University System News:
www.ajc.com
Georgia University System reacts sharply to talk of sanctuary campuses
Jeremy Redmon and Greg Bluestein The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A mushrooming controversy over efforts to defy President-elect Donald Trump and protect immigrants without legal status who are studying on college campuses prompted a sharp reaction from Georgia’s University System Monday. In a prepared statement sent to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the system said that while it respects the rights of students, faculty and staff to express their views, “calls for institutions to implement policies and procedures that may violate state and federal laws are unacceptable.” “The University System of Georgia and its institutions have always abided by the law and will continue to do so,” the statement says. “We expect our institutions to follow the law and cooperate with all federal and state agencies. As public employees we have a duty to uphold the law.” The statement came in reaction to a recent discussion about making Armstrong State University in Savannah a “sanctuary campus.” According to the campus newspaper, The Inkwell, Faculty Senate President Clifford Padgett “proposed getting the University System of Georgia Faculty Council on board and getting other institutions to come together to do a full resolution.”
www.politics.blog.ajc.com
Georgia’s higher ed system urged to consider ‘sanctuary campus’ stance
Greg Bluestei
Several private colleges in Georgia have signaled they’re prepared to defy Donald Trump if he tries to deport immigrants who are illegally in the U.S. Now the state’s public colleges could weigh whether to take a stance. At Armstrong State University’s faculty Senate meeting last week, leaders of the Savannah school said they would ask the University System of Georgia’s faculty council to craft a resolution for the public school system. “We don’t know how much support there will be from all the other schools,” said Clifford Padgett, the Senate president, according to the Inkwell, the school’s student publication. “But … I know we would like to put in a united front.” His remarks came as Armstrong administrators discussed declaring the school a “sanctuary campus,” which is fast becoming a familiar debate in Georgia campuses. Administrators at Emory University and Agnes Scott College have indicated they would support undocumented students, known as “Dreamers,” who were granted a temporary reprieve from the threat of deportation by an executive order from President Barack Obama. The move could have powerful repercussions. A powerful Georgia lawmaker, state Rep. Earl Ehrhart, has threatened to cut off public funding to schools that violate federal immigration law. Such a decision could cost private schools tens of millions of dollars in grants, tuition assistance programs and other funding.
www.myajc.com
Unconventional needs for the nontraditional student
By Marlon A. Walker – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Valaire Moore worried how she would finish school after daughter Caleia was born this spring. A junior at Clayton State University, she already works full-time and helps out with the family’s cleaning business. She settled on mostly online courses this fall. Her parents babysit when she attends class and during her 12-hour work shifts on the weekends. A pilot program at the university will lighten her load. BOOST will soon provide nontraditional students with childcare stipends to help offset the financial burden. “I’m excited to see how this is going to play out,” said Moore, 27, of Rex. “I was worried. Sometimes, I feel penalized for trying to better myself.” With nontraditional students — including those working full-time jobs, raising families or over 25 — making up a growing majority of those attending college, some institutions are increasing efforts to help ensure outside forces don’t hinder students’ ability to excel. …Statistics aren’t kept on the number of students in college with children, she said, which means their plight often goes unheard. She said the BOOST program will help about 100 student-parents at the university, and another 100 each at Columbus State and Armstrong State universities.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
VSU Giving Tuesday raises $125,000
By John Stephen
Valdosta State University won big on Giving Tuesday, raising more than $125,000 in a single day. VSU joined several other local organizations in asking for donations on Nov. 29 as part of Giving Tuesday, a day that celebrates and encourages giving worldwide. In the five years of Giving Tuesday’s existence, VSU has never participated at such a level, according to university officials. In the days leading up to Giving Tuesday, VSU rolled out a full campaign of videos, social media posts, and even a Giving Tuesday website.
www.albanyherald.com
ABAC Manna Drop helps 400 families
Third annual event was organized by Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College students
Staff Reports
TIFTON – The third annual Manna Drop organized by the students at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College raised nearly $20,000 with the help of Tifton businesses and members of the community. ABAC students were able to provide food for 400 families on Nov. 19 at Charles Spencer Elementary School. Volunteers at the event gave away 2,600 pounds of ham to those in need in the community. The goal of the Manna Drop is to provide families in Tift and surrounding counties with Thanksgiving meals.
www.11alive.com
Atlanta Tech Edge: Georgia VR, IHG, Cyber Security Funding
http://www.11alive.com/entertainment/television/programs/atlanta-tech-edge/atlanta-tech-edge-georgia-vr-ihg-cyber-security-funding/362057729
… Georgia Tech is getting some major funding for their cyber security research from the Department of Defense. The school has been awarded a $17.3 million dollar contract to lay the foundation for a new science around attribution or the ability to quickly and positively identify those responsible for cyber attacks. University officials say attribution can then support potential sanctions and policy decisions which may discourage attacks and create more transparency. And Intel has also given Georgia Tech $1.5 million dollars to create a research center focused on machine-learning cyber security. Researchers will focus on improving the analytics in malware detection and threat analysis. (w/video)
www.ajc.com
Clayton State University launches new strategic plan
Shelagh MaRee Hardrich For the AJC
Clayton State University recently marked its commitment to becoming a national model for community engagement and student enrichment in higher education with the launch of Strategic Plan 2022. The five-year plan builds on university milestones over the past few years to advance its mission of providing students an experience-based learning environment supplemented with active community service learning opportunities to ensure students are prepared for success. Clayton State is focused on six strategic priorities:
www.wtxl.com
Board of Regents Makes Recommendation for VSU President
Jade Bulecza
ATLANTA, Ga. (WTXL)–The interim Darton State College president could soon become the next president at Valdosta State University. The Georgia Board of Regents Special Committee has recommended the full board consider and vote on Dr. Richard Carvajal for the position.
