University System News:
www.news9.com
Georgia VFW makes $10,000 donation to Georgia World War I Centennial Commission
DAHLONEGA, Ga., Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Department of Georgia stepped forward in a significant way with a $10,000 contribution to support the efforts of the Georgia World War I Centennial Commission (GWWICC), making the first such donation to the effort. Al Lipphardt, former state commander of the VFW Department of Georgia, (center) presented a $10,000 donation Feb. 3 to Dr. Billy Wells, senior vice president for leadership and global engagement at the University of North Georgia and chairman of the GWWICC (second from left). Also pictured are (left to right) Keith Antonia, associate vice president for military programs at UNG; Army Col. Gery Cummings, professor of military science; and Army Maj. Steven Devitt, military science instructor. The donation was presented Feb. 3 on behalf of VFW Department of Georgia State Commander William Sandberg by former commander Al Lipphardt to retired Army Col. Billy Wells, chairman of the GWWICC. Wells is also senior vice president for leadership and global engagement at the University of North Georgia. … The GWWICC was created by act of the Georgia General Assembly and signed into existence by Gov. Nathan Deal in May 2015. Its six volunteer members are charged with developing a program that educates Georgians about the significance of WWI in history and the role Georgians played in it, honoring Georgians who served and sacrificed, and commemorating the people, places and events in Georgia that contributed to the liberation of Europe. …The University of North Georgia is one of only six senior military colleges in the nation and is designated as The Military College of Georgia. As such, UNG has taken a leading role in supporting the work of the GWWICC.
www.onlineathens.com
Out-of-state students get break on online tuition costs
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-02-07/out-state-students-get-break-online-tuition-costs
By Lee Shearer
Online courses in the University System of Georgia are meant to improve accessibility to higher education, but tuition costs for the courses may turn some in-state students away — while giving a break to out-of-state students, who normally pay higher rates than Georgia residents in the state’s system of public colleges and universities. At the University of Georgia and 10 other schools, online tuition was the same as tuition for classroom courses. …The online price was higher than in-state tuition by 58 percent at Columbus State University, 56 percent at Kennesaw State University and 45 percent at the University of North Georgia, for example. Those higher rates added $20.7 million to those in-state students’ tuition bills, the auditors calculated. But while in-state students paid more, students from outside Georgia could save considerably by taking courses online, because the tuition rate for online courses is the same for both in-state and out-of-state residents. At the University of Georgia, out-of-state students pay nearly $30,000 per year, in tuition and fees at UGA, nearly three times the $11,364 rate Georgia residents pay.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA College of Pharmacy opens doors to new educational facility in Augusta
By UGA News Service
For the first time in its more than 40-year history, the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy’s program in Augusta has its own facility. Located on the Augusta University Health Sciences campus, the new facility offers a 50-seat classroom, eight small group learning spaces that feature video connectivity to other UGA College of Pharmacy campuses across the state, a collaboration lounge, faculty and administrative offices and a full-service kitchen and break area. Prior to this new site, the program was housed in rented and shared buildings. …The college obtained approval from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and a long-term ground lease from Augusta University in 2015, and the $3.2 million demolition and renovation of the former dialysis clinic began in January 2016. Eight months later, the 10,000-square-foot site opened its doors to students.
www.hypepotamus.com
8 Black Entrepreneurs Leading the Atlanta Startup Scene
https://hypepotamus.com/news/black-history-month-entrepreneurs/
BY JASMYNE MOODY
Metro Atlanta ranks as the number one city for black-owned businesses, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and the startup scene is no exception. These innovators are shaking up Atlanta’s startup scene one idea at a time. Celebrate Black History Month with eight of Atlanta entrepreneurial community’s leaders… Dr. Ayanna Howard is a female powerhouse, roboticist, and founder of Zyrobotics — a software development company. Zyrobotics develops fun, inclusive games for children with special needs. Their latest, Zumo Learning System, revolves around a super cute stuffed turtle paired with a tablet to enhance users’ motor and cognitive abilities in STEM. Before founding Zyrobotics, Dr. Howard earned her Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from University of Southern California. She then worked in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leading in robotic projects focusing on vision and neural network methodologies. Today she also serves as member of the systems and controls a technical interest group at Georgia Tech.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
MCG lauds heroes of desegregation
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/2017-02-07/mcg-lauds-heroes-desegregation#
By Tom Corwin Staff Writer
The recognition was a long time coming – too long, in one case – but Medical College of Georgia finally celebrated the 50th anniversary of its desegregation in a ceremony Tuesday. A gift of at least $1 million from the MCG Foundation for scholarships for minority students will also honor that achievement and help students – beginning as early as the incoming class – as well as with recruiting in the future, officials said. …In honor of the event and those who paved the way, the MCG Foundation is putting forth a $1 million “seed gift” to create a permanent endowment for minority students to attend the medical school, said foundation President and CEO Ian Mercier. Details are still being worked out on the name but “if it would be honoring Drs. Harper and Rumph that would be fantastic,” he said. The hope is to start scholarships as soon as this year even as the foundation and the school look to make the endowment much larger, Mercier said.
