University System News:
www.ajc.com
Deal appoints two Georgia Power execs to state boards
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced Wednesday that he’s appointed two Georgia Power executives to two of the state’s most influential boards. Paul Bowers, who had been on the Georgia Board of Regents, was appointed to the Georgia Ports Authority. Deal appointed Chris Cummiskey to fill the vacancy on the Board of Regents. Bowers is the chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of Southern Company. Cummiskey is the executive vice president of external affairs and nuclear development for Georgia Power.
www.bizjournals.com
Gov. Deal names Bowers, Cummiskey to state boards
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Apr 18, 2018, 3:23pm EDT Updated Apr 18, 2018, 4:21pm
Gov. Nathan Deal Wednesday appointed Georgia Power Co. Chairman, President and CEO Paul Bowers to the board of the Georgia Ports Authority. Bowers’ move to the ports agency created a vacancy on the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, which will be filled by former state Commissioner of Economic Development Chris Cummiskey. …A former director of state relations for The University of Georgia, Cummiskey now sits on the advisory board of UGA’s Honors Program and is on the board of the university’s athletic association.
www.forsythnews.com
UNG foreign language enrollment on the rise, despite national trend
From staff reports
According to a new study by the Modern Language Association, enrollment in language courses other than English fell 9.2 percent in colleges and universities across the country between 2013 and fall 2016. That’s not the case at University of North Georgia. UNG’s enrollment numbers are increasing exponentially based on figures in the MLA language enrollment database. The study’s full report, due this summer, will announce the top performing schools in each language.
www.patch.com
GHC Partners With West Georgia For Bachelor’s Program
The new mass communications degree partnership begins fall 2018 and offers students two years with GHC and another two years with UWG.
https://patch.com/georgia/cartersville/ghc-partners-west-georgia-bachelors-program
By News Desk, News Partner
From GHC: Georgia Highlands College has partnered with the University of West Georgia to jointly offer students in Douglasville the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in mass communications with a concentration in public relations. The new mass communications degree partnership begins fall 2018 and offers students two years with GHC and another two years with UWG. After completing their Associate of Arts Communication Pathway degree at GHC, students can continue their journey to becoming a public relations professional by transferring to UWG and completing a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications with a concentration in Public Relations.
www.albanyherald.com
GSW students spend spring break helping others
Groups provide services in Atlanta, Jamaica
Special to The Herald
AMERICUS — Student groups from Georgia Southwestern State University spent their 2018 Spring Break volunteering and providing humanitarian aid. Students with GSW’s Baptist Collegiate Ministry traveled to Atlanta for “Mission ATL.” The weeklong project allowed volunteers to work with the children of the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home in Palmetto and the homeless population in Atlanta. At the children’s home, GSW students organized a day camp and sports clinics for children ages 7 to 17. They organized crafts with pregnant teenage residents helping them make things for their babies-to-be. Also, students hosted evening chapel services and paired up one-on-one with children to show them care, love and encouragement. “We were able to give up a part of our spring break to give back and help others, but we received back more than we could ever give,” sophomore Bri Pafford from Albany, said.
www.ajc.com
Emory University joins effort to graduate more low-income students
Emory joins Georgia Tech and Spelman in national initiative
By Eric Stirgus
Emory University announced Wednesday it has joined a list of colleges and universities that has committed to enrolling and graduating more low- and moderate-income students. The American Talent Initiative aims to enroll and graduate at least 50,000 such students by 2025 from colleges and universities with six-year graduation rates exceeding 70 percent. One hundred schools have joined the initiative. Georgia Tech and Spelman College are the other two Georgia institutions that are part of the initiative. One in five Emory undergraduate students receive Pell Grants, a federal program to help low-income student pay for college.
www.tiftonceo.com
ABAC Foundation Purchases 1,000 Acres for ABAC Teaching Forest
Staff Report From Tifton CEO
For Dr. David Bridges, timing is everything. Bridges, president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, announced at the conclusion of the recent 61st annual Southern Forestry Conclave that the ABAC Foundation has purchased 1,000 acres of timber land to create the first ever ABAC Teaching Forest. “In the early 2000s, the ABAC Foundation took it upon itself the unbelievable burden of building $50 million worth of housing that you see on campus today,” Bridges said to the crowd of ABAC students as well as students from universities across the southern part of the United States. “Since that time, the Foundation has contributed millions in scholarships, helped to build the laboratory sciences building, helped to build the Thrash Wellness Center, and assisted with the funding for the Foundation Legacy Pool. Now the Foundation Board of Directors has purchased this timber tract about 10 miles from campus for a much-needed forest for our School of Agriculture and Natural Resources.” Bridges, the longest serving active president in the University System of Georgia, pointed out that agriculture continues to be the leading industry in Georgia. He believes the new forest will allow the ABAC School of Agriculture and Forest Resources to continue its growth pattern.
www.ajc.com
University system asks GBI to pull agent off Fort Valley investigation
GBI says it’s moving control of the inquiry up its chain of command
The chancellor of the University System of Georgia on Thursday took the unusual step of demanding that a GBI agent be removed from an investigation at Fort Valley State University because, the chancellor said, the agent had been talking to more reporters than to students or school administrators. The university system also said that Special Agent J.T. Ricketson had supplied incorrect information to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. A letter on Thursday to GBI Director Vernon Keenan from Chancellor Steve Wrigley said, “Ricketson has from the moment he got on the case been talking to the media. He has talked to more reporters than Fort Valley State University students and officials. Such behavior damages the quality, credibility and integrity of the investigation.” The letter continued: “We need a professional, thorough and timely investigation conducted. Ricketson has demonstrated he cannot provide this.” Wrigley went on to ask that the agent be removed from the case and replaced by “a professional team to complete the investigation.”
www.11alive.com
University System asks GBI to remove agent from Fort Valley investigation
The letter alleges Ricketson has acted unprofessionally and in a way that damages the credibility of the ongoing investigation.
