University System News:
www.ajc.com
Former governor, senator Zell Miller has died
https://www.ajc.com/news/education/former-governor-senator-zell-miller-has-died/aIyOTF6XFbJIGFR3fvFTBK/
Jill Vejnoska
Former governor and senator, Zell Miller, died at 86 after suffering from failing health for several years, according to his grandson, Bryan Miller. He was a keynote speaker at a Democratic National Convention — and a Republican National Convention. A United States senator and a two-term Georgia governor who really wanted to be a minor-league shortstop. A man unswervingly loyal to his mountain roots who came to be seen as a traitor by many in his political family. A politician who never strayed from his basic principles, yet seemed utterly unpredictable. Zell Miller, the lifelong Democrat who gave birth to the HOPE scholarship, helped resuscitate Bill Clinton’s failing 1992 presidential campaign and ended up becoming one of the Republican party’s most vocal supporters, that was both his birthplace and the consummate backdrop for his colorful, controversial persona.
www.macon.com
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ made her famous. Now she’s on a mission at Georgia College
http://www.macon.com/news/local/education/article206060029.html
BY ANDREA HONAKER
MILLEDGEVILLE – Tanvi Lonkar was 12 years old when she starred in the Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire” while living in Mumbai, India. A decade later and a world away, she’s using another creative outlet to express herself and advocate for women’s equality from Milledgeville. The Georgia College senior, who played the youthful version of the character Latika in the 2008 movie, came to America four years ago to continue her education. Having grown up in the crowded city of Mumbai, she chose the Milledgeville college because of its smaller size and close-knit atmosphere, and she had a cousin who lived there. She’ll graduate in May with a degree in psychology and a minor in painting.
www.cnbc.com
Grads of this college nab a starting salary of $80,000 — plus more best value schools
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/22/10-best-value-colleges-with-generous-aid-and-great-starting-salaries.html
At Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus, tuition is around $12,000, while its grads earn an average starting salary of more than $65,000. Meanwhile, Stanford’s tuition is more than $46,000, but average scholarships and grants cover that bill. A new report determines the best-value colleges. Usually an item’s price tag offers a pretty clear picture of what you’ll pay and what you’ll get. With college, it’s more complicated. The cost to attend only tells part of the story. Prospective students need to take into consideration other financial figures. A new report by financial technology company SmartAsset determined which colleges offer the “best value,” by doing just that: Analyzing factors like grads’ average starting salary as well as the average total grants and scholarships awarded.
www.ajc.com
Georgia Tech partners with Honeywell on STEM teacher training program
https://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/georgia-tech-partners-with-honeywell-stem-teacher-training-program/C2zo3FATstPRjPftlZtzHO/
Eric Stirgus The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech and the Honeywell company announced Thursday a partnership to provide advanced teaching techniques to select middle and high school teachers in metro Atlanta in science, technology, engineering and math. Participating school districts include Atlanta, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett. Twenty-five teachers will receive four weeks of intensive summer training in software engineering and computing. Selected teachers must have strong superintendent and principal recommendations. Teachers will have access to Georgia Tech’s computing research and Honeywell engineers, who will serve as mentors and coaches.
www.11alive.com
Campus police jurisdiction dispute carries into final week of legislature
With no debate, lawmakers wrote a possible change in state law that would decrease the jurisdiction of campus police – and it has drawn protest from neighborhoods around Georgia Tech.
http://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/campus-police-jurisdiction-dispute-carries-into-final-week-of-legislature/85-531061988
Author: Doug Richards
A dispute in the legislature may go into the session’s final days over the reach of college campus police. With no debate, lawmakers wrote a possible change in state law that would decrease the jurisdiction of campus police – and it has drawn protest from neighborhoods around Georgia Tech. The winter was a bit rough in some of the neighborhoods just outside Georgia Tech’s downtown campus. A spate of robberies shook residents and challenged police. Yet last winter, the state Senate approved a bill that would narrow the reach of college campus police. Current law gives police jurisdiction 1,500 feet beyond campus boundaries – more than a quarter mile. The proposed law would narrow it from 1,500 to 500 feet, less than a tenth of a mile. “I feel keeping that buffer zone to 1,500 feet is appropriate because the campus police are really dialed into what’s going on on the campus, and to me, they’re best situated to respond quickly,” said state Rep. Bert Reeves (R-Marietta), a Tech grad.
