University System News:
Middle Georgia CEO
Gordon State College Launches Strategic Plan Supported by ‘The Power of We’
Staff Report
Gordon State College is launching a Strategic Plan, a guiding document, for the next five years. The plan, which plays on collaboration or “The Power of We” to achieve its goals, will be used across campus to guide investment, enable excellence, and drive allocation of resources. “The Gordon State College Strategic Plan is the culmination of a year’s worth of data analysis, feedback sessions, college and community engagement,” said Gordon State College President Kirk A. Nooks. “The plan’s imperatives reflect what is possible when the faculty, staff, students, and community accepts the challenge of creating a stronger Gordon.”
Tifton CEO
Tifton Native Selected as President of ABAC Ambassadors
Staff Report
Hannah King has been named the 2019-2020 president of the ABAC Ambassadors, one of the most prestigious student leadership organizations at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. King, daughter of David King and MeLisa King, is a senior biology major at ABAC. She is a Tifton native who grew up aspiring to be an Ambassador. …For that childhood dream to come true, King’s first step was to make ABAC her college of choice. Growing up in Tifton, she was familiar with the ABAC campus. “I knew that ABAC was the perfect school for me, and I knew that I did not want to go anywhere but ABAC,” King said. “So many different qualities made me fall in love with the school. The campus is so beautiful, and the class sizes are smaller which allowed me to form great relationships with my professors.
Griffin Daily News
UGA program fosters students’ love of science
By Jennifer Reynolds, Staff Writer
The University of Georgia’s Young Scholars Program concluded on Wednesday, with students giving their final presentations to their peers, mentors and university faculty and staff. First-year students created posters of their research and presented them in a science fair type setting. Guests were free to discuss the projects with the students.
AllOnGeorgia
CONSOLIDATION: Foundations from Georgia Southern & Armstrong Merge
The Armstrong Foundation of Georgia Southern University, Inc. has merged with, and into, the Georgia Southern University Foundation, Inc., effective July 1. This strategic consolidation of foundation resources will streamline fundraising systems while honoring the integrity of donor requests. The boards of trustees of the Georgia Southern University Foundation Inc., and the Armstrong Foundation of Georgia Southern University, Inc. unanimously agreed to merge the two foundations during a joint meeting in May. The chairs of both foundations spoke out in favor of this step when it was presented to their boards.
Connect Savannah
Georgia Southern to host ‘Summer Celebration’ on each campus
Posted By Jim Morekis
Georgia Southern University President Kyle Marrero and First Lady Jane Marrero will host A Summer Celebration with fresh fruit and Leopold’s Ice Cream in separate events on each of the university’s three campuses. Students, faculty, staff and community friends and partners are invited to attend.
Savannah Morning News
Savannah State basketball coaches teach younger generation
By Latrice Williams
Savannah State is hosting its annual Basketball Individual Camp this week in Wilcox-Willey Gym. Nearly 40 campers are on hand to learn from the Tigers’ coaching staff. For assistant coach Clyde Wormley, that number is double what they expected, and this week’s camp was also a surprise. The session was brought back by popular demand at the request of former participants. A former standout at The Citadel, Wormley said it feels good to know folks in the community want to bring their children on campus and have them under their tutelage. “I’ve been here for 12 years and they were running the camp when I got here,” Wormley said. “It’s been growing in popularity each year, and a lot of it kids come here and have fun. They want to come back and they invite their friends. The parents come back and they see it. They love it. The kids have a good time.”
Atlanta Business Chronicle
New leader takes temporary reins at Georgia Tech economic development arm
By Jessica Saunders – Managing Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
A new leader is stepping in at Georgia Tech’s economic development unit. Karen Fite will lead the Enterprise Innovation Institute while Tech searches for a permanent replacement for Chris Downing, who retired in June. Fite is an associate vice president at the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2). “As director of business and industry services, Karen has successfully provided leadership in critical areas of economic development. We have full confidence that she will continue EI2’s momentum and reach in Georgia and beyond as we conduct the search for a permanent vice president,” said Chaouki Abdallah, Georgia Tech’s executive vice president for research.
