University System News:
Marietta Daily Journal
Georgia Tech graduate voted to be school’s next president
A graduate of Georgia Tech has been named its next president. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the Georgia Board of Regents voted Thursday to hire Ángel Cabrera to lead the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Surprising barrier to college success: Dense higher education lingo
By Andy Johnston, The Hechinger Report
Some schools are beginning to translate complex academic jargon into plain language
Leslie De Santos furrowed her brow as she read the passage. The four sentences contained terms such as “litigation,” “adjudicative,” “jurisdiction” and “identifiers,” and the last sentence, 23 words long, included two semicolons. It wasn’t an assignment from an advanced course in legal studies. The passage was from the free application for federal student aid, otherwise known as FAFSA, an integral — and often hated — part of the lives of high school seniors who aspire to college. Cluttered with confusing terminology, it and other densely worded documents are a surprisingly significant barrier to students — especially students who don’t have college counselors to help them or parents with higher educations. “There are a lot of words that I have no idea what it means,” said De Santos, who was a freshman at the University of Georgia this past school year. “For the most part, it’s hard to understand this.” If there were a ranking of the most complex and convoluted higher education forms and documents, FAFSA might be No. 1. Critics say it’s why some students are derailed in the application process. …But the FAFSA form is not alone among documents so bafflingly worded that they create obstacles in the college experience and invite mistakes. …The University of Georgia has taken its own step to address this problem.
Albany Herald
Albany State students take research nationwide
Special To The Herald
Albany State University students will experience high-impact research opportunities this summer at educational institutions nationwide. Seven Velma Fudge Grant Honors Program students from various majors will participate in research programs and internships at New York University; Columbia University; University of California, Irvine; Indiana University, Bloomington; University of Iowa, and the Google Computer Science Summer Institute. The experiences will provide ASU undergraduate students with hands-on research training in the science, health and law fields. Each participant will work with a faculty mentor or program coordinator on a project in his or her respective field. Florence Lyons, director of the ASU Honors Program, initiated a number of the partnerships between ASU and the universities in an effort to increase the number of research opportunities for Albany State students.
Gainesville Times
UNG to host orientation day for native Spanish-speaking parents
Joshua Silavent
With Hispanic enrollment at the University of North Georgia experiencing dramatic growth in recent years, particularly at the Gainesville campus, school officials have looked for new and creative ways to better serve this student demographic. On Saturday, June 22, UNG will host its first-ever entire orientation day for native Spanish-speaking parents of Hispanic students. Officials said the Spanish-speaking orientation will mirror other orientation days for new students, transfer students and readmitting students by introducing families and students to campus and college life.
Albany CEO
GSW Announces Partnership with Chinese University
Staff Report From Albany CEO
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) recently announced a partnership expansion with Zhoukou Normal University (ZKNU) in Henan Province, China that will create a co-operative Network Engineering major in addition to the Human Resource Management and Marketing programs already established. The new program, managed jointly by the two universities, will bring 100 Chinese computer science students to study at GSW each year. The program will begin enrolling students in Fall 2019 to study their first three years at ZKNU. In their fourth year, eligible students can enroll at Georgia Southwestern to complete the program in the United States. These students will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from GSW upon their graduation. The first cohort of students are expected on campus in Fall 2022 with a new class following them each subsequent year.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For 2009 and 2019 graduates, a world of difference in job market
By Michael E. Kanell and Jeremy Turley
After recession hardships, new generation catches Atlanta’s hiring wave
If she had graduated from the University of Georgia this year, Wendy Hsiao would likely have been fending off a flock of would-be employers, picking among offers until she found what fit her best. After all, she had been named to the Dean’s List, worked seven internships and spoke at her class convocation ceremony. She was aggressive too, applying for about 100 jobs. Yet she received just one response, a small public relations agency offering a part-time slot, Hsiao said. “It was really disheartening. It was like ‘What’s the point?’ if no one’s going to hire me.” Her timing couldn’t have been worse. Caroline Cusick graduated from Georgia Tech’s business school with a degree in business administration. The 22-year-old said she received multiple job offers and took a job with a global consulting company. “Almost all of my friends knew what job they would have by last November. I don’t know one person who is graduating this year who doesn’t have a job.” Her timing couldn’t have been better. Hsiao graduated in 2009, when unemployment was heading for double digits, many companies were failing and the economy was floundering. Cusick graduated this May as new job seekers waltz into a labor market with a jobless rate at just 3.0% in metro Atlanta after several years of economic growth.
Daily Report
Judge Freezes Bank Accounts of UGA Student Accused of Running Ponzi Scheme
The judge issued the court order after the student signed a consent agreement with the SEC promising to supply investigators with an accounting of all funds received by him or his hedge funds.
