University System News:
www.ajc.com
Georgia State U gets $1.6 million to improve nursing homes statewide
Eric Stirgus
Georgia State University has been awarded $1.6 million for a three-year training and development project to improve the state’s nursing homes, the university announced Tuesday. The project, called “Building Resources for Delivering Person-Centered Care in Georgia Nursing Homes,” builds on work done by the non-profit Culture Change Network of Georgia to support culture change and person-centered care in long-term care services and support organizations, the university said in a news release. The work will include a needs-based assessment of Georgia’s 374 nursing homes and interactive competency-based online continuing education training for nursing home staff, residents and informal care partners.
www.athensceo.com
Willson Center Awarded Mellon Foundation Grant for Global Georgia Initiative
Staff Report From Athens CEO
A $500,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will enable the University of Georgia Willson Center for Humanities and Arts to expand its Global Georgia Initiative, a public humanities program in place since 2013. “As a leading public research university, UGA is appreciative to the Mellon Foundation for supporting the university’s goal of expanding its reach to scholars and community members throughout Georgia,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the Mellon Foundation in this manner.” …The expansion of the initiative focuses on three areas: connecting its visiting speaker programs to curricular and experiential learning activities at UGA; bolstering existing off-campus public humanities collaborations; and instituting a statewide symposium for the humanities.
www.tiftonceo.com
ABAC Hosts Student Engagement Symposium April 12th
Staff Report From Tifton CEO
Students from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will engage in “Lightning Talks” on April 12 as a part of the Student Engagement Programs Symposium. The Symposium is open to the public at no charge. Dr. Jordan Cofer, assistant vice president for academic affairs, said the program will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Bowen Hall 100 and move to the Carlton Library from 11 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. He said STEPS was implemented into ABAC’s Quality Enhancement Plan to improve students’ educational experience, and it has flourished on campus. “Hosting an undergraduate research conference is an important milestone for ABAC,” Cofer said. “Very few colleges our size or state sector offer such an opportunity for students. It certainly helps to align ABAC with other universities who have strong academic programs.”
www.suwanneedemocrat.com
ABAC recognizes top faculty and staff at Honors Day
Kip Hall, an assistant professor of forest resources, received the top award presented to a faculty member at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on Wednesday when he received the W. Bruce and Rosalyn Ray Donaldson Award for Teaching Excellence at the annual Honors Day ceremony. Other top award recipients at the Gressette Gym ceremony included Wayne Jones, Director of the Arts Connection, who received the Roy R. Jackson, Sr. Award for Staff Excellence, and Dr. Darby Sewell, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs—Engaged Learning, who received the E. Lanier Carson Leadership Award for College Administrators. Dr. Justin Ng, an assistant professor of agronomy, received the W. Bruce and Rosalyn Ray Donaldson Excellence in Advising Award, and Dr. Heather Cathcart, an associate professor of biology, received the W. Bruce and Rosalyn Ray Donaldson Award for Excellence in Student Engagement.
www.thegeorgeanne.com
U.S. flags to be flown outside of all residence halls on Statesboro campus
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_8e8b41b9-c1ed-5fd5-aa05-ece23e8fb4b2.html
By Tori Collins The George-Anne staff
A new initiative by Georgia Southern University will have U.S. flags flown on all eight residence halls on the Statesboro campus starting April 17. According to the GS Housing website, the new initiative is being implemented to recognize the members of the United States military and military veterans in the University community. A volunteer team consisting of military veterans from University Housing and ROTC students will carry the U.S Flag Code, which formalizes the act of flying the American flag and demonstrates respect and tradition. The Flag Code will be carried out at each of the eight residence halls Monday through Friday with the American flag being raised every morning at 8 a.m. and will be lowered each evening at dusk. The flags will never touch the ground and will be secured during inclement weather. When not in use, they will be folded in military form and be stored in a secured location.
www.mdjonline.com
DICK YARBROUGH: KSU and Cobb Commission need to familiarize themselves with the “Page Rule”
For those who counsel in the external environment, there is a rule as inviolate as a law of physics. It is called the Page Rule, because of its author, Arthur W. Page, a vice president and director of AT&T from 1927 to 1947. It was some 90 years ago Page stated that “all business in a democratic country begins with public permission and exists by public approval.” It was true when he said it. It is true today. We, the public, have final say on how a business operates; a fact a lot of companies to their dismay learned the hard way. With some degree of temerity, I would modify Mr. Page’s rule by saying all institutions — not just businesses — are founded and operate with public permission and subsequent public approval. Which brings me to Kennesaw State University and to the Cobb County commission. First, Kennesaw State. It came into being in 1963 thanks to the efforts of local officials who convinced Gov. Carl Sanders to put a planned academic institution in Cobb County, rather than Bartow County. He did. That’s the permission part. Now, let’s talk about public approval. Since its founding, KSU has become Georgia’s third-largest university with a top-notch business school and an outstanding nursing program. But for the past several years, Kennesaw State has allowed a vocal minority to define its image as an institution out-of-sync with the community in which it resides and the state in which it was founded. Their supercilious behavior may play in California, but not in Georgia. The arrogance and bullying by these fringe groups have finally caught up with them. The chancellor of the University System of Georgia, Steve Wrigley, has had enough and has directed interim KSU president Ken Harmon to review the policies of the Student Affairs division in light of two federal lawsuits alleging discrimination against conservative groups on campus.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
How Much Did Professors Earn This Year? Barely Enough to Beat Inflation
https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Much-Did-Professors-Earn/243085?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest
By Audrey Williams June APRIL 11, 2018
A rise in the cost of living chipped away at salary gains by full-time faculty members in the 2017-18 academic year, according to new survey data published on Wednesday by the American Association of University Professors. Full-time faculty earned an average of 3 percent more than they did in the prior academic year. But that salary increase was cut by nearly two-thirds, to 1.1 percent, after adjusting for inflation. The average salary ranged widely, depending on rank: Full professors earned $104,820, associate professors made $81,274, and assistant professors took in $70,791. The average pay for lecturers was about $57,000 while, for instructors, it was $59,400. The AAUP’s analysis also found salary compression at 892 institutions. Almost 100 institutions had associate and assistant professors whose pay was close enough — within $5,000 — to be a sign of salary compression. On average, the pay of both groups is typically separated by $10,600.
www.chronicle.com
With Its Model Under the Gun, an Online-Education Leader Makes the Case for Mentors
https://www.chronicle.com/article/With-Its-Model-Under-the-Gun/243078?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest
By Goldie Blumenstyk
An audit last year by an independent arm of the U.S. Education Department questioned whether the teaching model of Western Governors University, built around competency-based learning, ran afoul of a federal law. Western Governors begged to differ. Now it has data, in the form of a new survey by Gallup Inc., to make the case that its mentor-based model produces graduates who are more likely to be “thriving” in work and life than are graduates of other colleges. A report on the survey will be presented on Tuesday at an event at Gallup headquarters, in Washington, D.C. (This reporter will be part of a panel discussing the findings.) The report and the event are part of a broader campaign by Western Governors, which enrolls about 100,000 students, to prove the value of its teaching model — if not to the department, then at least to policy makers in Congress and other corners of power. “Do we think the Gallup stuff will shift the department? Probably not,” said Scott Pulsipher, Western Governor’s president. But with Congress now considering a major overhaul of higher-education policy, he said, the value of the mentor model is “an area that policy makers need to consider.”