University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
Albany State University makes block chain presentation to Board of Regents
IBM and Albany State University have partnered to advance new technology
From Staff Reports
ALBANY — Albany State University computer science students presented at the University System of Georgia Board of Regents meeting earlier this week to showcase their work in block chain technology and their partnership with IBM, one of the country’s largest technology employers. In addition to the presentation, USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley announced blockchain technology and data analysis as two new “Nexus” degree program areas of study for the university system. “Blockchain is a powerful technology that uses a distributed global ledger to capture transactions, issue smart contracts and perform consensus algorithms to enable secure permanent records to be shared among trusted parties,” Robert Owor, interim chair and professor in the ASU Mathematics and Computer Science Department, explained. “Blockchain is the original technology behind Bitcoin. It has since expanded beyond Bitcoin into corporate and enterprise systems for asset tracking, financial technologies and medical records to name just a few.” Three ASU students presented during the USG board meeting. They explained how they have worked with blockchain technology through class projects and how they feel the coursework makes them more marketable to tech companies. Recent ASU graduate Myonna Douglas has been hired as a program developer with IBM and starts in June, and ASU senior Kevin McClendon and junior Melody Collins have secured internships with IBM this summer. …ASU offered its first blockchain technology course in the fall of 2017.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
GGC graduates largest class in 10th annual commencement
By Trevor McNaboe
It’s not uncommon for graduation ceremonies to be times of reflection. College students who are about to become alumni look back on the good and bad times, the late-night studying sessions, hanging out with friends, going to school athletic events and, yes, even the parties. As the graduates participated in one last event as college students, it proved to be a time of reflection for school officials as well. GGC President Stas Preczewski, for example, highlighted the growing sizes of the college’s graduating classes. “Our first class in 2008 had 17 graduates,” Preczewski said. “This year, we’ll have 32 times more graduates with over 530 students becoming alumni today.” This was the largest commencement class in Georgia Gwinnett College’s history, and the school took some time at the ceremony to recognize a key figure from that history. The college’s first president, Dan Kaufman, received the title of president emeritus of Georgia Gwinnett College. The University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents previously awarded Kaufman the title on the recommendation of Chancellor Steve Wrigley. Kaufman delivered the commencement address at the ceremony. “This distinction is a permanent tribute to his service to the college,” Preczewski said.
www.mdjonline.com
South Fulton college: success is more than science
Noreen Cochran
According to a news release, in the state college sector of the University System of Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan State College has the highest associate degree graduation rates, the highest associate degree graduation rate for African-Americans and the highest associate degree graduation rate for African-American males. “Lots of attention has been given to the use of predictive analytics in advising and its tremendous positive impact on graduation and retention rates,” college spokeswoman Sonja A. Roberts said in a statement. “The use of analytics in advising has helped many institutions close graduation and retention rates between races, while increasing overall graduation and retention rates.” She said data give institutions a starting point and a certain kind of understanding into each student. But it does not apply in the same way for some all institutions. “Our students aren’t predictable,” Roberts said. “Social and psychological factors play heavily on our students’ ability to be successful in class, persist in college and complete their college degrees.” She said the median income of the college’s neighborhood in south Fulton is lower than the city of Atlanta and of the entire Fulton County. Many of the college’s students are underprepared and underfunded, she said, but the higher education institution provides support. Among its success stories is Antonio McGaha, recognized on the school’s recent Honors Day for high-achieving students.
www.savannahnow.com
Students leave coding boot camp with real projects
http://www.savannahnow.com/business/20180517/students-leave-coding-boot-camp-with-real-projects
By Katie Nussbaum
The demand for web developers and computer programmers continues to be on the rise across the country. Locally, Georgia Tech-Savannah’s Coding Boot Camp program is giving aspiring techies the crucial hands on experience needed to help fill the local job shortage.“I came in really not knowing much about programming. I dabbled with a couple of the basics like HTML and CSS before, but I always had friends who told me I should do programming because that’s the way I thought,” said spring 2018 boot camp graduate Josh Lewis. “I liked that is was associated with Georgia Tech. It’s pretty big name in the tech industry, so I decided to check it out and it ended up being probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
www.wsbtv.com
Student details frightening account of coming face-to-face with carjacker’s gun
By: Matt Johnson
A local college student is one of the six people police said a robbing crew has targeted. The woman told Channel 2’s Matt Johnson that she hid behind a car when she realized what was happening and started to dial 911 — but she ended up getting robbed herself. The Georgia Tech student said her first instinct was to help a man who was running in a panic on her way to campus. “At first, I didn’t know there was a gun involved. I would just help this guy on the side of the road,” the student told Johnson, asking not to be identified. She quickly realized she was witnessing a carjacking near the Ansley Golf Cub Monday around 5:30 a.m.
