University System News:
www.myajc.com
Georgia Tech and UGA rank among top 10 public campuses for value
By Maureen Downey – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
All the more reason to attend Georgia Tech or the University of Georgia. A new ranking of public colleges based on cost value and quality education puts both Georgia campuses in the top 10. Tech ranks 9th on the new Kiplinger best-value list among public campuses, while UGA ranks 10th. In recognizing Tech, Kiplinger notes: “Georgia Tech boasts the highest average salary figure ($74,500 10 years after enrolling) of all 100 public colleges on our list.” Explaining why UGA made the top 10, Kiplinger says, “About half of students make it to graduation day without taking student loans, but among those who do report borrowing, the average debt is nearly $5,000 less than the national average among four-year public school borrowers.”
www.bizjournals.com
UGA, Georgia Tech among nation’s best value public universities
Dave Williams
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The University of Georgia and Georgia Tech have landed in the top 10 on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of the 100 best values among the nation’s public colleges and universities for 2017. Georgia Tech placed ninth on the list and The University of Georgia was 10th. Georgia is one of only three states with two schools in the top 10. Kiplinger’s quality measures, which are weighted more heavily than cost, include the admission rate, the percentage of students who return for sophomore year, the student-faculty ratio and the four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include sticker price, financial aid and average debt at graduation.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA 10th best value in public colleges according to Kiplinger
The University of Georgia moved up two spots to No. 10 on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of 100 best values among public colleges and universities for 2017. Kiplinger’s quality measures, which are weighted more heavily than cost, include the admission rate, the percentage of students who return for sophomore year, the student-faculty ratio and the four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include sticker price, financial aid and average debt at graduation. UGA was only one of two universities from the SEC that made the top 20 (the other being the University of Florida, which ranked at No. 7). The only other school from Georgia in the top 20 was Georgia Tech at No. 9. Georgia is one of only three states with two public schools in the top 10. “The University of Georgia is committed to providing a world-class education at an affordable cost,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “I am pleased that our ongoing efforts were once again recognized by this national ranking.” U.S. News & World Report recently ranked UGA No. 18 on its list of “Best Public Universities,” and Forbes ranked UGA No. 17 on its “Top 25 Public Colleges 2016” list.
www.bizjournals.com
Atlanta best large college city in America
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/12/14/atlanta-best-large-college-city-in-america.html
Phil W. Hudson
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The Derek Zoolander School for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Want to Do Other Stuff Good Too may not have an Atlanta campus, but that doesn’t mean the city isn’t a great place for college students. According to the personal website WalletHub, Atlanta is the best large college city in America. Atlanta’s overall ranking is No. 12 and its ranking within large size cities is No. 1. A large city is defined by WalletHub as one with more than 300,000 people. WalletHub reported its analysts compared 415 U.S. cities based on 26 key indicators of academic, social and economic growth potential. The data set ranges from “cost of living” to “quality of higher education” to “crime rate.” Here is how Atlanta stacked up (1=Best; 208=Avg.):
www.wgxa.tv
MGSU program graduates first students
http://wgxa.tv/news/local/mgsu-program-graduates-first-students
by Maggie McGlamry
Over 500 students graduated from Middle Georgia State University on Thursday. For one group of students, it was a first in the school’s history. Six students received their Master’s degrees in computer-related areas. That’s a first for both recipients and the school.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
First-generation graduate shares story at GGC commencement
By Keith Farner
Crystal Serrato took several minutes to tell a little bit about her background, and experience at Georgia Gwinnett College. But it was her mortarboard that told her story. “It’s my turn to teach,” it said. Serrato spoke on behalf of the graduating class at the fall commencement ceremony on Thursday morning at the Infinite Energy Center moments before she graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in education with plans to pursue a career as a teacher. She came to GGC from Apalachee High School in Winder. …She is a first generation college student in her family, and as the oldest, she said she faced challenges, and didn’t know if she could succeed on a journey through college.
www.goldenisles.news
CCGA student reaches graduation with help of program
By LAUREN MCDONALD
More than a decade ago, fourth-grader Brittany Mitchell was given a promise — if she would pursue higher education, she would receive support from that moment on in reaching that goal. Tonight, Mitchell will walk across the graduation stage and receive her degree from College of Coastal Georgia, bringing a triumphant end to her journey as a Greensboro Dreamer. Mitchell was one of more than 50 students in the Greensboro Dreamers program, started by Tom Kelly, a retired health care executive, who promised a group of first graders in Greensboro, Ga., that he and his wife would pay for their college tuition if they pursued a degree.
