USG Institutions:
www.insidehighered.com
An ‘Epidemic’ of Academic Fraud
NCAA finds two staff members at Georgia Southern committed academic fraud, completing assignments for three football players. The university joins more than a dozen others that have also committed fraud in the last decade.
By Jake New
The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced Thursday that it had placed Georgia Southern University on two years’ probation after finding that two former staff members committed academic fraud for three football players. In a statement Thursday, the university noted that the violations were self-reported and that Georgia Southern self-imposed most of the resulting penalties. “Institutional checks and balances promptly detected the actions of these rogue former employees, despite their efforts to hide what they knew to be policy violations,” the university stated. While it’s common for institutions to place the blame on a few “rogue former employees,” the case at Georgia Southern is only the most recent example of what critics and other observers of big-time college sports call an epidemic of academic fraud. In the last two years, more than a half dozen NCAA institutions have committed academic misconduct, and the association says it is investigating another 20 for similar violations.
www.wjcl.com
Georgia Southern University responds to NCAA Committee On Infractions Report
STATESBORO, Ga. — After working with NCAA staff for a number of months, we are relieved that the NCAA infractions process has concluded. We accept the self-reported findings and we thank the NCAA for acknowledging our prompt and decisive institutional efforts to address this issue. The University is continuing to review the penalties imposed by the NCAA, although the majority of these were self-imposed by the University. The University’s actions demonstrate that we have a culture of compliance in line with NCAA standards. Institutional checks and balances promptly detected the actions of these rogue former employees, despite their efforts to hide what they knew to be policy violations. In essence, we very quickly identified the problem, reported the violations, and took appropriate personnel action. The penalties imposed do not affect the eligibility of any current or prospective player, nor do they affect team eligibility for post-season play in any of our 17 sports. We continue to be committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. We look forward to providing our student-athletes with many future seasons of successful intercollegiate play. The University will have no further comment on this matter until a formal response has been made to the NCAA.
www.wjcl.com
GSU fans and students react to NCAA sanctions
http://www.wjcl.com/article/gsu-fans-and-students-react-to-ncaa-sanctions/970651
STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Southern University fans and students say while they’re disappointed to hear the university is being punished by the NCAA for academic violations, the team will move on. The school self-reported the violations, which took place in 2013 and 2014, to the NCAA and NCAA officials revealed the penalties on Thursday. …”We’re all about working hard and earning everything that we get so it’s very disappointing, very unfortunate,” said Jeremy Mack, a senior at GSU. “It’s sad because you would expect better out of our school but if you’re going to do something bad and get caught for it you can expect some kind of repercussion out of it,” said Brian Evans, an incoming freshman at GSU. However, some of what was revealed on Thursday showed some fans that GSU’s integrity is not in question. “When you think about it overall, it was self-reported, it was something that they recognized and acknowledged and I think that’s a big deal for us is to be able to recognize that and do that,” said Steve Miller, a fan and booster of GSU. Now, the fans and students all think the team will move on from this.
www.ajc.com
Georgia Southern football penalized by NCAA
http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/college/georgia-southern-football-penalized-by-ncaa/nrtKF/
Doug Roberson, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Southern’s football team received several penalties on Thursday after the NCAA announced that an investigation found two former members of the athletic staff provided impermissible academic assistance to three players. The penalties include:
Public reprimand and censure;
Two years of probation for the university, starting today (July 7);
Three years show-cause order for the former assistant compliance director and former assistant director of student athlete-services, starting today (July 7);
A vacation of records in which the three players participated while ineligible;
A reduction of two scholarships in 2016-17;
A reduction in the number of official visits by 10 percent during 2016-17 from its four-year average;
A reduction in the number of football evaluations this year by 10 percent from its four-year average;
A $5,000 fine plus 1 percent of the football team’s operating budget, which was self-imposed by the university;
See also:
www.savannahnow.com
Georgia Southern football hit with 2 years probation by NCAA
http://savannahnow.com/news-sports/2016-07-07/georgia-southern-football-hit-2-years-probation-ncaa
www.statesboroherald.com
Georgia Southern football faces NCAA penalties
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/75132/
www.wtoc.com
Georgia Southern University cited for violations by NCAA
http://www.wtoc.com/story/32393522/georgia-southern-university-cited-for-violations-by-ncaa
www.ncaa.com
Former Georgia Southern staff members provided impermissible academic assistance
www.forbes.com
Top 25 Public Schools 2016
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larafishbane/2016/07/07/top-25-public-schools-2016/#2b071b4a5bed
Lara Fishbane
Offering powerhouse academics and deep-rooted traditions at no cost, the U.S. Service Academies have always been a leader of FORBES Top Colleges list, but this year they dominate the Top Public Schools list with the United States Military Academy coming in at No. 1 on, followed by the United States Naval Academy (No. 2) and the United States Air Force Academy (No. 3)… 13. University of Florida 14. University of Maryland, College Park 15. Georgia Institute of Technology
www.forbes.com
Top 21 STEM Colleges Of 2016
http://www.forbes.com/sites/cartercoudriet/2016/07/07/top-stem-colleges-of-2016/#6dc8651b660c
Carter Coidriet. Contributor
As careers in technology continue to rise in number and pay – four of the majors with the highest hiring rate for recent grads are in STEM – colleges that specialize in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are becoming better investments of tuition dollars. The 2016 Top 21 STEM Colleges average 50 spots better on the Forbes Best Value list than they do on the Forbes’ 2016 Top Colleges rankings… The list of STEM schools, whose most popular areas of study included at least 40% in STEM according to the Department of Education’s College Scorecard, is topped by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA… Four non-military public schools also make the list, including No. 11 Georgia Institute of Technology,
www.ajc.com
These 55 successful people graduated from colleges in Georgia
http://www.ajc.com/news/business/these-55-successful-people-graduated-colleges-geor/nrtN5/
Leigh DeLozier, For the AJC
No matter how you define “success,” you’re sure to find lots of examples in graduates of Georgia’s colleges and universities. They cover nearly every job field available, from entertainment and education to politics, sports, and the corporate world. To prove the point, here’s a sampling of 55 successful professionals who have a degree from some of the top colleges in and around Atlanta. There are many more grads we could include, but this helps show exactly how wide the range of achievements are. Georgia Institute of Technology 9; Georgia State University 5; University of Georgia 7.
