Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WEATHER ALERT: Schools, offices delay openings Tuesday due to possibility of black ice
By Chelsea Prince Zachary Hansen, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Metro Atlanta is not quite done with the winter weather. According to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brad Nitz, a few snow flurries are possible overnight when temperatures dip into the low 30s. When Atlanta wakes up Tuesday, it could lead to black ice on the roadways. …As a precaution, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Monday afternoon that all state government buildings and offices will delay opening until 10 a.m. Later Monday, the City of Atlanta followed suit and will open at 10 a.m. …The University of Georgia, Emory, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, Mercer’s Atlanta campus, Reinhardt and Spelman announced that they will all delay opening until 10 a.m. Georgia Gwinnett College will be on a two-hour delay. Two-hour delays will be in effect for several metro Atlanta school districts: Atlanta Public, Buford City, Clayton County, Cobb County, Decatur City, DeKalb County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County and Marietta City.
Athens Banner-Herald
Graduates up, funding down in Georgia’s public colleges
By Lee Shearer
State funding for higher education is down nearly 40 percent per student compared 2000, according to numbers University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley showed Georgia legislators Monday. Wrigley was the lunch speaker at the Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators in the University of Georgia’s Georgia Center for Continuing Education. The University System of Georgia is comprised of the state’s 26 public colleges and universities, with more than 328,000 students and an annual budget of about $9.1 billion. UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government organizes the institute, held every other year as a kind of training and educational forum for legislators. Tuesday’s lunch speaker is scheduled to be Governor-elect Brian Kemp. Adjusted for inflation, state funding per full-time student this year is $7,568, according to a graphic Wrigley showed legislators, lobbyists and others gathered at the Georgia Center for the three-day conference. In 2000, that figure was $12,223; the low point was the 2012 fiscal year, when legislators and Gov. Nathan Deal cut funding to $6,121 per “full-time equivalent” student.
The Dahlonega Nugget
-UNG FALL COMMENCEMENTS SET FOR DEC. 15
BY: CLARK LEONARD/UNG
The University of North Georgia will hold fall commencement ceremonies on Saturday, Dec. 15 at the Convocation Center on the Dahlonega Campus. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr will be the keynote speaker for the 10 a.m. ceremony, while University System of Georgia Board of Regents member Erin Hames will speak at the 3 p.m. ceremony.
Patch
Georgia Highlands College Economic Impact Exceeds $168M
The latest figures represent an increase of more than $19 million from the 2016 report.
By Kristal Dixon, Patch Staff
The University System of Georgia recently released the system’s total economic impact on the state of Georgia. Of the more than $16.8 billion reported by the USG as a whole, Georgia Highlands College’s contribution was over $168 million. The USG report is for fiscal year 2017, and is conducted by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. GHC’s economic impact was $168.6 million, which represents an increase of more than $19 million from the 2016 report, the college said. The report found these economic impacts “demonstrate that continued emphasis on colleges and universities as a pillar of the state’s economy translates into jobs, higher incomes and greater production of goods and services,” GHC added in its news release.
WXFL
ABAC receives grant to help keep student drivers safe
by Danielle Ledbetter
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) received a grant the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for $8,500. The money will be used to educate students on the importance of driving sober. This isn’t the first time the college has gotten this grant. In the past ABAC has used the money for a DUI simulator and for a mock car accident drill all to show students what can happen if you drive under the influence.
Athens CEO
Fanning Helps Oglethorpe County Build Community Leadership Program
Staff Report From Athens CEO
For many years, the Oglethorpe County Chamber of Commerce identified leadership development as a community need, but did not have a way to make it happen. However, with the help of the UGA J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development and the support of community partners such as the Oglethorpe County Rotary Club and retired Oglethorpe County School Superintendent Jeff Welch, Leadership Oglethorpe became a reality in 2018.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
JUST IN: 2 ex-KSU football players, 2 others indicted in campus gambling robbery
By Ben Brasch, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Cobb County grand jury has formally charged four men with running a gambling operation on the Kennesaw State campus and robbing some participants at gunpoint. Akebren Ralls, Jai’len Edwards, Justin Mosley and Issiah Hightower were indicted Thursday, court records show, on charges including armed robbery, aggravated assault, carrying weapons on schools property, gambling and keeping a place of gambling. Ralls and Edwards were football players at the time of their arrests and were kicked off the team. Mosley and Hightower are not affiliated with the school, a school spokeswoman previously said.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Higher Ed Inflation Notches 2.8 Percent in 2018
By Rick Seltzer
Inflation for U.S. colleges and universities tallied 2.8 percent for the fiscal year ending in June 2018, dipping slightly from the previous year but still coming in above a five-year average as institutions faced higher costs on all fronts. The rate of 2.8 percent came in slightly below a mark of 3.3 percent in 2017 on the Higher Education Price Index, a long-running measure of inflation in higher education. But it still slotted in above a 2.4 percent average for the preceding five fiscal years, according to the Commonfund Institute, a branch of the investment giant Commonfund that is focused on education and research activities and that released the latest figures Monday. Last year’s 3.3 percent figure has been revised from initial reports because of methodological changes affecting data on faculty salaries and fringe benefits. Even after the revision, 2017 had the highest Higher Education Price Index since 2008.
Inside Higher Ed
Education Department Changes to TEACH Program
By Andrew Kreighbaum
The Department of Education will give teachers another chance to demonstrate their eligibility for the federal TEACH Grant program, according to a report by NPR. Undergraduate and graduate students can receive the TEACH Grant if they promise to teach in a high-need field at a public school serving low-income students for four out of eight years after graduating college. But a department study released in March found that 63 percent of recipients who began teaching before July 2014 had their grants converted to loans after they failed to meet eligibility requirements or submit annual recertification documents. The department told NPR it would allow instructors saddled with loan debt because of paperwork issues to show they had met all program requirements and have those loans canceled.