman said via email Thursday night only that he would review the legislation before taking any action.

www.chronicle.com
What Lawmakers in One State Talk About When They Talk About Diversity
http://chronicle.com/article/What-Lawmakers-in-One-State/236206
By Sarah Brown
When Republican leaders in the Tennessee legislature passed a resolution in December declaring that the University of Tennessee at Knoxville had become a “national embarrassment” for its online  posts promoting gender-neutral pronouns and inclusive holiday parties, university officials knew they would face a demanding legislative session this spring. Conservative lawmakers saw the controversies as a sign that political correctness was running amok on the flagship campus. So Knoxville’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion has played a starring role in committee meetings and hearings since the session began, in January. Multiple Republican-backed bills, introduced over the past four months, have sought to strip the office of all or part of its funding. Both the House and the Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would divert roughly $437,000 of the office’s budget into a scholarship fund for minority engineering students during the 2016-17 fiscal year. It would also ban the use of state money to encourage gender-neutral pronouns or to “promote or inhibit the celebration of religious holidays.” Gov. Bill Haslam has not said whether he will sign it, and a spokeswoman said he would review the bill in its final form before taking any action.