University System News:
www.wabe.org
How Georgia State Stopped Students From Slipping Through The Cracks
https://www.wabe.org/georgia-state-stopped-students-slipping-cracks/
MARTHA DALTON
Georgia State University has become a model for colleges across the country when it comes to helping students graduate on time. This recognition comes after GSU officials realized in 2003 that plenty of their students were not graduating on time. Just 32 percent were earning diplomas. School officials decided to use data to keep more students on track. “We used 10 years of data, 2.5 million Georgia State grades, 140,000 student records,” said Tim Renick, GSU’s vice provost and vice president for enrollment management and student success. “What we were doing in the data is looking for academic behaviors in the past that correlated to students dropping and flunking out.” Those behaviors include failing a quiz, registering for the wrong course, or not earning a high enough grade in an introductory course in the student’s major. Renick said they expected to find a few dozen behaviors. “We found actually 800 identifiable, academic behaviors that historically Georgia State students perform that correlated in a statistically significant way to them flunking and dropping out of the university,” Renick said. Now, GSU tracks every undergraduate student for each of those 800 behaviors every day. As soon as a student exhibits one, his or her adviser receives an alert.

www.onlineathens.com
‘Immense gratitude,’ says UGA student speaker at graduation
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-12-15/immense-gratitude-says-uga-student-speaker-graduation
By Lee Shearer
University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley invoked Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the U.S. Declaration of Independence as he spoke to new University of Georgia graduates at Friday morning’s fall semester commencement. But the standing-room-only crowd in the university’s Stegeman Coliseum gave its loudest applause to the day’s student speaker, a first-generation college graduate whose father was deported to Mexico as an illegal immigrant. …Wrigley told the crowd about the long friendship between Adams and Jefferson, framers of the Declaration of Independence, both U.S. presidents, who came to be bitter rivals, reconciled and died hours apart on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after the colonies that would become the United States declared independence from their colonial masters in Great Britain. …About 1,700 undergraduates were eligible to participate in Friday’s ceremony, and most did. About 1,100 graduate students were eligible for a later commencement for those earning advanced degrees. …Among those receiving degrees were Virginia Katelyn Chandler and Bridget Ariel Thompson, who received posthumous bachelor’s degrees.

www.albanyherald.com
Albany State University leads University System of Georgia in energy conservation
ASU has a 43 percent reduction in energy from Fiscal Year 2016 to Fiscal Year 2017
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/albany-state-university-leads-university-system-of-georgia-in-energy/article_7b50364a-fbb1-5872-bea0-b0fbb2a9f14e.html
From Staff Reports
Albany State University, which has been working hard to become an active leader in energy conservation, is leading University System of Georgia institutions in the largest reduction of energy consumption. “Our goal is to be the most energy efficient university in Georgia,” Lee Howell, director of Facilities Management at ASU, said. “We’re making the entire university operate more efficiently.” Based on information submitted by all institutions for the Governor’s Energy Challenge for Fiscal Year 2017, ASU had a 43 percent reduction in energy from FY 2016 to FY 2017. This is the largest reduction across the System for the period, according to Mark Kitta, director of management and operations for the USG. The closest institution in the system to ASU recorded reductions of 30 percent. This was Howell’s second year of double-digit reductions. “We manipulate how things operate,” Howell said. “That’s where all of the savings comes from.”

www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Lawrenceville mother of five earns University of North Georgia scholarship
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/lawrenceville-mother-of-five-earns-university-of-north-georgia-scholarship/article_f457d4f5-7dd7-5875-87eb-e3ca85b26fd7.html
Staff Reports
To say Christina Majors has struggled in life would be an understatement. The University of North Georgia sophomore grew up in an unstable home, dropped out of high school, failed her GED test twice before finally passing it, and incurred $60,000 in debt to earn an associate degree from Aquinas College, a private institution in Nashville in 2010. A college education, however, opened new doors for the mother of five children. “I blossomed and continued to learn,” Majors said. “I yearned for more because I missed so much as a child.” The 40-year-old Lawrenceville woman was inspired to return to college following a more than seven-year gap and enrolled at North Georgia in January 2017. Her debt, however, proved to be an obstacle. Majors said her attendance in the spring 2018 semester was uncertain until she received a scholarship from the university covering the tuition. Majors could not maintain her composure when she heard the news. “I fell apart,” Majors said as tears formed and her breath caught in her throat. “I felt overwhelmed.”

