University System News:
www.hubga.com
Georgia’s Best Colleges with Online Programs Ranked by AccreditedSchoolsOnline.org
The Community for Accredited Online Schools, a leading resource provider for higher education information, has ranked the best colleges with online programs for 2017 in the state of Georgia. 29 of the state’s four-year schools made the list, with University of Georgia, Mercer University, Brenau University, Reinhardt University and Shorter University coming in as the highest scoring schools. 19 two-year schools were also included, with Central Georgia Technical College, Atlanta Technical College, Athens Technical College, Albany Technical College and Wiregrass Georgia Technical College earning the highest marks. Georgia’s Best Online Four-Year Schools for 2017 include the following:
Albany State University
Armstrong Atlantic State University
Augusta University
Clayton State University
College of Coastal Georgia
Columbus State University
Dalton State College
Fort Valley State University
Georgia College and State University
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southwestern State University
Kennesaw State University
Middle Georgia State University
University of Georgia
University of North Georgia
University of West Georgia
Valdosta State University
Georgia’s Best Online Two-Year Schools for 2017 include the following:
Georgia Perimeter College
www.wtvm.com
CSU graduates first class in film certificate program
http://www.wtvm.com/story/34616919/csu-graduates-first-class-in-film-certificate-program
By WTVM Web Team
Columbus is hoping to be a bigger part of a $7 billion film industry in the state, and it’s looking to Columbus State University to help. The university recently graduated its first class for its new film certificate program. The program, which collaborates with the Georgia Film Academy, includes 18 hours of course work and internships in the movie industry. CSU School of the Arts Dean Richard Baxter explained why a program like this is lucrative for the area.
www.athensceo.com
Five UGA Faculty Members Named Meigs Professors
Staff Report From Athens CEO
The University of Georgia has honored five faculty members with its highest recognition for excellence in instruction, the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship. The Meigs Professorship underscores the university’s commitment to excellence in teaching, the value placed on the learning experiences of students and the centrality of instruction to the university’s mission. The award includes a permanent salary increase of $6,000 and a one-year discretionary fund of $1,000. “This year’s Meigs Professors create experiences both inside and outside of the classroom that challenge students to apply their knowledge to real-world situations,” said Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Pamela Whitten, whose office sponsors the award. “Their commitment to students helps make the University of Georgia one of the nation’s very best public universities.”
www.wgauradio.com
UGA satellite selected for space project
http://www.wgauradio.com/news/news/local/uga-satellite-selected-space-project/ntqQn/
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia CubeSat project is among 34 small satellites selected by NASA to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard missions planned to launch in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The UGA project, led by a team of undergraduate students and including faculty from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering, performs multispectral analysis from low Earth orbit, in this case an altitude of 400 kilometers. “When our project was selected in 2016 to design and build a small satellite called CubeSat under NASA’s Undergraduate Student Instrument Project (USIP) program, the grant did not guarantee launch,” said Deepak Mishra, associate professor of geography and faculty advisor to the UGA CubeSat group. “We recently received the news that UGA’s CubeSat had been selected.”
www.ajc.com
Senate backs more money for Georgia’s HOPE scholarship, pre-k programs
Kristina Torres
The Georgia Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to force the Georgia Lottery to put more money into the state’s popular HOPE scholarship and pre-k programs. Senate Bill 5 would require the lottery to transfer a specific percentage of its revenue to the state every year for those education initiatives: 26.5 percent in Fiscal 18, 27.5 in FY 19 and 28.5 percent every year after.
www.ajc.com
Campus rape bill passes key House committee
http://www.ajc.com/news/local/campus-rape-bill-passes-key-house-committee/CxdOKEFWtYvhoS7f1EsqKP/
Rhonda Cook The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Does House Bill 51 sacrifice victims of campus rape in order to protect the due process rights of college men accused of assault or does the legislation create a system that is fair to all? That was the back and forth in the debate Monday just before the House Appropriations Committee passed a campus rape bill that is on the schedule for a House floor vote Wednesday. Bill sponsor Rep. Earle Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, says the proposed law is needed to protect the rights of college men who can lose their academic career and any hope for a successful professional life because of a false rape allegation.
