University System News:
www.thegeorgeanne.com
Georgia Southern president announces plans to improve diversity and inclusion on campus
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_6a66a1ae-3da1-56f9-883f-bd4b7e92c5af.html
By Matthew Enfinger
Georgia Southern University President Shelley Nickel sent an email to the campus community Tuesday regarding the university’s next steps in improving diversity and inclusion on campus. Plans detailed in Nickel’s letter include the hiring of a nationally recognized consultant to assess the university’s strengths and weaknesses regarding issues of diversity and inclusion, a series of town hall meetings on all three campuses and a comprehensive report to give the university direction about how to face diversity and inclusion issues.
www.mdjonline.com
KSU president looks to hit ground running
Shaddi Abusaid
Kennesaw State’s new president likes to start off each day on the treadmill, and she’s looking to hit the ground running as the head of Georgia’s third-largest university. Speaking to the MDJ’s editorial board, Pamela Whitten, who took over at KSU after four and a half years as provost at the University of Georgia, said the future is bright for Cobb’s largest post-secondary insti-tution. “It’s been great,” said Whitten, 55, who started her new role July 16. “This is a gem. This university plays a very important role, but I think the opportunity moving forward is exciting as well. ”
wwwgainesvilletimes.com
University of North Georgia lands on Forbes Top Colleges list for 3rd straight year
For the third year in a row, the University of North Georgia was named one of the nation’s top higher education institutions by Forbes Magazine in its annual “America’s Top Colleges” ranking.
www.middlegeorgia.ceo.com
Middle Georgia State University’s New Strategic Plan Targets Purpose-Driven Enrollment Growth, Greater Student Success, and More
Growing enrollment, enriching student experiences, and expanding online degree programs into new markets are among the top goals as Middle Georgia State University plans for the next five years. The University just released “Elevating Middle Georgia,” a five-year strategic plan that maps out a vision of where the institution wants to be by 2023 and how to get there. “Elevating Middle Georgia speaks to our service to the public and our mission of graduating students with credentials that will enrich their lives and the communities in which they live and work, ” said Dr. Christopher Blake, University president.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
Keeping Students: VSU hopes library upgrade will up retention rates
VSU hopes library upgrade will up retention rates
By Katelyn Umholtz
VALDOSTA — Odum Library is undergoing renovations that will expand tutoring opportunities for Valdosta State University students. The main floor of the library will become the new Academic Support Center and learning commons complete with tutors, interactive whiteboards and seating to accommodate students and faculty. The project will cost VSU almost $1 million, but Rodney Carr, VSU vice president for student success, said the benefits of the library’s new main floor is worth every penny. VSU retention rates are currently at 69 percent, much lower than comparable universities such as Kennesaw State University and Georgia Southern University. The hope is the new academic hub will boost the retention rate to match those schools — around 80 percent and higher.
www.mdjonline.com
Include College campaign brings focus to programs for students with disabilities
Staff reports
Include College is the newest campaign launched by the Georgia Inclusive Postsecondary Education Consortium to bring attention to nine inclusive college programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Georgia. Currently, the following universities and colleges have inclusive programs in Georgia: University of Georgia, Columbus State University, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University, East Georgia State College, Albany Technical College, University of West Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology and Kennesaw State University. There are 139 students enrolled in the nine programs, and plans are to grow to serving 275 students a year in 13 programs by 2025.
www.thebrunswicknews.com
Housing will play into college’s growth
By TERRY DICKSON
With more than 3,600 students, College of Coastal Georgia has hit another enrollment milestone. But it may have been higher if it had more than 700 on-campus beds. Scott Williamson, interim vice president for advancement and marketing, acknowledged that campus housing could be a limiting factor in student body growth, but that it is not the only one. “We are watching housing closely,’’ Williamson said. “We have to grow in a whole lot of areas.” To attract other students, Coastal Georgia must create more degree programs, scholarships and community support, he said. Although students don’t take advantage of everything the college offers, they take up every bed the college offers.
www.georgiatrendblog.com
Gordon State growth
http://georgiatrendblog.com/gordon-state-growth/
BY MARY ANN DEMUTH
Construction is underway on a new student services center at Gordon State College in Barnesville. The 11,271-square-foot facility will centralize admissions and financial aid and feature computer stations, a parents’ waiting room and a 60-person event space. The $3.3-million project is funded by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
www.gainesvilletimes.com
How Syfan is partnering with UNG to train tomorrow’s logistics pros
https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/how-syfan-partnering-ung-train-tomorrows-logistics-pros/
Joshua Silavent
Students learning about supply-chain management and logistics at the University of North Georgia Dahlonega campus are getting some insider training thanks to a new partnership with Syfan Logistics of Gainesville.
ww.bizjournals.com
UGA adds graduate certificate in entrepreneurship
The University of Georgia has launched a graduate certificate program in entrepreneurship open to all graduate students beginning this fall. The program consists of 12 credit hours with students choosing two entrepreneurship courses from three options: “Introduction to Entrepreneurship,” “Entrepreneurial Finance” and “Managing the Entrepreneurship Venture.” There also will be two elective courses tailored to students’ interests and goals. “Economic development is central to the university’s mission, and a key component of our commitment to support economic growth is teaching and refining the entrepreneurial mindset in students who have that interest and ambition,” said Benjamin Ayers, dean of UGA’s Terry College of Business.
www.metroatlantaceo.com
Georgia Chamber of Commerce Announces Georgia InVenture Prize Competition
Staff Report From Georgia CEO
The Georgia Chamber is proud to announce its newest initiative to establish Georgia as a leading state for innovation, entrepreneurship, and small business success. In partnership with the Georgia Department of Education, University System of Georgia, Technical College System of Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, and private colleges the Chamber launched its “Georgia InVenture Prize” statewide competition. As a concept modeled after Georgia Tech’s existing InVenture Prize contest, the initiative seeks to enhance entrepreneurial culture and strengthen Georgia’s pipeline of inventors and start-up companies.
