University System News:
www.politics.blog.ajc.com
Nathan Deal keeps the door open for campus carry measure
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/03/07/nathan-deal-keeps-the-door-open-for-campus-carry-measure/
Greg Bluestein
Gov. Nathan Deal has kept the door open for legislation that would legalize firearms on the state’s college campuses despite his vigorous veto of the legislation last year. The Republican said this week he is continuing to have conversations with the House supporters on the legislation, House Bill 280, though he did not elaborate on his concerns with the measure. “We’re receptive to continuing to talk with them, and hopefully they’re receptive to making some additional changes,” he said. “Perhaps. But whether they do or don’t, that’s their decision.” …This year’s measure, sponsored by state Rep. Mandi Ballinger, would allow those 21 and older with a Georgia weapons permit to carry concealed weapons on to most parts of college campuses. It bans guns from on-campus preschools, but it doesn’t include the other exemptions that Deal once demanded. It passed by a 108-63 vote, largely along party lines, and now is pending in the Senate. House Speaker David Ralston said of the governor that lawmakers tried to be “accommodating to him and his concerns.” When asked on Friday why it didn’t address all of Deal’s concerns from last year, Ralston pointed to the process.
www.universitybusiness.com
Georgia State University reduced summer melt
https://www.universitybusiness.com/news/georgia-state-university-reduced-summer-melt
Submitted by Stefanie Botelho
AdmitHub, an edtech startup which builds conversational artificial intelligence (AI) to guide students on the path to and through college, together with Georgia State University, has released the results of a study that examined the efficacy of ‘smart text messaging’ in reducing their summer melt rate. Summer melt refers to students who accept offers of admission but who subsequently do not show up for fall enrollment. Georgia State experienced its best enrollment results in school history thanks in large part to AdmitHub’s text-based intervention. In particular, the experimental group using AdmitHub experienced a 21.4% lower summer melt rate and a 3.9% higher enrollment rate when compared to the control group.
www.courier-tribune.com
UGA students back at Habitat for 18th year
By Larry Penkava
Students from the University of Georgia have come to Randolph County this week, primarily working on a Habitat for Humanity home but also lending a hand to a couple of other agencies. Instead of spending their spring break on sunny beaches, they decided to get down and dirty on a construction project to benefit a Habitat family. …On Wednesday, plans are to divide the students into two groups, one helping at the Islamic Center and the other at the Family Crisis Center. They’ll be back at the Habitat home on Thursday and Friday, then return to campus on Saturday.
www.onenewspage.com
University Of Georgia Students Give Back In North Philly
The students are spending Spring Break volunteering with SpArc Philadelphia.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
GGC’s Burnham honored by conference
FROM STAFF REPORTS
LAWRENCEVILLE – The Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) announced on Monday that Georgia Gwinnett College sophomore Taylor Hansis was named Pitcher of the Week while senior Hailey Burnham was tabbed as the A.I.I.’s Player of the Week for the week ending March 5. Monday’s honor is the fourth week in-a-row that the Grizzlies have swept the A.I.I.’s weekly honors.
www.goldenisles.news
Vietnam Veterans sought to be honored for March 23 ceremony
By LARRY HOBBS
…Most folks may not recall that the U.S. military was already involved in Vietnam by the 1950s, but the local office of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service has not forgotten. Troupe is among 70 local Vietnam War veterans whom the local office hopes to add to its list of honorees for a ceremony set for March 23 at College of Coastal Georgia. Some 35 local veterans already have committed to attend the ceremony, which will recognize those who served in Vietnam from June 1, 1954 to May 15, 1975. Georgia Commissioner of Veterans Service Mike Roby will be on hand for the ceremony, which takes place at 6:30 p.m. at the campus’s Southeast Conference Center. Also on hand will be Brunswick Mayor Cornell Harvey, himself an Air Force veteran.
www.patch.com
Kennesaw State Gets $30K Endowment From LexisNexis
LexisNexis Risk Solutions endowment will further KSU student research into big data analytics.
http://patch.com/georgia/kennesaw/kennesaw-state-gets-30k-gift-lexisnexis
By Craig Johnson
LexisNexis Risk Solutions has gifted Kennesaw State University $30,000 to help fund computer-related scholarships, the school said. The College of Computing and Software Engineering endowment is part of a three-year partnership for Kennesaw State and LexisNexis, known for its longstanding research into big data analytics. “The LexisNexis Risk Solutions HPCC Systems® Scholarship will empower students by providing financial support to help students focus on their studies and complete their education at Kennesaw State University,” Interim College Dean Jon Preston said in a statement. “This scholarship recognizes excellence in academic achievement, and as the first endowed scholarship within the College of Computing and Software Engineering (CCSE), it establishes a lasting legacy that will benefit students for years to come.”
