University System News:
www.georgiatrend.com
2018 100 Most Influential Georgians
Shaping the State
http://www.georgiatrend.com/January-2018/2018-100-Most-Influential-Georgians/
Edited by Karen Kirkpatrick, Mary Ann DeMuth and Christy Simo
…the list of the 100 Most Influential Georgians includes not just influence and power, but also the strength of character in our state. As we celebrate 20 years of honoring the state’s most influential, we have included many of the usual suspects – politicians, CEOs, college presidents – but we’ve also added a number of new names and faces to the list. All are people who have exhibited the character necessary to inspire, challenge, lead – and influence us. …Mark Becker, President, Georgia State University; Paul Bowers, Chair, President & CEO, Georgia Power, BOR Regent; Jaimie Hebert, President, Georgia Southern University; Thomas J. “Tim” Hynes Jr., President, Clayton State University; Brooks Keel, President, Augusta University, CEO, Augusta University Health System; Christopher L. Markwood, President, Columbus State University; Kyle Marrero, President, University of West Georgia; Jere W. Morehead, President, University of Georgia; G.P. “Bud” Peterson, President, Georgia Institute of Technology; Kessel Stelling, Chair & CEO, Synovus, BOR Regent; Steve Wrigley, Chancellor, University System of Georgia
www.myajc.com
Rural Georgia finally gets the Legislature’s attention
http://www.myajc.com/news/state–regional-govt–politics/rural-georgia-finally-gets-the-legislature-attention/ovPb94ykoK7LnlcicDY9qO/
By Mark Niesse – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Devastated by job losses, plant closings and population declines, rural Georgia communities are struggling to survive. Those left behind face few job prospects in half-empty towns. After decades of neglect, Georgia’s legislators say this is the year they’ll wield the government’s power to revitalize large swaths of the state that haven’t benefited from metro Atlanta’s prosperity. Leaders of the Georgia House of Representatives recently proposed a sweeping plan to pay people to move to the country, subsidize internet connections, support small hospitals and expand business opportunities. …Most small towns probably won’t land industrial factories that employ hundreds of people, such as Kia Motors in West Point or Baxter International in Covington, said David Bridges, the president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton. …Ralston, the leader of the House of Representatives, said legislation supporting rural Georgia is a priority for this year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly, which begins Jan. 8.
Rural Georgia trends
Education: Adults in rural Georgia have completed college less than half as often as adults in urban areas. College completion rates in rural areas are 15.5 percent in rural areas compared with 31.8 percent in urban areas.
www.ajc.com
Kennesaw State names new chief human resources officer
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/kennesaw-state-names-new-chief-human-resources-officer/STnIHNYuGz6FbxL2QQyNDJ/
Eric Stirgus
Kennesaw State University has hired a veteran human resources professional to run its department, officials announced Tuesday. Karen McDonnell is the university’s new assistant vice president and chief human resources officer. Her position is effective as of Tuesday. McDonnell was previously senior vice president of human resources at PruittHealth, a post-acute care company headquartered in Norcross, KSU said in a news release.
www.chron.com
Universities that do and don’t track student suicides
https://www.chron.com/news/education/article/Universities-that-do-and-don-t-track-student-12466496.php
The Associated Press
Close to half of the nation’s largest public universities do not track suicide deaths among their students, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. Through public records requests, the AP asked the 100 largest public universities in the U.S. for annual student suicide statistics over the past decade. Suicide rates for those that provided data ranged from 0.27 suicides per 100,000 students to 8 per 100,000, but because of the inconsistency in responses the AP is not publishing figures for colleges that provided data. A look at the schools for which data were requested. Unless a branch campus is named, the line refers to a school system’s main campus: SCHOOLS THAT DON’T HAVE STATISTICS OR DON’T CONSISTENTLY COLLECT THEM University of Georgia; SCHOOLS THAT PROVIDED LIMITED DATA BUT DID NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONSISTENCY OF THEIR TRACKING – Kennesaw State University; SCHOOLS THAT CURRENTLY KEEP STATISTICS ON STUDENT SUICIDES – Georgia State University
www.connectstatesboro.com
Georgia Southern University’s RAC serves Statesboro community
http://www.connectstatesboro.com/news/article/14127/
By Lauren Porter
One of the finest attributes of Georgia Southern University is the Recreation Activity Center (RAC). The 215,000 square foot facility opens its doors to more than 5,500 people each day. The center extends its services to the community by offering a variety of challenge courses that build leadership skills. This is done by implementing core values such as empathy and trust. The Southern Adventures Challenge Course program gives individuals the unique opportunity to design a custom course that corresponds with the needs of the group. To learn more, call (912) 478-7227 or visit the Southern Adventures Center during normal hours of operation.
