University System News:
www.ajc.com
Kennesaw State president Dan Papp to retire June 30
Janel Davis, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kennesaw State University President Dan Papp will retire from his position leading the school on June 30. Papp announced his retirement in a letter to the Kennesaw State community Tuesday night. “It has been a pleasure to serve as president of this great University for the past 10 years, and to enjoy a 43-year career with the University System of Georgia,” Papp said in the letter. Papp says he informed system Chancellor Hank Huckaby of his retirement on Tuesday. The announcement comes as Kennesaw State is celebrating two days of commencement ceremonies for spring graduates. During his tenure at Kennesaw State, Papp oversaw the consolidation of the university with the former Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta. That consolidation has increased Kennesaw State’s enrollment to more than 33,000 students, making it one of the largest institutions in the state.
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www.bizjournals.com
KSU President Dan Papp to retire
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/05/11/ksu-president-to-step-down.html
www.news.wabe.org
Georgia Officials Want Less Student Money Used For Sports
http://news.wabe.org/post/georgia-officials-want-less-student-money-used-sports
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
University System of Georgia officials on Tuesday capped how much athletic programs can depend on student fees and tuition for funding, urging campuses to look elsewhere amid national concern about college costs. The system’s governing Board of Regents approved the new policy, limiting the portion of an athletic program’s budget that can come from student fees or tuition. The amount runs from 65 percent to 85 percent and is tied to each school’s athletic association, allowing those in smaller organizations to depend more on student dollars than schools in NCAA divisions. The updates also include a 5 percent cap on annual growth in athletic expenses. The change has little effect on the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech athletic programs, which depend least on student funding thanks to donations, revenue from broadcasting games and other sources. Those schools were limited to 10 percent of athletic funds coming from students. Last year, student funding made up about 2.8 percent of UGA’s athletic program funding and 7.2 percent of Georgia Tech’s, according to the university system. But six schools, including Georgia State University in Atlanta, have to lower their dependence on student money within four years.
www.myajc.com
Georgia Regents cap student funding of athletic programs
By Janel Davis – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia State University would have to cut the amount of student fees and tuition that fund its athletic programs by about $700,000, according to a new policy adopted by the state’s Board of Regents on Tuesday. The Regents set limits on the amount of money from student fees and tuition that can go toward athletic programs at the state’s public colleges and universities. The cap will be between 65 percent and 85 percent of the athletic budget at most schools, depending on each school’s athletic association. The new rules come as a national review of the high cost of athletics at some schools has led to debate about rising college costs and whether students get a good return on their investment when they foot the bill for sports. The goal is for Georgia colleges to seek money for sports through fundraising and other revenue sources beyond what students pay. The new rules also cap growth in athletics expenses at 5 percent a year.
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www.13wmaz.com
Georgia officials want less student money used for sports
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/georgia-officials-want-less-student-money-used-for-sports/185233992
www.bizjournals.com
Privatized housing program paying off for University System of Georgia
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/05/10/privatized-housing-program-paying-off-for.html
Dave Williams
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
A student housing privatization initiative launched this school year by the University System of Georgia is paying early dividends. Four of seven campuses that participated in the program during the 2015-16 term saw increases in occupancy of student housing, with Columbus State University jumping from 90 percent occupancy to 99 percent, Jonathan Lucia, who manages the student housing portfolio for the university system told members of the Board of Regents Tuesday. A survey found 95 percent of students living in student housing being managed through the program were satisfied with the professionalism of the staff. Ninety percent gave high marks to the upkeep and maintenance of their rooms and to the quality of Internet service. … Lucia said the program is projecting a 3.3 percent reduction in operating costs during its first year, savings made possible by using LED lighting technology, working with Georgia Power Co. to qualify for discounted educational utility rates and through Corvais’ ability to tap into its national purchasing power.
