University System News:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bill aims to end penalty for some Georgians behind on student loans
By Eric Stirgus
Several Georgia lawmakers indicated Wednesday they support a bill that would prevent the state from revoking the business license of some former students who are behind in paying their student loans. Georgia is one of a handful of states that can take such measures to pressure people into paying their loans, said state Rep. Scot Turner, R-Holly Springs, the lead sponsor of the legislation, House Bill 42.Turner and other lawmakers said during a hearing before the state House of Representatives Higher Education committee hearing that tactic is not the best approach.“This is not an effective way to collect debt,” Turner told the committee. By some estimates, as many as 16,000 Georgians could be penalized. The law allows Georgia to revoke some professional licenses issued by the state to help the federal government collect student loan debt.
WALB
ABAC makes more than $529 million impact on region, state
By Deneisha Pearson | February 6, 2019 at 9:40 PM EST – Updated February 6 at 9:40 PM
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) has an economic impact on Southwest Georgia and even the state as a whole. “ABAC’s been here for quite a while and over the years, slowly and surely, we’ve been making a significant impact on the community,” said Renata Elad, the dean of staff for the School of Business. ABAC has brought in more than $529 million to the Southwest Georgia economy. “Enrollment has been growing. Contrary to what’s happening in a lot of the regions and in the United States in general, ABAC has been seeing a continuous increase in enrollment,” said Elad.
Gainesville Times
UNG students participate in mock bioterrorism event
Nick Watson
Candace Banes checks Jacob Wilburn’s heart rate in the quarantine room during a mock disaster involving a bioterrorism event at University of North Georgia in Dahlonega on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. This mock disaster gives students in nursing, physical therapy, counseling, and other fields to get training in a low-stakes environment that simulates a major health crisis.
13WMAZ
MGSU student makes short film to shed light on opioid abuse
Phillip Wheeler is a student at Middle Georgia College State University who says some of his friends and family members struggle with the addiction. He is hoping to make a difference with a short film.
Albany Herald
ABAC museum, curator honored with statewide awards
Museum of Agriculture has organization’s Multimedia Project of the Year
From Staff Reports
Diving into the archives for five months at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has paid off for ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture Curator Polly Huff. At its recent annual meeting, the Georgia Association for Museums and Galleries (GAMG) presented ABAC with the top award in the Special Project Category and the Multimedia Project of the Year. ABAC won the top prizes for “An Overhaul of 110 Years of College Archives” in the Special Project Category and “Fridays with the Curator” as the first-ever Multimedia Project of the Year. Huff directed both projects. She was assisted on the archives project by two student interns, Britt Fuller and Will Hunnicutt, who both majored in Rural Studies.
Savannah Morning News
Georgia Southern, Savannah State partner for joint open house in Hinesville
Georgia Southern University and Savannah State University will host a joint open house from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday on Georgia Southern’s Liberty Campus in Hinesville. Military members and their families, and other prospective students, will have the chance to learn more about career-enhancing programs where they live and work. During the event, SSU President Cheryl Davenport Dozier and Georgia Southern Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Carl L. Reiber will discuss the universities’ strategic partnership and share more about the importance of making these programs available to prospective students. “Georgia Southern is dedicated to expanding educational opportunities in Hinesville to meet the growing needs of that community,” said Georgia Southern President Shelley Nickel. “Through this partnership, we are providing relevant skills, a first-class education, and real leadership training. Our students’ contributions will make a direct impact on southeast Georgia.” This innovative partnership enables students to enroll at Georgia Southern’s Liberty Campus as SSU students and complete the bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security and Emergency Management degree or certificate in Virtual Forensic Science: Evidence Processing, Documentation and Analysis entirely in Hinesville. …Both universities have been recognized for their dedication to serving veterans, service members and their families with the Military Friendly designation by G.I. Jobs magazine. Georgia Southern holds the No. 1 place on Military Times 2019 Best for Vets: Four-Year Colleges.
