University System News:
www.onlineathens.com
UGA president to present 2017 State of the University address
University of Georgia President Jere W. Morehead will deliver the State of the University address on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in the UGA Chapel. The event is open to the public. The speech will be broadcast live on channel 15 of the university cable system and channel 181 of the Charter cable system
www.onlineathens.com
UGA students’ family incomes near top among SEC, Georgia universities
By Lee Shearer
Parents of University of Georgia students make more money than those at any other Southeastern Conference university except private Vanderbilt University, according to a new study. UGA also has a higher percentage of student families in the top 1 percent of household income — $630,000 and up — than most SEC schools and other Georgia public universities, according to data compiled by The Equality of Opportunity Project. Researchers there looked at millions of anonymous income tax records for families of students who went to college in the early 2000s. Some 5.1 percent of UGA students were in that top 1 percent. Vanderbilt had the highest percentage of SEC schools, at 22.8 percent, followed by Auburn (6.2 percent) and the universities of Alabama and Mississippi, at 5.7 percent. …UGA’s 5.1 percent of students from the top 1 percent in household income was the third-highest figure among 27 “highly selective public institutions” in the study, behind the University of Michigan (9.3 percent) and the University of Texas at Austin (5.4 percent), according to the Times analysis.
www.wjcl.com
Ga. Southern President speaks on consolidation with Armstrong St.
http://www.wjcl.com/article/ga-southern-president-speaks-on-consolidation-with-armstrong-st/8636235
Dave Williams
STATESBORO, GA. — The consolidation of Georgia Southern and Armstrong State universities has been very controversial. There also have been many questions about what the move would mean for both schools. Georgia Southern President Dr. Jaimie Hebert gives us some answers. In the few weeks since the University System of Georgia Board of Regents announced the consolidation of Georgia Southern and Armstrong State universities there have been plenty of mixed emotions. Most of that comes from uncertainty over what it means for the two schools, Georgia Southern President Dr. Jaimie Hebert will head up the consolidation university. “It’s more, more resources available, the pooling of resources,” said Dr. Hebert. “We’ll provide greater opportunities for students, broader selection of curriculum.” Because there are so many questions concerning the move, town halls were held last week at both schools, and while not all questions were answered, it was certainly helpful.
www.connectsavannah.com
Town Hall on Armstrong/Southern consolidation gets rowdy
Fate of ASU athletics, Greek organizations still in limbo
By Imani Alston
THIS WE KNOW: The 18-month consolidation process will come to its end and the Armstrong Pirate will set sail, making room for what will then be Georgia Southern University, Savannah campus. The consolidation of the two universities is scheduled to begin September 1, 2017. A vote regarding what the new university will look like will be taken the following December. Another vote will be taken “approving the creation and appointment of the new president of the university,” said Shelley Nickle, Executive Vice Chancellor for Strategy and Fiscal Affairs, at last Thursday’s Town Hall Meeting on the Armstrong campus. The panel taking questions — some submitted by text — comprised Shelley Nickle, John Fuchko, Vice Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, Dr. Linda M. Bleicken, outgoing president of Armstrong, and Dr. Jaimie Hebert, president of Georgia Southern State University. Nickle made the claim that the basis for the consolidation is all about student success/retention, and providing more economic development for the regions of the state. Until recently, the idea of bringing together Georgia Southern and Armstrong was referred to as a merger, but now it is being explicitly referred to as a consolidation, a word that John Fuchko said is a deliberate one. “There’s so many positive things that are at this institution and at Georgia Southern, and when we go through this process as we’ve done in the past, we should really say ‘what is the best of both, and how will we bring that together in a way that correctly requires change,” he said. …There was an automatic roaring cheer in the auditorium at the mention of Armstrong athletics. They had questions on whether or not their scholarships would be honored, or what would happen with those individuals already on a sports team? …“One of the things our student athletes already know: If there is a scholarship that is currently signed to you that you have earned… the scholarships will be honored,” said Bleicken, quickly turning the microphone over to Hebert to expound upon the future of athletics teams. But what came out of his mouth only upset the athletes even more. “I am not sure, honestly, what the athletic plan is going to look like… But I will tell you this, what I envision in our new institution will certainly include a presence of athletics here on this campus of student athletics…” Though Hebert’s response was followed with applause from some, some athletes jeered, “why y’all clappin’, he ain’t say nothing.” But one very important question went unanswered. “What about the coaches?” was yelled from the crowd to Dr. Hebert, and he had no answer.
Higher Education News:
www.news.wabe.org
New Cameras At Atlanta University Center Aim To Deter Crime
http://news.wabe.org/post/new-cameras-atlanta-university-center-aim-deter-crime
By TASNIM SHAMMA
The Atlanta University Center Consortium and the Atlanta Police Department unveiled $700,000 worth of security cameras and license plate readers on Tuesday. During Dr. John Wilson Jr.’s first week as president of Morehouse College in January 2013, there was an armed robbery on campus, and a few days later, a student was shot near the campus. Since then, Wilson says he’s been asking the city of Atlanta for help… Cameras at Georgia State University and Georgia Tech are already connected to the city of Atlanta’s video integration center.
www.forbes.com
Dispelling The Myth Of Underemployed College Graduates
Jeffrey Dorfman, CONTRIBUTOR
The media love stories about unemployed and underemployed college graduates, often represented by the cliché of the college graduate working as a Starbucks barista. It is not unusual to find claims that thirty or forty percent of college graduates are underemployed (often defined as working in jobs that don’t require a college degree), with some unemployed on top of that. However, those statistics rely on a faulty definition of underemployment that greatly inflates the numbers reported. The reality, thankfully, is much brighter for both college graduates and current and prospective college students. With a college degree, your average earnings are higher, and the probability of being unemployed or underemployed is pretty low. We can break these claims into their two separate parts in order to debunk them. The first part, unemployment, is easy to establish. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports unemployment rates by education level. As of the January 2017 report which contains numbers for December 2016, the unemployment rate for college graduates was only 2.5 percent. That means that only one out of every 40 college graduates is unemployed. This is half the unemployment rate of those with high school degrees and one-third the unemployment rate of those with without a high school degree. …Now, let’s talk about the reputed underemployment of college graduates. The New York Federal Reserve Bank in a recent report claims between 30 and 40 percent of college graduates are underemployed. That makes it sound like college is more of a gamble than an investment. However, the report’s numbers are skewed by a faulty assumption that has the effect of vastly overestimating the underemployment rate of college graduates.