University System News:
www.wabe.org
Board of Regents Names New KSU President
https://www.wabe.org/ksu-president/
MARTHA DALTON
The university system of Georgia announced Tuesday it has named Dr. Pamela Whitten as Kennesaw State University’s new president. Whitten has served as the chief academic officer at the University of Georgia since 2014. She oversees instruction, research, public service and outreach, and student affairs and information technology, according to USG. Whitten comes to KSU at a turbulent time for the school. Former President Sam Olens stepped down in February after tenure marked by controversy. Last fall, he banned a group of cheerleaders from the football field after they took a knee during the national anthem. The university system later said Olens didn’t notify officials of the change, even though he was advised to do so. Students and faculty had also raised concerns around Olens’ hiring. The Board of Regents opted not to conduct a national search for the job, causing some to speculate Olens’ appointment was political. The Board of Regents did conduct a national search for Olens’ replacement. However, members of the KSU community pushed for a more transparent process, after officials announced the search would be ‘closed,’ meaning the finalists’ names would not be made public. In a written statement, University Chancellor Steve Wrigley indicated Whitten had positive interactions with the KSU community.
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www.11alive.com
Kennesaw State gets new president from UGA
www.cbs46.com
Pamela Whitten becomes new KSU President
www.wsfa.com
Pamela Whitten becomes new KSU President
http://www.wsfa.com/story/38409741/pamela-whitten-becomes-new-ksu-president
www.wgxa.tv
Kennesaw State University names Pamela Whitten new president
http://wgxa.tv/news/local/kennesaw-state-university-names-pamela-whitten-new-president
www.wtol.com
Pamela Whitten becomes new KSU President
http://www.wtol.com/story/38409741/pamala-whitten-becomes-new-ksu-president
www.ksusentinel.com
Dr. Pamela Whitten named KSU president
http://ksusentinel.com/2018/06/12/dr-pamela-whitten-named-ksu-president/
www.times-georgian.com
UWG program offers new options for students with intellectual disabilities
BY JULIE LINEBACK FOR THE TIMES-GEORGIAN
When Katy Ann Killingsworth’s older sister started visiting colleges more than five years ago, the younger sibling expressed her excitement for her future in higher education as well. It quickly became apparent to their mother, Juanita, that she had to figure out a way to make that dream a reality for Katy Ann. The task was especially challenging for Juanita Killingsworth, as the request went beyond the usual college questions, such as where to attend and what to study. Katy Ann is a young woman living with Down syndrome. Juanita said she was running out of options when she found out about a new inclusive postsecondary education program being created at the University of West Georgia. “She was so excited when she received her acceptance letter, you would have thought she had been accepted into an Ivy League school with a full scholarship,” Juanita said. “To her, that is exactly what has happened.” The program – Project WOLVES (World of Opportunities for Learning, Volunteering, Employment and Socializing) – is the brainchild of Dr. Jessica Bucholz, associate professor in the College of Education’s Department of Literacy and Special Education. With continuous funding from a federal grant, she has been in the planning phase for Project WOLVES since 2016.
www.savanahnow.com
Savannah State Penny Fund alum awarded honorary degree
http://www.savannahnow.com/news/20180612/savannah-state-penny-fund-alum-awarded-honorary-degree
By Ann Meyer
Savannah State University President Cheryl Davenport Dozier traveled to Easton, Md., to present Eloise Alston, 97, with an Honorary Degree of Associate of Humane Letters 80 years after she attended the university. Alston, a lifetime member of the Savannah State University National Alumni Association, is credited with starting the Penny Fund in the mid-1980s to help Savannah State University students afford school. Alston attended Savannah State when it was known as Georgia State University but left the university before graduating to help support her family. …For the Savannah State University Alumni Association, Alston is perhaps best known for passing around a container at alumni meetings and asking for contributions of change. It became known as the Penny Fund and the donations were provided to students. “Over time, it would build up funds for schools,” Roberson. “It started off just local in the Washington, D.C. chapter, but then it became a nationwide activity.” Alston’s lack of a diploma and the financial hardship that led her to leave the university before receiving her degree likely prompted her desire to help Savannah State students, Roberson said. “She knew how hard it was for some of the students. She wanted to make sure they got the opportunity” to finish their education.
www.albanyherald.com
Tech makes ‘Smart Development’ buzzwords of the day
Albany one of 17 program applicants selected
By Terry Lewis
Four Georgia communities — the cities of Albany and Chamblee and Chatham and Gwinnett counties — will launch seek “smart” solutions to their problems through a Georgia Tech-led program that will implement smart design solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing the state. Georgia Tech officials, along with representatives from program sponsor Georgia Power, met with members of the Albany and Dougherty County governments and educational leaders in Albany Tuesday to announce the projects, which tackle housing, traffic congestion, sea level rise and shared autonomous vehicles. The program is supported through the Georgia Smart Communities Challenge. This new initiative brings together industry and public agencies to help local governments implement smart development. The strategies developed by the selected communities will serve as models that could be implemented elsewhere across Georgia. The program provides seed funding and access to technical assistance, expert advice and a network of peers. A Georgia Tech researcher will advise and conduct research in support of each group’s goals.
