University System News:
www.usatoday.com
The top 100 colleges, universities where student applications are on the rise in the US
Samuel Stebbins
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 32 percent of American adults have a bachelor’s degree, the largest percentage on record. Currently, more than 19 million Americans are enrolled in an undergraduate college program — and next year, millions more will join the ranks. There are thousands of four-year institutions across the country, and attracting prospective students can be a challenge. Sill, some schools have managed to distinguish themselves and are becoming increasingly popular among the college-bound … 9. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus, Georgia • 5-year increase in applications: 126.2 percent • 2016-2017 applications: 30,528 • Total undergraduate enrollment: 15,573 • Acceptance rate: 25.8 percent • Avg. annual cost: $15,873
www.abovethelaw.com
The Law School That Provides The Best Return On Your Investment
That’s a great deal on a quality legal education.
By KATHRYN RUBINO
If you’re looking to get a J.D. and avoid accruing massive amounts of debt from which you may never truly emerge, you’re probably searching law schools seeking the best deal. If that’s your bag, the National Jurist has you covered. They put out an annual ranking that susses out the Best Value Law School in the country. While their full Top 25 ranking won’t be out until later this month, they have revealed the law school that tops their list. That honor goes to the University of Georgia School of Law. (Maybe this honor will help ease the sting of Saturday’s loss to LSU — but probably not.) The National Jurist’s methodology tries to assess the school’s ability to get their students legal jobs (with no finger on the scale to weigh the quality of legal job) and get the student graduated with minimal debt. As such, the Best Value ranking system takes into account a law school’s tuition, students’ average indebtedness upon graduation, the employment rate, students’ cost of living expenses, and bar passage rate. UGA tops the list after an effort by the law school to reduce the amount of money that law students have to borrow to obtain their degree.
www.accesswdun.com
University of North Georgia planning groundbreaking for stand-alone Blue Ridge Campus
By AccessWDUN Staff
The University of North Georgia is breaking ground this month on a new stand-alone Blue Ridge Campus on the heels of its “exponential” growth. A groundbreaking ceremony is set for Oct. 17. UNG currently leases a 3,600-square-foot facility at 83 Dunbarton Farm Road that does not offer lab space and has limited space for student use. The campus has experienced 700 percent growth since its opening in 2015, reaching almost 160 students this fall. Blue Ridge Campus Director Sandy Ott is looking forward to moving into the new space once it opens. “This is going to be a game-changer for this region,” Ott said. “It demonstrates the access mission of UNG and provides students with the opportunity to pursue a college education from one of the state’s leading public universities close to home.”
www.emanuelcountylive.com
EGSC hosts Saving Those Who Save Others
http://emanuelcountylive.com/2018/10/egsc-hosts-saving-those-who-save-others/
by KATELYN MOORE
East Georgia State College’s Statesboro campus recently hosted a workshop presented by the Statesboro Fire Department entitled Saving Those Who Save Others. This workshop focused on identifying and treating depression and suicide among public safety personnel. Counselors explained that first responders deal with life or death situations and those traumas can affect them in their personal lives. Organizers hoped commanders and colleagues would learn how to spot the signs. “We can direct them to counseling and other resources so things don’t get bad and get out of hand and they can continue to serve their community,” said Battalion Chief Merritt Kearns of the Statesboro Fire Department. Kearns is also a part-time instructor at EGSC.
www.fox5atlanta.com
Georgia doctors team up to save critically ill toddler
By: Beth Galvin
Amir Fleming has spent most of his life in a hospital bed at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta … Saving Amir Fleming would take a team effort, bringing together specialists from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory Pediatrics and the Georgia Institute of Technology for a groundbreaking surgery to place custom-made 3-D tracheal splints around the toddler’s breathing tubes. Dr. Scott Hollister the Director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Biomedical Engineering says the experimental treatment could be a lifeline for children whose airways are collapsing. “Before, particularly with this particular condition, kids would have to be put on a ventilator for a year or year and a half,” Dr. Hollister says. “Many kids suffered from pneumonia. Some kids die on ventilators.”
www.emanuelcountylive.com
A commitment to excellence: EGSC begins Staff Leadership Program
by KATELYN MOORE
Like many institutions of higher learning, East Georgia State College is committed to facing challenges as they come, and is determined to make a name as the model affordable, innovative, high-quality rural access institution in the nation. As part of this push, the college has begun a Staff Leadership Program to help dedicated employees of EGSC develop their leadership skills. The first cohort of this program was selected based upon their potential to contribute in the future to the college’s attainment of its mission as demonstrated by the applicant’s past contributions to the mission of EGSC, their experience and educational record, their future plans for career advancement in higher education, their commitment to participate fully in the program, the support of their supervisor and the quality of their written application.