Author: WMAZ
A letter written Thursday by the Chancellor of the University System of Georgia asked the GBI to remove Special Agent in Charge J.T. Ricketson from its investigation of alleged sexual misconduct at Fort Valley State University. Steve Wrigley’s letter to GBI Director Vernon Keenan states that Ricketson’s comments to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the alleged sex scandal investigation involving the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority are ‘distressing at best and false in detail.’ Wrigley says Ricketson acted unprofessionally in claiming the USG learned about the situation when a board member visited the campus.
www.gainesvilletimes.com
No tuition increase next year at Georgia’s public colleges
https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/no-tuition-increase-next-year-georgias-public-colleges/
Associated Press
Tuition rates at Georgia’s public colleges will hold steady for the next academic year. The state Board of Regents voted Tuesday, April 17, not to increase tuition for 2018-19. Enrollment costs will remain the same all 26 public colleges and universities in Georgia. University system Chancellor Steve Wrigley says the board recognizes a “critical need to keep our institutions affordable for students while providing a quality education.” The board agreed to allow nine schools to make limited fee increases, ranging from $3 to $31 per semester, for full-time undergraduates paying in-state tuition.
www.northwestgeorgianews.com
No tuition hike next year at state’s public colleges
From staff reports
Students at Georgia’s public colleges, including Georgia Highlands College, will not see a jump in tuition rates for the next school year. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted Tuesday to keep next year’s tuition rates at the same level as this school year. Enrollment costs will remain the same for all 26 public colleges and universities in the state. “We also recognize the critical need to keep our institutions affordable for students while providing a quality education,” said University system Chancellor Steve Wrigley. “The board’s decision today maintains our commitment to keeping tuition increases to a minimum.”
www.augustachronicle.com
No tuition increase for Augusta University, other schools in University System of Georgia
By Amanda King
Parents and students planning to enroll in colleges or universities in the University System of Georgia can breathe a sigh of relief. As high school seniors begin to make their final decisions for life after graduation and college students prepare for next school year, the Board of Regents announced this week it will not increase tuition for its 26 schools for 2018-2019. Institutions in the system include Augusta University, Georgia Southern University and the University of Georgia. “The cost of higher education continues to be a concern for us at Augusta University,” said Dr. Gretchen Caughman, executive vice president for Academic Affairs and provost at Augusta University. “We are committed to providing our students education of the highest quality at the most affordable cost possible. As the lowest tuition cost research university in the University of Georgia System, we are pleased that our students will enjoy the same great value in tuition as they did last year.” The University System said it has been able to limit tuition increases to an average of 1.8 percent annually over the past five years. “In 2016, a state audit report found that tuition and fees in the University System averaged 25 percent less than what institutions in peer states charged,” Shelley Nickel, executive vice chancellor for strategy and fiscal affairs, said.
www.wtvm.com
CSU tuition won’t increase for the 2018-19 school year
http://www.wtvm.com/story/37985273/csu-tuition-wont-increase-for-the-2018-19-school-year
By WTVM Web Team
COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) – Good news for Columbus State University students – your tuition will not decrease for the 2018-2019 academic year. CSU along with other students in the University System of Georgia will pay the same tuition as the current 201-2018 academic year, after the Board of Regents set annual tuition rates for all 26 colleges and universities. With the elimination or decrease in some fees at Columbus State University, the move means that overall costs of going to CSU could actually go down for some CSU students next year. “We are grateful to Gov. Nathan Deal and the General Assembly for their consistent support of public higher education in Georgia,” Chancellor Steve Wrigley said. “We also recognize the critical need to keep our institutions affordable for students while providing a quality education. The board’s decision today maintains our commitment to keeping tuition increases to a minimum.”
www.onlineathens.com
No tuition increase next year at UGA
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20180417/no-tuition-increase-next-year-at-uga
By Lee Shearer
University of Georgia students won’t see a tuition increase next year. Tuition will also remain the same at the University of North Georgia, which has a campus in Oconee County, and the 24 other colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia. During several years of sharp tuition increases before and during the recession, much of the burden of paying for public college shifted from the state to students and their families in the form of tuition. But over the past five years, tuition increases have averaged only 1.8 percent, according to the USG announcement. Last year’s tuition increase at UGA was 2 percent. Tuition at the University of Georgia for a full-time student with Georgia residency is $4,776 per semester, the second-highest in USG after Georgia Tech. The rate for out-of-state UGA undergraduates also remains the same at $14,063 per semester. UGA graduate tuition also remains the same — $4,352 per semester for most students, though costs can range higher depending on the school or college.