University System News:
www.11alive.com
Lawsuit filed against Georgia’s new campus carry law
http://www.11alive.com/news/politics/lawsuit-filed-against-georgias-new-campus-carry-law/479052390
Tim Darnell and Joe Henke , WXIA
Six Georgia professors have filed a lawsuit against the state’s new campus carry law. The lawsuit, which was filed Monday in Fulton County Superior Court, says Georgia’s constitution empowers the University System of Georgia’s board of regents, not the legislature, to dictate the state’s educational policies. “Whether firearms on campuses help or hinder the cause of creating a safe and secure learning environment is, to be sure, a subject of intense debate,” the lawsuit said. “Reasonable minds can and do differ on this issue, but this case is not about who is right. Rather, it is about which entity decides.”
www.ajc.com
Who are the professors going to court against the campus carry law?
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/who-are-the-professors-going-court-against-the-campus-carry-law/yp27Ct7UiiJDP2HEy5dwNJ/
Eric Stirgus
Six Georgia professors have joined together to work through the court system to end the state’s new law that allows licensed individuals to carry guns on some parts of public college campuses. To read more about the case, click here. Here’s some information about the educators, according to a complaint filed Monday, and why they want the law removed:
www.myajc.com
Professors ask court to overturn Georgia’s campus carry law
http://www.myajc.com/news/local-education/professors-ask-court-overturn-georgia-campus-carry-law/ej36qbMWOwASF6OdIOJiEM/
By Eric Stirgus – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Six veteran Georgia professors are seeking an injunction to stop the state’s new law that allows licensed permit holders to carry concealed guns on certain areas of public college campuses, saying it’s dangerous to students and faculty and unconstitutional. The professors hope to overturn the controversial guidelines using a legal argument that the “campus carry” law usurps the University System of Georgia’s constitutional authority over its campuses. Their complaint was filed Monday in Fulton County Superior Court against Gov. Nathan Deal and Georgia Attorney Georgia Chris Carr. The professors, who’ve been teaching at various University System of Georgia (USG) campuses between 16 and 40 years, believe guns in the classroom stifle discussion on contentious issues, will lead to more student suicides and could create a safety hazard if a firearm is accidentally discharged in areas with hazardous materials.
www.guns.com
Georgia professors urge court to overturn campus carry law
http://www.guns.com/2017/09/28/georgia-professors-urge-court-to-overturn-campus-carry-law/
by Andrew Shepperson
A group of senior Georgia university professors are seeking an injunction to overturn the state’s new law that allows lawful gun owners with concealed carry permits to carry firearms on public college campuses in the state. The six professors, hailing from a handful of colleges within the University System of Georgia, filed the complaint Monday in the Fulton County Superior Court against Gov. Nathan Deal and Georgia Attorney Georgia Chris Carr, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The group of educators complained that campus carry poses a danger to faculty and students and argued the new law takes away the constitutional authority the USG should rightfully have over its campuses. …Officials from the USG released a statement saying that they were not part of the complaint and have been abiding by the rules set out by the new law.
See also:
www.fox5atlanta.com
Georgia professors file suit against Gov. Deal over campus carry law
http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/georgia-professors-file-suit-against-gov-deal-over-campus-carry-law
www.moultrieobserver.com
VSU professors sue over campus carry
http://www.moultrieobserver.com/news/local_news/vsu-professors-sue-over-campus-carry/article_e6bdc3dc-b7ec-5bf6-b368-fdf0228342ed.html
www.ajc.com
Feds say Georgia college violated student’s constitutional rights
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/feds-say-georgia-college-violated-student-constitutional-rights/AM6EL4kUDIo5WnaOZ6noPP/
Eric Stirgus
U.S. Justice Department officials filed court papers Tuesday saying Georgia Gwinnett College violated the constitutional rights of a student who claims he was told he couldn’t distribute fliers sharing his Christian faith in an open area of the campus. The Justice Department filed a 26-page “statement of interest” in support of the student, Chike Uzuegbunam, in a lawsuit he filed in December against the college. The college had two free speech zones that totaled 0.0015% of the campus, the lawsuit says. Justice Department officials said Uzuegbunam’s First Amendment rights to free speech had been violated.
