University System News:
www.macon.com
Huckaby: Setting the record straight
USG has appointed presidents at predominately white institutions as well as black
Spent more per student at HBCUs than at other institutions
Authors of the op/ed clearly uninformed
http://www.macon.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article82269217.html
BY HANK HUCKABY
Special to The Telegraph
On June 5, The Telegraph published an opinion piece regarding the University System of Georgia that contained significant misinformation about the historically black colleges and universities that are part of the USG. Here is my response to set the record straight on the priority and significant support the Board of Regents and I provide to Albany State University, Fort Valley State University and Savannah State University regarding their naming of their presidents, their funding and their capital and building projects. First, the board and I are very proud of these institutions and their roles in serving our students, their local communities, their regions and the state. Additionally, we are very proud of the presidents that lead these institutions and thank them for their outstanding service and steadfast commitment to public higher education in the state of Georgia. My obligation and that of the Board of Regents is to hire the most qualified individual to lead an institution, period. In our university system we take several approaches to do so. We have either formed presidential search committees, as we did to identify and name a president for Georgia Southern University recently. Or we have appointed an interim president, whom we have later named as a permanent president after a period of time in which the candidate has demonstrated proven, trusted leadership and who is clearly serving in the best interest of the institution and its students, faculty, staff and alumni. The latter approach is precisely the path we took in naming presidents for Albany State University, Fort Valley State University and Savannah State University, and we are fortunate to have such leaders in place. The authors of the opinion piece did not question the qualifications of these individuals to lead, only how they were selected. Our purpose, again, is to select the most qualified person as president, and we did so in each of these cases. The authors claim that naming presidents without a search is unique to the HBCUs. That is demonstrably untrue. We also used this same approach in the appointment of the presidents serving at Clayton State University, Dalton State College, East Georgia State College, Georgia Gwinnett College and South Georgia State College. Clearly, the op-ed authors’ contention that the appointment of permanent presidents is evidence of discrimination is factually incorrect and blatantly false.
www.marketwatch.com
This program will get you a glamorous job without a degree — or (much) debt
Georgia Film Academy students can take courses at many of the state’s public colleges
By JILLIAN BERMAN, REPORTER
Like many film students, Melinda Anderson has always dreamed of working in “the industry,” as it’s known to Hollywood denizens. But the similarities pretty much end there. Anderson spent 12 years running her own home organizing business in Georgia before pivoting to a career in television and film. And she’s pursuing her dream job in her home state — not California or New York. “It was just something that I was interested in and it was a little window in my life where it seemed like if I wanted to do something different then this might be the time,” the 54-year-old said in a recent interview. Anderson is now an intern on the Senoia, Ga., set of “The Walking Dead,” the hit AMC zombie-themed series. So far she’s done a lot of observing in the costume department (”I was super green and I’m still pretty green, but learn more every day,” she said.) She got the opportunity thanks to the Georgia Film Academy, a program developed by state officials to train a workforce to keep up with Georgia’s burgeoning film industry.
www.11alive.com
Experts: Lack of reporting, secrecy skew college rape numbers
Valerie Hoff and Adrianne Haney, WXIA
It’s a court case the entire nation is talking about: a Stanford University Freshman sentenced to only six months in prison for sexually assaulting a girl while she was unconscious from drinking. The boy’s father sparked outrage when he asked the judge for probation, saying a 20 minute act shouldn’t ruin his son’s life. Now, a petition to recall the judge who sentenced the student has more than a 250,000 signatures from those who think the sentence was too lenient. It’s brought the issue of college campus sexual assault back in the headlines…The U.S. Department of Education statistics from 2014 indicate Emory University reported 25 incidents of rape that year. Georgia Tech in Downtown Atlanta and the University of Georgia in Athens each reported 10 incidents. Kennesaw State reported nine incidents, while Georgia State University, Morehouse College and Oglethorpe each had less than five. Only Spelman College reported no rapes.
