University System News:
www.myajc.com
Georgia universities request $265 million for construction, repair
By James Salzer – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With Georgia colleges continuing to see climbing enrollment, the University System on Wednesday asked for a boost in state funding as well as $265 million more for construction and renovation projects. The request, approved by the Board of Regents, will go to Gov. Nathan Deal, who will decide whether to recommend it to the General Assembly in January. A preliminary count puts the system’s fall enrollment at about 322,000 students, up 1.3 percent from last year. About one quarter of the system’s $8.4 billion budget comes from direct state funding. The request for new funding is in line with instructions given to state agencies earlier this summer by Deal’s budget office. The administration warned agencies not to ask for new spending beyond what was required by increased school enrollment or usage of the public health system. The warning came despite the fact that state tax collections were up more than 9 percent in fiscal 2016. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that Deal also recently met his goal of banking $2 billion in state reserves. So state government may be in the best financial shape it has been in since before the Great Recession. “That is good for the state, that is good for the university system,” Shelley Nickel, the system’s vice chancellor for fiscal affairs and planning, told members of the Board of Regents. …Another $265 million in borrowing was requested for construction projects. If approved, among the beneficiaries would be Kennesaw State University, which would get $39.5 million for a classroom building, Georgia Tech, which would get $47.4 million to renovate campus library buildings and Georgia Gwinnett College, which is seeking $11.5 million for the next phase of an academic building. The University of Georgia would receive $18.7 million for the third phase of its Terry College of Business complex
www.mdjonline.com
Olens to be paid $430,000 as KSU president
KSU faculty file discrimination complaint
Mary Kate McGowan
Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, president-elect of Kennesaw State University, will be paid slightly more than his predecessor, former president Dan Papp. Olens’ total annual compensation will be $430,000, including $41,200 for housing, car and subsistence allowances, according to a letter from University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the median total compensation for presidents of taxpayer-supported colleges was $431,000 for the 2014-15 school year. Papp’s total annual compensation would have been $419,329.72 — including $19,765.76 of allowances — today if he had stayed in office, according to Charles Sutlive, spokesperson for the Board of Regents.
www.myajc.com
KSU job means big bucks for Sam Olens
http://www.myajc.com//news/news/local-education/ksu-job-means-big-bucks-for-sam-olens/nsw9z/
Eric Stirgus The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Outgoing Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens is in line to receive a significant pay increase when he becomes president of Kennesaw State University Nov. 1. University System of Georgia officials would pay Olens $430,000 in salary and other benefits for his first year on the job, according to a letter sent to Olens Monday. Olens’ base pay as attorney general is about $140,000. His base pay as KSU president would be $388,800. He would receive a housing allowance of $19,400 and subsistence allowance of $13,400 that would be used, in part, to host campus events, officials said. Olens would also get $8,400 as an automobile allowance. …University System of Georgia spokesman Charles Sutlive said the proposed housing allowance for Olens is customary for his position. Officials said Olens may host events at his home. …Olens will not receive any deferred compensation and none of his salary will come from the university’s foundation, as have some other public college presidents in Georgia.
www.chronicle.com
A Preordained Presidential Pick Gives Rise to a New Governance Battle
http://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Preordained-Presidential/238168
By Peter Schmidt
As Georgia’s attorney general, Sam Olens has incurred the wrath of gay-rights advocates for opposing same-sex marriage and resisting a federal requirement that transgender students at public schools have access to bathrooms that match their identity. When he becomes president of Kennesaw State University next week, he will be leaving his old job, but not the controversy that came with it. Mr. Olens can expect a chilly reception from many on the campus, stemming from his political background, his lack of academic experience, and how the University System of Georgia named him to his new post. The system appointed him with little advance notice, no significant faculty input, and no formal search. Faculty members and students already have expressed opposition to his appointment through protests, angry letters, and petitions. On Monday three Kennesaw State faculty members who don’t want him there unveiled a novel tactic: federal complaints of employment discrimination tied to the university system’s failure to consider anyone but a white man for the job.
www.wjcl.com
Georgia Southern President reflects on first 100 days
http://www.wjcl.com/article/georgia-southern-president-reflects-on-first-100-days/7155428
Dave Williams
STATESBORO, GA — They say time flies when you’re having fun. So you can put Georgia Southern President Dr. Jaimie Hebert in that camp. He’s been on the job in Statesboro 100 days so far . “It’s just an amazing place,” said Dr. Jaimie Hebert,GSU President. That’s the way, Dr. Jaimie Hebert describes his first 100 days on the job. Since taking over as Georgia Southern’s 13th president on July 1st, he’s seen first hand what exactly makes the university special, from the people on campus, to the special traditions like the annual watermelon cutting among others. “It’s the depth of the personal conviction that every single individual I meet associated with this university has,” said Dr. Hebert. ’For the institution, it’s culture, it’s mission, it’s really extraordinary.” During his first 100 days, Dr. Hebert solicited feed back from students, and faculty about what they’d like to see and they were all in agreement on one thing. “That our culture, our traditions who we are as Georgia Southern University, it’s not negotiable,” explained Dr. Hebert. ’Our culture and who we are is just something we can’t change.”
