University System News:
www.senegal-actu.com
Campus Carry bill gets rough ride in committee
http://senegal-actu.com/2017/02/campus-carry-bill-gets-rough-ride-in-committee/
It allows the superintendent of public instruction to accept proposals from the first 10 schools seeking to participate in a pilot program in the 2017-19 biennium. This would allow those who acquire this new endorsement on their permit to carry on public college and university campuses. Chancellor Steve Wrigley said they have implemented active shooter training for campus police, created mutual-aid agreements with local law enforcement agencies and will increase police officers on campus by six percent. Rep. Dwight Kiefert, R-Valley City, previously said his bill would provide additional security for rural schools, according to the Bismarck Tribune. Last week, House Bill 1249, the employee campus carry bill introduced by state Representative Charlie Collins, was heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The person selected to participate in the program must complete a criminal background check, as well as a physical and mental health evaluation, and must be approved by the school board to carry a concealed firearm on school property. On Monday at 5 p.m., University of Georgia President Jere Morehead released an Archnews statement supporting recent testimony made against campus carry legislation.
www.wtoc.com
Armstrong, Georgia Southern presidents discuss merger
http://www.wtoc.com/story/34578082/armstrong-georgia-southern-presidents-discuss-merger
By Elizabeth Rawlins, Reporter
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) – For the first time, WTOC is sitting down with both Armstrong State and Georgia Southern University presidents after the Georgia Board of Regents voted last month to consolidate both schools. Both presidents came to our studio Wednesday to finally answer some very tough questions. Not only about the consolidation process moving forward, but how a lot of Armstrong students felt very betrayed and blindsided when this first happened. Until this interview, many of their questions remained unanswered. “The notice that was given to the students was pretty equal to the notice that was given to us,” said Armstrong President Dr. Linda Bleicken. Faculty and students at ASU found out just days before the Georgia Board of Regents voted to consolidate both ASU and GS. It’s the same process and protocol that’s been done with all the other consolidations in Georgia, but many students have said publicly they disagree.
www.ajc.com
Georgia Piedmont Technical College to start film academy program
Eric Stirgus
Georgia Piedmont Technical College president Jabari Simama on Thursday discussed plans in his state of the college speech to offer several new courses, including one scheduled to start next month that offers film set training for students. The college, he said, is working with the Georgia Film Academy on the new curriculum. Students will work on television and movie sets in the Atlanta area, Simama said. Those who successfully complete the program will earn a technical certificate. Simama said the program is part of the college’s effort to offer courses in growing industries.
www.tiftongazette.com
King Hall renovation underway at ABAC
Stuart Taylor
TIFTON — A renovation project focusing on a building constructed in 1939 is now underway on the campus of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Tim Carpenter, director of housing operations at ABAC, said the project involving King Hall carries a total price tag of $1.8 million. After the renovation, King will be home to six classrooms and 12 offices. Faculty members whose offices were in King Hall have been located elsewhere on the campus until the renovation is complete. “The King Hall renovation will focus only on the interior of the building,” Carpenter said. “The original bricks on the exterior will stay. The building will have an elevator for the first time. We’re not touching the roof because it was replaced a few years ago.” Carpenter said the King Hall project is scheduled to be completed by July 12. He expects faculty members and students to use the building when the fall semester begins on Aug. 16. King is named for Dr. George H. King, who was president of ABAC from 1934 to 1947.
www.wmbfnews.com
College student’s pizza order makes him police raid target
http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/34573418/twitter-account-delivers-pizza-and-identity-theft
By Jonathan Andrews, Sr. Digital Content Producer
By Dante Renzulli
OAKWOOD, GA (CBS46) – Authorities are warning hungry people looking for discount pizza of a scam where they could unwittingly find themselves on the hook for stealing identities. They do get pizza though. Oakwood, GA police said a Twitter account, purporting to represent an insider at food chains like Domino’s Pizza, is ordering food for people using stolen credit cards and taking money from them about $10 at a time. The real danger isn’t the loss of money to the customer, it’s the consequence of being implicated in a serious crime. One student at University of North Georgia who didn’t think twice when he saw a deal advertised on Twitter to get $52 worth of pizza for $10. Even if he was skeptical, there were plenty of rave reviews and retweets from real people across the country who did the deal and were satisfied. Mostly young people, just like 19-year-old Nick Thomas. “I thought he had employee discounts, or connections with Domino’s because, where I work, I get fifty percent off food,” said Thomas. But reality hit hard when undercover police showed up at his door dressed as pizza delivery drivers. …”We were about to take him down and arrest him, but he was able to produce the texts he had with the real scam artist. That helped him out, otherwise he would have probably been in handcuffs and headed to jail that evening,” said Oakwood Police Sgt. Danny Sridej.
