University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
ASU, Columbus State to offer nexus degrees
New degrees focus on hands-on experiential learning
By Jada Haynes
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved Albany State and Columbus State universities’ request Wednesday to become the first to offer the University System’s newest college education credential called a nexus degree. The new degree is additionally valuable for people who may have a job but want to acquire a new skill or who have not yet completed a college degree and want to advance. Nexus degrees are college credentials that emphasize hands-on experiential learning, skilled knowledge and connections with industry in high-demand career fields. The degrees expand on an educational portfolio that already includes associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. They stem from work being done as part of USG’s College 2025 Initiative, which seeks to refine the delivery and accessibility of public higher education to meet 21st-century learning and career needs. Albany State will offer two new nexus degrees, one in blockchain with machine learning and another in blockchain with data analytics. Columbus State’s new nexus degree will be in film production. Other fields under consideration for future USG programs include cybersecurity and financial technology.
www.wfxl.com
SGA President comments on new ASU President
https://wfxl.com/news/local/sga-president-comments-on-new-asu-president
by Kailey McCarthy
Albany State University has a new president. On Tuesday, the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents named Marion Fedrick as president over the university. Fedrick has served as interim president since January of this year, replacing retiring president Art Dunning. SGA President Diamond Perry says she and other students are excited for Fedrick. She says Fedrick has proven to be student friendly and is capable of making Albany State a premier institution.
www.myajc.com
Georgia State freshman’s class has record grade-point average
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia State University’s freshman class had the best high school grades of any incoming class since the university began tracking such data. This semester’s first-year students had a 3.5 grade-point average, officials said in its annual report released Wednesday of the freshman class. Average SAT scores for incoming students have increased by 20 points. It’s also the largest freshman class. More than 4,600 first-year students enrolled at the university’s Atlanta campus, an increase of 700 students. Georgia State’s Perimeter College campuses are welcoming 3,200 new freshmen, an increase of 300 over the fall of 2017. Georgia State has 52,000 students, the largest enrollment of any University System of Georgia campus.
www.accesswdun.com
University of North Georgia gets approval for East Asian studies, healthcare informatics degrees
By AccessWDUN Staff
The University of North Georgia will soon begin offering bachelor’s degrees in East Asian studies and healthcare services and informatics administration. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved the new degrees at its Aug. 14 meeting. According to a UNG press release, more than a decade of strategic planning and hiring led to the degree program in East Asian studies, which will begin in spring 2019. Students in this major will have a concentration in either Chinese, Japanese or Korean studies. Dr. Sung Shin Kim, director of East Asian studies at UNG, said the degree program will be the only one of its kind in Georgia and one of just a few in the Southeast. Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University have Asian studies, without the coherent focus on East Asia as a region UNG will provide. The University of Georgia and Augusta University only offer a certificate in Asian studies.
www.onlineathens.com
New building slated for State Botanical Garden of Georgia
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20180815/new-building-slated-for-state-botanical-garden-of-georgia
By Lee Shearer
The University of Georgia is planning a new building for the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. The new building was approved at this week’s meeting of the state Board of Regents, the governor-appointed body that oversees the state’s public colleges and universities. According to information UGA submitted to the Regents, who met in Atlanta on Tuesday, the two-level building of about 7,000 square feet will include exhibit and gallery space, classrooms, offices, collection storage and an entry foyer that can be used for receptions and other events. The building will be near the Botanical Garden’s Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden, now under construction and scheduled to open to the public early next year.
www.live5news.com
ABAC starts the year off with high enrollment and service
http://www.live5news.com/story/38886156/abac-starts-the-year-off-with-high-enrollment-and-service
By Ri’Shawn Bassette, Reporter
TIFTON, GA (WALB) – Starting the year off right, one Southwest Georgia college is teaching its freshman class the importance of giving back to the community. On Tuesday, over 500 students at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) came together for a day of service. The students started the year by volunteering within the community. Students lent a hand at the salvation army, an animal shelter and more. ABAC wants to show that giving back is apart of the college experience. “We’re building better citizens graduating from ABAC. When they graduate, they will have already experienced a lot of things here to take into their future,” said Dean of Students Bernice Hughes. The college hopes to continue the day of service every year.
www.albanyherald.com
ABAC begins fall term with highest enrollment ever
College expects more than 4,100 students when final numbers come out
From Staff Reports
TIFTON — With instructional sites spread far and wide across South Georgia, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College began the 2018 fall semester on Wednesday with the highest enrollment in its 110-year history. ABAC President David Bridges said he expects more than 4,100 students to be enrolled when the final numbers are compiled. If the numbers hold true, those students will be from 24 countries, 18 states, and 155 of Georgia’s 159 counties. “We have come a long way since 27 students walked up the front steps of Tift Hall in 1908 to attend classes at the Second District Agricultural and Mechanical School,” Bridges, who begins his 13th fall semester as the ABAC president, said. “As an ABAC alumnus, I am proud to have been a part of that journey, both as a student and now as an administrator.
