University System News:
www.myajc.com
Georgia’s record budget still lags population growth, inflation
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/georgias-record-budget-still-lags-population-growt/nrp3Q/
By James Salzer and Isaac Sabetai – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A record state budget of $23.7 billion goes into effect Friday, bringing pay raises for thousands of teachers and an expansive road and bridge construction program. On the surface, it is seen as yet another sign that a state that once struggled to keep schools open 180 days a year has left the Great Recession in its rear-view mirror. But an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of state budgets shows, when inflation and population growth are considered, many areas of government spending remain below where they where in 2008 when the recession hit. On a per-capita, inflation-adjusted basis, state spending on universities and technical colleges is down more than 20 percent, on criminal justice and public safety more than 10 percent, and on natural resources by more than one-third. Even spending on k-12 schools — the target of much of the state’s increased revenue in recent years — is below where it was in 2008 when population growth and inflation are taken into account. Meanwhile, spending on public health programs such as Medicaid, student scholarships such as HOPE and, thanks to new taxes, transportation has ballooned. …Direct state funding to the University System of Georgia and technical colleges has dipped. But the agency that gives out scholarships to students attending those schools — such as the HOPE scholarship — has seen its budget increase more than 50 percent. And unlike most other agencies, the University System has been able to make up for cuts in per-pupil spending from the state by raising tuition. So while the state has chipped in less for years, students and scholarship programs paid more.

www.effinghamherald.net
Small HOPE changes and the bond sale
http://www.effinghamherald.net/section/2/article/34961/
By Sen. Jack Hill
While there is not usually a large volume of legislation addressing higher education, any changes to the HOPE Scholarship draws a lot of attention. The 2016 General Assembly saw two bills affecting the HOPE Scholarship and only a couple of others. There is always a lot of interest in the Regents and Technical College System of Georgia bond package as the governor puts in some projects from the Regents and TCSG priority lists and the Legislature adds an agreed-upon $50 million each in bonds that will include some projects from both lists. What has become evident is that large capital projects will not be funded by the Legislature, which is restricted by the $50 million cap. So consequently, small cap projects, those less than $5 million, have become the currency of the day and we are now even seeing two-phase small cap projects….Who’d a thought it.
Higher education legislation
• HB 801—Beginning with the 2017-18 school year, the cumulative grade point average to maintain the HOPE Scholarship will include weighted grades for certain science, technology, engineering and math college courses. Those will be chosen by the Board of Regents in consultation with the Technical College System.
Higher education funding in the FY 2017 budget
• $43.5 million—To the Board of Regents (BOR) for enrollment and facility needs.
• $10.5 million—For InvestGeorgia and the Advanced Technology Center at Georgia Tech to continue incubating new high technology firms and help keep them in Georgia when they enter the marketplace.
• $29.4 million—Funds “Move On When Ready” for both colleges and technical schools to increase the number of dual enrolled high school students and those earning skill certificates and diplomas for the workplace.
Higher education bolds sold June 8
The June 8 bond sale listed $287 million is for University System projects including $10.3m for Columbus State, $19.8 million for Albany State, $27.6 million for Georgia Southern, $18.9 million for West Georgia, $29.3 million for University of North Georgia and $17.7 million for Highlands College.

www.politics.blog.ajc.com
John Lewis wants to extend gun revolt to Georgia
John Lewis wants to extend gun revolt to Georgia
Greg Bluestein
For a reminder of the potency of gun control as an election-year issue, look no further than the town hall meeting Wednesday held at Ebenezer Baptist Church. At center stage was Rep. John Lewis, who orchestrated last week’s headline-grabbing sit-in at the U.S. House, and other Democrats pushing for a vote on new gun restrictions as nothing short of a new phase in the civil rights struggle. He and his allies made clear that it’s a two-pronged fight in Washington and Atlanta, where they hope to defeat a new version of a high-profile gun rights expansion that was vetoed this year. “You’re on the right side,” Lewis told a crowd of hundreds of supporters at a cramped room outside the church, the spiritual home of Martin Luther King Jr. “We’re not going to take it anymore. We’re going to speak up, speak out and pull and push,” he added. “All across America today there are hundreds of members of Congress doing what we’re doing here. It’s a movement and we’re not going to quit.” Second Amendment activists are readying for a fight. Republican lawmakers, who hold overwhelming advantages in the Georgia Legislature, are looking to bounce back after Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a “campus carry” measure that would allow people to carry concealed weapons onto pubic college campuses. Jerry Henry of GeorgiaCarry.org, one of the more aggressive gun rights groups in the state, said the civil rights icon was at the center of a “hypocritical” crusade to deprive citizens of their constitutional right to bear arms. Next year, he said, expect a push to expand the places where permitholders can carry their guns to a range of new places.

