University System News:
www.onlineathens.com
LEAD Athens donates $4K to Campus Kitchen
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20180804/lead-athens-donates-4k-to-campus-kitchen
By Staff Reports
On July 27, University of Georgia’s Campus Kitchen catered a lunch at the Athens Community Council on Aging for Campus Kitchen supporters and friends, as well as the ACCA staff. The LEAD Athens Alumni Association presented a check to Campus Kitchen for $4,000, which were proceeds raised from the 2018 LEAD Athens Moonlight 5k. The LEAD Athens Alumni Association and Campus Kitchen have been partners in this race for the last three years.
www.albanyherald.com
Thrash Wellness Center improves body, mind at ABAC
Workout for body proving to be workout for ABAC students’ brain
From Staff Reports
A workout for the body is proving to be a workout for the brain for students who visit the Thrash Wellness Center at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. ABAC Assistant Dean of Students Alan Kramer said ABAC students who visit the wellness center are more likely to succeed in the classroom, according to data ABAC has gathered during the previous three semesters. “Students who came to the Thrash Wellness Center 15 or more times in a semester are more likely to earn a higher grade-point average than those who attended less or not at all,” Kramer said. “Students taking advantage of this facility also appear to have better time management skills and will be more likely to persist in their college responsibilities.”
www.myajc.com
Georgia Tech unveils new bootcamp program in Peachtree Corners
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia Tech announced last week it will start a program in Gwinnett County in January where students can earn a certificate in various skills that workers hope will result in higher-paying careers that local officials believe will boost the region’s economy. Tech’s president, G.P. “Bud” Peterson announced the coding bootcamp program, which will be done in Peachtree Corners. Similar bootcamps are currently done in Atlanta and Savannah … Peterson said such programs are vital to Tech’s academic mission as more students pursue careers where such skills are necessary, with many of them desiring to start up their own companies.
www.bizjournals.com
Jeff Delaney passes test as Kennesaw State interim CIO
By Eric Mandel – Digital Producer , Atlanta Business Chronicle
Kennesaw State University’s interim chief information officer has passed his test run in the role. KSU President Pamela Whitten said Friday she appointed Jeff Delaney as CTO, effective August 6. The former Savannah State University CIO had been serving in an interim capacity at KSU since February, responsible for the strategic vision of the University Information Technology Services division, forecasting and analyzing institutional needs. “As interim CIO, Jeff has demonstrated his ability to lead a team and deliver results-oriented technology solutions,” said Whitten, who was appointed KSU president in June and began in her new position July 16, in a news release. “His professionalism and vision are assets that will continue to serve our students, faculty and staff.” Delaney has more than two decades of experience in technology leadership for higher education, including positions as the associate vice chancellor for Information Technology Services with the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
www.myajc.com
Georgia Tech V.P. retiring amidst staff changes after investigations
By Eric Stirgus and Ty Tagami – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Georgia Tech vice president who played a role in the events that triggered the firing last month of a top official will retire at the end of August. Institute spokesman Lance E. Wallace said the departure of Patrick J. McKenna has nothing to do with the recent investigations. McKenna, the vice president for legal affairs and risk management, however, did play a role in the events that led to that firing and three resignations. He advised the fired Tech executive about the executive’s service on the board of a company doing business with Tech. McKenna helped design a plan that was supposed to manage the conflict of interest, but it failed, a University System of Georgia review said. Another university system probe said McKenna offered no counsel about correcting a reporting structure that marginalized an ethics compliance officer. McKenna could not be reached for comment. University President George P. “Bud” Peterson said McKenna’s position will be renamed, and the person in it will report directly to him as the chief ethics officer “with sufficient authority and responsibility to ensure an independent and objective assessment of potential conflicts of interest and ethical concerns.”
www.ajc.com
Georgia Tech creates sustainable plastic from crab shells, tree fibers
By Alex Soderstrom, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Discarded crab shells and tree fibers hardly seem like the future of plastic packaging, but J. Carson Meredith, a professor of engineering at Georgia Tech, believes a new material made from those two components may be just that. After two years of lab work, Meredith and a team of researchers developed a flexible plastic material made from natural, compostable materials, a development Georgia Tech announced July 23. Meredith hopes the plastic will serve the same purpose as common petroleum-based packaging while stopping the clogging of landfills and oceans.
Higher Education News:
www.nytimes.com
Colleges and Universities Woo Once-Overlooked Transfer Students
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/education/learning/transfer-students-colleges-universities.html
By Alina Tugend
Transfer students — whose challenges have often been ignored in higher education — are feeling a surge in popularity as colleges and universities are increasingly wooing them. “This was a group that was always taken for granted,” said Todd Rinehart, vice chancellor for enrollment at the University of Denver. But last month, the University of California system announced that it has accepted more transfer students than ever before. And in a move that is perhaps more symbolic than substantive, Princeton University has, for its 2018 class, accepted 13 transfer students, the first such students it has enrolled since 1990. “At this moment in time, transfer students are receiving the most positive attention from higher education that they ever have,” said Janet Marling, executive director of the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students at the University of North Georgia. Transfer students, who make up 38 percent of all students in higher education, have always helped a university’s revenue by replacing students who leave after the first or second year. But behind the new interest in courting them lies one stark reality: Undergraduate enrollment is declining and has been for six years, according to the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit education research organization.
www.npr.org
DeVos Seeks To Rewrite The Rules On Higher Ed
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/02/634398751/devos-seeks-to-rewrite-the-rules-on-higher-ed
Anya Kamenetz
The U.S. Education Department is going back to the drawing board on some basic rules of higher education, including one concept that has been in place for 125 years. The goal? Unleash innovation to better serve students. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has called for a “major shift” in how we provide higher education: “We have to give students a much wider venue of opportunity, starting in high school and middle school, to help guide them into a productive future.” Critics, though, call this move giving free rein to bad actors.