www.news.wabe.org
Atlanta City Council Pledges $675K To 3 Relocating Companies
http://news.wabe.org/post/atlanta-city-council-pledges-675k-3-relocating-companies
By KATE SWEENEY
Atlanta’s City Council has approved up to $675,000 in investment grants for three companies relocating their headquarters to the city. Technology firms Keysight Technologies, Global Payments and GE Digital are up for so-called “economic opportunity fund” grants… “We’re seeing a lot of interest of information, financial technology companies, health information technology, payment processing,” Klementich says, “because they want to leverage off of employees, ideas, and this inner collaboration.” She also says Georgia Tech is graduating students trained to work at these companies. It’s not yet a done deal. Invest Atlanta must approve the grants at their meetings in July and August. Klementich says the outlook for passage is favorable.
www.onlineathens.com
AT&T proposing cellphone monopole in Normaltown on UGA Health Sciences Campus
By JIM THOMPSON
Representatives of AT&T have scheduled a public meeting Monday to talk about the possible installation of a cellular communications monopole on the University of Georgia’s Health Sciences Campus at Prince and Oglethorpe avenues in Normaltown.
…It is being billed in an announcement from AT&T as “a forum where interested parties can ask questions.” Daniel Hayes, AT&T’s director of public affairs, said the company is constantly assessing service needs, and is dealing with an explosion in demand for cellular service. …Alison Bracewell McCullick, UGA’s community relations coordinator, said there has been feedback from students, faculty and staff regarding problematic cellular service on the Health Sciences Campus. Also according to McCullick, AT&T has previously expressed interest in locating cellular equipment on the Health Sciences Campus. According to the announcement of Monday’s meeting, AT&T “has received requests for improved cellular service in buildings in and around the Health Sciences Campus and the Normaltown area.”
www.jbhe.com
Olufunke A. Fontenot to Serve as Provost at Albany State University
https://www.jbhe.com/2016/07/olufunke-a-fontenot-to-serve-as-provost-at-albany-state-university/
Olufunke A. Fontenot was named interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at Albany State University in Georgia. She has been serving as a professor of criminal justice and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Sending Students a Letter About Their Debt Might Not Be Enough to Change Their Borrowing
http://chronicle.com/article/Sending-Students-a-Letter/237028
By Beckie Supiano
The Indiana University system saw a much-heralded drop in borrowing after sending students a letter about their debt. The system was doing other things to educate borrowers, but the letter is what caught the attention of policy makers and others. A paper based on evidence from an experiment at the University of Missouri at Columbia, however, suggests that a letter alone may not be enough to change borrowing patterns. The Chronicle spoke with the researcher behind that experiment, Rajeev Darolia, an assistant professor of public affairs and education at Missouri and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The following conversation has been edited and condensed.
www.theatlantantic.com
Why Do So Many Graduate Students Quit?
Universities themselves may be contributing to burnout.
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/07/why-do-so-many-graduate-students-quit/490094/
TE-ERIKA PATTERSON
With half of all doctoral students leaving graduate school without finishing, something significant and overwhelming must be happening for at least some of them during the process of obtaining that degree. Mental illness is often offered as the standard rationale to explain why some graduate students burn out. Some research has suggested a link between intelligence and conditions such as bipolar disorder, leading some observers to believe many graduate students struggle with mental-health problems that predispose them to burning out. But such research is debatable, and surely not every student who drops out has a history of mental illness. So, what compels students to abandon their path to a Ph.D.? Could there be other underlying factors, perhaps environmental, that can cause an otherwise-mentally-healthy graduate student to become anxious, depressed, suicidal, or, in rare cases, violent?
www.chronicle.com
Why Don’t Young Scientists Get More Grants? Often They Don’t Apply
http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Dont-Young-Scientists-Get/237053
By Paul Basken
After years of puzzling over how its grant-review process might be shortchanging younger scientists, the National Institutes of Health appears to have figured out a more fundamental truth: There just aren’t enough of them applying. A report published on Thursday by several federal-grant experts breaks down NIH award rates by age groups, finding that older scientists aren’t necessarily any more successful than are their younger counterparts. The report, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, instead concludes that older scientists absorb a disproportionate share of NIH money largely because there are more of them, and they are more likely to seek money. If that’s a problem, write the authors, from the NIH and the National Science Foundation, it’s not easily solved.