University System News:
Atlanta Business Chronicle
University System of Georgia producing more graduates
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
The University System of Georgia’s efforts to boost the state’s college graduation rate are paying off. The system awarded 67,854 degrees during the last fiscal year, a 2.1% increase over fiscal 2018, system Chancellor Steve Wrigley announced Thursday. Since 2011, degrees awarded annually have increased nearly 24%. “To put that in perspective, during that same time our enrollment has grown 3.4%,” he said. “So, the rate of awarding degrees is far outpacing the rate of enrollment growth, and that is exactly what we seek.” …Wrigley cited Georgia’s decision to join the Complete College America initiative in 2011 for the growth in degrees awarded, as well as Momentum Year, a data-driven suite of strategies designed to help all USG students in their crucial first year of college, and 15 to Finish, a campaign encouraging students to take 15 credit hours a semester, shortening the time it takes to graduate.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
University System of Georgia overhauling core curriculum
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia’s higher education system, which has increasingly focused on helping students complete college and developing a workforce, is moving to the next step by overhauling its core curriculum. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents has authorized a 17-member committee of academic administrators, university faculty and industry representatives to redesign core requirements for undergraduates that haven’t changed since the state’s public colleges and universities switched from the quarter system to semesters two decades ago. The concept behind the redesign is to get away from the notion that the core curriculum is about students learning a group of mandated courses by rote as quickly as possible in order to pursue their majors, said Tristan Denley, the system’s executive vice chancellor of academic affairs and the committee’s chairman. “In the past, it’s been more of a checklist to get out of the way,” he said. “This is a different vision.” The curriculum overhaul is an extension of several initiatives the university system has been working on since 2011, when then-Gov. Nathan Deal launched Complete College Georgia to boost the state’s college graduation rate.
Albany Herald
West Georgia presidential search committee named
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has named the two committees to conduct a national search for the next president of the University of West Georgia: the Presidential Search and Screen Committee and the Regents’ Special Committee. “The University of West Georgia deserves a visionary leader who will continue building upon the efforts of former President Kyle Marrero,” said USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley. “The next president must continue focusing on student success and improving graduation rates. The work of the committees is crucial to ensuring UWG’s next president has the qualifications, experience and skillset necessary to lead the institution to new heights.” The search and screening of candidates will be performed by a 16-member, campus-based Presidential Search and Screen Committee, comprising faculty, staff, students, alumni, the foundation and community stakeholders. Committee responsibilities include the development and posting of the position description, recruiting and vetting applicants, and conducting candidate interviews.
The George-Anne
University System of Georgia to hold regional forums next month
By Anthony Belinfante
As part of the University System of Georgia’s 2019 strategic planning effort, the new strategic plan will set USG’s agenda for the next five years and beyond, according to a letter from Georgia Southern University President Kyle Marrero. Students have been given the opportunity to weigh in on how the system will face the challenges and opportunities of public higher education in Georgia. The forums will discuss ideas and goals set by working groups at GS, which include University System Office staff, among others. “All the forums, while open to the public, are a direct opportunity for our key stakeholder groups — especially those of faculty, staff and students — to provide face-to- face feedback on the new strategic plan’s direction,” Marrero said in the letter. “I very much hope you can participate.” Feedback from students will result in new goals added on to previous ones made by these groups to help outline strategies moving the system forward.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Gov. Kemp orders state agencies to cut spending
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Gov. Brian Kemp has ordered state agencies to submit plans for cutting their spending by 4 percent during the remainder of this fiscal year and 6 percent in fiscal 2021. The first-year Republican governor, who talked about reducing state spending during last year’s campaign, cited a record of conservative budgeting set by his two GOP predecessors, Nathan Deal and Sonny Perdue. “Job growth is breaking records, companies from all around the world have the Peach State on their minds, and our ports are firing on all cylinders,” Kemp said. “Georgia has maintained our coveted AAA bond rating, saved for a rainy day, and invested in our values and priorities. …The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) sent a letter Tuesday instructing all state agency heads to turn in their budget reduction proposals by Sept. 6. Typically, the OPB works on the budget during the fall, and the governor presents his spending proposals based on its recommendations to the General Assembly in January.