By R. Robin McDonald
A federal judge in Athens has issued an injunction freezing the bank accounts of a newly-minted University of Georgia graduate accused of running a Ponzi scheme out of his fraternity house, according to federal court papers.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lawrenceville, Aurora Theatre break ground on $31M arts center
By Amanda C. Coyne
Nearly 15 years after Lawrenceville’s Aurora Theatre moved out of a converted hardware store and into a former church sanctuary, the organization held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $31 million expansion. The theater’s existing space on E. Pike Street will remain, with the expansion being built on adjacent space that’s currently vacant. By the time the new Lawrenceville Performing Arts Center is complete in the fall of 2020, the facility will include a 500-seat theater with an orchestra pit, a convertible cabaret theater for smaller crowds and additional rehearsal space. …Abundant classroom space will be used for collaborative work with Georgia Gwinnett College’s cinema and media arts program. The $31 million price tag will be paid up front by the city, with Aurora Theatre and Georgia Gwinnett College reimbursing half the cost over time, according to the plan approved by the city in January. Aurora Theatre is expected to raise these funds through capital campaigns. Georgia Gwinnett College’s future payments are subject to approval by the state Board of Regents.
Augusta Chronicle
AU Health restructures amid $24M loss
By Damon Cline
Facing a $24 million fiscal year loss, the board of Augusta University Health System on Thursday approved a restructuring plan that merges the leadership of the health system and its largest single entity – AU Medical Center – into a single position. The board’s bylaw revisions, which take effect beginning Friday, will remove the AU Health System CEO title from AU President Brooks Keel and place it with interim AU Medical Center CEO Philip Coule, who was appointed to the position earlier this week following the abrupt departure of Lee Ann Liska. The new health system CEO job also will encompass the duties of the university’s Executive Vice President for Health Affairs position, one of the titles held by Liska. Keel has served as university president and health system CEO since joining the university in 2015. The structure was created by his predecessor, Dr. Ricardo Azziz, to better align the health system with the university’s academic and research missions. Under the unanimously approved bylaw revisions, Keel would retain hiring and firing authority over the combined CEO position, as well as have a vote on the health system’s board. University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley, an AU Health System board member, said the academic medical enterprise has become too complicated for a single person to oversee.
Dayton Daily News
Central State, Wilberforce to merge some operations, campus services
By Max Filby, Staff Writer
Two local historically black universities are merging some of their services on campus, a move that was first suggested more than 22 years ago. The Dayton Daily News first reported Thursday that Wilberforce University is in talks with Central State University to share some operations for the two colleges that are located across the street from each other in Greene County. The “collaboration” will begin with some Wilberforce students living on Central State’s campus, according to a release. …The idea of historically black colleges and universities merging operations or campuses is not an unfamiliar concept. …Last year, the chancellor of the University System of Georgia proposed a plan to merge two HBCUs, including Albany State and nearby Darton State College, according to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Higher Education News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As college costs rise, some scholarship money goes begging
By Arlinda Smith Broady
With costs mounting for tuition, fees and everything else that goes along with college, many families are struggling to come up with ways to finance their child’s next steps after high school graduation. Yet they often don’t find some of the dollars that have been set aside to help. Higher education loan provider Sallie Mae and Ipsos, a market research company, compile annual data on how Americans pay for college. The 2018 report, the most recent one available, showed that for most families nearly half of college expenses are paid out of pocket. About three in five college students received one or more scholarships, with a total average amount of $7,760. More scholarship money is available, but untapped.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Food-Delivery Robots Are the Next Big Thing for Campus Dining. No, They Don’t Accept Tips.
By Liam Knox
David Rodriguez has a vision for the future of college dining: fleets of pixel-faced robots, each about the size of an Igloo cooler, piloted remotely by low-wage workers in Colombia, rolling around idyllic greens and quads to deliver nourishment to busy students. It may sound like something out of a vaguely discomfiting science-fiction novel, but that vision is already a reality at several universities, where tech companies are taking advantage of closed, ADA-compliant campuses and a reliable base of time-strapped customers to test out this new frontier in food delivery. Rodriguez, head of business development for the tech startup Kiwi Campus, just attended the National Campus Leadership Council’s annual Presidential Leadership Summit, held this week at George Washington University, where he pitched his product to college presidents and administrators from across the country. …Just months after the program launched at GMU, Starship robots were introduced to student meal plans at Northern Arizona University, which also contracts with Sodexo. Bigger companies are looking to get in on the game, as well. This year, PepsiCo partnered with the tech company Robby Technologies to bring food-delivery robots to the University of the Pacific, in Stockton, Calif. And there are rumors that even Amazon is looking to throw its hat in the ring, courtesy of its Prime delivery robot, Scout.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Meeting of HBCU Groups Explores Opportunities
by LaMont Jones
WASHINGTON – Opportunity zones and STEM opportunities were among key topics discussed Thursday at a meeting of the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs hosted by the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. HBCU leaders and other board members heard higher education policy updates from the education department and other federal agencies and how HBCUs could benefit from changes and new initiatives. Much of the conversation revolved around opportunities to make the schools more competitive.