University System News:
www.middlegeorgiaceo.com
Middle Georgia State University’s Growing School of Aviation Prepares Students for Careers in All Areas of Georgia’s Fastest-Growing Industry
Lee Greenway
After Brittni Giddens earned her bachelor’s degree in behavioral sciences, she had a realization. “That wasn’t what I wanted to do.” An aunt who was working at Robins Air Force Base encouraged Giddens to look at a career in aviation. “I fell in love with it,” she says. “Since then, it’s been airplanes, airplanes, airplanes.” Now pursuing her associate’s degree in aircraft structural technology, Giddens is one of a growing class of central Georgians looking for a career in the state’s second-largest and fastest-growing industry: aerospace. PwC’s 2017 Aerospace Manufacturing Attractiveness Index, an annual report ranking nations and U.S. states on how inviting they are to aerospace manufacturing companies, places Georgia at the top of the list of U.S. states, and the U.S. at the top of the list of nations. The industry has an economic impact of more than $64 billion annually in Georgia, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and aerospace products are the state’s largest international export market, with annual sales reaching more than $8 billion. …Middle Georgia State University’s School of Aviation – the only public, four-year aviation school in Georgia – has programs designed to help students fill roles in every corner of the aerospace industry – from manufacturing to maintenance, from logistics to logbook.
www.marketwatch.com
This simple math strategy helps colleges enroll more low-income students
The strategy comes amid pressures to increase the number of traditionally under-represented students in higher education
By Jillian Berman
Like many before it, this year’s college admissions cycle, which wrapped up this month, highlighted the tension between colleges’ drive towards traditional measures of prestige and a growing swell of societal pressure to serve students who haven’t been typically well-represented on college campuses. Breathless press releases from college admissions offices touted record-low admissions rates and freshman classes with the highest caliber of students, while at the same time highlighting generous financial aid policies and the diverse nature of their incoming classes… Some public colleges with a historic mission of increasing access to higher education are responding to this increase in applicants by admitting more students. As spots at Georgia’s public flagship universities — Georgia Tech and University of Georgia — became increasingly scarce, Georgia State University officials (in consultation with the state) decided to grow.
www.cheddar.com
The Drama Went Down to Georgia
Georgia is ranked third nationally behind NY and CA in number of productions.
https://cheddar.com/videos/the-drama-went-down-to-georgia
Jeff Stepakoff, executive director at Georgia Film Academy, discusses legislation that the state of Georgia is set to pass that will make dramatic writing a core part of high school public school curricula. He discusses the booming film industry in the state that is now #3 in the U.S. behind California and New York.
www.myajc.com
Georgia needs better research and resources to deal with changes in climate, new report says
By Eric Stirgus
State, county and municipal leaders have a lot of work to do to better prepare Georgia and mitigate the ongoing environmental impact of changes to its shores, agriculture and the health of its citizens, according to a study released Wednesday. The team, called the Georgia Research Project, began its work last year and focused on what it considered 40 important research questions as the state experiences more droughts, heat waves, erosion, flooding and stronger hurricanes. It was founded by researchers from Emory University, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, and included support from public agencies and local businesses. “We see this as a really important first step,” study co-author Patricia Yager of the University of Georgia said in a news release. “Now that we have outlined these questions, we hope to see researchers across the state digging into these in much more detail.”
Higher Education News:
www.theconversation.com
A new bond between the public and universities could brighten America’s future
The technology powering the device you are using to read this article was originally developed at a research university. So was the internet, open-heart surgery, treatments for cancer and countless other innovations.vToday’s way of life would not exist without breakthroughs made at American research universities, but you wouldn’t know this from the way many people speak about them. In October 2017, in front of an audience at the University of North Texas, Donald Trump Jr. accused universities – with the exception, apparently, of a few in Texas – of making a bad deal with parents. “We’ll take $200,000 of your money,” he said. “In exchange, we’ll train your children to hate our country. … We’ll make them unemployable by teaching them courses in zombie studies, underwater basket weaving and, my personal favorite, tree climbing.”