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www.albanyceo.com
Privatized Housing Program Paying Off for University System of Georgia
http://albanyceo.com/news/2016/05/privatized-housing-program-paying-university-system-georgia/
www.wmbfnews.com
7 arrested during Board of Regents protest
http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/31939656/7-arrested-during-board-of-regents-protest
By Vince Sims
ATLANTA (CBS46) – Civil disobedience disrupted the University of Georgia Board of Regents meeting Tuesday. Seven students were arrested for trespassing. The students were protesting what they call unfair policies toward undocumented students. …In a written statement the board of regents says it respects students rights to protest in an appropriate manner. It went on to say for the tuition policy it was adopted several years ago to mirror applicable law and that law required public higher education – including the university system – to ensure that only students who could demonstrate lawful presence were eligible for certain benefits, including in-state tuition. that law remains in effect, and, therefore, so will our policy.
www.mobile.nytimes.com
Packing Heat Onto College Campuses
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/takingnote/2016/05/09/packing-heat-onto-college-campuses/
By FRANCIS X. CLINES
The gun lobby’s relentless drive to arm students across the nation’s college campuses ran into an unexpected hitch in Georgia last week when Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a measure that would have let students carry concealed weapons to class. Mr. Deal scoffed at the rationale of fellow Republicans in the legislature that arming students would increase their safety. “It is highly questionable that such would be the result,” he stressed in his veto message. At the same time, lawmakers in Tennessee succeeded with a partial advance of the “campus carry” gun craze, approving a measure authorizing professors and other full-time staffers with permits to go about armed on public campuses. Gov. Bill Haslam declined to either sign or veto the measure, thus non-Solomonically allowing it to become law. He contended that while his preference was to leave the issue to local college officials, some of his concerns were addressed in the bill he wouldn’t sign. Considerable opposition was voiced by college professors, students and law enforcement officials closely involved in campus life. …Despite heavy opposition from college and police officials, campus carry has become a perennial issue in states with pro-gun legislatures, particularly as the election cycle heats up. …The legislative majorities pushing this issue as a public safety necessity insist armed students and professors are the best way to defend against armed intruders. But a new study of federal firearms data indicates licensed and armed private citizens wind up harming themselves or others with their guns far more often than shooting attackers.
USG Institutions:
www.albanyceo.com
ASU, Darton Make Have Combined $285M Economic Impact in Albany & Dougherty County
http://albanyceo.com/news/2016/05/asu-darton-make-fiscal-waves-albany-dougherty-county/
Staff Report From Albany CEO
According to a study released by the University System of Georgia, Albany State University and Darton State College had a combined economic impact of $285 million on the Albany region in 2015. The total amount includes direct spending, employment and indirect spending. A breakdown of the dollars that poured into the area in 2015 shows that the university and college, together, had an employment impact of 3,413 people for a total of $119 million in labor income for the region, as described by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. Area counties included in the study were Dougherty, Lee, Worth, Mitchell, Terrell, Colquitt, Baker, Sumter, Calhoun and Tift. Darton had more than $141 million in economic impact, while ASU registered at more than $144 million.
www.patch.com
Report: Georgia Gwinnett College Put $416M Into Economy
GGC was the second-highest ranking college in the state, according to an annual study.
http://patch.com/georgia/lawrenceville-ga/report-georgia-gwinnett-college-put-416m-economy
By DOUG GROSS
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Georgia Gwinnett College contributed more than $416 million to the local economy during the past fiscal year, according to a new study. The study, conducted annually by the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, aims to measure the economic impact of the state’s colleges and universities. “The college’s presence creates a multiplying effect as dollars are spent and re-spent in the Gwinnett area economy,” said Stas Preczewski, GGC’s president. “In addition, for every job created on campus, there are more than three jobs created in the community.” According to the study, Georgia Gwinnett had the second-highest economic impact of any college in the state and surpassed most state universities in total impact.
