University System News:
www.cnbc.com
25 colleges that are worth the money
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/07/25-colleges-that-are-worth-the-money.html
Emmie Martin
Where you go to college isn’t just an investment in the next four years, it’s an investment in the rest of your life. And although price certainly isn’t the only factor to consider when deciding where to attend, it doesn’t hurt to go to a school that’s a good value. Payscale’s annual College ROI Report determines the return on investment for schools across the U.S. by subtracting the cost of attendance from graduates’ 20-year pay… 13. Georgia Institute of Technology, 20 year net ROI: $746,000, Total cost for four years: $174,000, Average loan amount: $31,700
www.fox7austin.com
15-year-old graduates college ahead of high school
http://www.fox7austin.com/news/us-world-news/253650542-story
By: Natalie Fultz
Double congratulations are in order for one Georgia Teen. Fifteen-year-old Christie Taylor graduated from the University of North Georgia Saturday, but she has not received her high school diploma… yet. “I was homeschooled, then went to middle school, but after eighth grade, I scored high on MAP tests in every class and had one of highest percent averages so the school said I could go on to college,” Taylor said. “Every class I take here counts as double at my high school, so while pursuing my degrees I am simultaneously filling the requirements for my diploma.” Taylor said she has never taken one class at her high school, in fact, she was only 13 when she enrolled at the University.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Meadowcreek High, Georgia Tech celebrate new makerspace area
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/meadowcreek-high-georgia-tech-celebrate-new-makerspace-area/article_c78b76cd-95db-554b-b70e-3f5b9cc08c8f.html
By Keith Farner
Before the makerspace arrived at Meadowcreek High School, the school’s robotics area consisted of a closet in the back of a classroom. “The makerspace really helps us expand our opportunities on what to build,” senior Alondra Robles said. “Having a tight space isn’t really helpful. You get frustrated. I don’t have enough space to do what I want to do. With this makerspace, we have a lot more tools to use.” The makerspace partnership between Meadowcreek and Georgia Tech’s GoSTEM program began in 2011, and it aims to enhance the educational experience of Latino students in Georgia and strengthen the pipeline of these students into STEM majors in college and industries after college. The program is funded by The Goizueta Foundation. Students began using the expanded area on the top floor this school year, and more equipment and tools are yet to be installed, but Meadowcreek and Georgia Tech officials on Tuesday held a ribbon-cutting celebration to mark the progress the partnership’s made.
www.bryancountynews.com
BCHS senior to graduate as a college junior
Dual enrollment program creating new opportunities for Georgia students
http://www.bryancountynews.com/section/4/article/49006/
Ashley Kramer is in the top 10 of her senior class at Bryan Country High School, an honors student, a member of the National Beta Club, and has participated in school activities. However, she does not actually attend classes at the school where she will soon graduate and receive her high school diploma. This is because she has attended college full-time for the last two years as a participant in the state-funded Move on When Ready program. …In 2015, after finishing the 10th grade, and with a desire to jump start her college career, Kramer passed the required SAT exam and was accepted into Georgia Southern University in the Georgia MOWR program. Two years later, she is preparing to walk with her BCHS graduating class of 2017 to receive her diploma, and she will already have completed her freshman and sophomore years at Georgia Southern University. To Kramer, it was the best move she ever made.
www.bellanaija.com
20-year old Nigerian Diane Ndidi Isibor Bags U.S. Varsity’s Presidential Award for Academic Excellence
Diane Ndidi Isibor, 20, last Saturday, received the Valdosta State University (VSU) President/Vice Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence. According to the university, the award is presented to the graduating student with the highest grade point average in each of VSU’s five colleges – College of Arts and Sciences, College of the Arts, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration, and James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services. She also bagged the Annie Power Hopper Award. Diane, who graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance, received the honours at the 233rd commencement ceremony on Friday, May 5, and Saturday, May 6.
www.mdjonline.com
BUILDING A NEST
Connection to Kennesaw State University keeps some graduates nearby
http://www.mdjonline.com/news/connection-to-kennesaw-state-university-keeps-some-graduates-nearby/article_fbfb8092-3536-11e7-b0fb-7fa4031bdb03.html
Mary Kate McGowan
Kennesaw State University’s newest graduates were raised in different countries, and they found a second home in Cobb County. One graduate, Rajbin Singh, left his home in Nepal four years ago to study here. …Now that Rajbin Singh has graduated from KSU, he said he has to decide whether he wants to stay in the United States or return to Nepal. …Other recent KSU graduates live closer to home. …Some of KSU’s newest graduates grew up in Cobb County and have no plans to leave. …KSU drew in students from around the world, and their connection with the university and Cobb County is keeping some of the graduates nearby.
