University System News:
www.npr.org
How One University Used Big Data To Boost Graduation Rates
Whenever you surf the web, sophisticated algorithms are tracking where you go, comparing you with millions of other people. They’re trying to predict what you’ll do next: Apply for a credit card? Book a family vacation? At least 40 percent of universities report that they’re trying some version of the same technology on their students, according to several recent surveys. It’s known as predictive analytics, and it can be used to either help or hurt students, says a new report from the New America Foundation. The dangers come from the possibility of discrimination, invasions of privacy and groups of students being stigmatized, the authors, Manuela Ekowo and Iris Palmer, write. There can also be a lack of transparency when decisionmaking is turned over to an opaque computer program. But a happy story cited in the report comes from Georgia State University, a large public university in Atlanta with more than 24,000 undergrads. Of those students, 60 percent are nonwhite, and many are from working-class and first-generation families. As with many public universities, resources for student advising are limited. Large institutions tend to have staggering caseloads; a few years ago, GSU’s ratio was 700 students per advisor. The challenge facing the university was: Can we apply predictive modeling to make better use of those advisors’ time and get more students across the finish line? With the help of an outside consulting firm, GSU analyzed 2.5 million grades earned by students in courses over 10 years to create a list of factors that hurt chances for graduation. The university then built an early-warning system, with the initials GPS, for Graduation and Progression Success. The system is updated daily and includes more than 700 red flags aimed at helping advisors keep students on track to graduation.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Four-year graduation rate at University of Georgia reaches record level
Coming soon is a video of a long interview I did with University of Georgia Senior Associate Director of Admissions David Graves about how high school seniors can enhance their chances of getting into the Athens school. The video has to be edited. One thing Graves told me: UGA received a record 15,600 early action applications this year, and those students should hear by early December whether they were admitted, deferred to the regular admission pool or denied. Typically, 60 percent of UGA’s freshmen class of 5,300 students comes from those early action applicants. In the meantime, here is a release from UGA on new grad data showing a climb in the number of students graduating in four years:
www.news.fastcompany.com
This online master’s program is now producing more computer science grads than any other university
These days there are dozens of ways to learn how to code, from bootcamps to YouTube videos. But until the Georgia Institute of Technology introduced a low-cost, online version of its master’s degree in computer science in 2014, earning an advanced credential in the subject was expensive and often inconvenient. Now, for just $7,000, students can earn the same CS diploma as master’s students who attend Georgia Tech in person. In just two years, the program has become the nation’s largest computer science MS in terms of annual graduates, increasing production by roughly 7%. Even better: the average student in the program is 34 years old and would not otherwise have had the means to attain the degree, implying a significant increase in access for lower-income, mid-career professionals.
www.metroatlantaceo.com
Enrollment Continues to Climb at Kennesaw State
http://metroatlantaceo.com/news/2016/10/enrollment-continues-climb-kennesaw-state/
Staff Report From Metro Atlanta CEO
Kennesaw State University enrolled a total of 35,018 students for fall 2016, a 5 percent increase over the previous year, according to a recent official tally from the Office of the Registrar. Kennesaw State’s enrollment growth reflects a 6 percent jump in the number of beginning freshman and transfer students, and a 12 percent increase in new graduate students from fall 2015 to fall 2016. “These increases demonstrate that Kennesaw State continues to be viewed as a desirable campus destination in Georgia,” said Interim President Houston Davis. “Despite the enrollment declines we’re seeing across higher education, students are opting to attend Kennesaw State because of its quality, affordability and comprehensive program offerings across 13 academic colleges.”
www.floyd.allongeorgia.com
GHC takes top honors at 2016 Chancellor’s Annual Service Excellence Awards
Georgia Highlands College brought home more awards collectively than any other institution in the University System of Georgia at the 2016 Chancellor’s Annual Service Excellence Awards at Georgia College in Milledgeville on Tuesday. GHC earned two Gold Awards, one Silver Award and a Bronze Award. The Chancellor’s Service Excellence Awards recognize individuals, teams, leaders, ambassadors, process improvement projects, and institutions that have demonstrated outstanding, “above and beyond” service to the students, colleagues and other customers of the USG over the last year. Among the 29 USG institutions, GHC received the following recognitions: Library and College Testing won the Gold Award in the Outstanding Process Improvement: Increase Effectiveness and Efficiency award category for the College Testing Initiative.; The GHC Quality Matters Initiative was awarded the Gold Student Improvement Initiative of the Year Award in the Outstanding Process Improvement: Increase Service to Students award category.; Vice President for Human Resources Ginni Siler won the Bronze Award for Service Excellence – Outstanding Leader (Administrator level).; The college as a whole under President Don Green won the Silver Award for Outstanding Institution of the Year and President.
