University System News:
www.theatlantavoice.com
Georgia Is – The Hollywood of the South
http://theatlantavoice.com/news/2016/aug/27/georgia-hollywood-south/
By Stan Washington
In less than a decade, Georgia and Atlanta has solidified its position and has rightly earned the title as the “Hollywood of the South.” Television and film production had an impact of more than $7 billion in the fiscal year of 2016, according Gov. Nathan Deal in a statement released recently. The 245 productions filmed here resulted in $2 billion in direct spending in the state. “Georgia’s film industry provides a significant impact on our state’s economy, employing thousands of Georgians while developing infrastructure and boosting small businesses,” said Deal “The film industry has created a home in Georgia, and I am committed to retaining this relationship by constructing a strong, film-ready workforce that will continue to help the industry thrive.” When the Georgia legislature boosted the tax credit for major TV and film productions up to 30 percent in 2008 skeptics nor even supporters of the measure could fathom that Georgia in 2016 would rank number 3 in the world in combine TV and film production. Since that time it has resulted in over 79,000 jobs in Georgia. …To address the lack of homegrown skilled professionals, Last year Dean created Georgia Film Academy, a collaborative effort between the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia to fast track students into the film and television workforce. The main campus is located across the street from the Pinewood Studios. Since its opening, the program has been adopted at eight Georgia campuses. By the end of the year, 610 students are projected to have completed Course One, and 274 students will complete on-set production internships and receive certification. There is a waiting list to take its classes.
www.ajc.com
Mix of Georgia schools among Washington Monthly’s best colleges
Janel Davis, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Several Georgia public and private colleges earned high marks in the latest round of college rankings for their work getting students graduated and instilling a desire for public service into their staffs and students. The rankings are part of Washington Monthly’s 2016 College Guide and Rankings released Monday. The magazine has been publishing its version of college rankings since 2005, and bills its rankings as an alternative to the well-known U.S. News and World Report’s rankings. The rankings are based on three factors: social mobility, research and service. Colleges’ success with low-income students was factored into the rankings, along with the schools’ commitment to service. The rankings are also compiled using federal data on student outcomes, such as salary earned by college graduates, and how many are able to pay down the principal on their student loans. Georgia Tech, ranked 16th, was Georgia’s top-ranked college among the magazine’s top 30 national universities. …This year’s rankings include a new category, the best two- and four-year colleges for adult learners, students 25 years old or older. Weber State and Golden State universities in Utah and San Francisco received top honors in those categories. Georgia Tech (37th) was Georgia’s only college included in this category. …Best Bang for the Buck in the Southeast region. Traditional institutions Georgia Tech (14th)
www.hubga.com
Columbus State University Starting New STEM Program In Hopes of Addressing Local Poverty Issues
COLUMBUS, GA.– August 26, 2016– A $133,000 grant from the University System of Georgia (USG) is helping Columbus State University implement improved classroom strategies to better prepare students in their pursuit of STEM careers. This is the fourth STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) grant awarded to CSU since 2011, bringing total funding to more than $3.1 million for STEM education. The overarching goal of the latest grant — CSU’s STEM Education Improvement Plan — is to raise the region’s standard of living through education. This goal aligns closely with the goals of the Columbus Regional Prosperity Initiative, a holistic community and economic development strategy led by a group of area public, private and non-profit leaders.
www.ajc.com
State crime lab to get hundreds more untested rape kits
http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/georgia/state-crime-lab-to-get-hundreds-more-untested-rape/nsM9Z/
ATLANTA — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s state crime lab expects to receive an additional 864 rape kits within a week that have been stored — for years in some cases — in police evidence lockers and never analyzed for DNA matches. GBI records show that 61 percent of them will come from the Atlanta Police Department, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported (http://bit.ly/2bsHSxv). A new Georgia law gave law enforcement agencies until Aug. 15 to inform the GBI’s crime lab how many kits containing DNA evidence were in storage and had never been analyzed, the Atlanta newspaper reported. The deadline to deliver those kits to the crime lab is Wednesday. …The Atlanta Police Department reported that it had 531 untested rape kits to be analyzed at the GBI’s crime lab. Cobb County police reported that it had 49; Gwinnett County police had 47. University police departments also reported having untested rape kits that will now be sent to the GBI lab for analysis. The University of Georgia Police Department had 16 of them; and the Georgia Southern University Police Department had 10, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
www.georgiastatesignal.com
Georgia State now offers drug drop boxes
http://georgiastatesignal.com/georgia-state-now-offers-drug-drop-boxes/
By: Sean Keenan | Senior Reporter
Students, teachers and metro Atlantans alike can now ditch their drugs at campus police stations, should they feel so inclined. The Medical Association of Georgia Foundation (MAG) recently introduced its “Think About It” campaign, a statewide initiative aiming to curb prescription drug abuse and addiction, to metro colleges, such as Georgia State, Kennesaw State and the University of West Georgia. The project will plop down a few “prescription drug drop boxes” near university police stations so people with expired, unused or plainly unwanted medicine can toss it in a controlled, anonymous and environmentally friendly manner.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Building C expansion among host of changes at Georgia Gwinnett College
By Keith Farner
LAWRENCEVILLE — The days of local college students walking from one building to another receive tutoring appear to be over, at least in the formal sense. While the buzzing activity of the first wave of papers and exams is still a few weeks away, Georgia Gwinnett College recently opened an expansion of Building C that features an all-encompassing tutoring center under one roof. It’s called the Academic Enhancement Center, and it is part of an $11.5 million addition to that building, which includes classrooms and offices that serve the schools of business, education and transitional studies. The addition includes three floors, 16 classrooms, 104 offices and covers 54,300 square feet. It more than doubled the size of the previous building structure.
