University System News:
www.goldenisles.news
USG board of regents to meet at CCGA
http://goldenisles.news/news/local_news/usg-board-of-regents-to-meet-at-ccga/article_c4a071cd-4739-5b42-bc51-10666efcce76.html
By LAUREN MCDONALD
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents will host its monthly meeting at College of Coastal Georgia’s Brunswick campus this week. The two-day meeting will begin 9:30 a.m. today at the Howard Coffin Building. The board will break for lunch and return for committee meetings at 1:30 p.m. at the Conference Center. The board meeting will resume Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Coffin Gymnasium. Agenda items include “Campus Spotlight” presentations by several CCGA students and faculty members, as well as the college’s president, Greg Aloia.

www.wgxa.tv
Georgia College one of five universities partnered with Georgia Film Academy
http://wgxa.tv/news/local/georgia-college-one-of-five-universities-partnered-with-georgia-film-academy
by Maggie McGlamry
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Georgia College now offers a class in film making to prepare students for the state’s growing movie industry. In 2008, Governor Sonny Perdue created a tax incentive to bring in more film to the state in order to create jobs and revenue. Georgia now ranks third in the nation in film making, behind only California and New York. It’s a $7 billion industry. …Georgia College is one of only five public universities in the state partnered with the Georgia Film Academy to teach an introduction class to on-set film production. The class is taught by Bryan Krauss from the Georgia Film Academy and meets every Friday. Mass Communications student Maggie Foster said the course has made her well-rounded.

www.albanyherald.com
Randolph County’s Arianna Archer has defied the odds
Despite a tumultuous life, area student will graduate from Georgia Southern next month
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/randolph-county-s-arianna-archer-has-defied-the-odds/article_338327f0-5e86-5a30-907a-03fd8746bed0.html
From Staff Reports
Next month, family and friends of Arianna Archer will gather in the Paulson Stadium at Georgia Southern University to witness her crossing the stage to collect her diploma, culminating the end of her undergraduate years at GSU. While the end seems victorious and sweet, it is also a testament to defying the odds. …Archer’s mother, Santee, was warned early of her child’s possible disabilities. “She had a high chance of mental retardation due to serious prenatal occurrences and oxygen deprivation at childbirth,” Santee Archer said. “When at age 1, she refused to walk, barely talked and had no teeth, we were worried that the previous diagnosis had come to fruition. But right after her fifth birthday, her father was murdered, forcing the family to move and endure many drastic changes. “When she entered kindergarten, she was tested and deemed ‘gifted.’ At age 5, she was reading on a third grade level with math skills of a second-grade student. As some educators feared to place her according to her scores, it was decided that she would remain with her age group and just be pulled out for certain subjects and gifted classes. She never skipped a grade, but took fourth- and fifth-grade classes during one academic year.” …Archer began to struggle academically and had three tough years ahead. Yet by her senior year, she found herself excelling and back on the honor roll. She dually enrolled, taking college courses at Andrew College, and later scored high enough on the ACT to be accepted at Georgia Southern. Though she started out with the intention of pursuing a nursing a degree, Archer found a home in public health. She will receive a bachelor’s of science degree next month in Public Health as a Health Education & Promotion Major at the age of 19. She said she plans to continue her education at GSU, pursuing a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration.

www.diverseeducation.com
Georgia Tech GRIOT Leadership Series Highlights Black Male Achievement

Georgia Tech GRIOT Leadership Series Highlights Black Male Achievement

by Marcus Bright
The lack of Black males occupying leadership positions at institutions of higher education has been well documented. The reasons for this may vary, but there is no doubt that an increased level of mentorship, guidance and networking would widen the pathways of upward mobility in colleges and universities. Recently, a group of individuals at Georgia Tech have established the GRIOT Leadership Series to provide mentoring and guidance for employees to navigate the institution and move to higher positions. The GRIOT Series highlights the achievements and success of African-American males in various leadership positions at the institution. The series was put in place to learn their thoughts on mentoring, engagement and networking as well as to explore different avenues toward success. A recent session featured a very candid and powerful discussion by Chris Burke (director of community relations), Dr. Gary May (dean of the College of Engineering), Dr. Archie Erwin (vice president of institute diversity), S. Gordon Moore Jr. (executive director of student diversity and inclusion), Marvin Lewis (associate athletic director for finance and administration), and Ricky Rowe (senior educational facility planner). The presence and performance of these individuals not only provided a platform for diversity and inclusion, but they were able to provide insight on how they have impacted the culture of the campus environment. The panel explored a number of different themes and topics relating to the plight of Black males in higher educational settings.

