University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
David Bridges starts 12th year as ABAC president
ABAC enrollment has increased in three of the past four years
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/david-bridges-starts-th-year-as-abac-president/article_e3a78c7c-015e-568a-8c27-269af03b7af4.html
From Staff Reports
David Bridges on Saturday began his 12th year as president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, but he points to Jan. 7, 2008 as his “best day ever” leading the college. That is the date when bachelor’s degree classes came to ABAC. “The day we offered our first bachelor’s degree classes was my best day ever at ABAC,” Bridges said. “We have done a lot, renovating the front of campus, opening the Freedom Gallery, and a lot of other highlights. “All those things were great but getting the bachelor’s degrees was transformational.” More than half of ABAC’s 3,475 students are now seeking bachelor’s degrees at a college that offered only associate degrees for 75 years. Meanwhile, Bridges, who became the 10th president in the history of ABAC on July 1, 2006, is the longest-serving president in the University System of Georgia.

www.businessinsider.com
How much borrowers pay to attend the top public universities in the US— and how much they earn later on
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-us-public-colleges-cost-2017-6?r=UK&IR=T
Abby Jackson and Diana Yukari
A college education is a huge investment of both time and money — so it’s helpful to know which schools and programs are worth it. The Nitro study used data from the US Department of Education (ED) to show the relationship between future earnings and the loans students took out to finance their degrees. The median student debt at the University of California, Berkeley, for example, is $14,200, and median earnings 10 years after graduation are $60,800. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, median student debt is $24,250 and median earnings 10 years after graduation are $74,500.

www.wsav.com
Super senior: Statesboro woman completes lifelong dream
http://wsav.com/2017/07/03/super-senior-statesboro-woman-completes-lifelong-dream/
Meredith Stutz
This time of year is marked with parties for moms, dads, grads, and the United States of America. Margaret Cone has a special reason to celebrate this summer. She turned 71 years-old in the middle of May but it’s what happened at the beginning of the month that’s giving a new meaning to the collegiate term, “Super Senior.” Cone has lived in Statesboro for her whole life with one underlying goal. “I always wanted to be a college graduate,” she said. After her four kids graduated from Georgia Southern University and retiring as a registered nurse for 40 years, Cone decided it was her turn. In 2005 she enrolled at East Georgia State College. …Finally on May 5th Cone graduated Cum Laude with her associate’s degree from East Georgia State College. The very next day, she dawned a new robe and cap. She graduated with her Bachelor of Science from Georgia Southern University. She enrolled in 2008 to further her education while also finished up at EGSC. She finished her spring semester at GSU with a perfect 4.0 GPA. After years of work she finally joined the Class of 2017

www.goldenisles.news
CCGA chemistry professor selected as 2017 Governor’s Teaching Fellow
http://goldenisles.news/news/local_news/ccga-chemistry-professor-selected-as-governor-s-teaching-fellow/article_d96bf8c8-4982-5128-9f89-9727c382d602.html#utm_source=goldenisles.news&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1499248904&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline
By LAUREN MCDONALD
The Governor’s Teaching Fellows program recently selected Colleen Knight, an assistant professor of chemistry at College of Coastal Georgia, as a 2017 fellow. Knight is among 15 faculty members from higher education institutions to be selected through the highly competitive application process. The program, established by former Georgia Gov. Zell Miller in 1995, aims to provide Georgia’s college and university faculty with expanded opportunities to develop key teaching skills.

www.savannahnow.com
Intervention programs aim to halt cycle of Savannah crime, violence
GSU professor says victims more apt to become future offenders — and vice versa
http://savannahnow.com/crime-courts/news/2017-07-02/intervention-programs-aim-halt-cycle-savannah-crime-violence
By Will Peebles will.peebles@savannahnow.com
When a person is shot in Savannah, they are usually rushed to the hospital — but medical treatment isn’t the only thing they receive. The Youth Intervention and Violence Intervention Programs at Memorial University Medical Center and Candler hospitals aims to keep victims of crime from being “repeat customers.” It’s a way to catch at-risk youth early and give them the tools and support to rise above the dire consequences of a violent lifestyle. A Georgia Southern professor is currently studying the effectiveness of these programs as crime continues to be a focus in the Savannah area. And so far, the study shows promising results. …Georgia Southern assistant professor Chad Posick is checking to see how well the program is working. Posick’s primary field of study is the victim-offender overlap, which is the theory behind the program. “If you’re a victim of crime, your likelihood of being a future offender goes up exponentially,” Posick said. “If you offend, and you hang out with these individuals, your chances of being a victim of crime is exponentially higher.” By intercepting these victims at the hospital and giving them the opportunity to turn their lives around, their chances of being a repeat victim or offender drops dramatically — or at least, that’s the idea. The study is essentially the first performance evaluation of the program.