www.times-herald.com
UWG to study upping Newnan enrollment
http://times-herald.com/news/2016/08/uwg-to-study-upping-newnan-enrollment
By WINSTON SKINNER
The University of West Georgia wants to increase the number of students at the Newnan campus, and a study with that aim could be finished before the end of the year. The study has been an increasing priority for Dr. Kyle Marrero, UWG’s president. Early last week, Marrero was talking about a study with a completion date within a year. By the time he met with the UWG Newnan Advisory Board at the local campus, he had moved up the timeline to 4-6 months. “We’re going to expedite this study,” he said. Marrero was frank that – although the local center’s enrollment has grown dramatically – the numbers have fallen short of goals.
www.thebrunswicknews.com
CCGA sees enrollment increase
By LAUREN MCDONALD The Brunswick News
Without its students roaming campus, heading to class or lounging in the green spaces between buildings, College of Coastal Georgia’s campus is like a tourist spot, said Greg Aloia, the college’s president. “It’s pretty, but no one’s there,” he said. But last week, the campus has undergone a transformation, as a record-breaking number of new and returning students began their classes Wednesday. …CCGA saw a significant increase in enrollment this year, with around 3,400 students signed up so far for the 2016-2017 academic year. Pellett said that is an 8.5 percent increase over the last academic year. “It’s one of the best growths we’ve seen since we’ve become a four-year institution,” Pellett said. The college also broke a personal record by welcoming the largest freshman class in the institution’s history since becoming a four-year college seven years ago. Aloia attributed this year’s growth to a hardworking admission’s office, increased advertising to high schools and improvements to student life on campus.
www.bizjournals.com
Georgia Tech to implement 11 gender equity initiatives over next two years
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/08/28/georgia-tech-to-implement-11-gender-equity.html
David Allison
Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech said Aug. 25 it plans to implement 11 gender equity initiatives over the next two years. The initiatives will be grouped into four areas: hiring, promotion, and tenure; professional and leadership development; leadership appointments; and recognition and increased visibility of the Institute’s commitment to gender equity. “In higher education, there are gender equity challenges unique to technology-focused learning institutions. At Georgia Tech, only 28 percent of staff positions above director-level are held by women,” said Lynn Durham, assistant vice president and chief of staff for the Office of the President.
www.ledger-enquirer.com
How Columbus State University got a radio station
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/living/article98399812.html
BY CARRIE BETH WALLACE
Danna Gibson and Scott Sellnow-Richmond have each played a vital role in launching Columbus State University’s new WCUG radio station. CSU obtained the radio station via a partnership with PMB Broadcasting in Columbus — a partnership Dr. Gibson was present to foster from the beginning. Gibson got the phone call that CSU had a radio station, but it wasn’t until she brought Sellnow-Richmond on board as faculty adviser that she really started to see WCUG take shape. A year later, WCUG has grown and surpassed all of its goals. Both professors sat down with reporter Carrie Beth Wallace to discuss the process of obtaining WCUG, how it’s grown over the past year and where the station is headed. Here are excerpts from the interview, with the content and order of the questions edited slightly for length and clarity.
www.statesboroherald.com
Nate Hirsch passes
Original ‘Voice of the Eagles’ died Sunday morning
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/75982/
From Staff Reports
Husband, father, grandfather and Hall of Fame announcer Nate Hirsch, the original “Voice of the Georgia Southern Eagles,” passed away Sunday morning. Hirsch’s family confirmed he died at his Statesboro home. A New York native, Hirsch grew up in the Bronx before earning a broadcasting degree from Indiana State University in 1970. He worked briefly in Atlanta before a job opening at the radio station brought him to Statesboro in the fall of 1970. He eventually purchased the stations in 1980 and sold them to Communications Capital in 2004. Hirsch was a three-time hall of fame announcer: He is in the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame, the Georgia Southern Athletics Hall of Fame and the Statesboro High Sports Hall of Fame. Hirsch is best known as the voice of the Eagles, which he became when he started his career in Statesboro in the fall of 1970, continuing until 2006.
