University System News:
www.onlineathens.com
UNG Foundation awards $1.7 million in scholarships
http://onlineathens.com/features/gratitude/2017-03-12/ung-foundation-awards-17-million-scholarships
By Staff Reports
The University of North Georgia Foundation awarded more than $1.7 million in student scholarships during the 2016 fiscal year, a total celebrated at the university’s fifth annual Scholarship Gala, held March 3 in Gainesville. The university operates five campuses, including an Oconee County campus. Honorary co-chairs of this year’s event were Georgia’s first lady Sandra Deal and Dr. John Hemmer and his wife, Jane, both university alumni. Scholarship support for students has been a focus for UNG President Bonita C. Jacobs since her inauguration in 2013, which was celebrated with the first Scholarship Gala. The UNG Foundation has awarded a total of $7,633,562 in scholarships since 2013.
www.accesswdun.com
Gainesville woman is winner of this year’s UNG Presidential Leadership Award
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/3/510914/gainesville-woman-is-winner-of-this-years-ung-presidential-leadership-award
By Ken Stanford Reporter
Lessie Smithgall of Gainesville was recently recognized with this year’s Universityof North Georgia Presidential Leadership Award. It was presented at the UNG Foundation’s fifth annual Scholarship Gala, held March 3 on the school’s Gainesville campus at which it was announced that the foundation awarded more than $1.7 million in student scholarships during the 2016 fiscal year. Honorary co-chairs of this year’s event were Georgia’s First Lady Sandra Deal and Dr. John and Mrs. Jane Hemmer, both university alumni. …During the event, Jacobs presented the 2017 Presidential Leadership Award to Lessie Smithgall of Gainesville. Mrs. Deal introduced the award. “The Presidential Leadership Award is reserved for those who have made an extraordinary mark on the lives of those at UNG and within its communities. Lessie Smithgall, this year’s honoree, has done just that. Lessie personifies this award through her exemplary life accomplishments, her good works for the people of our community, and her boundless spirit,” Deal said. “Lessie and her late husband, Charles, have left an enduring mark on our region through media, art and philanthropy. For UNG and its students, their legacy can particularly be felt through the Gainesville Theatre Alliance. With their invaluable support, this nationally acclaimed program has enriched our lives and the community.” …The Summit Award, which recognizes significant contributions to scholarships at UNG over an extended period of time, was presented to Bob and Wanda Swoszowski of Gainesville. Their support of scholarships at UNG spans more than 35 years in support of educational achievement and excellence.
www.metroatlantaceo.com
Clayton State University Tops Goal with more than $143,000 in Donations during 24-hour Fund Drive
http://metroatlantaceo.com/news/2017/03/clayton-state-university-tops-goal-more-143000-donations-during-24-hour-fund-drive/
Staff Report From Metro Atlanta CEO
Clayton State University has released its final total for its 24-hour fundraising event, Give 4 Dreams. The school raised $143,641 in donations, exceeding its goal during the second annual fund drive that lasted from March 1 to March 2. Thirteen projects including student travel, academic research, national competitions and scholarships earned generous support from 393 donors.
www.wmbfnews.com
CSU rehearsal hall named after former theatre chairwoman
http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/34728176/csu-rehearsal-hall-named-after-former-theatre-chairwoman
By WTVM Web Team
The Columbus State University Theatre Department has renamed a rehearsal hall in memory of Hazel Hall Brennan. Brennan was the former chair of the Department of Theatre. She joined the faculty in 1974, and served as chair of the theatre department from 1981 until her retirement in 2003 before passing away in 2014. The current department chair says everyone will remember her when they enter the space at CSU’s RiverPark campus. …As the department chair, Brennan taught hundreds of students who have gone on to become teachers and professionals in the theatre industry.
