University System News:
Albany Herald
ASU Blue & Gold Gala raises $127,000-plus for scholarships
By Danyelle Gary Special to the Herald
An evening of elegance and fun, the Albany State University Foundation’s inaugural Blue & Gold Scholarship Gala raised more than $127,000 for ASU student scholarships. Hundreds gathered at the Hilton Garden Inn for the sold-out event, which signaled the end of a grand Founder’s Day weeklong celebration for ASU. All proceeds will go toward need- and merit-based scholarships. “We appreciate every gift from our generous community and corporate supporters and every member of the ASU family, including our faculty, staff, students and alumni,” ASU President Marion Fedrick said. “Financial contributions help to ensure that we continue to provide top-quality experiences and resources to our student body so that each student has the essential tools to be successful.” …Those in attendance heard from student representatives about the impact of contributions toward scholarships provided through the Foundation. This academic year, 80 percent of 2018 freshmen students entering ASU had a financial need as determined by federal guidelines. The ASU Foundation has raised more than $996,000 since July 1 and is on track to reach its million-dollar goal by June 30.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia colleges make room for students with intellectual disabilities
By Helena Oliviero, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First class at Georgia Tech to graduate this spring
Alexandria “Alex” Goodman takes a deep breath and pauses before trying on a billowy black graduation robe with a gold insignia. Goodman’s face flushes pink. Her smile fades, and then returns as she places a cap with a gold tassel on top of her long, wavy blond hair, the weight of the moment sinking in. “I’m excited and I am nervous,” said an emotional Goodman. “Is that OK?” Goodman, who has Down syndrome, is on the cusp of a major milestone. The 25-year-old is one of seven seniors in the first graduating class later this month at Georgia Tech for students with intellectual disabilities. …The program at Georgia Tech, one of the country’s elite universities, represents perhaps the most ambitious attempt yet to “mainstream” such young adults after a long history of segregating, isolating and giving up on them.
11alive
It’s all thanks to their peers who pushed for the school to allow students in the Excel Program to be a part of commencement.
Author: Donesha Aldridge
For the first time, students with developmental disabilities who are a part of certificate program at Georgia Tech will be recognized at this year’s graduation. It’s all thanks to their peers who pushed for the school to allow students in the Excel Program to be able to participate in commencement. According to Georgia Tech’s website, Excel is a four-year college program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The program leads to two separate certificates and prepares students for career and personal success.
Inside Higher Ed
‘Loonshots’ and Our Imagined Higher Ed Futures
Crazy campus ideas.
By Joshua Kim
We are in desperate need of an alternative to disruptive innovation theory. Nowhere is this need greater than in helping us think about the future of higher ed. Can the ideas in Loonshots provide an alternative innovation framework to higher ed that is offered by disruption theory? Maybe. Quite possibly. I’m optimistic. The higher ed loonshot idea that gets me most excited is the dream to create personalized online education at scale. I’m excited about how programs like Georgia Tech’s $7,000 online Masters in Computer Science might change the economics of education and credentialing. A quality $7,000 master’s degree sounds like a loonshot idea to me. There have to be countless ways in which a program at that cost does not, today, match the quality of more traditionally priced residential and online programs. There must be a million reasons why every university is not following in the footsteps of Georgia Tech.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UGA plans to name education school after first African American grad
By Eric Stirgus
Mary Frances Early has been a trailblazer several times at the University of Georgia. In 1962, she became the first African American to graduate from the school. Last year, she received the university’s highest honor, the President’s Medal. On Thursday, UGA announced plans to name its College of Education after Early. The proposal, which must be approved by the state’s Board of Regents, would make Early the first African American to have a school or college named after her by the university. “The proposed naming of the College of Education in honor of Mary Frances Early is a tribute not only to her trailblazing integration of UGA in the 1960s but also to her lifetime of accomplishment and service to others as a music educator,” College of Education Dean Denise A. Spangler said in a news release.
Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
Two African American Professors Receive Educational Research Awards
Mary Atwater, a professor in the department of mathematics and science education at the University of Georgia, has received the 2019 Distinguished Contributions to Science Education Though Research Award from the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. The award recognizes an individual who, through research over an extended period of time, has made outstanding contributions, provided notable leadership, and made a substantial impact on the area of science education.
The George-Anne
Military Appreciation Day event to be held on Statesboro campus April 24
By Nathan Weaver, The George-Anne staff
A military appreciation day event has been scheduled to be held on Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro campus on April 24. The inspiration for the event came from the Armstrong campus, where a military appreciation day has been held for a number of years, Dantrell Mayweather, Student Government Association vice president of military affairs, said. Mayweather met with his counterpart, VP Anand Rao of the Armstrong SGA, and took the idea for the event from her. “In an effort to make the consolidation smoother, I met with my counterpart [on the Armstrong campus],” Mayweather said. “They do a military appreciation day every year.”
Athens Banner-Herald
Morehead: UGA’s response to Baldwin Hall issue appropriate, respectful
By Jere W. Morehead
While I am disappointed, I am not surprised by the wildly inaccurate claims made in the letter submitted to my office Wednesday by a small group of local activists. The University of Georgia handled the Baldwin Hall matter appropriately, and our response actually went far beyond what is required by the law. However, it is clear that a few individuals, obviously driven by a personal agenda, continue to try to leverage this issue and expand it to promote their own causes. Let me restate for the record that once the first remains were discovered on the construction site in November 2015, we immediately contacted the appropriate authorities. We followed the guidance of the State Archaeologist’s Office in every step of the process, including selection of Oconee Hill Cemetery as the site for reinternment. We hired an external archaeological consultant to perform the work in an appropriate manner, and we also sponsored faculty research to learn more about the individuals whose remains were discovered. We held a respectful memorial service for the community in March 2017, during which a prominent federal judge and local minister provided heartfelt remarks of remembrance. We commemorated the gravesite with a granite marker and provided funding to ensure its perpetual maintenance.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Transitions: New President at Georgia Gwinnett College, Chief of Vanderbilt U. to Step Down
Appointments, resignations, retirements, awards, deaths
Compiled by Julia Piper
CHIEF EXECUTIVES
Appointments
Jann Luciana Joseph, interim chancellor of Indiana University at South Bend, will become president of Georgia Gwinnett College on July 1. She will replace Mary Beth Walker, who has served as interim president since Stanley C. Preczewski’s retirement.
