University System News:
www.myajc.com
Georgia State students close education gap
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/georgia-state-students-close-education-gap/ntDmN/
By Nick Chiles – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA—Stress is as familiar to college students as fast food and sleep deprivation. It’s always perched on their shoulders like a gargoyle. There are times it can become overwhelming. For Georgia State University senior Aly Shields, extra stress swept in last year, brought on by a family crisis. She couldn’t shake it. Normally a solid student, Shields got back a few tests and papers with low grades. She soon received an email from her college advisor: “Hey, is everything okay?” “When I went to meet with him, he helped me with studying, with finding more resources and with stress management,” said Shields, 23, a psychology major. “Students here understand that your advisor isn’t just there to plug in your classes. They are there for so much more than that.” An email from a counselor sounds mundane. But it represents the core of a remarkable transformation at GSU in recent years.With its jumble of concrete and rehabbed older buildings mixed in with the skyscrapers of downtown Atlanta, Georgia State has turned into a leader among U.S. colleges for generating high academic achievement by groups that often struggle at large and predominantly white institutions: African-Americans, lower-income and first-generation college students. Georgia State now graduates more black students with bachelor’s degrees (1,777 in 2015) than any other nonprofit school in the United States, according to Diverse Issues in Higher Education. That includes historically black colleges and universities like Spelman College and Howard University.
www.albanyherald.com
ASU, Darton busy leading up to Jan. 1 merger
University plans topping-out ceremony for new Fine Arts Center
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — Albany State University will hold a topping-out ceremony at 11 a.m., Thursday for its new state-of-the-art Fine Arts Center. The ceremony marks the culmination of the construction that has taken the building from ground to roof. And, it should be added, the process took more than 14 years and three school presidents to reach this point. The 80,000-square-foot, $21 million Fine Arts Center will replace Holley Hall and feature multipurpose instructional spaces, lecture and recital halls, a band rehearsal room, instrumental and choral rehearsal spaces, art studios and a “black box” studio theater. The facility is located at 504 College Drive near the Soil to Sun Sculpture Plaza on the northwest corner of the campus behind the Billy C. Black Building. The College of Arts and Humanities is the largest of the university’s five colleges with more than 14 programs, 71 faculty and 2,630 students. Departments in the college include Criminal Justice, English, Modern Languages and Mass Communication, Fine Arts, History and Political Science, Public Administration, and Social Work.
www.onlineathens.com
Athens to host extensive state public policy discussions this week
By Jim Thompson
Sunday marks the start of a biennial session for Georgia state legislators sponsored by the leadership of the Georgia General Assembly and the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute. The every-other-year session, which has been a feature of public policy discussion in the state for nearly 60 years, is designed in part to provide newly elected state legislators with the training and background they’ll need when the legislature convenes on the second Monday in January. In addition to providing a primer for incoming legislators, the Biennial Institute features a number of panel discussions of public policy issues that could have an impact on the upcoming legislative session, along with speeches from the governor and the House speaker. …Also scheduled for Monday are sessions on entrepreneurship, featuring a representative of UGA’s Small Business Development Center along with Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, and Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, chairs of their respective chamber’s Economic Development and Tourism committees. Other Monday panels feature discussions of the impact of the state’s military bases and health care technology. Monday’s luncheon speaker is Steve Wrigley, chancellor-elect of the University System of Georgia. A former director of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Wrigley also served UGA as its senior vice president for external affairs and vice president for government relations. Wrigley was named executive vice chancellor of the University System of Georgia in 2011. He was named chancellor last month, and takes over for retiring Chancellor Hank Huckaby on Jan. 1.
www.ksusentinel.com
Panel fights fraud and unethical behavior at KSU
http://ksusentinel.com/2016/11/28/panel-fights-fraud-and-unethical-behavior-at-ksu/
SABRINA KERNS
As part of International Fraud Awareness Week, Kennesaw State University held a Presidential Ethics Awareness panel on Nov. 16 to bring awareness to the impact of fraud on organizations and employees. The panel was sparked by a campaign from University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby. His SPIRIT campaign released earlier in November promotes stewardship, prevention, integrity, responsibility, inspiration and trust in Georgia’s public universities.