www.forbes.com
How MOOC-Based Master’s Degrees May Transform Higher Ed
Josh Moody, Contributor
A new master’s degree offering from MOOC platform EdX and seven partner universities allows online learners to earn a post-baccalaureate diploma at a fraction of the cost of a traditional program. For EdX, a pioneer of massive open online courses, this is an ambitious expansion, taking the current MicroMasters certificate program and scaling it up. Aside from the 50 MicroMasters listed online, EdX now is making nine fully fledged master’s degrees available through partner universities. Costs range from a low of $9,900 for a master’s in analytics from the Georgia Institute of Technology to $22,379 for a post-baccalaureate marketing degree from the University of Queensland. By comparison, EdX officials note the same GIT degree costs $36,000 for residents and $49,000 for out of state students.
www.tiftonceo.com
Dr. Johnny Evans on Rural Studies at ABAC
http://tiftonceo.com/video/2018/10/dr-johnny-evans-rural-studies-abac/
Dean of Arts and Sciences at ABAC Dr. Johnny Evans gives an overview of the new degrees that the College is now offering.
www.ciobulletin.com
Georgia Tech researchers introduces us to a technology that can control therapeutic cell manufacturing
http://www.ciobulletin.com/healthcare/georgia-tech-developed-multifluidic-technology
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology also referred to as Georgia Tech showcased a technique in healthcare to monitor particular biomolecules like growth factors. The researchers have utilized the microfluidic technology to prepare the samples from the chemically complex bioreactor environment; they made use of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to monitor therapeutic cell production online. “The way that the production of cell therapeutics is done today is very much an art,” said Andrei Fedorov, Woodruff Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
www.13wmaz.com
Central Georgia farmers dealing with major crop damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael
Pecan and cotton farmers across Georgia lost crops from Hurricane Michael. Some farmers in the counties further south are dealing with total losses.
Author: Pepper Baker
Lawton Pearson from Pearson Farm in Fort Valley says the crop damage from Hurricane Michael gets worse the further south you get. “We have far fewer trees down on this farm. Statewide, it’s a whole different story,” Pearson said. Pearson’s a pecan and peach farmer in Crawford County. In the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, he considers himself on of the lucky ones. He lost 200 trees this year from the storm, which is far less that the 1,500 he lost from Irma last year. He said Georgia’s pecan industry as a whole took a major hit. “We fear it’s going to be pretty severe for our industry. It’s going to set us back a long, long way, 10-20 years. It may take 10-20 years to recover as far as production,” Pearson said. Pecan expert from UGA’s Extension Service Lenny Wells said Seminole County farms lost 100 percent of pecan crops. Decatur had an 85 percent setback, and Grady lost about 30 percent. Fort Valley cotton farmer Kyle Bohmenstiel said he lost about 40% of product.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
To Find the Best Fit, Ignore the Rankings
Stanford study finds that U.S. News and other rankings are based on factors that don’t actually reflect what students and parents say they want in a college.
By Scott Jaschik
… A new study from researchers at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education examines all of the evidence about rankings and comes to this conclusion: the best way to find a college that is a “good fit” is to ignore the rankings. Notably, the finding isn’t based on abstract ideas about the value of education not being something that can be measured. Rather, the analysis is based on research about factors many students (and parents) say they take into consideration when they evaluate potential colleges: student learning, well-being, job satisfaction and future income.
www.diverseeducation.com
Placing ‘Purpose First’ in Higher Education
by Tiffany Pennamon
A new report from Complete College America (CCA) is pushing higher education institutions to rethink their student onboarding and advising experiences by encouraging them to help students connect their purpose and career interests to an academic program early on. The report “Shared Beliefs and Practices for Putting Purpose First in American Higher Education” promotes high-impact practices that institutions can implement such as conducting career and interests assessments, providing labor market data to students, creating academic pathways that enable career exploration and focusing on proactive advising to build students’ momentum to degree completion and career. Such strategies can empower students to make informed choices and “become authentic owners of their own career aspirations,” the report said. “Purpose First” has always been a part of CCA’s prescriptive set of guidelines for guided pathways, said Dr. Dhanfu E. Elston, vice president of strategy for Guided Pathways and Purpose First at CCA. The new report will provide a “sense of clarity” for institutions around providing students with the information they need to find the intersection of their interests, academic major and career goals.