www.savannahnow.com
Consolidation committee to vote on college structure for combined Armstrong-Georgia Southern University
http://savannahnow.com/news/2017-05-09/consolidation-committee-vote-college-structure-combined-armstrong-georgia-southern
By Dash Coleman
A recommendation being voted on Wednesday would create nine colleges at a combined Armstrong-Georgia Southern University, breaking liberal arts and social sciences apart in a move that is being met with resistance by many faculty members in Statesboro. More than 100 faculty members from Georgia Southern’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences signed a petition last month in opposition to the proposed split — something they claim would result in “the harmful segregation” of disciplines that seek to “understand the nature and significance of society, politics, and culture,” according to a letter sent to the school’s leadership. This is the first time since the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents voted to consolidate the two schools that an overall academic structure has been put forth to the public. Under the proposal, the colleges would be divvied into Engineering and Computing, Arts and Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Business, Education, Health Professions, Public Health, Science and Mathematics and Graduate Studies.
www.ledger-enquirer.com
Higher ed for those truly earning it
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/opinion/article149544154.html
BY DUSTY NIX
Imagine trying to study for a college education while sleeping on a sofa in somebody else’s home full of children. Or driving three hours each way, every day, or trying to work toward a degree while living in a homeless shelter. Some people don’t have to imagine things like that. They’ve lived things like that. Now an outreach program at Columbus State University, part of a statewide higher education initiative, is working to remove some of the obstacles between students that dedicated and the education they are trying against such daunting odds to obtain. As reported by staff writer Alva James-Johnson, CSU support services (with the generous help, in at least one instance, of First Baptist Church) has established its own branch, and foundation account, of a network called Embark Georgia. An initiative of the JW Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia, its website describes Embark as a program “to increase college access and retention for youth who have experienced foster care or homelessness [by] creating a network of support on campus and across the state … to improve the chances for every student to complete a degree or certificate program at one of the over 50 [University System] or [Technical College System] institutions in Georgia.” …The story here is about more than just breaking cycles of poverty; it’s potentially about starting new patterns of hope, achievement and success.
www.ncbnewyork.com
Silicon Valley Companies Hiring, But Not From Ivy League Schools: Report
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/tech/Silicon-Valley-Companies-Hiring-But-Not-From-Ivy-League-Schools-421582113.html
By Rhea Mahbubani
Considering shelling out big bucks on an Ivy League education? You may want to reconsider that – at least if you’re eyeing a job in Silicon Valley. The list of top 10 universities big-name Bay Area companies hire from doesn’t feature any of the Ivy League universities in the country, according to artifical intelligence company HiringSolved. The analysis was based on 10,000 profiles of tech workers who were hired or promoted into new roles in 2016 as well as January and February 2017, according to the San Francisco Business Times… 6. Georgia Institute of Technology
www.growinggeorgia.com
ABAC Alumni Association Honors Georgia Farm Bureau President
http://growinggeorgia.com/news/2017/05/abac-alumni-association-honors-georgia-farm-bureau-president/
The ABAC Alumni Association at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College recently honored Gerald Long from Bainbridge during the 2017 Homecoming Week. ABAC President David Bridges and Alumni Association President Chuck Scarborough presented Long with the Master Farmer Award. The ABAC Master Farmer Award is presented by the ABAC Alumni Association in recognition of alumni who have distinguished themselves as outstanding farmers. The award is based upon leadership in the home and community as well as the use of wise and unique ideas in farm management and operation. Service to the college is also taken into consideration. The Master Farmer Award was first presented in 1955, making it the oldest of the awards presented by the Alumni Association.
www.macon.com
Fired college football coach sues for wrongful termination, discrimination
http://www.macon.com/news/local/article149469339.html
BY AMY LEIGH WOMACK
Former Fort Valley State University football coach Donald Pittman has filed a $750,000 lawsuit claiming he was wrongfully ousted and suffered age and sexual discrimination. The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, names the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and three university officials — university president Paul Jones, chief compliance officer Denise Eady and chief of staff Kendall Isaac as defendants.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
Which parts of VSU will remain gun-free?