USG Institutions:
www.statesboroherald.com
Hebert takes GSU helm Friday
Pay a little less than Obama’s but not high for a university CEO
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/75010/preview/
Al Hackle
Dr. Jamie Hebert’s schedule for Friday, his first day as president of Georgia Southern University, includes meeting with this presidential cabinet, touring campus with a student Southern Ambassador, having lunch in the Dining Commons, and an interview with the Statesboro Herald.

www.jbhe.com
Two African American Scholars Have Announced Their Retirements

Two African American Scholars Have Announced Their Retirements

…Joshua Murfree Jr. has resigned as director of intercollegiate athletics at Fort Valley State University in Georgia. He has served in this position since 2013. Previously, he was the superintendent of the Dougherty County School System in Albany, Georgia, and earlier was director of athletics for Albany State University.

www.savannahceo.com
SSU Adds $20.5 Million Project to Boost Marine Science, Engineering Studies
http://savannahceo.com/features/2016/06/ssu-adds-205-million-project-boost-marine-science-engineering-studies/
Kim Wade
Savannah State University, the oldest public historically black college or university in Georgia and the oldest institution of higher learning in Savannah, Ga., will soon have even more students flocking to the campus for marine sciences, engineering technology and chemistry with the addition of two new, state of the art buildings. The $20.5 million project received the green light by the Georgia state legislature during the 2015 session, and University System of Georgia officials, legislators, local representatives as well as SSU faculty, staff and students gathered on June 24 for the groundbreaking ceremonies. According to Jonathan Lambright, Professor and Dean of The College of Sciences and Technology, the two new buildings will provide much needed space for growing programs.

www.thebrunswicknews.com
Culinary students whip up dishes for good cause
http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/culinary-students-whip-up-dishes-for-good-cause/article_309e8361-e629-5c96-9894-a41a8d9c1b1f.html?_dc=42426404909.37366
By LINDSEY ADKISON The Brunswick News
Fragrant smells danced throughout the campus center at College of Coastal Georgia Wednesday. But the tempting aromas weren’t trailing from the kitchen, instead they flowed from various tables set up throughout the lobby and manned by students.
Each station served up scrumptious dishes, designed and crafted by the culinary pupils themselves. But it wasn’t part of their cooking-related curriculum. Instead, it was a task assigned in chemistry class and the brainchild of professor Andrea Wallace. “This is Chemistry 1100, which is made up of a cohort of culinary arts students. …”We went to the food pantry at America’s Second Harvest and they were told to pick out some of the leftover items and make recipes with them.” The chemistry element came into play, Wallace adds, as they broke down the nutritional make-up and analysis of each dish. “They made the bio-molecular connection that way,” she said.  But it was also much more than a biology lesson. By visiting the food bank and donating their time there as well, the students were able to truly understand the struggle that the organization and those they serve face.

www.onlineathens.com
Cedar Shoals student in UGA ‘Young Scholars’ program envisions small drones as pollinators
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2016-06-29/cedar-shoals-student-uga-young-scholars-program-envisions-small-drones-pollinators
By LEE SHEARER
Across the world, pollinators are in decline — not just the honeybees that beekeepers haul around the country to pollinate huge agricultural operations such as California’s almond groves, but wild pollinators like the bumblebees that gather pollen from the tomato plants in your garden. It’s an increasingly serious problem for agriculture as butterflies, bees, wasps and hundreds of other pollinating insects fall prey to habitat loss, increasing pesticide use and the other familiar by-products of human population growth. It’s a growing problem for farmers and gardeners alike — no pollination, no crop. …It’s no easy task, and Eduardo Ricome doesn’t expect to actually build a working prototype this summer during his six-week stint in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ annual “Young Scholars” summer camp. Aimed primarily at minority and other under-represented groups, the Young Scholars program brings dozens of high school students to UGA campuses in Athens, Griffin and Tifton, where they work with UGA research scientists in agriculture engineering and related science fields. One purpose of the program is to draw more students into so-called STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math. Young Scholars began as a mentoring program on UGA’s Griffin campus nearly 30 years ago, then later expanded to the Athens and Tifton campuses. Some of the Young Scholars live temporarily in a UGA residence hall during the camp. Others, like Ricome, live nearby and can commute.