Savannah Morning News
Savannah Logistics Technology Innovation Corridor expands
By DeAnn Komanecky
A group of people in Savannah have been working hard on a project that could put the coastal area on the map for reasons beyond tourism. A task force of leaders from higher education, law, municipal government, cyber security, creative endeavors, and economic development have been meeting since last year preparing concrete plans to make Savannah the leader in logistics technology. “We want Savannah to have its own tech square (similar to Atlanta),” Keith Fletcher, COO of Speros said. Tech Square in Mid-town Atlanta has the highest density of startups, corporate innovators, and academic researchers in the southeastern United States, according to their website. Fletcher has been a driving force in creating a local logistics technology corridor, and was instrumental in getting the Georgia legislature to agree. In 2018 the General Assembly voted to designate an area extending one mile along each side of Interstate 16 from the Pooler Parkway to Stiles Avenue, and one mile out along each side of Interstate 95 from the Jimmy DeLoach Parkway to US 17. This year, due to the work of the task force, legislators agreed to expand the corridor and provide some state funding. Task force members include Russ Clark with Georgia Tech, Manuel Dominguez with the City of Savannah, Jennifer Bonnett with SEDA, Emily Butler with Georgia Tech, Diana McKenzie with Hunter Maclean, William Lynch with BB&T, Heather Maxfield with TAG, Clinton Edminster and Coco Papy with Creative Coast, Bill Stankiewicz with APICS, Chris McCorkendale with Hargray,
Higher Education News:
Gallup
A Crisis in Confidence in Higher Ed
BY STEPHANIE MARKEN
Confidence in higher education in the U.S. has decreased significantly since 2015, more so than for any other U.S. institution that Gallup measures. This drop in confidence in the higher education industry comes after Gallup detected a similar decline in the public’s view that higher education is available to those who need it, suggesting that access — and more specifically, rising costs — may be affecting the public’s view of the industry more generally. Concerns about the future of higher education also exist within academia. College and university trustees and board members — many of whom are intimately familiar with higher ed’s services, operations and impact — remain concerned about the industry’s future, despite being more confident in their own institution’s future. The AGB 2018 Trustee Index, a recent study conducted by the Association of Governing Boards and Gallup, finds that three in four trustees (74%) are concerned or very concerned about the future of higher education in the U.S.
Inside Higher Ed
Call for Accountability System for All Colleges
By Andrew Kreighbaum
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat and member of the Senate education committee, argued in a speech Thursday for a federal accountability system that would apply to all colleges. Murphy said there is an “outcomes crisis” in higher education driven by poor graduation rates and high numbers of student loan defaults. “When I say the federal government has failed students, I mean we have failed students at every type of college — public, private, for-profit and nonprofit,” he said at an event organized by the think tank Third Way. Senate lawmakers are in the early stages of negotiating a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, and accountability could be the sticking point in reaching an agreement. Senator Lamar Alexander, the GOP chairman of the education committee, has proposed an accountability system that would assess each higher ed program based on its student loan repayment rate. Democrats haven’t yet offered their own plan but have emphasized the need for special oversight of for-profit colleges.
Inside Higher Ed
Some experts think it’s time to rethink how the government collects on defaulted student loans, moving away from punitive measures that may not help borrowers make progress toward paying debt.
By Andrew Kreighbaum
In a speech last year arguing that higher education faces a crisis in the U.S., Education Secretary Betsy DeVos pointed to eye-popping numbers from the federal student loan program. Only a quarter of borrowers are making progress paying down their loans, she said, while 20 percent are either delinquent or in default. More than a million borrowers default on their student loans each year, and recent research has suggested the problem is growing worse. The consequences for those borrowers can be severe, including hits to their credit score and garnishing of federal benefits. Their college may also withhold academic transcripts, and some states will suspend occupational licenses. While DeVos herself has yet to call for specific changes with defaults in mind, a recent proposal makes the case for Congress to reduce defaults by simply eliminating the loan status outright.
Inside Higher Ed
Education Department May Offer Income-Share Plans
By Andrew Kreighbaum
Diane Auer Jones, principal deputy undersecretary at the Department of Education, said Thursday that the Trump administration is considering establishing a program to offer income-share agreements. Unlike student loans, students who receive ISAs commit to paying back a portion of their salary for a set number of years. While a handful of colleges have offered income-share agreements, they’ve mostly been limited to shorter-term boot-camp programs.
Inside Higher Ed
Proposal Would Overhaul Public Service Loan Forgiveness
By Andrew Kreighbaum
Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would cut the wait time for debt relief under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and expand eligibility to any borrower who holds a federal student loan. The PSLF program promises debt cancellation for borrowers in eligible public or nonprofit sector jobs who make 120 monthly qualifying payments. It also requires that borrowers hold federal direct loans. The bill, which was introduced by New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Virginia senator Tim Kaine, would allow borrowers to have half their debt forgiven after meeting eligibility requirements for five years. And it would expand eligibility to all types of federal student debt, including FFEL loans issued before the switch to direct federal lending in 2010. The legislation would also require the Education Department to provide clearer guidance to borrowers up front about eligibility for loan forgiveness and simplify the application process.