www.myajc.com
Campus gun bill passes Georgia House Public Safety Committee
By Michelle Baruchman – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
College students with concealed weapons licenses are one step closer to carrying firearms on most parts of public campuses. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee voted Monday to pass House Bill 280, which would allow anyone with a concealed weapons permit to carry firearms on public college and university campuses, with the exception of inside dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses, and buildings used for athletic events. The bill also would require guns to be concealed and only those who hold a permit would be allowed to carry the weapons. “This bill is about changing the dynamic” to provide the “basic, essential right of self-preservation” said state Rep. Mandi Ballinger, R-Canton, the bill’s sponsor.
See also:
www.cbs46.com
Bill allowing concealed guns on campus moves on
http://www.cbs46.com/story/34617129/bill-allowing-concealed-guns-on-campus-moves-on
www.statesboroherald.com
Georgia lawmakers begin critical week
Immigrants’ driver’s licenses, campus carry, medical pot bills move forward before midterm deadline
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/78738/
By KATHLEEN FOODY and EZRA KAPLAN
Associated Press
ATLANTA – Two bills that would change the appearance of driver’s licenses issued to immigrants with permission to be in the U.S. moved toward floor votes Monday as Georgia lawmakers began a critical week. Legislative rules require that bills pass at least one chamber by Friday to remain alive for the year. Legislation that would allow people to carry concealed weapons on university campuses and a bill expanding access to medical marijuana also moved forward. Here’s a look at key developments from the Capitol:
www.accesswdun.com
Georgia lawmakers scramble ahead of midterm deadline
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/2/506262
By The Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — Two bills that would change the appearance of driver’s licenses issued to immigrants with permission to be in the U.S. moved toward floor votes Monday as Georgia lawmakers began a critical week. Legislative rules require that bills pass at least one chamber by Friday to remain alive for the year. Legislation that would allow people to carry concealed weapons on university campuses and a bill expanding access to medical marijuana also moved forward. Here’s a look at key developments from the Capitol:
www.accesswdun.com
UNG to hold annual disaster drill on Gainesville campus this week
By AccessWDUN Staff
Later this week, the University of North Georgia will stage its annual disaster drill on the Gainesville campus. This year’s drill will simulate the aftermath of a tornado. The university’s College of Health Sciences and Professions will use props to create the appearance of damaged buildings. Students will be play the role of injured victims. The drill is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 8 in the parking lot of the Oakwood Building and at the Continuing Ed Building. The event is designed to give students, faculty and staff practical experience in how to respond in times of real, large-scale emergencies.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA scientists testing remedy for Gulf War illness
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-02-27/uga-scientists-testing-remedy-gulf-war-illness
By Staff Reports
University of Georgia researchers are testing a possible treatment for a disease that’s affected as many as a fourth of the 700,000 troops who served in Operation Desert Storm and other Gulf War combat a quarter-century ago in 1990 and 1991. “Substantial cognitive, learning and motor deficits are among the most profound and debilitating effects of Gulf War illness,” said Nick Filipov, associate professor in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine’s physiology and pharmacology department. Other symptoms include extensive pain, headaches, fatigue, breathing problems, gastrointestinal issues and skin abnormalities. Filipov and colleagues will test a new sugar-based chemical on mice to see if it may counter some of the effects of the disease.