USG Institutions:
www.mdjonline.com
Two more Kennesaw State officials accused after financial audit
Anthony White
KENNESAW — Two Kennesaw State University administrators are accused of financial improprieties by audit reports released Friday, the same day a separate audit report cited KSU president Dan Papp for inappropriately receiving $577,500 in retirement benefits while still working at the university. The audit report, conducted by the University System of Georgia, alleges conflict of interest and ethics violations by Randy Shelton, KSU’s assistant vice president for Auxiliary Services and Programs. According to a University System spokesperson, who declined to comment about whether Shelton is still employed with KSU, the audit report outlining the allegations against Shelton has been turned over to the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.
See also:
www.diverseeducation.com
Newspaper: Audits Found Policy Violations at Kennesaw State
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
GA-PCOM starts physician assistant program
By Keith Farner
The Suwanee campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine this week rolled out a new program for 20 students who plan to graduate in 2018. The first Physician Assistant Studies class of 20 students is underway with a 26-month curriculum. They began orientation and are participating in events such as white coat fittings, an anatomy introduction, a library presentation and campus safety instructions. The program is housed in the Suwanee campus’ Northlake building. The students have academic credentials from institutions across the state, such as the Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, LaGrange College, University of Georgia, University of North Georgia and Valdosta State University.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
Augusta University research seeks better drug for Parkinson’s
Researchers aim for reduced side effects
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
As a longtime member of South Carolina’s boxing commission and a friend to many great athletes and boxers, Paul Kennemore can tell a lot of stories, such as what Joe Frazier told him about Muhammad Ali and their historic battles. “Joe said, ‘He never shut up, all three fights,’” Kennemore said, cracking up his neurologist John Morgan and the staff in a room at the Movement Disorders Clinic at AU Medical Center. Like Ali, Kennemore has Parkinson’s disease, but he is doing pretty well.
“The biggest thing is getting around now when the medicine wears off and you get tied up,” said Kennemore, 68, of Waterloo, S.C. “Overall I’ve been doing good, just blessed.” Despite “millions” in research over the years, doctors still rely on medications to essentially try and replace the dopamine that dying nerves are no longer producing and have yet to find anything that slows the progression of the disease, Morgan said. But in a study published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, Morgan and fellow Augusta University researchers are looking at a metabolite similar to established drugs that might have the protective effects on nerve cells without the significant side effects of the established drugs.
www.wgauradio.com
New research at UGA’s Skidaway Institute
http://www.wgauradio.com/news/news/local/new-research-ugas-skidaway-institute/nrcLT/
By Tim Bryant
How much of a nutrient load is too much for Georgia’s coastal rivers and estuaries? A research team from University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography is helping Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division answer that question. Their primary focus is on the estuary at the mouth of the Ogeechee River, where the researchers are measuring nutrient concentrations and other water properties to determine how they change as they flow through the estuary.
www.news.wabe.org
Restacking The Deck: Gender Discrepancies In Academic STEM Fields
http://news.wabe.org/post/restacking-deck-gender-discrepancies-academic-stem-fields
By AL SUCH
In the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, often referred to as STEM fields, men can outnumber women 5-to-1. Nationally, “women are becoming increasingly prevalent in each new cohort of doctorate recipients, earning a majority of all doctorates awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents each year since 2002,” according to a 2015 report published by the National Science Foundation. But only 24 percent of the total share of STEM jobs in the nation belong to women, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce… Georgia Tech professor Dr. Carol Colatrella works with the Georgia Tech Center for the Study of Women, Science and Technology to recruit and promote women at the institute in STEM fields. The ratio of men to women in STEM majors has improved during the 23 years Colatrella has worked at Georgia Tech.