www.myajc.com
Georgia Southern professor threatened for reporting antisemitic posts of the man behind the Trump/CNN wrestling meme
http://talktown.blog.myajc.com/2017/07/05/georgia-southern-professor-threatened-for-reporting-antisemitic-posts-of-the-man-behind-the-trumpcnn-wrestling-meme/
By Nedra Rhone
The journalist and Georgia Southern University professor who uncovered antisemitic and racist memes posted by the individual who created the GIF of Donald Trump wrestling with CNN, has said he is  receiving death threats. Jared Yates Sexton, journalist, author and assistant professor of creative writing at Georgia Southern, shared in a series of tweets some of the threatening messages that came his way after he revealed the social media history of the unnamed man who created the initial meme.

www.myajc.com
Battle with Georgia Tech over mascot deflates Maryland high school’s spirit
http://www.myajc.com/places/school/battle-with-georgia-tech-over-mascot-deflates-maryland-high-school-spirit/rLBEK6zPVJei5woysxFdjM/
By Bill Turque – The Washington Post
Victor Furnells and Rob Hyman thought they were this close.
In April, after seven years of campaigning and cajoling, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission had finally agreed to paint the mascot of their beloved Damascus High School Swarmin’ Hornets atop the water tower that looms over this Maryland town of 15,000. Furnells, 54, a sales executive with a national marketing company, saw the mascot project as a way to boost civic pride, honor the state champion high school football team and beautify what some residents have long regarded as an eyesore. When WSSC said the hornet could be added this summer, during the first scheduled repainting for the 170-foot tower since it went into service in 1990, Furnells offered to raise the extra $15,000 it would cost.  “Visitors coming to and through Damascus will easily recognize the water tower and immediately know they are in the proud town of Damascus, MD,” Furnells wrote on GoFundMe.com after the agency said yes. Within a month, boosters had raised nearly all of the money in small donations from Damascus residents. Then came the buzzkill, in the form of Georgia Tech. The Atlanta-based university so zealously protects the trademark integrity of its own mascot, a yellow jacket named Buzz, that alumni must fill out a “Grave Marker Permission Form” before the insect can join them in their eternal rest.

See also:
www.wusa9.com
Georgia Tech rejects pleas from Damascus HS, won’t approve hornet on water tower
http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/maryland/georgia-tech-rejects-pleas-from-damascus-hs-wont-approve-hornet-on-water-tower/454136839

Higher Education News:
www.ajc.com
Hiring OK for college grads, but Ga. sees high demand in food-service
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/hiring-for-college-grads-but-sees-high-demand-food-service/slgBM0Mk0AKnkBYpmTr9YL/
Employers anticipate hiring 5 percent more college graduates from the Class of 2017 than they hired from the Class of 2016, the National Association of Colleges and Employers projects. That’s roughly  the same increase in hiring predicted by the group’s previous three reports. The latest forecast, the Job Outlook 2017 Spring Update, is based on a survey of businesses in February and March. Since last fall, the association says, “the group of respondents that are planning to decrease their college hires overall has dropped below 10 percent. Meanwhile, the groups planning to increase or maintain their hiring numbers have grown slightly.” The largest increase in jobs Georgia’s labor department forecasts for 2018, however, is in a field that doesn’t require a college degree.

www.diverseeducation.com
Report: Homelessness on Rise for Community College Students
http://diverseeducation.com/article/98610/?utm_campaign=DIV1707%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20JUL5&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by A.K. Brunini
Homelessness among community colleges is on the rise, according to a new report released by the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, a think tank that produces research aimed at improving equitable outcomes in postsecondary education. Of the 33,000 community college students surveyed, 14 percent are homeless. Two out of three students from 70 community colleges also experience food insecurities. “These surveys help provide information on the prevalence, and some of the correlates, of food and housing insecurity in higher education,” the report noted.

www.chronicle.com
The Costs of the Campus Speech Wars Are Piling Up for the Police
http://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Costs-of-the-Campus-Speech/240527?cid=wsinglestory_6_1a
By Suhauna Hussain
On April 27 the University of California at Berkeley was abuzz and restless. Helicopters droned overhead, orange barricades lined the edges of Sproul Plaza, and police officers swarmed the campus. The conservative firebrand Ann Coulter had been set to speak that day but had canceled. Still, the campus and the city steeled for a violent protest. The campus police department limited access to the plaza and notified the public that pedestrians passing through the area might be subject to search for weapons and that wearing masks was prohibited. Campus officials called in about 300 police officers from across the university system and coordinated with local and state law-enforcement agencies, including the cities of Berkeley and Oakland and the California Highway Patrol. The bill for the presence of 400 to 500 additional officers amounted to about $665,000.

www.macon.com
Shift from high-stakes student testing part of new education plan
http://www.macon.com/news/local/education/article159401469.html
BY ANDREA HONAKER
Georgia wants to put service and support at the center of education. The state Department of Education released its first draft for the federal Every Student Succeed Act on June 15, and now it’s the public’s turn to provide feedback. The act, signed into law in late 2015, replaces the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 and amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, according to UnderstandingEssa.org. ESSA shifts some of the power for K-12 education from the federal level back to the states, allowing them more flexibility. Many of the state’s schools, including those in Bibb, already have some wiggle room under the Strategic Waivers School System.