New campus carry law offers more questions than answers
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/which-parts-of-vsu-will-remain-gun-free/article_eb060067-bee6-59a4-85e1-8f95ace434fa.html
By John Stephen
Whoever is thinking Georgia’s new campus carry law will turn Valdosta State University into a Wild West campus with a gunslinger on every corner, think again. The law carries stipulations that could potentially leave the campus with as many — if not more — gun-free zones as gun-permitted areas, depending on how colleges interpret the controversial legislation. While the bill was a perceived victory for gun rights activists, it was a victory full of compromise. The law includes sweeping restrictions on where guns are actually allowed. State Sen. Ellis Black called its passing a “no-win situation” for legislators because both sides didn’t get everything they wanted, and supporters remain unhappy with all the exceptions.
www.unionrecorder.com
Colleges have less than two months to implement campus carry law
http://www.unionrecorder.com/news/colleges-have-less-than-two-months-to-implement-campus-carry/article_1d32c0e6-3509-11e7-a24a-dfb4da13a1bd.html
Gil Pound
Beginning July 1 it will be legal for licensed gun carriers to carry on the campuses of Georgia College, Georgia Military College and Central Georgia Technical College as well as every other postsecondary institution across the state. …With three college campuses in Baldwin County, The Union-Recorder reached out to their respective spokespeople for reactions from leadership and how the new measure will be implemented locally. Georgia College media relations referred the newspaper to a statement issued by University System of Georgia Chancellor Dr. Steve Wrigley to its 28 member institutions after the governor signed the bill. …CGTC also deferred to its governing body, the Technical College System of Georgia, which issued a similar statement. “The Technical College System of Georgia will continue to follow the laws of the state. We are working with the TCSG presidents and police chiefs to ensure our colleges are fully compliant with the law by July 1.” …The implementation and enforcement of House Bill 280 is where things could get tricky for all three local colleges as well as others across Georgia.
www.macon.com
Guns and tailgating: Campus carry law draws questions for football Saturdays
http://www.macon.com/sports/college/university-of-georgia/bulldogs-beat/uga-football/article149606839.html
BY JASON BUTT
ATHENS – Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a law last week that will allow persons 21 years or older to possess concealed weapons on campus with a permit. As for what that means when universities host football games is unknown at the present time. In the law, one of the excluded places for concealed weapons includes “buildings or property used for athletic sporting events.” But those eight words, written in line 26 of House Bill 280, could be interpreted in different ways. One scenario has raised an interesting question for Georgia: Given the fact that up to 100,000 fans, if not more, partake in tailgating festivities many hours before kickoff, how will the law be interpreted on its campus for a Saturday football game? Georgia’s athletics department is unclear whether this law will strictly mean that guns are disallowed inside venues such as Sanford Stadium or if they will be banned from all tailgating sites. The University System of Georgia and attorneys likely are still sorting out the best way to enact the new law. Athletics director Greg McGarity was reached twice during the past five days since the signing of the law and said he isn’t sure of the details yet. The University System of Georgia Regents declined further comment on the topic.
Higher Education News:
www.ajc.com
Emory attract critics over helping undocumented students
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/emory-attract-critics-over-helping-undocumented-students/MRmWEsOfMvHZbOUqwkRbCJ/
Eric Stirgus
Emory University has become a target or critical articles by politically right-leaning websites and social media because of its policy of helping undocumented students. Beginning this fall, Emory will offer “100 percent of demonstrated financial need” for undocumented undergraduate students who graduated from a U.S. high school. The financial help would come from a combination of university-based grants and scholarships, work study and loans, Emory says on its website. Emory is a private institution.