www.ajc.com
Sessions says free speech ‘under attack’ on college campuses
http://www.ajc.com/news/sessions-says-free-speech-under-attack-college-campuses/SLM2zReQ3edXmmZsIMoONM/?ecmp=socialflow_ajclifeTW
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
Decrying what he sees as political correctness run amok on college campuses, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday the Justice Department will ramp up its support for students who sue universities claiming their free-speech rights have been violated. The complexity of the free-speech issue was on display as Sessions spoke to an invitation-only crowd at Georgetown University’s law school. About 200 protesters gathered outside in university-designated “free speech zones” and some students complained they were excluded from the Sessions event. But even as he lamented what he sees as a lack of tolerance for unpopular views on campus, Sessions condemned the NFL players who have been exercising their own freedom of expression by kneeling silently during the national anthem before games. …As Sessions spoke, the Justice Department announced it would throw its support behind a student who sued Georgia Gwinnett College, arguing his rights were violated when administrators limited where he could preach Christianity on campus. The department filed a so-called statement of interest in the case, saying its concerns were heightened because the student had also alleged religious discrimination.
See also:
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
U.S. justice department steps into GGC student’s free speech lawsuit
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/u-s-justice-department-steps-into-ggc-student-s-free/article_fd5d2c3e-0bd0-5532-96d1-d8878035bae7.html
www.insidehighered.com
Justice Department Will Back Suit on ‘Free Speech’ Zone
Attorney General Sessions blasts colleges on issues of free expression.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/27/attorney-general-sessions-blasts-colleges-issues-free-speech
www.nytimes.com
Sessions Calls for ‘Recommitment’ to Free Speech on Campus, Diving Into Debate
www.diverseeducation.com
Sessions: Justice Dept. Will Intervene in Campus Free Speech Cases
http://diverseeducation.com/article/102164/?utm_campaign=DIV1709%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20SEP27&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
www.talkingpointsmemo.com
DOJ Joins Campus Free Speech Fray With Filing In Evangelical Student’s Case
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/justice-department-gets-involved-campus-free-speech
www.dailyreportonline.com
U.S. Justice Department Weighs In on Ga. Campus First Amendment Suit
http://www.dailyreportonline.com/recent-news/id=1202799189894/US-Justice-Department-Weighs-In-on-Campus-First-Amendment-Suit?mcode=1202616187678&curindex=3
R. Robin McDonald, Daily Report
In tandem with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Georgetown law school lecture chastising college campuses for inhibiting free speech, the U.S. Justice Department has waded into a First Amendment lawsuit against a metro Atlanta community college. …Sessions’ decision to have the Justice Department weigh in on the Georgia case places him at odds with state Attorney General Chris Carr, a fellow Republican whose office is defending Georgia Gwinnett College. Carr’s staff attorneys have asked U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross to dismiss the suit, arguing that seven months ago the college created a more expansive speech code that replaced the now-defunct policy Uzuegbunam challenged. Carr’s spokeswoman would not comment on the Justice Department’s entry into the case.
www.triblive.com
Sessions & free speech: More clarity needed
http://triblive.com/opinion/editorials/12779310-74/sessions-free-speech-more-clarity-needed
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
It could have been an opportunity to clear the air over Americans’ free-speech rights. Instead the issue, whether it’s raised on college campuses or at NFL stadiums, remains clouded. Appearing before students and faculty Tuesday at Georgetown University’s law center, Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned that free speech is under attack on college campuses, which are “transforming into an echo chamber of political correctness and homogeneous thought, a shelter for fragile egos.” That same day the Department of Justice filed court papers in support of a Georgia Gwinnett College student, who’s challenging a school policy that limits students’ free speech. “In this great land,” Mr. Sessions reminded, “the government does not get to tell you what to think or what to say.” Then the rail car of reason left the rails.
www.latimes.com
Editorial Jeff Sessions’ stance on campus speech may cynically pander to the right, but it’s also correct
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-sessions-speech-20170928-story.html
ByThe Times Editorial Board
Atty. Gen Jeff Sessions delivered a powerful message this week in support of free speech on college campuses, warning that the American university is being transformed into an “echo chamber of political correctness and homogeneous thought.” He also promised that the Justice Department would support students who have gone to court to challenge restrictions on their speech. There was a lot of truth in the attorney general’s indictment, and much of his speech at Georgetown University Law Center Tuesday sounded as if it had been lifted from editorials on this page.
www.chronicle.com
Sessions’ Justice Dept. Will Weigh In on Free-Speech Cases. What Should Campuses Expect?