www.wtvm.com
ASU stresses safety during severe weather
http://www.wtvm.com/story/34681878/asu-prepares-students-for-severe-weather
By Desirae Duncan, Reporter
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – January’s violent storms didn’t hit when classes were in session at Albany State University, but the school is making sure students, faculty and staff are prepared for any future weather emergencies. The campus police department routinely updates its severe weather plan and notification system used to warn students of tornado warnings. Students are enrolled in to the school’s Blackboard Connect5 system which is used to send a text message, email and a phone call to all students and staff during a tornado warning. The police department also sounds its tornado siren to alert the campus. ASU Police Chief John Fields said the storms were eye opening for students and served as a reminder that severe weather can strike at any time and can always strike again. The school plans to hold a tornado drill in March to make sure students know the proper procedure during a tornado warning.
www.oceanscience.wordpress.com
UGA Skidaway Institute research paper selected for Research Spotlight
A research paper by University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography scientist Aron Stubbins has been selected by the Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences to be featured as a Research Spotlight on the journal’s website and in the magazine Eos. Research Spotlights summarize the the best accepted articles for the Earth and space science community.
www.athensceo.com
UGA Report: Minority Groups Driving U.S. Economy
Staff Report From Athens CEO
In 2016, U.S. Hispanic buying power was larger than the gross domestic product of Mexico. That’s just one of the telling statistics that illustrates the unprecedented economic clout of U.S. minority groups in the latest Multicultural Economy Report from the University of Georgia Terry College of Business. Published by the Selig Center for Economic Growth, the report estimates the nation’s total buying power reached $13.9 trillion in 2016 and predicts it will hit $16.6 trillion by 2021, with minority groups making the fastest gains. For example, African-American buying power, estimated at $1.2 trillion in 2016, will grow to $1.5 trillion by 2021, making it the largest racial minority consumer market. Buying power is the total personal income of residents that is available for spending after taxes. It does not include money that is borrowed or saved from previous years. The Selig Center estimates its buying power statistics by applying economic modeling and forecasting techniques to data from various federal sources. The full report is available for purchase on the Selig Center’s website.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Delay in Gainful Employment Deadlines
By Paul Fain
The U.S. Department of Education on Monday announced roughly three-month delays to deadlines for colleges to submit appeals or public disclosures under the gainful employment rule, Obama administration performance standards for the ability of graduates of vocational programs to repay their federal student loans. The rule applies to for-profits and nondegree programs at community colleges and other nonprofit institutions. Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration have signaled that they will seek to roll back gainful employment. The department’s announcement this week means colleges have until July to submit appeals to academic programs’ debt-to-earnings ratios. The deadline had been this month. Likewise, colleges will have until July to meet a previously set April mark for updating their public disclosures for 2017 rates. The Obama administration in December had announced a delay to a template for programmatic disclosures under the rule.
www.insidehighered.com
Trump Issues New Travel Ban
Revised travel ban promises to reduce disruption to current students and scholars from affected countries, but concerns remain for new international enrollments and American higher ed’s continued ability to attract top talent from abroad.
By Elizabeth Redden
President Trump on Monday signed a new executive order temporarily barring nationals of six Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — from entering the U.S. after enforcement of an earlier entry ban was halted by federal courts. The revised ban, which goes into effect March 16, does not apply to lawful permanent residents of the U.S. and individuals from the six nations who already have valid visas, including student and exchange visas. The exemption of current visa holders from the entry ban represents a notable change from an original executive order authorizing an entry ban, which was signed by Trump on Jan. 27 and followed by the State Department provisionally revoking most visas granted to individuals from the affected countries (an action it subsequently reversed in response to court rulings). Some international students and scholars who held otherwise valid visas to enter the U.S. found themselves stranded abroad after the first order was signed, unable to board U.S.-bound planes to return to their campuses.In another change from the previous order, the new order excludes Iraq from the list of banned countries.
www.diverseeducation.com
Experts: Trump’s New Travel Ban a Blow to International Study
by Reginald Stuart
President Trump’s issuance Monday of a revised executive order placing tight restrictions on the entry into the United States of some foreigners received a guarded reception from higher education leaders and frontline college and university officials involved in international higher education efforts. Trump’s new order imposing travel bans to the United States from six Muslim-majority nations appears to be quite like Trump’s first order issued about a month ago banning new visas to citizens coming from seven countries in the Middle East region. Beyond excluding Iraq from the new order, the revised one poses the same uncertainty, obstacles and harsh feelings about America as his first issued, they say. “While the revised executive order is more limited in scope, the impact is significant,” says Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), which consists of 250 of the nation’s largest public research institutions. “The pipeline of new students and scholars from those countries — many of whom are in the midst of the college application process — is now cut off. “Public research universities are also concerned that the new order could have a chilling effect on students and scholars in other countries who are considering whether to study and conduct research in the United States or elsewhere.”