University System News:
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Capitol Vision: $26.9B mid-year state budget clears Georgia House; Woodall won’t seek re-election
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Gov. Brian Kemp’s $26.9 billion fiscal 2019 mid-year budget Feb. 8, but not before debates over Medicaid expansion and the budget process. …Regents OK master’s degree program for UGA film students
The University of Georgia has been given the go-ahead to launch a master’s degree program aimed at training students to join the creative professions within the entertainment industry.The University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted Feb. 12 to authorize UGA to offer a master of fine arts degree with a major in film, television and digital media. The program will train writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, production designers, editors and other personnel involved in creating film and TV content. While Georgia has excelled in training students for the technical jobs involved in film and TV production since the state’s entertainment industry began to take off a decade ago, industry insiders say the state’s universities need course offerings that will lead to careers in content creation on the front end of those productions. The new UGA program is aimed at filling that gap.
WFXL
ABAC economic impact reaches nearly $530M in 2017
by Danielle Ledbetter
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College had an economic impact of nearly $530 million in 2017, according to a study by the University of Georgia. “That’s pretty impactful, all these people coming from out of state and from abroad spend in south Georgia,” said ABAC School of Business Dean Renata Elaud. Elaud told FOX 31 how that economic impact is calculated. “The increase in employment, as well as the increase in students and the activity associated with all of those people in the community creates that impact,” she said. Chris Beckham with Tifton-Tift Chamber of Commerce explained that impact further.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Talent development, industry education are key FinTech Atlanta initiatives
By Jessica Saunders – Managing Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
It’s the dichotomy of technology: When all is going smoothly, no one thinks twice. But if the “payment grid” doesn’t work, consumers feel the pain. “When you’re executing a financial transaction of some sort, you don’t really think about it until it fails,” said Scott Meyerhoff, chief financial officer of Atlanta-based InComm. “Everyone expects it to work and only pays attention to it when it doesn’t, and then the world stops. If you can’t buy or pay for something, it’s impactful. But it’s one of those fascinating processes that has just been there, and no one understands it.” Meyerhoff is on a mission to make the world of financial technology more transparent, and at the same time, more understood. As the new board chair of FinTech Atlanta,he spearheads an organization launched in 2016 to connect financial tech companies across the state. … According to TAG and FinTech Atlanta, more than 38,000 people work in the industry here. Georgia’s top 20 fintech firms generate roughly $72 billion in annual revenue. And an estimated $57.7 billion in U.S. transactions is processed by Georgia firms. One of Meyerhoff’s goals is to establish and strength links between those financial networks and key players in the state’s economic engine. “We’re looking at ways to form collaborations between government, universities and industry to build a buzz around what people are doing here,” he said.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia FinTech Academy soon to offer courses at more universities
By Janet Jones Kendall – Contributing Writer
The Georgia FinTech Academy is up and running, moving toward its goal of producing 2,000 graduates by 2023. It’s currently offering courses on two Georgia university campuses with plans for expansion. The academy was formed to address a workforce shortage in the fast-growing financial technology industry, a key industry in Georgia, with 120 companies. “We have a tremendous opportunity to create a new and innovative way for multiple higher education institutions to all come together to have a tremendous impact on several important sectors of our state’s economy,” said Richard Phillips, dean of the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, where the academy is based. “In five to 10 years, when this effort is successful, Atlanta will be the financial innovation hub for the United States. We are very excited to partner with the leadership of the financial services industry and the University System of Georgia to bring this vision for the academy to life.”
Statesboro Herald
QUEST students study engineering
Fifth graders attend day-long GS program
JULIE LAVENDER
Georgia Southern University’s Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing welcomed more than 100 Bulloch County Schools QUEST students to campus last week for a full-day engineering study program. About 20 Ph.D. faculty in the Engineering Department and their students spoke with, taught and guided fifth grade students from nine local elementary schools that included Julia P. Bryant, Brooklet, Stilson, Nevils, Sallie Zetterower, Mattie Lively, Mill Creek, Langston Chapel and Portal Elementary. The GS engineering faculty and students provided visual and hands-on demonstrations for using problem-solving, critical thinking, teamwork, math and science. QUEST students learned the relationship between these skills and future career options, specifically in the field of engineering.
Georgia Trend
by Mary Ann Demuth
The Spivey Hall Children’s Choir (SHCC) program at Clayton State University in Morrow is celebrating its silver anniversary this year. The critically acclaimed group will perform a series of concerts between now and mid-May, some featuring SHCC alumnae. During the past 25 years, SHCC has enriched the lives of more than 1,000 dedicated and accomplished singers through its rigorous music enlightenment and training program.
Middle Georgia CEO
Middle Georgia State Student Groups Step Up to Help Homeless
For several years running, Middle Georgia State University faculty member Liz Riley has been among the campers at the Greater Macon Sleepout, an annual event to raise money to help homeless members of the community. Riley, an associate professor in the School of Business, talks openly about losing a brother to alcoholism and homelessness, so the fundraiser is close to her heart. This year, she wondered if any student organizations might like to participate. The Student Affairs office helped put out the word, but Riley kept her expectations low. …To her pleasant surprise, three Middle Georgia State (MGA) student organizations stepped up. Come sundown on Thursday, February 28, a total of about 15 University students who are members of the groups will be sleeping under the stars to help raise money for Daybreak, a downtown Macon center that provides a variety of services to the homeless.