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Sessions-Justice-Dept-Will/241298?cid=wsinglestory_hp_1a
By Adam Harris
More than a hundred people gathered on the steps in front of the Georgetown Law Center here on Tuesday in anticipation of an appearance by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Inside, Mr. Sessions would be discussing one of today’s most pressing topics on college campuses: free speech. But outside, a group that included students and members of the law school faculty pointed to the irony that they had been denied access to the hall where the attorney general would speak — placing him in precisely the kind of safe space that he was there to criticize. The protesters held signs that read “Defend Free Speech: Denounce Sessions”; “Will you silence dissent but applaud hate speech?”; and “I served to protect free speech and you should too.” Inside the auditorium of Bernard P. McDonough Hall, Mr. Sessions gave a wide-ranging address in which he criticized college campuses for becoming “an echo chamber of political correctness and homogenous thought, a shelter for fragile egos.”
www.thewestgeorgian.com
Packing Heat: Campus Carry in Full Effect
By Itunu Aromolaran
The Campus Carry legislation will now allow students to carry guns on campus. The Georgia House Bill 280 was passed July 1, 2017 as a means to protect students and faculty from potential threats that may be posed to colleges. “We all share the goal of ensuring a safe campus environment,” said Annette Ogletree-McDougal, Communications Director of the University Systems of Georgia. “We should work together to implement the law as written and thoughtfully address any complications that may arise.” The Georgia House Bill has a defined set of guidelines and restrictions to ensure the safety of college campuses. …A concern of the passing of this new bill is that students will feel free to carry guns anywhere on campus, without referring to the guidelines.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Opinion: Forcing guns on Georgia’s campuses violates state constitution
http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2017/09/28/opinion-forcing-guns-on-georgias-campuses-violates-state-constitution/
Michelle Haberland is a professor of history at Georgia Southern University. She is a member of the Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action. In this piece, she argues politicians should not decide whether guns belong in Georgia classrooms and goes back in state history to fortify her case. Haberland applauds the lawsuit filed this week by six veteran Georgia professors seeking an injunction to stop campus carry. Enacted in July, the campus carry law allows licensed permit holders to carry concealed guns on certain areas of public college campuses. Contending the law is dangerous and unconstitutional, the professors maintain in their suit that campus carry usurps the University System of Georgia’s constitutional authority over its campuses. In this piece, Haberland agrees. By Dr. Michelle Haberland
www.ajc.com
Georgia colleges work on Hurricane Maria & Mexico earthquake relief efforts
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/georgia-colleges-work-hurricane-maria-mexico-earthquake-relief-efforts/A9ygulSKot3MAhUZk9jdUI/
Eric Stirgus
Several University System of Georgia campuses are working on ways to help those impacted by Hurricane Maria and the recent earthquake in Mexico. Here’s a breakdown of the efforts, according to system officials:
www.thebrunswicknews.com
Sending hope home: Puerto Rican couple watch Maria decimate home island
http://thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/sending-hope-home-puerto-rican-couple-watch-maria-decimate-home/article_af229207-9502-55d8-9861-fdd6821a735d.html
By LAUREN MCDONALD
Around noon on Friday, Noris Torres had yet to hear from her family in Puerto Rico. Torres, the donor relations and stewardship coordinator at College of Coastal Georgia, has been glued to the news all week, watching as Hurricane Maria destroyed the island on which she grew up and where her parents, brother and extended family still live. “People don’t have a way to call,” she said. “They don’t have water, they don’t have power. Everything is down.” Her husband, Victor Vega-Vazquez, also has family living on the island. He heard Wednesday from his sister that they were OK after the storm. “From my side of the family, family’s okay,” said Vega-Vazquez, dean of CCGA’s School of Arts and Sciences. “Dad is fine, my sister is fine. Of course, everything has been decimated. But they’re fine.” The couple had no choice but to watch from their home in Glynn County as Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico, making landfall on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm that packed sustained winds of 155 mph. Once the storm departed and began to make its way up toward the islands of Turks and Caicos, the full extent of the damage could be assessed.
