University System News:
www.myajc.com
State auditors find costs rising for Georgia’s dual enrollment program
http://www.myajc.com/news/local-education/state-auditors-find-costs-rising-for-georgia-dual-enrollment-program/EuFLxr0ERKC6r6FOOPJudN/
By Eric Stirgus – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia higher education leaders need to better define the mission and monitor the operations of the increasingly popular, and expensive, program that allows students to take college courses while still in high school, a new state review has found.
State general fund spending for the dual enrollment program — the state pays for the high schoolers’ college classes — has increased by more than 325 percent over the past five years – from $18.5 million in fiscal year 2014 to $78.8 million in fiscal year 2018 for tuition, fees and books. According to the review released last week by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, taxpayers will spend $172.3 million overall on the program during the 2017/2018 fiscal year. Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposed budget calls for an additional $34.4 million for the program next fiscal year. Though it offers students an opportunity to take college classes, the report says the program’s purpose needs better definition before its success and effectiveness can be evaluated. And the report noted that a single agency needs to be assigned responsibility for assessing it.
www.macon.com
Partnership gives university scientists access to more facilities, resources
http://www.macon.com/news/local/education/article195527404.html
BY ANDREA HONAKER
Faculty at several Georgia universities have gained some extra space for their research work. Mercer University is among eight schools in the Georgia Research Alliance that have signed a memorandum of understanding that allows scientists to use core research facilities, technology and equipment at any of the partner schools. The other participating schools are Augusta University, Clark Atlanta University, Emory University, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Morehouse School of Medicine and the University of Georgia. The partnership will provide faculty with more research support services, keep schools from duplicating resources and encourage collaborative projects, according to a press release. “Sharing these core research facilities, which often include expensive equipment and specially trained personnel, is an ideal opportunity to enhance team science while increasing research efficiency and saving time and money,” C. Michael Cassidy, president of the GRA, said in a press release.
www.tiftongazette.com
Agriculture commissioner to speak in lecture series
http://www.tiftongazette.com/news/agriculture-commissioner-to-speak-in-lecture-series/article_e34125fc-fd4f-11e7-a6e3-bff2478cb775.html
TIFTON – Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black will be the featured speaker in a lecture series at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 23 in the Chapel of All Faiths at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Black will speak as a part of the ABAC Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow lecture series, “Agriculture’s Footprint on Georgia.” The event is open to the public at no charge. …Sponsored by the Georgia Agribusiness Council, the evening will also include a question-and-answer session. Black earned a degree in Agricultural Education from the University of Georgia.
Lecture, more planned for UGA Founders Week
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2018-01-21/lecture-more-planned-uga-founders-week?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=ad0bb94c08-eGaMorning-1_22_18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-ad0bb94c08-86731974&mc_cid=ad0bb94c08&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
By Kelundra Smith University of Georgia
The University of Georgia this week will observe its anniversary as the birthplace of public higher education in America. The UGA Alumni Association will celebrate the occasion by hosting a week-long series of events, including the 16th annual Founders Day Lecture at 1:30 p.m. Monday in the Chapel. Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences, will present the lecture, “Partly Sunny or Partly Cloudy? The Challenges of Communicating Science to Non-Scientists.” Shepherd is the director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program and full professor in the department of geography, where he is associate department head. He chairs the NASA Earth Sciences Advisory Committee and is a former member of its Earth Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council. …The Founders Day Lecture is traditionally held on or near the date the university was established — Jan. 27. On this day in 1785, the Georgia General Assembly adopted a charter establishing UGA as the first institution of public higher education in America.
www.myajc.com
Atlanta survives the first cut in Amazon’s HQ2 sweepstakes
http://www.myajc.com/business/atlanta-survives-the-first-cut-amazon-hq2-sweepstakes/AW0GvzAZnlh8vRHJaSbw8K/
By J. Scott Trubey and Greg Bluestein – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Amazon narrowed its list of potential communities for its massive second headquarters on Thursday to a final grouping that includes Atlanta and 19 others in the U.S. and Canada, setting off a battle royale for a project promising prestige and 50,000 high-paying jobs. Georgia and metro Atlanta leaders hailed the news, while noting much work remains to hone the pitch for the project known as HQ2. The state and local leaders plan to hype the region’s deep corporate and tech workforce, its business climate and quality of life — while papering over demerits such as a poor reputation for traffic. …Observers locally and nationally expected metro Atlanta to be a finalist. Metro Atlanta boasts top-flight universities, including Emory, Georgia State and Georgia Tech, as well as the world’s busiest airport. The metro area is also hobbled by a bad reputation for congestion, but city of Atlanta voters recently approved the largest expansion in MARTA’s history. The Atlanta area is also a hub for software development, information security, health care IT, data centers and financial technology, all of which play into Amazon’s wheelhouse. Another growth sector in Georgia — television and film production, where Georgia is one of the top production centers in the world — is a top priority for Amazon.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Every Student Succeeds Act: Betsy DeVos approves Georgia’s blueprint for school improvement
http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2018/01/19/every-student-succeeds-act-betsy-devos-approves-georgias-blueprint-for-school-improvement/
Based on Betsy DeVos’ repeated comments that the federal government ought to let states set their own course, I did not expect her U.S. Department of Education to veto Georgia’s education blueprint for raising achievement and improving schools, as required under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. …As my AJC colleague Ty Tagami reports: Georgia’s report card for schools, the College and Career Ready Performance Index, is still driven by scores on state standardized tests, but the new plan diminishes the impact of those test results by giving schools credit for providing arts, language, PE and advanced coursework. Though DeVos appreciated the design, Deal rejected it, saying it “falls short in setting high expectations” and tells school districts how to run their schools. The approval means Georgia’s 111-page plan complies with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, the successor to the No Child Left Behind Act and that the state can implement it. From the federal ED tonight:
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today announced the approval of six consolidated state plans—Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Montana and New Hampshire—under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Today’s approvals bring the total to 35 states whose ESSA plans have been approved.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Federal Shutdown Won’t Cause Chaos in Higher Ed — Unless It Drags On
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Federal-Shutdown-Won-t-Cause/242294?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=42b1620d3af44d01bf91996c8e5ea55a&elq=17076ad0931d4e789ce0666b3aed9a1a&elqaid=17531&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7684
By Eric Kelderman
Updated (1/21/2018, 9:48 p.m.) with status of negotiations over the shutdown.
