University System News:
www.ajc.com
Officials unveil $20 million financial tech academy at Georgia State
By Eric Stirgus – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
University System of Georgia officials announced Tuesday they’re starting a hub at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business for all 26 colleges and universities in the system to learn and train more students for careers in the financial technology industry, saying there’s a labor gap in the state. The initiative, FinTech Academy, will be a public-private partnership with businesses that will cost about $20 million over the next three years. University System officials said they’ll reallocate some funds for the effort. One company, FIS, a banking software and services company located in more than 100 countries, announced Tuesday it’s committing $1 million to the academy. Financial technology is said to be thriving in metro Atlanta, but more workers are needed. By 2020, the region will need an additional 5,000 fintech professionals, particularly in software development and data science, local experts say. “We’re in a talent war and we need fintech talent,” Denise Williams, chief people officer at FIS, said at Tuesday’s state Board of Regents meeting. Local businesses will help fund the training and offer apprenticeships and internships, said Art Recesso, the University System’s ecampus chief innovation officer. The first two companies to sign up are FIS and InComm, a Georgia-based retail and comsumer payment technology company.
www.finextra.com
University System of Georgia creates Fintech Academy
The university system of Georgia is creating a fintech academy to build a talent pipeline for the US state’s fast-growing financial technology sector.
University System of Georgia creates Fintech Academy
Georgia is a fintech hotbed, with more than 40,000 people in the state employed in the industry, thanks largely to ‘Transaction Alley’, where around 70% of all US payments are processed. And the sector is expecting to continue to grow, with an associated escalating demand for talent, including a need for 5000 new hires by 2020 – 95% of whom must possess industry-specific functional experience. To help create a talent pool, all 26 institutions in the state’s university system are backing the new fintech academy, which will prepare individuals to enter fintech or transition from another career through degree programmes, executive and continuing education, and apprenticeships and internships.
www.businesswire.com
Media Advisory: Implications of Georgia State Board of Regents’ Formation of Georgia FinTech Academy
- West Richards of American Transaction Processors Coalition Available to Discuss
ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Having conceptualized and advocated for the creation of a USG sponsored fintech curriculum since early 2014 and more recently the creation of a FinTech Academy announced earlier today, the American Transaction Processors Coalition (ATPC) played a critical role in organizing support for this initiative with Governor Deal’s Administration, the Georgia Assembly and the Georgia Congressional Delegation. ATPC also helped to facilitate the initial engagement between the state’s largest fintech employers and the University System of Georgia. Chancellor Steve Wrigley and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia announced the formation of the academy (www.georgiafintechacademy.org), which is a statewide initiative to create a talent pipeline for Georgia’s fast-growing financial technology business sector. Richards is the executive director of ATPC and advised both employers and the state on the merits of such a program, is able to discuss:
www.prweb.com
Georgia FinTech Academy to Locate Executive Offices, Professional Education Hub at Georgia State University’s Downtown Campus and Buckhead Center
The Georgia FinTech Academy, a statewide talent development initiative announced today (Sept. 11) by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia will have two physical locations at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business, executive offices on the university’s downtown campus and a professional education hub at its Buckhead Executive Center.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
Regents recommend $1.3M for VSU performing arts center
VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University has received a state recommendation for $1.3 million in design-phase funding for a performing arts center. The project would utilize the property that was once the Ashley Cinemas location off of North Ashley Street. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia recommended the funds Tuesday in initial support for a new, state-of-the-art performing arts center designed to enhance the arts, tourism and economic development in South Georgia, according to a statement from VSU. The regents recommendation goes to the Office of the Governor for further consideration before the start of the 2019 legislative session, according to the VSU statement.
www.savannahnow.com
Georgia Southern presidential search panel hosts listening session at Armstrong campus
By Ann Meyer
One student showed up at a listening session the Georgia Southern University search committee held Tuesday on the Armstrong campus to solicit feedback and ideas about what characteristics the committee should look for in a new university president. Fortunately, he wasn’t just any student. Dan Hayes, the editor of Inkwell, the Armstrong campus newspaper, intended to cover the event. Instead, he was questioned repeatedly by search committee president Dustin Anderson, who is also president of the faculty senate. “Our job here as the committee is to listen,” Anderson said. Listening sessions also were held on the Statesboro campus on Monday and are scheduled to be held on the Liberty campus Wednesday. They are the first step of the selection process, Anderson said. The goal is to have a president in place by summer, he said. After the search committee winnows the field, the Board of Regents will determine the selection. Anderson took the opportunity to ask Hayes what characteristics he felt the committee should look for in the next president. “Be here. Talk to students. Come to an event. Embrace diverse ideas,” Hayes said. Hayes hopes the president understands the Armstrong campus’ history but also is willing to invest in it to draw new students to Savannah.
www.daily-tribune.com
GHC’s continuing ed launching 3 new health-career programs
http://www.daily-tribune.com/stories/ghcs-continuing-ed-launching-3-new-health-career-programs,19903
BY DONNA HARRIS
Georgia Highlands College is trying to fill a severe gap in the medical field. For spring semester, the college’s Center for Continuing and Professional Education will launch its Health Careers Training Institute and will add three new programs — clinical medical assistant, pharmacy technician and phlebotomy technician — to its already-successful certified nursing assistant program, which is a prerequisite for entering GHC’s nursing program. Director of Continuing Education George White said one of the main reasons his department exists is workforce training. “Allied health jobs continue to be in demand,” he said. “Clinical medical assistant, pharmacy technician and phlebotomy technician were selected for several reasons.” Local employers reached out to the college “expressing an interest in a phlebotomy program, asking if we would consider offering one,” White said. As for the pharmacy technician and clinical medical assistant positions, there is “currently a training gap in Bartow County and beyond,” he said.