www.all-latest-news.com
STUDENTS COMMİT TO ENDİNG SUİCİDE WİTH 2017 GİFT TO TECH
http://all-latest-news.com/2017/04/18/students-commit-to-ending-suicide-with-2017-gift-to-tech/00405982
By Julia Faherty
The annual Gift to Tech Celebration will take place Tuesday, April 18, from 11 a.m. to noon at the Kessler Campanile. This event honors the 2017 Gift to Tech recipient, Tech Ends Suicide Together, and the generosity of current students and alumni. All students, faculty, and staff are welcome to attend the celebration and enjoy Chick-fil-A, cake, and Coca-Cola products. The final Gift to Tech donation amount will not be determined until June, but the gift is expected exceed $45,000, compiled through donations from 2016-17 SAA members and matching gift donor Gary Jones. Tech Ends Suicide Together is an initiative developed by the Georgia Tech Counseling Center and Division of Student Life. “The Counseling Center is excited and humbled to have been selected for the SAA Gift to Tech Award,” said Ruperto Perez, director of the Counseling Center. “The significance of the award to support the Tech Ends Suicide Together initiative is beyond measure, as it allows the Center to continue working with our campus groups to educate, train, and promote suicide prevention at Tech.” The initiative is based on an international Zero Suicide campaign that has been enacted in community health care systems around the world and made prominent in the U.S. through the efforts of Henry Ford Health Care Systems in Michigan.

www.walb.com
6 high school students ‘move on’ to complete bachelor’s degrees
http://www.walb.com/story/35169341/6-high-school-students-move-on-to-complete-bachelors-degrees
By Catherine Patterson, Anchor
Six south Georgia high school students are moving on to several universities thanks to Albany Tech’s Move on When Ready. Monday, students signed to move on to complete their bachelor’s degrees. The Move on When Ready program gives 9th through 12th grade students in Georgia a chance to earn college credit while they are in high school. Westover High School student Tonyari Scott was one of the six students recognized. She has been accepted to Georgia Tech this fall.

www.gainesvilletimes.com
Pilot program helps struggling Hall students make it to technical college
Technical College Readiness courses offered in math, English
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/123033/
By Norm Cannada
East Hall High School seniors Edgar Garcia and Veronica Lopez are on track to be the first among their siblings to earn a high school diploma when they walk across the stage on graduation day next month. They even have opportunities to continue their education at Lanier Technical College in the fall. But, when the school year began, neither student was thinking about college. “I was hoping I could graduate,” Garcia said Tuesday. “I wasn’t really a bad kid. I wasn’t having trouble with my teachers. It was more that I was getting on the lazy stage. I started skipping and got into the habit and told myself it wouldn’t affect me. I ended up failing my sophomore year. That’s why I couldn’t graduate last year. …Both students have seen their academic opportunities grow as a result of participation in Technical College Readiness math and English courses piloted by Hall County Schools this semester. East Hall, Johnson High and Lanier Charter Career Academy have been offering the English and math courses this spring in an effort to help students have a better possibility for post-secondary education. The pilot project was approved by the state board of education. …Instead of thinking about a minimum-wage job, Lopez is now looking ahead to graduation and the possibility of eventually transferring from Lanier Tech to the University of North Georgia and majoring in psychology.

www.ajc.com
Criminal case dropped, but cost was high for ex-Tech professor
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/criminal-case-dropped-but-cost-was-high-for-tech-professor/ahperp8f9F4GM9eBSKMVIO/
Nick Wingfield  New York Times
Next month will be the seventh anniversary of the darkest moment in Joy Laskar’s life. It was when Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents raided his Atlanta home and office. Laskar, a celebrated, tenured professor of electrical engineering at the Georgia Tech, was eventually fired and indicted by a state grand jury, accused of misusing university funds and other resources to benefit his private startup. He faced decades in prison and a hefty fine if convicted. The case never came to a trial. Judge Robert C. I. McBurney tossed it out In October 2016, ruling the five-year statute of limitations had expired; the state had simply brought it too late. It was an unceremonious end to an episode that highlighted how entrepreneurial initiatives in academia can go very wrong.