The Brunswick News
College opens renovated financial aid office space
By LAUREN MCDONALD
…And until recently, students at Coastal Georgia had to relay those woes in a cubicle, with others sitting only feet away and in easy hearing distance. The college celebrated Thursday the financial aid department’s move into a new, renovated, larger space that comes with, most importantly, more walls and doors to close. The need for more privacy was a major motivator for the move, Harris said. …The college hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday to officially open the new space. A few final decorations and some signage had yet to be added, but student financial aid needs don’t stop, so the office moved ahead with the ceremony. Even as the workers were setting up for the ribbon cutting Thursday, they frequently stopped to ask students who walked in if they’d come for financial aid assistance.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Modeling Behavior And Fostering a Sense of Well-Being For First-Generation College Students
by Curtis L. Todd
“That class has been cancelled.” “Your financial aid file is incomplete.” “You have been no-showed.” “The deadline has passed.” “I cannot find my academic adviser.” Wandering students randomly appear in my office sharing these types of statements, which seemingly threaten to undo them, even those not studying in my division (Social Sciences). Most times a ‘homemade’ sign taped to the top of my computer screen catches my attention from the corner of my eye. It simply reads, “This is somebody’s dream!” It is a reminder that, for many of these students, simply attending college is the first bold, life-altering goal they have managed to formulate. They dared to dream of furthering their education. Many are first-generation college students, individuals who we universally define as students whose parents are without any postsecondary education experience, having a high school education or lower level of educational attainment. The sign is also a personal reminder that after having attended six different institutions and earning five degrees, many people took the time to get off the proverbial sofa and turned the light on for me, even in completing my doctoral studies. I am reminded that no one does it alone. …First-generation college students are frequently found in the margins of important collegiate experiences. Instead of being strategically ushered to the center, they often disappear, leaving school completely due to unpleasant experiences, unresponsive offices, as well as inattentive and inadequate support systems on- and off-campus.
Daily Report
Following Scandal, Georgia Tech Expands General Counsel Role to Include Ethics, Compliance Titles
Ling-Ling Nie joins the Atlanta university from Panasonic Corp. of North America, where she most recently served as chief compliance officer and assistant GC overseeing more than 25 subsidiaries and division companies.
By Kristen Rasmussen
Georgia Institute of Technology has hired a new general counsel and vice president for ethics and compliance in the wake of a financial scandal that cost four high-ranking university officials their jobs last summer. Ling-Ling Nie will assume an expanded role that formerly was titled vice president for legal affairs and risk management. In addition to leading legal affairs, she will serve as Georgia Tech’s chief ethics officer, oversee building and maintaining programs surrounding ethical behavior, and work with the human resources and internal audit departments to ensure that all ethics complaints are reviewed and that investigations are moving toward conclusion, a university spokeswoman said in an email. “The title has been changed to General Counsel and Vice President for Ethics and Compliance to more accurately reflect the duties and responsibilities of the position and the Institute’s commitment to Ethics and Compliance,” she said.
Athens Banner-Herald
Cutting edge water tunnel aids engineering research
By Saleen Martin
A newly installed 35-foot water tunnel at the University of Georgia’s College of Engineering will help researchers develop new methods of generating electricity and more efficient space and marine vehicles like rockets and drones. Construction of the massive device began in 2016, and the water tunnel took about a year-and-a-half to complete. Built by Lewis Fortner, manager of UGA’s Instrument Shop, the stainless-steel tunnel can hold about 2,800 gallons of water.
Higher Education News:
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Senate Passes HBCU PARTNERS Act
by Monica Levitan
The U.S. Senate has recently passed the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of results for Students (HBCU PARTNERS) Act. The bipartisan legislation will reinforce partnerships between federal agencies and HBCUs by mandating the federal agencies with relevant grants and programs to embark on annual planning and coordinate their efforts to support and expand HBCU participation, according to U.S. Senator and presidential hopeful Kamala Harris.
Chronicle of Higher Education
How to Get Students to Fill Out the Fafsa? Enlist Instagram Influencers
By Terry Nguyen
Instagram influencers, or people who have a bevy of followers and manicured photos on the social-media website, will try to sell you weight-loss tea, prepared-meal kits, or subscription boxes of dog treats. Now, a select few influencers are hawking the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form.Despite the possibility of free money, some prospective and current college students don’t fill out the form, known as the Fafsa. The process can be confusing and lengthy. But in a social-media-savvy move, the U.S. Department of Education has teamed up with Instagram influencers and college bloggers to prompt more students to apply, with the hashtag #ButFirstFAFSA.
NPR
Federal Watchdog Issues Scathing Report On Ed Department’s Handling Of Student Loans
Cory Turner
A critical new report from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General finds the department’s student loan unit failed to adequately supervise the companies it pays to manage the nation’s trillion-dollar portfolio of federal student loans. The report also rebukes the department’s office of Federal Student Aid for rarely penalizing companies that failed to follow the rules. Instead of safeguarding borrowers’ interests, the report says, FSA’s inconsistent oversight allowed these companies, known as loan servicers, to potentially hurt borrowers and pocket government dollars that should have been refunded because servicers weren’t meeting federal requirements. “By not holding servicers accountable,” the report says, “FSA could give its servicers the impression that it is not concerned with servicer noncompliance with Federal loan servicing requirements, including protecting borrowers’ rights.”