www.wtoc.com
Community pitches in for Darton students surprised by debt
http://www.wtoc.com/story/33830827/community-pitches-in-for-darton-students-surprised-by-debt
By Amanda Hoskins, Reporter
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Nursing students at Darton State College are still frustrated after getting a notification three weeks ago that they had to pay back loans they didn’t know they had. Three students that WALB spoke with said that they got a letter emailed to them exactly three weeks before their December 9th graduation ceremony. After the story aired last Wednesday, a woman, who would like to remain anonymous, called and said she wanted to help the students with their payments. There is now a GoFundMe page set up to help all of the nursing students who are facing those debts. The woman donated $1,000, but she hopes to contribute more. She said that she knows the students are struggling, and in the goodness of giving, she wants to help out. The students said they are grateful for the help. …WALB spoke with the communications director for the college on Wednesday. 504 students are supposed to graduate next Friday and 119 of them found out they have balances stretching from $700 to $1,7000. Officials at Darton said students were supposed to notify financial aid before the semester began to let them know they were on track to graduate in December. School officials said that when the federal loans are looked at, they are given out for the whole year unless the student told them they were only completing one semester. Students said they weren’t aware they needed to do that. To compromise, college officials said they are letting them walk at graduation and giving them until March 1st to pay their debt. But they can’t push that date because it’s federal money the students owe.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
Augusta University Literacy Center receives national honor
By Doug Stutsman Staff Writer
The Augusta University Literacy Center was designated as a National Exemplary Model on Tuesday for its work on improving reading levels for local children and adults. Dr. Mari Carbo, founder and executive director of the National Reading Styles Institute, presented the literacy center with the award via a live video projection. With the honor, nationwide instructors will visit the local facility to research how Augusta University techniques have garnered uncommon results. “What a tremendous honor,” said Dr. Paulette Harris, director of the center. “We earned this status because of improved scores from (our students.) …Each day, our students are beating unbelievable odds and we’re so grateful for everyone’s hard work.” The literacy center is largely funded through grants, while children and adults are provided free tutoring.
www.mdjonline.com
KSU Continuing Education wins 13 awards at National Marketing Conference
Staff reports
The College of Continuing and Professional Education at Kennesaw State University received 13 awards at the 25th annual University Professional and Continuing Education Association’s Marketing and Enrollment Management Seminar Nov. 8-10 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Up from 12 wins in 2015, this year’s record-setting recognition included Gold, Silver and Bronze awards for a variety of marketing efforts.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA named a Bronze Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists
By UGA News Service
The University of Georgia received a Bronze Bicycle Friendly University award by the League of American Bicyclists for its commitment to safe, enjoyable and convenient bicycling for students, faculty, staff and visitors. “We’re proud of this distinction and we remain committed to creating safe, convenient bicycle infrastructure and programs at UGA,” said Kevin Kirsche, director of sustainability at UGA. UGA was part of a group of 51 new and renewing bike friendly universities from 25 states recognized. Athens-Clarke County also received a Bronze Bike Friendly Community award, and BikeAthens was named a Silver Bike Friendly Business.
www.dailyillini.com
Alumnus gives $1 million for scholarships, talks importance of education
Megan Jones, Staff Writer
Both Chancellor Robert Jones and alumnus Robert Carr have two strong principles of belief: the importance of higher education and the power of a scholarship for young adults. Carr received a $250 scholarship from a women’s club of Lockport while in high school, and Jones received a small scholarship to attend Fort Valley State College. He later received his master’s degree from the University of Georgia as well as a doctorate from the University of Missouri. Carr made a vow to help others receive the same opportunities as himself, so he formed the Give Something Back Foundation in 2003. Yesterday, recognized as Giving Tuesday, Carr’s foundation presented a $1 million check to the University to provide full scholarships to 50 students.
www.tiftongazette.com
ABAC receives $6,544 grant from Governor’s Office of Highway Safety
TIFTON – The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) has announced a $6,544 grant to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College for participation in the GOHS Georgia Young Adult Program. The GOHS addresses young adult driver crashes, injuries and fatalities and partners with colleges and universities throughout the state to implement the Georgia Young Adult Program (GYAP). This program has proven to be successful using strategies such as peer education, providing educational speakers to schools, and encouraging schools to develop creative, innovative techniques to reduce young adult crashes, injuries and fatalities in their communities.