www.savannahnow.com
Savannah State plans to move athletics down to Division II
Officials say Division I financially not feasible
http://savannahnow.com/local-colleges/news/sports/2017-04-17/savannah-state-plans-move-athletics-down-division-ii
By Donald Heath For the Savannah Morning News
The dollars and sense just haven’t added up for Savannah State athletics. Citing it wasn’t financially feasible for the Tigers to continue playing in NCAA Division I, Savannah State University President Cheryl Dozier announced Monday the school intends to reclassify all athletic programs to Division II. SSU officials told student-athletes of the move last Thursday night. Dozier and Tigers athletic director Sterling Steward met with the media at Hill Hall on campus but didn’t have much tangible to say about the reclassification. “Having not participated in this before, we don’t know what all the inner workings will be, but we’re in that process of reclassification as soon as we submit the application to NCAA,” Dozier said. “We’ve been in Division II in the past and more recently in Division I. I know our (supporters) are going to wholeheartedly support Savannah State Tiger athletes whatever division they are in.”

www.gwinnettdailypost.com
GGC’s Souris named pitcher of the week
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/sports/college/ggc-s-souris-named-pitcher-of-the-week/article_d6a58e0e-2399-11e7-b1e5-b7e747c1bfc7.html
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Association of Independent Institutions announced on Monday that Georgia Gwinnett College’s Tyler Souris was tabbed as the Pitcher of the Week for the duration of April 10-16. Souris, a senior from Bradenton, Fla., recorded a complete-game shutout for No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett in the Grizzlies’ 10-0 victory against NCAA Division II foe Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) on Saturday, April 15.

www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Hansis, Burnham give GGC sweep of softball awards
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/sports/college/hansis-burnham-give-ggc-sweep-of-softball-awards/article_405862a2-239c-11e7-935d-67c7d0b7724d.html
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Association of Independent Institutions announced on Monday that Georgia Gwinnett College’s Taylor Hansis was named the A.I.I.’s Pitcher of the Week while Hailey Burnham was tabbed its Player of the Week for the duration of April 10-16. Hansis, a sophomore from Longs, S.C., posted a 0.50 ERA over 14 innings of work, improving to 17-4 on the season.

www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Grizzlies’ Podda A.I.I. player of the week for fifth time this season
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/sports/college/grizzlies-podda-a-i-i-player-of-the-week-for/article_ee851c2c-239b-11e7-b56e-67de0e540c2a.html
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Association of Independent Institutions announced on Monday that Valeria Podda of Georgia Gwinnett College has been named the A.I.I.’s Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for the duration of April 10-16. Podda, a senior from Leiderdorp, Netherlands, lifted the No. 1 Grizzlies to a 9-0 sweep over in-state rival Brenau, which is receiving votes national, last Wednesday, picking up a 6-0, 6-1 win against No.31 Maya Mammetgulyyeva.  To date, the second-ranked Podda is a perfect 32-0 in 2017, posting a 14-0 mark in singles while teaming up partners Klara Dohnalova and Debora Scurt for an 18-0 record in doubles.  With Dohnalova, the duo is ranked No. 2 in the Oracle/ITA NAIA polls.

Higher Education News:
www.polk.allongeorgia.com
Deal announces 2017 ‘Tech College System Instructor of the Year’ award

Deal announces 2017 ‘Tech College System Instructor of the Year’ award

Governor Deal has announced the 2017 winner of the Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction. Augusta Technical College’s Ashley Strong-Green landed the accolade in early April. “Georgia is fortunate to have a strong technical college system that molds a workforce capable of filling the demands of an ever-evolving economy,” said Deal. “[D]evoted instructors such as Ms. Strong-Green guide students on their journey to success. My congratulations…” The Rick Perkins Award, now in its 27th year, highlights excellence in technical instruction. As an award winner, Strong-Green will make public appearances as an ambassador for technical education during the next year, including meeting with Deal and addressing the Georgia General Assembly. Every year, selection for the Rick Perkins Award begins with the naming of the top technical education student and instructor at each college, as well as the technical division at Bainbridge State College. …The first runner-up was Charles Avery, an emergency medical services instructor in the technical division of Bainbridge State College.

