University System News:
www.gainesvilletimes.com
University of North Georgia implementing ‘Momentum Year’ to help freshmen get a taste of their major
Joshua Silavent
For many college students, the toughest part of earning a bachelor’s degree is getting through those first two years of core classes and settling on a major area of study. To help alleviate this burden, the University of North Georgia (along with other schools in the University System of Georgia) is preparing to launch its “Momentum Year” beginning in the 2019 fall semester, which aims to give freshmen a taste of their chosen degree path before it’s too late. “Ideally you want to reduce time to graduation, which would reduce the cost to the student,” said Dr. Eugene Van Sickle, associate department head of History, Anthropology and Philosophy at UNG, and the assistant vice president of Strategic Student Success Initiatives. “We’re really ramping up the support services that we have for students to help them stay on track and make progress.” The momentum year concept originates from within the Complete College Georgia program, which was established in 2011 to increase the percentage of the state’s population with some level of college education to 60 percent from 42 percent by 2020. …The momentum year, which is tailored to the needs of each institution and its student demographics, includes having freshmen select a “meta-major,” such as in the social or health sciences, for nine credit hours.
www.tiftonceo.com
Former ABAC Professor Receives Conservation Award
http://tiftonceo.com/news/2018/09/former-abac-professor-receives-conservation-award/
Staff Report From Tifton CEO
Dr. Doug Waid, a Professor Emeritus of Wildlife and Forestry at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, received the Jenkins-Crockford-Hayes Wildlife Conservation Award at the recent annual meeting of the Georgia Chapter of The Wildlife Society. Daymond Hughes, president of the Georgia Chapter of The Wildlife Society, said the Jenkins-Crockford-Hayes award is designed to be a later career award to honor wildlife professionals who have made significant impact over their careers across a variety of avenues. “These may include but are not limited to, innovations in research and/or management techniques and contributions to students and professionals across the state, region, and nation,” Hughes said. “The award is not given annually and is only presented to nominees considered worthy of its distinction.” During the 23 years Waid taught in the wildlife program at ABAC, he impacted the lives of a countless number of students.
www.smartresilient.com
Georgia Cyber Center Selects Former NSA GA Commander
https://www.smartresilient.com/georgia-cyber-center-selects-former-nsa-ga-commander
Christine Book
The former commander of NSA Georgia, Col. Eric Toler, has been named executive director of the Georgia Cyber Center. In his new role, which will begin October 1, Col. Toler will work with Augusta University, Augusta Technical College and Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) executive stakeholders to define and execute the overall strategy, vision, mission and goals for the center’s programs and partnerships.
www.bizjournals.com
Georgia Tech buys office park near Atlantic Station
By Douglas Sams – Commercial Real Estate Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech Foundation has acquired a large office park near Atlantic Station. An affiliate of the foundation, GTF ATC LLC, paid about $38 million for Atlanta Technology Center, according to Fulton County property records. The office park contains four buildings on Northside Drive, close to Interstate 75 and the large mixed-use project Atlantic Station. Atlanta Technology Center is also positioned on a future segment of the Atlanta Beltline. Atlanta-based Baker Dennard & Goetz Inc. makes up a partnership that has owned the development.
www.onlineathens.com
Another science building on the way at UGA
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20180926/another-science-building-on-way-at-uga
By Lee Shearer
As research grants and spending surge at the University of Georgia, officials are planning a second new STEM building before the first one begins rising on the edge of the university’s east campus. The State Board of Regents gave the go-ahead for the first STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) building last year, and earlier this year the state Legislature and Gov. Nathan Deal included it in their annual list of projects to be funded with bond proceeds. Called the “Interdisciplinary STEM Research Building and Parking Deck” by the university, the project combines 100,000 square feet of research labs, offices and related space atop a parking deck. The overall project budget is nearly $79.7 million. Construction is expected to begin in December and conclude in fall 2021, according to the UGA Office of Architects for Facilities Planning. As that gets underway, UGA is asking for $1.6 million to design a second STEM building at the site, according to documents filed with the University System of Georgia. The money is part of the Regents’ $329.66 million capital expenditures request to be submitted to the governor’s office to be included, if the governor approves, to the Legislature as part of the governor’s proposed 2019-2020 fiscal year budget.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Student Loan Default Rate Declines Slightly
By Andrew Kreighbaum
New data released by the Education Department Wednesday showed 10.8 percent of student borrowers who entered loan repayment in 2015 had defaulted within three years. That’s a slight drop from the previous year’s rate of 11.5 percent, driven mostly by lower defaults at public and nonprofit colleges. For-profit colleges saw a slight increase in defaults. Borrowers go into default on their loans when more than 270 days pass without them making a payment. Only 12 mostly small institutions faced the loss of federal aid for high default rates, compared to 10 in the previous year. Colleges and universities can lose eligibility for Pell Grants or federal student loans if their cohort default rates exceed 30 percent in three consecutive years, and they can lose access to student loans if that rate exceeds 40 percent in a single year. But many more schools had high default rates that were not subject to sanctions. The new data included 174 institutions with default rates at or above 25 percent.
www.insidehighered.com
Barriers to Loan Forgiveness
While just a handful of borrowers have received Public Service Loan Forgiveness so far, the real payouts — and renewed debates about the program’s cost — still loom.
By Andrew Kreighbaum
For many borrowers expecting student debt relief from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, the latest set of federal data on applications provoked fears that they shouldn’t count on loan forgiveness. Almost 99 percent of applications have been rejected between October of last year, when the first borrowers became eligible, and June 30 of this year. That’s led some frustrated borrowers to speculate that the Trump administration, which has twice proposed eliminating the program, has been stingy with the benefits. But in reality those numbers reflect both the complexity of loan forgiveness and the lengthy timeline for meeting requirements, rather than policy choices made by officials at the U.S. Department of Education. That means political debates over the cost of the program, which has been the focus of complaints by some conservatives, likely will be reignited when large numbers of borrowers actually start to qualify. Congress authorized PSLF in 2007 to encourage students to go into public and nonprofit fields — including as social workers, public defenders and teachers — despite their student debt. Borrowers could have their loans cleared by certifying that they work for an eligible employer and making 120 qualifying monthly payments.
www.diverseeducation.com
Survey Results Show Need for More Diversity in the Cybersecurity Field
by Monica Levitan
More can be done to recruit women into the field of cybersecurity, according to a recent survey conducted by Champlain College Online, a private, regionally accredited institution. The report, titled “The State of the Cybersecurity Workforce and Higher Education” was issued in a randomized, nationally representative sample of more than 1,000 participants to survey opinions on and awareness of cybersecurity and issues surrounding minorities and women in cybersecurity and what the recruitment efforts towards adults should be. “… It’s clear that higher learning institutions have an opportunity to create programs that provide basic cybersecurity instruction to women, and give women the chance to work with mentors, instructors, and local businesses to see how they might fit into a cybersecurity role; additionally, employers looking to recruit more cybersecurity workers have an opportunity to conduct outreach specific to their female employees, giving them a pathway to a career they might not have considered otherwise,” the report said. Michelle Tufford, CEO of OnlineDegreeDatabase.com said that the cybersecurity field is a growing industry and many jobs have gone unfilled.
www.insidehighered.com
House Passes Bill With 2019 Education, NIH Funding
By Andrew Kreighbaum
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a spending bill Wednesday night that funds 2019 education and biomedical research spending and keeps the government open through Dec. 7. The Senate passed the same bill last week. The bill includes the second consecutive annual increase in funding for the Education Department despite two White House budgets that called for shrinking the department. It also includes a $100 increase to the maximum Pell Grant, which will increase to $6,195.