www.bizjournals.com
GSU impact on downtown all-encompassing
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/feature/gsu-impact-on-downtown-all-encompassing.html?ana=RSS%26s%3Darticle_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_atlanta+%28Atlanta+Business+Chronicle%29
Martin Sinderman
Contributing Writer
For the ongoing, significant and catalytic impact the rapid growth of its physical footprint and the expansion of its student body have had on downtown Atlanta, Georgia State University is the 2017 winner of Central Atlanta Progress Inc.’s Marcus Downtown Economic Impact Award. CAP introduced the award in 2008 as the Downtown Economic Impact Award, recognizing an individual, company or project that has stimulated revitalization efforts that strengthen and advance the community at large.
www.inspire.eaa.org
Young Eagle Pursues CFI Certificate
http://inspire.eaa.org/2017/03/08/young-eagle-pursues-cfi-certificate/
By Allen Allnoch
Rachel Broom’s first flying experience was in a commercial airliner. At the pace she’s going, she’ll be working in the cockpit of one before too long. Rachel, EAA 1128264, is a freshman at Middle Georgia State University’s School of Aviation (MGA), where she’s pursuing a Bachelor of Science in aviation science and management. Her goal is to become an airline pilot, and thanks to EAA’s Young Eagles program, she’s well on her way. After that initial flight experience, Rachel’s introduction to general aviation came at a Young Eagles rally hosted by Chapter 677 in Columbus, Georgia. Flying in a Piper PA-28 Cherokee, she was captivated and quickly became a fixture at chapter rallies, meetings, and other gatherings. That was in September 2013. Less than two years later, she attended EAA’s 2015 Advanced Air Academy in Oshkosh, on a scholarship funded by EAA credits for the chapter’s Young Eagles activities. …By the time she began college classes last fall, Rachel had spent time in the left seat of a variety of aircraft — many of them with Chapter 677 pilots — including a Cessna 170B, a Skyhawk, a Cardinal, and a Piper Tri-Pacer. It was no surprise, then, when she soloed on November 11, 2016, just two months after beginning her formal flight training at MGA. Being alone and aloft in a Piper Warrior only confirmed her sense that aviation is the career path she’s meant to follow.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Congrats to students admitted today to Georgia Tech. You’re in good company.
http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2017/03/11/congrats-to-students-admitted-today-to-georgia-tech-youre-in-good-company/
Hundreds of Georgia students found out today if they will be Yellow Jackets in the fall. Georgia Tech released its regular decision admits at noon. Between the early action students who found out in January and today’s regular decision admits, 7,297 students were offered a slot at Georgia Tech this year. Georgia Tech saw a 3 percent increase in applications, for a total of 31,484. The overall admit rate is 23 percent, meaning Tech admitted slightly more than two out of every 10 applicants. However, the admit rate is higher for Georgia applicants; 44 percent of in-state applicants earned admission. The average ACT of a student admitted to Tech is 33. The highest ACT score possible is a 36. The average ACT score in Georgia is 21.1. The average SAT of a student admitted to Tech is 1458, out of 1600. The average SAT score in Georgia is 976. The average number of college-level courses taken by admitted students is 10.6.
www.wjcl.com
Armstrong State University introduces new study abroad program in Cuba
Students will learn about the history, culture and contemporary issues affecting the Communist island nation post-Fidel Castro.
http://www.wjcl.com/article/armstrong-state-university-introduces-new-study-abroad-program-in-cuba/9118096
Armstrong State University will offer a new study abroad program in Havana, Cuba from July 9-29, 2017. Students will learn about the history, culture and contemporary issues affecting the Communist island nation post-Fidel Castro. The program is open to all Armstrong students, as well as University System of Georgia transient students, and offers a roster of semester credits. “Students will be exposed to an array of cultural activities and study excursions designed to encourage direct interact with the Cuban people,” notes Armstrong Associate Professor of Sociology Ned Rinalducci, Ph.D., who will act as the director in residence for the program. “Cuba is on the verge of dramatic change and this frozen-in-time nation, just starting to open up, is a compelling place to study.” Classes will be held at the Instituto de Filosofía de Cuba, a higher-education facility that is affiliated with The Academy of Sciences of Cuba, an official institution of the state.