www.thepostsearchlight.com
Bainbridge State College Police make arrests in technology theft, one suspect still at large
Bainbridge State College Police were able to positively identify Harlin Miller (white male age 29), Randy Kennedy (white male age 43) and Heather Diane Zill-Kennedy (white female age 25) as the suspects in the theft of electronic equipment from Bainbridge State College on Feb. 14, 2017 at approximately 1:45 p.m. All three suspects are from Grady County, Georgia. Both Miller and Randy Kennedy have extensive criminal histories according to BSCP. The subjects allegedly removed a projector that was mounted in the ceiling of a classroom in a building that was unoccupied at the time, damaging the ceiling and cutting the cables connecting the projector. Video from the parking lot near the building showed the suspects arriving in a vehicle identified as belonging to the Kennedys according to BSCP, and leaving seven minutes later with the projector. The projector was valued at over $1,000.00. Miller reportedly later sold the projector to a person who did not know it was stolen. It was eventually pawned in Thomasville, Georgia, where BSCP later recovered it. BSCP were also able to recover some personal items belonging to a student that were taken. Both Kennedy and Zill-Kennedy were questioned and arrested on February 22nd. …Arrest warrants are being sought for Miller, who law enforcement is still searching for.
Higher Education News:
www.bizjournals.com
Georgia House goes after ‘sanctuary campuses’
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/02/22/georgia-house-goes-aftersanctuary-campuses.html
Dave Williams
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Private colleges or universities in Georgia that block enforcement of immigration laws on their campuses would face loss of state funding under legislation the Georgia House of Representatives approved Wednesday. The bill, which passed 112-57 and now moves to the state Senate, is aimed at “sanctuary campuses” that have sprung up across the country in defiance of federal immigration laws. While no Georgia schools have adopted the policy, students at Emory University have petitioned the school to establish a sanctuary campus, and the president of Agnes Scott College has said the school will continue to support its immigrant students. The House bill is modeled after legislation the General Assembly passed several years ago prohibiting Georgia cities from providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants. College campuses have no more right to violate the laws on immigration than cities, said Rep. Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, the bill’s chief sponsor. “Lawbreaking 101 is not an acceptable course in our universities,” he said.
See also:
www.accesswdun.com
Georgia House OKs ban on state funds to ‘sanctuary’ campuses
www.sun-sentinel.com
State wants students graduating from college sooner
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-college-graduation-rates-20170217-story.html
By Scott Travis
Florida leaders hope to soon produce a new type of college student: one who graduates in four years. Although students often enter a university or community college with the hopes of earning a bachelor’s degree in four years, most fail to achieve that. Only 44 percent of freshmen at state universities finish in four years. The rate is 23 percent at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and 26 percent at Florida International University in Miami. And the four-year graduation rates are even lower for students who start at community colleges, with just 3 percent of students at Palm Beach State College and Broward College, and 4 percent at Miami Dade College, earning a bachelor’s degree somewhere within four years, state data shows. Some state legislators say it’s time to change those numbers. Under a bill in the Senate, colleges could lose funding if fewer than half of their full-time students earn a degree in the traditional time period. That would be two years for an associate degree and four for a bachelor’s.
www.ajc.com
Trump administration lifts transgender bathroom guidance
MARIA DANILOVA SADIE GURMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Transgender students on Wednesday lost federal protections that allowed them to use school bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identities, as the Trump administration stepped into a long-simmering national debate. The administration came down on the side of states’ rights, lifting Obama-era federal guidelines that had been characterized by Republicans as an example of overreach. Without the Obama directive, it will be up to states and school districts to interpret federal anti-discrimination law and determine whether students should have access to restrooms in accordance with their expressed gender identity and not just their biological sex. “This is an issue best solved at the state and local level,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said. “Schools, communities and families can find — and in many cases have found — solutions that protect all students.” In a letter to the nation’s schools, the Justice and Education departments said the earlier guidance “has given rise to significant litigation regarding school restrooms and locker rooms.” The agencies withdrew the guidance to “in order to further and more completely consider the legal issues involved.”
www.insidehighered.com
Large-Scale Assessment Without Standardized Tests
First data, based on analysis of work at 92 colleges, finds much success in writing, some success in critical thinking and more limited success in quantitative skills.
By Colleen Flaherty
Meaningful assessment of student learning, beyond tests and grades, befuddles even seasoned educators. Are students really absorbing what they’re being taught, and will they remember it later on? How can that be measured and compared nationally? Those questions, among others, drive the work of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, which today released a report on what it calls a “groundbreaking approach” to assessing student learning. “This project represents the first attempt to develop a large-scale model for assessing student achievement across institutions that goes beyond testing,” Lynn Pasquerella, president of AAC&U, said in a statement. She the called preliminary data on which the report is based “encouraging,” and promising in terms of improving educational quality and equity.
www.insidehighered.com
College Board Tightens Security on SAT
By Scott Jaschik
The College Board on Wednesday announced that it is taking a number of steps to tighten security on the SAT, following security challenges, especially as the test is given outside the United States. The College Board said it would reduce the reuse of test questions, and added new detection techniques to identify cheating.