www.ajc.com
Pastor allegedly gave student a $9,000 bad tuition check
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/pastor-allegedly-gave-student-a-9000-bad-tuition-c/nsMjJ/
Raisa Habersham – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A self-proclaimed pastor accused of writing car dealerships bad checks allegedly wrote a University of West Georgia student a nearly $9,000 bad check for his tuition. Not long after Dejarius Thurman was arrested on theft charges, Channel 2 Action News discovered he wrote former West Georgia student Asion Brooks a check for what Brooks thought was full tuition. Brooks had lost his financial aid at the institution. When Thurman found out, his Favor of God Praise Networking Ministry wrote Brooks a check for $8,950, Channel 2 reported. Brooks was still enrolled when the school sent several notices about the checks coming from a closed account, according to Channel 2. …Brooks may not have been the only one duped. Thurman allegedly wrote a scholarship check to Brooks’ mother for $5,000 for Atlanta Metropolitan College.
www.wtvm.com
Bond denied for Rapper Young Dro arrested on Georgia Southern campus
http://www.wtvm.com/story/32857982/rapper-young-dro-arrested-in-bulloch-county
By WTOC Staff
STATESBORO, GA (WTOC) – D’Juan Montrel Hart, known by his stage name “Young Dro,” was arrested on the campus of Georgia Southern University and booked into the Bulloch County jail Sunday. The 37-year-old rapper from Atlanta was charged with carrying a weapon in a school safety zone, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon or first offender, possession of marijuana less than 1 ounce and possession of a Schedule V controlled substance. The Statesboro Summer Jam listed Young Dro as a performer at their concert held at Georgia Southern’s Performing Arts Center on Saturday.
Higher Education News:
www.forbes.com
Higher Education Is Broken, But There’s Still Hope For The Future
Quora, CONTRIBUTOR
What are the biggest issues facing higher education in the US today and how can they be fixed? originally appeared on Quora – the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. Answer by Adam Enbar, Co-Founder & CEO, Flatiron School, on Quora. This biggest issue facing higher education today? Take a look below: …Return on investment. Higher education is becoming increasingly more expensive and it’s not getting results; it doesn’t lead to graduates getting jobs that allow them to pay off the debts they’ve accrued from that education. That’s not to say that higher education should solely be judged based on graduate salaries. Even if we consider a liberal arts education vital because it contributes to your critical thinking skills and makes you a better citizen (people can debate this, of course, but I believe it’s true), we have to consider a few things:
www.chronicle.com
The New Cheating Economy
http://www.chronicle.com/article/The-New-Cheating-Economy/237587
By Brad Wolverton
Fifteen credits were all he needed. That’s what the school district in California where Adam Sambrano works as a career-guidance specialist required for a bump in pay. But when he saw the syllabus for a graduate course he’d enrolled in last year at Arizona State University, he knew he was in trouble. Among the assignments was a 19-page paper, longer than anything he’d ever written. The idea of that much research worried Mr. Sambrano, who also spends time serving in the Army National Guard. Before the class started, he went on Craigslist and enlisted the service of a professional cheater. For $1,000 — less than the monthly housing allowance he was receiving through the GI Bill, he says — Mr. Sambrano hired a stranger to take his entire course. He transferred $500 upfront, “From Adam for ASU,” according to a receipt obtained by The Chronicle. Then he just waited for the cheater to do his work. On any given day, thousands of students go online seeking academic relief. They are first-years and transfers overwhelmed by the curriculum, international students with poor English skills, lazy undergrads with easy access to a credit card. They are nurses, teachers, and government workers too busy to pursue the advanced degrees they’ve decided they need. The Chronicle spoke with people who run cheating companies and those who do the cheating. The demand has been around for decades. But the industry is in rapid transition.
www.diverseeducation.com
Golden Gate University Ranked No.1 for Adult Learners
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
Golden Gate University is ranked No. 1 for adult learners in the latest edition of Washington Monthly’s annual best college rankings issue. The magazine decided for the first time to include best institutions for adult learners — that is, students 25 and older — because adult learners are “arguably the largest and fastest-growing under-served group of students within higher education,” according to Paul Glastris, the magazine’s editor-in-chief. “More than 40 percent of undergraduates today are 25 or older,” Glastris said. “Yet they are typically an afterthought at most schools — few of which, for instance, provide sufficient evening, weekend and online courses for busy working adults. “And they have largely been ignored by the press,” Glastris said. “The dozen national publications that rank colleges do so with high school students in mind. Ours is the first to tell adult students which schools perform best for them.” At Golden Gate University — located in San Francisco — 88 percent of the students are adults. (The size of the adult population at a given school is a major factor in the magazine’s new rankings).
www.chronicle.com
With a Strong Stance on Safe Spaces, U. of Chicago Sends a Mixed Message to Students
http://www.chronicle.com/article/With-a-Strong-Stance-on-Safe/237601
By Beth McMurtrie
The University of Chicago may have put itself at the forefront of a national debate over academic freedom by taking a hard line against shielding students from disagreeable ideas. But a letter from the dean of students that went viral on Thursday exposed continuing internal conflicts on the campus about free speech, protests, and trigger warnings. The academic year has not yet started, but on social media some students applauded the letter from John Ellison to incoming freshmen. In it he wrote: “Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings,’ we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces,’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.” Other students found his words condescending, arguing that the university seemed at times to ignore minority viewpoints.