USG eclips for February 27, 2018

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www.tiftonceo.com
ABAC President Dr. David Bridges on Consolidation & What It Means for Tifton and Southwest Georgia
http://tiftonceo.com/video/2018/02/david-bridges-consolation-what-it-means-tifton-and-southwest-georgia/?utm_source=Tifton+CEO&utm_campaign=e75a79055b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b977a0f8f6-e75a79055b-303871653
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College President David Bridges talks about what consolidation means for the Tifton community and the Southwest Georgia Region.

www.saportareport.com
UN affiliate recognizes new regional center for sustainability in metro Atlanta

UN affiliate recognizes new regional center for sustainability in metro Atlanta


By David Pendered
An affiliate of the United Nations has recognized a new Regional Center of Expertise in metro Atlanta as just the sixth such regional sustainability network in the United States. The RCE Greater Atlanta aims to advance education for sustainable development related to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, through smart sharing of information and collaborative programming among universities, governments, communities and the private sector. One way to fathom RCE Greater Atlanta is as a much larger version of the Atlanta City Design Project. The design project aims to knit together a vast array of inputs about how the city can accommodate growth, and provide for the growth to contribute to the quality of life in the city. Likewise, the purpose of the RCE Greater Atlanta is to combine the strengths of academic research with those of government and the private sector across the region, to include the University of Georgia, in Athens. The objective is to develop – and implement – strategies to enable the region to provide a positive quality of life for a regional population the Atlanta Regional Commission expects to grow by 37 percent by 2040. …Three academic institutions are to lead the RCE for the first two years: Georgia Tech, Emory University and Spelman College. The other academic partners include Agnes Scott College, Atlanta Metropolitan State College, Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, Morehouse College and University of Georgia.

www.myajc.com
KSU faculty, students want more transparency in presidential search
https://www.myajc.com/news/local-education/ksu-faculty-students-want-more-transparency-presidential-search/7ek2BjDEEjxgiICMh2sqML/
By Eric Stirgus – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Several Kennesaw State University faculty members and students pressed at a town hall meeting Monday afternoon for greater transparency in the search for the school’s next president. The hour-long meeting included pleas for the names of candidates and that top candidates visit KSU to meet students and faculty before a finalist is chosen by the Georgia Board of Regents. Sam Olens resigned as KSU’s president earlier this month after a rocky 16-month tenure. Olens, who was Georgia’s attorney general before the Board of Regents hired him to lead KSU, was the only candidate for the job then. Olens did not meet with students and faculty before he was hired. Search committee members have thus far decided to keep the names of potential candidates confidential. Many who spoke at Monday’s meeting said more transparency is necessary, citing the process of Olens’ hiring. The committee hopes to recommend finalists to the Board of Regents by May.

www.wabe.org
KSU Students, Faculty Press For Transparent Presidential Search
https://www.wabe.org/ksu-students-faculty-press-transparent-presidential-search/
MARTHA DALTON
Tensions were high Monday during a listening session at Kennesaw State University. Students and faculty pushed for transparency as the school looks for a new president. They also made it clear that they want a very different hiring process this time around. In the fall of 2016, the Board of Regents hired former Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens to run the school without conducting a search. Olens’ hiring didn’t sit well with some in the KSU community, not just because of the lack of a search process. Many didn’t like his record of challenging the rights of LGBTQ people. Some saw his appointment as a political favor. Hank Huckaby, the Regents’ chancellor at the time, said searches are expensive. “It probably costs anywhere from 200-to-350-thousand dollars,” Huckaby said. “And every time that we go through a national search, we don’t always come out with a winner.” The Board of Regents has hired Parker Executive Search to find KSU’s next president. The process will cost $120,000. The university’s search committee voted to make the search process closed, meaning the candidates’ names won’t be made public. That didn’t sit well with some faculty members. “That’s a really morale-crushing experience to feel that you — as a university faculty member — are so disrespected that you don’t get to see or have any input into who the president is,” said American studies professor Rebecca Hill. She, and other faculty members, urged officials to consider an open search instead.

www.ksusentinel.com
KSU community raises concerns about presidential search at town hall

KSU community raises concerns about presidential search at town hall


SABRINA KERNS
Kennesaw State’s Presidential Search and Screening Committee held a town hall meeting on Monday, Feb. 26, where faculty, staff and students raised concerns about the closed search for KSU’s next president. Faculty, staff and students used the meeting as a way to raise their concerns and questions about the presidential search to Search Committee Chair Dr. Douglas Moodie and two representatives from Parker Executive Search, the search firm helping to find candidates and conduct the search. In an email to the KSU community, Moodie said the committee will be conducting a closed national search where all of the candidates will remain confidential throughout the search process to protect their current job security. … Many immediately questioned the legality of the confidential search, sending questions about compliance with the Open Records Act and the Open Meetings Act to Moodie and the committee.

www.tiftonceo.com
ABAC Celebrates Georgia Arbor Day with Tree Planting Ceremony
http://tiftonceo.com/news/2018/02/abac-celebrates-georgia-arbor-day-tree-planting-ceremony/?utm_source=Tifton+CEO&utm_campaign=3baff6cbcb-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_27&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b977a0f8f6-3baff6cbcb-303871653
Staff Report From Tifton CEO
Forestry students at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College planted a Cherrybark Oak sapling in observance of Georgia Arbor Day on February 16. Kip Hall, assistant professor of forestry, is pictured with the sapling, along with representatives from the Georgia Forestry Commission and ABAC faculty, staff, and students. ABAC is a Tree Campus USA school. Tree Campus USA is a national program created by the Arbor Day Foundation …to honor colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals.

www.ajc.com
Georgia Senate passes campus speech bill
https://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/georgia-senate-passes-campus-speech-bill/Wz5HF8zJiqVXFuISBw6DVP/
Eric Stirgus Maya T. Prabhu
The state Senate voted along party lines Monday afternoon in favor of legislation its lead sponsor hopes will discourage people from interrupting students and guests invited to speak on Georgia’s public college campuses. Senate Bill 339 passed 33-19, with all Democrats voting against the measure. Democrats on the senate’s Higher Education committee had previously raised concerns about the bill, such as the state senate’s legislative counsel has advised them the Georgia Legislature doesn’t have the authority to compel colleges and universities to create such guidelines. Several public college presidents have testified against the measure, citing current policies to conclude the bill is unnecessary.

Higher Education News:
www.diverseeducation.com
Nationwide Initiative to Boost Graduation Numbers

Nationwide Initiative to Boost Graduation Numbers


by Lois Elfman
With the goal of significantly increasing the number of graduates by the year 2025, the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU) has launched an unprecedented nationwide collaborative effort. “When you look at degree completion among public [institutions] in this country, you’ve got some great stories,” said Peter McPherson, president of APLU. “Within states there are some really good stories of state universities. But there is not a national story; there’s not a national benchmark. “If you have a hundred universities with millions of students, we’ll be able to present not an absolute, complete national story, but a substantial national story. We need to make that case with the commitment to increase degrees and to close achievement gaps. We want to get data to show where we are.” APLU announced last week a comprehensive national effort involving 100 public research universities. Clusters of eight to 10 institutions each will work collaboratively with the goal of producing hundreds of thousands more graduates by the year 2025. The clusters will develop, refine and scale innovative practices designed to both increase graduation rates and close achievement gaps. Key data from each cluster will be shared within the clusters and then proven practices will be shared throughout higher education.