University System News:
www.ajc.com
Two Ga. colleges among country’s top 10 ‘best for vets’
http://www.ajc.com/news/local/two-colleges-among-country-top-best-for-vets/VvEFVWMPhfCSxHdn6v7jLN/
Fiza Pirani The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Independent military news source MilitaryTimes.com recently named a Savannah college and an Atlanta university among the nation’s top 10 best four-year colleges for veterans. Armstrong State University in Savannah and Georgia State University in Atlanta earned the honors in the “Best for Vets” list, ranking the schools at No. 4 and No. 7 respectively among the nation’s four-year colleges. Armstrong State University was highlighted for its benefits, including a military resource center on campus. The university moved up three spots from last year’s ranking. The Savannah college is also the only university in Georgia to receive the Student Veterans of America grant, a $10,000 grant for its resource center. Atlanta’s Georgia State University was also recognized for its unique benefits, including multiple military outreach centers on all of the school’s six campuses. Other Georgia colleges on the list of 130 four-year schools: University of Georgia (No. 42), College of Coastal Georgia (No. 51) and Augusta University (No. 119).
www.ajc.com
Enrollment in Georgia universities reaches record high
Molly Bloom – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Enrollment in Georgia’s public colleges and universities reached a record high this fall. More than 321,000 students were enrolled in University System of Georgia schools, the highest level in the past 10 years. That’s due in part to Georgia’s “move on when ready” policy that allows high school students to attend college full-time during their junior and senior years, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby said earlier this month.
www.emanuelcountylive.com
Join EGSC for International Fraud Awareness Week
http://emanuelcountylive.com/2016/11/join-egsc-for-international-fraud-awareness-week/
by KATELYN MOORE
East Georgia State College will join other institutions in the University System of Georgia in celebrating International Fraud Awareness Week November 13 – 19, 2016. The theme for the week is “The SPIRIT of USG,” where activities will emphasize Stewardship, Prevention, Integrity, Responsibility, Inspiration and Trust. No organization or institution is exempt from the potential for fraud and the resulting risk to institutional reputation and its employees. Activities during this week will help bring awareness to fraud prevention and will reinforce the USG’s culture of recognizing the hard work of all employees, and promoting shared values of integrity, excellence, accountability and responsibility. This awareness program is part of a comprehensive Ethics and Compliance Program which includes ethics training, mandatory compliance training, assurance audits, consulting engagements and an ethics and compliance reporting hotline.
www.publicnow.com
FVSU Joins USG’s Fraud Awareness Week Campaign
http://www.publicnow.com/view/D5E63DA9C1D72B9F7BD903A83FA07EA3F876E895
In support of International Fraud Awareness Week, Nov. 13-19, 2016, Fort Valley State University joins the University System of Georgia’s ‘The SPIRT of USG’ by hosting activities to bring awareness to further promote an ethical culture on our campus.
www.albanyceo.com
Albany State University to Participate in International Fraud Awareness Week
Staff Report From Albany CEO
Albany State University and the University System of Georgia are proud participants of International Fraud Awareness Week, Nov. 13-19, 2016. In support of this effort, ASU will host activities to further promote a more ethical culture on campus. Activities during the week will help bring awareness to fraud prevention and will reinforce the USG’s culture of recognizing the hard work of all employees and promoting shared values of integrity, excellence, accountability and responsibility. ASU will join other state colleges and universities for the weeklong campaign. This year’s theme is “SPIRIT of USG – Celebrating OUR Ethical Culture.” All planned events will emphasize: Stewardship, Prevention, Integrity, Responsibility, Inspiration and Trust.
www.wtoc.com
ASU students get fraud prevention lessons from FBI
http://www.wtoc.com/story/33717931/asu-students-get-fraud-prevention-lessons-from-fbi
By Amanda Hoskins, Reporter
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Students and faculty at Albany State University got a lesson in fraud prevention Tuesday. It’s part of an initiative by the University System of Georgia to promote integrity, accountability and responsibility. Representatives from the FBI in Atlanta talked to students and faculty about cyber-security. Organizers said they hope the university community recognizes the importance of fraud prevention. …Tuesday’s event was just one of the many fraud prevention events going on around campus.
www.ledger-enquirer.com
These film program grads are qualified for $84K jobs right out of college
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/education/article114714313.html
BY MARK RICE
Columbus State University conducted the first graduation for his its new film certificate program with a ceremony Monday in the Springer Opera House. The inaugural graduating class of 13 students is the result of the partnership among CSU, the Springer, the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the Columbus Convention & Visitors Bureau, according to the university’s news release. CSU’s On-Set Film Production Certificate Program is part of the Georgia Film Academy and offered through the university’s Department of Communication in collaboration with the Springer. Along with Clayton State University and Gwinnett Technical College, CSU was one of three sites in the state selected last year to offer the initial semester, this past spring, of the Georgia Film Academy. The academy, a partnership between the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia, began as the nation’s only statewide effort to train students to work in the film industry.
www.wgauradio.com
Donor helps UGA Student Affairs
http://www.wgauradio.com/news/news/local/donor-helps-uga-student-affairs/ns8Jm/
The food scholarship and other programs that support students just got a big boost from University of Georgia graduate Jess Stokely, who is contributing $900,000 to the food scholarship and $1.5 million to general support for students.
