University System News:
Georgia Health News
University System Employees Will See Higher Premiums Next Year
Tens of thousands of University System of Georgia employees will face average increases in their 2020 health care premiums of 5.5 percent to 7.5 percent. Also starting next year, a university employee will have to pay a $100 monthly surcharge for spousal coverage if the spouse has health insurance offered by an employer but does not take it. The premium increases follow projections of similar hikes among large employers for health benefits next year. Large U.S. employers are predicting that their health care costs for 2020 will rise by a median of 6 percent if they don’t make adjustments to deal with the trend, a recent survey found. “Across the country, health care costs are rising, and Georgia tracks closely with national health care costs trends,’’ said Jen Ryan, spokeswoman for the University System of Georgia. “In fact, nationally, health care costs are expected to rise 6 percent in 2020, which is higher than the national trend for the last two years.’’
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Growing funding gap in HOPE Scholarships program boosts case for legalized gambling in Georgia
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia lawmakers Tuesday cited a worrisome financial outlook facing the HOPE Scholarship program as the best argument for bringing legalized gambling to the Peach State. Since 2011, when cost-cutting reform legislation decoupled the lottery-funded HOPE program’s tuition coverage from scholarship awards, the percentage of college tuition covered by HOPE has dropped from 100% to about 85% on average, Caylee Noggle, president of the Georgia Student Finance Commission, told members of a state Senate study committee formed to consider legalizing gambling in Georgia. The gap between tuition coverage and scholarship awards is even larger at the University System of Georgia’s four research institutions – The University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University and Augusta University – because tuition costs more at those top schools, Noggle said. At Georgia Tech, HOPE will cover only 75% of tuition this year, while HOPE coverage at UGA is 78% of tuition, she said. Noggle said the popular Zell Miller Scholarship, an initiative created in 2011 that still pays 100% of tuition costs for students who earned at least a 3.7 grade-point average in high school, is playing a major role in driving up HOPE costs. While HOPE is in solid financial shape this year, it is projected to need a $56 million increase in fiscal 2021, mostly due to the cost of the Zell Miller awards, she said.
Middle Georgia CEO
Regional Economic Impact of Middle Georgia State University Totals $251.6M
Middle Georgia State University had an estimated economic impact on the region of $251.6 million in fiscal year 2018, according to a study released Tuesday, August 20. The study, conducted annually by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, also showed that MGA accounted for 2,878 direct and indirect jobs in the region. As a whole, the University System of Georgia (USG) in fiscal year 2018 had a $17.7 billion impact on communities across Georgia, an increase of almost 5 percent over the previous fiscal year. It also created 168,284 direct and indirect jobs, a nearly 3 percent increase over last fiscal year. “This annual study shows, once again, that higher education is an extraordinary investment with strong returns,” said MGA President Dr. Christopher Blake. “We are proud of the economic impact that Middle Georgia State University has on the region and recognize, always, that the greatest returns are our graduates and the positive influence they have on the communities where they live and work. Our graduate rates of residency in Middle Georgia ensure that the University is paying it forward for years to come.”
Douglas Now
SGSC CONTRIBUTES OVER $71 MILLION TO THE ECONOMY IN SOUTHEAST GEORGIA
A leader in higher education in the southeast Georgia region, South Georgia State College (SGSC) is strengthening its economic health while providing a substantial return on investment to the students, local community and business partners. A recent study of the University System of Georgia’s (USG) economic impact includes SGSC’s contributions to the local economy as over $71 million during fiscal year 2018, an increase of $2.7 million from the previous year. SGSC impact demonstrates significance for the region as shown in the study compiled by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University System of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors played a role in the more than $71 million recorded as the economic impact of the service area for fiscal year 2018 (July, 2017 through June, 2018). This area includes Coffee, Atkinson, Bacon, Jeff Davis, Ware, Pierce, Brantley and Clinch counties. During fiscal year 2017, SGSC’s total employment impact was noted as 816 on-and off-campus jobs.
AllOnGeorgia
Georgia Southern students performed more than 46,000 hours of community service last year
“The number of service hours our students log is a testament to their character,” said Jodi Kennedy, director of Leadership and Community Engagement (OLCE), through which almost 40% of the hours were coordinated. “Students come to Georgia Southern University and want to invest in the community, which is demonstrated in the hours that they commit to serving others. One of my favorite things to see is students volunteering and then going on to serve in leadership roles in our office and leading their peers in service.” Kennedy said the community service hours don’t just fulfill a requirement for the students. They have an opportunity to build a network of peers, community members and friends. “Students are building relationships that could lead to future employment opportunities, internships or leadership roles within the nonprofit agencies they are serving,” she said.