www.albanyherald.com
ART DUNNING: Higher education, economic development and the future of Southwest Georgia
ASU PRESIDENT: The landscape for education has been transformed
http://www.albanyherald.com/art-dunning-higher-education-economic-development-and-the-future-of/article_3ad86a0c-d0ce-58d4-8c3e-ec2e4bfc72eb.html
Many years ago, there was an advertising campaign that declared, “It’s not your father’s Oldsmobile.” Targeting younger buyers, Oldsmobile, a company that had rested on its laurels for decades, realized that the market was changing. Similar to the automobile market, the landscape for higher education has undergone substantial transformations, and more are on the horizon. Technology, automation, market globalization, funding streams and demographics are changing continuously. The competition for young scholars is fierce. We are not only competing against other physical campuses, the market has now been saturated with many online for-profit and not-for-profit options. In so many ways, we must all face the reality that “this is not your father’s college education.” In recent discussions with people in the Albany community, individuals have expressed that they would not want to have my job. Change is hard, and consolidating two higher education institutions with rich legacies and historic roots into one university is no easy task. While we all like to reminisce about our days in college, efforts to ensure that this generation has the exact same experiences that we did is not only impossible, it is detrimental. Many of us went to college before the inventions of computers, cellphones and many other technological advances to which we now have access.
www.savannahnow.com
Armstrong staff trying to figure out how to market university amid consolidation
http://savannahnow.com/news/2017-03-11/armstrong-staff-trying-figure-out-how-market-university-amid-consolidation
By Dash Coleman
The commercial shows college students laughing, playing in the waves off Tybee Island and studying outside on a verdant campus. The narrator plays up small class sizes and Savannah’s reputation as a city teeming with history. The 30-second spot, meant to entice up-and-coming college students into attending Armstrong State University, aired in the Atlanta area last year. The commercial got the attention of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, which awarded Armstrong with top honors in the TV commercial category last month at a conference in Nashville, Tenn. Developing new marketing strategies has been one of the Savannah college’s endeavors over the last several years. More than five years ago, the university, then called Armstrong Atlantic State, started rebranding itself, changing its logo from AASU to just Armstrong. Then, in 2014, it dropped Atlantic from its name. Advertising campaigns stepped up the focus of student experience and the school’s relationship with Savannah, a leading tourism destination in the Southeast. And over the past two years, enrollment at the university has grown. But now the people who promote Armstrong face a new challenge — figuring out how to sell the university that will technically cease to exist next year. The state is consolidating Armstrong, which has about 7,000 students, with the larger Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. The combined institution will keep Georgia Southern’s name, and what is currently Armstrong’s main campus in Savannah will be called the Armstrong Campus. “We’re working around a lot of moving parts, as you can imagine,” said Allison Hersh, director of Armstrong’s marketing department and the school’s chief spokesperson. The consolidation takes effect in January, and the new Georgia Southern, which will span three campuses, will start its inaugural class in fall 2018. So for now, both schools are still recruiting students to begin this fall — the last incoming class to start at the current universities.
www.savannahnow.com
NATHAN DEEN: The human cost of Armstrong losing athletics
http://savannahnow.com/local-colleges/news/sports/2017-03-12/nathan-deen-human-cost-armstrong-losing-athletics
It was a sobering scene inside Armstrong State’s Alumni Arena on Wednesday. Maybe it would have done some good for the members of the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents to have been there. Maybe then it would have crossed their minds that the student-athletes who were fighting to hold back the tears are human beings instead of statistics. Statistics show that Armstrong freshman Haleigh Meuninck is one of about 7,000 students to be added to the enrollment of the soon-to-be new Georgia Southern University, which is about to become the fourth-largest state university in Georgia. Georgia Southern stands to benefit in just about every conceivable way from the consolidation that was approved by the Board of Regents in January. The news breaking Tuesday night — that Armstrong State would discontinue athletics after this spring season — brought to light that the Pirates have nothing at all to gain. Statistics don’t look at Meuninck as an individual. Statistics don’t care that she can no longer play soccer at her school of choice, that her future has been forever altered because of a decision made by people she doesn’t even know. By people who don’t know her. Dealt a rotten hand, Meuninck made the best possible decision in the long term. She knows she won’t play soccer after college, and she believes Armstrong offers the best program for her major. But three years of soccer, three years of memories and friendships that can only be gained through playing on a college team, were snatched from her.
