University System News:
www.bizjournals.com
Engineering training helps Emory-Georgia Tech researcher treat movement disorders
By Tonya Layman – Contributing Writer
Lena Ting explores the unanswered questions in her quest to use engineering principals to understand how people move. Her approach integrates research and education in the fields of neuroscience, biomechanics, engineering, rehabilitation, robotics, neurology and physiology, to ultimately benefit those suffering from movement disorders … Ting, a professor and educator at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University … Ting brings a unique blend of science, engineering and robotics to improve rehabilitation for individuals with movement disorders and those who have experienced stroke, spinal cord injury or lower limb loss.
www.tiftongazette.com
ABAC Ag Education Program receives certification from Georgia Professional Standards commission
TIFTON — After a positive vote from the members of the Georgia Professional Standards Commission at their recent meeting, the Agricultural Education Teacher Preparation program at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is fully accredited, and ABAC is ready to help to fill the void of agricultural education teachers in the state. “Having our Agricultural Education program approved by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission as an Educator Preparation Provider and Educator Preparation Program is a major accomplishment for ABAC,” Dr. Mark Kistler, dean of the ABAC School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said. “Our students can now be certified to teach agricultural education at the middle and high school level in Georgia.”
www.dailycitizen.news
Margaret Venable: Healthier, happier employees are better for students
Dalton Daily Citizen
Spring is a wonderful time of year at Dalton State College with end-of-year honor society inductions, awards ceremonies, pinning ceremonies and, of course, graduation. It is also the time of year when many of us are struggling with allergies, thinking of taking off a few pounds, planting gardens and preparing for life transitions such as graduations of our own sons and daughters. This makes the timing of a new University System of Georgia initiative perfect for Dalton State. The USG recognizes that the personal lives of its employees have an impact on the productivity and success of our campuses. Therefore, the USG had just rolled out a new program that is providing its employees with the resources to make a positive difference in our own lives and in the lives of our family members.
www.bizjournals.co,
Eight University System of Georgia presidents getting raises
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Seven presidents of University System of Georgia (USG) institutions will be receiving merit raises effective next January, the system announced Friday. University of Georgia President Jere Morehead and Georgia State University President Mark Becker will get 4 percent raises. At $1.1 million for 2019, Becker will be second only to Georgia Tech President Bud Peterson in pay among university system campus presidents. The president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will receive a 6 percent raise, while 4 percent increases will go to the presidents of East Georgia State College and Georgia Highlands College. The presidents of Middle Georgia State University and Georgia Southwestern State University will receive 3 percent raises. The seven presidents who received merit increases are at institutions that are providing minimal merit increases to employees ranging between 0 percent and 4 percent based on performance, university system spokesman Charles Sutlive wrote Atlanta Business Chronicle in an email. An eighth president, Augusta University’s Brooks Keel, will be getting a 4 percent raise to offset his loss of system-provided housing. The system recently announced plans to sell the Augusta University presidential home and will no longer be providing housing for President Keel, Sutlive wrote.
www.augustachronicle.com
AU Health system expects to break even after 2017 loss
http://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20180518/au-health-system-expects-to-break-even-after-2017-loss
By Damon Cline
The Augusta University health system is on track to break even when its fiscal year ends in June, a fairly remarkable feat considering it’s coming off a $24 million net loss from the previous year. Officials with the enterprise best known for its 478-bed downtown hospital say the health system isn’t working harder – it’s working smarter. The system is beginning to see the fruits of a cost-cutting and realignment plan put into play late last year, based on presentations at a recent AU Health board of directors meeting. “This is a huge battleship to try to turn, and we’re not there yet,” AU President Brooks Keel told the board at its April finance committee meeting. Key to the turnaround is getting all three of the system’s components – its hospitals, its physician group and the Medical College of Georgia – on the same page.
Higher Education News:
www.myajc.com
Opinion: Smart investment in schools benefits us all
OPINION By Steve Dolinger
Gov. Nathan Deal and Georgia lawmakers recently agreed to use a state budget surplus to increase our state’s investment in education by about $186 million for FY19. It’s the first time since 2002 the state has fully funded the Quality Basic Education formula. According to the latest Census Bureau data on nationwide student expenditures, Georgia ranked 38th in per-pupil spending. This move shows a commitment to schools across political party lines in Georgia, but alone it isn’t sufficient to achieve our goals for education. Long term, Georgians must decide what they expect from schools — and what kind of investments are required. Veteran AJC reporter Ty Tagami recently published an article highlighting the link between resources and students’ opportunities for success. He cited an analysis by Georgia State University doctoral candidate and researcher Jarod Apperson, who teaches at Spelman College in Atlanta. The analysis showed close correlation between Atlanta students’ family income and recent scores on the NAEP exam, also known as the Nation’s Report Card. …While Georgia and other Southern states have made major advances in education in recent decades, “achievement gaps” between more-affluent students and their historically disadvantaged classmates are closing at a slow pace. This threatens our state’s future and economic prospects. There is reason to be optimistic, however, as new research from the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, as a member of a coalition of education organizations across the South, shows that voters recognize the urgent need to improve schools immediately. “Now is the time for states to develop a long-term vision for improving education so that many more children can succeed in school and life,” as stated in our new report, Accelerating the Pace.
www.myajc.com
Opinion: Greater choice will mean more Ga. graduates
OPINION By Benita Dodd
When one Georgia child in five is not graduating high school, it’s a distress signal. Not everyone is destined for college, but those dropouts’ untapped potential represents a loss of economic opportunity and, potentially, a taxpayer burden. Too many consider this an education funding problem. The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement issues a “Financial Efficiency Star Rating” for schools and districts, comparing per-pupil spending to academic performance. In 2017, the top 10 districts (earning 4.5 or five stars) spent less than $8,000 per pupil (excluding capital expenditures) and average ratings on the state’s College and Career Ready Performance Index were above 80 percent …Money helps, but motivation and innovation can inspire students to graduate then pursue a post-secondary education that optimizes their skills, opportunities and income. Education provides tools to climb out of poverty, overcome unstable home environments and poor role models, and help manage learning disabilities. Students are unique; different families have different challenges and varying willingness and ability to deal with them. But opportunities and choices must exist for those willing and able to embrace them. Such opportunities are expanding. Georgia legislators supported a 72 percent increase in the popular tuition tax credit scholarship program. Beginning in 2019, taxpayer donations to provide scholarships to private schools will be capped at $100 million. GOAL, Georgia’s largest organization managing program donations, has awarded more than half its scholarships to families with incomes under $24,000 and 90 percent to families with incomes under $48,000. Nearly 45 percent of its scholarships went to minority recipients.
www.chronicle.com
‘Higher Education’ Isn’t So Popular, Poll Finds, but Local Colleges Get Lots of Love
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Higher-Education-Isn-t/243468
By Eric Kelderman
Democrats and Republicans both see a need for improvements in higher education. But they also really like their local colleges and universities. Those are two of the key findings from polling by New America, a research organization that on Monday released its second annual survey of views on higher education. The survey results, based on responses from 1,600 randomly selected adults, are largely similar to the findings of last year’s poll, which showed deep support for community colleges and the belief that a college degree leads to better job opportunities than a high-school diploma does. The poll, conducted in January and February on landlines and cellphones, has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points. While the 2017 poll focused on how people in different generations viewed colleges and the value of a degree, this year’s poll sought to identify distinctions across partisan political lines. The results suggest a more nuanced view of higher education than is sometimes portrayed in other polls and through the news media, said Rachel Fishman, deputy director for higher-education research at New America.