Stokely’s $2.4 million donation is the largest one-time gift ever made to the university’s Division of Student Affairs.
www.news.wabe.org
StoryCorps Atlanta: Discovering The Fun Of Studying Abroad
http://news.wabe.org/post/storycorps-atlanta-discovering-fun-studying-abroad
By MELISSA TERRY
Nov. 14 through 18 is International Education Week, a joint initiative of the U.S. State Department and the US Department of Education. To celebrate that week, here is the story of 23-year-old Alex Berry and 21-year-old Ai “Anna” He who are both studying Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech. Berry is from Albany, Georgia and He is from the Sichuan province of China. While they did have some classes together, they didn’t really get to know each other until they arrived in Singapore as part of the Singapore-Beijing Program.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
If your child applied early to University of Georgia, watch this video. Decisions due Friday.
If your children or students want to attend the University of Georgia, share this interview I did with David Graves, UGA’s senior associate director of admissions and author of the popular admissions blog. Our talented video folks turned the interview into three 8 to 12 minute segments that I will share today, tomorrow and Wednesday. I asked Graves about the chances of the current crop of seniors seeking admission. I also asked him how high school juniors, sophomores and freshmen can increase their chances of getting into UGA. Early action seniors — there were 15,600 applicants in that pool this year — will find out Friday whether they were admitted. Graves talks about the options for those who were deferred to regular admission.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Parents believe extracurriculars will help their teens get into University of Georgia. See what UGA says.
Many teens — and their parents — believe colleges will overlook less than perfect grades if they were class president, performed in school musicals and volunteered at a soup kitchen. But I’ve had several parents tell me their highly involved offspring did not get into the University of Georgia despite an impressive list of extracurriculars. If they were doing it again, the parents would advise their kids to devote their energies to raising their grades and test scores rather than pursuing multiple after-school activities. I put the question to David Graves in the second segment of my lengthy interview with him about how students can enhance their chances of getting into UGA. Graves is UGA’s senior associate director of admissions and author of the popular UGA admissions blog. You can look at the first video here. The first installment focuses on the early action decisions coming out Friday and what seniors who are deferred to regular admissions can do to boost their chances of being a Bulldog next fall.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
Openness in VSU search commended
We applaud the search committee and board of regents of the University System of Georgia for openness in the hiring process of a new president for Valdosta State University. On Nov. 4, the BOR named four finalists in the search for VSU’s next president. …The VSU president search committee also released a schedule for interviews, campus tours and forums for the finalists that began Nov. 7 and will continue through Nov. 18. The open forums are giving students, faculty and the community an opportunity to meet and hear from each of the candidates. The process is a stark contrast to the naming of a new university president at Kennesaw State University.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
Carvajal makes case for VSU presidency
By Desiree Carver
VALDOSTA – Dr. Richard A. Carvajal was interviewed Thursday as the second candidate in Valdosta State University’s presidential search. Carvajal currently serves as the interim president of Darton State College in Albany. Previously he has held office as president of Bainbridge State College, vice president for student success services at Cascadia College, dean of student services at Independence Community College and associate dean of student services at Coker College. As with Dr. Kelli Brown, the first of the candidates to have a public forum, Carvajal was asked by Dr. Bonnie Cohen, presidential search and selection committee chairwoman, his vision for helping VSU maintain its relevancy and what he would do to ensure a successful presidency emphasizing three leadership traits he sees as most important. Carvajal took a different approach with his forum by answering questions with relevant stories regarding his previous work history and the differences he’s made at other universities.