Gainesville Times
Northeast Georgia Health System to open ER, then build new hospital in Lumpkin
Megan Reed
The Northeast Georgia Health System will open an emergency department at the former Chestatee Regional Hospital in Dahlonega in July and will later open a new hospital in Lumpkin County, the health system announced Wednesday. The new hospital will be called Northeast Georgia Medical Center Lumpkin, and emergency services will be provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week by the same physicians at the health system’s other hospitals in Gainesville, Braselton and Barrow County. …NGHS is currently leasing the former Chestatee Regional property from The University System of Georgia Board of Regents. The University of North Georgia hopes to someday relocate some of its health sciences programs and services to the building. “These positive changes in our local healthcare landscape create exciting opportunities to enhance the way we teach and prepare our students,” UNG President Bonita Jacobs said in a statement.
See also:
The Dahlonega Nugget
DAHLONEGA HOSPITAL TO REOPEN THIS SUMMER
Metro Atlanta CEO
Staff Report From Metro Atlanta CEO
Startups at (Georgia Tech’s) Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the state of Georgia’s technology incubator, raised more than $114.3 million in investment capital in 2018. While the activity represents a slight decrease from the year-end 2017 figure of $140 million, it reflects the general investment trend nationally for 2018: Even though the deals made were larger, fewer deals were done overall. When ATDC program graduates’ capital raises for the year are included — $380.8 million — the total amount of money that came to Georgia technology companies with ties to the incubator is $495.1 million … “ATDC and Georgia Tech are taking a long-term view with their strategic focus to turn Atlanta into a major tech hub,” Reyes said. “They’re looking at the key levers that Atlanta has to its advantage and pulling those levers.
Edscoop
The future of the Open edX platform
Written by John Mark Walker
According to an article in Science published last month, only about one in 10 people who sign up for a massively open online course, or MOOC, return for another, and participants’ low course completion rate hasn’t improved over the last six years. It’s a serious problem, and one that is well recognized by the edX community. After all, in November, edX’s CEO Anant Agarwal told the edX Global Forum in Boston, “MOOCs are dead.” …Applications for the platform are also expanding. Countries such as Israel, France, Japan and South Korea are now using edX to power national education programs. MOOCs like edX also power complete master’s programs from universities like Georgia Tech, University of Texas at Austin and University of Queensland. And in the future, open platforms like edX may transform degree programs altogether.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cobb taxpayers funding sheriff’s legal defense in KSU cheerleader suit
By Meris Lutz
Cobb taxpayers are footing the bill for Sheriff Neil Warren’s legal defense after he was sued by a former Kennesaw State University cheerleader over his actions during student protests that roiled the campus in the fall of 2017. The plaintiff, Tommia Dean, was one of the so-called Kennesaw Five, a group of KSU cheerleaders who were inspired by professional football player Colin Kaepernick to take a knee during the national anthem before a football game in protest of racial injustice.The protest drew the ire of Warren, an outspoken conservative and season ticket-holder who was in the stands that day. He publicly condemned the cheerleaders, saying their actions were disrespectful to the flag and the troops.He also worked behind the scenes with State Rep. Earl Ehrhart to successfully pressure then-KSU President Sam Olens into keeping the cheerleaders off the field during the anthem at subsequent games, according to text messages first published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Olens resigned under pressure after the text messages became public. Last year, Dean filed a federal lawsuit against officials, including Warren, accusing them of conspiring to violate her constitutional rights by preventing her from taking a knee.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BREAKING: Part of KSU cheerleader’s lawsuit dismissed against sheriff, ex-lawmaker
By Meris Lutz
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former Kennesaw State University Cheerleader against Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren and former lawmaker Earl Ehrhart. …Judge Timothy Batten dismissed the complaint against Warren and Ehrhart in an order issued Thursday. The ruling does not affect the case against Olens and several other KSU officials, who are still defendants.
Batten wrote that Dean did not provide the court with enough to conclude that Warren and Ehrhart acted against the cheerleaders “for any reason other than perceived disrespect to the flag.”
11alive
Nigerian hackers convicted after trying to break into Georgia Tech’s payroll system
The two hackers likely thought they were out of reach from American law enforcement.