www.insidehighered.com
A Plan to Kill High School Transcripts … and Transform College Admissions
More than 100 elite private high schools aim to replace traditional transcripts with competency-based, nonstandardized documents — with no grades. They plan to expand to public high schools, with goal of completely changing how students are evaluated.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/05/10/top-private-high-schools-start-campaign-kill-traditional-transcripts-and-change
By Scott Jaschik
What if traditional high school transcripts — lists of courses taken, grades earned and so forth — didn’t exist? That’s the ambition of a new education reform movement, which wants to rebuild how high schools record the abilities of students — and in turn to change the way colleges evaluate applicants. Sounds like quite a task. But the idea is from a group with considerable clout and money: more than 100 private schools around the country, including such elite institutions as the Dalton School and the Spence School in New York City, plus such big guns as the Cranbrook Schools in Michigan, the Phillips Academy in Massachusetts and Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut. The organizers of the effort believe all kinds of high schools and colleges are ready for change, but they argue that it will take the establishment to lead this particular revolution.
www.chronicle.com
Common Application Says New Transfer App Will Better Serve Nontraditional Students
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Common-Application-Says-New/240035?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest
By Eric Hoover
The Common Application has long been used primarily by teenagers planning to enroll in college full time right after high school. But soon the online platform will evolve, its leaders say, to better serve the majority of undergraduates who take different paths. On Tuesday the Common Application announced plans for a new transfer application, scheduled to debut next year. At the organization’s annual summit of members, Jenny Rickard, its president and chief executive, said the revamped application would help “a very important but underrecognized group of learners … by actually acknowledging their diverse backgrounds and experiences.” That group includes veterans, adults returning to complete a degree or certificate, and students transferring from a community college. The Common App’s current transfer application closely resembles the version that high-school seniors use to apply to four-year institutions.
www.washingtonpost.com
Can the middle class afford college?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/05/08/can-the-middle-class-afford-college/?utm_term=.95d9ddb8b38e
By Jeffrey J. Selingo
The beginning of May was the deadline for the last of high-school seniors to make their final decision about where they’re going to college next fall. For some it was a sprint to the finish as they weighed the social and academic fit of campuses still on their list, but also the all-important financial aid offers from colleges. I heard about the agony of the decision-making process from some of them in e-mail messages asking for advice or as I traveled the country in recent weeks to speak at high schools about the admissions process and how to succeed as an undergraduate. A few described their financial situation in detail, while others talked about their “middle-class backgrounds,” with jobs as school teachers, firefighters, or supermarket managers. As personal financial columnist Ron Lieber wrote recently about middle-class families—and their angst in paying for college—“nobody sympathizes with them much, and they do not ask for you to do so” given the difficulties that low-income families have in paying for college. (Selingo is former editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education, a professor of practice at Arizona State University, and a visiting scholar at Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities.)
www.diverseeducation.com
Community Colleges Working Around State Budget Cuts
http://diverseeducation.com/article/96304/?utm_campaign=DIV1705%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20MAY10&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Catherine Morris
In mid-April, Virginia’s Tidewater Community College announced it would lay off 27 people in the wake of a steep drop in student enrollment. Earlier this spring, Brookdale Community College, a New Jersey institution, sent out an email asking employees to take a voluntary reduced work week or unpaid leave to help the school get through a difficult financial situation. Layoffs and other signs of financial stress are evident at community colleges across the country. While the financial struggles of community colleges are nothing new, they pose a problem for many institutions, and can be expected to continue for the foreseeable future particularly as a number of states face ongoing budget shortfalls. Community colleges are often dependent on a combination of tuition and state funding, so when there is a lack of one or both, institutions suffer.
www.diverseeducation.com
Expert: Achievement Gap a National Crisis
http://diverseeducation.com/article/96296/?utm_campaign=DIV1705%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20MAY10&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Kim Wilcox
There is a national crisis in American higher education, and it threatens to exacerbate the most pressing challenges facing our nation. Consider this sobering fact: For every 10 African-American students who enter college, only four will graduate. Just four in 10. That is a shameful record, and we cannot hope to address the underlying causes of social and economic inequality in our country if this trend continues. College enrollment in the U.S. continues to stand at record highs. According to the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. colleges and universities enrolled 20.5 million students last fall, an increase of 5.2 million students compared to 2000. This upward trend is likewise true across ethnic categories. Between 2000 and 2014 (the latest year for which we have national data on ethnicity), undergraduate enrollment among African-American students increased a phenomenal 57 percent, and enrollment among Latino students more than doubled. But, as a college degree has become a prerequisite for getting into the middle class and beyond, enrollment is not enough. In the marketplace, job applicants with some or no college will lose out to a college graduate almost every time. Additionally, students who do not complete their degrees often face thousands of dollars in debt without the means to repay it.