University System News:
www.gafollowers.com
4 Georgia Universities Nationally Honored for Diversity and Inclusion Efforts
By Chassity Adams
Four of Georgia’s top universities will be honored in November for receiving the 2016 INSIGHT into Diversity HEED Award, recognizing each of these schools for their outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. Out of 83 schools across the U.S. receiving this prestigious award, the University of Georgia, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State, and Kennesaw State University are all recipients of this higher education diversity award. The HEED award is the only national award that honors colleges and universities for being an outstanding example of a diverse post-secondary school. Kennesaw State University will also receive special recognition for being a 2016 Diversity Champion. The Diversity Champion award goes beyond the HEED Award, recognizing less than 15 colleges and universities across the nation for their top tier commitment to diversity. The awards for Georgia schools do not end here. The University of Georgia’s president, President Jere Morehead, was nominated by employees and selected by INSIGHT as a 2016 Giving Back recipient. Under Moreheads leadership, several initiatives have been launched in order to promote diversity including the Student Veterans Resource Center, the Women’s Leadership Initiative, The Intersection, and the Destination Dawgs, a program for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities, set to begin in spring 2017.
www.walb.com
GSW earns high accolades for online degree program
http://www.walb.com/story/33163732/gsw-earns-high-accolades-for-online-degree-program
By Re-Essa Buckels, Reporter
AMERICUS, GA (WALB) – An online degree program at Georgia Southwestern State University ranks among the nation’s best. GradSource.com ranked GSW’s online computer science graduate program second overall. It took the top spot for affordability. Officials said that the school’s computer infrastructure is one of the things that attracts students to the program.
www.bizjournals.com
$5M grant to boost research at CHOA, Georgia Tech
Maria Saporta
Contributing Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The Imlay Foundation is making a $5 million grant – the largest in its 25-year history – to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Georgia Tech to help fund the
of pediatric therapies. The grant also symbolizes the coming together of the two loves of Mary Ellen Imlay and her late husband, John Imlay, an Atlanta technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. “The whole board of the Imlay Foundation was most enthusiastic about this,” said Mrs. Imlay, chair and president of the foundation. “It honors John’s love of Georgia Tech and my love of Children’s, and puts them together in an innovative way.” The gift will help advance the research capabilities of Children’s Healthcare, one of the largest pediatric hospitals in the country. The partnership is called the Pediatric Technology Center, which will be housed at Georgia Tech.
www.bizjournals.com
Atlanta emerging as national leader in intellectual property
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/09/23/atlanta-emerging-as-national-leader-in.html
David Allison
Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Atlanta is emerging as a national leader in intellectual property, the key to today’s knowledge economy. Many people don’t know what intellectual property is or why they should care about it. But it’s critically important. Intellectual property, also known as “IP,” includes technology but is more than just technology. It includes a series of four protections for any new idea, innovation or knowledge. There are patents, trade secrets, copyrights and trademarks. Without IP, there’s no economic return for knowledge creation since it’s free for all to copy, take and use. Without IP, there’s no incentive for major investments in research since there would be no economic return… Driving Atlanta’s emergence as an IP capital are Georgia State University and Georgia Tech, Frank says. Georgia State has a world-leading number of IP programs. Georgia Tech has world-leading creation and leveraging of IP through the Georgia Tech Research Institute, faculty, and other programs. The two schools are uniquely partnering to leverage their complementary strengths, including Georgia State’s law school and Georgia Tech’s engineering school, Frank says.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA responds to charges of unfairness in overtime changeover
http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2016-09-22/uga-responds-charges-unfairness-overtime-changeover
By LEE SHEARER
The University of Georgia released a point-by-point rebuttal when two Athens groups protested the university’s planned shift of some 3,000 employees from salaried workers to overtime-eligible workers. Athens’ Economic Justice Coalition and Athens Rising, which advocate for low-paid workers, staged a small protest at Wednesday’s meeting of the UGA University Council, over what they say is UGA’s unfair application of a new federal rule designed to raise wages by making more people nationwide eligible for overtime pay. Some 3,000 salaried UGA employees will be doing the same jobs after Dec. 1, but reclassified as hourly workers, eligible for overtime, according to the university. Statewide, about 9,000 University System of Georgia workers will make the change, said Charles Sutlive, USG vice chancellor for communications and governmental affairs.
www.onlineathens.com
Need-based scholarships to priority in capital campaign, says UGA president Morehead
By LEE SHEARER
Need-based scholarships will be the number one priority when the University of Georgia announces the “public” phase of its ongoing capital campaign, according to University of Georgia president Jere Morehead. Colleges typically announce the “public” phase of a fund-raising campaign about halfway through, naming an achievable goal. That goal hasn’t been announced, but should be soon: UGA officials intend to announce the public phase of the eight-year campaign in November. Morehead said earlier the goal would be more than $1 billion, which appears to be easily achievable. That’s an average of $125 million per year. UGA fund-raisers pulled in a record $183.8 million in gifts and pledges last year. The year before, UGA announced a $144.2 million total, which was also a record. Morehead didn’t name a figure when he tabbed need-based scholarships the top priority at a Wednesday press conference. But such scholarships are sorely needed, according to some recent studies.
