University System News:
www.augustachronicle.com
Scuttlebiz: Ribbon was worthy adversary, but not for Deal’s penknife
If a shrine was built for Gov. Nathan Deal at the Georgia Cyber Center – something plausible given the effusive (and well-deserved) praise he received during the recent grand opening – it would be incomplete without one soon-to-be-mythical relic. Deal’s pocket knife. Not any pocket knife, of which I’m sure the governor has many. I mean the pocket knife. The one he pulled without hesitation upon realizing the Augusta University-issued oversized scissors couldn’t snip the ceremonial strip at the new Hull McKnight Building … The production of patent-worthy technology would certainly boost AU’s standing among regional research universities. As it stands now, only the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of South Carolina crack the top 100 list of patent-producing universities. Based on 2017 utility patent data from the National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners Association, Georgia Tech ranked No. 43 on the list with 53 patents.
www.albanyherald.com
Albany State officials tout slowly stabilizing fall enrollment numbers
After two years of double-digit declines, ASU officials call fall 2017 numbers encouraging
By Terry Lewis
After two straight semesters of double-digit fall enrollment declines, Albany State University appears to have righted the ship somewhat, slowing the bleeding to a 7 percent decline during the past fall semester. While still leaking students, ASU officials anticipate the fall 2018 enrollment numbers will settle between 6,400 and 6,600, similar to last fall’s final number of 6,615. The university reported a record high fall enrollment of 10,760 students in 2011. Much of Albany State’s earlier enrollment losses have been attributed to the university’s consolidation with former Darton State College, which officials said was a factor in back-to-back double digit enrollment drops — 10.7 percent in fall of 2015 and 12.9 percent in 2016 — shortly after the consolidation was first announced in November of 2015. In 2015, Albany State’s fall enrollment was reported at 8,963; a year later that number fell to 7,161. At the time, University System of Georgia officials warned declines in enrollment usually occurred after consolidations are announced. UGA Vice Chancellor for Communications Charles Sutliff pointed to the merger of Georgia State University and Perimeter College, which preceded the local consolidation.
www.walb.com
ASU’s 2018 enrollment numbers in line with previous year
http://www.walb.com/story/38643412/asus-2018-enrollment-numbers-in-line-with-previous-year
By Asia Wilson, Reporter
We’ve been following enrollment numbers for the new Albany State since they consolidated with Darton State College. With less than a month until the start of the fall semester, the question remains the same as last year: Are enrollment numbers increasing or stagnant? “We expect our enrollment to be somewhere between 6,400 and 6,600 just where it was last year, and we’re on track to meet that target,” said Stephanie Lawrence, Assistant Vice President at ASU. About a month ago that was not the story for Albany State University. In an email, there was a statement that said they needed to have 2,000 new and returning students before the start of the fall semester. “I don’t think it was a need for 2,000 students as much as it was that we had students that had not registered that we were reaching out to,” said Lawrence. As of June, they had a total of 4,645 new and returning students enrolled and in a months time. Through recruitment, they were able to bring that number to 6,069 registered students.
www.41nbc.com
MIDDLE GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY LOWERS ONLINE CLASS TUITION
Per credit hour, the tuition cost is expected to go from $169 to $111.
https://www.41nbc.com/2018/07/12/middle-georgia-state-university-lowers-online-class-tuition/
By Tanya Modersitzki
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/ WMGT) – Middle Georgia State University already has the lowest tuition in Georgia, but they’re becoming even more affordable. The school is lowering its online tuition rate to the on-campus rate. Online classes use to cost $169 per credit hour. Now, it’s down to $150. That rate will continue to drop to the on-campus rate of $111, within the next 2-years. The change comes after the University System of Georgia challenged MGSU to lower it. “I was actually thinking about leaving because of the cost and the fact that now that it’s lowered, I don’t have to leave,” Daniel Porter, a junior I.T. major said. “I’m happy I can graduate in 2020 with my I.T. degree. I’m just so thankful.” “Over all, any student is probably going to see a decrease in their tuition, but specifically those that are fully online are going to see the most benefit of this over the next 2-years,” MGSU Assistant Vice President Enrollment Manager Cheryl Carty said.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA program entices students toward health careers
By Lee Shearer
A small group of top high school students from throughout the state got a kind of crash course in college this week at the University of Georgia. The lucky students are attending the university’s first “Pre-Collegiate Summer Institute,” sponsored by the UGA College of Public Health and the UGA Office of Multicultural Services and Programs with a “New Approaches to Diversity and Inclusion Grant” from the university. The hope is that the program can lead to increased diversity in the college, including students from rural areas as well as ethnic or racial groups. The UGA program for students interested in medicine and public health is modeled after one Clemson University has sponsored for many years, said Brittani Harmon, a clinical professor in the College of Public Health and the head of the program.
www.ajc.com
This Life with Gracie: FDA-approved drug holds first promise for kids with genetic disease
By Gracie Bonds Staples, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the nearly five decades since Mucolipidosis Type IV, or ML4, was first identified, children with the disease have had little promise of ever having a “normal” life. ML4 generally strikes their nervous system early and hard. Most never learn to walk or talk and have a maximum mental capacity of about 18 months. By their teen years, the disease steals their eyesight, and by their 20s, their life is at stake. But just in the past few months, research using an already FDA-approved drug is giving parents like Randy and Caroline Gold of Atlanta hope… “In under a year, this group of researchers from Georgia Tech, Harvard and the Weizmann Institute in Israel published a paper based on their collaborative data showing Fingolimod was effective,” Oberman said. “That extraordinary level of research is what we need to be able to go to the FDA and say we need to use this in children.” And that’s not all. Many treatments for major diseases are found by studying rare diseases like ML4, Oberman said, noting researchers studying ML4 see lessons for other diseases like Alzheimer’s that also exhibit neuroinflammation.
Higher Education News:
www.washingtonpost.com
Pencils down: Major colleges stop requiring essay test for admission
By Nick Anderson
The SAT and ACT essay tests began with fanfare in 2005, a bid to assess the writing chops of college-bound students under the pressure of a clock. Now, many colleges say time’s up for those exams. With a few notable exceptions, the consensus in higher education is that the tests are becoming an afterthought even though hundreds of thousands of high school students still take them every year as one of the grinding rituals on the road to college. One by one, major schools this year are dropping their requirements for prospective students to submit an essay score from the national testing services. Princeton and Stanford universities last week became the latest to end the mandate, following Dartmouth College and Harvard and Yale universities.