www.dailyreportonline.com
Sovereign Immunity a ‘Stone Wall’ for Lawyer Suing Regents, AG
Greg Land, Daily Report
Athens solo Stephen Humphreys has repeatedly been foiled in his efforts to hold the State Board of Regents and the attorney general’s office accountable for what he claims are multiple instances of wrongdoing. Still, he said he is undeterred by his latest setback: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Tom Campbell’s dismissal of a suit in which a group of Kennesaw State University alumni and students sought to bar former AG Sam Olens from becoming the university’s president. As in his other actions involving the Regents and AG, Humphreys was thwarted by the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which he says has become a shield against accountability for state agencies or officials, no matter how egregious their actions. … Humphreys has asked the justices to reconsider and take the case as an opportunity to clarify “an issue of the gravest public importance: Whether state officials have total immunity, and can commit crimes with impunity.”
If that fails, Humphreys said he will seek relief at the U.S. Supreme Court.
www.chronicle.com
Will Higher Education Be ‘Trumped’ by State Lawmakers?
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Will-Higher-Education-Be/238572
By Eric Kelderman
As the impact of the 2016 elections takes shape in statehouses, there are early signs that some policy proposals made by President-elect Donald J. Trump are prompting reactions from governors and state legislators. For those who work on higher-education policy in Washington and in statehouses, the most common reaction to the new administration is uncertainty about the direction in which the president-elect and his nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, may steer the Department of Education when they take office, in January. “Since the election, the No. 1 answer I’ve given is … I don’t know,” Jennifer T. Poulakidas, vice president for congressional and governmental affairs at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, said to a gathering of state higher-education lobbyists last week. The annual gathering, the Higher Education Government Relations Conference, is held by the land-grant association and three other groups: the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the American Association of Community Colleges, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Higher Education. But if, as Mr. Trump has promised, Congress and the Education Department roll back many of the regulations enacted under President Obama, state lawmakers may feel compelled to follow or reject the new administration’s lead, particularly on volatile issues like the treatment of undocumented immigrant students, who were brought into the country as children and are here without legal authorization, and of victims of sexual assault. State lawmakers in Georgia and Texas, for example, are already warning of consequences for public colleges that choose to act as sanctuaries for undocumented students if Mr. Trump does away with the protections the Obama administration extended to some of those students in 2012 under a policy called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. On the opposite side, state legislators in California and the governor of New York have spoken out against Mr. Trump’s ideas, warning of the divisive nature of his rhetoric and policy proposals.
www.diverseeducation.com
Land-grant HBCUs Seeking Aid from Congress
by Reginald Stuart
The nation’s 19 historically Black land-grant colleges (the so-called 1890 HBCUs), are expected this week to have a Congressional hearing on a plan to specifically strengthen the institutions’ financial abilities to provide formal education to minorities and others pursuing studies in the agricultural sciences. The full House Committee, chaired by Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, plans to hear Wednesday morning from two panels — one of lawmakers and one of university presidents — about a House resolution (6020) that would provide each of the 19 institutions $1 million a year for five years to fund scholarships for students planning to pursue careers in the field of agriculture. The scholarship funds proposal by Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., represent what Scott notes is a “drop in the bucket” from the billions spent annually by the federal government to help higher education.
Higher Education News:
www.hechingerreport.org
After falling, college graduation rates begin to rebound
Despite huge push, most recent figures remain just short of pre-decline levels
http://hechingerreport.org/falling-college-graduation-rates-begin-rebound/
by JON MARCUS
Graduation rates have begun to rebound after falling, and while the most recent figures still are short of pre-decline levels, analysts expect them to continue their slow rise. The proportion of students who started college in the fall of 2010 and graduated within six years rose to 54.8 percent, up just under 2 percentage points from the proportion who started in the fall of 2009, but still short of the proportion who started in 2008, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which tracks this. That means 55,000 more students who began in 2010 have finished than who began in 2009, the center reported—but also that more than 1.3 million haven’t, at a time when the nation is behind schedule at meeting a goal of increasing the proportion of the population with degrees to 60 percent by 2025. About 40 percent of Americans today have postsecondary degrees and credentials.
www.ajc.com
How to pay for college? Atlanta schools offer help
Chris Quinn The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Public Schools and Achieve Atlanta are offering a series of workshops on how to pay for college. As acceptance letters from colleges are beginning to arrive in mailboxes, learning how to pay for or finance a degree will be a key to success. There will be workshop sessions on dual enrollment (earning college credits while still in high school), overview of filling out the federal financial aid form to qualify for grants and loans, overviews of HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships, Achieve Atlanta scholarships.