University System News:
www.myajc.com
Olens resigns at KSU; national search for successor planned
http://www.myajc.com/news/local-education/olens-resigns-ksu-national-search-for-successor-planned/A47RgiWqHHHr7VMUzo8xPP/
By Eric Stirgus – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kennesaw State University student and faculty leaders critical of Sam Olens hope its next president will be picked based on the person’s academic qualifications, not a political resume. Georgia’s Board of Regents will conduct a national search to replace Olens, who announced Thursday he will resign, effective Feb. 15. Many faculty and students criticized the board last year for not conducting such a search when it hired Olens, the lone candidate for the job. Olens’ supporters cited his local and political ties — former Georgia Attorney General and chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners — as qualifications that made him perfect for it. Olens, critics noted, had no administrative experience at any college or university. This time, a presidential search committee will include faculty, staff, students, alumni and KSU’s local community, University System of Georgia officials said in a statement. Three to five candidates will be considered. Ken Harmon, KSU’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, will become the university’s interim president.
www.bizjournals.com
Sam Olens stepping down as Kennesaw State University president
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/12/14/sam-olens-stepping-down-as-kennesaw-state.html
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Kennesaw State University President Sam Olens will step down from the post in mid-February, Olens announced Thursday. While a University System of Georgia news release did not indicate why Olens is leaving, a state report released last month found he did not follow proper guidelines in his handling of protests several KSU cheerleaders conducted during the national anthem. In a letter to the university’s faculty, staff and students, Olens noted successes achieved since he became president in November of last year, including academic improvements, a new admissions model and continued progress in the consolidation of KSU with the former Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta. However, Olens wrote that new leadership is needed if Kennesaw State is to “fully realize its potential.”
www.wabe.org
Sam Olens’ Resignation Sparks Celebration For Some In KSU Community
https://www.wabe.org/sam-olens-resignation-sparks-celebration-ksu-community/
www.wsbtv.com
Sam Olens to step down as Kennesaw State’s president
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/cobb-county/sam-olens-out-as-kennesaw-states-president/663977987
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Sam Olens out at KSU after failing to stand up for rights of cheerleaders who kneeled
Sam Olens out at KSU after failing to stand up for rights of cheerleaders who kneeled
www.albanyherald.com
Albany State to reconfigure school’s academic foundation
Effort aims to align studies more closely with needs of local work force
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/albany-state-to-reconfigure-school-s-academic-foundation/article_388dd836-b317-5c4e-98b4-41d143a76a01.html
By Terry Lewis
Albany State University has announced an effort that will “re-imagine” the academic programs at the university by evaluating the current academic curriculum and making needed changes to better serve students and also align more closely with needs of the local work force. “As we focus on student retention and success, we are taking a close look at our academic foundation to make changes that will better serve our students and the community,” Marion Fedrick, ASU’s interim executive vice president, said. “This effort will ensure that we are providing the academic preparation our students need for the current and future work force opportunities of our region and state.” ASU faculty will be at the forefront of initiating the changes at the university, according to Fedrick. “We will look to our faculty to lead us in this initiative as they play the critical role of innovators and creators of ASU’s curriculum,” the executive VP said.
www.walb.com
ASU to re-evaluate and revamp curriculum
http://www.walb.com/story/37070821/asu-to-re-evaluate-and-revamp-curriculum
By Amanda Hoskins, Reporter
Officials at Albany State University are looking to strengthen academics to better fit the needs of the evolving work-force. On Thursday, the university announced it is setting a new vision for its academic curriculum. It works in a few phases. First officials will identify the strengths at the school right now. For example, supply chain management is an area where students are graduating from and immediately getting hired. Next, officials will analyze what kind of talent demand employers are looking for. What credentials do they want? what kind of training do students need before applying? Once that is complete officials will look at the findings and see how they can incorporate them into the university’s current programs. Members of the faculty, administration, a few students and even members of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce have formed a committee to give input during the process.