www.wtoc.com
Community leaders talk future of Liberty Campus during consolidation
http://www.wtoc.com/story/36468855/community-leaders-talk-future-of-liberty-campus-during-consolidation
By Dal Cannady, Reporter
Leaders from Georgia Southern University and Armstrong State have had a political storm to navigate this year as the schools merge. The uncertainty of what would happen had some people worried what would happen to Armstrong’s satellite campus in Hinesville. WTOC was there Wednesday as the universities dropped some good news about growth for the small campus. Plenty of people in Hinesville worried their Liberty Campus would be lost in the shuffle with the consolidation of Armstrong State and Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern’s president assured them it will be just the opposite. Dr. Jaimie Hebert told the audience at a Liberty County chamber breakfast that Liberty Campus will be an integral part of combining the Statesboro and Savannah universities. In addition to many core classes offered now, they’ll add programs in forensic science, cybersecurity, and social work in response to interests in the military community.
www.mdjonline.com
Georgia Tech seeks $63 million in bonds for Lockheed purchase
http://www.mdjonline.com/news/georgia-tech-seeks-million-in-bonds-for-lockheed-purchase/article_8766bd7e-a326-11e7-b6d2-3f22be6136a8.html
Ross Williams
Georgia Tech hopes to buy 52 acres of land on Lockheed Martin’s 912-acre campus along Atlanta Road. The Development Authority of Cobb County will hear details of the university’s nearly $63 million plan Oct. 17. The school plans to use bonds to purchase and renovate 32 acres along the north of Lockheed’s property. Another 20 acres to the south would be purchased and held for future expansion. Those improvements include revamping four buildings included in the purchase, the installation of new utilities, site work and road construction to connect the Lockheed property to Tech’s nearby research campus, according to Jim James, the University System of Georgia’s vice chancellor for facilities. The four buildings formerly housed offices and operations for the F-22 Raptor program, but the facilities were vacated when production of the F-22 ceased in 2013. The five buildings currently used at Tech’s Cobb research institute were purchased from Lockheed back in 1978, university spokesman Lance Wallace said. Georgia Tech has said the property would be used for cybersecurity and defense-related research and would add about 500 jobs to the economy.
www.savannahnow.com
Savannah State student named White House HBCU All-Star
http://savannahnow.com/news/2017-09-27/savannah-state-student-named-white-house-hbcu-all-star
Savannah State University student Le Shawn Baynard has been chosen as a White House HBCU All-Star. Baynard is a junior accounting major from Atlanta. Baynard learned of the opportunity from Savannah State’s former participants and immediately applied. Only 62 students from 450 HBCUs — an acronym for historically black colleges and universities — were chosen to attend the annual summit, a three-day leadership and networking conference in Washington on Sept. 17-19. A White House review committee that considers personal leadership, involvement and academic achievement chooses participants. Baynard is active on campus as a community assistant in Wright Hall, a member of Collegiate 100 and a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. He is the fourth student from Savannah State to be selected for the White House initiative since the program’s first class joined the HBCU conference in 2014.
www.wgauradio.com
NEW PROGRAM FOR FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS AT UGA
http://www.wgauradio.com/news/local/new-program-for-first-generation-students-uga/GAwPSNQzXJ66BSi6MlIteL/?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=8ffc48574b-eGaMorning-9_28_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-8ffc48574b-86731974&mc_cid=8ffc48574b&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
By: Tracey Carroll, UGA
First-generation college students at the University of Georgia will receive expanded academic support to help them enter and excel in doctoral programs thanks to a $1.16 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant to UGA’s Division of Academic Enhancement will be distributed over the next five years under the TRIO Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement (McNair Scholars) program. The UGA McNair Scholars program will call on research-based practices for the retention and persistence of 25 Pell-eligible participants. These students will receive a full range of support, including first- and second-year “prep” academics, a class taught by DAE faculty for each incoming cohort, third- and fourth-year workshops, research stipends, and site visits to graduate schools.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA’s Double Dawgs program accelerates path toward bachelor’s, master’s degrees
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-09-27/uga-s-double-dawgs-program-accelerates-path-toward-bachelor-s-master-s-degrees?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=8ffc48574b-eGaMorning-9_28_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-8ffc48574b-86731974&mc_cid=8ffc48574b&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
By Red Denty
The University of Georgia has implemented a new initiative aimed at lowering the cost of obtaining a master’s degree while also giving graduates a competitive advantage when entering the workforce, UGA President Jere Morehead said. The Double Dawgs program allows UGA students to earn a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in five years or less, providing them with advanced skills upon graduation and also saving them time and money.