www.hubga.com
$17 Million Contract Will Help Establish Science of Cyber Attribution at Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology has been awarded a $17.3 million cyber security research contract to help establish new science around the ability to quickly, objectively and positively identify the virtual actors responsible for cyberattacks, a technique known as “attribution.” While the tools and techniques to be developed during the four-and-a-half year effort won’t point directly to the individuals responsible, the initiative will provide proof of involvement by specific groups, identifiable by their methods of attack, consistent errors and other unique characteristics. Such attribution could support potential sanctions and policy decisions – and discourage attacks by providing transparency for activities that are normally hidden. The research, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, will be led by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, in collaboration with other academic institutions and companies. The project is expected to create an attribution framework dubbed Rhamnousia – in Greek mythology, the goddess of Rhamnous and the spirit of divine retribution.
www.multihousingnews.com
HFF Arranges $34M for Georgia Student Housing
https://www.multihousingnews.com/post/hff-arranges-34m-for-georgia-student-housing/
by Jeffrey Steele
The Hamptons is a 668-bed, cottage-style development serving the public research institution Georgia Southern University.
Statesboro, Ga.—HFF has arranged $33.5 million in permanent financing for a student housing community in Statesboro, Ga., northwest of Savannah. Called The Hamptons, the student housing is a 668-bed, cottage-style development serving the public research institution Georgia Southern University. Working exclusively on behalf of IMS Development, HFF secured the 10-year, fixed-rate loan through a national bank. Director Jeremy Sain led the HFF debt placement team. The Hamptons was delivered last year. The gated community features 117 Tudor-style cottages, offering two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom floor plans. In addition, there are 120 residential apartment-style flats with one and two-bedroom configurations.
www.13wmaz.com
STEM building coming to Middle Georgia State University, Warner Robins campus
D Hunter Joyce, WMAZ
On Wednesday, Houston County officials joined faculty from Middle Georgia State University to break ground on a new academic building at the Warner Robins Campus. The new facility will focus on STEM education — that’s science, technology, engineering, and math. The $5 million building will provide labs and technology based classrooms to expand on the school’s information-technology degrees and allow room for new programs. Middle Georgia State University President Christopher Blake hopes the new STEM building will help foster partnerships with Robins Air Force Base and Houston County Schools. “It’s about knowledge serving communities,” says Blake. “And I think science, technology, engineering, and mathematics give students the tools to be able to go into a number of different careers and build their professional lives.”
www.athensceo.com
UGA School of Law Dedicates Courtroom in Honor of Butler Family
Staff Report From Athens CEO
The University of Georgia School of Law recently dedicated the James E. Butler Courtroom in the school’s Rusk Hall, honoring three generations of the Butler family – James E. Butler, 1977 alumnus James E. “Jim” Butler Jr. and 2008 alumnus James E. “Jeb” Butler III. The occasion also marked the portrait unveiling of Jim Butler. The painting, by artist Beth Stephens, now hangs outside the courtroom. Jim Butler has had a large impact on the legal profession both inside and outside the courtroom. Four times over his career, he was lead counsel in a case setting the record for the largest verdict in Georgia. He has litigated cases in 31 states and served as lead counsel in five cases where the verdicts exceeded $100 million. Jim Butler also has been a generous donor to the law school, establishing the James E. Butler Scholarship, assisting in the creation of the Sic Vos Non Vobis Scholarship and helping to launch the school’s Challenge Fund last year, which successfully doubled the law school’s annual fund in a single year and enabled Georgia Law to offer up to 66 new quarter scholarships to deserving students.
www.myajc.com
Ohio State attack: How Georgia colleges prepare for the worst
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local/ohio-state-attack-how-georgia-colleges-prepare-for/ntGkH/
By Molly Bloom – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Predicting and eliminating every possible way an attacker could hurt students and staff may not be realistic. But after Monday’s attack at Ohio State University, officials at Atlanta-area schools say they’re ready if an attack happens. “In this world as we’ve seen it, sometimes people have their own agenda and you don’t see it coming,” Georgia State University Police Chief Joe Spillane said. “You can only prepare for it.” The University System of Georgia requires all institutions to have an emergency response plan and update it annually, a requirement all schools are currently in compliance with, system spokesperson Charles Sutlive said. “The safety and security of our campus communities are our number one priority,” he said. Those plans include an outline of how students, staff and law enforcement should react to an “active shooter” on campus. The details of those plans are set by each school, but many echo the options Ohio State officials presented to students in the midst of Monday’s attack: Run. Hide. Fight.