www.ajc.com
Fort Valley State starts new scholarship that includes study abroad program
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/fort-valley-state-starts-new-scholarship-that-includes-study-abroad-program/gEW9PPoFRzi6SMyR2IMYXJ/
Eric Stirgus
Fort Valley State University officials announced Friday a new scholarship program for freshmen students that will allow them to study abroad. Students selected for the Global Innovators Scholarship Program will receive a $40,000 scholarship, awarded as $10,000 each year for four years, to be used toward tuition, room, board and a stipend to be used to study abroad. Eligible students must have at least a 3.5 grade point average and a combined SAT score of 1100 or an ACT score of 22. The deadline for admission is February 2, 2018. “It’s not enough for FVSU students to simply be able to compete for employment in their chosen field,” said Paul Jones, the university’s president. “We are intensely serious about producing students who will go forward into the world as change agents, creators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and inventors who will lead the transformation of society as we know it.”

www.ajc.com
AT&T awards Clayton State funds in support of Early Start program
http://www.ajc.com/news/local/awards-clayton-state-funds-support-early-start-program/rQqFzYgGpVJxZRLoJwcUDP/
Pamela Miller For the AJC
AT&T is supporting Clayton State University’s goal of giving freshmen a strong start by awarding $12,000 to the school’s Early Start program. The contribution will allow 24 students to participate in the summer program, offering academic coaching and additional services to help the students seamlessly transition into college life. The Early Start program gives newly matriculated students an opportunity to complete their degrees at an accelerated pace in a small, supportive learning environment prior to the start of the fall term. Students earn six college credits toward their degree at the completion of the program.

www.savannahnow.com
UGA students making positive IMPACT in Chatham County communities
College sophomores, juniors and seniors spend part of winter break volunteering
http://savannahnow.com/news/2017-12-15/uga-students-making-positive-impact-chatham-county-communities
By Kelly Quimby
A group of 20 or so sophomores, juniors and seniors from the University of Georgia spent their day at a home in Garden City Friday painting, raking leaves and cleaning up. They worked along side the Garden City Housing Team, a nonprofit group that conducts maintenance and improvement projects at houses in the city for homeowners in need. Over the course of the next week, they’ll do 40 hours of service for Savannah area organizations, including America’s Second Harvest, Habitat for Humanity, the Forsyth Farmer’s Market and the Girl Scouts. The students are visiting from Athens this week as part of the university’s IMPACT service break program, a substance-free, service learning initiative that allows them to volunteer around the state and country in service of others.

www.accesswdun.com
Four University of North Georgia employees recognized by USG Chancellor for service excellence
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/12/616834/four-university-of-north-georgia-employees-recognized-by-usg-chancellor-for-service-excellence
By AccessWDUN staff
Four University of North Georgia employees were honored at the University System of Georgia’s Chancellor’s Service Excellence Awards recently in Atlanta. UNG took home four awards, tying with Georgia Techn for the most awards received and tying with Georgia College and State University with the most two gold awards. Twelve UNG employees were nominated for awards in eight categories, with gold, silver and bronze awarded in each category.

www.ajc.com
Georgia university mergers to take effect in January
http://www.ajc.com/news/local/georgia-university-mergers-take-effect-january/7rNjsjlu0hpG1IFqYOqIyI/
The Associated Press
Mergers affecting four of Georgia’s public universities will take effect in January. At the start of next year, Armstrong State University in Savannah will merge with Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. Both campuses will remain open under the Georgia Southern name with a combined enrollment of roughly 27,000 students. At the same time, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton is consolidating with Bainbridge State College. They will both use the name Abraham Baldwin and have about 6,000 students total.

www.usnews.com
Georgia University Mergers to Take Effect in January
Mergers affecting four of Georgia’s public universities will take effect in January.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/georgia/articles/2017-12-17/georgia-university-mergers-to-take-effect-in-january
Mergers affecting four of Georgia’s public universities will take effect in January. At the start of next year, Armstrong State University in Savannah will merge with Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. Both campuses will remain open under the Georgia Southern name with a combined enrollment of roughly 27,000 students.