University System News:
www.chronicle.com
You Can Help Make Sure Freshmen Show Up. Here’s How.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Help-Make-Sure-Freshmen-Show/242567
By Beckie Supiano
The summer before he started college, Austin Birchell ran into a major snag. He was counting on a state merit scholarship to cover a significant chunk of his tuition at Georgia State University. But the bill was due soon, and he still hadn’t received his financial-aid award. To figure out why, he’d have to tangle with an unfamiliar bureaucracy. Neither of his parents had attended college. His family “didn’t know anything about college as a system,” he recalls. But Birchell did know where to turn for help. Georgia State had just rolled out a chatbot system, named “Pounce,” after the university’s mascot, a panther. Throughout the summer, Pounce sent incoming students text-message reminders. And it responded to their questions. With Pounce’s help, Birchell figured out that his concern about the missing aid award was well founded. In the end, he and his mother drove to campus, walked into the financial-aid office — Pounce told him where it was — and resolved the issue in person. Somewhere along the way, it turned out, Birchell’s Social Security number had been written down incorrectly. As soon as they fixed the discrepancy and had the scholarship applied to the balance, Birchell and his mom walked across the hall to pay his bill. “If it hadn’t been for Pounce,” Birchell says, “I don’t know if I would have been starting that semester.”
www.wabe.org
New Degree Program Aims To Prepare Georgia Grads For High-Tech Jobs
https://www.wabe.org/new-degree-program-aims-prepare-grads-high-tech-jobs/
MARTHA DALTON
As Georgia looks to expand its tech industry in the coming years, the university system has proposed a brand new degree program to make sure students are prepared for those jobs. A “nexus degree” would allow students to specialize more than a traditional college major does. “The intention is to try to create a degree that is much more nimble and adaptable than we’ve ever had before,” says Tristan Denley, executive vice chancellor of academic affairs and chief academic officer for the University System of Georgia. A nexus (Latin for “bringing two things together”) degree would augment a student’s bachelor’s or associate’s degree. “For example, a student might graduate with a bachelor’s degree in information technology with a nexus degree in app development,” Denley says. The nexus program would require students to take 12 hours of upper-level coursework in addition to eight hours of “experiential learning,” or some kind of hands-on training. The expectation is that students will graduate prepared to step into high-demand jobs in fields like cybersecurity and financial technology.
www.thegeorgeanne.com
Signs to change on Armstrong and Liberty campuses
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_afc8076a-518a-545e-a0de-2428385aebb1.html
By Shiann Sivell The George-Anne staff
Students and faculty on the newly consolidated Armstrong and Liberty campuses can expect to see their light pole banners and monument signs replaced with Georgia Southern University signage by the end of the Spring 2018 semester. The replacements are part of the the Campus Signage Update project that will begin near the end of February, Robert L. Whitaker, vice president for business and finance, said. Whitaker said Armstrong students and faculty have not expressed any negative reactions about the changes, as they were warned about the signage transition prior to the consolidation finalization. All campuses can expect updates to interior signage for departments, offices and job titles as final locations are determined.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA research looks at stem cells to help stroke patients
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20180217/uga-research-looks-at-stem-cells-to-help-stroke-patients
By Charlene Betourney
A team of researchers at the University of Georgia’s Regenerative Bioscience Center and ArunA Biomedical, a UGA startup company, have developed a new treatment for stroke that reduces brain damage and accelerates the brain’s natural healing tendencies in animal models. They published their findings in the journal Translational Stroke Research. The research team led by UGA professor Steven Stice and Nasrul Hoda of Augusta University created a treatment called AB126 using extracellular vesicles, fluid-filled structures known as exosomes, which are generated from human neural stem cells.
Higher Education News:
www.diverseeducation.com
Financially Independent Students: The “New Majority” in College
http://diverseeducation.com/article/110542/?utm_campaign=DIV1802%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20FEB20&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Tiffany Pennamon
A new majority of college students are more independent than students in previous years, according to a report released today. The Institute For Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) has released a new briefing paper that indicates that college students are now more likely than not to be financially independent from their parents. A majority of this emerging demographic of students tends to be women and students of color. Report findings shed light on shifting demographics at higher education institutions across the country, highlighting a subtle move from the “conventional” dependent student – “the 18 to 23-year-old student entering college directly from high school with the financial support of their parents,” according to the report. Key findings in the report reveal that 55 percent of students of color are independent compared to 49 percent of their White peers. Regarding gender, 55 percent of women in college are independent as opposed to 46 percent of men. As access to post-secondary education increases and some people return for degrees or certificates, IWPR researchers found that roughly half of independent college students – 4.8 million students – are parents of dependent children.