University System News:
www.insidehighered.com
The Merger Vortex
Mergers are hard, but they’re likely to be a topic of interest going forward, even if they don’t all make it off the drawing board, leaders with experience tell audience at NACUBO meeting.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/08/01/higher-ed-mergers-are-difficult-likely-grow-popularity-speakers-say
By Rick Seltzer
MINNEAPOLIS — Mounting fiscal pressures on higher education institutions would seem to have created a ripe environment for mergers between colleges and universities, yet many administrators remain unconvinced such deals will actually happen. Listen to those who have completed or considered mergers, and it’s not hard to see why leaders are skeptical. The process is fraught with difficulty. Still, the idea that more mergers are coming has persisted. The topic was explored in depth Monday at the National Association of College and University Business Officers annual meeting. A panel offered different perspectives from leaders who have guided their institutions through completed mergers within a university system, one whose private institution was absorbed by a much larger public university, and one whose public university decided not to go forward with acquiring a private college. Their general consensus was that mergers are extremely difficult, but they are likely to take place in increasing numbers in the future. …The NACUBO panel spoke days after Inside Higher Ed released its annual Survey of College and University Business Officers, finding some interest in mergers but skepticism that they will actually happen. …The University System of Georgia, on the other hand, has completed a dizzying number of mergers between its institutions. In 2010 it had 35 institutions, including roughly 10 in parts of the state where the population of 15- to 24-year-olds was projected to decline. So the system embarked on a series of mergers that had it combining administrations — but not closing campuses. It has 28 institutions today and expects to be down to 26 in January, said Chancellor Steve Wrigley.

www.ledger-enquirer.com
Columbus civic leader, philanthropist Bill Turner dies at 94
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/article164701732.html
By Chuck Williams
William Bradley Turner, born into great wealth and high expectations as the only grandson of Columbus industrialist W.C. Bradley, was not defined by that wealth, said those who knew him well. Instead, he will be remembered for his wisdom, generosity, team-building and strong faith. Turner, known simply as Bill or Mr. Bill, died late Monday at his midtown Columbus home, his family confirmed Tuesday morning. He was 94. …Retired Synovus Chairman Jimmy Blanchard said Turner’s influence on the Columbus of today cannot be overestimated. …Retired Columbus State University President Frank Brown was another partner in Turner’s vision of progress. …When Turner graduated from Georgia Tech, the nation was at war on multiple fronts. … And he was also on boards like Coca-Cola, Georgia Power and the Board of Regents.” …Major fund drives for Columbus State University and the National Infantry Museum have followed. CSU is currently in its second fund-raising effort designed to commit more than $100 million. …Turner was instrumental in establishing and helping secure the funding for CSU’s downtown RiverPark campus, which today houses the music, arts, education and nursing programs and offers about 500 dorm beds, most of them in structures along Broadway and Front Avenue from 12th Street to the Dillingham Bridge. Brown can remember times the university was able to secure substantial gifts from others because of the support of Turner and the Bradley-Turner Foundation. One of those came in the first CSU capital campaign when they asked the Kreske Foundation in Detroit for $1 million for bricks and mortar.

www.onlineathens.com
Peter Albersheim, co-founder of noted UGA research center, has died
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-07-31/peter-albersheim-co-founder-noted-uga-research-center-has-died
By Lee Shearer
Peter Albersheim, who played a key role in the University of Georgia’s development into a modern research university, has died. Albersheim, 83, passed away July 23 following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, one he fought with “dignity and perseverance,” said friend and colleague Alan Darvill. Albersheim came to Athens and UGA in 1985 with Darvill to found the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. The center was somewhat controversial at first because of the investment UGA administrators made in the new center, adding faculty lines, providing startup funds for equipment and other costs as then-UGA president Fred Davison and vice president for research Joe Key sought to transform UGA into a major research university. But that investment was soon rewarded as the center brought in research dollars and grew. Albersheim and Darvill for many years co-directed of the CCRC, which Darvill took over following Albersheim’s retirement several years ago.

www.ajc.com
Kennesaw State police chief announces resignation
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/kennesaw-state-police-chief-announces-resignation/YPIQ6xQdnrUj8sWxxOXxOP/
Eric Stirgus
Kennesaw State University police Chief Roger Stearns has announced his resignation, effective Aug. 31, officials said Monday. Deputy Chief Edward Stephens will serve as acting chief of police. Stearns will work with Stearns during the transition, according to an email sent to faculty and staff. The email did not explain why Stearns was stepping down. A KSU spokeswoman had no further information Monday on why Stearns is resigning.

www.savannahnow.com
Allen Berger: You’re never too old to go to college
http://savannahnow.com/column/opinion/2017-07-31/allen-berger-you-re-never-too-old-go-college
It is a custom among some people to place a dab of honey at the bottom of a page that a child is studying so that the child will associate learning with sweetness.  I’ve always associated learning with sweetness and today I bought the paperbacks for the course I am taking this fall semester in the 62-plus Program at Armstrong State University. My first taste of formal learning came in kindergarten more than 70 years ago. I learned how to play with others who came from poor homes and wealthy homes. That was the time when people from all backgrounds went to the same school together. Now I will be sitting in a classroom with about 30 undergraduates in my seventh course as a student at Armstrong. I admire the intelligence of the young people and often I’m encouraged to participate in classroom activities. …The first time I had bought or rented books at the Armstrong bookstore a few years ago, I happened to glance at my cell phone. Visa had sent me a message informing me that they were freezing my account because someone had used my card at a university bookstore. I contacted Visa and told them it was OK, that I was the student who used my card. I thought that was sweet that they wondered why someone so old was on a university campus. On the other hand, maybe I’m just a slow learner.

