University System News:
www.myajc.com
Bill aims to help more low-income Georgians pay for college
https://www.myajc.com/news/local-education/bill-aims-help-more-low-income-georgians-pay-for-college/cOoGC0SBAUpcXuVj6XHywO/
By Eric Stirgus – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia lawmakers passed legislation in the final hours before they left the state Capitol for good this session that many say marks the state’s most expansive effort to help low-income public college students earn their degrees. The Legislature sent a bill to Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk that offers grants each semester to low-income students ineligible for the HOPE Scholarship, provided they meet certain criteria. The guidelines and grants will be set by the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Initial annual cost estimates for the grant range from $25 million to $40 million. Middle Georgia State University senior Lizzie Mathias, who said she’s taken about $24,000 in student loans to complete her education, is excited about the legislation. She said the tuition gap some semesters has been about $1,200. “Many of us wouldn’t have had to take out these loans if there had been needs-based aid,” said Mathias, 21, who has several part-time jobs on campus. …State Sen. Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody, chairman of that chamber’s higher education committee, proposed the changes through Senate Bill 405, which eventually was included in another piece of legislation, House Bill 787. “We thought after four years we could have another 28,000 people graduating college,” Millar said Friday, explaining the rationale for the legislation.
www.bizjournals.com
General Assembly OKs bill aimed at free speech on college campuses
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/03/29/general-assembly-oks-bill-aimed-at-free-speech-on.html
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The General Assembly gave final passage Thursday night to legislation requiring the University System of Georgia to develop policies guaranteeing free speech on Georgia’s public college and university campuses. The state Senate voted 35-17 to pass the bill, which cleared the House 110-57 earlier this week. The measure was spurred by incidents on college campuses across the country involving invited speakers being driven off of auditorium stages by students shouting them down and carrying signs opposing their appearances on campus. In most instances, the speakers have been political conservatives heckled by students. …The legislation now heads to Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk.
www.politics.myajc.com
The Legislature is done, but Georgia’s governor has decisions to make
https://politics.myajc.com/news/state–regional-govt–politics/the-legislature-done-but-georgia-governor-has-decisions-make/B6Rz3RiW8EzQZ964DN3MuN/
By Greg Bluestein – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The end of the legislative session triggers the start of another 40-day period for Gov. Nathan Deal to sign measures into law or veto them. And while some of the biggest debates are off the table, he still has some weighty decisions to make. The Republican, in his final year in office, has shown little aversion to the red pen. He vetoed nine bills last year, including a foster care measure that had widespread legislative support. And he nixed the two most consequential bills of the 2016 session: a campus gun measure and a “religious liberty” bill. …But there are still dozens of other proposals waiting on his desk. Here’s a rundown of where the biggest bills stand:
Budget
Georgia lawmakers made a bit of history when they approved a $26.2 billion state budget for the upcoming fiscal year. A growing state economy that’s brought record tax revenue would allow lawmakers to fully fund the k-12 school funding formula for the first time since at least 2002.
Will he sign it? No doubt. It’s the only piece of legislation lawmakers are required to approve each year.
www.tiftongazette.com
Scott, Bishop host rural hunger roundtable
http://www.tiftongazette.com/news/scott-bishop-host-rural-hunger-roundtable/article_32245654-33af-11e8-b8df-f71b14a1ac7c.html
By Eve Guevara
TIFTON — Republican Congressman Austin Scott and Democratic Congressman Sanford Bishop co-hosted a roundtable to discuss rural hunger at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on Mar. 28. The purpose of the roundtable discussion was to discuss what has worked well to aid communities in hunger relief and the current problems and restrictions that are impeding local organization’s efforts. The discussion focused specifically around the Farm Bill, which is being debated in the House of Representatives, and what policy reforms could be included.
