University System News:
Savannah CEO
Georgia Southern Hosts 30th Annual National Youth-At-Risk Conference
Staff Report From Savannah CEO
More than 120 training sessions are coming to Savannah as the Georgia Southern University College of Education hosts the 30th annual National Youth-At-Risk Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel March 3 through 6. The conference brings together over 1,200 professionals in education, social work, law enforcement, counseling and other child and family advocacy fields from around the country for quality, relevant training to better serve youth placed at risk.
Tifton Gazette
Museum of Agriculture summer camp registration begins March 1
Trapping minnows, meeting farm animals up close and personal, and exploring a honeybee hive sound like terrific summertime adventures. Children from 4 to 11 years old can sample those activities and many more when they explore Georgia agriculture, history, and natural resources this summer through Camp Wiregrass at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village. “Camp Wiregrass provides a fun, interactive environment for children to engage in hands-on activities, games, and crafts,” said Sara Hand, museum assistant director. “Each camp offers unique activities and themes tailored to each age group.”
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Most Americans Say Colleges Shouldn’t Consider Race
Nearly three-fourths of those surveyed by Pew oppose consideration of race in admissions. Only 7 percent say it should be a major factor — and 8 percent each say legacy status or athletic ability should be a major factor.
By Scott Jaschik
Seven percent of Americans believe that race or ethnicity should be a major factor in admissions decisions, and 19 percent believe it should be a minor factor. Nearly three-fourths (73 percent) of a representative sample of Americans said that race or ethnicity should not be a factor, according to a survey released Monday by the Pew Research Center. Solid majorities of white, black, Latino and Asian Americans shared that view. The finding is consistent with others but is the first national survey on the topic since the ending of the trial in a lawsuit against Harvard University charging that its affirmative action programs discriminate against Asian American applicants. (A decision in the case, which prompted much public discussion, is expected this spring.) In 2016, after the last ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court affirming the right of colleges to consider race in admissions, Gallup conducted a poll of the public, with questions drafted in part by Inside Higher Ed. Nearly two-thirds of the public at that time said they disagreed with the Supreme Court. Asked about factors that should be considered in admissions decisions, only 9 percent said that race should be a major factor, and 27 percent said it should be considered a minor factor. Polling results vary based on how questions are phrased. The new Pew study and the 2016 poll are specifically about what should be considered in admissions. More general questions have tended to find more support for affirmative action but can’t be compared directly to the new study.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The End of the Remedial Course
By Katherine Mangan
They’ve tried compressing it, breaking it into bite-size chunks, computerizing it, even making it optional. But the traditional, prerequisite remedial course that generations of underprepared students have been funneled into before they can start college-level courses remains an insurmountable barrier for too many students. Increasingly, it is being ditched altogether. At a time when growing numbers of first-generation, minority, and older adult students are going to college, the California State University system, the nation’s largest public-university system, this year eliminated all freestanding remedial courses. Next year, the state’s entire community-college system will do the same. The moves, which are being watched by reformers and instructors nationwide, will have especially far-reaching consequences for open-access colleges and those that accept the vast majority of students who apply. Those who favor a shift toward corequisite remediation, in which students start out in college-level classes with support on the side, describe California’s wholesale buy-in as a turning point. They think it could put the nail in the coffin of the sequence of stand-alone remedial classes that trips up so many students. But skeptics worry that reformers may end up harming many of the students they’re trying to help. …Corequisite remediation, which takes different forms on different campuses, has risen to the top of the reform strategies, with rollouts across such states as Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, and Tennessee.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Most Americans Think Government Support for Public Colleges Is Rising or Flat. They’re Wrong.
By Lee Gardner
A majority of Americans mistakenly believe that government support for public higher education has increased or stayed the same over the past decade, according to survey results released on Monday. The survey, conducted by American Public Media and The Hechinger Report, found that 27 percent of respondents thought “government funding” for public colleges had risen since 2009, and 32 percent said it had stayed the same. The survey question did not distinguish between local, state, or federal support. Only 29 percent of respondents correctly answered that government support had dropped. In 2017 state support for public colleges over all was down by $9 billion compared with 2009, when adjusted for inflation. While many states have increased annual support for several years now, buoyed by strong economies, in most cases the increases have not made up the ground lost to huge cuts in the years immediately after the Great Recession.