www.middlegeorgiaceo.com
MGA Continues Crafting Master’s Degrees, New Programs Coming Soon
Sheron Smith
Earlier this year, after completing her bachelor’s in English from Middle Georgia State, Terrie Lewis got an email asking if she would be interested in the University’s forthcoming Master of Arts in Teaching degree. “I was like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!’ said Lewis, 52, who, after years of substitute teaching, decided to make education a full-time career. “I planned to go into a master’s program somewhere. If it can be at Middle Georgia State, all the better.” If the program is approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, MGA will roll out the Master of Arts in Teaching in Secondary Education in summer 2017. Another program, the Master of Science in Management, is also set to begin in 2017, pending SACSCOC approval. The two new degrees would bring to four the number of programs that MGA – approved by SACSCOC as a Level III master’s degree-granting University – offers through the Office of Graduate Studies, which is based on the Warner Robins Campus. Middle Georgia State became a University in July 2015 and introduced its first two graduate programs – Nursing and Information Technology – shortly afterward.
www.savannahnow.com
Savannah woman leaves UGA College of Veterinary Medicine nearly $1 million
A lifelong animal lover has left a gift of nearly $900,000 to benefit the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, according to a press release from Kat Gilmore of the University of Georgia. Betty Lorraine Butler, a Savannah resident who retired from the Union Camp Corporation in 1990, died at her home on Sept. 10, 2015. Friends say she owned dogs throughout her life and cared for stray animals near her home. She was always fascinated by the interface between animals and humans, in health and disease, the release states. The gift will initiate an annual seminar that will be known as the Butler Seminar Series. Butler’s estate gift will be used to bring world-renowned scholars to the UGA campus to lead a discussion about the benefits and risks of human-animal interactions. The college also will establish the Betty Butler Scholarship Fund, which will be awarded annually to students dedicated to companion animal medicine, the release states.
www.wsav.com
Research reveals black gill kills shrimp
http://wsav.com/2016/12/15/research-reveals-black-gill-kills-shrimp/
By Martin Staunton
A disease that’s crippling the shrimp industry may be doing more damage than originally thought. Researchers in our region have made new findings about black gill disease, this as the industry is still rebounding from the worst shrimp harvest in Georgia history. The latest findings from scientists with the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography is unsettling. It reveals black gill may continue to push the shrimp industry into the red. “We’ve observed in controlled laboratory situations, mortality events, death of shrimp, that could only be caused by them having black gill. We’ve removed all other predators, uh, we have control groups where they don’t die, so it’s not something else in the water, but the ones with the black gill are dying.” said Dr. Marc Frischer with the UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.
Higher Education News:
www.jbhe.com
Major New Grant Program Will Help Prepare Black College Graduates for Careers
The United Negro College Fund’s Career Pathways Initiative has announced that 24 historically Black or predominantly Black colleges and universities will receive five-year grants totaling $35.3 million to better prepare their students for careers after college. The grants are made possible through funds from the Lilly Endowment. The 24 colleges and universities will receive funds for programs to strengthen career advising and mentoring, enhance curriculum focused on career readiness, and to support integrated co-curricular engagement activities. The HBCUs will used the funds to develop a range of academic programs, student internships, industry partnerships, specialty certification programs, and faculty development initiatives.
www.chronicle.com
Where Even Experts Can’t Figure Out Tuition Costs
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Where-Even-Experts-Can-t/238704
By Peter Schmidt
Families’ efforts to calculate the cost of an undergraduate education can be complicated by colleges’ adoption of differential-tuition policies, which set tuition rates based on academic major or year of progress toward a degree. Such policies have become increasingly common, especially at public four-year colleges in the Great Lakes and Plains regions, as higher-education institutions seek to take in more revenue or offer students financial incentives to train for high-demand occupations. At some institutions, undergraduates’ tuition bills can vary by 40 percent or more based on their choice of academic program. Little is known, however, about the impact of such policies on students’ college-going decisions.
www.insidehighered.com
Burden of Proof in the Balance
If Trump administration changes the rules on colleges’ obligations in adjudicating sex assault charges, will institutions change their policies?
By Jake New
In 2011, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issued a Dear Colleague letter that urged institutions to better investigate and adjudicate cases of campus sexual assault. The letter spelled out how the department interprets Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and for the past five years it has been the guiding document for colleges hoping to avoid a federal civil rights investigation into how they handle complaints of sexual violence. The department’s views were praised by victims and their advocates and led to many changes on college campuses, particularly on the issue of burden of proof when campus judicial systems handle sex assault charges. Republican lawmakers and other critics have argued that the guidance goes farther than just clarifying Title IX.