www.thebrusnwicknews.com
CCGA nursing program starts partnership with Morningstar
http://thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/ccga-nursing-program-starts-partnership-with-morningstar/article_9c2f5035-4607-5918-ae9d-e600837b1d7f.html#utm_source=thebrunswicknews.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1506679258&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline
By LAUREN MCDONALD By LAUREN MCDONALD
College of Coastal Georgia has begun a partnership with Morningstar Children and Family Services, through which the college’s nursing students will begin doing clinical rotations on campus. “With their clinicals, it’s good to give them a broad experience, instead of just sending them to the pediatric unit at the hospital,” said Lydia Watkins, chair of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. “We get to see a different population of children and adolescents.” The partnership began last spring, when CCGA professor Lauren Boardman, who teaches the nursing program’s mental health course, initiated a Memorandum of Understanding with Morningstar to allow students to complete clinical rotations in its Mental Health Clinic.
www.onlineathens.com
Lydia’s Place offers refuge to students in need
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-09-26/lydia-s-place-offers-refuge-students-need?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=6650750d51-eGaMorning-9_27_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-6650750d51-86731974&mc_cid=6650750d51&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
By Donnie Z. Fetter
During the Great Depression, Lydia Hight struggled as did so many of her peers living in Mississippi. A single mother, Hight lived in a modest home and worked a modest job at a pants factory. Despite the dire circumstances, Hight maintained her Christian values and often opened her doors to those in need of a home and a hot meal. Nearly a century later, Hight’s great-granddaughter, April Farlow, used her example to start a nonprofit organization that aims to provide temporary housing to at-risk students with nowhere else to turn. Farlow named the organization Lydia’s Place in honor of her ancestor and the biblical Lydia mentioned in the book of Acts as a woman who offered refuge to fellow followers of Christ. A relatively new organization that obtained nonprofit status this year, Lydia’s Place has already achieved an early goal of raising enough funds to secure a lease for a University of Georgia dorm room. The dorm room serves as emergency housing for students in crises and perhaps on the brink of homelessness.
www.usnews.com
It’s Tougher to Get Into These Public Schools
Acceptance rates are 40 percent or lower at 14 ranked state schools, U.S. News data show.
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2017-09-27/its-tougher-to-get-into-these-public-schools
By Farran Powell
When Amin Bahari considered his college options, he had his heart set on the University of Texas—Austin. But the now 22-year-old says when he was a high school senior at Pflugerville High School in Pflugerville, Texas, his grades weren’t high enough for the public flagship school. “I worked really hard toward the end of my junior and senior year to get my grades up, but it was a little too late,” says Bahari, who enrolled at Austin Community College before being accepted at UT—Austin as a transfer student, having met the minimum required 3.25 GPA… The schools that have become more selective in the last 10 years include the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor, Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of California—Santa Barbara and San Diego State University, to name a few.
www.ajc.com
Georgia Tech puts $1 million toward mental health counseling services
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/georgia-tech-puts-million-toward-mental-health-counseling-services/SWKkhahWrCRMzADaOrI6mI/
Eric Stirgus The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech, which has been criticized by some students in recent days for not having enough mental health services, announced Wednesday it will have an additional $1 million for such efforts. Tech’s student government association is contributing $500,000 for mental health initiatives. President G.P. “Bud” Peterson said he’s contributing a matching $500,000 from campus funds. The combined $1 million will be disbursed based upon proposals and recommendations submitted to various campus organizations, Tech officials said. …Campus mental health services and counseling have been in the spotlight since this month’s shooting by a university police officer of engineering student Scout Schultz. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting.
www.ajc.com
Ga Tech officer who shot student was ‘still learning laws’
http://www.ajc.com/news/crime–law/tech-officer-who-shot-student-was-still-learning-laws/AT8EQhyqSFOFalG8dG75ZK/
Christian Boone
The Georgia Tech officer under investigation for the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old student sported an unblemished record during his brief tenure with the campus police. “Officer (Tyler) Beck is performing very well in his first year of law enforcement,” the 23-year-old officer’s supervisor said in his 2016 performance review, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open records request. But the review went on to note that Beck “is young and is still learning laws, policies and criminal procedurals.”