www.news.wabe.org
Political Breakfast: Campus Carry, 6th District And More
http://news.wabe.org/post/political-breakfast-campus-carry-6th-district-and-more
By DENIS O’HAYER
Georgia Republican Gov. Nathan Deal said he might look at a revised version of the “campus carry” bill he vetoed last year
www.myajc.com
OPINION: Don’t revisit guns on campus
With a past veto on the books, and university officials and much of Georgia’s citizenry in opposition, lawmakers should finally shelve this issue.
http://www.myajc.com/news/opinion/opinion-don-revisit-guns-campus/raOnx6BSbsVY1JTaLe0jPP/
By Andre Jackson – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This should have been a settled matter by now. Last year’s surprisingly decisive veto statement by Gov. Nathan Deal should have resolved for a long time to come the issue of guns on public college campuses. That it did not suggests that a mule might well be a suitable animal mascot for the Georgia General Assembly. Even in a non-election year, the Gold Dome is once more advancing a measure that would allow carrying of guns on most all of the campus acreage of Georgia colleges and universities. In pushing the latest bill, which has already whizzed through the Georgia House on a 108-63 vote, campus carry advocates have, in effect, sought to shush opponents, chief among them being Gov. Deal as well as the University System of Georgia. …We’ll acknowledge here, as we’ve done before, that the Second Amendment-guaranteed right to bear firearms is a pretty settled matter of law at this point. Ditto for the concept of concealed carry of guns as governed by state laws. We would suggest, though, that guns on campus is another matter altogether.
www.myajc.com
OPINION: Moral high ground should preclude more guns on campuses
http://www.myajc.com/news/opinion/opinion-moral-high-ground-should-preclude-more-guns-campuses/xJj19o0Yzi8guzrQNGlrsL/
By Damon P. Williams
There are good reasons that university officials, faculty and the students themselves oppose guns on campus. As a lecturer at Georgia Tech, I often teach with my back facing the door. I often sit down with students who are distressed about the grades they’ve been given. I spend days with students who are still learning about themselves, in an environment that is academically rigorous and emotionally stressful. Adding guns to that mix is not wise. House Bill 280, known widely as “campus carry,” would allow guns onto our state’s public colleges and universities. Sadly, Georgia’s House recently passed the bill. Last year, Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed another such bill because of its potential threat to young children in childcare centers on campuses. More people in the community are increasingly concerned about the potential for accidental discharges in and around classrooms where explosive materials and gas lines are prevalent. As residents of this great state, we cannot lose sight of the facts. In 2015, Georgia gun-related deaths (ranked 18th in firearm deaths by state) outpaced fatal car crashes. For communities and families, that meant nearly 1,500 of their neighbors, classmates and family members were lost to gun violence. A campus carry law could mean even more gun-related suicides and homicides on school grounds. This is a major concern given the facilities on Georgia Tech’s campus. Lawmakers made small changes to the current bill that might pass the governor’s moral muster, but essentially leave much of the campus, including most childcare centers, open to gun carriers. These “protections” don’t succeed in protecting all lives.
