University System News:
www.hypepotamus.com
Georgia Tech Leads Public-Private Challenge to Help Small Cities Become Smart Cities
Georgia Tech Leads Public-Private Challenge to Help Small Cities Become Smart Cities
BY HOLLY BEILIN
A report released by the National League of Cities last year showed that about two-thirds of cities reported investing in smart city technology — and for good reason. Connected devices and data monitoring technologies can make cities and local governments run more efficiently, improve traffic and gridlock, and even potentially have an impact on decreasing crime. Georgia Tech, along with partners from the public, private and academic community, has launched a new program to bring smart cities expertise and infrastructure to smaller communities. The Georgia Smart Communities Challenge invites any city or county government in the state to apply for a $50,000 grant, technical assistance, and a dedicated Georgia Tech researcher to pilot a smart city project. Four teams will be chosen to participate in Georgia Smart following a discovery period where the coalition will help interested governments develop their ideas and connect with existing smart city companies and technologies.
www.savannahnow.com
The Landings named first ‘sustainable community’ in Georgia
http://savannahnow.com/news/2018-03-06/landings-named-first-sustainable-community-georgia#
By Mary Landers
A live video feed from a raptor nest and archaeological excavations of tabby-walled cemeteries have helped The Landings become the first Certified Sustainable Community in Georgia as designated by Audubon International. The designation came last month after a nearly five-year process that involved resident volunteers, staff, and professionals, including those from UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant and the Skidaway Island State Park contributing their expertise. …The Landings, a private gated residential community of 8,500 on two-thirds of the island’s 6,300 acres, has a long history of sensitive development and offers abundant outdoor recreation year round. A 500-acre state park and the campus of the University of Georgia’s Marine Extension offer educational opportunities on the island. And most of the 8,500 residents are connected philanthropically and culturally to Savannah, only 12 miles away.”
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Student Success Upfront
Colleges collaborate to see seniors through to graduation
https://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Small-Sum-Can-Make-a-Big/242658?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=1049a0c53c0c4e8faf07ae263b2a79bd&elq=395eb5fb0e154848bcdece5b25eacb14&elqaid=18064&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=8039
By Beckie Supiano
The public conversation about college affordability tends to center on big, scary numbers, like the $50,000 some colleges now charge in tuition, or the $1.5 trillion Americans collectively owe in student loans. But college officials working to improve completion rates know that much smaller sums of money can play an outsize role in student success. The difference between graduating or dropping out could hinge on a student’s ability to come up with just a thousand dollars. …Across the country, colleges are under pressure to help their students succeed and graduate, even as they’re serving greater numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Increasing the proportion of Americans with college credentials is widely seen as a key way to maintain the country’s global competitiveness — and secure individuals’ financial futures, too. Keeping students enrolled, of course, also brings needed revenue to colleges. Despite all of that, just 57 percent of students complete their degrees within six years of enrolling. Even more troubling, completion rates are lower for low-income students and underrepresented minorities.
www.chronicle.com
Black-College Renaissance
Students are once again flocking to HBCUs
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Many-Black-Colleges-Are/242671?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=903a2db8ebd343d0816a0a06a496a86c&elq=e70d5653e12f4ceaa33283fd1f7c4a28&elqaid=18084&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=8053
By Adam Harris
Enrollment at black colleges is on the upswing — and it’s not just because students are seeking “safe spaces.” In the decade from 2006 to 2015, bachelor’s-degree-granting black colleges posted a 6-percent drop in enrollment across the board, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, even as black enrollment nationwide increased. But the tide appears to be turning as several historically black colleges and universities are once again seeing their student populations tick upward. In the fall of 2016, 11 HBCUs had record enrollments, and several saw increases this past fall after years of decline. What’s causing the resurgence? Racially charged incidents at colleges around the country have reignited conversations about “safe spaces” and how students of diverse backgrounds are welcomed on campuses. And experts say the campus climate — and more profoundly, the current political climate under the Trump administration — may be leading more minority students to seek refuge where they have always been welcome: historically black colleges.
www.chronicle.com
The American Campus, Under Siege
Now under fire from an array of forces on the right, colleges must learn how to weather the attacks
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Are-Under-Fire-They/242635?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=5a890644b08d49c8912279563daa841c&elq=395eb5fb0e154848bcdece5b25eacb14&elqaid=18064&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=8039
By Steve Kolowich
When hundreds of torch-wielding white supremacists ended up on the University of Virginia campus last August, it wasn’t because they were lost. The public university was an easy target for a group of far-right-wingers who wanted to take the fight to the heart of Blue America. They would use guerrilla tactics against an institution that, while powerful, was unlikely to mount much resistance. …Campuses have become targets of the political right, attacked both by fringe groups and by mainstream Republicans. Instances of white-supremacist propaganda appearing at colleges more than tripled in the year after the 2016 presidential election. Less extreme right-wing forces, from state lawmakers to the U.S. Justice Department, have also taken aim at campuses. At a time when labor unions are weak and Republicans control the federal government and most statehouses and governorships, conservatives have set their sights on the last castles of liberal power.