www.bizjournals.com
Technology venture capital firm heads to Atlanta with former AT&T Chairman, CEO at helm
Phil W. Hudson
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
A Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm focused on the technology industry is opening its first office outside of Silicon Valley in Atlanta. Centerview Capital Technology Management LP is opening an office in the Big Peach that will be led by David Dorman, one of the founding partners of Centerview Capital Technology and the former chairman and CEO of Dallas-based AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T). “Atlanta has a history of innovative technology companies in the areas of telecommunications, security, video and marketing,” Dorman said in a statement. “The region’s experience and track record combined with world- class research and talent cultivated at Georgia Tech, Emory and University of Georgia has resulted in rapid growth in technology entrepreneurship.”
www.bizjournals.com
Google for Entrepreneurs launches in Atlanta, partners with TechSquare Labs
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Google for Entrepreneurs, a global initiative aimed at company building, will partner with Atlanta’s TechSquare Labs. As part of the program, TechSquare Labs’ companies will have access to Google mentors and the Internet company’s products and services. Google executives will also conduct startup events and programming at the 15,000-square-foot tech hub in Midtown… TechSquare Labs, launched by serial entrepreneurs Paul Judge and Allen Nance, is a 15,000-square-foot tech business incubator and corporate innovation center near Georgia Tech. Google for Entrepreneurs teams up with tech hubs and incubators to foster entrepreneurship. As part of the program, TechSquare Labs’ companies will have access to Google mentors and the Internet company’s products and services. Google executives will conduct startup events and programming at TechSquare Labs.
www.chronicle.com
After the Gold Rush
MOOCs, money, and the education of Richard McKenzie
http://chronicle.com/article/MOOCs-Moneythe-Untold/236708
By Steve Kolowich
On February 21, 2013, Richard McKenzie stood in a California yacht club and prepared to address a modest audience. He was there to talk to members of a local Rotary Club about massive open online courses, or MOOCs, a technological wonder that would soon shake the windows and rattle the walls of college campuses the world over. A few dozen people had shown up. Mr. McKenzie, an emeritus professor of economics at the University of California at Irvine’s business school, was there to warn them: Don’t buy the hype… Earlier that week, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology had been forced to suspend her Coursera course because of technical difficulties. That professor had been shamed in the media, said Ms. Loble, along with Georgia Tech and Coursera.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Senate Bill Backs Year-Round Pell
Bill approved by Senate appropriations subcommittee would reinstate full-year grants for low-income students and provide $2 billion more in funding for the National Institutes of Health.
By Ashley A. Smith
A bipartisan effort to help low-income students and reinvest in biomedical research took a major step Tuesday as the U.S. Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations subcommittee approved a funding bill that would restore year-round Pell Grant eligibility and significantly increase funds for the National Institutes of Health.
The $161.9 billion bill was the Senate’s first bipartisan bill to fund labor, health and education programs in seven years. It will be considered by the full Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday, although it is a long way from becoming law.
www.chronicle.com
Outrage Over a Stanford Rape Case Might Change How Some Colleges Respond to Sexual Violence
http://chronicle.com/article/Outrage-Over-a-Stanford-Rape/236735
By Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz
After a former Stanford University swimmer received a six-month prison sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside of a fraternity party on campus, many people were outraged and others wondered what lessons could be learned from such a high-profile rape case. The case stood out for several reasons: Two graduate students witnessed the perpetrator, Brock Allen Turner, on top of the woman and chased him down after he tried to flee. The incident involved a criminal proceeding that ended with Mr. Turner, who is 20, being convicted of three felony charges of sexual assault. And his victim, who was not a Stanford student, released a statement about her experience that went viral after BuzzFeed published it online.
www.insidehighered.com
Where Libraries Go From Here
New book explores how academic libraries can shape their services to better serve higher education — and what librarians should do to make it happen.
By Carl Straumsheim
The debate about which functions academic libraries should perform in the 21st century has been and continues to be a fiery one. At some colleges, library directors have left or lost their jobs following disagreements over what to prioritize. Other institutions have embraced a (nearly) book-free future, freeing up stacks for study space. While librarians ponder the future of their institutions, faculty members are increasingly expecting more from their libraries. In addition to buying new scholarly journals and storing old books, libraries should also serve as gateways to research, support centers for undergraduates and more, faculty members say.