University System News:
www.metroatlantaceo.com
Clayton State University Generates $275M Economic Impact for South Metro Atlanta Region
http://metroatlantaceo.com/news/2017/08/clayton-state-university-generates-275m-economic-impact-south-metro-atlanta-region/
Staff Report From Metro Atlanta CEO
Clayton State University generated more than $275.9 million in local economic impact in the surrounding region for fiscal year 2016, according to a report released by the University System of Georgia. The figure is an increase of more than $2 million from the previous fiscal year when Clayton State contributed $273.7 million to the local economy. We are certainly delighted by the significant role we play in the economic activity of our region. But we believe that this is just a down payment on the long term economic contributions our students and graduates will make in a more educated, and thus more economically prosperous, Georgia future,” said Dr. Tim Hynes, president of Clayton State University. Clayton state is ranked fourth out of ten in terms of largest economic impact among institutions classified as “State Universities.” The largest part of Clayton State’s “output impact” is student spending. The report finds that spending among Clayton State’s students reached $135.5 million for the fiscal year, which researchers indicate is inclusive of daily living expenses ranging from groceries to healthcare, to books and eating out. Clayton State created 2,607 local jobs, including 803 on-campus and 1,804 that exist off-campus due to institution-related spending.
www.metroatlantaceo.com
Clayton State Tops Fundraising Goals for 2017
http://metroatlantaceo.com/news/2017/08/clayton-state-tops-fundraising-goals-2017/
Staff Report From Georgia CEO
Clayton State University is poised to make dreams real for more of its students after an impressive year of giving. Donors contributed a record $1.586 million in total gifts and pledges for the 2017 fiscal year. The Annual Fund goal of $855,000 was exceeded with over 1,600 donors giving more than $892,000 in support of students, faculty, staff and programs. The total represents more than a 100 percent increase in annual giving since 2012.These gifts are having a real and significant impact in the lives of Clayton State students. To our students, faculty and staff, it means new scholarships, annual professorships and additional program support. We are truly grateful to the donors who are committed to making dreams real at Clayton State University,” says Kate Troelstra, vice-president of University Advancement. The successful year was marked by the April launch of the public phase of Clayton State’s first-ever comprehensive campaign, Greater In Mind, with a goal of raising $12 million in four years. To date, more than $4.47 million has been raised.
www.nich.com
2017 Best College Campuses in Georgia
https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-college-campuses/s/georgia/
The 2017 Best College Campuses ranking is based on key statistics and student reviews using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Top-ranked colleges offer outstanding campus resources across classrooms, labs, performance venues, housing, food, and recreational facilities. #1 University of Georgia; #2 Georgia Southern University; #5 Kennesaw State University; #7 Georgia Institute of Technology; #9 Georgia State University; #13 Georgia College & State University; #15 Armstrong Atlantic State University; #16 Georgia Gwinnett College; #17 Darton State College; #18 Valdosta State University; #19 Savannah State University; #21 Columbus State University; #22 Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College; #23 Clayton State University
www.macon.com
Students trading high school experience for an early start in college
http://www.macon.com/news/local/education/article169424332.html
By Andrea Honaker
Julia Davis is technically a high school senior, but she already holds an associate’s degree and has been living in a dorm since she was 15 years old. She traded in her high school experience in order to jump-start her college education, and she’s not the only student who’s taken this leap. Through Georgia’s Move on When Ready dual-enrollment program, students can fulfill their high school class requirements while earning college credits. Every year, a handful of teens enroll full-time at Middle Georgia State University, Georgia College and Wesleyan College and move into the dorms. Students pay for room and board, but tuition and fees are covered by the state.
www.onlineathens.com
Blacks, Hispanics under-represented at UGA, other top schools
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-08-25/blacks-hispanics-under-represented-uga-other-top-schools
By Lee Shearer
Hispanic and African-American students are even more under-represented today than 35 years ago at elite colleges and universities, including the University of Georgia, according to a New York Times analysis of enrollment and census data. The percentages of Hispanics and African-Americans have increased in student bodies, but the rate of increase is less than the rate of increase in the overall college-age population from 1980 to 2015, according to the newspaper’s analysis. As at many top universities, the percentage of white students at UGA has decreased, while the fastest-growing segment of enrollment has been Asian students.