www.northwestgeorgianews.com
GHC economic impact climbs over $132 million
The University System of Georgia recently released the USG’s total economic impact on the state of Georgia. Of the more than $15 billion reported by the USG as a whole, Georgia Highlands College’s contribution was over $132 million. The USG report is for Fiscal Year 2015 and is conducted by the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. The University System’s economic impact grew $1.3 billion, an increase of 9 percent, from fiscal year 2014 to 2015. Student spending in communities where USG institutions operate was a primary driver in the increase with overall higher student enrollment in the University System creating significant impact. GHC’s increased its impact by more than $13 million.
www.douglascountysentinel.com
Number of dual-enrollment students has increased
Donny Karr/Times-Georgian
Local education leaders said they are seeing positive results from the Carrollton-Carroll County Education Collaborative. Carroll County School System officials announced during a work session Monday that the combined work has helped increase dual enrollment at local high schools, and is helping to guide students to be better prepared to enter the workforce or attend college. The Collaborative was started in 2014 by University of West Georgia President Dr. Kyle Marrero as a means to help provide long-term direction for students in pre-kindergarden through high school. The group is comprised of representatives from local school districts and post-secondary institutions, as well as community leaders.
www.onlineathens.con
Fundraising pages created to help survivors of crash that killed 4 UGA students
By STAFF REPORTS
Two fundraising efforts were created to help the survivors of the April 27 crash in which four University of Georgia students were killed on a two-lane road in Oconee County. A YouCaring page was created to help Agnes Kim, the UGA student who remains in critical condition at Athens Regional Medical Center, while a Teespring page was created to aid Abby Short, an emergency medical technician with National EMS who sustained injuries requiring surgery. Kim’s YouCaring page has raised $42,360 as of Tuesday morning, with a goal of $50,000.
www.talktown.blog.myajc.com
Georgia Tech professor helps children with special needs experience technology
By Nedra Rhone
Ayanna Howard always wanted to build the bionic woman. Growing up in California, she was as obsessed with Battlestar Galactica as she was with Wonder Woman. Her plan was to become a doctor, but there was just one problem — she hated biology. With the help of summer programs and college extension courses in high school, Howard began to find her path to a career in robotics. Today, the professor of bioengineering at Georgia Tech is not building the bionic woman, but through her company, Zyrobotics, she is using her research to help develop products that support the learning and development of children with different needs.
www.forbes.com
30 Under 30: Deep Divers
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathryndill/2016/05/11/deep-divers/#507e322449bc
Kathryn Dill, Forbes Staff
Making waves with the FORBES 30 under 30, in 30 words or less… Lujendra Ojha | Ph.D. Candidate, Georgia Institute of Technology | 25. Ojha’s research produced the best evidence yet of the existence of liquid water on Mars after he noticed geological features there similar to those created by water on Earth.
www.seattlepi.com
Georgia State University To Offer Bachelor of Science Degree In Public Health
Georgia State University will offer a new bachelor of science degree in public health with an emphasis on urban and global health issues. The degree was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia at its May 10 meeting. The degree program is scheduled to accept degree-seeking students in fall 2017, though some new public health courses will be offered to undergraduate students starting in fall 2016.
www.ajc.com
Making the Grade: Medical program exposes students to many facets
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/making-the-grade-medical-program-exposes-students-/nrKkY/
H.M. Cauley, For the AJC
Visitors to Gwinnett Technical College in mid-April may have been surprised to find themselves not on a college campus but in the middle of a hospital zone. From EMTs helping blood-covered accident victims to a surgery in progress, various areas of the Lawrenceville campus became a medical center for the day during a simulation designed to give students in the Health Sciences program the feel of working with real patients in critical situations. For years, individual programs including radiology, nursing, ultrasound and respiratory care have hosted their own simulation days. But four years ago, faculty brainstormed about combining their individual events into one. …The idea soon expanded to include students from nearby Georgia Gwinnett College’s nursing program. More than 160 participants took on the roles of paramedics, surgeons, patients and more for a full day of unexpected challenges.
www.ajc.com
Zipcar now offered at Georgia Gwinnett College
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/zipcar-coming-georgia-gwinnett/nrKsq/
Tyler Estep, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Zipcar has come to Georgia Gwinnett College. The “car sharing” service — think short-term rentals for errands and trips to mom’s house to do laundry — announced Tuesday its new partnership with Lawrenceville’s flagship university. Two cars are now available for use 24 hours a day. …The cars are available for students, faculty and staff ages 18 and older.