www.unionrecorder.com
Freedom Gallery opens at ABAC Oct. 13
Special to The Gazette
TIFTON, Ga. — For Dr. David Bridges, there’s no question that those who sacrifice their lives for the United States of America should be honored in a special way. That’s why the president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and his wife, Kim, are so excited about the public opening of the new Freedom Gallery at ABAC on Oct. 13. “We are doing this because I want future generations of ABAC students to know that we respect the honor, the integrity, and the valor of those who serve in the armed forces of our country,” Bridges said. “We will continue to invest in those who invested so much in us. We must not forget that some of them invested their lives for our freedom.” The Freedom Gallery focuses on the life of Harold Bascom Durham Jr. an ABAC alumnus and Tifton native who gave his life for his country on a Vietnam battlefield on Oct. 17, 1967. For his bravery, he was selected as a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor.
www.foxreno.com
Lawmakers: Booming Georgia film industry needs local, minority involvement
http://foxreno.com/news/entertainment/booming-film-industry-lacks-local-minority-involvement
BY EVAN WATSON
ATLANTA, Ga. (WGXA) – It’s no secret the film and TV production industry is booming in Georgia. In Fiscal Year 2016 the industry generated an economic impact of $7 billion — $2 billion in direct spending from the more than 200 feature films and TV productions shot in Georgia. But a Georgia House of Representatives committee is concerned the growing industry is leaving local workers and minorities behind. The House Study Committee on Georgia Minority Participation in the the Film and Television Industry met for the first time Thursday morning in Atlanta. They’re looking to create incentives for the growth of diversity and inclusion within a Film/TV industry that already receives major tax breaks in Georgia. Up to 30 percent of production expenditures can be eligible for transferable tax credits for movies and shows that film in Georgia, thanks to a state law. The chairman of the committee, state representative “Able” Mable Thomas, said the diversity-focused committee was “long overdue.” …Jeffrey Stepakoff, Executive Director of Georgia Film Academy, spoke about how his organization is training Georgians to provide them with the skills and knowledge to be productive members of this field. One representative said Macon and Middle Georgia is in a perfect position to capitalize on this film boom. “Macon and Middle Georgia obviously stands in what I think is the logistic heaven of Georgia, and so Macon and Middle Georgia is uniquely positioned to actually take advantage of this new boom and emerging economy,” said James Beverly, a state representative for Macon. The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for October 13 at 1 p.m. at Fort Valley State University.
www.walb.com
Editorial: Students have access to new rental car program
http://www.walb.com/story/33150760/editorial-students-have-access-to-new-rental-car-program
Every time you put gas in your car, make a payment to the bank, or pay for a repair, or even send the insurance man a check, you get a sobering reminder of what is costs to go somewhere. And we live in a region where public transportation is almost unavailable. So, in steps Georgia Southwestern, with a rental-car option. GSW students, many of who don’t have easy access to transportation, can rent a vehicle from the school. GSW began a partnership with Americus’ RDR rental car service, after the school surveyed students, who said such a service was a great idea. If you’re 21, have a driver’s license and a credit card, you’re approved.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
More Aid for the Needy
New federal data show rising number of students receiving Pell Grants while median family incomes of recipients fall.
By Ashley A. Smith
The percentage of students receiving federal Pell Grants has grown as incomes have fallen. A new report from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics found that the percentage of both independent and dependent students who received Pell Grants increased from 1999 to 2011. In 1999, 19 percent of dependent students — or those who relied on their parents’ income — received the grants. That figure increased to 35 percent by 2011. Among independent students, the percentage of recipients increased from 25 percent in 1999 to 48 percent in 2011. Those numbers correspond with decreasing median family incomes.
www.insidehighered.com
The State of Undergraduate Education
The Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education releases its first report, using data to lay out a broad picture of students at today’s two- and four-year colleges.
By Kasia Kovacs
More Americans are attending college than ever before — nearly 90 percent of millennials who graduate from high school attend college within eight years. But a far smaller proportion of Americans actually have a college degree: only 40 percent of students complete a bachelor’s degree in four years and 60 percent graduate in six years. At two-year colleges, 29 percent of students graduate in three years. Those are the findings of a report released Thursday morning by the Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education, an initiative from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences begun last November. The commission was tasked with assessing the future undergraduate education by analyzing facts and data rather than relying on anecdotes, and it was funded with $2.2 million from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. “Our ambition is to help the American population, the American people, to appreciate what college education means now in the United States, which is something much broader and more complex than what a number of us might have thought a few years ago,” said Michael McPherson, co-chair of the committee and president of the Spencer Foundation. The committee’s first report, “The Primer on the College Student Journey,” examines the current state of undergraduate education, compiling numbers on everything from college preparedness to student loans and providing some analysis. The data comes from a range of sources, including the National Center for Education Statistics, along with think tanks, nonprofits and academic studies.
www.insidehighered.com
No Rooney Rule for Colleges
NCAA calls on college leaders to sign pledge promising to recruit and interview more women and ethnic minorities for top sports positions, but stops short of requiring institutions to do so.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/09/22/ncaa-urges-institutions-sign-diversity-pledge
By Jake New
The National Collegiate Athletic Association rolled out a new pledge on Wednesday urging college presidents and chancellors, as well as conference commissioners, to “specifically commit to establishing initiatives for achieving ethnic and racial diversity, gender equity and inclusion with a focus on hiring practices in intercollegiate athletics.” The NCAA will not, however, sanction those who do not honor the commitment. With white men filling the vast majority of leadership positions in college sports, minority and women’s groups have long asked the NCAA to put pressure on institutions to improve their hiring practices. Those groups largely, if cautiously, praised the creation of the pledge on Wednesday.