University System News:
www.publicnow.com
Georgia College Receives Top Awards For Giving
GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE UNIVERSITY
http://www.publicnow.com/view/A449E541D6E2E76032B4CAE096C8FEC8BE293FD1
Georgia College was recognized on the statewide level for the dedication and giving spirit of our employees.The university received two awards at the State Charitable Contributions Program (SCCP) Awards ceremony Thursday, June 9.
For employee contributions to the SCCP last fall, GC was honored with two Governor’s Awards, one for the ‘Highest Level of Employee Participation’ and another for ‘Largest Increase in Employee Contributions in Total.’ Each governor’s award had a state agency winner and a University System of Georgia (USG) winner. Georgia College had the hghest level of employee participation and the largest increase in employee giving out of the entire USG. …The State Charitable Contributions Program (SCCP) is a benefit for state of Georgia and University System employees to contribute to the charity of their choice through payroll deduction or a one-time donation.
USG Institutions:
www.myajc.com
KSU administrator cited in audit resigns; other leaders fired
By Janel Davis – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Kennesaw State University administrator implicated in a recent audit detailing conflict of interest and ethics policy violations has resigned, and four high-ranking officials have been fired. Randall Shelton, former assistant vice president for Auxiliary Services and Programs, the division responsible numerous campus services including dining and food services, resigned after he was placed on administrative leave. His resignation came two days before school officials were set to take further “employment actions, up to and including termination” against him, they informed him. The other four were fired by the incoming interim president, Houston Davis. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution requested information about administrative changes made at the university after Davis announced three new interim leaders earlier this week. Davis replaces outgoing president Dan Papp, who retires from KSU on June 30.
www.fox5atlanta.com
Top KSU staff fired after FOX 5 I-Team probe
http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/i-team/156571524-story
By: Randy Travis
KENNESAW, Ga. – Five high level administrators at Kennesaw State University lost their jobs in the wake of a Fox 5 I-Team investigation into the program that provides the food for 33-thousand students. Gone are General Counsel Dr. Flora Devine, Vice President for Operations Dr. Randy Hinds, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Rod Bossert, Associate Vice President for Operations Maria Britt and Assistant Vice President of Auxiliary Services Randy Shelton.
www.lazer1033.com
College dorms a new front in U.S. battle over transgender rights
http://lazer1033.com/news/030030-college-dorms-a-new-front-in-u-s-battle-over-transgender-rights/
By Scott Malone
As lawmakers across the United States battle over whether to allow transgender Americans to use public restrooms that match their gender identities, universities are scrambling to ensure that dorms meet federal standards. At a time of year when the nation’s 2,100 residential colleges and universities are sorting out student housing assignments, they also are poring over a May letter from the Obama administration that thrusts them into the national debate on transgender rights. Known as the “dear colleague” letter, it makes clear that federal law protects transgender students’ right to live in housing that reflects their gender identity … Few students are choosing gender-inclusive housing. At Georgia Tech’s Atlanta campus, 42 out of some 4,100 students housed in dorms sought it last year. When Johns Hopkins University first offered it in the 2014-2015 academic year, 30 out of some 2,500 students enrolled, a number that doubled to 60 the following year.
www.designnews.com
Powering Smart Cities With Wind and Solar Energy
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?doc_id=280719
Elizabeth Montalbano, Contributing Writer, Design
As researchers work on advancements in technologies that harvest solar and wind energy, others are working on technology that can do both. Some of the latest work comes through a collaboration between researchers in the US and China that has produced a device that can harvest energy from both sources simultaneously, technology they said could power the Internet of Things (IoT)-driven smart cities of the future. Researchers from the Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed the hybrid harvester based on triboelectrics, the same effect behind static electricity. The triboelectric effect happens between two materials that repeatedly touch each other and then separate, exchanging electrons and building up a charge.
www.wsfa.com
APD, GA Tech police catch suspected car thieves
http://www.wsfa.com/story/32186853/apd-ga-tech-police-catch-suspected-car-thieves
By Julian Johnson
Atlanta police officers chased two suspected car thieves Thursday, and both were captured. The call originated in the 600 block of 11th Street. Officers responding to an auto theft in progress were provided information and located two suspects. After a foot chase, one suspect was located inside Chick-fil-A on Northside Drive. The second suspect was also captured, but police did not say where. One officer has a laceration to his hand. Georgia Tech police assisted in the chase. The incident occurred in the same neighborhood where earlier this week, Olympian Joe Jacobi’s car was broken into and had his Olympic medal stolen. When asked if it could be the same suspects, police said, “It’s too soon to say at this time, but officers and investigators will look into that possibility.”
