USG eclips for October 26, 2017

University System News:
www.ajc.com
Georgia State enrolling more low-income students, report says
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/georgia-state-enrolling-more-low-income-students-report-says/ro6RvGAlv5rW3M8vTW7BBO/
Eric Stirgus  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia State University is doing a better job than most larger colleges and universities when it comes to enrolling low-income students, according to a new report. New America, a Washington, D.C.-based research institute released a report Thursday that raises concerns that low-income students are having trouble enrolling in some of the nation’s top colleges and universities. …The report praised Georgia State for increasing its share of students from the bottom 40 percent of the income scale by 7.5 percentage points, to 31 percent.

www.athensceo.com
University of Georgia MBA Adds Area of Emphasis in Financial Technology
http://athensceo.com/news/2017/10/georgia-mba-adds-area-emphasis-financial-technology/?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=7a1a07a849-eGaMorning-10_26_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-7a1a07a849-86731974&mc_cid=7a1a07a849&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
Staff Report From Athens CEO
Full-Time MBA students at the University of Georgia now have the option to bolster their résumés with an academic area of emphasis in the rapidly growing field of financial technology, or fintech. The fintech sector focuses on the use of technology to facilitate everyday financial transactions. The state of Georgia has flourished as a fintech hub, said Benjamin C. Ayers, dean of UGA’s Terry College of Business. Companies based in Atlanta process 70 percent of all credit, debit and prepaid card transactions in the United States.  “The fintech emphasis is a prime example of how the Terry College prepares students for fast-growing industries across the economy,” Ayers said. “We are the first to add this MBA emphasis in the state of Georgia and one of the first in the country. It will give our graduates a clear advantage in the track to fintech careers.”

www.thegeorge-anne.com
Q&A: Mayoral candidates talk election, underage drinking and Georgia Southern’s future at town hall forum
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_ad8e3eb9-dfec-581e-849e-238cc9014e67.html
By Brett Daniel The George-Anne staff
Incumbent Mayor Jan Moore and electoral opponents John Grotheer and Jonathan McCollar answered community-submitted questions during a public forum at the Transitions Learning Center on Monday evening. Each candidate answered a total of 10 questions with a two-minute time limit for responses. The forum comes less than a month away from the election on Nov. 7. The following are their answers to questions regarding underage drinking, Georgia Southern University’s future and next month’s mayoral election.

www.moultrieobserver.com
Army ranger speaks at Blue Star Memorial Ceremony
http://www.moultrieobserver.com/news/ga_fl_news/army-ranger-speaks-at-blue-star-memorial-ceremony/article_a05cce71-a84a-5f3d-9b6c-72f8e5300f0c.html
By William Malone
TIFTON — Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College held a book signing and lecture from Col. Ralph Puckett to showcase his book “Ranger: A Soldier’s Life.” In honor of the Blue Star Memorial Ceremony, ABAC brought Puckett for a lecture on the importance of serving our country. “America cannot be the land of the free, without being the land of the brave,” said Puckett. Puckett trained Clark Welch who was in command of Medal of Honor recipient and Tifton native Harold B. “Pinky” Durham Jr. Welch reported the brave heroic acts of “Pinky” Durham to Puckett. …The Blue Star Memorial serves as a tribute to everyone who has served in the Armed Forces. The ceremony took place one year after ABAC built their Freedom Gallery. The gallery tells the story about the life of “Pinky” Durham who is an ABAC alumnus and Tifton High School graduate.

www.mcduffieprogress.com
Listening sessions focus community on itself during launch of Archway Partnership
http://www.mcduffieprogress.com/article_8261.shtml?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=7a1a07a849-eGaMorning-10_26_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-7a1a07a849-86731974&mc_cid=7a1a07a849&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
By Linda Green
The future brought the Thomson-McDuffie community together to discern what the community needs, to share hopes and how to expand what currently exists on two occasions Oct. 19 to begin an effective partnership with a project of the University of Georgia. Residents of Thomson, McDuffie County and Dearing participated in the first listening sessions as partners in the Archway Project of the University of Georgia. The project connects communities with higher education resources to address locally-identified community and economic development issues. The Archway Project is helping the community focus on itself for the next three to seven years.

www.wsav.com
Jury awards $10 million to victim raped on Savannah State’s campus
Jury awards $10 million to victim raped on Savannah State’s campus
By WSAV Staff
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – A Chatham County jury has come to a multi-million dollar verdict in a civil case connected to a rape on Savannah State University’s campus. Torrey Scott is behind bars for raping two SSU students four years ago. But the victims, who are not being named, filed suits against the university and related defendants. One victim asked for up to $4 million in damages claiming that the part of the university overseeing housing did not provide “any real or meaningful security.” Today the jury ordered Savannah State Foundation and the Foundation’s Real Estate Ventures, LLC to pay $10 million in damages to the victim.

Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Public Colleges Backslide on Access, Report Says
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Public-Colleges-Backslide-on/241557?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=527eb2a35a4948a6ae42196bbe467b3f&elq=bbfb53a42880473ea77edc4ae8067d77&elqaid=16280&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7037
By Lee Gardner
There’s been a lot of talk lately about higher education’s importance as an engine of equality — and how it sometimes serves as an engine of inequality, due to imbalances in access and success for students from lower-income backgrounds. The latter argument gathers more force through a new report that finds nearly two-thirds of selective public colleges and universities enroll fewer lower-income students than they did two decades ago. The report also finds that many of the same institutions are enrolling more students from the top income brackets. The report, released on Thursday by New America, analyzed data from the Equality of Opportunity Project’s Mobility Score Card. It found that 217 out of 381 public institutions in the data set admitted 4.6 percent fewer students, on average, from families in the bottom 40 percent of income from 1999 to 2013. Nearly two-thirds of the institutions in the data set admitted 5.4 percent more students, on average, from the top 20 percent in family income over the same period.

www.wuft.org
State Colleges Look For Money To Close Jobs ‘Gap’
https://www.wuft.org/news/2017/10/24/state-colleges-look-for-money-to-close-jobs-gap/
By Lloyd Dunkelberger – News Service of Florida
Florida state colleges will make a pitch to lawmakers during the 2018 session to restore a $30 million budget cut and increase funding to hire more faculty, provide more counseling services and create more programs aimed at closing the “employment gap” in high-demand jobs. “I think this request reflects the priorities and goals of our system,” said Daytona State College President Tom LoBasso, who heads the college system’s council of presidents. “We feel this is an important investment in the future of Florida.” LoBasso said if lawmakers adopt the budget initiatives for the 2018-2019 academic year during the upcoming session, which begins in January, they will offset a $30 million cut the schools sustained in the current budget. The 28 colleges are advancing a budget plan to increase performance-based funding to $80 million next academic year, up from $60 million this year. Half of the funding would come from the state and the other half from the colleges themselves.