University System News:
www.valdostadailytimes.com
VSU ceremony observes Carvajal investiture
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/vsu-ceremony-observes-carvajal-investiture/article_23e2657e-3efe-5bc2-8751-580f5c4675aa.html
VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University observes the investiture of its 10th president, Dr. Richard Carvajal, Friday. The public festivities kick off with food, live music, games, activities, hot air balloon rides, giveaways, the unveiling of the new VSU ring, and more from 6-10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, the VSU front lawn, according to the university. The official installation ceremony will be held 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, in Whitehead Auditorium, followed by a reception on the lawn of the Fine Arts Building Amphitheatre and the unveiling of the new Color VSU coloring book.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Peach State Federal Credit Union to move to Lawrenceville location to accomodate arts facility
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/peach-state-federal-credit-union-to-move-to-lawrenceville-location/article_7edb6eba-5ece-5855-b5db-592a3cad99ec.html
By Curt Yeomans
Peach State Federal Credit Union is moving its roots to downtown Lawrenceville as the city moves to expand downtown arts spaces. The credit union’s board and staff broke ground on a new branch on a property located between North Pike and North Clayton streets Wednesday. Officials expect to open the branch in about a year. The facility will effectively replace an existing branch location that the credit union sold to the Lawrenceville Downtown Development Authority earlier this year. That property will be used for a 500-seat auditorium, a meeting and networking area and classroom space for Georgia Gwinnett College’s fine arts program.
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.
www.myajc.com
More than one in 10 campus cops in Georgia have checkered records
http://www.myajc.com/news/crime–law/more-than-one-campus-cops-georgia-have-checkered-records/39a9cii7tBho5WQVkyFrEO/
By Brad Schrade and Jeff Ernsthausen – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the course of his 17-year law enforcement career, Gioconda Lewis was fired or forced to resign from five agencies in Georgia. There was the time he allegedly drove a patrol car on a suspended license, another when he shot a suspect in violation of department policy, and later used government computers to send sexually charged emails. Despite his troubles, Lewis kept landing jobs at law enforcement agencies, often on college campuses. There was a reason, according to Lewis, he kept returning to campus patrol even though the pay and prestige were often lower than traditional police forces. Once he had terminations and a disciplinary history in his record it was tough to find a job with a local municipal or county agency. “I knew colleges would hire me,” he said. “I was pretty much stuck.” While extreme, Lewis’ case highlights a problem across Georgia. Many colleges and universities have a quality deficit when it comes to the officers they are hiring to protect students and police their campuses. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found 13 percent of the 1,413 officers working on 63 college campuses across Georgia have been fired or forced out of a previous job.
www.myajc.com
Kemp starts probe after data on Georgia election computer destroyed
http://www.myajc.com/news/state–regional-govt–politics/kemp-starts-probe-after-data-georgia-election-computer-destroyed/YbX6G77yFqgEdqCCvB987O/
By Greg Bluestein and Maya T. Prabhu – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said Thursday that his office is launching an investigation after data was quietly destroyed on a computer server shortly after a lawsuit was filed seeking to force the state to overhaul its election technology. The data wipe, first reported by The Associated Press, was revealed in an email sent by a state prosecutor to lawyers representing election transparency advocates who filed the lawsuit in July questioning the security and accuracy of Georgia’s election infrastructure. The documents show the destruction of the data occurred July 7 at the Center for Elections Systems at Kennesaw State University, which runs the state’s election system. The director of the center referred questions Thursday to Kennesaw State’s press office, which did not return repeated requests for comment. The KSU center’s system will be used in the upcoming elections. In a lengthy statement, Kemp said his office had no involvement in the decision to wipe the server, nor was it notified in advance. “We will not stand for this kind of inexcusable conduct or gross incompetence,” said Kemp, whose office oversees Georgia’s elections. “Those responsible at KSU should be held accountable for their actions. The Secretary of State’s Office is also coordinating with FBI officials to get our own copy of the data that was erased at KSU.”
http://chronicle.augusta.com
AU Health System awaits ruling on whether it will be able to move forward on a hospital in Columbia County
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/2017-10-26/au-health-system-awaits-ruling-whether-it-will-be-able-move-forward-hospital
By Tom Corwin
AU Health System is hoping for an early Christmas present in an upcoming decision on a challenge to its license to build a hospital in Columbia County, the state’s largest county without one. At the system’s board meeting Thursday, members also voted to change how revenue from physician billing comes into the health system to a more centralized and transparent system, an official said. The health system is struggling to bring in revenue and patients but is in the midst of an aggressive recruitment.
http://www.tiftongazette.com
National FFA will recognize 52 ABAC students
http://www.tiftongazette.com/news/national-ffa-will-recognize-abac-students/article_509e38dc-ba76-11e7-8bb5-3b0c4f4fb844.html
A total of 52 Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College students will receive FFA American degrees at the 2017 National FFA Convention and Expo on Oct. 27 in Indianapolis. Less than one percent of all FFA members meet the strenuous requirements necessary to receive the American FFA Degree. Dr. Jerry Baker, provost and vice president for academic affairs at ABAC, will receive the honorary degrees at the convention.
Higher Education News:
http://diverseeducation.com
Experts Tell Congress Free Speech on Campus ‘Essential’
In order to prepare students for the complex situations they will face in the world and the workplace, higher education leaders and government officials must resist efforts to restrict free speech on campus and keep colleges as places of “ongoing intellectual challenge,” a university president testified at a Congressional hearing Thursday. “Every student at a university deserves an education that deeply enriches their capabilities,” University of Chicago President Dr. Robert Zimmer said.
www.insidehighered.com
Education Dept. Borrower-Defense Negotiators
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/10/26/education-dept-borrower-defense-negotiators
The Department of Education Wednesday released the names of 17 panelists and alternates who will be charged with overhauling an Obama administration regulation for protection of student borrowers through a process known as negotiated rule making. The list of negotiators includes a broad mix of student and consumer advocates, veterans’ representatives, accreditors, financial aid administrators, business officers, and representatives from multiple types of higher ed institutions. The first negotiating session for the committee will run from Nov. 13-15, followed by two four-day sessions in January and February. The department has set out an ambitious schedule for crafting a new borrower-defense regulation. Officials plan on publishing a new rule by next fall, to go into effect in 2019.