The federal shutdown that began on Friday at midnight will have a minimal effect on higher education — as long as the shop reopens soon, that is. Republican and Democratic lawmakers worked over the weekend to break the impasse, but The Washington Post reported Sunday night that the Senate had adjourned and that a vote had been postponed until noon on Monday. Although no new federal dollars can be spent during a shutdown, money that has already been approved — through student-aid programs or research grants, for example — will continue to flow. “Federal student-aid programs are forward-funded, meaning most of the dollars for award year 2017-18 are already in place,” said a written statement from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
www.chronicle.com
State Spending on Higher Education Has Inched Upward. But Most Public Colleges Can’t Celebrate.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/State-Spending-on-Higher/242298?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=9aa0e40985ac4d4a8d55f02a0a84419d&elq=17076ad0931d4e789ce0666b3aed9a1a&elqaid=17531&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7684
By Eric Kelderman
State appropriations for higher education increased nominally over the last year, according to an annual survey. But the small rise and wide variations across the nation underscore why many public colleges still have reason to fret about their states’ economies. Over all, state appropriations for colleges were 1.6 percent higher for the current fiscal year, which began on July 1 for most states, than in the previous one, according to the annual “Grapevine” survey, compiled by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University and the State Higher Education Executive Officers, known as Sheeo. But several factors erase any notion that the national gains in higher-education spending amount to a significant step up. This year’s increase is the smallest in five years, and it falls short of the 2.1-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for the 2017 calendar year. In addition, the overall increase is due almost entirely to the increased appropriations in California, Florida, and Georgia, according to the survey’s findings. Without those three states, the overall increase is barely noticeable — just two-tenths of a percent.
www.chronicle.com
From 37,000 Feet, 5 Questions About College Admissions
https://www.chronicle.com/article/From-37000-Feet-5-Questions/242300?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=541fe0e2941c4c01babe458effbf52ef&elq=17076ad0931d4e789ce0666b3aed9a1a&elqaid=17531&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7684
By Eric Hoover JANUARY 21, 2018
SOMEWHERE OVER THE MIDWEST
So much is said at a conference; no one could absorb every word. But unless you sleep through the whole thing, some random thoughts will follow you home. Last week, the University of Southern California’s Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice, known as Cerpp, held its annual conference in Los Angeles. For a day and a half, speakers discussed some of the biggest challenges in college admissions — and how colleges should confront them. Yes, there was hand-wringing. No, solutions didn’t materialize. Still, the gathering raised important questions. Here are five that stuck with me while flying home, 37,000 feet above this admissions-obsessed continent.
www.usatoday.com
Fewer international students coming to U.S. for grad school in science and engineering
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/20/fewer-international-students-coming-u-s-grad-school-science-and-engineering/1050724001/
Carolyn Beeler, PRI.org
International student enrollment in graduate science and engineering programs in the US dropped in 2017 after several years of increases. Science and engineering fields saw a 6% decrease in international graduate students from the fall of 2016 to the fall of 2017, and almost all of that decrease was concentrated in two fields: computer science and engineering. This follows steady increases from 2005 to 2015 and comes at a time when demand for tech workers outstrips supply — and foreign-born students are increasingly filling a gap left by declining numbers of American citizens studying science and technology at the graduate level.
www.chronicle.com
Making Sexual-Assault Hearings Fair
How colleges train and choose those who serve on Title IX panels is changing
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Making-Sexual-Assault/242291
By Sarah Brown
… As part of its resolution agreement with the civil-rights office, UVa officials overhauled many aspects of its sexual-assault policies — including the hearing panel. The revised procedures, according to the top civil-rights official at the time, were “exemplary.” Today, UVa’s hearing panel looks different and has different responsibilities. It’s held up by many risk-management experts as a model. Of course, not every college has the resources and staffing to do what a public flagship institution does. But there’s no question that as the issue of campus sexual assault continues to face widespread scrutiny, and as lawsuits claim that the hearing panels are biased and their members poorly trained, administrators are thinking more carefully about who makes the decisions. There isn’t one ideal standard that all colleges should embrace, most experts say. But here’s how UVa and several other colleges are trying to make these embattled, mostly volunteer panels fairer, by reconsidering who should sit on them and what training they should receive.
www.bloomberg.com
The U.S. Needs a New (and Improved) Higher Education Act
Congress has dawdled for a decade. That’s long enough.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-01-19/the-u-s-needs-a-new-and-improved-higher-education-act
By The Editors
There’s little doubt that the Higher Education Act, which affects more than $120 billion in annual federal spending, needs an update. Less clear is whether Republicans’ proposed reforms will do more harm than good. The law, last revised a decade ago, sets the conditions under which federal student financial aid is disbursed. It is the government’s primary tool for preserving access to higher education, holding universities accountable and ensuring that taxpayers receive a return on their investment. Since 2008, the college student population has grown by more than 1 million — while Americans’ federal student-loan debt has doubled. College students are older and more likely to attend part-time or enroll in online programs, yet federal policy remains geared toward a narrowing slice of the population.