www.macon.com
Middle Georgia State, president honored
http://www.macon.com/news/local/education/article111143802.html
BY ANDREA HONAKER
Middle Georgia State University and President Christopher Blake received top awards recently for their new programs, initiatives and partnerships. They were named the Gold Institution of the Year and President of the Year at the University System of Georgia Chancellor’s Service Excellence Awards. “Middle Georgia has long been committed to service through strong and accessible leadership, exceptional academic offerings and thorough engagement in our communities. It is gratifying in the extreme to see our efforts recognized,” Blake said in a release. The awards recognize the higher-education institution and president that show great dedication and performance in service during the past year.
www.metrogazette.com
Albany State University to participate in $47-million initiative to improve training of aspiring principals
Special to the Metro
College of Education to redesign principal preparation program in collaboration with state and local school districts
ALBANY, Ga. – The Wallace Foundation selected Albany State University to participate in a national $47-million initiative to develop models over the next four years for improving university principal preparation programs. The initiative will examine state policy for efforts to strengthen quality training statewide. …Albany State University will redesign the Educational Leadership program, offered by the ASU College of Education. The institution is one of seven universities selected by the Wallace Foundation and one of two historically black colleges or universities (HBCU) in the nation to receive funding, this year, for the initiative. ASU is also the only college or university representing the State of Georgia. “The redesign of Albany State University’s Educational Leadership program is a wonderful opportunity for the institution to improve the effectiveness of educators in the region and the state,” said ASU President Art Dunning. “Our faculty and staff members are dedicated to ensuring that exceptional training is provided to all Educational Leadership program participants. The grant from the Wallace Foundation will allow ASU to raise the bar for the university and for the state of Georgia.”
www.floyd.allongeorgia.com
Georgia to receive $1.07 million in specialty crop block grants
http://floyd.allongeorgia.com/georgia-to-receive-1-07-million-in-specialty-crop-block-grants/
The Georgia Department of Agriculture announced last week that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) have awarded Georgia its share of special crop block grant funds. The state is set to receive just over $1 million in grant funds. The program is put in place to “enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops” and in 2016 affects 17 projects including: …The University of Georgia Research Foundation
www.nique.net
KSU suffers from USG malfeasance
http://nique.net/opinions/2016/10/28/ksu-suffers-from-usg-malfeasance/
By The Technique Editorial Board
The University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents announced earlier this month that Kennesaw State University’s (KSU) new president would be Sam Olens, Georgia’s current attorney general. Olens has no background in education and was selected by the USG allegedly without consideration of any other candidates, even though several others applied for
the position. We must ask: What was so attractive about Olens’ resume? Olens currently is serving as a defendant in a case regarding corruption at state colleges. He also has a history of lobbying against LGBT rights on behalf of the state of Georgia. Additionally, 4 of the 19 members of the Board of Regents had connections to Olens through donations made towards his attorney general campaigns, either from themselves, their families or their businesses. All these “qualifications” make his appointment look suspiciously like corruption. It is impossible to ascertain for sure the reasoning behind the choice, but it can be said without doubt that it was the wrong one. What place does Olens have running KSU? USG Chancellor Hank Huckaby said in a statement “With Sam’s background and experience, he understands how KSU and the community can work together for … the institution.” Suffice it to say that it is very unclear how any of his experience will apply in any capacity to serving as the president of KSU, unless he plans to work toward a greater student understanding of the intricacies of law.
www.cbs46.com
3 arrested in college student’s shooting death
http://www.cbs46.com/story/33492536/3-arrested-in-college-students-shooting-death
By Julian Johnson
CARROLLTON, GA (CBS46) – University of West Georgia Police Department released a statement to students announcing an arrest in the shooting death of Tyler Ford. Three people were arrested and charged with murder. Ford, a senior at the university, was killed Wednesday in the first homicide of 2016 in Carrollton. Police say 23-year-old Tyler Ford was shot and killed after answering the door of his apartment around 4:30 p.m. Three of his roommates were in the apartment when Ford was shot, according to authorities.
Higher Education News:
www.ajc.com
Ga. Supreme Court: Guns not allowed at school functions
Rhonda Cook The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Supreme Court today delivered a blow to gun rights activists in a ruling that said a law that prohibits guns at school property trumps one passed at the same time that allowed firearms inside school safety zones. The ruling came in a challenge the gun rights group GeorgiaCarry.org brought after the governor signed two conflicting bills passed by the 2014 Legislature. On April 22, 2014, Gov. Nathan Deal signed House Bill 826, which allowed licensed gun owners to bring their weapons onto school property. The next day Deal signed House Bill 60, which said the only time guns are allowed on school property is when someone is dropping off or picking up a student; otherwise guns on school property was specifically prohibited. The Code Revision Commission, which cleans up and revises laws passed by the Legislature, ruled that HB 60, the restriction on guns on school property trumped the other bill because it was signed second.