www.ajc.com
African-American trio makes history in UGA student elections
https://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/african-american-trio-makes-history-uga-student-elections/6YbJq8A2eEnOHyRRujh2kM/
Eric Stirgus
Three University of Georgia students from metro Atlanta will make history next week when they become the first group of African-Americans inaugurated to the top three positions in its student government. Ammishaddai Grand-Jean, a third-year student from Jonesboro majoring in political science and economics, was elected president. Charlene Marsh, a third-year international affairs and sociology major from Norcross, was elected vice president. Destin Mizelle, a third-year psychology major from Riverdale, was elected treasurer. The three students campaigned together as what they called the “believe” ticket, UGA officials said in a news release Thursday. Their top three goals: making student government simpler and more connected to students, cultivating transparency and discussion on issues like diversity, sexual assault and mental health and fostering a spirit of cooperation among student organizations.
www.albanyherald.com
Lovett urges nursing students to become advocates for patients
Alum spoke to students as part of Albany State’s Founder’s Day celebration
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/lovett-urges-nursing-students-to-become-advocates-for-patients/article_02573b8d-4381-52cb-884d-d63d1546f3b7.html
By Terry Lewis
As Albany State University kicked off its 115th Founders Day Celebration on Monday, registered nurse and ASU alum Elizabeth Lovett lectured nursing students on the challenges and rewards that await them upon graduation. “Take advantage of the opportunities your teachers give you, but you are smart and quick learners,” Lovett said. “In a rural setting, you have to learn to be everything to everybody and adjust to your environment. Make a commitment to doing the right thing. Remember, employers are not looking for good nurses, they are looking for great nurses.” Lovett is a 1974 graduate of Albany State College (now University), where she received a bachelor of science degree in Nursing. She completed requirements for her master of science degree in the discipline in 1992. She has practiced as a nurse for most of her professional career, whether servicing the health needs of patients, teaching/training post-secondary students to pursue careers in the health profession, or developing programs to address the health needs of southwest Georgia. “As a nurse you are going to be challenged in metro and rural areas alike,” Lovett said. “Don’t hang out with negative people, they will drain you. Read your books and become a bootstrapper.”
www.albanyherald.com
Fort Valley program has open slot for Dougherty applicant
Extension program gives students stipend, valuable experience
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/fort-valley-program-has-open-slot-for-dougherty-applicant/article_aaebbfd7-1dae-562e-9c5a-2feb19e1f4ac.html
From Staff Reports
FORT VALLEY — Fort Valley State University’s Cooperative Extension Program is encouraging rising high school juniors, seniors and rising college freshmen to apply to the university’s TEAM Success Program in Dougherty County. The application deadline is Friday. This six-week program, beginning June 4 and ending July 14, offers a $2,100 stipend and valuable work experience. During the program, students will be paired daily with county extension agents and program assistants who work throughout Georgia. They are exposed to careers related to agriculture, food and nutrition, family life and youth development.
www.mdjonline.com
Kennesaw State University biology professor earns a national Career Mentor Award
http://www.mdjonline.com/news/education/kennesaw-state-university-biology-professor-earns-a-national-career-mentor/article_c7861bf0-3450-11e8-9010-8fab5dada969.html
Staff reports
Kennesaw State University biology professor William Ensign has been honored with the Council on Undergraduate Research Biology Division Mature Career Mentor Award. The distinction is reserved for scientists with greater than 19 years of experience mentoring undergraduate researchers. The award, which recognized Ensign’s “long-term efforts in supervising undergraduate research students,” was presented recently during the Council’s annual meeting. The judges said his students found him to be an enthusiastic model of a successful scientist and one who “created a rich community of research groups to allow students to work to their strengths within a given project.”
www.gobankingrates.com
These Are the Best Colleges You Can Attend for Under $20K a Year
You don’t need to spend a lot for a quality education.
