University System News:
www.onlineathens.com
Job market much improved for new UGA grads
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20180503/job-market-much-improved-for-new-uga-grads
By Sara Freeland
After Taylor Smith graduates from the University of Georgia, he’s headed to the major leagues. He’s not an athlete; he’s going to be a research and development analyst for the Tampa Bay Rays. He will run statistics and use data science to help pick the best amateur draftees for the team. It’s a dream come true for a lifelong baseball fan, and a perfect fit for the skills he learned at UGA, where on Friday he will receive joint bachelor’s and master’s degrees in statistics, a bachelor’s in mathematics, and a certificate in data science. Smith, from Canton, Georgia, is just one of an estimated 55 percent of UGA students who already have jobs lined up after they graduate in May. According to the UGA Career Outcomes survey, 96 percent of 2017 UGA graduates had a job or were enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation. In terms of landing a job, the timing is nearly perfect for Class of 2018 graduates, according to Jeffrey Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth in UGA’s Terry College of Business. “The economy is very strong,” Humphreys said. “The unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in over 10 years. It’s definitely both a good time and a good place to graduate.” The economy is so good that many graduates are receiving multiple job offers.
www.hypepotamus.com
Siemens Selects Georgia Tech to Look for Ideas to Commercialize In FutureMakers Challenge
https://hypepotamus.com/news/siemens-futuremakers-challenge/
BY ANGELA KING
Siemens has selected Georgia Tech as one of six universities nationwide to host their on-campus FutureMakers Challenge to bolster the company’s innovation pipeline and empower the nation’s top talent. Georgia Tech was selected based on its technical strengths, match to Siemens’ projects and history of collaboration. The FutureMakers Challenge will focus on Augmented Perceptions and Manufacturing Design using Geometry, and Modeling and will take place on Friday, May 4. Georgia Tech undergraduate and doctoral students will compete for prize of a $140,000 investment and the chance to work with Siemens’ Corporate Technology teams to commercialize their idea. Winners will be selected based on innovation, out-of-the-box thinking and relevance to market needs. First, second and third place teams will all receive prizes.
www.georgiatrend.com
Agri-trailblazers
Businesses along six separate highways are joining forces to lure travelers to Georgia Grown foods and wine
By Mary Ann DeMuth
The growing popularity of locally produced foods and beverages – from fruits and vegetables to craft beers and wines – is attracting more visitors to family-owned farms, restaurants and stores. Agritourism, as it’s known, is the intersection of agriculture and tourism, which are Georgia’s two biggest economic generators. In fact, the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) estimates that agritourism has a $133-million impact on the state’s economy.
www.bizjournals.com
Partner grants fund more academy teachers
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/05/04/partner-grants-fund-more-academy-teachers.html
By Bill Chastain – Contributing Writer
Atlanta’s historic Westside has long needed an overhaul. Improving the quality of education is one of the areas the nonprofit Westside Future Fund identified that would help pave the way toward long-term, transformational change. Adding teachers, aids and training at an innovative preK-8 school and planning additional resources for public schools in Vine City, English Avenue, Ashview Heights and Atlanta University Center has been one big step. In 2013, the announcement that the new Atlanta Falcons football stadium would be located adjacent to the Westside led the City of Atlanta and The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation to make catalytic lead investments of $15 million each… The NCR Corp. recently committed $1 million to the Westside Future Fund in support of Hollis and the STEM curriculum. “The CEISMC [Center for Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing] staff at Georgia Tech has been providing curriculum support and technical assistance to Hollis,” Tatum said. “The teachers are getting professional development through CEISMC, which is being funded by NCR’s $1 million commitment to support the work of CEISMC.” Jack called the educational effort an “investment.”
www.albanyherald.com
GSW secures $3.4 million in Georgia state budget for building renovations
Funds in Georgia state budget will be used to renovate GSW’s academic advisement center
From Staff Reports
AMERICUS — Georgia Southwestern State University has announced the inclusion of $3.4 million in House Bill 684, Georgia’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget, to fund the renovation of the Academic Center for Excellence, GSW’s primary advisement building.
Higher Education News:
www.edsurge.com
Why Competency-Based Education Stalled (But Isn’t Finished)
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-05-01-why-competency-based-education-stalled-but-isn-t-finished
By Jeffrey R. Young
The phrase “competency-based education” is quite a mouthful, but it was all the rage a few years ago among college leaders looking to expand access to their programs. The idea can sound radical, since it often involves doing away with course structures as we know them, to focus on having students prove they can master a series of skills or concepts one at a time. It’s safe to say that competency-based education hasn’t caught on as widely as its promoters hoped, and these days you rarely hear much about it. In part that’s because some serious questions have been raised about the model.