www.live5news.com
ASU hosts local law enforcement to discuss college campus security
By Jim Wallace, Anchor
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – The Albany State University Criminal Justice Institute hosted some of the community’s top police officers to answer student questions. The chiefs and other police leaders were questioned about what people should know if they are stopped by police, and other social issues. They also talked about the recent attacks on college campuses, including Monday’s at Ohio State University. The chiefs said that they work and train together to protect against attacks on all the college campuses in Albany.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Common Core turns students into literary critics. Does it turn them into lifelong readers?
In this interesting essay, University of Georgia professor Peter Smagorinsky talks about what reading means to the reader, as expressed by students in Mexico. He says current education policy treats reading as a way to test and sort students rather than inspire and connect them. Smagorinsky echoes a growing concern among English teachers about the emphasis in Common Core on “close textual reading.” The framers of Common Core State Standards felt English class had strayed too far into “What does this book mean to me”” and “How do I feel about it?” and weren’t figuring out what the author was actually saying. So, students are now being asked to concentrate on what the text says so they can understand and analyze the content, arguments and contradictions. Rather than reading for self-exploration, they are reading for information and analysis. Common Core critic and professor Sandra Stotsky explains why this approach may not meet its goal:
www.ledger-enquirer.com
Military friendly colleges abound in Columbus area
BY MARK RICE
Columbus State University, Columbus Technical College and Chattahoochee Valley Community have been designated as 2017 Military Friendly Schools. They are among the 1,273 institutions given the honor by Victory Media, a Pennsylvania-based company that helps veterans transition into civilian careers. Georgia has 39 Military Friendly Schools, including the Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, and Alabama has 22, including Auburn University, Troy University and the University of Alabama. Victory Media has published the annual list since 2009. This is the fifth straight year CSU was recognized and the fourth straight year for Columbus Tech.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
College helping soldiers recover from injuries
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/2016-11-27/college-helping-soldiers-recover-injuries
By Dash Coleman
Armstrong State University will soon be helping the U.S. Army research how to better prevent musculoskeletal injuries in soldiers and shorten the time it takes for those soldiers to return to duty. The Savannah university signed a three-year cooperative research and development agreement with the Army’s Research Institute of Environmental Medicine that will allow researchers with the school’s physical therapy doctoral program to work directly with local soldiers. The Army’s research institute, called USARIEM, already works with local soldiers on its own accord, but research agreement will allow soldiers to visit Armstrong’s campus for research and school researchers to visit local Army installations.
www.fox5atlanta.com
Robot helps kids with cerebral palsy build muscle control
http://www.fox5atlanta.com/health/fox-medical-team/220208638-story
By: Beth Galvin
ATLANTA, Ga. – 12-year old J.B. McWhorter doesn’t seem to mind hanging out with a slightly bossy, round-eyed robot. The Dacula, Georgia middle schooler has cerebral palsy, or CP, a movement disorder that makes it hard for him to control his arms and legs. But, if McWhorter doesn’t practice moving his muscles they will stiffen… The robot has been programmed by Ayanna Howard, a professor of robotics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, to help children like JB improve their motor skills and muscle control.
www.chronicle.com
Getting Up to Speed as a New President
The top job has grown more demanding. Here’s what new college leaders need to know.
By Lee Gardner
Running a college has become one of the most challenging leadership jobs in the country, and it’s only getting tougher. The people who take it on have typically spent a lifetime in academe, and yet many find themselves unprepared for the job’s complexity and its demands. Aspiring leaders, and the boards of trustees that hire them, want to know, how can candidates prepare? And how can new leaders master the steep learning curve and navigate the decisions that can make or break their tenures? Today’s new presidents face greater pressures than their predecessors from the very first day. Funding and enrollment challenges have helped make the job tougher, and the rise of social media has both increased presidential headaches and provided a megaphone for their critics. “Now, success is not enough,” says Stanley C. Preczewski, president of Georgia Gwinnett College. “You have to thrive.”