https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/best-colleges-under-20k-tuition/
By Gabrielle Olya
Whether you’re sending a child to college or putting yourself through school, being able to afford college tuition is no easy feat. Fortunately, you can get a quality education in any state for less than $20,000 a year. A new GOBankingRates report analyzed US News’ 2018 Best Colleges for National Universities list to determine the highest-ranking colleges in each state. We then looked at annual costs at the top-ranking colleges to determine the “best” college in each state that has the lowest overall in-state tuition and fees and the highest US News ranking. Keep reading to see the best college in every state that costs less than $20,000 a year. …Here is the complete list of the best college in every state that costs less than $20,000 a year: Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology; $12,618
www.mdjonline.com
Businessmen donate $1 million for KSU engineering scholarships
http://www.mdjonline.com/news/businessmen-donate-million-for-ksu-engineering-scholarships/article_f0de397e-36c1-11e8-9764-5f4ec3d2d96a.html
Ross Williams
Students planning on studying engineering at Kennesaw State University may soon have some financial help thanks to some local businessmen. Atlanta real estate executives Norman Radow, of The RADCO Companies, and Peter Fitzgerald, of Fightingtown Companies, have announced a $1 million donation to the Paul Radow Endowment, which provides annual scholarships to mechanical engineering students with military service or who are adult learners. The two announced the donation Friday at the opening of a new permanent exhibition inside KSU’s Engineering Technology Center, which honors Radow’s father, a noted engineer and inventor.
www.moultrieobserver.com
Kelley Manufacturing Company donates equipment to ABAC
http://www.moultrieobserver.com/news/ga_fl_news/kelley-manufacturing-company-donates-equipment-to-abac/article_13cdc0f1-26d8-58e4-9635-a59341b8285f.html
Kelley Manufacturing Company (KMC) recently donated equipment valued at more than $73,000 to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, including a KMC 6800 4R Ripper Bedder and a 20-foot KMC Resi-Till. “The School of Agriculture and Natural Resources is very excited to receive such a generous donation of equipment from KMC,” said Dr. Darby Sewell, assistant vice president for academic affairs. The 4R Ripper Bedder is equipped with toggle trip shanks and bed shapers. The Resi-Till is a unique type of vertical tillage tool capable of operating in high residue field conditions without producing compaction. Both will be used for educational purposes on the J.G. Woodroof Farm at ABAC.
www.thewestgeorgian.com
Town Hall Meeting Unveils Master Plan for UWG Campus
By Justin Hodges
Representatives from the University of West Georgia met for a Town Hall meeting on Wed. March 28 to discuss an updated master plan for the campus. The presentation began with numerous statistics pertaining to the school’s current and future budgets. The most pertinent part of the presentation however was the showing of site plans for current and upcoming campus renovations set to be done in the near future. The first plans unveiled were a construction site photo of the new Biology Building on West Georgia Drive. The photo was accompanied by a layout design showing what the new building will look like. The site photo displays incredible progress on the Biology Building, which is expected to open next fall.
www.myajc.com
Goldman Sachs joins Georgia Tech venture group to aid startups
https://www.myajc.com/business/goldman-sachs-joins-georgia-tech-venture-group-aid-startups/Ye9QWuwFyWm3KrBk79D2YN/
By J. Scott Trubey – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Global investment bank Goldman Sachs has joined a growth accelerator and venture capital fund based at Georgia Tech that’s aimed at promising early-stage companies. The Engage Ventures program announced that Goldman Sachs will be the 11th corporate member of its board, agreeing to provide funding, resources and time to help new companies progress from the creation stage to where they’re making money. Engage launched in 2017 with a $15 million fund, including investments by the founding corporate members of the board. With the inclusion of Goldman and Invest Georgia, that fund is now $18 million, said Blake Patton, Engage’s managing director… “While access to capital has been one of the areas we can improve in the Southeast, when we set out to build Engage, we recognized that when you think of leading tech hubs, their strength is in connecting large companies with the innovators,” Patton said in an interview.
www.georgiatrend.com
Deep Impact
For Georgia Tech’s ATDC, it’s not just about growth – it’s about meaningful growth
http://www.georgiatrend.com/April-2018/Deep-Impact/
By Anna Bentley
A look at Tech Square as being the heart of innovation and technology in the state of Georgia,” says Jennifer Bonnett, “and ATDC is that heartbeat.” Bonnett, the Advanced Technology Development Center’s general manager, leads the technology incubator’s programs across the state. Part of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, ATDC is the state’s oldest technology incubator, welcoming its first startup in 1981. Nearly 40 years later, it’s become an internationally recognized incubator – and the lifeblood of the state’s technology industry. As ATDC gears up to graduate its latest class of startups next month, Bonnett wonders: Can we go deeper?