Growing Georgia
‘ABAC On the Move’ in Camilla September 24
High school seniors in Mitchell County as well as ABAC alumni will be the guests of honor on Sept. 24 when Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College presents “ABAC on the Move” in Camilla. Sponsored by the ABAC Alumni Association and the ABAC Enrollment Management Office, the drop-in event will be held from 6-9 p.m. in the Community Room of the Mitchell County Hospital. There is no charge. Refreshments will be served. “The purpose of ‘ABAC on the Move’ is to provide information to potential students, alumni, and community stakeholders on ways that ABAC can be a part of their story,” ABAC Alumni Director Lynda Fisher said. “Mitchell County is our first stop in this new series, and we hope to travel across the state.
Savannah Business Journal
Savannah Business Journal Staff Report
Georgia Southern University’s Institute for Interdisciplinary STEM Education (i2STEMe) received the 2019 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity, a diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. The Inspiring Programs in STEM Award honors colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the fields of STEM. Award winners were selected by INSIGHT Into Diversity based on their efforts to inspire and encourage a new generation of young people to consider careers in STEM through mentoring, teaching, research, and successful programs and initiatives. “The Institute for Interdisciplinary STEM Education has developed and partnered on numerous endeavors to ensure that STEM
WTVM
CSU leadership forum brings big names to Columbus to invest in future leaders
By Tony Sloan
Columbus State University is bringing some big names to the forefront at the annual Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum. It’s the 14th year for the forum at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center. “The Blanchard Forum has brought in from the original vision, the best and brightest worlds and the best and brightest minds to come in and say how do we learn from each other,” said Greg Hudgison, the director of University Relations at CSU. It’s a series of networking and learning from public speakers brought in from around the country including, Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, James Blanchard with JBA, Major General Gary Brito, who is a Commanding General with the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, and a long list of others.
See also:
WRBL
CSU’s Leadership Institute kicks off the 14th annual Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum
The Augusta Chronicle
New building marks new era for college at AU
By Tom Corwin
A new building for the College of Science and Mathematics at Augusta University will allow it to move to the Health Sciences Campus and allow for growth of other colleges as well. Esther Kent got her first extended experience in a research laboratory during an internship at Savannah River National Laboratory, a place where she hopes to return. So she could only stand with envy Friday on Augusta University’s Health Sciences Campus and dream of wandering into one of the gleaming buildings around her and the labs within and find “what sparks my interest,” she said, minutes after participating in the groundbreaking for a new building for the College of Science and Mathematics. “I think it will provide lots of opportunities for future students,” said Kent, 28, a senior in Chemistry.
WFXG
Groundbreaking ceremony held for new building at Augusta University
By Sydni Moore
Augusta University held a groundbreaking ceremony today to celebrate the start of construction for a new College of Science and Mathematics building. Dozens of people attended the event including the president of the university and the dean of the new building to welcome the seventy million dollar project. The building will be nearly one hundred and twenty five thousand square feet of space including new laboratories and classrooms. What people are looking forward to most is the new location. “The proximity of this facility to the research core of this campus is huge. We have plans to have a literal bridge that takes the students from the building into the research building we have here. That allows us to take advantage of the facilities we already have” says Augusta University president, Brooks Keel.
See also:
WJBF
Augusta University set to build a new, $70 million college
Albany Herald
Medical College of Georgia graduate comes full circle
New rotation system allows for an MCG student to spend one day a week with a different specialist
By Jennifer Parks
Dr. Koosh Desai, an internist who graduated from Medical College of Georgia in 2016 after doing his last two years at the Albany-based MCG Southwest Campus, is returning to the campus as an official member of the team. Desai is helping to implement a new rotation system for students. He is splitting his time between Augusta and Albany for now, but will soon be based out of Albany. In addition to his work with MCG, he is taking shifts at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. Desai, who grew up in Columbus, is the son of a physician. He went to MCG after graduating from the University of Georgia, eventually coming to the Southwest Campus. “I liked it a lot, so I stayed,” he said. He went on to complete his residency in internal medicine in Augusta, and has been recruited to come back to Albany in September.