www.globalatlanta.com
15 From UGA to Broaden Their Horizons With 2018-19 Fulbright Study and Teaching Grants
PHIL BOLTON
The University of Georgia announced on Sept. 11 that 15 recipients of Fulbright study and teaching grants will take advantage of disparate programs in countries ranging from Brazil to Vietnam. Six of the 15 have received academic and arts grants and nine will be teaching English. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program with the support of the U.S. government and through binational partnerships with foreign governments aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and people of other countries. The program sponsors U.S. and foreign participants for exchanges in all areas of endeavor including the sciences, business, academe, public service, government and the arts.
www.middlegeorgiaceo.com
FVSU Ranked #1 Public Historically Black University in Georgia
http://middlegeorgiaceo.com/news/2018/09/fvsu-ranked-1-public-historically-black-university-geotgia/
Staff Report From Middle Georgia CEO
U.S. News and World Report ranked Fort Valley State University as the #31 historically black college or university in the country in its 2019 Best Colleges listing, released today. FVSU’s ranking was #1 among Georgia public HBCUs and #18 among public HBCUs nationally. This year’s listing, which evaluated 1,400 schools, emphasized the earning potential and job prospects of college graduates. “FVSU continues to produce an educational environment which promotes discovery, innovation, and creativity,” said Dr. Paul Jones, FVSU president. “This ranking is another affirmation of our work to create the college of the future.
www.middlegeorgiaceo.com
MGA Earns Recognition from US News & World Report, Sees Enrollment Climb 6%
Middle Georgia State University’s enrollment is growing at the fastest rate in four years just as the institution lands on a U.S. News & World Report best college rankings list for the first time. As of September 10, Middle Georgia State’s fall enrollment is at nearly 7,800. That’s 6 percent higher than 2017’s fall enrollment and the largest student population since 2014. A significant portion of that increase is attributed to an 18 percent increase in new undergraduate students, with MGA welcoming over 2,500 new students this semester. Among these new faces at MGA are students from 16 countries, 25 states, and 126 of Georgia’s 159 counties. The incoming class’s most common majors are nursing, business, biology, aviation science and management, and information technology.
www.thebrunswicknews.com
College honors lives lost on 9/11
By LAUREN MCDONALD
The numbers cannot convey the full magnitude of the tragedy. Nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost on Sept. 11, 2001. Millions more were affected. Three-hundred and forty three first responders died while saving others. So on Tuesday, 343 miniature American flags were put on display on College of Coastal Georgia’s campus, in honor of first responders who died on 9/11. VALOR, a student veterans organization at the college, hosted a ceremony Tuesday morning to mark the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
www.athensceo.com
Institute Welcomes UGA’s New Rural Economic Development Specialist
Jana Wiggins
The University of Georgia strengthened its vigorous economic development outreach with the recent addition of a knowledgeable community development professional. Saralyn Stafford, a community and economic developer with a 30-year career focused on Georgia, joined UGA this summer to connect rural communities with the university’s vast knowledge and expertise. Stafford will serve as a liaison with local elected officials, chambers of commerce, economic development professionals, school boards, nonprofit organizations, small business owners and other community leaders. “Economic prosperity in rural Georgia is a top priority for the state and a strategic priority of the University of Georgia’s outreach programs,” said Jennifer Frum, UGA vice president for public service and outreach. “Saralyn is well known as a collaborative and knowledgeable leader with great passion for rural Georgia, and we are thrilled to have her join our team.” Stafford will be based in South Georgia’s Coffee County and represent UGA’s Public Service and Outreach units. Her work will focus on connecting communities with the Institute of Government and other PSO units, including the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, the Small Business Development Center and the Archway Partnership, to assist in addressing community and regional challenges.
www.athensceo.com
UGA Researchers Receive $5M to Help Reduce Energy Costs of Indoor Farming
Merritt Melancon
One of the steepest barriers to profitable controlled-environment agriculture is the energy cost associated with providing the plants enough light, but new research being pioneered by University of Georgia could cut those costsby 50 percent. With the support of a $5 million grant, a UGA-led team is working to develop strategies to increase the efficiency of lighting for controlled-environment agriculture:the practice of growing plants in greenhouses or plant factories. Professor Marc van Iersel, of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department of Horticulture, is leading the effort. The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute for Food and Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative funded the project, called “LAMP: Lighting Approaches to Maximize Profits,” earlier this summer.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Would the Education Dept.’s New Title IX Rules Really Save Colleges Money?
By Sarah Brown
As the Education Department tells it, colleges and schools could collectively save hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade under its forthcoming sexual-misconduct regulations. That’s because the proposed rules — at least, in their draft form — would lower the bar for when colleges must conduct sexual-assault or sexual-harassment investigations under Title IX, the federal gender-equity law. The logic is simple, according to Betsy DeVos, the education secretary: If campus administrators were conducting fewer investigations, colleges wouldn’t have to spend as much money on them. The cost analysis was reported on Sunday by The New York Times. The analysis, designed to study the effect of the department’s proposed Title IX rules, was included in a draft of the regulations that the Times reported on last month.