www.ledger-enquirer.com
CSU Nursing program gets a financial shot in the arm
https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/article216737895.html
BY MIKE HASKEY
Columbus State University’s school of nursing got a financial booster shot Wednesday morning. St. Francis Hospital presented a $50,000 check to CSU officials at Frank Brown Hall in downtown Columbus, home for the school’s nursing program. Representatives from the St. Francis Auxiliary followed that donation with a donation of their own to the program in the amount of $8,000. CSU President Chris Markwood said partnerships such as this one are critical for the school’s success.
www.gainesvilletimescom
Defense bill OKs cyber institute for UNG
Would prepare active-duty personnel to defend against cyber attacks
https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/defense-bill-oks-cyber-institute-ung/
Joshua Silavent
On Monday, Aug. 13, President Donald Trump signed a $717 billion military bill that authorizes the U.S. Department of Defense to establish a cyber institute at the University of North Georgia and other senior military colleges with Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. “We are very pleased with this recent step in the process,” UNG spokeswoman Sylvia Carson told The Times in an email. UNG offers a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity and a graduate-level certificate. “We also have a number of cadets who have graduated and secured positions within the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and U.S. Army Cyber School, notably UNG alumnus Maj. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, chief of staff of the U.S. Cyber Command,” Carson said.
www.wrdw.com
Augusta University investigating phishing attacks on email accounts
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) — Augusta University officials say two phishing attacks on Augusta University’s email accounts may have led to unauthorized access of protected health information and other personal information. They say the university has been working closely with external cybersecurity professionals to define the scope of the first incident. They say on July 31, 2018, investigators determined that email accounts accessed earlier by an unauthorized user may have given them access to the personal and protected health information of approximately 417,000 individuals. The investigation also determined that the incident occurred on September 10-11, 2017. An investigation is also currently underway for a second phishing attack that occurred July 11, 2018, which appears to be smaller in scope, officials say.
www.ajc.com
UPDATE: Ga Tech president submits report on staff ethics failings
Report to be reviewed by University System chancellor
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia Tech officials said president George “Bud” Peterson delivered a report Wednesday to the state’s Board of Regents about how the university will prevent ethical abuses like the ones that ended with him firing an executive vice president and also to the resignation of three highly paid staffers. …The Atlanta Journal-Constitution filed an open records request with the University System Wednesday morning to receive the report. The University System responded shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday saying it received the request and would provide an update within three business days. The state’s open records law requires government agencies to respond to a request for records within three business days.
Higher Education News:
www.diverseeducation.com
The Common Application Launches New Transfer App
by LaMont Jones
A new app designed to aid the transition of transfer students will be used by more than 650 colleges and universities for the 2018-19 academic year. Last year, The Common Application, a non-profit membership organization dedicated to access, equity and integrity in the college admission process, convened a group representing two-year and four-year colleges, student advocacy groups and education policy experts to identify major barriers to access for post-traditional students. Their findings led to the development of a redesigned Common App for transfer that takes into account the unique circumstances of today’s transfer and adult student populations. Only 15 percent of college students in the United States attend a four-year institution and live on campus, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The remaining 85 percent are a diverse group of adult learners, full-time employees, low-income students, commuters and working parents. These so-called post-traditional students often face challenges during the college application process that make it difficult for them to access the full range of higher education options available. Schools will use the transfer app to improve the pathways and outcomes for bachelor’s degree-seekers hoping to transfer from one four-year college to another four-year institution or from a community college to a four-year institution, or who are active military members, veterans, online learners and adults returning to school to complete a degree.
www.chronicle.com
Enough ‘Do More With Less.’ It’s Time for Colleges to Find Actual Efficiencies.
By Scott Carlson
If controlling costs were a baseball game for colleges, what inning would it be? Panelists at a recent conference suggested the seventh inning (almost there) and the fifth (a ways to go). Rick Staisloff said the game hadn’t even begun: “We’re warming up the band to start singing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.'” Staisloff, who spent many years as chief financial officer of a small institution, Notre Dame of Maryland University, and as a finance-policy analyst for Maryland’s higher-education commission, now consults with colleges on finance and strategy. Most campus leaders, he finds, do not know how much they spend to educate students in various majors, and so don’t know where to find efficiencies. Detailed data can bust some preconceived notions: Staisloff cites one college where religious studies was bringing in more net revenue than some preprofessional subjects. Dozens of experts informed The Chronicle’s new report, “Sustaining the College Business Model: How to Shore Up Institutions Now and Reinvent Them for the Future.” Staisloff, a clear voice on the business of higher education, pivots from balance sheets to the value of the liberal arts. He sees colleges across the country grappling with spiraling costs and diminishing revenue amid skepticism about the value of a degree.