www.tiftongazette.com
ABAC professor teaches in Ireland
By Eve Copeland
TIFTON — English professor Jeff Newberry led a group of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College students to the Emerald Isle for a study abroad program this summer. Newberry has been teaching in the English department at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College since 2002. Newberry, who is also ABAC’s poet in residence, participated in a study abroad program called the European Council Summer Study Abroad program through the University System of Georgia that took him and approximately 60 students to Waterford, Ireland for five weeks.
www.na.smartcitiescouncil.com
What happens when a power company and a university get together? They build a microgrid
Doug Peeples
Georgia Power and Georgia Tech expect to spend between $10-$15 million to build a research microgrid on the university campus in Atlanta. And both partners, surrounding communities and others could benefit substantially. “The microgrid is a solution that is very appealing but not entirely understood. We see this as an opportunity to make a quantum leap in understanding,” Santiago Grijalva of Georgia Tech told Microgrid Knowledge. Grijalva is director of the university’s Advanced Computational Electricity Systems Laboratory. For Georgia Tech, the research microgrid will give students the opportunity to collect data on everything from its components and how they work together to related business models and energy economics. The goal is to come up with replicable models utilities could use to better serve their customers.
www.ajc.com
Cops: KSU student found with loaded gun told police he ‘is known to stack bodies’
By Chelsea Prince, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Kennesaw State University student was arrested on campus Wednesday after he was found with a loaded gun and appeared to be mentally unstable, Channel 2 Action News reported. The university alerted students and university personnel of the incident the following day. But the campuswide email did not mention the student’s threatening comments made to arresting university police officers and to the school’s psychologist, the news station reported. The student allegedly said he wanted to shoot people and told police he was Jesus and was “known to stack bodies,” according to an arrest warrant obtained by Channel 2. He was found by police sitting outside the campus dining hall with a gun in his backpack after his mother requested a welfare check. The student did not have a license to carry the weapon, the news station reported.
www.mdjonline.com
Gun found in KSU student’s backpack
Police: No threats were made before or during weapon’s discovery last week
A Kennesaw State student is expected to face charges after being discovered Wednesday evening with a gun in his backpack. Following a call by a parent of the student, Kennesaw State Police conducted a welfare check on Kenneth Glover and transported him for a medical evaluation following an initial assessment by officers. During their investigation, police discovered a handgun in Glover’s backpack, according to a message sent Thursday by KSU Chief of Police Edward Stephens and provided Monday afternoon by KSU spokesperson Tammy Demel shortly after inquiries were made by the MDJ regarding the incident.
www.fayette-news.net
HIGHER EDUCATION: A BIPARTISAN ISSUE
FAYETTE NEWS OPINION
http://fayette-news.net/higher-education-a-bipartisan-issue/
Two of the authors of this piece are Democrats and the other is a Republican. We all agree that adequate funding for higher education should not be a partisan issue. Here is why. By any measure, higher education offers pathways for career opportunities and a more financially secure life style. In our immediate area, Fayette, Spalding, and Lamar counties are particularly fortunate to be the home of several solid public higher education institutions: The University of Georgia Griffin Campus and Southern Crescent Technical College in Griffin; Gordon State College in Barnesville; and Clayton State University in Peachtree City. These institutions of higher learning play pivotal roles in community workforce development, enhancing community economic development, and enabling higher incomes. Workers with a college education make $1,173 on average weekly, while those without a high school degree average only $520. With our increasingly technological society, this salary differential will only widen. Benefits are not just financial. These educational institutions also offer venues for life-long learning, arts, and culture. Public colleges and universities clearly make life better for all of us, black or white, Democrat or Republican, rich or poor.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
This Fall’s Housing Crunch Is So Urgent One University Is Asking Its Professors for Help
By Alexander C. Kafka
“The need is real, and it is urgent,” read a plea issued on August 27 by Dave Keller, executive director of housing services for the University of California at Santa Cruz. Keller was asking faculty and staff members to consider offering rooms in their homes for rent to several hundred students without housing guarantees. There are “not nearly enough” rentals in the college’s community listings to accommodate them, he wrote. Santa Cruz’s housing crunch is extreme for a number of reasons, but hundreds of colleges are short of space, said Michael Fischer, a senior research analyst at EAB, an education consulting and technology company. Some are just a little short, but others — like Purdue University and the University of Maryland at College Park — face more serious challenges. Colleges are turning study lounges into dorm rooms, doubles into triples, triples into quads. They’re putting up students in off-campus apartments and hotels. Resident advisers expecting a single are discovering that they now have a roommate. In the wake of a March tornado, Jacksonville State University, in Alabama, ordered 22 mobile homes. The University of Georgia offered students $1,000 each to live off-campus and a $3,500 discount to anyone willing to live in a more-remote dorm.
www.nytimes.com
New U.S. Sexual Misconduct Rules Bolster Rights of Accused and Protect Colleges
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/us/politics/devos-campus-sexual-assault.html
By Erica L. Green
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is preparing new policies on campus sexual misconduct that would bolster the rights of students accused of assault, harassment or rape, reduce liability for institutions of higher education and encourage schools to provide more support for victims. The proposed rules, obtained by The New York Times, narrow the definition of sexual harassment, holding schools accountable only for formal complaints filed through proper authorities and for conduct said to have occurred on their campuses. They would also establish a higher legal standard to determine whether schools improperly addressed complaints.