www.athensceo.com
UGA Named a Best Undergraduate Business School
Staff Report From Athens CEO
College Choice, a leading authority in college and university rankings and resources, has published its 2016 ranking for the Best Undergraduate Business Schools. For anyone who hopes to work for a major corporation or who dreams of running their own business, a business degree is a valuable commodity. And choosing the best business school is not an easy task, but College Choice has analyzed the data and presented it in an easy-to-digest ranking system that should help any prospective business student. …The complete rankings are as follows: …Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
www.gainesvilletimes.com
WWII veterans share stories, observations at Rotary meeting
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/120275/
By Jeff Gill
Rewinding history, World War II veteran Hal Smallwood had a somber plea for those attending the Gainesville Rotary Club’s meeting: Don’t criticize President Harry Truman for dropping the atomic bombs on Japan. “Had he not dropped those bombs, I would not be here today,” he said. “I was on my way to the invasion of Japan. We were scheduled to be the first wave to go in.” “That’s right,” said Jerry Moeller. “I was too.” Smallwood and Moeller were two of 13 Hall County veterans recognized Monday afternoon for their service in World War II, the world’s most deadly conflict, one that drew in the U.S. with Japan’s attack of Pearl Harbor nearly 75 years ago. …The Rotary program also featured a talk by University of North Georgia faculty members Chris Jespersen and Richard Byers. Jespersen talked about the Pearl Harbor invasion on Dec. 7, 1941. “It did not determine the fact that the United States was going to enter the war,” he said. “It determined when. The United States was going to enter the war. The question was when.” Jespersen said that at the time, Japan’s leaders believed Americans “were too happy, too large and too lazy” and “would not fight that hard to retain or regain the territory they had lost. “The Japanese leadership had made a serious mistake.” Moeller said, “I don’t think anybody realizes how terrible the defeat was at Pearl Harbor. Eighteen of our biggest and strongest ships were down. We didn’t have a Navy, really.” The veteran said Americans “were very lucky” that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was in power, “with his magical voice able to rally the people of America.” “If we hadn’t had that, heaven only knows what we would have done,” Moeller said.
www.bizjournals.com
UGA launches new infectious diseases center
Ellie Hensley
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The University of Georgia launched a Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, which cause millions of deaths around the world every year, according to the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine. The center’s team seeks to understand how ecological processes and human impacts on the environment influence the spread of of infectious diseases to better predict their emergence. A purely medical approach cannot combat infectious diseases, because they often originate in animals.
www.times-herald.com
Health care means business
http://times-herald.com/news/2016/11/health-care-means-business
By THE NEWNAN TIMES-HERALD
Our Chamber of Commerce recently concluded a yearlong State of the Community lunch series with a program focusing on the State of Health Care in Coweta County. If we may be so bold as to borrow a line used by some past presidents in their State of the Union address, “The state of our health care is strong!” We had the privilege of hearing directly from three local hospital CEOs—Anne Meisner of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Ilona Wozniak of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital, and Michael Robertson of Piedmont Newnan Hospital—and each one spoke of his or her hospital’s commitment to serving patients, growing their facilities and programs and making sure Coweta County continues to be known as a health care leader. …In 2014, over 27 percent of the technical college graduates in Coweta County earned degrees in the medical field, and more than 200 students graduated from the University of West Georgia as a registered nurse, bachelor of nursing science or master of nursing science. And health care jobs are quality jobs. The new nurse graduates are entering a health care and social assistance sector that employs 13 percent of Coweta’s workforce with an average salary of $50,000 per full-time employee. The days of driving to other counties, cities or even states are over. Now, nearly every health care need can be met in our own back yard.
www.gainesvilletimes.com
Astronomy professor weighs in as supermoon makes rare appearance
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/120279/
By Joshua Silavent
The brightest moon in almost 69 years lit up the sky in a treat for star watchers around the globe on Sunday and Monday nights, including at the North Georgia Astronomical Observatory on the University of North Georgia’s Dahlonega campus. But did the media hype meet reality? The moon orbits the Earth in an oval shape and is brightest this week because it is coming closer to the Earth along its elliptical orbit than at any time since January 1948. The moon reaches “super” status when it is full during this time. According to NASA, the moon appeared about 14 percent larger in diameter and about 30 percent brighter at its perigee (closest point to Earth) this week than when it’s at its apogee (furthest distance from the Earth). Gregory Feiden, assistant professor of astronomy at UNG, said the best analogy to understand the difference in the moon’s appearance during this event compared with a typical night sky is this: Hold an aspirin in one hand at arm’s length, and a Tylenol in the other hand at the same distance, and determine which is larger.