www.dailyreportonline.com
In College Sexual Misconduct Cases, Many Confuse What ‘Due Process’ Means
http://www.dailyreportonline.com/id=1202796393426/In-College-Sexual-Misconduct-Cases-Many-Confuse-What-Due-Process-Means?mcode=0&curindex=0&curpage=1
Lisa Anderson, Atlanta Women for Equality
Last week, an opinion piece discussing the new University System of Georgia Sexual Misconduct Policy posited that the U.S. Department of Education must protect the respondent’s due process rights in any “university-initiated Title IX investigation” of sexual misconduct allegations by “tweak[ing] past policies” to require, for example, that “the appropriate law enforcement and prosecutor’s office investigate and adjudicate the complaint”; and that school disciplinary policies impose the beyond a reasonable doubt standard of proof in a way “consistent with constitutional norms in a criminal case.” Make no mistake, I oppose all unjustly weighted sexual misconduct grievance procedures. It is for that reason that I object to any suggestion that DOE should, or can, act with unconstitutional caprice to discard statutes such as Title IX and the Clery Act. Indeed, Title IX’s purpose is to ensure that parties are treated equitably in all aspects of their educations. The problem is that schools fail to comply. The article supports its proposal with striking inaccuracies concerning not only the new policy, but also the laws that it violates. For example, the piece asserts that it was not until DOE released guidance materials in 2011 and 2014 that schools were required to address sexual misconduct complaints with “swift investigation and adjudication” using the preponderance of the evidence standard of proof. However, those guidance materials only provided clarification and distilled descriptions of preexisting legal responsibilities, the vast majority of which were also enumerated in previous DOE publications, such as the 2001 guide for sexual harassment cases, including sexual violence.
Higher Education News:
www.cbs46.com
Study: Fewer Georgia students could get college opportunity
http://www.cbs46.com/story/36227228/study-fewer-georgia-students-could-get-college-opportunity
ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia is among states that have cut funding to public colleges and universities since the recession, prompting many schools to raise tuition. WABE Radio reports that a new study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has a dire warning for students and their families: Fewer students will be able to go to college if states don’t stop the trend.
www.insidehighered.com
Texas Colleges Brave Harvey
Hurricane prompts evacuations, as well as delays in move-in days and starts of academic years for colleges along the Gulf Coast and in Houston area.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/08/28/texas-colleges-cope-hurricane-harvey
By Nick Roll
Tropical Storm Harvey continued to pummel southeast Texas on Sunday after downgrading from hurricane status, as flooding progressed, the death toll rose to five in Houston and calls were put out by authorities to coordinate with boat-owning citizens for rescue operations. For colleges in the area, from Corpus Christi to Beaumont, the storm caused delays and evacuations, although they seemed to largely escape any serious damage. Photos posted to social media by those on the ground showed flooding at the University of Houston, as some parts of the city and surrounding area saw residents taking to their roofs to stay out of the water.
www.hechingerreport.org
Golden parachutes for public college presidents burden already thin budgets
Even presidents who leave their campuses awash in red ink walk away with big payouts
Golden parachutes for public college presidents burden already thin budgets
by Jon Marcus
Victim of a years-long state budget impasse, Northern Illinois University has a $35 million funding shortfall. It has laid off 30 employees, left 120 other jobs unfilled and postponed building and renovation projects … It was against this backdrop that the president, Douglas Baker, was declared by state investigators to have mismanaged the public institution by sidestepping competitive bidding rules to hire consultants who were paid more than $1 million. One charged $250 an hour. Within two weeks of that report’s release, Baker resigned — and, in a closed-door meeting of the university’s board of trustees, was given $587,500 in severance pay, plus up to $30,000 to cover his legal fees. He’s also due a previously unreported $83,287 for unused vacation time, the university acknowledged. That’s a total of $700,787 … Often hammered out in secret, and seldom brought to public attention except when they explode into controversy, these kinds of golden parachutes for university and college presidents are not unique to Northern Illinois. And while anger often flares up when presidents’ salaries are publicized, salary totals alone don’t come close to exposing the universities’ true financial obligations to their chief executives