Douglas Now
ATC BROADBAND SUPPORTS “BRIDGING THE GAP” FUND DRIVE FOR SGSC STUDENTS
The South Georgia State College Foundation recently completed a Bridging the GAP Fund Drive to support students on the Douglas Campus with financial need who may fall short in covering their full tuition balance preventing them from attending. The SGSC Foundation would like to express its appreciation to ATC Broadband for their support as a Signature Benefactor level donor. Ms. Walda Kight, vice president for institutional advancement, states, “Due to the generosity of ATC Broadband, more students at SGSC will have the opportunity to obtain a college degree and pursue their professional dreams. We are so fortunate to have supporters like ATC Broadband who support our mission and understand how obtaining a college degree can change lives and help our region grow.” ATC Broadband has been a supporter of the SGSC Foundation’s work for several years, and this most recent contribution ensures the continuation of this important educational partnership.
Albany CEO
CTC Partners with GSW to Offer New Program for Future Healthcare Managers
Staff Report From Georgia CEO
With daily advances in healthcare and an increasing number of communities that cater to senior populations and those with disabilities, people are living longer while enjoying great quality of life. Career opportunities are plentiful for those who want to help plan and manage senior living and long-term care for our nation’s aging population. To meet this workforce need, Columbus Technical College has teamed up with Georgia Southwestern University in Americus to offer students a unique educational transfer opportunity. Please join us Wednesday, August 28 at 2:30 p.m. in the J. Robert Jones Conference Center in Patrick Hall at Columbus Technical College as presidents of both institutions sign an articulation agreement kicking off the newly-created Long-Term Care Management academic program.
Metro Atlanta CEO
Clayton State University Foundation Appoints Five New Board Members
Staff Report From Metro Atlanta CEO
The Clayton State University Foundation has announced five new members to its Board of Trustees. The members represent various industries including banking, energy, human resource management, construction and marketing technology. After several years of tremendous growth in institutional philanthropy, which recently earned the university a national award for fundraising from the Council for Advancement in Support of Education, these individuals will be continuing that momentum of giving to support student success.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Facing Criticism, College Board Backs Away From ‘Adversity Score’
By Grace
The College Board is walking back the single, overarching “adversity score” that it had planned to attach to students’ SAT scores after it drew broad criticism. The proposed score was part of an Environmental Context Dashboard, a program the organization had tested at 50 colleges over the last year in an effort to help admissions officers gain broader context about each applicant’s socioeconomic background when evaluating SAT scores. The adversity score did not factor in race. Rather, it grouped together data from the Census Bureau and public records about crime rates, median income, and parents’ education levels in each student’s environment. Those measures, combined with such other data as the academic rigor of a high school or receiving free or reduced-price lunches, were used to create a student’s overall adversity score. In the new program, renamed Landscape, there’s no overall adversity score, but all the other contextualizing data points remain the same.
Inside Higher Ed
College Board Overhauls ‘Adversity Index’
New system will be based on two standards — neighborhood and high school — and will be available to all.
By Scott Jaschik
The College Board announced changes to its “adversity index” — even before it was used. The changes continue the College Board’s effort to provide colleges with more information about the high schools attended by students who take the SAT. With more colleges dropping the SAT as an admissions requirement, the College Board is under pressure to show that it is aware of worries that the test favors those who are better off. When the adversity index was originally announced — after years of pilots — in May, it received considerable criticism.
Inside Higher Ed
Academic Minute: Improve Schools by Asking Students
By Doug Lederman
Today on the Academic Minute, Katherine Cumings Mansfield, associate professor in the department of educational leadership and cultural foundations at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, says keeping the student voice in discussions about school improvement has many benefits.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Strikes at Colleges Are at a 7-Year High as Unions Rebound
By Steven Johnson
Last week, after months of bargaining and two final opposing offers, staff-union leaders in Oregon said negotiations with the state’s public university system have stalled. And they say they’re ready to strike. It would be the union’s first such strike in more than 20 years, meaning that as soon as September 23, thousands of nonacademic staff, including groundskeepers, plumbers, and technicians, could disrupt operations at all seven of the state’s public universities. If they do, they’d join a growing wave of strikes across higher education. Last year saw the most strikes across colleges since 2012, a new study found — more than double the number in 2017. Strikes at colleges happen less frequently than they did in the past century, but they’ve climbed in recent years, according to the study, published last week by researchers with the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, an institution at City University of New York Hunter College. Faculty members, graduate assistants, and nonacademic workers led 42 strikes from 2012 to 2018, the study found. Thirteen of them took place last year.