www.educationdive.com
Report: Colleges to survive through hybrid experience
https://www.educationdive.com/news/report-colleges-to-survive-through-hybrid-experience/525460/
AUTHOR James Paterson
A new report about how higher education will look in 2040 predicts a blended experience for students where they take courses in the classroom and online for customized engagements in an environment that prioritizes flexibility — and perhaps even enlists them to “subscribe” to its offerings and its support throughout their lives. The report from a commission established by Georgia Institute of Technology presents a future where a student’s college experience is “not marked by arbitrary entries on a calendar, but one with numerous entry and exit points where students associate with rather than enroll…,” according to an interview by the Chronicle of Higher Education with Rafael L. Bras, Georgia Tech’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
www.tiftonceo.com
Destination Ag Impacts 6,359 Students at ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture
Staff Report From Tifton CEO
From pre-kindergarten through second grade, a total of 6,359 students from four different counties in South Georgia received a first-hand look at where their food, fiber, and shelter originate in the second year of the popular Destination Ag program at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Georgia Museum of Agriculture. “It is vitally important to engage students with the importance of agriculture and natural resources at an early age,” Museum Director Garrett Boone said. “We, along with our partners, are working hard to provide opportunities to increase the awareness on the critical role that agriculture and natural resources play in our everyday lives – from the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, to the house we live in.” …Thanks to an initial gift of $250,000 from the Harley Langdale, Jr. Foundation to the ABAC Foundation, Destination Ag opened its doors to pre-k through first grade students in Tift, Colquitt, and Cook counties in September 2016. On June 5, 2017, the Harley Langdale, Jr. Foundation committed $1 million over the next four years to continue the program.
www.wsav.com
Underwater robots help local scientists study hurricanes and more
By: Martin Staunton
Scientists in Chatham County are leading an effort to gather hurricane information with underwater robots. They’re called autonomous underwater vehicles or gliders. Dr. Catherine Edwards, an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography established a network of universities to work on the project.the network is called SECOORA, the Southeastern Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association. ” Part of our mission, as a five university consortium between UGA, UNC, NC State, Georgia Tech and the University of South Florida, is to provide this kind of regional coverage.” Edwards said, adding, ” We’ve been deploying a number of gliders from Cape Canaveral and having them zig-zag all the way from Florida all the way up to North Carolina and we think this kind of mission, where you’re basically making temperature heat maps of the coastal ocean all the way out to the Gulf Stream, will be really useful in helping to understand how hurricanes work.” said Edwards. NOAA, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association is funding the effort.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Google Wants to Play a Bigger Role in Your College Search. Here’s What You Need to Know.
By Dan Bauman, Goldie Blumenstyk, and Andy Thomason
Google waded into the college-search process on Tuesday, announcing that it would elevate certain statistics about four-year colleges when people use the ubiquitous search engine to seek out information. Here’s what that will look like in practice, Google says: Enter “University of Montana” into the search bar, and a prominent result will be a selection of statistics about the institution — its graduation rate and average cost after financial aid, among other things. To get those stats, Google will draw from two favorite data troves of higher-ed researchers: the College Scorecard and the Education Department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, known as Ipeds. On a search-by-search basis, the change might seem relatively minor. Searches already amplify information on colleges’ acceptance rates and material drawn from their Wikipedia pages. But Google’s immense power means the shift could have real-world ripple effects for students and the colleges recruiting them.
www.chronicle.com
A Hidden Strength of Minority-Serving Colleges: Meeting Students Where They Are
By Chris Quintana
It’s a notion at the heart of minority-serving institutions’ missions: They can bump their students up the economic ladder at a rate nearly double or triple that of predominantly white institutions. And now there’s evidence for that notion, in a finding from a new study released on Tuesday by the American Council on Education. The study pulled from a federal data set and analyzed students’ and parents’ income from a data set maintained by the Equality of Opportunity Project, a group of academics at different institutions who track inequality in America. In addition to the finding on social mobility, the study found minority-serving institutions often enroll students with the lowest family incomes, including first-generation students. Those institutions spend less on their students than do primarily white institutions, according to a report on the study. The Chronicle spoke with the report’s lead author, Lorelle Espinoza, assistant vice president in ACE’s Center for Policy Research and Strategy, about why the results might seem counterintuitive and what they mean for those institutions. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.