Connect Savannah
START NOW at Georgia Southern University Armstrong Campus
When: Thu., Aug. 8, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 2019
Students who want to attend the Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern University have a unique opportunity to START NOW! Meet with a counselor to discuss your ability to receive a same-day admission decision and meet with an academic advisor to start classes this fall semester on August 19.
Columbus CEO
CSU Selected to Receive the 2019 AASCU Excellence and Innovation Award
Staff Report From Columbus CEO
Columbus State University has been selected to receive the 2019 AASCU Excellence and Innovation Award for International Education. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities selected CSU’s “Your Developing Global Citizens: Engagement, Inclusion, and International Opportunity” program for its outstanding results and potential to influence and serve as a model for other institutions. …Previously, Columbus State was awarded the Simon Award in 2014, recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that are making significant, well-planned, well-executed, and well-documented progress toward comprehensive internationalization—especially those using innovative and creative approaches. CSU has become a national leader in international education, outpacing larger research and smaller private liberal arts institutions with creative programming, inclusion, and student funding.
Union Recorder
GC Nursing receives grant aimed at combating health care shortage
Gil Pound
Georgia College’s already robust nursing program is getting a boost, the university announced Tuesday. The local public liberal arts institution is the recipient of a $2.7 million, four-year grant from the Department of Human Health and Services’ Health Resources Service Agency (HRSA) aimed at increasing the number of health care professionals in underserved and rural areas of Georgia. The advanced nursing education workforce (ANEW) grant will fully fund the education of up to 42 rural or medically underserved Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) nurses who agree to continue practicing with DPH upon graduation. Nurse practitioner students will also gain experience in the growing field of telehealth as part of the grant. Georgia College will also utilize the funds to hire two full-time faculty positions that will work with students and a part-time preceptor trainer who will administer professional development to graduate instructors.
WGAU Radio
UGA LAW SCHOOL GETS $1 MILLION GRANT
By: Heidi Murphy
The memory of a domestic violence victim will have a lasting impact on the University of Georgia School of Law as an anonymous donor has pledged $1 million to support the school’s Family Justice Clinic and create a Distinguished Law Fellowship, both bearing the victim’s name – Jane W. Wilson. Wilson, a resident of rural Northern Georgia in her early 30s, was shot and killed by her second husband of just three days during August 1976. Her two young children, aged 10 and 8, witnessed the homicide. By making this gift to the law school, the donor hopes to help “others similarly situated – in particular, victims and families who often find neither help nor hope.” The intention is to place an emphasis on “avoiding domestic violence and its consequences” for families through education and resources including “legal representation so as to provide both meaningful assistance and precious hope to victims and their families.”
WGAU Radio
SALYERS NAMED UGA MENTOR-IN -RESIDENCE
By: Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia is getting a Startup Mentor-in-Residence to inspire and consult with staff, student and faculty entrepreneurs. David Salyers, the co-founder of several startups and nonprofits and a former marketing executive at Chick-fil-A, will start his UGA job this fall. “David brings a wealth of experience about starting and operating a strong business,” said Derek Eberhart, director of UGA’s Innovation Gateway. “And if you talk with him, you will learn very quickly that he is passionate about both entrepreneurship and the University of Georgia. I can think of no better person to serve as our inaugural Startup Mentor.”
WGAU Radio
UGA TO RESEARCH ROLE OF SLAVERY IN UNIVERSITY’S EARLY YEARS
The University of Georgia has issued a call for faculty research proposals to learn more about the role of slavery in the early development of the institution. This research initiative, supported by private funds, is intended to culminate in one or more definitive, publishable histories on the subject. According to the call issued by the Office of the Vice President for Research, successful proposals should be focused specifically on documenting the role of slavery in the institution’s development from its founding in 1785 through the end of the Civil War in 1865. “As a research institution, it is the stated mission of the University of Georgia ‘to teach, to serve and to inquire into the nature of things,’” said President Jere W. Morehead. “This research initiative reflects that mission. The new scholarship that results will document the contributions of slaves and recognize the role these individuals played in the history of the University of Georgia.”
