University System News:
www.savannahnow.com
Hurricane Irma: Georgia Southern classes cancelled until Monday
http://savannahnow.com/hurricane-guide/news/2017-09-13/hurricane-irma-georgia-southern-classes-cancelled-until-monday
University administrators and safety personnel have assessed the condition of the Georgia Southern University campus in Statesboro after Hurricane Irma and have been in contact with emergency officials across the state. After careful consideration, classes will resume on Monday, Sept. 18. Students may begin returning to their residence halls on campus after 12 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15. The campus will open and normal business operations will resume on Friday, Sept. 15.
www.onlineathens.com
Athens finds a bit of normalcy after Irma
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-09-13/athens-finds-bit-normalcy-after-irma?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=f37be79818-eGaMorning-9_14_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-f37be79818-86731974&mc_cid=f37be79818&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
By Lee Shearer
It was hard to tell in most places in Athens on Wednesday that a potentially deadly storm had passed through less than two days before, though in many places you could hear the buzz of chainsaws. Flocks of University of Georgia students crossed Lumpkin Street at Baxter, checking their Twitter accounts, while students kicked around soccer balls on a sunny field in UGA’s intramural sports area off College Station Road. Streets that had been heavily littered with storm debris Tuesday were mostly clean, and electricity had been restored at many of the thousands of homes that lost power Monday.
www.huffingtonpost.com
The Best Library In Every State
You’ll definitely want to get lost in the stacks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-best-library-in-every-state_us_59b6e4b7e4b0465f75880935?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=f37be79818-eGaMorning-9_14_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-f37be79818-86731974&mc_cid=f37be79818&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
No disrespect to your e-reader or anything, but nothing beats curling up with an actual book. There’s just something about the smell of dusty pages, the crack of a new spine and a bookshelf filled with old favorites. Not to mention how a real book will never run out of batteries. Even better? Get yourself a library card and the cost of a new read is totally free. Here, the best library in every state where you’ll definitely want to get lost in the stacks. Related: 9 of the World’s Most Beautiful Libraries
GEORGIA: THE HARGRETT RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT GALLERY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
This impressive brick structure houses maps, photographs, books and manuscripts — some dating all the way back to the 15th century.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Completion Goals Unlikely to Be Met, ETS Says
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/09/14/completion-goals-unlikely-be-met-ets-says?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=70b526824e-DNU20170914&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-70b526824e-197515277&mc_cid=70b526824e&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Paul Fain
Ambitious college-completion goals set by the Obama administration and the Lumina Foundation are unlikely to be met, according to a new analysis from Educational Testing Service, the standardized-assessment organization. The federal goal, set in 2009, was for 60 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds to have earned an associate or bachelor’s degree by 2020. Lumina’s goal is for 60 percent of working-age adults to earn a “high-quality” certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree by 2025. Given the current rate of expansion of the adult population in the U.S. and of degree production, 2041 is the year ETS says the federal government’s target could be met. The projected date for Lumina’s working-age goal to be met is 2056, ETS said.
www.insidehighered.com
Creating Data Faculty Can Use
Is there a better way to use data to increase completion rates and student success at community colleges?
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/14/qa-authors-book-about-community-college-data?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=70b526824e-DNU20170914&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-70b526824e-197515277&mc_cid=70b526824e&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Ashley A. Smith
Many colleges don’t lack for data on student performance. Administrators and faculty often find there is a measurement for nearly everything they and their students do as they strive to increase college completion rates. Despite this wealth of information, colleges still struggle to use data in the best way possible so they can help their students succeed. A new book from Brad C. Phillips and Jordan E. Horowitz, Creating a Data-Informed Culture in Community Colleges: A New Model for Educators (Harvard Education Press), seeks to find the best way educators can use data. Phillips is president and chief executive officer and Horowitz is vice president of the Institute for Evidence-Based Change, a nonprofit organization that connects educators to research. They recently responded together to questions about the book from Inside Higher Ed by email.
www.insidehighered.com
New Data on Nondegree Credentials
More than a quarter of Americans hold a nondegree credential, with 21 percent completing a work experience program, according to new federal data. And many of these credential holders have well-paying jobs.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/14/feds-release-data-nondegree-credentials-including-certificates-and-licenses?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=70b526824e-DNU20170914&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-70b526824e-197515277&mc_cid=70b526824e&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Paul Fain
More than one-quarter of Americans hold a nondegree credential, such as a certificate or an occupational license or certification, according to new data from the federal government. And 21 percent have completed a work experience program such as an internship, residency or apprenticeship. The new report from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics is based on responses from 47,744 adults to a 2016 survey. Its goal, the department said, was to learn more about the prevalence of these credentials as well as to gauge perceptions about their value in the job market. The new numbers arrive amid growing doubts from a broad swath of Americans about the value of a college degree. Numerous studies show that a bachelor’s degree remains the best ticket to the middle class. Associate-degree earners also tend to do better in the job market than people with just a high school credential. However, racking up even a small amount of debt in college while not earning a degree often leads to loan default and related financial problems.
www.insidehighered.com
A Deal (or Maybe Not) on Keeping DACA
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/09/14/deal-or-maybe-not-keeping-daca?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=70b526824e-DNU20170914&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-70b526824e-197515277&mc_cid=70b526824e&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Scott Jaschik
Democratic congressional leaders announced Wednesday night that they had reached a deal with President Trump to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, through which about 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children have gained the right to work and temporary protection against the risk of deportation, The New York Times reported. But Republicans lashed out at the deal and the White House appeared to distance itself from the idea later in the night.
www.floridatrend.com
Grants: Funding Florida’s research
http://www.floridatrend.com/article/22954/grants-funding-floridas-research
Mike Vogel
National Science Foundation
The NSF is a federal agency that supports research and education involving science and engineering in non-medical fields. The numbers below reflect grants received since January 2017.
40 — Number of Florida institutions receiving NSF grants in 2017
$128 million — Total amount of NSF funding to Florida institutions in 2017
The grants cover a range of areas, including $941,000 to Broward College for a five-year program that selects 30 high-ability, low-income students for a bachelor’s degree program in biosecurity. A grant to Florida Gulf Coast University funds a program that recruits undergraduate majors in science, math and engineering to become math or science teachers in grades 6-12. Valencia Community College got a grant to develop an associate degree program in energy management and controls.
www.flordiapolitics.com
More money proposed for public schools, colleges
LLOYD DUNKELBERGER
The Florida Board of Education approved a 2018-2019 budget request Wednesday that includes a $200 per-student boost in the K-12 system, increased funding for the 28 state colleges and construction money for public schools, colleges and universities. The board met in a conference call, with Chairwoman Marva Johnson and Education Commissioner Pam Stewart saying their focus remains on helping Floridians recover from Hurricane Irma. “It certainly was an unprecedented storm, and those hit hardest will need our ongoing support,” Stewart said, noting many schools served as storm shelters and many districts are in the process of reopening schools. With the hurricane noted, the board, without debate, approved the budget request, which will be considered when the 2018 legislative session begins in January. …The budget request also includes $1.24 billion in operating funds, a 2.64 percent increase, for the 28 state colleges. The proposal would increase state performance funding for the schools to $60 million, up from the current $30 million. The board’s budget request also supports the continued expansion of merit- and need-based financial aid for students attending state colleges, universities and other post-secondary programs.