www.coastalcourier.com
Armstrong awards 600 degrees at final commencement
http://coastalcourier.com/section/5/article/89969/
Special to the Courier
Armstrong State University hosted its 2017 fall commencement Saturday, conferring degrees on nearly 600 students in two graduation ceremonies held at the Armstrong Sports Center. It was the school’s final commencement. The school was founded in 1935 and is being merged with Georgia Southern University at the start of the new year. Georgia Southern officials have said they will maintain Armstrong’s campus in Hinesville. Saturday, Armstrong recognized students receiving master’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees and associate’s degrees in a wide range of fields. Students from the College of Liberal Arts, College of Education, College of Health Professions and College of Science and Technology celebrated in a colorful march, showcasing decorated graduation caps. In a packed arena, Armstrong Interim President Jennifer L. Frum, Ph.D., welcomed the 2017 graduates and their families. …Regent Laura T. Marsh, the 12th District representative for the University System of Georgia Board of Regents and a partner with the law firm Taulbee, Rushing, Snipes, Marsh and Hodgin served as the commencement speaker at both ceremonies.
www.wgxa.tv
MGSU hosts fall commencement ceremonies, Alfreda “Memaw” Lockett earns posthumous degree
http://wgxa.tv/news/local/mgsu-hosts-fall-commencement-ceremonies-alfreda-memaw-lockett-earns-posthumous-degree
by Claire Helm
More than 500 students received their diplomas from Middle Georgia State University at its third annual fall graduation ceremonies on Dec. 14. One graduate said he feels fully prepared to take on the next steps in his life because of his experience at MGSU. Graduate John Legg said, “It’s been great. The support of everybody has really pushed me and prepared me for this moment. I think it’s a great university in Middle Georgia.” Students weren’t the only ones walking across the stage today. The commencement took on a special meaning for the Lockett family. Alfreda Lockett, who co-owned a restaurant and was also affectionately known as Memaw, was a student who passed away in late November. Today Lockett received her associate’s degree in psychology. Her husband Richard Lockett said, “It’s a great privilege to receive this diploma, this degree for a great woman who lived and showed her love and concern to so many here in Middle Georgia and the Atlanta area.”
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Georgia Gwinnett College marks 5,000th graduate during winter commencement
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/georgia-gwinnett-college-marks-th-graduate-during-winter-commencement/article_0bf11556-1915-51cc-9c35-e37a13647d95.html
By Trevor McNaboe
Students, parents and faculty piled into Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth Thursday morning to see Georgia Gwinnett College awarded 475 bachelor’s degrees during its fall commencement ceremony. To the tune of Pomp and Circumstance, hundreds of students wearing the traditional black graduation garbs marched in excited for the future and a chance to reflect on their accomplishments. For the students it was an important milestone in not only their life, but also their academic career. GGC also reached an important milestone during the event, surpassing 5,000 graduates in the institution’s 12 year history. Referring to this milestone, GGC President Stanley C. “Stas” Preczewski took time during the ceremony to encourage the graduates, pointing out that just as GGC has persevered despite seemingly insurmountable challenges, they too can overcome their obstacles and succeed. …Like many GGC students, Mark Guevara is among the first in his family to graduate from college. On Thursday he acknowledged the significance the moment had on his family as he joined the ranks of GGC alumni.
www.jbhe.com
Ayanna Howard to Lead the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech
Ayanna Howard to Lead the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech
Ayanna Howard, a professor who holds the Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, was appointed to lead the university’s School of Interactive Computing. From 1993 to 2005, Dr. Howard was a senior robotics researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. In accepting the appointment, Dr. Howard stated that “I am thrilled for the opportunity to work with the amazing faculty, staff, and students within the School of Interactive Computing.
www.ajc.com
JDA donates supply chain software to Clayton State University
http://www.ajc.com/news/local/jda-donates-supply-chain-software-clayton-state-university/BJbdQlLTAUZPx7piaaSEbM/
Pamela Miller For the AJC
JDA Software, a provider of supply chain planning and execution solutions for retailers, manufacturers, logistics providers and wholesale distributors has donated two supply chain software programs to the Clayton State University. The donation consists of Warehouse Management System and Supply Chain Pro software systems, as part of JDA’s University Gifting Program. Clayton State will be the first institution under the University System of Georgia to incorporate this software into the curriculum. The software programs will help close a gap identified by a number of recruiters and supply chain industry leaders who seek employees in neighboring states because of their exposure to supply chain technology in bachelors and master’s level degree programs.