WGXA
Gov. Kemp officially swears in Jeffery Monroe to the Macon Judicial Circuit
by Aaron Leedy
Jeffery Monroe was officially sworn in by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to the Superior Court of the Macon Judicial Circuit in a ceremony at the statehouse July 10. Macon-Bibb County says Monroe has served on the Bibb County State Court since August 2017 and has undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Georgia.
Tifton Gazette
UGA specialist optimistic recent rains will help improve state’s corn crop
By Clint Thompson
After suffering a three-week dry spell in May, Georgia corn crops benefitted from rains during the month of June. It’s an encouraging sign for the future of this year’s corn crop, according to University of Georgia Cooperative Extension corn weed specialist Eric Prostko. “We’ve been catching these rains right at pollination or slightly later so they’ve been very helpful,” Prostko said.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Trump Administration’s Take on Transparency and Deregulation
Education Department official describes the administration’s philosophy on accountability in higher education and agrees with fellow panelists on states’ overreliance on federal funding.
By Paul Fain
So far the Trump administration’s take on trying to hold colleges more accountable has relied largely on releasing more public-facing data about their performance at the program level, while also deregulating and dropping sanction-bearing rules from the Obama era. The U.S. Department of Education’s top higher education official, Diane Auer Jones, the principal deputy under secretary, described this approach on Wednesday at an event held here by Inside Higher Ed on the future of public higher education. “Our philosophy on accountability is that government has an obligation to make data and information available to consumers. But we don’t think government knows better than an individual what is right for that individual,” she said. “People should know what the outcomes might be so that they borrow responsibly. But somebody who’s interested in philosophy should still pursue philosophy, and somebody who’s interested in welding should pursue welding.”
Inside Higher Ed
Student Borrowing Up, Federal Data Show
By Andrew Kreighbaum
The proportion of students borrowing to pursue college degrees was up in 2015-16 compared to eight years prior, according to federal data released Wednesday. And the average amount borrowed increased by nearly $6,000 over the same period. The numbers are from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative survey of students who completed requirements for a four-year degree. The Education Department recently released new results of the study for the first time in eight years.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Lawmakers Bicker as U. of Alaska Inches Closer to Historic Budget Cuts
By Sarah Brown and Katherine Mangan
With the fate of a vast budget reduction for the University of Alaska hanging in the balance, state lawmakers who oppose the cuts delivered impassioned pleas to their colleagues on Wednesday to override the governor’s vetoes. Alaska legislators have until late Friday to override Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy’s 182 line-item vetoes in the budget they passed last month. Dunleavy’s cuts would wipe out 41 percent, or $130 million, of the university system’s state funding for the 2020 fiscal year. Lawmakers took a vote on an override on Wednesday, and it failed to get the 45 votes required to succeed. But it was a largely symbolic vote, as only 38 of the 60 lawmakers were present in Juneau, the state’s capital. The margin was 37 to 1 in favor of the override. The legislature could vote again by Friday. In the meantime, university leaders say they’re planning for the funding debate to drag on past this week. But as the new fiscal year has already started, the officials will have to make some cuts right away, if the override effort fails.
Inside Higher Ed
Legislators Fail to Override Alaska Governor’s Budget Veto
By Doug Lederman
Alaska’s legislators failed Wednesday to override Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto of budget legislation that cut $130 million, or 41 percent, from the state’s appropriation for the University of Alaska system, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Although the vote was 37 to 1, the Legislature fell short of the needed 45 votes with nearly two dozen Republican lawmakers absent from the state Capitol. Higher education leaders in Alaska and beyond have bemoaned Dunleavy’s decision and warned about the impact it could have not only on the University of Alaska but on the state’s economy and long-term prospects. Dunleavy said the cuts to higher education and other programs were necessary to return a sufficient dividend to the state’s residents from the Alaska Permanent Fund.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Alaska’s Data Tell a Familiar National Story
By Jacquelyn Elias
The drama this week in Alaska’s statehouse over vast proposed cuts in higher-ed funding echoes themes across the nation: shifting financial burdens, weak enrollment numbers, increasing struggles for would-be students, and threats of campus closures. Students and their families carry a large and growing financial burden. …Enrollment continues to decline. …Opportunities for minority populations may be at risk. …Potential college closures could limit access to higher education.