University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
ASU, IBM partner to put on Blockchain Conference
Conference organizers say emerging technology will change the marketplace
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/asu-ibm-partner-to-put-on-blockchain-conference/article_54243c87-9944-59d3-8322-5a3649e2d7d4.html
By Terry Lewis
If you haven’t heard of Blockchain technology by now, just wait a while longer and you will. On Thursday, Albany State University and IBM held a Blockchain conference in the ASU West student center. Simply put, Blockchain is an emerging technology that has the potential to create new economic foundations. It’s a peer-to-peer network that uses a shared ledger, smart contracts, cryptography, and consensus to create secure and immutable transactions between different organizations. After graduating in the spring, several ASU students, including Melody Collins and Julious King, who made a presentation at the conference, are already assured jobs with IBM.
www.gbpi.org
Invest in College Students Like They Invest in Themselves
https://gbpi.org/2018/invest-georgia-college-students-need-based-aid/
By Jennifer Lee
Lizzie Mathias balances a full-time course load at Middle Georgia State University’s campus in Macon, works about 40 miles from there in Cochran. And she is interning at a domestic violence shelter in her hometown of Dublin, about an hour’s drive from the college. She’s served in the Middle Georgia Student Government Association every year, and now serves as its president. She also helps care for her mom, who copes with chronic health problems, and brings in most of her family’s income. “Rent and power are all on me,” she said. Despite her dizzying schedule, Mathias expects to graduate in May and plans to pursue a career in child protection. But her junior year, she almost lost it all. Mathias’s GPA dropped just below the 3.0 needed to keep her HOPE scholarship, which paid a majority of her tuition. The average annual tuition and fees at Middle Georgia are about $3,890. She hustled to apply for multiple small scholarships to fill the gap. She also took out more student loans, which now total about $22,000. Her family’s income qualified her for the need-based federal Pell Grant, but she had no other state financial aid to turn to. Georgia does not offer aid that considers a family’s financial need. Though HOPE is the largest merit-based state aid program in the country, Georgia is one of only two states that lack broad need-based financial aid. Nationwide, need-based aid makes up 46 percent of all aid to undergraduates. Nearly 112,000 students deal with unmet financial need, according to the University System of Georgia. Family median income for students who apply for financial aid in the university system is about $40,000. Students who take on debt borrow an average of $7,800 in loans per year.
www.ajc.com
Change to Georgia senate bill raises safety concerns
https://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/change-georgia-senate-bill-raises-safety-concerns/EsWddmksRYixLheW20hxLK/
Eric Stirgus
Some Georgia Tech students and residents who live near the campus are raising concerns about recent changes to legislation they fear will impede campus safety. Senate Bill 348 initially allowed campus police to go up to 500 yards off campus to make arrests. Senate lawmakers, though, changed the distance campus police can venture off campus to make an arrest to 500 feet. Some Tech students and residents in the nearby Home Park community have complained about the changes on social media. Atlanta police have stepped up patrols in the area after a spate of student robberies near the campus since early January.
www.ajc.com
Kennesaw State’s campus speech zones unconstitutional, lawsuit says
https://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/kennesaw-state-campus-speech-zones-unconstitutional-lawsuit-says/S3GWg31ioinUmXR4Z8qZPI/
Eric Stirgus
A Christian student organization is suing Kennesaw State University, saying its rules for where students can speak and post displays on campus are restrictive and unconstitutional. The Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit in federal court in Atlanta on Tuesday against the university on behalf of Ratio Christi, which describes itself as a club that attempts to strengthen the faith of Christian students and evangelizes to non-Christians.
www.accesswdun.com
UNG planning for more space on Gainesville campus
http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/2/639926/ung-planning-for-more-space-on-gainesville-campus
By Derreck Booth Anchor/reporter
University of North Georgia officials are busy with the funding process to renovate what will become the former Lanier Technical College site. The location, adjacent to UNG’s Gainesville campus near Oakwood, will require $18.9 million over three years to renovate for university use, according to Dr. Bonita Jacobs, president of the university. Speaking to the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Thursday, Jacobs said it will require $3 million in the budget this year. UNG Director of State Government Relations Ben Jarrard has been working through the process, according to Jacobs.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Departures at Gates Foundation Stir Speculation About Its Plans for Higher Ed
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Departures-at-Gates-Foundation/242603
By Goldie Blumenstyk
In the span of just a few months, two high-level officials at the higher-education arm of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have left or announced plans to depart. This being Gates, the largest philanthropic player in postsecondary education, the departures of Daniel Greenstein and Heather Hiles have prompted speculation about the future direction of an operation that now awards about $125-million a year in grants. Greenstein, who announced this month that he would be stepping down in March as director the foundation’s Postsecondary Success program after six years, said in an interview with The Chronicle that he doesn’t expect major changes. The job posting for his successor, he predicted, will say “very clearly that they’re looking for a director to execute on the existing strategy.”
www.marketwatch.com
Public colleges are becoming less public, fueling inequality
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/public-colleges-are-becoming-less-public-fueling-inequality-2018-02-22
By Jillian Berman
In most states, truly public colleges are becoming a thing of the past, a trend that’s exacerbating racial inequality. In every state except Wyoming, the share of revenue that public colleges receive from tuition — aka students and families — has grown since 2001, according to an analysis released Thursday by Demos, a left-leaning think tank. And in 24 states, tuition covered more than half of public colleges’ revenue in 2016. Compare that to public colleges of the past, which got much of their money from state and local funding, and kept the costs for families relatively low. In some cases, they were even free.
www.hechingerreport.com
OPINION: America’s colleges and universities have a serious revenue problem
Trimming costs or enrolling more students can’t cure what higher education faces — but these other steps might
OPINION: America’s colleges and universities have a serious revenue problem
by BRIAN C. MITCHELL
Painting a grim picture for American higher education, Moody’s Investors Service recently changed the industry’s outlook from “stable” to “negative.” This return to negative ratings reinforces a number of trends that bear close review. The facts are clear and inescapable. The comprehensive fee – tuition, fees, room and board – will approach $70,000 a year at a number of high sticker priced colleges and universities. Students and their families are voting with their feet, with 46 percent of first-time students beginning or having had some experience in community colleges.