www.healthdatamanagement.com
Georgia Tech demonstrates VA Digital Health Platform in proof-of-concept
By Greg Slabodkin
The Georgia Institute of Technology has successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ new Digital Health Platform (DHP), designed to integrate veteran data from VA, military and commercial electronic health records. The VA’s DHP is a cloud-based platform meant to create a 21st century model for the delivery of veteran healthcare services based on a modern, integrated system that incorporates best-in-class technologies and standards. The goal of the DHP proof-of-concept, managed by Georgia Tech, was to demonstrate both mature and emerging interoperability technologies from both the public and private sectors.
www.gpb.org
Skidaway Scientist Diving Into the Science Behind Black Gill Shrimp
- Cindy Hill
Out at the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, science is the catch of the day every day. Dr. Marc Frisher, professor of biological oceanography, studies how the smallest organisms on our planet are connected to the bigger things. One of the smallest organisms he’s studying affects the shrimp that live along Georgia’s coast. Frischer says black gill started showing up in shrimp back in 1996. “I’m a microbial ecologist by training,” Frischer said. “And so I’m really interested in how the smallest organisms on our planet, which are the most numerous, are connected to the bigger things. And what causes shrimp black gill is a microbe that’s infecting the shrimp. So when you see a shrimp with black gill, it’s the immune system of the shrimp working to rid itself of this invader. It’s not a perfect analogy but I sort of think of it as an allergic reaction.” Frischer says experiments have already shown that this reaction isn’t harmful to people and doesn’t affect the taste of shrimp which, in addition to cleaning ocean water are also a source of food for fish and other marine life. Their main experiments now are answering big questions about the microbe called a ciliate that causes black gill. …You may learn more about all of the science happening at Skidaway when you visit their website.
www.ibtimes.com
Coral Reef Protection: Marine Sanctuaries Can Be Counterproductive If They Are Small In Size
BY HIMANSHU GOENKA
That corals around the world are dying under an onslaught of various human activities is nothing new, and a number of conservation efforts have been underway for decades now. But small marine protected areas (MPAs) that have been established to allow coral reefs and associated fish species to recover from the ravages of overfishing could actually be, unwittingly, making things worse, a study found. Using the example of an MPA in Fiji Islands, Mark Hay, one of the two authors of the study and a professor at Georgia Institute of technology, said in a statement Monday: “The marine protected areas that are enforced in the Fiji Islands are having a remarkable effect. The corals and fishes are recovering. But once these marine protected areas are successful, they attract the sea stars which can make the small marine protected areas victims of their own success.”
www.daltondailycitizen.com
Library offering reading program
Submitted by the Dalton-Whitfield County Library
The Dalton-Whitfield County Library invites the public to be part of the 1,000 Books B4 Kindergarten program. Children and parents are encouraged to drop by the library and register for this fun, free program. Parents keep up with the titles of books read with their child and upon completing 1,000 books, the child receives a reward. All books and stories count, even repeats. This program is supported in part by funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provision of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the University System of Georgia.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
How a 20-Page Letter Changed the Way Higher Education Handles Sexual Assault
http://www.chronicle.com/article/How-a-20-Page-Letter-Changed/239141
By Robin Wilson
Sharyn Potter was an undergraduate in the mid-’80s when she began working on a telephone hotline for troubled students. The calls that stuck with her most came from women who said they’d been raped. Some blamed themselves; others felt doubted by college officials. It was an unusual glimpse into a hidden corner of campus life, and it left a strong impression. Fast forward to April 4, 2011. Inspired by those hotline conversations decades earlier, Ms. Potter had become an associate professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, researching and working on programs to help prevent sexual assault. That day she and hundreds of others gathered in the university’s student union for a historic event: Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s announcement of broad new federal guidelines for how colleges should handle students’ reports of assault. The centerpiece of Mr. Biden’s announcement, a 20-page letter released by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, has since become legendary. Not only did the “Dear Colleague” letter, as it has come to be known, specify in fine detail how colleges should respond to reports of assault, but it also made clear the Obama administration cared deeply about the issue. The message to colleges was unmistakable: We’ll be watching you. The Dear Colleague letter marked the first time the department’s civil-rights office had issued detailed directions that clearly were meant for all colleges.
www.insidehighered.com
The DeVos Agenda
After winning confirmation with the vice president’s tie-breaking vote, new education secretary is expected to shift away from Obama policies on for-profit higher education, regulation and dealing with sexual assault on campus.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/02/08/devos-confirmation-squeaks-through-senate
By Andrew Kreighbaum
Betsy DeVos saw her nomination for education secretary clear its Senate hurdle Tuesday when Vice President Pence broke a 50-50 tie. Every Democrat and Independent and two Republicans opposed her nomination. To many of the teachers’ groups and other critics who protested, called and emailed their senators, the confirmation of the pro-charter school, pro-voucher Michigan billionaire was a blow to public education. But while most of the public debate about her nomination swirled around issues affecting K-12 public schools, it largely neglected the realm of higher education. Observers of higher education policy said DeVos could have a significant effect in the short term by changing tack on Obama administration strategies that saw the department take on a bigger oversight role involving for-profit colleges and student loan servicers.