www.theatlantic.com
Colleges’ Endless Pursuit of Students
With increasingly sophisticated data, universities are constantly courting prospective attendees.
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/04/the-business-of-college-marketing/522399/
JEFFREY SELINGO
April is decision month for high-school seniors who still haven’t made up their minds about where they’re attending college next fall. With students applying to more schools than ever before—more than one-third now apply to at least seven schools—many seniors are likely weighing multiple offers as well as competing financial-aid packages. As a result, colleges put on a full-court press in these final weeks before the traditional May 1 decision day, hoping a personalized email, a phone call, or a visit to campus with other admitted students will be enough to assure a deposit for the freshman class. But securing that commitment is becoming more difficult by the year for admissions offices nationwide. Yield rates—the number of admitted students who actually attend—have been in a free fall at all but the most elite institutions in recent years.

www.chronicle.com
College, With Kids
As more students with young children enroll, colleges find ways to help them succeed
http://www.chronicle.com/article/College-With-Kids/239793?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=40518b55331440f5a2d24f38ad2cf8db&elq=652937795600459097f8d673d2c63ed9&elqaid=13527&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=5618
By Kelly Field
…Indeed, Audrey has lived on the seaside campus more than half of her life, moving there in 2015, when her mom transferred to Endicott from a community college in Illinois. Ms. Grimes is part of a group of eight single moms and their kids in the college’s Keys to Degrees program. Nationwide, there are millions of students like Ms. Grimes — single parents juggling classwork, jobs, and child care — and their numbers are rising. From 2004 to 2012, the number of student parents in the United States climbed by 1.1 million, or 30 percent, to 4.8 million students, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Two million of them were single moms. Yet few of these students get access to the kind of intensive services that Ms. Grimes has received at Endicott, where “Keys” students get subsidized child care, a $25,000 scholarship, free parking, and two dorm bedrooms for the price of one. …”I think colleges and universities are in for a big wake-up call, where their retention and graduation rates are going to start to be affected by the student-parent population,” Ms. Green says. “Demographics are changing, and they’re going to have to start addressing it or seeing the consequences of not doing so.”

www.chronicle.com
Math Gets a Makeover
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Math-Gets-a-Makeover/239789?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=b00ff2571d594ad5b0cc5cbed3d37d04&elq=bdc27705bc824c47a27a624ebf1569be&elqaid=13497&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=5605
By Shannon Najmabadi
On a chilly evening in March, students in Cecilia Arias’s mathematics course here at Rutgers University were learning about a concept called fair division. More specifically, they were considering the case of Jason, Kelly, and Lauren, three business owners who share a location in the mall. Suppose, Ms. Arias explained, that Jason makes the same amount of money each month, while Kelly gets no business in October, November, or December. Meanwhile, Lauren earns most of her profits during that same quarter. If only one of them can use the space at a time, Ms. Arias asked, how can the year be fairly divided among the three without an angry standoff?

www.chronicle.com
Publishers and Open-Resource Advocates Square Off on the Future of Course Content
http://www.chronicle.com/article/PublishersOpen-Resource/239806?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest
By Goldie Blumenstyk
AUSTIN, TEX.
At a friendly yet spirited debate last month over the pros and cons of open educational resources, publishers and OER advocates agreed on at least one thing: The “old” textbook market is broken. But that’s pretty much where the common ground ended. Team Publisher asserted that the evolution of the textbook marketplace was already leading students to create “their own market equilibrium,” allowing them to obtain required course materials at affordable prices through a combination of textbook rentals, used books, and purchase of new so-called smart books from commercial publishers. Team OER, meanwhile, argued that if the goals were affordability and better pedagogy, the use of low- or no-cost, openly licensed content, which can be reused, revised, remixed, redistributed, and retained with no limits, was the better option by far.