www.statesboroherald.com
Deputies get body cameras
Seized drug funds pay for 30 units
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/83129/
BY Holli Deal Saxon
Soon, all Bulloch County sheriff’s deputies will wear body cameras, thanks to the purchase of 30 units paid for with seized drug funds. Paired with newly installed digital dash cameras in patrol cars, the cameras will enable deputies to more accurately record evidence regarding traffic stops, arrests and other incidents, said Bulloch County Sheriff Noel Brown. The Sheriff’s Office now joins fellow law enforcement agencies including Georgia Southern University police and Statesboro police in wearing body cameras. According to a Georgia State Patrol Post 45 spokesperson, troopers have dash cameras but do not currently wear body cameras.
www.timeshighereducation.com
US universities pledge to increase intake of low-income students
Six institutions with strong graduation rates announce new targets
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/us-universities-pledge-increase-intake-low-income-students
By Ellie Bothwell
Six US universities have announced new widening participation commitments aimed at enrolling and supporting more low-income students. Yale University has pledged to increase its number of enrolled first-generation students and Pell Grant students (those who receive financial aid from the government) by 150 and 225 respectively, the University of Washington has committed to graduate 125 low- and middle-income students per cohort by 2025 and Georgia Institute of Technology said that it will increase need-based aid by 30 per cent.
www.news.elearninginside.com
How Georgia Tech is Bringing Prestige to Online Graduate Degrees
How Georgia Tech is Bringing Prestige to Online Graduate Degrees
By Cait Etherington
A key challenge faced by online programs has been their perceived prestige. Indeed, in some professions lingering concerns about online degrees being subpar, continues to push such programs to the sideline (as an example, see eLearningInside News‘ recent article on the continued marginalized of both online and blended law degrees). But at least in some professions, online degrees are beginning to gain considerable prestige, and computer science is one such field. In 2014, Georgia Tech’s graduate program in computer science, which is consistently ranked among the very best computer science schools in the nation, launched a 100% online degree. The Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) was developed in partnership with Udacity and AT&T and costs about $7,000, which is less than one-sixth of the $45,000 out-of-state students pay for Georgia Tech’s in-person computer science master’s degree. Tuition and admissions criteria were established to attract a much larger number of students than the in-person program but without compromising the integrity of the degree. Most importantly, the OMSCS is not labeled an “online” degree but is considered on par with Georgia Tech’s on-campus programs. A recently released study on the program suggests that the program is not only making graduate-level education in computer science more accessible to a large number of adult learners but also bringing new prestige to online graduate degrees in the process.
www.bizjournals.com
Study: Atlanta among top college cities in America
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/12/12/study-atlanta-among-top-college-cities-in-america.html
By Phil W. Hudson – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The Big Peach is a pretty good place for higher education. Atlanta is home to Georgia Tech, Emory University and the Atlanta University Center, which houses four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College and the Morehouse School of Medicine). With that in mind, it should come as little surprise that Atlanta ranks No. 24 overall and No. 8 among large size cities on a new report ranking the best college towns and cities in America.
