University System News:
www.theinkwellonline.com
Guns on campus: Gov. Deal to make final call by May–Armstrong weighs in
http://theinkwellonline.com/2016/04/02/guns-on-campus-gov-deal-to-make-final-call-by-may-armstrong-weighs-in/
By: Emily Smith, Editor in Chief and Lauren Ashely, Staff Writer
The Georgia Senate this month gave final passage to a bill that would legalize firearms at all public colleges in Georgia. Colleges and universities across the state, including Armstrong, have held forums to discuss details and concerns surrounding the bill. House Bill 859, yet to be signed by Governor Nathan Deal, would allow persons over the age of 21 to carry a concealed handgun onto Georgia college campuses as soon as July 1. The only locations exempt are dormitories, fraternities and sororities houses and at athletic events.
USG Institutions:
www.patch.com
Tech Named One of Nation’s Most Exclusive Public Colleges
GT ranked No. 18 a list released by an independent college search and rankings site.
http://patch.com/georgia/midtown/tech-named-one-nations-most-exclusive-public-colleges-0
By TIM DARNELL (Patch Staff)
An independent college search and rankings site has named Georgia Tech as one of the nation’s top 25 most exclusive public bachelor’s colleges by admissions rate. No.1 on AffordableSchools.net’s rankings list is the U.S. Naval Academy, followed by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, and the University of California-Berkeley (Berkeley, California), in second and third places respectively. Georgia Tech was ranked No. 18. … Fort Valley State University (FVSU, 1895, #8)
www.saportareport.com
Ga. Tech picked to coordinate nation’s research in nanotechnology
Ga. Tech picked to coordinate nation’s research in nanotechnology
By David Pendered
The National Science Foundation on Monday named Georgia Tech to coordinate the nation’s new effort to promote nanotechnology, which is the control of super tiny structures to solve problems and create new products. Tech will be paid $3.5 million over five years to serve as the coordinating office of the new National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure program. The program is comprised of 27 universities structured as 16 network sites that are spread across 15 states. “With the support of the NNCI Coordinating Office at Georgia Tech, the NNCI sites can now truly function as a national network of user facilities, which we expect to lead to American innovations with economic and societal benefits,” Lawrence Goldberg, NSF’s NNCI program director, said in a statement issued by Tech. Oliver Brand, director of Tech’s Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology and a professor in Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will oversee the NNCI coordinating office.
www.accesswdun.com
First generation college students, others are ready to attend Hall County’s Early College @ Jones
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/4/382707/first-generation-college-students-others-are-ready-to-attend-hall-countys-early-college-jones
By B.J. Williams News Director
The new Early College @ Jones is proving to be more popular with Hall County students than school officials had imagined. Michele Hood, the coordinator for the early college program, updated school board members this past week on applications, which now number around 250. While the program was designed for first generation college students, or those who worried they might not be able to afford college after high school graduation, Hood said she has seen interest from students who have surprised her. …The collaborative program between the Hall County School District, Lanier Technical College and the University of North Georgia will allow students to take college classes with college professors without stepping foot on a college campus. Instead, they will be transported by bus from their home schools to the Jones campus during the first part of the day to take the higher ed classes.
www.thegeorgeanne.com
Georgia Southern University College of Business is expanding
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/daily/article_755d527f-bba6-5eda-94b8-d3ceb2ff9b3b.html
By: Brea Dupye The George-Anne contributor
The Georgia Southern University’s College of Business plan to update and expand the current building with, Building A Legacy. The current building has not had any major changes since the first time it was built over 20 years ago in 1995. The College of Business has 3,600 students currently enrolled as opposed to the previous number of about 2,000 at the start. Along with renovations to the building, they plan to add a financial learning lab and an atrium.
www.ajc.com
Crosswalks approved for college student safety in Lawrenceville
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/crosswalks-approved-for-college-student-safety-in-/nqzDS/
Karen Huppertz
For the AJC
Georgia Gwinnett College students will hustle across Collins Industrial Boulevard a little more safely thanks to the Lawrenceville city council’s approval of two raised crosswalks. The safety and traffic control devices will help students crossing Collins Industrial Boulevard from existing Georgia Gwinnett College parking and additional parking the school anticipates adding in the fall.
www.georgiatrend.com
Keeping Firefighters Safe
Laura Diamond reports that Zack Braun was at a bonfire when he thought of a new way to protect firefighters. Braun, a computer engineering major, was chatting with a family friend who is a firefighter. He described the chaotic environments they face and explained the protective gear they wear. “I was really surprised they didn’t have sensors or technology to help them,” Braun said. “What they did have seemed really crude.” (Georgia Tech)
Higher Education News:
www.ajc.com
You got in! How do you decide which college is right for you?