www.ajc.com
Fourth suspect arrested in West Ga. student’s shooting
Ellen Eldridge The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A task force located a fourth suspect in the recent shooting death of a University of West Georgia student, police say. Christopher Angel Fussell, 18, was arrested Thursday at a residence on Maltese Drive in Atlanta, U.S. Marshals Southeastern Regional Task Force spokesman James Joyner said. Seniya Asford-Conner, Shadeed Dunson and Arpege Jackson, all 18, were arrested Oct. 31, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Asford-Conner and Jackson were both students at the University of West Georgia. Dunson is from Fulton County.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Ed Secretary: Colleges Must Protect All Students
By Scott Jaschik
Education Secretary John B. King Jr. urged university leaders Tuesday to be sure that students do not feel harassed or intimidated in the wake of a divisive election that has left “many of our students feeling vulnerable.” He spoke in Austin Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. King said that all students, regardless of race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve to be treated with respect. Higher education leaders need to send “a clear message” that campuses will not tolerate harassment, that “diversity is a value” and that they will “respond aggressively to places where safety is violated,” he said.
www.insidehighered.com
Number of Colleges Declines, While Credentials Awarded Rises
By Doug Lederman
The number of postsecondary institutions in the United States declined by 1.8 percent from 2014-15 to 2015-16, with all of the decline occurring in the for-profit sector of higher education, new federal data show. The data, contained in an annual report from the U.S. Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics, show that the number of U.S. institutions that award federal financial aid declined from 7,151 to 7,021. The number of public institutions actually increased by one from 2014-15 to 2015-16, while the number of private nonprofit colleges grew from 1,827 to 1,859. The number of for-profit institutions fell from 3,360 to 3,197. The same report shows that the number of degrees and other credentials conferred by American postsecondary institutions grew by 1.2 percent from 2013-14 to 2014-15, from 4.525 million to 4.581 million. Public institutions accounted for a disproportionate share of the increase — roughly 3 percent
www.insidehighered.com
College Completers More Likely to Be Employed
By Paul Fain
New federal numbers show that students who complete a college degree or certificate are more likely to be employed than their peers who don’t. The data from the U.S. Department of Education is based on a study of 16,700 students who first enrolled in college in 2003. Those who had earned a credential by 2009 were more likely to hold employment at that time. Students who earned a degree were more likely to be employed than those who earned a certificate.
www.insidehighered.com
ACLU Declares Opposition to Student Unit Records
By Andrew Kreighbaum
The American Civil Liberties Union this week declared its opposition to a federal database of student-level outcomes in a letter signed by a handful of education advocacy groups. There has been bipartisan momentum in Congress and in some advocacy circles to reconsider the federal student unit record ban. Proponents of lifting the ban argue it would help policy makers and institutions better understand what pathways have the best outcomes in terms of graduation, job placement, salary and loan repayment. But supporters of the ban, notably including North Carolina Republican Representative Virginia Foxx, have continued to support the ban, citing concerns over privacy and misuse of data. Foxx is widely expected to be the next chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, which oversees higher education issues.
www.chronicle.com
How Minority-Serving Institutions Are Responding to Trump’s Win — and Making Their Pitch
By Beth McMurtrie
As a Trump presidency starts to take shape, leaders of minority-serving institutions and their advocates are building a case for their worth — and how their work connects to the president-elect’s vision. Their campuses, they say, are critical to improving the lives of lower-income and working-class Americans, they provide good value, and they are deserving of funds Mr. Trump has said he wants to spend on the country’s infrastructure. The key, they say, is to get out in front of the Republican agenda — both the incoming president’s and that of the new Congress. “If Trump really feels that African-American communities are as blighted and dangerous as he said on the campaign trail, you present yourself as an antidote to that,” says William B. Harvey, a distinguished scholar at the American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity. But, he says, “if the strategy is to wait until people get settled and the policies begin to be developed, then I think we’re behind the eight ball.” Mr. Harvey, a former dean of the School of Education at North Carolina A&T State University and professor of leadership studies, says historically black colleges should be combing their alumni databases to find registered Republicans who can be tapped to reach out to legislators and talk concretely about how their programs promote job growth and community development. “You have to have an overtly political agenda here.”
www.chronicle.com
Trump’s Election Is an Opportunity for HBCUs, if They Can Take It
By Walter M. Kimbrough
Recently I watched a short video by Lavell Crump, better known as the rapper David Banner. In his postelection reflection, he urged his fans not to panic about the results. He then offered what some might perceive as a controversial assessment. Banner suggested that Donald J. Trump’s election might be the best thing ever to happen to black people because there would be no excuse for their not engaging in building communities. He spoke about reading more, improving speaking skills, being more involved in the entire electoral process starting locally, and in general assuming greater leadership to speak about issues that affect African-Americans. Banner’s comments have great utility for historically black colleges and universities, and offer an appropriate challenge for that sector and its students, parents, supporters, and alumni. Part of the disappointment with the Obama presidency that some people have expressed stemmed from an expectation that he would solve many of the challenges facing HBCUs. In fairness, many sat back and expected him to right every wrong going back to 1619, when the first Africans were enslaved in Britain’s North American colonies.