www.ajc.com
Georgia State’s Dunwoody campus closed Wednesday
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/georgia-state-dunwoody-campus-closed-wednesday/Ug3nMt1gkfaqxrWJvELMaL/
Eric Stirgus
Georgia State University’s Dunwoody campus will be closed Wednesday because of water damage caused by a burst pipe, the campus said on its website. The university sent an alert shortly before 7 a.m. The alert does not explain what caused the damage to the pipe.
www.bizjournals.com
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart earns big bonus for national championship appearance
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/01/02/georgia-head-coach-kirby-smart-earns-big-bonus-for.html
By Phil W. Hudson – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
It’s a big week for The University of Georgia Bulldogs, and an even bigger week for its football team’s head coach. According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Smart will receive a $600,000 bonus for making an appearance in the national championship game and another $400,000 if the Bulldogs win the title. Steve Berkowitz reported Smart will get an extra $200,000 for finishing in the top-5 in the polls after earning an extra $400,000 for winning the SEC Championship and $150,000 for coaching awards. The Bulldogs will play the Alabama Crimson Tide for its sixth national championship in Atlanta’s new $1.5 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game could have the biggest economic impact, the most expensive tickets and the greatest level of fan interest of any college football game in history.
Higher Education News:
www.nytimes.com
As Flow of Foreign Students Wanes, U.S. Universities Feel the Sting
By STEPHANIE SAUL
At Wright State University in Ohio, the French horn and tuba professors are out. So is the accomplished swimming team. At Kansas State, Italian classes are going the way of the Roman Empire. And at the University of Central Missouri, The Muleskinner, the biweekly campus newspaper, is publishing online-only this year, saving $35,000 in printing costs. Just as many universities believed that the financial wreckage left by the 2008 recession was behind them, campuses across the country have been forced to make new rounds of cuts, this time brought on, in large part, by a loss of international students. Schools in the Midwest have been particularly hard hit — many of them non-flagship public universities that had come to rely heavily on tuition from foreign students, who generally pay more than in-state students. The downturn follows a decade of explosive growth in foreign student enrollment, which now tops 1 million at United States colleges and educational training programs, and supplies $39 billion in revenue. International enrollment began to flatten in 2016, partly because of changing conditions abroad and the increasing lure of schools in Canada, Australia and other English-speaking countries.
www.politico.com
Trump talked tough but hasn’t reined in college tuition
Rather than press universities on affordability, he has sought to tax them and promote alternative paths for students.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/28/trump-college-tuition-306230?cid=apn
By BENJAMIN WERMUND
On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump railed against elite universities that he said were “paying more to hedge funds and private equity managers than they are spending on tuition assistance.” He vowed to “push colleges to cut the skyrocketing cost of tuition.” But in the year since, his administration has done little to help low- and middle-income Americans afford the nation’s best schools, even as data released this year show just how pervasive economic inequality is on American college campuses. Many of the nation’s top schools serve more students from the top 1 percent of earners than the bottom 60 percent combined, according to a study by the Equality of Opportunity Project. The Trump administration, instead, has largely sent the message that those four-year universities aren’t for everyone — a talking point that groups working to expand college access, especially for low-income students, say threatens to exacerbate the problem.