USG Institutions:
www.statesboroherald.com
Officials: Zika not a local danger
Reported single Bulloch case is travel related
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/75946/
BY Holli Deal Saxon
While a solitary case of travel-related Zika virus infection was reported in Bulloch County Wednesday, local city and health officials say there is no cause for panic. Measures to prevent Zika and other mosquito-borne viruses have been in place for some time, and the mosquitoes that carry the virus have not been detected anywhere in Georgia, officials say. …A notice issued late Wednesday by Georgia Southern University Dean of Students Patrice Jackson stated a person, not identified in the emailed campus alert, tested positive for Zika virus in Bulloch County but that the virus was contracted elsewhere. “It is important to understand that this case is travel associated and there is no evidence that Zika is being transmitted in our area,” the notice stated.
www.ledger-enquirer.com
Columbus State dedicates $25 million dorm
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/education/article97863647.html
BY MARK RICE
If the officials who formed this public-private partnership wonder whether the $25 million investment that produced Columbus State University’s newest dorm was worth the price, freshman Teraycia Lovett can validate their decision. Lovett, 18, graduated this year from Dougherty Comprehensive High School in Albany, Ga., where she was dually enrolled in Albany Technical College. When it came time to select where she would major in biology, she chose CSU over Kennesaw State and Savannah State — and Clearview Hall was a clear reason. “I wanted somewhere new because I don’t like sleeping in things other people slept in,” she said. “These are new beds. … If I would go view dorms at other schools, I think this would be the best one.” Lovett gushed about her campus home Thursday after CSU dedicated Clearview Hall, which has been open for three weeks. During the ceremony, officials also spoke about the new dorm’s positive impact. On move-in day, CSU probably set a record for its Facebook page, reaching 33,975 people and approximately 12,800 clicks, 1,400 likes and 300 comments, said CSU vice president for student affairs Gina Sheeks. “I don’t think we could have paid for a marketing campaign like that,” she said.
www.ajc.com
‘Superman’ returns to Georgia Tech 20 months after brain injury
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/superman-returns-to-georgia-tech-20-months-after-b/nsMFg/
Alexis Stevens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was a nickname his second-grade teacher gave him. But it wasn’t until he was a Georgia Tech student that Clark Jacobs really proved he was Superman. In January 2015, Jacobs fell out of his loft bed in his room at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house. The next morning, Jacobs had a headache, but didn’t remember falling seven feet to the floor. His mother insisted he get checked out at the hospital, where the diagnosis shocked everyone, including the doctor. Jacobs had fractured his skull and had a brain bleed. He would need risky, emergency surgery to save his life. …This week, the mechanical engineering student returned to classes.
www.savannahnow.com
Savannah State student named White House HBCU All-Star
Savannah State University student Alicia Montgomery has been chosen as a White House Historically Black College and Universities All-Star. Montgomery is a sophomore business management major from Atlanta. The oldest of five children, she is also the first in her family to go to college, according to Savannah State. Montgomery never thought she would continue her education after high school. She joined the U.S. Army and became a signal support specialist. After two years, she was injured and given an honorable discharge. “Being in the military gave me structure and motivation. It made me passionate about education, so I’m excited to work on this initiative.” Montgomery is the president of SSU’s National Honor Society, president of Sigma Alpha Pi on campus, and spent the summer as an intern with a military financial services firm in Indiana. A review committee that considers personal leadership, involvement and academic achievement chooses participants. She is the third student from Savannah State to be selected for the White House initiative since the program’s first class joined the HBCU conference in 2014.
www.onlineathens.com
Beefed-up advisor corps will boost graduation rates, reduce student debt, UGA officials say
By LEE SHEARER
University of Georgia officials hope a new approach to advising undergraduates helps students get their degrees more quickly, and reduce student debt. That new approach was on display at a reception in UGA’s Tate Student Center Wednesday as UGA President Jere Morehead, Provost Pamela Whitten and others dedicated a new “Exploratory Center,” an office in the Tate Center that will be headquarters for 13 undergraduate advisors. In the past, advisors were school-specific; engineering majors had advisors within that college, education majors had advisors from ones stationed in that college, and so forth — knowledgeable in the requirements for that academic unit, but not always as well versed in other UGA disciplines. In the new center, advisors work with students who haven’t specified a major, and also with students in two of UGA’s largest groups, students majoring in journalism and business.
www.jbhe.com
A New Degree Program in Supply Chain and Logistics Management at Fort Valley State
Fort Valley State University, a historically Black educational institution in Georgia, has announced that it will be offering this fall a new bachelor of business administration degree with a concentration in supply chain and logistics management. The Georgia Department of Labor estimates that there are currently more than 4,200 job openings in the field at the present time in the state.