Ed Tech Magazine
Academics vs. Entertainment: How Colleges Manage Competing Demands on the Network
As entertainment streaming consumes bandwidth, colleges shift strategy to deliver academic access.
By Calvin Hennick
In the course of a 2016 study, Purdue University officials discovered that only 4 percent of all internet traffic at a life sciences academic building was going to academic sites. Sixty-two percent went to sites such as Google, Apple and Amazon. Another 34 percent went to clearly nonacademic — and bandwidth-intensive — sites such as Netflix, Hulu and the gaming platform Steam. …Universities Look at Long-Term Solutions
Bill Gruszka, CIO and vice president for IT and services at Clayton State University in Georgia, says his institution has tripled bandwidth over the past five years. “My guess is that, if I triple it again, it would be filled in another week,” he says. Clayton State, like many universities, maintains separate networks for residence halls and the rest of campus. Each network is connected to its own 1GB pipe, and officials use bandwidth shaping to limit the use of torrent services and other resource-intensive sites on the main network. Still, officials heard complaints from students who had trouble getting on the network — until a recent change that included upgrading wireless to 802.11ac and installing new Extreme S-Series switches to replace the outdated N-Series switches. The line between academic and nonacademic sites is getting blurrier, Gruszka notes, with some instructors and students using sites like Netflix and YouTube as educational tools. …For now, the network upgrades and bandwidth shaping are keeping Clayton State users somewhat happy, but Gruszka expects bandwidth demands to keep growing. He recalls talking to an IT official at another college who planned to throw bandwidth at the problem until demand was fully met.
WTOC
Multicultural Chamber Business Expo
The event on Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus is a great networking opportunity for minority and female owned businesses. Dr. Maxine Bryant is Georgia Southern’s interim chief diversity office. She joins WTOC with a look at what will be offered at the expo.
Metro Atlanta CEO
Georgia Tech Police Department Introduces High School Students to Forensic Science
The (Georgia Tech Police Department) opened a new crime lab and, for the first time, hired a crime lab manager and investigator. As part of their commitment to community outreach, GTPD opened that lab to area high school students as part of the inaugural “CSI” Forensics Science Day Camp held July 30. “We are very proud of the crime lab we’ve just been able to put in the police department, and we hope to be a resource to other (USG) schools,” said Deputy Chief of Police Frank Trammer. “We’re also using it as part of our outreach to the community. One of the things we wanted to do was to invite students in for a crime scene investigations camp where they’re able to learn some of the basic crime scene processing techniques that we utilize to investigate crimes.”
Hypepotamus
by Muriel Vega
The inaugural Converge, a half-day event presented by the Technology Association of Georgia and Accenture, focused on how diversity and inclusion should drive innovation within the technology industry. The topic has become a common headline across the tech industry as the diversity gap continues to show now only in the hard workplace numbers, but in tech product development, as well. One recent study found that diversity at executive levels is actually getting worse. An industry panel of local tech leaders, moderated by Dr. Kamau Bobb of Google and Georgia Tech, discussed how they prioritize diversity within their companies — and the challenges they face in doing so. Dr. Bobb is the Global Lead for Diversity Strategy and Research at Google and the founding Senior Director of the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing at Georgia Tech.
Savannah Morning News
Drug charge dropped against Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts
By Travis Jaudon
The possession of cocaine charge has been dropped against Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts, the prosecutor in Saluda County, South Carolina, told the Savannah Morning News on Thursday, Aug. 8. Al Eargle, the Deputy Solicitor for the 11th Judicial Circuit which includes Saluda County, told Werts’ attorney, Townes Jones IV, that these kinds of charges would not be pressed on “his watch,” Jones said. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) tests were conducted on the substance samples collected from the hood of Werts’ 2016 Dodge Charger, but the results confirmed that no controlled substance was present in the samples. “I have not seen (the SLED results) yet,” Eargle said on a phone call Thursday night. “But I was informed that the test did come back and that there was no controlled substance found.”
