University System News:
www.ajc.com
Four top Georgia Tech officials out amid internal investigations
Four top officials of Georgia Tech are out after internal audits found they had improper relationships with vendors, misused resources or violated other ethics rules or state laws. Vice President of Campus Services Paul Strouts, Parking and Transportation Services Executive Director Lance Lunsway and Director of Digital Networks Tom Stipes resigned as auditors investigated allegations about them. Strouts was accused of requiring the vendor with the campus bookstore contract to give $35,000 a year for a football stadium suite primarily used for Campus Services vendors and employees, as well as by Strouts’ friends and family members, and asking another vendor for use of its suite to entertain former colleagues, friends and family. Strouts also was accused of telling subordinates to override authority to approve raises and to improperly divert funds. He and Lunsway also golfed regularly with vendors on Georgia Tech time, creating the appearance of conflicts of interest, the report found. In addition, Lunsway did private consulting work on Georgia Tech time, the report says. The auditor also found that Strouts created Stipes’ job due to their personal friendship. Also out is Executive Vice President of Administration and Finance Steven C. Swant. The university announced earlier this month that Swant would no longer serve in that role and that Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson would assume Swant’s responsibilities until a replacement could be named. The day before his departure was announced, Peterson was told that Swant, whose division selects vendors, was on the board of directors of a vendor.
www.bizjournals.com
Three Georgia Tech execs resign in review of conflicts of interest
By David Allison – Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Three executives have left Georgia Tech amidst an internal review of conflicts of interest, the university announced July 26. Paul Strouts, vice president of campus services; Lance Lunsway, executive director – PTS Auxiliary Student Center & Business; and Tom Stipes, director of digital networks, each resigned following a special review of Georgia Tech’s campus services, Georgia Tech said. “We found merit in the allegations that revealed, improper vendor relationships, waste and abuse as it relates to GT time, improper contractual requirements, and gratuities from vendors and a disregard for GT and Board of Regents (BOR) policies,” wrote Phillip W. Hurd, Georgia Tech’s chief audit executive, in a July 26 report to Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. The review also found that Steven G. Swant, who until recently served as executive vice president for administration and finance, “failed to timely disclose his personal and financial interest” in German software company RIB, which Georgia Tech had hired to help deign a new high-performance computing center in Midtown Atlanta.
www.wsbtv.com
Georgia Tech fires senior administrator over conflict of interest
https://www.wsbtv.com/video?videoId=799238623&videoVersion=1.0
Channel 2’s Richard Belcher got a first look at the report…
www.wfsb.com
EXCLUSIVE: High-level Georgia Tech administrators out after internal audit
By Jonathan Carlson, Chief Investigative Reporter
ATLANTA (CBS46) – Four high-level administrators at Georgia Tech have either resigned or been forced out after multiple internal audits allege an array of allegations of financial misuse and executive behavior violating university code and/or state law. Three scathing and stunning reports from the University System of Georgia and Georgia Tech–detail the allegations and findings. Steve Swant, executive vice president of administration and finance – gone. … Paul Strouts, vice president of campus services – gone. …The two other administrators who resigned–Lance Lunsway and Tom Stipes–are accused of either participating in or benefiting from this. Georgia Tech isn’t commenting because these are personnel matters. But the audits do allude–more are believed to be involved. Below are the reports in question:
www.myajc.com
Georgia Tech mistakenly releases data about nearly 8,000 students
By Eric Stirgus – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Many Georgia Tech students are furious after the university mistakenly emailed personal information of nearly 8,000 College of Computing students to fellow students.
The information included student identification numbers, telephone numbers, dates of birth, addresses, grade-point averages and nations of origins for students born outside the United States. Social security numbers were not included in the data leak, Tech officials said. Tech officials said College of Computing staff were building a list of students to invite to a conference and inadvertently attached the list of students identified to receive the message. The incident took place July 16. The staffers initially tried to recall the message. Tech administrators emailed the students whose information was in the spreadsheet to and asked students who received the spreadsheet to delete the message. U.S. Department of Education and University System of Georgia officials have been alerted, Tech officials said. About 30,000 students attend Georgia Tech.