www.athensceo.com
UGA Team Selected by NASA, Air Force to Build and Launch Two Cube Satellites
Staff Report From Athens CEO
A University of Georgia project led by a team of undergraduate students and including faculty from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering was recently selected for funding by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. The UGA proposal, “CubeSat for GA Water Resources,” to NASA’s Undergraduate Student Instrument Project will receive $200,000 in funding to prepare for a launch date 18 months from the project start date this month.
www.ajc.com
3 minors arrested in connection with Georgia Tech armed robberies
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/3-minors-arrested-in-connection-with-georgia-tech-/nrKtH/
Raisa Habersham, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five people, including three minors, have been arrested in connection with two armed robberies on Georgia Tech’s campus, a school spokesman said. Georgia Tech spokesman Lance Wallace did not release the names and ages of the minors involved in the robberies. However, he said two 18-year-old men — Amid Malachi Francis of Lawrenceville and Jacarious Corouthers of Stone Mountain — are in the Fulton County Jail on armed robbery and loitering charges. Corouthers faces an additional charge of carrying weapons on school property, according to online jail records.
www.albanyherald.com
Shots fired during robbery at Middle Georgia State University
By Joe Kovac Jr.
MACON (TNS) — Two shots were fired but no one was hurt Tuesday afternoon when someone trying to sell a cellphone was robbed by the prospective buyer after the two agreed to meet in a Middle Georgia State University parking lot, authorities said. The stickup happened shortly after 3:30 p.m. on the east side of the college’s Macon campus in a parking lot that overlooks Interstate 475, campus Police Chief Shawn Douglas told The Telegraph. The man who was buying the phone fired the shots. No students were believed to be involved, the chief said, adding that classes there ended last week.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Americans Say World Thinks Well of U.S. Higher Ed
Asked whether American institutions are seen as very positive by those around the world, Americans believe — by far — that higher education is the most respected institution, according to a new poll by Gallup.
www.insidehighered.com
Scholarship for Undocumented Students in 16 States
A new scholarship program will fund 500 immigrant students who are unable to attend college in their home states. TheDream.US, a scholarship program for undocumented students who came to the country as children, will fund students from states that would require them to pay out-of-state tuition — or bar them from enrolling in college at all. …The scholarships will be announced at the end of June, and they will go to students in 16 states: Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
www.chronicle.com
Backer of Student Loans Pivots in Push to Reshape Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/article/Backer-of-Student-Loans-Pivots/236429
By Goldie Blumenstyk
A $1-billion nonprofit with a familiar name but a new and unusual strategy has begun putting its financial clout into projects and companies that want to reshape higher education. The organization is USA Funds, once primarily a student-loan guarantee agency but now increasingly a player — to some, still a suspect one — in efforts aimed at helping students make strong connections between their college education and their career. With its involvement in student loans winding down, USA Funds is re-creating itself into an organization that is part grant maker, part business, using its sizable resources to acquire and invest in companies that can fund its future philanthropy.
www.insidehighered.com
Millions for a Promenade
Professors at Syracuse University fight a plan that they say reflects the wrong priorities at a time of faculty buyouts.
By Rick Seltzer
Plans to spend as much as $6 million to convert a city street into a pedestrian promenade through Syracuse University’s campus have reopened rifts over faculty involvement, spending priorities and town-gown separation less than three years into a new chancellor’s term. A sizable group of professors — 108 faculty members — signed a petition asking that the project be halted. The petition, dated May 6, came less than two weeks before a three-month promenade construction period is scheduled to start May 16. It also arrived months after more than 250 university employees accepted a buyout offered as Syracuse said it needed to cut its payroll because expenses were outpacing revenues. The faculty members’ petition lists concerns over what they see as a lack of transparency in the promenade-planning process and the cost of the project.