www.ajc.com
Georgia needs program that helps college students facing financial pressure, group says
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/georgia-needs-program-that-helps-college-students-facing-financial-pressure-group-says/ETgmoffcQDNM7M9uv4NhQO/
Eric Stirgus
Georgia should create a needs-based grant program to assist low-income college students with financial challenges, an organization said in a report released Thursday. The Georgia Budget & Policy Institute said Georgia is one of only two states that does not offer state aid programs weighted to financial need. “One simple approach to providing low-income students with financial aid is a need-based grant program,” the group said in the report. “Other states and individual colleges also provide aid in the form of forgivable loans or work-study opportunities for low-income students.” The institute suggested the money for the program could come from state appropriations, tuition and fee revenue, lottery proceeds or other means. …The institute found the average net price of attending a campus in the University System of Georgia was higher in recent years for students whose families have annual salaries less than $30,000. The cost rose by 32 percent for that income bracket between the 2009-10 school year and the 2014-15 school year, the institute reported.
www.wsj.com
Harvard Takes Top Honors in WSJ/THE College Rankings
Schools in the Northeast dominate the top 10, with six Ivies making the cut
https://www.wsj.com/articles/harvard-takes-top-honors-in-wsj-the-college-rankings-1506466800
By Douglas Belkin and Melissa Korn
Silicon Valley is rising. Mobile Americans are flocking to the Sunbelt. But most of the best colleges and universities in the U.S. remain rooted in the Northeast. Harvard University topped this year’s Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, and about a mile down the street in Cambridge, Mass., the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earned a tie for third place. Columbia, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Cornell—all of which sit within 400 miles of Harvard Square—took five of the top 10 spots. Stanford, Duke and the California Institute of Technology rounded out the top 10 … The WSJ/THE rankings emphasize how well a college will prepare students for life after graduation. To that end, the overall ranking is based on 15 factors across four categories: Forty percent of each school’s overall score comes from student outcomes, including a measure of graduate salaries, 30% from the school’s academic resources, 20% from how well it engages its students and 10% from the diversity of its students and staff … Georgia Institute of Technology #53
www.ajc.com
This Georgia college has some of the best college food in the country, new ranking says
http://www.ajc.com/news/local/this-georgia-college-has-some-the-best-college-food-the-country-new-ranking-says/ArbPrUPEotVcyKuOW4LiZP/?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=6b8db9c62e-eGaMorning-9_29_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-6b8db9c62e-86731974&mc_cid=6b8db9c62e&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
Fiza Pirani The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When it comes to the best college grub in the country, one Georgia school is said to serve up a mean plate of hearty, healthy and tasty options. That’s according to a new ranking from review site Niche.com, which named University of Georgia’s campus dining among the top in the country. …The University of Georgia came in at No. 20 with an A+ grade for best grub.
www.insidehighered.com
Rejecting Academe
As science and engineering Ph.D. students progress through their programs, many lose interest in academic careers, report finds. Study’s authors say findings suggest changes are needed in Ph.D. training.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/29/study-challenges-common-belief-most-science-and-engineering-phds-leave-academe
By Colleen Flaherty
Most Ph.D.s in the natural sciences and engineering leave academe because of the difficult job market, not because they want to, right? Wrong, according to a new study in PLOS ONE. Authors Michael Roach, the J. Thomas and Nancy W. Clark Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Cornell University, and Henry Sauermann, an associate professor of strategic management at Georgia Tech, found that labor market conditions do prevent some doctoral graduates interested in an academic career from pursuing one — but a large share lose interest for other reasons. That matters, the authors say, because “efforts to understand students’ career paths should consider the diversity in career goals” and the broad range of factors than shape them. In particular, “comparisons of the number of graduates with the number of available faculty positions likely overstate the number of Ph.D.s who aspire to a faculty career, thereby exaggerating imbalances in academic labor markets.”
www.savannahnow.com
Georgia Southern catalogs its critters
http://savannahnow.com/news/2017-09-26/georgia-southern-catalogs-its-critters
By Mary Landers
An American eel. A gray fox. A cotton rat. These three disparate species have at least one thing in common. They were all found on the campus of Georgia Southern University. Faculty and students there recently finished a two-year long study to catalog the biodiversity on campus. In all they observed, live-trapped, netted, audio-recorded or photographed 208 species of vertebrates, a fancy name for animals with a backbone. This impressive diversity includes 19 species of fish, 19 amphibians, 24 reptiles, 126 birds and 19 mammals. Some were unexpected.