www.wtvm.com
New program aims to get kids excited about farming
http://www.wtvm.com/story/32835025/new-program-aims-to-get-kids-excited-about-farming
By Mike Fussell, Reporter
TIFTON, GA (WALB) –
The Georgia Museum of Agriculture is launching a new program to get children excited about farming. ‘Destination Ag’ will give students in eight South Georgia counties the opportunity to learn through hands-on field trips and traveling exhibits. The project will be funded by a $250,000 gift from the Harley Langdale, Junior Foundation. The Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College President David Bridges said that the program will allow the museum, which the college operates, to expand.
www.wfxg.com
ASU foster program still needs help
http://www.wfxg.com/story/32849648/asu-foster-program-still-needs-help
By Zachary Logan, Reporter
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Area foster care students are getting a chance to thrive this school year, but only with the help from the community. Albany State University (ASU) officially rolled out the program this past July. Fostering through College program coordinator Kevius Bass told WALB News 10 that over 8,000 students in the State of Georgia are in foster care. Some of those coming from right here in South Georgia. “We do have a great amount of foster youth and a lot of them are not being serviced properly like they need to as far as their well-being and pushing them to success after foster care,” Bass said. The program is aimed to help foster care students transition into college life and support them as they further their education. ASU sophomore Eshontee Rowe is enrolled in the new program. Rowe, who lost her father at 8 years old, is loving her new support system. …The program is expected to grow and ASU is still asking for the community’s help.
Higher Education News:
www.nytimes.com
How Cuts to Public Universities
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/26/us/college-student-migration.html?_r=2
By NICK STRAYER
Declines in state support for public universities have helped reshape the geography of public college admissions, leading many students to attend universities far from home, where they pay higher, out-of-state tuition. An analysis of migration patterns among college freshmen shows the states students leave each year and where they go. Students have long traveled across state lines to go to selective private colleges. But at public colleges, which have historically served local residents, the number of out-of-state freshmen has nearly doubled since 1986, according to data from the Department of Education. Budget cuts have driven public universities across the country to seek out-of-state students, who pay higher tuition. They have found fertile ground in California and Texas, where declines in state support have increased tuition and limited the number of spots available. …3,439 students came to Georgia for public college; 5,823 residents left Georgia for other states. Georgia sends out more students than it receives. It sends the most college students to Alabama, with 1,909 leaving for school. Florida sends the most students, with 669 entering.
www.savannahnow.com
Georgia state officials seeks input on No Child Left Behind education replacement
By Jenel Few
Georgia Department of Education officials next month will be at Pulaski Elementary School, 1001 Tibet Ave. in Savannah, to gather public feedback on the state’s plan to replace No Child Left Behind. Since the No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002, educators and parents have complained about the plan’s dreaded Needs Improvement List and unforgiving federal requirements for public education progress. In 2015 No Child Left Behind was replaced by the Every Child Succeeds Act, or ESSA, which gives states more control over the plans for academic accountability in their public schools. Under ESSA, Georgia officials will develop plans for academic standards, assessments, accountability, and assistance for struggling schools. To gather public input about Georgia’s plan, state education officials are holding eight meetings throughout the state, including the one in October at Pulaski Elementary.
www.wsj.com
Growing Number of Students Aren’t Ready for College
As colleges push students to consider their options for higher education, more high-school students are taking the ACT exam. But the latest test results show a growing number of students aren’t meeting college readiness benchmarks. WSJ’s Melissa Korn joins Lunch Break with Tanya Rivero to discuss.
www.hechingerreport.org
The new North-South divide: public higher education
Southern universities and colleges are disproportionately losing funding, students
http://hechingerreport.org/new-north-south-divide-public-higher-education/
by TIMOTHY PRATT
ATLANTA — The headlines have been pounding out a drumbeat of angst and activism over such reminders of contentious division as Confederate flags at the universities of Alabama and Mississippi and statues of southern soldiers from the same era at the universities of Texas, Mississippi, and North Carolina. But some campuses in this region are part of another North-South rift that’s gotten less attention: Southern states have been disproportionately cutting spending on public higher education, forcing tuition increases that make their colleges and universities among the least affordable for the poorest families — who already face some of the nation’s highest poverty rates — a slew of recent data show. This contributes to falling enrollment in states already struggling with some of the nation’s lowest percentages of residents with college educations. It’s “a vicious circle,” said Dave Spence, president of the Atlanta-based Southern Regional Education Board, or SREB. “You’ve got a region that’s poor. Why? Because it’s undereducated.” Yet budget cuts keep pushing university and college degrees out of the reach of many.