www.walb.com
Overflow at Albany State University housing has parents upset
http://www.walb.com/story/38745245/overflow-at-albany-state-university-housing-has-parents-upset
By Grason Passmore, Reporter
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Parents are speaking out over living situations at Albany State University. The school posted the attached photos from inside the dorms. The pictures may not look unusual, but they show part of a room meant for two students that will now house three. Other students in single occupancy rooms will now be switched to double. Albany State notified students this week of those changes and discounted the housing rate for students assigned to the double occupancy bedrooms, but parents said they believe it’s not enough. The parents WALB spoke to on Thursday were very upset with the new housing situation. They said they understand when a university needs to use overflow housing, but they said they wished they were notified sooner. The dorms in the pictures attached are about to be full of students and belongings in just two weeks. But, they’ve also caused a stir this upcoming school year. “They’re putting two people in a one person room. Ridiculous. Can you imagine?” said Crystal Edwards, a parent of an ASU student.
www.jbhe.com
Savannah State University Debuts Its College of Education
https://www.jbhe.com/2018/07/savannah-state-university-debuts-its-college-of-education/
Savannah State University, the historically Black educational institution in Georgia, has announced that it has established the College of Education. The division was previously called the School of Teacher Education. Michael Laney, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Savannah State, said that “the College of Education more accurately captures the expanded mission to offer degree programs in many areas of education and lays the foundation for future graduate degrees.” The new College of Education was also authorized to offer a bachelor’s degree program in middle grades education with concentrations in language arts, mathematics, science or social studies.
www.washingtonpost.com
She was eager to meet her college roommate — until the racist text arrived, screenshots appear to show
By Erin B. Logan
It’s a common college experience. You are randomly assigned a roommate, exchange pleasantries until you meet face to face and live together for at least one school year. In keeping with the tradition, a black student at Georgia Southern University introduced herself to her future roommate off-campus to initiate the process. “Hey!! Did you just call me,” the future roommate responded. “So sorry lol my phone is on silent.” “It was an accident!” the student replied. “Haha it’s all good. I went to add you as a contact and I accidentally called you too,” the future roommate wrote. The next message was not so pleasant. “Her insta looks pretty normal not too ni—-ish,” the future roommate allegedly said in a message intended for a third future roommate, according to a screenshot shared on social media earlier this week by Dajah Morrison, a friend of the black student, who declined to comment and wished to remain anonymous. “OMG I am so sorry! Holy crap,” the future roommate subsequently texted, according to the screenshots. “I did NOT mean to say that. … I meant to say triggerish meaning like you seemed really cool nothing that triggered a red flag. I’m so embarrassed I apologize.” The future roommate blamed auto-correct. But the Internet did not believe her.
www.bellanaija.com
University says its “no place for bigotry and racism” after Student used the N-word on new Roommate
https://www.bellanaija.com/2018/07/university-says-no-place-racism-student-used-n-word-new-roommate/
By BellaNaija.com 1 Comment
Georgia Southern University has had to declare that the college is “no place for bigotry or racism” following an iMessage interaction between a student and her new roommate. Buzzfeed reports that this stance had to be taken after screenshots circulated on social media of a white student accidentally sending a racial slur to a black student who is to be her new roommate. The exchange happened after the black student sent an introductory message to her and she, among her replies wrote: “Her insta looks pretty normal not too ni***rish.” She then apologized to the black student, blaming her phone’s autocorrect for the slur.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Republicans and Democrats Both Think Higher Ed’s on the Wrong Track — for Very Different Reasons
By Emma Pettit
Most Americans aren’t fond of where higher education in the United States is headed, a new Pew Research Center survey has found. To learn why, the results say, find out a person’s political party. The findings, announced on Thursday, said about 61 percent of Americans think higher education is moving in the wrong direction. About three-fourths of Republicans and those who lean Republican believe so. The figure was lower, but still a slim majority at 52 percent, for Democrats and those who lean Democratic. That partisan divide is consistent with 2017 Pew surveys, the center said on its website. Last year the organization reported that in general, Republicans feel “colder” toward college professors than Democrats do, and are more likely to think that colleges and universities affect the country negatively.
www.mdjonline.com
Hudgens: College Students should consider renters insurance
MDJ Staff
As the start of the school year approaches, college students that are moving out of the house or living off campus may want to consider purchasing renters insurance to help with the cost of replacing stolen or damaged personal belongings. According to Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, renters insurance can cover the loss of laptop computers, smart tablets, musical instruments, jewelry and more in the event of theft, fire or some other unforeseen disaster. If students plan on living in private, off-campus housing, the landlord may require them to have renters insurance, but not all do. Just because a landlord insures the space that a student rents does not mean that the student is covered. “If your college student is moving away to school with expensive electronics or other valuables, buying renters insurance is a smart move,” said Commissioner Hudgens. “The landlord may have insurance on his building, but that doesn’t cover replacement of a renter’s possessions.”