www.myajc.com
Georgia Tech, Emory ranked among U.S. News top research schools
By Molly Bloom – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two Georgia schools have been named among the top 50 research universities in America by U.S. News & World Report. Among U.S. schools included in the publication’s list of the top 1,000 “global universities”, Georgia Tech was ranked 41 and Emory 43. But no Georgia school was among the top 50 in the publication’s ranking of research universities internationally. How Georgia schools rank among U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities – Georgia Tech: 66; The University of Georgia: 245; Georgia State University: 459
www.backstage.com
5 Acting and Filmmaking Resources From the Georgia Film Office
By Jonathan Williams
As the Deputy Commissioner of the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office for the past 20 years, Lee Thomas has seen Georgia’s film industry grow to become one of the most competitive in the world. After the state’s generous tax incentive was established in 2008, Georgia went from generating $244 million from film in 2007 to $7 billion in fiscal year 2016. With Georgia now third in the nation for film and television production, there are numerous opportunities for actors, filmmakers, or anyone else wanting to be involved in the industry. “We’re a state agency, so we are fighting other states and countries to try to bring films, television shows, and infrastructure to Georgia,” Thomas tells Backstage. …Having been involved with the state’s film industry during this booming period, Thomas has plenty of insight for those hoping to break into Georgia’s bustling scene. Whether you’re looking to be in front of the camera or behind the scenes, here are Thomas’ top tips and recommended resources.
…Don’t forget the Georgia Film Academy.
“There is a new entity called the Georgia Film Academy that is a partnership between the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System. The main thing it is doing is trying to fast-track people into the industry. They look at the jobs that are most needed, the jobs that are hardest to fill in Georgia. They have a partnership with Columbus State University where they’re going to do an acting segment.”
www.onlineathens.com
News media communications director in place at UGA
By UGA NEWS SERVICE
Greg Trevor has assumed the duties of executive director for media communications in the University of Georgia Division of Marketing & Communications effective Monday. Trevor served for more than 12 years as senior director of the Office of University News and Media Relations at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “The University of Georgia is rapidly emerging as one of the premier public universities in the nation and I look forward to this opportunity to help direct its future,” Trevor said. “The UGA and Athens communities are vibrant, and my wife, Allison, and I plan to become active in local affairs.” In his new role, Trevor will serve as the official media spokesperson for the university, responsible for institutional news releases and media queries. He will work with academic and administrative units across campus to develop media communications strategies and determine the best outlets to deliver content about UGA’s teaching, research and service missions. In addition, he will direct crisis communications
www.goldenisles.news
Fulbright trip resonates with CCGA professor
By ROB NOVIT
For more than 20 years, Claire Hughes has relished her professional work as an educator, most recently as a professor in the School of Education at College of Coastal Georgia and as a researcher. She focuses on strategies for her students to help them meet the varying needs they will encounter for their elementary-age kids. Specifically, she has studied the issues faced by children who may be gifted, but have difficult-to-detect learning disabilities that impede their progress. In 2015, Hughes was selected as the recipient of a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. Last spring she completed a three-month visit to Greece, working with her sponsor, Ioannis Dimakos, a professor at the University of Patras. “I wanted a global perspective,” Hughes said. “We have kids from poverty and disabilities here, those who don’t fit into the mainstream. But what happens when you get thrown into a different culture? I was curious what the mainstream looks like in that culture.” As her work progressed in Greece, Hughes realized she would bring back the unexpected. …Yet the teachers continue to teach, Hughes said. She is awed that they remain sassy, funny and strong. Struggling refugee children arrive at school, and the teachers keep teaching, despite being extraordinarily stressed.
www.goldenisles.news
More details shared from workforce study
By LINDSEY ADKISON
The Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority played host to a guest at its regular monthly meeting Monday. Peggy Jolley, coordinator of the Southeast Georgia Joint Development Authority, took to the podium to discuss the findings of the region’s eight-month-long labor force study. The goal of the study, she said, was to better understand how the group could collectively lure more industry and business to the area by gathering regional workforce data. …The authority, along with other members of the Southeast Georgia Joint Development Authority including Brantley, Camden, Charlton, McIntosh and Wayne counties, commissioned Atlanta-based Kate McEnroe Consulting in January to analyze a variety of regional data and draft a report of their findings. They surveyed area employers to collect the most complete information available. Once the work was finished, the agency had created more than 300 slides, with data sets tailored to each county, as well as the region as a whole. The data will be maintained and updated annually by College of Coastal Georgia.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Resident Assistants Find Themselves on the Front Lines of Title IX Compliance
By Shannon Najmabadi
When Rachel Nelson, a biochemistry major at Hamline University, became a resident assistant, in August 2014, she went through training on the federal gender-discrimination law known as Title IX. As an RA, she was told, she was a mandatory reporter, a designation given to some staff and faculty members who are obligated to report any potential Title IX violations brought to their attention. Sometimes the violation takes the form of a harassing remark or concern about another student’s relationship; often, it’s unwanted sexual contact. “It’s an interesting dynamic,” Ms. Nelson said. That’s because you’re called to be “a peer and a friend” to residents, she said, but also bound to report anything possibly under the purview of Title IX, even against students’ wishes. While resident assistants have long played mediator to roommate disputes, their place on the front lines of Title IX, the gender-equity law that is bedeviling colleges and universities, is more recent. Though enacted in 1972, the law took on extra force in the eyes of the federal government after the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in 2011 issued a “Dear Colleague” letter that pressed colleges to enforce Title IX in cases of sexual violence.