www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Designer dorms: Do kids need all the stuff we buy them for college?
http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2017/07/31/designer-dorms-do-kids-need-all-the-stuff-we-buy-them-for-college/?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=288881bba0-eGaMorning-8_1_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-288881bba0-86731974&mc_cid=288881bba0&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
I’m getting a lot of mail from companies trying to sell me dorm accessories. So far, all I’ve bought my college-bound twins are extra-long twin sheets. (I would have passed on the ones my older kids used except my son in Brooklyn has them. I think he’s using them as curtains.) One helpful big-box retailer provides a college checklist; I counted 115 items for a well-appointed dorm room, including water filtration filters, a safe and tool kit. (I’m not sure if we’re dropping our kids off at an undergraduate college or an underground bunker.) You also get a sense teens turn into Hugh Hefner when they go to college and live in their pajamas with all the bed accoutrements on the must-have list, including body pillow, bolster and backrest. How much of this stuff is vital? In picking up my older children from college at the end of the year, they would point out the give-away boxes outside the dorms filled with stuff students didn’t want enough to pack up or pay to store. Along with piles of clothing, much of it brand name, were desk lamps, bikes, throw rugs, toasters and electric fans. (Many schools now donate all these leftovers to local charities.)

www.gainesvilletimes.com
UNG offering events to prepare teachers, public for eclipse
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/124627/
By Norm Cannada
With the first good opportunity in more than 40 years for area residents to see a total solar eclipse, University of North Georgia officials are offering two opportunities next month to help prepare local residents for the event. UNG is doing a program for teachers for kindergarten through 12th grade from 1-3 p.m. Aug. 12 and another one for the general public on the day before the eclipse, from 1-4 p.m. Aug. 20. Both events will be held at the George E. Coleman Sr. Planetarium on the school’s Dahlonega campus. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the earth and sun, casts its shadow on the earth and blocks the view of the sun from the earth. Lesley Simanton-Coogan, director of the planetarium, said the teacher event is designed to help educators prepare students for what they will see during the eclipse.

www.ajc.com
How Turner Field turned into Georgia State’s football stadium
http://www.ajc.com/sports/college/how-turner-field-turned-into-georgia-state-football-stadium/51rCHI3icSYBTzZVNBQe9I/
Tim Tucker The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The dugouts have been removed. The natural-grass baseball field has been turned into an artificial-turf football field. A new grandstand has been constructed in what used to be right field. Turner Field, the Braves’ home of the past 20 years, is now the Georgia State football team’s stadium. Georgia State Stadium — the facility’s temporary moniker until a naming-rights agreement is done — will debut by hosting an open Panthers scrimmage Aug. 17, high school football games in the Corky Kell Classic on Aug. 18-19 and Georgia State’s season opener vs. Tennessee State on Aug. 31. On Monday, the stadium was opened to the media for a preview.

Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Black Colleges Still Waiting
Trump promised best effort ever for HBCUs but has left top position at key advocacy office unfilled for longer than any previous administration did. And his pledge to move office to White House remains unfulfilled.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/08/01/wait-selection-hbcu-initiative-leader-drags?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=1b0d729230-DNU20170801&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-1b0d729230-197515277&mc_cid=1b0d729230&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Andrew Kreighbaum
The White House today marked a milestone in leadership on historically black colleges and universities, although probably not the kind President Trump had in mind when he promised in February that support of those institutions would be an “absolute priority.” A new administration hasn’t made it to August without having named a leader of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities since that office was launched under President Carter. But Trump has not named a leader for the office. The initiative is a modestly staffed administrative unit in the Department of Education — and the administration has been slow to fill politically appointed positions throughout the federal government. But this position was the focus of a heavily touted executive order on HBCUs that Trump signed in February after hosting leaders of historically black colleges in the Oval Office. And naming an executive director for the initiative and making progress on moving it into the White House — the only concrete promise in that executive order — would have been a start toward his promise to outdo previous administrations. Walter Kimbrough, president of Dillard University, a private historically black college in New Orleans, said even though the initiative doesn’t wield serious power beyond the ability to convene meetings with various federal agencies, installing new leadership would have value in demonstrating the administration’s commitment to historically black colleges.

www.diverseeducation.com
Colleges Urged to Be Inclusive of International Students
http://diverseeducation.com/article/99641/?utm_campaign=DIV1708%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20AUG1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
Colleges and universities must begin to think of international students more as part of the overall student population and not as a separate group. That was the message that Kent Hopkins, vice president of enrollment services at Arizona State University, delivered Monday at a U.S. State Department forum for professionals in international education. “I think it is incumbent upon us to treat our international students more in an immersive way,” Hopkins told nearly 600 attendees at the annual EducationUSA forum. EducationUSA is State Department network of more than 400 international student advising centers in more than 170 countries. “I think too many times we tend to think domestic students do this, international students do this, graduate students do this,” Hopkins said. “You should have a singular, overarching premise on how you serve students.” At the same time, Hopkins also urged attendees to stay in regular contact with international students — particularly to allay concerns international students may have about their visas in light of President Donald J. Trump’s proposed travel ban — and to create special foundational programming to help international students get up to speed on how things are done in American higher education.