www.mdjonline.com
Local economist: Georgia’s economy strong and growing
http://www.mdjonline.com/news/local-economist-georgia-s-economy-strong-and-growing/article_6c62d81e-a394-11e7-b1dc-f3390a611c64.html
Shaddi Abusaid
Georgia’s economy is strong in the fourth quarter of 2017 and on pace to grow by more than 2 percent this year. That was the message delivered to a room of Marietta business owners by a leading economics expert from Kennesaw State University. Roger Tutterow, an economics professor and the director of the KSU’s Econometric Center, said this week the American economy is still expanding post-recession without any signs of slowing down. “We’re on the cusp of the 100th month of expansion and we’ve been growing consistently,” Tutterow told members of the Marietta Business Association in the Radisson ballroom. “And the most likely trajectory of this economy is continued growth through 2017 and well into 2018.” Georgia’s economy ranks seventh in the nation when it comes to job creation, Tutterow said, in part because metro Atlanta’s economy is not dependent on any one business sector.
Higher Education News:
www.ajc.com
More students defaulting on loans
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/more-students-defaulting-loans/yCG3KnAxpFN5cgNboK6iuN/
Eric Stirgus
The most recent information from the U.S. Department of Education shows the student loan default rate for the 2014 cohort is up a bit, but down significantly from a five-year high. During the period of 2103-2014 for students who started repayments, more than five million borrowers entered repayment. And 580,671 of them—or 11.5 percent—defaulted. Those borrowers attended 6,173 postsecondary institutions across the nation. …Schools with high student-loan default rates may lose their eligibility to participate in or expand their federal student aid programs. No schools in Georgia were listed by the DOE as in danger.
www.diverseeducation.com
Analysis: States’ Interest in Outcomes-based Higher Ed Funding Grows
http://diverseeducation.com/article/102185/?utm_campaign=DIV1709%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20SEP27&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
A growing number of states have adopted or are seeking to enact outcomes-based funding in higher education, which scholars say is indicative of the fact that states are grappling with larger issues of funding for higher education in general. Twice as many states – four – as the prior year adopted outcomes-based funding in higher education in 2017, and a growing number of state legislatures made an effort to do so but got thwarted, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by the Education Commission of the States. So far this year, Arkansas, Kentucky, Texas and Utah all adopted some form of outcomes-based funding, or OBF, whereas last year, Michigan and Rhode Island were the only states to do so. But the bigger picture shows that an increasing number of state legislatures have at least considered outcomes-based funding, which seeks to incentivize colleges and universities to increase performance in certain key areas, such as retention and completion, by allocating a certain amount of funding based on how well they perform on those particular indicators. Excluding appropriations bills, at least 14 states considered OBF legislation in 2017, versus at least nine in 2016.
www.insidehighered.com
College Enrollment Projected to Grow 15% by 2025
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/09/29/college-enrollment-projected-grow-15-2025?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=c595b91e33-DNU20170929&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-c595b91e33-197515277&mc_cid=c595b91e33&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Doug Lederman
A new federal report projects that enrollment in American postsecondary institutions will climb 15 percent from 2014 to 2025, with larger proportional increases among adult than traditional-age students, women than men, graduate students than undergraduates, and minority students than white students. That growth would represent about half the increase in actual enrollments between 2001 and 2014, but it is larger than many college leaders might fear.
www.insidehighered.com
Enrollment and Market Forces
Enrollment at graduate schools is still increasing, but at a slower pace than before. Researchers point to a market correction and declining growth in international students.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/28/graduate-school-enrollment-grows-again-slower-rate?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=61d26fd60c-DNU20170928&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-61d26fd60c-197515277&mc_cid=61d26fd60c&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Nick Roll
Enrollment in graduate school is up, continuing a trend in first-time graduate students researchers have seen for five years. But growth rates are starting to dip, according to numbers from a new report the Council of Graduate Schools co-published with the Graduate Record Examinations Board. The report shows the “strength of graduate education and the attractiveness of U.S. graduate programs to both domestic students and [students from] abroad,” said Suzanne Ortega, the council’s president. “There were almost 2.25 million applications to graduate school.”
www.diverseeducation.com
Expert: Lower-income Dual Enrollment Students Need Additional Support
http://diverseeducation.com/article/102200/?utm_campaign=DIV1709%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20SEP27&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Catherine Morris
Dual enrollment programs started out as a common sense idea: let students take college level classes through their local community college while still in high school. Credits they earn can go toward a future degree and potentially cut down on the time and cost of earning a bachelor’s or associate’s degree. A new report from the Community College Research Center (CCRC) sheds some light on postsecondary degree-completion outcomes once students leave high school on a state-by-state basis. CCRC found that nearly half of dual enrollment students nationally who matriculated at a community college earned a postsecondary credential five years after high school, with the caveat that higher-income students were statistically more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than their lower-income peers. “Overall, dual enrollment students are more likely to graduate college and to do so sooner,” said Dr. Davis Jenkins, senior research scholar at CCRC. “But just taking college courses, especially for low-income students, isn’t enough.”
