University System News:
www.ajc.com
Georgia lawmakers push forward college education bills
Eric Stirgus
Wednesday was Crossover Day at the state Capitol, the critical day when bills must pass either the Georgia House of Representatives or Senate. Here’s a look at several bills that have passed one chamber of the Georgia Legislature that could have an impact on higher education or funding programs in the state:
Senate Bill 339 – aims to give students and guest speakers on public college campuses greater protection from hecklers and protesters. Several college presidents say the bill is unnecessary, citing current campus speech guidelines. Senate Bill 405 – it would offer grants up to $1,500 a semester to low-income students who fall slightly below HOPE Scholarship academic requirements. Students who receive the grant must work at least 15 hours a week during the semester and maintain at least a 2.3 grade point average. House Bill 392 – it attemps to make it easier for some colleges and universities to be reimbursed for students enrolled in the state’s Move On When Ready program. …
www.theinkwellonline.com
Consolidation Brings New Opportunities to Armstrong Campus
https://theinkwellonline.com/2018/02/28/consolidation-brings-new-opportunities-to-armstrong-campus/
By Gabriel Williams, Staff Writer
As students slowly transition from Pirate to an Eagle, many of them are very enthusiastic about what’s in store for them. Armstrong State University officially became the Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern University on January 1, 2018. Since the Eagle’s landing in Armstrong, several scholarships and academic resources have been made accessible to students. This includes the Armstrong Foundation Scholarships and a variety of academic scholarships in each department. Recently, the Student Government Association (SGA) conducted a survey to get a general idea of feedback about the effects of the consolidated Georgia’s Southern University from Armstrong and Liberty students. According to the survey, a whopping 230 students from both Liberty and Armstrong campuses have already participated in theses academic resources.
www.thegeorgeanne.com
Unisex restrooms to become standard on campus
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_0ba4d35b-c99a-5d5c-a0d8-011cc27d3b31.html
By Emma Smith The George-Anne staff
All three consolidated campuses under Georgia Southern University will be adding unisex restrooms to their campuses starting this semester. The restrooms will be single-occupancy and in all buildings currently undergoing construction, as well as some preexisting buildings that have not been announced. Matthew Shingler, a member of the Division of Facilities Services, said the Georgia Southern University design standards are developed based on current code requirements and past historical knowledge. This eventually led to the idea behind the restrooms. “The standards were developed to ensure that contractors, design-professionals and vendors are all working for the same high set of standards and that the campus maintains a uniform appearance,” Shingler said. Shingler said the goal for developing the new restrooms was to provide a fully accessible restroom for everyone, including people with disabilities, elders and parents accompanying their children.
www.thegeorgeanne.com
Classes not suspended following unfounded threat to campus
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_4a47cf12-566d-5b76-a962-a5bed7533249.html
By Matthew Enfinger The George-Anne staff
Classes and campus operations are scheduled to continue operating normally after University Police found a threat made to the Georgia Southern University campus early Wednesday as not credible. The University sent out two emails on behalf of the UPD late Wednesday saying they received information indicating a possible threat to the Statesboro campus for Thursday, posted on the internet. After an investigation UPD identified and arrested the individual who posted the threatening language, according to the email issued by GS. The individual was charged with making Terroristic Threats.
www.onlineathens.com
Morehead: UGA running out of research space
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20180228/morehead-uga-running-out-of-research-space
By Lee Shearer
Research space has become scarce at the University of Georgia, according to UGA President Jere Morehead. “We’re literally out of space,” Morehead said Wednesday in his annual talk at the Rotary Club of Athens. “It’s a good problem to have,” he said, explaining it’s another indicator of UGA’s success in building up its research presence. Research grants are up more than 30 percent over the past four years, “but that means you’ve got to have 30 percent more space,” Morehead said. With $458 million in research and development expenditures in the 2017 fiscal year, UGA came in at No. 54 in the last National Science Foundation rankings, he said. That’s up from a No. 61 ranking the year before. A big driver has been the university’s fast-growing College of Engineering, which now has more than 2,000 majors, he said. A new science, technology, engineering and mathematics building is in the works, which will help, he said. If the Georgia Legislature approves a $35 million allocation for the project, UGA will add funding to the building to be covered by so-called indirect cost charges added on to research grant applications to cover the costs of building maintenance, utilities and administrative costs.
www.eurekalert.org
Researchers receive $10 million to create computational and informatics tools for glycoscience
GW and UGA researchers will build tools to support the next big data frontier: glycoscience
WASHINGTON (Feb 28, 2018) — Today, questions asked by genetic researchers are often answered using big data, through revealing larger patterns, trends, and other connections. Thanks to a multi-million dollar research project, researchers at the George Washington University (GW) and the University of Georgia (UGA) are partners in a project that will soon be able to provide a way for questions asked by those studying glycoscience to be answered by big data, as well. …The National Institutes of Health has jointly awarded a $10 million U01 grant to GW and UGA to build a glycoscience informatics portal, called GlyGen, necessary for glycoscience to advance. GlyGen will also integrate glycan data with gene and protein data, to allow for more effective analysis.
www.myajc.com
Georgia and Atlanta growth will slow this year, GSU forecasts
By Michael E. Kanell – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia economy will slowly lose speed over the coming year, adding jobs and new homes at a slower pace than during the past several years, according to a prediction Wednesday from one of the state’s high-profile forecasters. No recession is on the horizon, but even tax cuts, a bullish stock market and corporate investment will not keep the local economy from decelerating, said Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Georgia State University’s Economic Forecasting Center. Because the economy is smaller than that of the U.S., the region’s trajectory is bumpier with monthly spikes and dips, he said, during the center’s quarterly conference. “But a clear downward trend can be seen since the state’s job growth rate peaked in the first quarter of 2015.” The Georgia economy will add about 76,200 jobs this year, down from growth of 85,500 jobs last year, Dhawan predicted. The state will keep adding jobs in 2019 and 2020, but fewer each year, he said.