www.bizjournals.com
Georgia economy likely to remain strong in 2018
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/12/14/georgia-economy-likely-to-remain-strong-in-2018.html
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Economic development wins, solid population growth and a housing recovery will combine to give Georgia another year of strong growth, according to the annual economic forecast from The University of Georgia. Employment growth of 2 percent will significantly outpace the natural average of 1.1 percent in 2018, Benjamin Ayers, dean of UGA’s Terry College of Business, told about 600 business and government leaders at the school’s 35th annual Georgia Economic Outlook luncheon in downtown Atlanta. Personal income will grow by 5.8 percent, higher than the national average of 5.5 percent, he said. “At this late stage of the economic expansion, the outlook for Georgia is surprisingly good,” Ayers said. “The main factors that contributed to growth over the last few years will continue to do so in 2018.” Ayers predicted Georgia will be one of the most successful states in landing economic development projects. He said those new companies will have a ready supply of skilled workers thanks to the state’s emphasis on targeted workforce training. While Georgia’s unemployment rate will fall below 5 percent, it will be slightly higher than the U.S. jobless rate of 4.1 percent, Ayers said.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
When Students Aren’t as Prepared as They Look on Paper
https://www.chronicle.com/article/When-Students-Aren-t-as/242052?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=e2b22367c6b5454a836a3f0154cf1c01&elq=0e693cd8710647258bdbfcd132e07586&elqaid=17163&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7445
It’s Thursday, and the end of the semester is in sight if not in reach. Welcome to Teaching, a weekly newsletter from The Chronicle of Higher Education. I’m Beckie Supiano, a Chronicle reporter covering teaching and learning. This week a recent article in The New Yorker has me thinking about academic preparation for college. Keep reading for new research on undergraduates changing their majors and news of an unusual student accomplishment.
A Messy Handoff
College freshmen are rarely referred to as 13th graders. And with good reason: The transition from high school to college is a lot more complicated than advancing from one grade to the next. That’s been on my mind since reading this article about the Success Academy Charter School network in The New Yorker. The article, by Rebecca Mead, focuses on the network’s highly regimented educational environment, and describes its leaders wrestling with how well this model serves students once they get to college, where they will “have to flourish without constant supervision.” Despite decades of work to cultivate a “college-going culture” in schools and a cultural obsession with elite-college admissions, the handoff from high school to college remains messy. Higher education is quick to blame weak preparation in K-12 for dismal college completion rates — without, perhaps, having a good understanding of what school systems are up against. High schools, meanwhile, may not even know how many of the students they send to college never finish it.
www.chronicle.com
Demographic Changes as Destiny in College Admissions? It’s Complicated
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Demographic-Changes-as-Destiny/242062?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=2a2d2d024ead4fca8282874afad40f9d&elq=0e693cd8710647258bdbfcd132e07586&elqaid=17163&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7445
By Eric Hoover
Want to make college presidents and enrollment managers nervous? Just say the words “demographic change,” and then watch them get all worked up. Sure enough, many institutional leaders have reason to worry that demographic shifts will pose significant challenges to their institutions in the future. On many campuses, such challenges have arrived. Still, do the prevailing forecasts of the future tell colleges everything they need to know? Not so much, says Nathan D. Grawe, a professor of economics at Carleton College, in Minnesota. Mr. Grawe is the author of Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education (Johns Hopkins University Press), a new book that explores demographic changes in great detail. On Thursday, The Chronicle caught up with Mr. Grawe, who discussed some of his findings. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. Q. In higher education, discussions of demographic change are often full of doom and gloom. You’re saying, Wait, not so fast. Why?
www.chronicle.com
Repeal of Net-Neutrality Rules Disappoints Higher-Ed Associations
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Repeal-of-Net-Neutrality-Rules/242061?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=093ab1a1d3784cd7b8448eafae444bc8&elq=0e693cd8710647258bdbfcd132e07586&elqaid=17163&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7445
By Julia Martinez and Sam Hoisington
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday repealed Obama-era regulations that required internet-service providers to treat all online traffic equally. The move is widely seen as a shift in power toward big internet providers like Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Those hoping to see so-called net neutrality untouched under the Trump administration warned that the change would allow internet-service providers to throttle some online traffic and allow companies to pay extra for faster delivery of their content. The decision came in a party-line vote, with three Republican commissioners voting to scrap the regulations and two Democrats voting to retain them. Several higher-education associations had spoken out against the move by Thursday evening. Some submitted opinions during the four-month public-comment period, urging the FCC to keep the regulations in place. In sounding the alarm about the vote, the associations said the decision to deregulate the industry could have serious ramifications for their members.