www.chronicle.com
From Foster Care to Freshman Year
How colleges can provide a step up to those students who have rarely ever had one
http://www.chronicle.com/article/From-Foster-Care-to-Freshman/241207?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=8764b503de2647f59c5bcc5be7833b58&elq=c67fb3c5e5974c07806ea3a9eab9b83d&elqaid=15808&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=6800
By Kelly Field
Less than 30 percent of foster youth who enroll in college will earn a degree or certificate in six years, and only 14 percent will finish with a bachelor’s degree in that time, according to a recent government study. That puts them behind even other low-income students, 43 percent of whom will earn a degree in that time period. Foster youth are a student population with a complicated set of challenges to overcome. Many are academically unprepared for college because of a childhood spent bouncing between districts. They often suffer from anxiety and other mental-health consequences of childhood trauma. And they’re far less likely than their peers to have a supportive parent or guardian who can help them adjust to college life.
www.insidehighered.com
Enrollment and Market Forces
Enrollment at graduate schools is still increasing, but at a slower pace than before. Researchers point to a market correction and declining growth in international students.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/28/graduate-school-enrollment-grows-again-slower-rate
By Nick Roll
Enrollment in graduate school is up, continuing a trend in first-time graduate students researchers have seen for five years. But growth rates are starting to dip, according to numbers from a new report the Council of Graduate Studies co-published with the Graduate Record Examinations Board. The report shows the “strength of graduate education and the attractiveness of U.S. graduate programs to both domestic students and [students from] abroad,” said Suzanne Ortega, the council’s president. “There were almost 2.25 million applications to graduate school.” Indeed, the number of applications received last year set a record, with a growth of 1.2 percent in the number of applications compared to the previous year. However, between 2006 and 2016 — the years the study captured — the number of graduate applications grew at an average annual rate of 5.7 percent.
www.educationdive.com
Advisors and counselors aren’t the top source for decisions on academic paths
http://www.educationdive.com/news/advisors-and-counselors-arent-the-top-source-for-decisions-on-academic-pat/505684/
AUTHOR, Pat Donachie
More than half of U.S. adults in the country would change at least one educational decision, and 36% would change their college major if they could go back and do it again, according to a new survey from Gallup and Strada Education Network. “So, that led us to question of how you got advice on how to come to that major in the first place,” said Strada Education Network executive vice president of mission advancement and philanthropy Carol D’Amico. “The most valued source of advice comes from work-based people, employers, yet it is the least used, so our takeaway is how do we increase access, especially for our first generation students?”
www.insidehighered.com
Return of the College Scorecard
The Department of Education rolls out updated information on its college transparency tool, including a new comparison feature.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/29/education-dept-updates-higher-ed-consumer-tool-adds-new-comparison-feature
By Andrew Kreighbaum
An Obama administration initiative that provided consumer information on colleges and universities has survived for another year and into the Trump administration. The Department of Education published updated information on the College Scorecard Thursday, including a new feature that allows students to compare data from up to 10 institutions at once. The update is a significant win for proponents of transparency in higher education who have watched Education Secretary Betsy DeVos over recent months delay and water down requirements for the gainful-employment measure. The consumer tool allows students and their families to easily find the average annual cost of a given institution, its graduation rate, the typical salary after attending and the percentage of students paying off their debt within three years of leaving.
www.politico.com
How will Trump’s $200 million STEM investment work?
http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2017/09/26/how-will-trumps-200-million-stem-investment-work-222480
By MICHAEL STRATFORD 09/26/2017 10:00 AM EDT
With help from Caitlin Emma and Mel Leonor
HOW WILL TRUMP’S $200 MILLION STEM INVESTMENT WORK? The Trump administration on Monday told Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to spend at least $200 million in existing grant funds per year on the promotion of high-quality STEM education and, in particular, computer science education. But to be clear, DeVos won’t repurpose existing funds to create a new grant program. Rather, STEM education will be a “priority” for the Education Department in doling out funds through existing discretionary grant programs.