University System News:
www.theridge957.com
GHC PROFESSOR SELECTED TO STUDY IN SOUTH AFRICA
http://theridge957.com/ghc-professor-selected-study-south-africa/?forwardie6=1
WRITTEN BY ELIZABETH DAVIS
A Georgia Highlands College faculty member has been selected to study in South Africa. According to a GHC media release, Christina Wolfe, Assistant Professor of Sociology, has been chosen to take part in the University of South Carolina’s International Perspectives on Higher Education (IPHE) in March. As such, she will join a group of other college faculty and staff from around the country on a visit to South Africa. Wolfe received a competitive scholarship through Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) to help cover expenses for the trip, for which the goal is to discover South Africa’s rich cultural, historic and educational experiences while learning as much as possible about educational transitions and institutions of higher education after Apartheid.
www.campustechnology.com
7 Tips for Listing MOOCs on Your Résumé
Here’s how to put your massive open online course experience to best advantage when documenting your skills.
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/02/09/7-tips-for-listing-moocs-on-your-resume.aspx
By David Weldon
Eight short years ago, the world’s first massive open online course (MOOC) was offered by the University of Prince Edward Island (Canada)… Fast forward to today, and it seems like every college and university has a MOOC offering — or several — or wishes that they did. Driven by technology, and the potential of MOOCs, colleges have the ability to accept more students, at truly affordable rates, and offer personalized instruction in the process. The result could be a revolution, of sorts, for education. That’s certainly the hope of Richard DeMillo, founder and director of Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities. DeMillo envisions the broader use of MOOCs to enroll more full-time students than was previously possible – for entire degree programs. Georgia Tech is doing just that. The college first began offering MOOCs in 2011 and has since increased its investment in the program. Last year the school put its most difficult degree program — the master’s degree in information technology — online, at a cost to the student of $6,700. In order to be accepted into the MOOC program, a student had to meet the full criteria of being a Georgia Tech student. And the institution worked hard to make sure that online students would receive an education that is on par with their campus counterparts.
www.bizjournals.com
New charter school to open in metro Atlanta
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/02/09/new-charter-school-to-open-in-metro-atlanta.html
Phil W. Hudson
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Southeast Atlanta could soon be home to a new free public charter school for students entering kindergarten through 6th grade. Genesis Innovation Academy is slated to open its doors to students in fall 2017. Founded by Harvard University and Georgia Tech alumnus Dr. Gavin Samms, Genesis will have single-gender classrooms and offer the E 5 curriculum model — Engineering (STEM), Economics, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, and Expression. “We are pairing the traditional subjects with curriculum that challenges scholars to be the creative, critical-thinkers who prosper in the 21 st century,” Samms said in a statement. “So, Yes, We teach math. However, we connect math to economics, investing and finance.”
www.txwclp.org
Georgia Bill Would Require Universities to Hand Over Rape Investigations to the Police
Georgia House Bill 51 aims to stop universities from conducting their own investigations into felonies, including sexual assault, instead requiring them to have law enforcement take charge. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the bill, which was sponsored by Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R–Powder Springs) in January, passed out of a state House panel last week. The bill explicitly states that “every official or employee of a post-secondary institution in this state who receives information which would lead such individual to believe that a crime which is a felony under the laws of this state has been committed by or against a student of such post-secondary institution or was committed in or on property owned, leased, or operated by such post-secondary institution shall promptly report such crime to the appropriate law enforcement agency.” It further prohibits universities from taking matters into their own hands and punishing students accused of a felony. “I want to treat these crimes with the seriousness they deserve,” Ehrhart told the AJC. “But I am not going to sacrifice due process to get there.” Last year, he filed a lawsuit against the federal government, arguing that certain Department of Education policies are unconstitutional.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Trump’s Entry Ban Remains Blocked
Appeals court keeps in place temporary restraining order barring administration from enforcing ban on entry into U.S. for nationals of seven Muslim-majority nations. Court cites concerns of universities for their students.
By Elizabeth Redden
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday to keep in place a temporary restraining order barring the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order banning entry into the U.S. for nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which came in a lawsuit filed by the states of Washington and Minnesota, is a defeat for the Trump administration, which is expected to appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel specifically said that Washington State and Minnesota had legal standing to challenge the travel ban in part because of the impact on students and faculty members at public universities. The decision said that the states “allege that the teaching and research missions of their universities are harmed by the executive order’s effect on their faculty and students who are nationals of the seven affected countries.
www.chronicle.com
State Lawmakers Seek to Force Public Colleges to Protect Speech Rights
By Peter Schmidt
Having inspired mayhem by appearing on college campuses, the right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos also seems to be helping fuel a new wave of state legislation aimed at ensuring that public colleges safeguard free speech. State Rep. Martin Daniel of Tennessee has gone so far as to informally call his legislation “the Milo bill.” The proposal includes among its provisions a requirement that colleges adopt policies calling for them to punish any student who tries to shout down a speaker. “In view of recent events surrounding Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California, Berkeley, and elsewhere on other college campuses, it’s important for us, as a state, to step up and protect basic First Amendment rights,” Representative Daniel, a Republican, said this week in introducing his measure.