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/you-got-in-how-do-you-decide-which-college-is-righ/nqzZX/
Maureen Downey, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia high school seniors accepted to multiple colleges now have to decide which school to attend. Colleges have a stake in those decisions because their yields — the percentage of admitted students who enroll — influence ratings. Writing today in AJC Get Schooled, expert Sara Harberson explains: “Yield is big business in college admissions…There is tremendous pressure on colleges not only to deliver acceptances this time of year, but ultimately to enroll a freshman class better than the previous year. All eyes are on May 1, the date when enrollment deposits are due. This is each college’s day of reckoning. One might argue that it’s somewhat fitting. After all, students go through so much stress applying to college, constantly wondering if they’ve done enough to prove their worth. Now it’s the colleges’ turn to show that they are worthy.”
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Now that you’ve been accepted, beware colleges bearing gifts
http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2016/04/06/show-time-colleges-pull-out-the-stops-to-entice-accepted-students-to-enroll/
Sara Harberson is the founder of AdmissionsRevolution.com, former associate dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, and former dean of admissions and financial aid at Franklin & Marshall College.
By Sara Harberson
College applicant pools are deeper than ever. The slightest thing – a B instead of an A or a typo in the essay – is enough to push an admissions decision from a yay to a nay. Over the last few years, the competition has only become stiffer, especially at elite colleges. The message from colleges to students is: We want you to be authentic… and perfect. But, when the tables are turned and colleges are trying to impress accepted students and get them to enroll, authenticity and perfection are often tossed aside like denied applicants.
www.chronicle.com
When States Tie Money to Colleges’ Performance, Low-Income Students May Suffer
http://chronicle.com/article/When-States-Tie-Money-to/235983?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=b307bd129c7f4101a2799352c4c007b7&elq=050994d7ba794a138d589f5b5a8be2db&elqaid=8559&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2842
By Beckie Supiano
Performance-based funding has caught on in a big way in higher education. While that model lacks a precise definition, about 30 states now allocate at least some of the money they give to colleges based on achievement measures.
The idea has obvious appeal at a time when money is tight and holding institutions accountable is popular. But so far, the evidence has been mixed on whether such models actually drive the improvements — such as raising graduation rates — that they are meant to encourage. Then there’s the question of how colleges respond to having a portion of their funds tied to measures of their performance. Some observers have worried that colleges game the system by changing the mix of students they enroll.
www.insidehighered.com
The Cost of Remediation
An inadequate high school education can get expensive for students when they need to take remedial courses in college, according to a new report.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/06/parents-and-students-pay-high-price-college-remediation-study-finds?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=ad5fbed044-DNU20160406&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-ad5fbed044-197515277
By Ashley A. Smith
Half a million college students enroll in some type of remedial course after graduating high school. And that remediation can be costly, not only to colleges, but to students and their families. Those costs can raise the overall price of attending college. A new report from researchers at Education Reform Now, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, found that enrolling in remedial course work during the first year of college costs students and their families nearly $1.5 billion a year in out-of-pocket expenses. Those expenses do not include grants and financial aid students receive, said Michael Dannenberg, the group’s director of strategic initiatives for policy and a co-author of the report.
www.ajc.com
College students would nix intentionally offensive speech
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/college-students-would-nix-intentionally-offensive/nqzc4/
Christopher Quinn, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to a new Gallup survey, U.S. college students have complex and, in some ways, conflicting views on the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. They are highly confident that First Amendment rights are secure, even more so than the U.S. adult population. But many students are also comfortable limiting free speech and impeding a free press under certain circumstances. It is an interesting survey in light of what has happened nationally and in Georgia as mainstream media have covered student rallies or protests, such as those on the campus of Emory University after someone chalked some pro Donald Trump messages on the sidewalks. A small group of students there drew international attention for some of the language they used protesting the chalkings, such as being in “pain” or fearful.
www.chronicle.com
Nearly Half of Students Are Open to Free-Speech Restrictions on Campuses, Survey Finds
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/nearly-half-of-students-are-open-to-free-speech-restrictions-on-campuses-survey-finds/110015?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=e02ef1c89dcd404ab8989a34d56eaaa0&elq=6a5c157f319f45ffb3874dc1f94cf6bc&elqaid=8539&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2831
by Rio Fernandes
Nearly half of college students believe in curtailing the news media’s access to campus events in certain scenarios, such as when protesters want to be left alone (48 percent), when they believe a reporter will be biased (49 percent), and when they want to tell the story themselves on social media (44 percent), a new Gallup survey has found. The survey, financed by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Newseum Institute, examined college students’ perceptions of the security of their First Amendment rights on campuses and their views of the news media and social media. College students are confident in the protections afforded to them by the First Amendment, much more so than a majority of American adults, the survey found.