www.times-herald.com
Westmoreland signs office documents over to UWG
http://times-herald.com/news/2016/11/westmoreland-signs-office-documents-over-to-uwg
By REBECCA LEFTWICH
Nearly a quarter-century’s worth of materials documenting U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland’s public service career were officially pledged Tuesday to the University of West Georgia, where they will go on permanent display at the Ingram Library on the school’s Carrollton campus. Local politicians spoke of the congressman’s influence during a ceremony Tuesday, before Westmoreland signed over his papers to UWG President Kyle Marrero at the university’s Newnan campus. “It’s symbolic that we chose to have the ceremony here today,” Marrero told Westmoreland. “This campus is the true spirit of what you stood for during your service. The collaborative spirit is why we’re here. “It is an honor and privilege to receive your papers,” he added. Westmoreland, a longtime resident of Coweta County, has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2005 and did not seek re-election this year. He also served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1995-2005.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
VSU opens retiree center
The Valdosta State University Retirees Association recently opened the Retiree Center. Located directly across the hall from Human Resources in the University Center, the Retiree Center serves as home base for the VSU Retirees Association, according to a university press release. The VSU Retirees Association helps retired faculty, staff, and administrators maintain connections to the university by providing opportunities to remain involved in campus life and to serve as a resource to current faculty, staff, and students, as well as alumni, according to the press release. Members also participate in statewide and national associations, such as the Georgia Higher Education Retirees Organizations and the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education.
www.phys.org
Georgia State opens South Pole Solar Observatory in Antarctica
http://phys.org/news/2016-11-georgia-state-south-pole-solar.html
Dr. Stuart Jefferies, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Georgia State University, will lead a multi-institutional team in opening the South Pole Solar Observatory in Antarctica and installing and operating instruments that will record high-resolution images of the Sun. The project, sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Polar Programs, will begin in December. The South Pole Solar Observatory will be 4 kilometers away from the United States Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. The two instruments being installed will log high-resolution images of the Sun every five seconds at two different heights in its atmosphere. The goals of the project are to measure and characterize internal gravity waves omnipresent in the Sun’s atmosphere, identify the role of these waves in transporting energy and momentum, and use the properties of these waves to provide a mapping of the structure and dynamics of the Sun’s atmosphere.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA looking at federal district court ruling on overtime pay
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2016-11-24/uga-looking-federal-district-court-ruling-overtime-pay
By Lee Shearer
University of Georgia and University System of Georgia officials scrambled Wednesday to come up with a new plan after a federal judge in Texas blocked the Obama administration’s new overtime rule. Scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1, the rule would have made millions of American workers newly eligible for overtime pay, including about 3,000 at UGA. An injunction issued Tuesday by the federal court in the Eastern District of Texas prevents the Department of Labor from mandating overtime pay for salaried employees who make less than about $47,500 a year — a dramatic jump from the old threshold of $23,660. UGA had already this month switched over affected employees, who had been paid monthly, to a schedule in which they get a paycheck every two weeks, but with a delay of more than a week between the end of a pay period and when they actually get paid. In a statement released Wednesday, UGA officials said only that they knew of the judge’s ruling.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
The best years of his life
‘Chubby’ Engler exemplified the Greatest Generation
http://chronicle.augusta.com/opinion/2016-11-29/best-years-his-life
By Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
When did we stop venerating the virtuous? When did we quit honoring the honorable? Somewhere along the line we lost our feel for the kind of clean, wholesome living and duty-bound dedication that built this great nation. No one represented that selfless sacrifice and quiet strength of character more than the World War II generation. And Dr. Harold S. Engler represented that generation better than most. The Augusta native known affectionately as “Chubby” spread his wings at Augusta College, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia before becoming a B-24 pilot for the Army Air Corps in World War II. After attending the Medical College of Georgia, he served on its faculty for years, ending his career as a surgeon in private practice. Along the way, he lent his expertise to the Georgia Surgical Society, the Bariatric Society, the MCG Board of Regents and more. …He died early on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 93. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. today at Thomas Poteet &Son, 214 Davis Rd.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
FAFSA Completion Rates Vary Widely by City
By Paul Fain
The percentage of graduating high school seniors who completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in 2015 varied widely by city, according to a new analysis from the National College Access Network. The group looked at numbers from 68 cities, finding that a high of 68 percent completed the FAFSA in Memphis, Tenn., compared to a low of 25 percent in North Las Vegas. The 68-city average was 48 percent, according to the group, which is close to the nationwide rate of 44 percent in 2014.