Higher Education News:
www.washingtonpost.com
Common Core isn’t preparing students very well for college or career, new report says
By Valerie Strauss
A new report that surveys curriculum nationally and reaches thousands of K-12 and college instructors as well as workplace supervisors and employees has some bad news about the Common Core State Standards: Many people in education and the workplace don’t think some of the English Language Arts and math standards — which are being used in most states — are what students and workers need to be successful in college and career.
www.insidehighered.com
Measuring Inclusivity
When colleges say they prioritize inclusive environments, what do they mean? A new survey hopes to cut through the noise.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/09/survey-aims-measure-inclusivity-campus
By Ellen Wexler
Across the country, many colleges are making the same promises: we will do more to support our minority students. We care deeply about diversity. We are committed to an inclusive campus. But what, exactly, does that commitment look like? “One of the issues with diversity efforts and conversations is they lack focus. They’re all over the place,” Samuel Museus said. “You ask 50 people what that means, and they’ll tell you 50 different things.” Museus is the director of Indiana University at Bloomington’s Culturally Engaging Campus Environment Project, an initiative created to help colleges attain that focus. Last month, the project released a survey that colleges can use to encourage inclusive campus environments. Colleges that register will administer the survey to students during the 2016-17 academic year, and Museus hopes the results will help those colleges make meaningful changes. But first, to design the survey, Museus needed to answer a question: What factors help diverse populations thrive in college?
www.divereeducation.com
Proposed University of California System Tuition Hike Ignites Firestorm
by Michael Levitin
Passions are flaring in California, from the legislature to the university campus, after the State Assembly voted last week to significantly raise tuition costs for non-California residents attending UC schools, and to cap the number of out-of-state students at 10 percent in an effort to open greater education access to low-income California students. Co-written with Republicans and introduced by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, AB 1711 passed 78-2 and now heads to the State Senate, where it has strong Democratic support and will likely be approved by the end of the month. “This is really a broad-based, bipartisan plan to expand access to the UC [schools] for California students,” said McCarty, who heads the budget subcommittee on education finance. In order to meet budget shortfalls, “we’ve quadrupled the number of nonresidents and international students attending UC in the last decade, and they’re still increasing those slots. We’ve had enough. Let’s draw the line and come up with a plan that focuses on Californians.”
www.chronicle.com
Dispute Between Chancellor and System President Clouds UC-Davis in Controversy
By Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz
When Linda P.B. Katehi, chancellor of the University of California at Davis, was placed on administrative leave six weeks ago, many officials hoped her departure would lift a cloud of scandal from the campus and the UC system. Instead, that cloud has only grown darker. As UC-Davis faced repeated controversies this past spring, Ms. Katehi took center stage, with a supporting cast of local news outlets, public-relations consultants, and governing boards. Now all eyes are on two leaders: Ms. Katehi and the University of California system’s president, Janet Napolitano. Ms. Katehi’s lawyer, Melinda Guzman, held a news conference last week demanding that the system suspend its investigation of Ms. Katehi. But Ms. Napolitano is holding her ground.
www.chronicle.com
Tennessee Governor Signs Plan to Create New University Boards
by Gabriel Sandoval
Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee has signed a plan to establish independent boards to oversee six public universities that were previously governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents, The Tennessean reported on Wednesday. The governor’s plan will give individual boards the responsibilities once held by the Board of Regents, such as hiring and firing presidents, approving budgets, and making decisions related to tuition, according to the newspaper. “We’re here today to launch this movement to let great universities like Tennessee Tech have their own leadership and initiative focused on achieving the full potential of that university,” said Mr. Haslam, a Republican.
www.chronicle.com
S.C. Governor Signs Bill to Publicize Fraternity and Sorority Misconduct
by Arielle Martinez
Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina has signed into law a measure that requires the state’s public colleges and universities to publish reports of conduct violations involving alcohol, drugs, sexual assault, and hazing at fraternities and sororities, WYFF reported. The law, known as the Tucker Hipps Transparency Act, will take effect at the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year. Ms. Haley, a Republican, signed it on Thursday. The measure is named for a Clemson University student who was found dead in September 2014 after he had gone on an early-morning run with fellow fraternity pledges. He died of blunt-force trauma, according to a coroner, and a toxicology report did not find alcohol or drugs in his system.
www.insidehighered.com
Occidental College Resolves Title IX Investigation
Occidental College has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education to resolve an ongoing sexual violence and sexual harassment complaint investigation, the department announced Thursday.
Prior to the end of the investigation, the college agreed to develop mandatory training for staff and faculty and to review three years of case files to ensure that the college is “providing a prompt and equitable process.” The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights found “insufficient evidence that the college violated Title IX’s requirement to provide an equitable grievance process over the four-year period (2010-2014) OCR examined,” but OCR did find that some sexual assault complaints were resolved in an untimely fashion.
www.insidehighered.com
U.S. Hearing Explores Impact of Overtime Rule on Colleges
A U.S. House of Representatives panel held a highly partisan hearing Thursday about the impact that the Obama administration’s proposed new rules governing overtime pay would have on colleges and other nonprofit organizations. A senior administrator at the University of Kansas was the main higher education witness, arguing that the changes would have a significantly negative financial impact on the institution and other colleges and universities, to the tune of roughly $3 million a year at Kansas. Another witness, Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, played down the proportion of higher education employees who would be affected