www.valdostadailytimes.com
Sheppard to be sentenced in August
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/sheppard-to-be-sentenced-in-august/article_2ede0860-3e23-11e6-8db7-6b8777e972d1.html
By Terry Richards
VALDOSTA — A former Valdosta State University student who received national attention for walking on the American flag will be sentenced in August on an unrelated firearm charge, according to the district attorney. Eric Sheppard pleaded guilty May 31 to one count of carrying a weapon in a school safety zone, said Southern District Attorney David Miller. Sentencing will take place Aug. 29, he said. The case stems from an incident where a gun was found in a book bag on the VSU campus last spring.

www.onlineathens.com
UGA employee arrested for campus thefts
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2016-06-29/uga-employee-arrested-campus-thefts
By JOE JOHNSON
A University of Georgia employee was recently arrested for allegedly stealing laptop computers and other items left unattended by students and employees at three different campus locations. According to UGA police, 21-year-old Sean Christian Burroughs committed the thefts between June 6 and 21 at the Dance Building on Sanford Drive, the Hugh Hodgson School of Music on River Road and the Davison Life Sciences Complex on East Green Street. The stolen items included two laptops, an iPhone and a wallet containing cash, according to police.

Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Police Confront the Price Tag of Prepping for Guns on Campus
http://chronicle.com/article/Police-Confront-the-Price-Tag/236959?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=8ee9dd690a4a48ec985c413a0bf70496&elq=3737fe38e7364ce78a1bfb8dbdbcb589&elqaid=9691&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=3456
By Emma Pettit
Campus police officers train for the everyday and the extreme, and the encroachment of guns on campus is starting to permeate both ends of that spectrum. Consider the ever-present, if remote, threat of an active shooter: Some institutions are turning to costly surveillance technology to detect and deter that unlikely event. But guns on campus is no longer an improbable hypothetical. Several states, including Utah and Colorado, have passed “campus carry” laws, which allow people with concealed-handgun licenses to bring their firearms into public-college buildings. On August 1, Texas will follow suit when Senate Bill 11 takes effect. Leaving aside the rationale for allowing guns on campus, the idea that classmates may be packing heat in lecture halls or dormitory rooms will become routine in some students’ lives. And that reality is forcing campus-safety departments to rethink their policing by hiring more officers, altering facilities, and educating the public.

www.jbhe.com
Report Offers Guidance on Increasing Low-Income Students at Top-Ranked Colleges

Report Offers Guidance on Increasing Low-Income Students at Top-Ranked Colleges

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has released a new report on the barriers faced by low-income students in attending top-ranked colleges and universities. The report also presents recommendations on what should be done to offer greater opportunities for students from low-income families to enroll at these schools. The report notes that “instead of being the Land of Opportunity, America is the land of an income-based educational caste system, too often turning poverty into an inherited condition. A cash ceiling prevents many outstanding low-income students from entering college – especially the nation’s top colleges and universities.”

www.insidehighered.com
‘Drunkorexia’
More than 80 percent of college students in a new study said they have skipped a meal, induced vomiting or used a laxative in order to consume more alcohol.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/30/study-8-10-students-said-they-engaged-behaviors-related-drunkorexia?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=c3d228de60-DNU20160630&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-c3d228de60-197515277
By Jake New
“Drunkorexia” is a colloquial term for the practice of skipping meals or exercising heavily before consuming alcohol. The trend isn’t new for college students, with the word “drunkorexia” appearing in news headlines — and alarming parents — for a few years now. But a new study, presented this week at the Research Society on Alcoholism’s annual meeting, suggests the behavior may be more common than previously thought, and is an issue for male and female students. Eight out of 10 college students who participated in the study said they had recently engaged in at least one behavior related to drunkorexia.