Author: Michael King
Two Nigerian nationals, Olayinka Olaniyi and Damiola Ibiwoye, have been sentenced to federal prison on multiple fraud and identity theft charges after the FBI was able to track them down in Malaysia and have them extradited to the United States. The FBI said the two were living in Kuala Lumpur and targeted U.S. colleges and universities with their sophisticated operation — including at Georgia Tech, according to Special Agent Tyson Fowler of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office. “We found their computer folders with documents showing efforts to phish employees at 130 to 140 schools,” Fowler said. “They would steal a logo and do the work to make it look legitimate.” They sent fraudulent emails to personnel at the schools in an attempt to obtain system credentials. The phishing messages appeared official, but they took unsuspecting recipients to fraudulent sites allowing the criminals to capture names and passwords. This allowed them to enter the official systems and using the stolen credentials, reroute employee paychecks and access financial documents. Fowler said they were successful at about 20 institutions. When they hit Georgia Tech, the school’s information security team was able to quickly determine that their systems had been compromised. The staff at Georgia Tech, working together with the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office were able to track the hackers and determine where they were and what they were doing.
See also:
fbi.gov
Cooperation Helps Bring Down International Cyber Thieves
Higher Education News:
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Maryland Senators, Congressmen Introduce FAFSA Fairness Act of 2019
by Monica Levitan
Maryland U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, with support from Congressmen Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes and Elijah E. Cummings, have announced the introduction of the FAFSA Fairness Act of 2019. The proposed legislation would ease the process to apply for and receive Federal Student Financial Aid for students who do not have contact with their parents or parental guardians. …“We must make it easier for every student in America to apply for and receive financial assistance to make informed decisions about higher education,” Sarbanes said. “The FAFSA Fairness Act will ensure that any student – regardless of financial situation or family dynamics – can have the same ease of access to the FAFSA application process. I am proud to co-sponsor and reintroduce this bill.”
Inside Higher Ed
New Federal Data on Dual Enrollment
By Paul Fain
About a third of high school students took courses for college credit, according to a nationally representative study from the U.S. Department of Education. The new dual-enrollment data are based on a 2009 study of more than 23,000 ninth graders, whom the department surveyed again in following years. The study found that students whose parents had higher levels of education were more likely to take courses for college credit while they were in high school. For example, 42 percent of high school students whose parents held at least a bachelor’s degree took college courses, compared to 26 percent whose parents did not hold a high school credential. In addition, the study found that a lower percentage of Latino high school students (30 percent) and black students (27 percent) took dual-enrollment courses than did white or Asian American students (both 38 percent). The study also looked at the location or delivery method for dual-enrollment courses (see below).
Inside Higher Ed
New International Graduate Enrollments Decline, Again
New enrollments of international students at U.S. graduate schools declined by 1 percent from fall 2017 to fall 2018, and international applications fell by 4 percent, survey finds.
By Elizabeth Redden
New enrollments of international students at U.S. graduate schools fell for the second year in a row, according to a survey from the Council of Graduate Schools. First-time international enrollments fell by 1 percent from fall 2017 to fall 2018, following on a 1 percent decline the year before that. “This is the first time we’ve seen declines across two consecutive years, and while we think it’s too soon to consider this a trend, it is troubling,” Suzanne Ortega, president of CGS, said in a statement. “We continue to monitor issues, including changes in immigration and visa policy, with growing concern over the possible negative impact to the U.S.’s image as a welcoming destination for international students and scholars.”
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Virginia Lawmakers Still at Odds Over In-State Tuition for DACA Students
by LaMont Jones
Officials at some of Virginia’s largest public institutions of higher learning support allowing DACA recipients in the Commonwealth to pay in-state tuition, but recent legislative efforts in the state house and senate have failed to make it to their respective floors for votes. Legislation sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Boysko, died in committee in late January, and the legislator said she will try again next year. And a bill sponsored by Del. Alfonso Lopez, never made it out of a house appropriations subcommittee around the same time. Some administrators at public colleges in Virginia have supported the initiatives to make higher education affordable to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients, also known as “Dreamers,” who almost exclusively are lower-income and first-generation Latino students.
Inside Higher Ed
Bill Would Require Federal Agencies to Report Work With HBCUs
By Andrew Kreighbaum
Bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday would codify into law a 2017 executive order directing federal agencies to work more closely with historically black colleges on opportunities for federal grants and contracts. HBCU groups in Washington had praised the executive order from President Trump, which called for those agencies to come up with written plans to work more closely with HBCUs. But they say the executive order lacks any enforcement mechanism. The bill, dubbed the HBCU PARTNERS Act, would require each federal agency to report their work with black colleges.