www.ajc.com
Some Georgia college presidents to get raises
Most University System of Georgia presidents will not get increases
By Eric Stirgus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Seven college presidents in Georgia will soon see more money in their paychecks. The University System of Georgia (USG) announced Thursday merit increases to the presidents of the University of Georgia, Georgia State University and five other institutions. The other 19 presidents will not get salary increases, officials said. USG officials said the decision-making process by which presidents received raises was aligned with employee salary increases. Presidents generally did not get an increase if their employees did not get an increase. Presidents who received increases got about the same percentage increase as their employees. The increases ranged between 3 and 6 percent. The increases for the presidents take effect Jan. 1. University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley has pushed administrators to find efficiencies in its colleges and universities. The University System released a two-sentence statement that said, in part, a “limited number of institutions will be providing minimal merit increases.”
www.thebrunswicknews.com
CCGA, Glynn County Schools renew REACH program partnership
College of Coastal Georgia hosted a signing event Thursday for a memorandum of understanding between the college and Glynn County Schools to renew the REACH program scholarship. REACH, or Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen, is a need-based mentorship and scholarship program designed to promote academic success and provide access to higher education opportunities for the state’s low-income, academically promising students. The program promises students a $10,000 scholarship if they complete the requirements, which include maintaining a 2.5 grade point average, meeting with mentors and academic coaches and regularly attending class.
www.markets.wnd.com
Albany State University Selects Portfolium For ePortfolios, Assessment, and Accreditation
http://markets.wnd.com/worldnetdaily/news/read?GUID=36327826
Albany State University (ASU) has partnered with Portfolium to provide the student success platform campuswide to 2,500+ students, enabling learners to capture, curate and convert evidence-based skills into future career opportunities. As part of a larger partnership with the University System of Georgia, ASU plans to utilize the features provided by Portfolium’s assessment software and ePortfolio platform in an initiative to bridge the skills gap between education and the workforce. Through Portfolium’s platform, ASU will link academic and co-curricular learning with the career readiness skills needed to succeed in the professional workforce. As both a software and a network, Portfolium enables students the ability to collect learning artifacts and link them with evidence-based assessment, which can be connected to a digital marketplace of internships and jobs requiring those same competencies.
www.times-georgian.com
Richards College of Business building enters its design phase
BY COLTON CAMPBELL FOR THE TIMES-GEORGIAN
Gov. Nathan Deal has approved $1.7 million in planning and design funding for the new building that will house the Richards College of Business at the University of West Georgia as part of the fiscal year 2019 state budget. In addition to the approved design money, the UWG Foundation has received gifts and pledges of $5.65 million toward the construction of the new building, which will be situated near the intersection of Maple Street and University Drive, where Watson Hall — a former residence hall not currently in use — now stands. “We greatly appreciate all the support we’ve received from Gov. Deal and the state legislature, and particularly our state legislative delegation, and we’re excited to begin the process of bringing this vision to reality,” said Richards College of Business Dean Faye McIntyre. “We embrace and celebrate our commitment to inspiring students as entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders, giving them the tools they need to add economic value to the communities they serve.” The university plans to begin the design process this year, with construction to begin in 2019. The expected completion date is sometime in 2021.
www.myajc.com
AJC IN DEPTH: Here’s how Amazon could revolutionize downtown Atlanta’s grittiest spot
By Matt Kempner – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cristian Ospina told me he really likes Castleberry Hill, his cool Atlanta neighborhood, just south of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But as he walks the few blocks to a MARTA station in adjacent south downtown Atlanta, he passes what I’ve called one of the the scraggliest, most forgotten parts of downtown, where oases of promise are surrounded by neglect… Things will change in nuanced ways. Amazon’s workforce, like other tech companies, has more men than women. So, in Seattle, some Amazon buildings have more bathrooms for guys. And because Amazon allows dogs at work, landscaping outside tends to be more of the rock and pebble variety rather than plants. Because Amazon will be planning for a massive campus from the start, it can dream a little more and bargain for extras. It wouldn’t be crazy to see satellite university buildings beside Amazon or maybe a direct transit line to Georgia Tech along with other transit additions.
Higher Education News:
www.mytimes.com
A $20 Million Gift for College
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/opinion/college-advising-corps.html
By David Leonhardt
Opinion Columnist
“You hear people say, ‘Well, a four-year degree isn’t needed,’ ” Connie Ballmer, the philanthropist and wife of the former Microsoft C.E.O. Steve Ballmer, recently told me. “But then if you turn to them and say, ‘What do you want for your child?’ they wouldn’t dream of not having their kid go to a four-year college,” she continued. “They said it’s not needed — but they need it.”Ballmer is right. The boomlet of skepticism about college comes disproportionately from upper-middle-class people who have the luxury of airing hypothetical concerns about education, without having to worry that their own children will be influenced by them. Yet the misplaced skepticism can do real damage to poor and working-class teenagers who hear it and take it seriously.
www.chronicle.com
Yes, College Is ‘Worth It,’ One Researcher Says. It’s Just Worth More if You’re Rich.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Yes-College-Is-Worth/243450
By Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz
The question “Is college worth it?” is a favorite of op-ed writers. Its latest iteration, published in The New York Times this week, argues firmly that it’s not. In that op-ed, Ellen Ruppel Shell, a journalism professor at Boston University, contends that college is not as effective a catapult for social mobility as students, families, and policy makers think, especially where low-income students are concerned. “It’s a cruel irony that a college degree is worth less to people who most need a boost: those born poor,” she writes.