www.chronicle.com
The Case for a New Kind of Core
By Nicholas Lemann
When I was a professional-school dean (at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism), we had no choice but to try to define the specific content of an education in our field. The premise was that if you want to practice a profession, there is a body of material you must master, at least in the early part of your education. That perspective led me to urge, this year in The Chronicle Review, that undergraduate colleges move in a similar direction: a core curriculum. Traditional undergraduate colleges have had the luxury of being far looser in the way they define what it means to be educated. Of course American undergraduate colleges vary greatly. The majority of undergraduates study skills, mainly by taking courses designed to prepare them for specific jobs, in practical-minded fields. But liberal-arts majors, who populate the country’s most renowned and prestigious colleges, usually have a great deal of choice in what they study. Some colleges have no curriculum requirements at all; most impose only a light-duty distribution requirement, perhaps along with a required writing course.
www.chronicle.com
Building a Network to Help First-Generation Students Succeed
Carl Strikwerda, president, Elizabethtown College (Pa.)
By Karin Fischer
To help low-income and first-generation students succeed, build them a network, says Carl Strikwerda, president of Elizabethtown College, in Pennsylvania. Students from homes or high schools where few others have gone on to college don’t have peers they can turn to for advice when times get tough. Among other interventions, the liberal-arts college has developed a special orientation for those at-risk students to help give them a network before classes start. “A whole lot of success in college is built on what some people are now calling grit,” says Mr. Strikwerda. “The myth is, of course, that’s just an internal virtue. Grit is something you develop, and you develop in part by having a community that supports you.”
www.chronicle.com
Free-Speech Groups Describe Campus Media as Besieged
by Peter Schmidt
Colleges in every sector of higher education are threatening the independence of their student journalists, says a report released on Thursday by advocacy groups focused on free speech or academic freedom. The report describes several recent public controversies — including those at Mt. Saint Mary’s University, in Maryland; Northern Michigan University; and Wesleyan University, in Connecticut — in which student newspapers or their advisers complained of coming under undue pressure to restrict content. Such cases “may be just the tip of a much larger iceberg,” the report says, citing a March survey by the College Media Association that found many college media advisers had felt administrative pressure that they did not discuss publicly for fear of losing their jobs.
www.chronicle.com
$108 Billion in Student Debt Is Likely to Be Forgiven, Government Says
by Shannon Najmabadi
In a report released on Wednesday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said the federal government would forgive at least $108 billion of student debt in the coming years, an amount higher than expected. The office also said the Department of Education’s method of forecasting the cost of its income-driven repayment program does not “ensure reliable budget estimates,” because, among other things, it does not factor in inflation. The report looks at borrowers in such plans, an option created in the 1990s but expanded and popularized by the Obama administration as a way to prevent low-wage earners from defaulting. In income-driven repayment, borrowers put 10 to 20 percent of their monthly discretionary income toward repaying their student loans. After 20 or 25 years, any remaining balance is forgiven. By contrast, borrowers in standard 10-year repayment plans pay off their loans mortgage-style.
www.chronicle.com
Blocked Overtime Rule Sows Uncertainty for Colleges
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Blocked-Overtime-Rule-Sows/238535
By Lee Gardner
Colleges that spent much of the past year preparing for changes in the federal rule governing overtime pay have been left in confusion after a federal judge blocked their implementation just days before they were to take effect. The last-minute ruling has forced institutions to either tell employees that pay increases and changes to hourly employment status are on hold, or proceed as planned in response to a standard that now may be moot. The new rule, which updates the Fair Labor Standards Act, would make more full-time salaried employees eligible for overtime pay. Employees who earn up to about $47,000 per year would be eligible for extra pay for work over 40 hours a week; now only those who earn up to about $23,000 per year are. Colleges have spent the months since the rule was finalized in May determining which employees fall under the new threshold, and which might receive raises to exempt them from overtime pay or be converted to hourly workers. Since many college employees, such as coaches and admissions counselors, work long and irregular hours, the changes promised to increase overtime payroll and further destabilize the finances of struggling institutions. Now, with the new rule on hold, colleges must decide whether to continue with their plans to comply or to postpone them. “There’s a lot of uncertainty right now, which is not a good thing,” says Scott M. Fitzgerald, director of human resources at Otterbein University.