www.savannahnow.com
Georgia State University study: Skidaway Island incorporation is feasible
City would become fourth largest in Chatham County
By Will Peebles
A study performed by Georgia State University has deemed a plan to incorporate Skidaway Island into a Chatham County city as feasible. Landings Association board members presented the findings of a recent incorporation feasibility study performed by the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State to hundreds of Skidaway Island residents Monday night at the Plantation Ballroom. The board commissioned the study to see if incorporation is preferable. If incorporated, Skidaway Island would become Chatham County’s fourth biggest city, after Savannah, Pooler and Garden City. Based on the analysis, the study estimates that the new city’s annual expenditures would be anywhere from $4.6 to $4.8 million, and its annual revenue would be around $6.4 million, leaving an annual net revenue of about $1.6-$1.8 million.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
DeVos cites school choice in creation of HBCUs rather than racism, segregation
In using Historically Black Colleges and Universities to sell school choice Monday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spurred an immediate backlash. Her comment: HBCUs are “real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and great quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.” The backlash: It wasn’t school choice that drove the creation of African-American colleges; it was segregation and racism that denied black students access to higher education. …Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., responded, “No, Secretary DeVos – the segregation and inequality that forced the establishment of HBCUs is not a model of “school choice.”
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
DeVos: Black Colleges Are ‘Pioneers’ of ‘School Choice’
Education secretary’s remarks astound many advocates for colleges that were created because black students were denied choices.
By Scott Jaschik
Monday evening, the Education Department issued a statement from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that has infuriated many advocates for historically black colleges. The statement comes when many leaders of black colleges are in Washington for meetings at the White House and with Republican Congressional leaders, who have been wooing black colleges and pledging to help them. Most of the statement is innocuous. She praises black colleges. In perhaps a sign not to expect too much money from the Trump administration, she says, “[r]ather than focus solely on funding, we must be willing to make the tangible, structural reforms that will allow students to reach their full potential.” And she notes that black colleges were created when “there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education.” But DeVos goes on to link black colleges to the issue of school choice — a cause for which she is an advocate. “HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice,” she said. “They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish.” While that summarizes the school choice argument, social media lit up late Monday with supporters of black colleges noting that the institutions were founded because black students had, in many respects, no choice.
www.chonricle.com
Cost of Online Education May Be Higher Than We Think, Study Suggests
by Lindsay McKenzie
A study of the earnings of nearly every person who took postsecondary courses online between 1999 and 2014 finds little evidence that online education saves students or taxpayers money. While it is often thought that online education saves money, as it requires relatively fewer resources than learning in-person on a campus, a working paper published by Caroline M. Hoxby, a professor of economics at Stanford University, has challenged this view, finding “little support for optimistic prognostications about online education.” Ms. Hoxby’s analysis suggests that online students, who disproportionately attend for-profit colleges, actually pay more for online education than they would pay for equivalent in-person education. It also found that the cost for institutions of running courses online instead of in-person is “not substantially less expensive.” Additionally, Ms. Hoxby found that while a large portion of the cost of online education is covered by federal taxes, it is “extremely unlikely” that this investment would be recouped by higher income taxes from former online students.
See also:
www.insidehighered.com
Online Ed’s Return on Investment
New paper casting doubt about the merits of online education raises concerns, but also questions from researchers who say it is “seriously flawed.”
www.insidehighered.com
Measuring Adversity
College Board pilots system to help colleges make admissions decisions about who is disadvantaged — and evidence from one college suggests 20 percent of decisions might be different. But lack of emphasis on race concerns some advocates.
By Scott Jaschik
Many colleges say they want to admit more applicants who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. But how do colleges define disadvantage — while making sure that only those who grew up with real hardships get the extra edge in admissions decisions? The College Board has just finished the first two pilots of a system — the Environmental Context Dashboard — that is designed to help colleges be more precise when deciding who deserves that edge. One of the colleges that employed the system in a test review of applications after decisions had already been made reported that up to 20 percent of admissions decisions might have been made differently using the dashboard.
www.insidehighered.com
Aid Applications From Undocumented Students Drop
By Elizabeth Redden
Fewer undocumented immigrant students have applied for state-level financial aid in California so far this year, and state education officials are encouraging them to apply before this Thursday’s deadline, the Los Angeles Times reported last week. The California Dream Act allows undocumented immigrant students to apply for state financial aid. Numbers provided to Inside Higher Ed by the California Student Aid Commission show that, as of Monday, the commission had received 23,743 applications for aid from undocumented immigrant students, compared to a total of 34,169 on-time applications last year. There are just three days left (through Thursday) to make up the gap.