www.ajc.com
Pedestrian hit, killed by bus carrying West Georgia baseball team
https://www.ajc.com/news/local/pedestrian-hit-killed-bus-carrying-west-georgia-baseball-team/KO73BGU4QgGUHGpcJVJg7L/
Steve Burns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A 30-year-old pedestrian was killed when he was hit by a chartered bus that was carrying the University of West Georgia baseball team, officials said. Preston James Henry, 30, of Carrollton, was pronounced dead on the scene Wednesday night on Ga. 61, the Georgia State Patrol said. Henry was westbound and crossed the northbound lanes of the road. As he crossed the southbound lanes, he walked into the path of the bus, which hit him. No one on the bus was injured, university spokesman Gary Leftwich said. The team was returning to its Carrollton campus from a game in Dahlonega against the University of North Georgia.
www.onlineathens.com
Update: Governor warns of intervention in insurance impasse
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20180321/update-governor-warns-of-intervention-in-insurance-impasse
By Lee Shearer
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has warned an insurance company and a company that owns an Athens hospital that the state could intervene if they don’t come to terms on a contract. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia and Piedmont Healthcare, which owns Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center, have not agreed to terms, including reimbursement rates, as an April 1 deadline approaches. The insurance company has warned that Piedmont could be out-of-network after that day, meaning people on Blue Cross Blue Shield plans who use Piedmont facilities or see Piedmont doctors could face substantially higher costs. Negotiations began in September 2017. Deal has sent a letter warning that the state would somehow step in if the companies don’t resolve their differences. University of Georgia President Jere Morehead read part of Deal’s letter aloud at a Wednesday meeting of a university governing body, the University Council. “An out-of-network situation would create an enormous network disruption, especially in the Atlanta and Athens areas, and we will take whatever steps necessary to ensure that our employees can maintain their healthcare providers of choice,” Morehead quoted, saying that he was “very pleased” to learn the Governor had written to the companies. Blue Cross Blue Shield administers insurance plans covering state and University System of Georgia employees, including UGA faculty and staff, many of whom get medical care from Piedmont physicians and facilities.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Are Small Classes Best? It’s Complicated
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Are-Small-Classes-Best-It-s/242878?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=4b6c718341b24824b0c4b36010f6a431&elq=12c4cbe265e8436fb0823fc298346f14&elqaid=18301&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=8189
By Beckie Supiano
…The idea that small classes are best is intuitive. With fewer students in the room, a professor should be able to devote more time to each one, giving, for instance, more in-depth feedback on their writing. But comments like Kaw’s piqued my curiosity. What is the connection between class size and quality, anyhow? And if small classes really are better, how do you define what counts as small?
Studies of the relationship between class size and teaching effectiveness “have not reached consensus,” wrote the authors of a 2013 IDEA Center study in their summary of previous work. Still, they add, it’s reasonable to conclude that that teaching effectiveness doesn’t improve, at least, as classes get larger. Other research has considered the connection between class size and a related but distinct variable, student achievement. It too, the authors write, has been “equivocal.” For its study, the IDEA Center, a nonprofit group that researches and develops assessments, examined class size and students’ self-reported learning outcomes from the more than 400 colleges that use its evaluations. It found that students in small classes — which it defines as those with 10 to 14 students — said they’d made the most progress and put in the most effort.
www.sciencemag.org
Updated: Congress approves largest U.S. research spending increase in a decade
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/03/updated-us-spending-deal-contains-largest-research-spending-increase-decade
By Science News Staff
It took an extra 6 months, but Congress is close to finally completing its work on a spending plan for the 2018 fiscal year, which began last October. And it appears the delay has brought good news for many federal science agencies. Lawmakers Wednesday released a $1.3 trillion spending package that largely rejects deep cuts to research agencies proposed by President Donald Trump and, in many cases, provides substantial increases. The House of Representatives approved the deal today, and the Senate is expected to do the same by the end of the week, barring last-minute obstacles. When it comes to federal research spending, there are “some silly good numbers in here at a glance,” tweeted Matt Hourihan, who analyzes U.S. science spending patterns for AAAS (publisher of ScienceInsider) in Washington, D.C.