University System News:
www.ajc.com
Georgia House leaders approve spending plan with teacher raises
James Salzer The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia House leaders backed a state budget for the upcoming fiscal year Thursday that includes pay raises for 200,000 teachers and state employees and more than $1 billion worth of new construction projects. The spending plan for fiscal 2018, which begins July 1, follows much of what Gov. Nathan Deal proposed during the first week of the session. It would provide 2 percent pay raises for teachers and most state employees. The mid-year budget Deal signed Wednesday – which runs through June 30 – included 20 percent salary hikes for state law enforcement. …The budget for the upcoming year includes $223 million to help keep the state’s Teachers Retirement System on strong financial footing. State officials said the payment is one of the largest subsidies – if not the largest – in the program’s history.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
Signature funds ambitious cyber center
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/2017-02-15/signature-funds-ambitious-cyber-center
By Tom Corwin Staff Writer
With the stroke of a pen, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal on Wednesday authorized $50 million for the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center on the banks of the Savannah River and set off a swirl of talk about collaboration that will bring together government, academia, industry and the military, officials said. …The signing took place on Augusta University’s Riverfront Campus, the site of the former Golf and Gardens property, where the center will be built. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted this week to turn the nearly 17 acres over to the Georgia Technology Authority, which is building the center, to accelerate planning. Ground for the cyber center will be broken soon, and Deal said he wants the new center open in 18 months, almost unheard of for a state project. The funding was structured to make that happen as quickly as possible. …“We’re funding the cyber academy with cash, rather than going through the bond process,” he said. “We’re fortunate to have enough revenue to be able to do that. That gives us a jump-start on it.” The Georgia Technology Authority has far less bureaucracy to go through than other parts of state government to plan and execute the project, AU President Brooks Keel said. “(It) gives them the ability to short-circuit a lot of that red tape in a very significant way,” he said. “That’s why the GTA was the perfect place for it. They have flexibility that most state agencies don’t have and a lot more flexibility than the University System of Georgia.”
www.businessfacilities.com
Economic Development Deal of the Year: Bronze Award
A partnership with Georgia’s university system and the availability of a skilled, high-tech workforce brings Honeywell’s new software development center to Atlanta.
By Business Facilities Editorial Staff
The Georgia Department of Economic Development snared our Bronze Award for Honeywell’s new software development center in Atlanta. The development center, which will create 833 new jobs, also will serve as the headquarters for Honeywell’s $9.4-billion Home and Building Technologies (HBT) business. The project is expected to have an overall economic impact of more than $183 million in 2020, when the center reaches full employment. The new software development center in Atlanta will create leading-edge software based on the latest Cloud, Mobility and Analytics technology. “Atlanta offers us access to some of the brightest and most-innovative software talent in the U.S.,” said Krishna Mikkilineni, Honeywell senior vice president of engineering, operations and IT. Honeywell’s new software development center is the first operation of its kind for the company. Honeywell views the operation as a development center that will develop software and technologies for the company’s three divisions. …University system partnership. The involvement of Georgia’s public colleges and universities was key to answering Honeywell’s questions about workforce. Georgia’s system-wide approach to public higher education brought in several top institutions with strengths in software development, including Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, and Georgia State University. Workforce pipeline. Because of the company’s keen interest in available talent for the future, we arranged a blind panel discussion in which approximately 10 Honeywell executives could ask questions of five Georgia Tech students majoring in software-related fields.
www.ajc.com
In last-minute meeting, gun bills get House hearing
Aaron Gould Sheinin
Lawmaker after lawmaker hustled into a committee room Wednesday afternoon, scrambling to prepare for a hastily called meeting of a House Public Safety subcommittee. On the agenda? Eight gun bills. The meeting was a surprise to most. Even sponsors of the bills said they were given an hour or less to prepare. In the end, subcommittee Chairman Heath Clark, R-Warner Robins, said no votes would be taken. Still, the subcommittee heard sometimes emotional testimony on a handful of the bills before ending testimony after an hour to make way for another committee’s scheduled start.
www.goldenisles.news
CCGA nursing students show promise for future
Accomplishing a passing rate of 85 or 90 percent would have been impressive enough. But no, College of Coastal Georgia students had to go and one-up what is considered good and do something great. All the students who took certification tests from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Associate of Science in Nursing and radiologic science programs at CCGA passed. What is even more impressive, is that for the BSN program, this is the fourth year in a row to boast such an achievement.
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www.goldenisles.news
Perfect pass rate achieved by nursing, radiologic students
www.gainesvilletimes.com
UNG student finds stability through emotional support dog
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/121914/
By Hailey Van Parys
The thing that saved Taylor Fleming from herself is covered in fur, walks on four legs and goes by the name of Ryder. Fleming, a University of North Georgia student, went through a rough period in her life from which she didn’t think she could emerge. “I wasn’t sure why I was here or what my purpose was. I questioned God on a lot of things,” the 19-year-old said. Her therapist recommended training her puppy Ryder to become an emotional support animal. “I’m so glad I did. Service dogs are more than seeing-eye dogs and dogs that fetch stuff for you,” she said. “Ryder gives me emotional stability, protection and love. He is my best friend, one that I know always has my back.” Not only was Fleming struggling psychologically, but she has problems with anxiety. Now when she feels an anxiety attack coming on, Ryder is by her side. …She said she wants people to know that just because she doesn’t outwardly look like she needs emotional assistance, that’s not the case. Most days she goes without incident, and taking Ryder with her to school at UNG has been one of the more pleasant experiences she’s had. “They literally love having service dogs. I’ve never felt so welcome with him,” she said. Fleming has noticed two or three other people with service dogs at her school, including one guy she says was in the Army and has a labrador retriever with a camouflage jacket. Sylvia Carson, communications director for UNG, said they don’t keep track of how many students have dogs. “We do not track that sort of information, primarily because it is connected with student’s private health information,” she said. “However, generically, I would imagine anywhere from 8 to 15 students across all five campuses make use of them.”
www.mdjonline.com
Crash in Marietta kills Kennesaw State University student
Jon Gargis
Two of KSU student Jovanni Morales’ best friends remembered him Wednesday as a man who was passionate about his hobbies and would do anything for those he cared for. A 2007 graduate of Wheeler High School, Morales, 28, was in his junior year at Kennesaw State, studying architecture, his family told the MDJ. The Marietta resident was killed in a wreck Tuesday morning. Morales, according to police, had been driving a black 2005 Toyota Corolla eastbound on South Cobb Drive just after 8 a.m. Tuesday, and as he turned left onto Alumni Drive, he went into the path of a beige 2016 Jeep Wrangler. Morales was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where he was pronounced dead as a result of his injuries, said Officer Alicia Chilton, spokesperson for Cobb Police.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Closing Students’ Achievement Gaps at the National Level
Karen A. Stout, president and chief executive, Achieving the Dream
By Kelly Field
Karen A. Stout, president of Achieving the Dream, says the organization has fostered a conversation around data-driven decision making, and helped improve student outcomes, at the more than 200 colleges it has worked with since 2004. But she says much more needs to be done to close lingering achievement gaps and to move the needle at the national level.