www.georgiatrend.com
Four for the Future
Success in communities across Georgia starts with leadership – and a plan
http://www.georgiatrend.com/April-2018/Four-for-the-Future/?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=daed436d7d-eGaMorning-4_3_18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-daed436d7d-86731974&mc_cid=daed436d7d&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
By Amy Bonesteel, Mary Ann DeMuth and Emma N. Hurt
For communities throughout the state, the realization that something needs to be done to address an issue is often followed by the recognition that the resources to get it done aren’t available locally. That’s where the University of Georgia’s (UGA’s) Public Service and Outreach (PSO) division can help. It offers collaborative assistance in strengthening communities, organizations and individuals, thereby fulfilling, in part, UGA’s mission as a land grant university. For the sixth consecutive year, the PSO and Georgia Trend magazine teamed up to recognize four communities that have worked to improve prospects for residents through public-private and nonprofit initiatives. From leadership identification and training programs to strategic planning, these initiatives demonstrate the power of collaboration.
www.wtvm.com
WTOC Investigates: Three women accuse SSU police chief of sexual misconduct
http://www.wtvm.com/story/37860963/wtoc-investigates-three-women-accuse-ssu-police-chief-of-sexual-misconduct
By Amanda LaBrot, Anchor/Reporter
Three women, including two female Savannah State University police officers, accuse university police Chief James Barnwell of sexual misconduct. According to attorneys representing the women, they allege sexual harassment and sexual assault by Barnwell. “We represent an individual in connection with allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault – and this is on Savannah State University’s campus – against the chief of police,” Felicia Spears, an attorney with Ifill Law Group, told WTOC exclusively. Abda Quillian, an attorney with Tate Law Group representing the two female officers, spoke only with WTOC Monday and said her clients have similar complaints. “These complaints allege very serious misconduct on the part of the chief of police at Savannah State,” Quillian said. “They are of a sexual misconduct nature, sexual harassment.”
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
3 Key Takeaways From New Federal Data on Campus Crime
https://www.chronicle.com/article/3-Key-Takeaways-From-New/242985?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest
By Emma Kerr
The National Center for Education Statistics on Thursday released its 20th annual “Indicators of School Crime and Safety” report, a lengthy study of trends in crime at schools and colleges. Much of the report concerns crime in elementary and secondary education, but a section of it deals with safety on college campuses. Here are three key takeaways:
www.diverseeducation.com
NUL: Higher Ed Act Renewal Must Address Barriers to Underserved Students
http://diverseeducation.com/article/113673/?utm_campaign=DIV1804%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20APR3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Walter Hudson
As Congress prepares for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, one of the nation’s oldest civil rights organizations said that access, affordability, completion and accountability should serve as the guiding principles in supporting the nation’s first civil rights law to address post-secondary learning. “Federal higher education law should address barriers in access to a post-secondary education caused by historic and present-day race-based, exclusionary policies and practices, and promote meaningful access for historically underrepresented students,” wrote Marc H. Morial, president of the National Urban League, in a seven-page letter to Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions and Democratic Senator Patty Murray, a ranking member of the committee.
www.washingtonpost.com
You got into the college of your dreams. But will you actually go there?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/03/29/you-got-into-the-college-of-your-dreams-but-will-you-actually-go-there/?utm_term=.a6b166fa4423
By Jeffrey J. Selingo
By now, college acceptances (or rejections) are in the hands of high school seniors. Over the next few weeks, those who haven’t already decided where they are going to school next fall will make their decisions. The month ahead is a time of high anxiety for students and their parents — and for admissions deans at most colleges and universities. The only certainty in college admissions these days is uncertainty. Application totals at most institutions have soared in recent years — up 7 percent, on average, in 2016 from the year before, the most recent cycle studied — as students hedged their bets and applied to more colleges than ever. Encouraged by the relative ease of the process compared to 20 years ago, the proportion of college freshmen who applied to seven or more colleges reached 35 percent in 2016, up from 17 percent a decade ago, and from just 9 percent in 1990. Some eight in 10 freshmen in 2016 applied to at least three colleges. While all colleges experienced more applications, the rich got richer: The most-selective institutions — those that accept fewer than half of applicants and represent only about 20 percent of American higher education — accounted for 37 percent of all college applications in 2016.