Savannah Morning News
Georgia Southern lifts suspension after drug charge dropped against quarterback Shai Werts
By Travis Jaudon
Georgia Southern University athletic director Tom Kleinlein announced that the university has lifted the suspension against quarterback Shai Werts, a day after the drug charge against Werts was dropped. “After receiving official word that the misdemeanor drug charge against Shai Werts has been dropped by the Saluda County, South Carolina Solicitors Office, Shai is no longer subject to Georgia Southern University’s student-athlete code of conduct protocol, which provides guidance for drug-related charges,” Kleinlein said in a statement released by the university. Kleinlein said he reviewed the incident with Werts and Coach Chad Lunsford and “have determined that Shai will face no further suspension or disciplinary action.”
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A New Dropout Risk: Students Responsible for Aging or Sick Relatives
By Emma Whitford
Students in a morning public-relations class at California State University at Northridge often rolled in drowsy, with coffee in hand and minutes to spare, but not Andrew Rahal. By that hour, he had prepared breakfast for his grandmother, cleaned the house, and ensured that it was safe before running out the door. Sometimes he was late. That became a problem. His professor had a strict policy: If you are late three times, your grade drops by one letter. After his second tardy, he explained his situation: Rahal was the primary caregiver for his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease. “My professor kind of said, ‘Well, you should have thought of that before signing up for this class,’” Rahal said. He ultimately received a D due to chronic lateness and absences. Rahal, 27, is one of a growing number of young-adult family caregivers. An AARP report found that, in 2015, about 10 million people age 18 to 34 were providing care for an elderly or disabled loved one. More than a third of those caregivers were younger than 25. Their ranks are growing, thanks to a national caregiver shortage that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age, and families continue to live farther away from their adult children. Insurance typically doesn’t cover long-term care, and most families cannot afford to pay for it.
Inside Higher Ed
Report Says More Data Needed on Nondegree Credentials
By Andrew Kreighbaum
As lawmakers debate expanding Pell Grant eligibility to short-term programs, a new report from the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations released Thursday urges more efforts to collect data on the outcomes of current short-term programs. The report finds that no states collect comprehensive data on nondegree credentials. Most of the work done to assess the quality of short-term credentials so far has focused on for-credit credentials at public institutions.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Sharp International Student Decline Costs US, Study Finds
by Sarah Wood
There has been a steady decline in international students studying in the United States over the last few years, which has caused economic consequences, according to a report by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. The study, Losing Talent: An Economic and Foreign Policy Risk America Can’t Ignore, highlighted the reasons behind the enrollment decline as well as its negative impact. International students enrolling in U.S. universities and colleges are a major financial benefit. Last year, according to NAFSA’s research, international students contributed $39 billion to the economy. However, the 10-percent enrollment decrease within the last two years cost the U.S. economy an estimated $5.5 billion and more than 40,000 jobs, according to the report.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
FBI Questions China Program Grads
By Karin Fischer
The FBI has been questioning American graduates of a prestigious Chinese master’s degree program to see if they have been co-opted by Chinese espionage efforts. NPR first reported that agents have been reaching out to alumni of Peking University’s Yenching Academy to see if they have been approached by Chinese authorities. In a statement, Yenching administrators said they were “deeply concerned about the possible effects of unwarranted official scrutiny on the morale and career development of our alumni, and we strongly request that the U.S. government cease any intrusive or unjustified investigations of our Yenching scholars.” The interviews seem to be one more manifestation of U.S. government concerns about higher ed’s vulnerability to Chinese spying.
Inside Higher Ed
The Global Evidence Against Free College
Countries that provide more public funding for higher education tend to have fewer graduates over all, a new study asserts.
By Greta Anderson
Democratic politicians — many of them vying for their party’s 2020 presidential nomination — propose free college programs or other major investments in higher education that reflect systems in countries like Finland and Sweden. But an American Enterprise Institute report released Thursday argues that when developed nations dedicate more public resources to postsecondary education, they tend to produce fewer graduates.