www.nytimes.com
How to Make Sense of College Rankings
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/opinion/sunday/how-to-make-sense-of-college-rankings.html?_r=0
Frank Bruni
But I can explain it in terms of what rankings do and don’t reveal and how high school seniors, who are right now in the thick of figuring out where they want to apply, should approach them. There are now dozens of rankings, reflecting both the way we’ve come to fetishize data and the anxiety that so many Americans rightly feel about wringing the most from an increasingly costly investment. Just last month came a new one from The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education (which is unrelated to The New York Times). It joined a jammed field of players, including The Economist, Forbes, and, yes, this newspaper, whose College Access Index looks narrowly at which of the country’s top schools seem to be the most socioeconomically diverse. Inasmuch as all of these rankings rely on, and compile, objective information about the schools they examine, they’re useful. But all of them also make subjective value judgments about what’s most important in higher education, and those judgments may or may not dovetail with a student’s interests. It’s crucial to look at precisely what’s being measured — which is easy to do, if you read the fine print. Some rankings assign more weight than others do to the selectiveness of a school and the academic background of its incoming students, on the theory that a high-achieving peer group matters. Some don’t really try that hard to get at the question of how satisfied a school’s students are. Others do, but take varying routes to the answer.
www.news.wabe.org
Report: College Tuition Hikes Hit Low-Income Families Hardest
http://news.wabe.org/post/report-college-tuition-hikes-hit-low-income-families-hardest
By MARTHA DALTON
During the recession, several states, including Georgia, cut back on the amount of money they gave to public colleges. That caused most schools to raise tuition. Data from the Southern Regional Education Board show those cost increases have disproportionately affected low-income families. The analysis shows families making $30,000 a year or less will spend between 59 and 73 percent of their income on college. Susan Lounsbury, the SREB’s director of data services, says Georgia should consider creating a needs-based scholarship program for those students. “Georgia is one of the states that tend to have merit-based scholarship programs, but not need-based,” she says. Georgia’s HOPE scholarship is a merit-based program, where students have to earn a minimum grade point average to qualify for aid. According to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, less than 30 percent of low-income college students in Georgia receive HOPE. Also, Lounsbury says, reforms need to go beyond simply tuition costs.
www.insidehighered.com
When Latina Student Wrote ‘Hence,’ Her Professor Assumed Plagiarism
Blog post called “Academia, Love Me Back” raises concerns about stereotypes and inclusivity.
By Scott Jaschik
An exchange between one professor and one student at Suffolk University has set off a nationwide online discussion over the assumptions faculty members may bring to interactions with minority students. The student, Tiffany Martínez, shared her story in a blog post — “Academia, Love Me Back” — that went viral on Friday. In the post, she described how a professor (whom she did not name) was handing back papers (in this case a literature review) and told her that “this is not your language.” At the top of the paper, the professor asked her to indicate where she had used “cut and paste.” And in an example of language that the instructor assumed could not have come from Martínez, the instructor circled the word “hence” and wrote, “This is not your word,” with “not” underlined twice. Martínez wrote that she had not used anyone else’s words, but that she felt humiliated and filled with self-doubt by the professor’s reaction, which Martínez attributed to stereotypes about the words a Latina student would use.
www.insidehighered.com
Where Ph.D.s Work and What They Earn
New analysis points to workplace gaps in nonacademic employment and salaries of those who earn doctorates in humanities vs. those in other fields. Gender gaps apparent as well.
By Scott Jaschik
For years, many humanities leaders have urged doctoral students in their fields to consider jobs outside academe — and have encouraged graduate departments to prepare their Ph.D. students for careers in fields other than higher education. An analysis released today by the Humanities Indicators Project shows how different job patterns are for those with humanities Ph.D.s (where academic work remains the norm) compared to other fields, which except for the arts send the vast majority of Ph.D.s to jobs outside higher education. Not surprisingly given some of the fields that employ nonhumanities Ph.D.s, people with humanities Ph.D.s earn less than Ph.D. recipients in other fields. The new analysis also shows substantial gender gaps in the pay of Ph.D.s across disciplines. The project conducted its analysis by using data from the National Science Foundation’s National Survey of College Graduates.
www.hechingerreport.org
New faces on campus: Students of all races welcome first black presidents to largely white colleges
Since 2013, seven small, highly selective liberal arts colleges not known for diversity have for the first time chosen college presidents who are black— just as students are demanding a better racial mix on their campuses.
by NICOLE LEWIS
NEW YORK — While studying abroad last year, Swarthmore College senior Chinyere Odim met Valerie Smith, the first black president of her largely white liberal arts college. The meeting, as Odim recalls it, reminded her why a racial mix on campus matters. “She was so excited to talk with me and to learn about my experience abroad,’’ Odim, who is black and originally from Brooklyn, said of her conversation with Swarthmore President Smith while she visited London on her inauguration tour. “I feel like she gets me, and that’s why I appreciate her being here.” Since 2013, seven small, highly selective liberal arts colleges not known for diversity have for the first time chosen college presidents who are black— just as students are demanding a better racial mix on their campuses.