www.valdostatdailytimes.com
Campus carry bad idea then, bad idea now
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/opinion/editorials/campus-carry-bad-idea-then-bad-idea-now/article_46e913be-92dc-53b7-80db-b2859826cfc0.html
If you Back the Blue, you will oppose campus carry. Police are opposed to allowing weapons on college campuses and so are we. We support the Second Amendment. We oppose guns on campus. We are disappointed in the Georgia House of Representatives — including the Republican members of our own legislative delegation — that passed campus carry legislation, moving the measure to the Senate for consideration for the second legislative year in a row. We do not see this as a partisan issue or a gun rights issue. We see it as a common sense issue. Valdosta Chief of Police Brian Childress has strongly opposed the notion of allowing licensed gun carry on the campus of Valdosta State University, and if anyone understands public safety, it is the chief. …We believe the concerns of people on campus about their own safety should an active shooter event occur are legitimate. We think they make a strong argument when they say if a good person had a gun a bad person with the intent to harm might be stopped. The problem is, there are no examples of that ever happening on a college campus. There is no data to support the notion that a person with a license to carry a concealed weapon could or would prevent or mitigate a mass shooting. Our concerns over things that could go horribly wrong on a daily basis outweigh our worries about a rogue gunman on campus. Guns in dorm rooms, classrooms and campus courtyards are a tragedy waiting to happen.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Will International Students Stay Away?
Four in 10 colleges are seeing drops in applications from international students amid pervasive concerns that the political climate might keep them away.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/13/nearly-4-10-universities-report-drops-international-student-applications
By Elizabeth Redden
Nearly 40 percent of U.S. colleges are seeing declines in applications from international students, and international student recruitment professionals report “a great deal of concern” from students and their families about visas and perceptions of a less welcoming climate in the U.S., according to a survey conducted in February by six higher education groups. More than 250 American colleges and universities responded to the survey, which was initiated in response to concerns among international educators “that the political discourse surrounding foreign nationals in the U.S. leading up to the November 2016 U.S. presidential election could be damaging to international student recruitment efforts,” according to a press release about the initial, top-line findings (a full report on the results, with more detail, is scheduled to be released at the end of the month) … While a majority of institutions are not seeing decreases, steady increases in international applications and ensuing enrollments have become the norm for many colleges. And many institutions have based their financial plans in part on sustained increases in enrollments of full-paying international undergraduates.
www.nytimes.com
The Dangerous Safety of College
Frank Bruni
The moral of the recent melee at Middlebury College, where students shouted down and chased away a controversial social scientist, isn’t just about free speech, though that’s the rubric under which the ugly incident has been tucked. It’s about emotional coddling. It’s about intellectual impoverishment. Somewhere along the way, those young men and women — our future leaders, perhaps — got the idea that they should be able to purge their world of perspectives offensive to them. They came to believe that it’s morally dignified and politically constructive to scream rather than to reason, to hurl slurs in place of arguments. They have been done a terrible disservice. All of us have, and we need to reacquaint ourselves with what education really means and what colleges do and don’t owe their charges. Physical safety? Absolutely. A smooth, validating passage across the ocean of ideas? No. If anything, colleges owe students turbulence, because it’s from a contest of perspectives and an assault on presumptions that truth emerges — and, with it, true confidence.
www.chronicle.com
How Colleges Can Open Powerful Educational Experiences to Everyone
http://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Colleges-Can-Open-Powerful/239462?cid=wsinglestory_hp_1
By Shannon Najmabadi
When Sheila Samperio told her parents about an unusual course that included a two-week trip to Puerto Rico, they stared at her blankly. The concept of study abroad was foreign to her father and mother, a day laborer and a housekeeper at the local Hilton hotel … What Ms. Samperio described to her parents is a fundamental dynamic that makes experiential learning pedagogically powerful. These opportunities include study-away trips, internships, service learning, fieldwork, and collaborating with faculty members to investigate and answer research questions. Recognized as difference makers for students, these activities deepen learning by connecting the classroom to the broader world. And they are increasingly being championed by institutions looking to prove their value, lure students, and set graduates up for success. But they are not equally accessible. They’re sometimes seen as boutique offerings primarily available to those with the time, financial resources, and contacts to pursue them. Through these experiences, well-off students can get even further ahead of their peers: They gain confidence and a better understanding of their interests, make connections that lead to jobs, and develop skills that can apply to their future workplaces.