University System News:
Savanah CEO
Georgia Southern’s Master of Public Health Program Ranked #1 in Nation
Staff Report From Savannah CEO
The Master of Public Health (MPH) program in the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health (JPHCOPH) at Georgia Southern University has been ranked #1 in the nation by SR Education Group. The list of the top 13 MPH programs, which includes Brown University and Emory University, is based on student reviews from 2018. SR Education reports that the faculty, job preparation and research opportunities in Georgia Southern’s MPH program are especially notable.
Douglas Now
SGSC’S Bachelor’s In Long-Term Healthcare Management Begins Next Year
South Georgia State College (SGSC) is proud to announce the launching of the Bachelor of Science in Long-Term Healthcare Management to begin Spring 2020 on the Waycross campus. The Long-Term Healthcare Management degree will develop skills and knowledge for managers of long-term healthcare services in order to meet the needs of patients and families in homes, community agencies and long-term care facilities. It will focus on serving the aging, as well as individuals of any age who live with acute and chronic physical and mental disorders. The program curriculum will provide graduates with the skill set to address a variety of healthcare concepts and practices, such as developmental disabilities across the lifespan, adult health, aging, acute care, subacute care, chronic disease management, mental health issues, disease management, health promotion and health restoration.
Tifton CEO
ABAC Economic Impact Half a Billion Dollars on South Georgia
Staff Report
Always a major player when it comes to economic impact, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College hit a home run during the 2018 fiscal year when ABAC impacted South Georgia to the tune of a half billion dollars. “ABAC’s footprint in South Georgia makes quite a large impression,” Dr. Renata Elad, Dean of ABAC’s Stafford School of Business, said. “As a result of the overall multiplier effect, ABAC’s economic impact was $499,403,672 in 2018.”
Emanuel County Live
EGSC Family & Friends Fun Day draws large crowd
by HARLEY STRICKLAND
On Saturday, September 21 East Georgia State College held Family & Friends Fun Day at the Swainsboro campus, inviting the campus and community to enjoy free fun and games provided by the Office of Student Life, the EGSC Foundation and various clubs and organizations on campus.
Valdosta Daily Times
Dr. Thomas Aiello, professor of history and African-American studies at Valdosta State University, is the winner of the 2019 Book Award from the American Journalism Historians Association for his 2018 book, “The Grapevine of the Black South: The Scott Newspaper Syndicate in the Generation Before the Civil Rights Movement.” The book is Aiello’s study of the preeminent black press of the Southern states in the early 1900s, university officials said.
Albany Herald
Housing for more than 200 ASU students expected to open for next school year
By Alan Mauldin
The Albany City Commission on Tuesday approved the closing of part of a city street, paving the way for a private student-housing development that will serve Albany State University students. The Davis Companies’ project is expected to be completed in August 2020. The development on the east side of Radium Springs Road will be next to the campus and share parking with existing space, said company representative Matthew Davis, who made the request before the board at its meeting Tuesday.
The Brunswick News
Links chapter hosts HBCU panel
By Lauren Mcdonald
September is celebrated as National HBCU Month, as part of a countrywide initiative to raise awareness of historically black colleges and universities. To support this effort, the Brunswick Chapter of the Links, Inc., hosted its inaugural HBCU Forum on Sept. 19 at Brunswick High School, inviting students in Glynn, Camden and McIntosh counties to attend and learn about HBCU opportunities. …Glynn County Schools hosts an annual HBCU fair in February, and this event aimed to supplement the awareness that event brings, said Oatanisha Dawson, co-chair for service to youth with the Links chapter. “We wanted to just partner with the school system and give information to students and families earlier on, so they can have not just an interest but information about being financially prepared and building their financial portfolios so that they can have an easier transition from high school to college,” Dawson said. Representatives from four HBCUs — Alabama State University, Jackson State University, Savannah State University and Spelman College — participated in a panel discussion at the event and set up booths to meet with students and families before and afterward. Local financial groups also took part in the event, to offer guidance on paying for college.
Athens Banner-Herald
UGA to name college of education for Early, first black graduate
By Lee Shearer
The University of Georgia moved Wednesday toward naming its college of education for Mary Frances Early, the university’s first African American graduate. Naming an academic unit such as a college for a person requires Board of Regents approval, UGA President Jere Morehead said in a meeting of his cabinet of high-level administrators, who voted unanimously to approve naming the college for Early.
Patch
Second Building At North Georgia’s Cumming Campus Moves Forward
A second academic building at the University of North Georgia’s Cumming campus was included in a recent University System of GA budget.
By Kathleen Sturgeon
A project to add a second academic building at the University of North Georgia’s (UNG) Cumming Campus took an initial step toward becoming a reality Sept. 10 when the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) included $1 million in planning and design funds in its Fiscal Year 2021 Capital Budget Request. Additionally, the USG request submitted to the state Office of Planning and Budget includes $19.5 million for the construction of a new Cottrell Center for Business, Technology & Innovation on the Dahlonega Campus and $2.3 million to equip the former Lanier Tech space on the Gainesville Campus. The three UNG projects included in USG’s Fiscal Year 2021 Capital Budget Request total $22.8 million. Additional approval by the governor and legislators is required as part of the state budgeting process.
accessWDUN
A project for an addition to the University of North Georgia’s Cumming Campus took an initial step toward becoming a reality recently when the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia included one million dollars in planning and design funds in its Fiscal Year 2021 Capital Budget Request. Additionally, the USG request submitted to the state Office of Planning and Budget includes $19.5 million for the construction of a new Cottrell Center for Business, Technology & Innovation on the Dahlonega Campus and $2.3 million to equip the former Lanier Tech space on the Gainesville Campus. The three UNG projects included in USG’s Fiscal Year 2021 Capital Budget Request total $22.8 million. Additional approval by the governor and legislators is required as part of the state budgeting process.
WGAU Radio
UGA Cortona campus marks 50 years
By: Eric Rangus
Even by the high scenic standards of Tuscany, the views from Cortona, Italy, are stunning. One of the loveliest is looking south from near the top of Monte Sant-Egidio, where the town has sat for more than 2,000 years. The tapestry of rolling fields in the foreground is occasionally interrupted by silvery leaved stands of olive trees whose bounty is still harvested by hand. The blue waters of Lago Trasimeno lie just beyond and just past that are the hills that give the horizon its depth. “There is something beautiful around every corner in Cortona,” says Margaret Morrison, associate professor of art in the Lamar Dodd School of Art. She has spent this summer teaching painting at UGA Cortona, the university’s oldest and largest study abroad program.
enginnering.com
Researchers Develop Wireless Sensor Implant to Monitor Aneurysms
Denrie Caila Perez
A wireless sensor that can be implanted in the blood vessels of the human brain has recently been developed by a team of researchers. Researchers from Georgia Tech and Emory University suggest that the technology could potentially help clinicians to wirelessly monitor and evaluate the healing of aneurysms. The sensor is inserted using a catheter system, and it can be wrapped around implanted stents or diverters that control blood flow in the vessels affected by aneurysms.
Popular Mechanics
These Robots Literally Just Flap Their Wings. That’s It. But the Army Loves Them.
Meet the tiny, but mighty “smarticles.”
By Courtney Linder
Robots have a couple typical components: motors, actuators, legs, and wheels, to name a few. But these tiny modular robots called “smarticles,” or “smart active particles,” are breaking the rules. They don’t do anything at all except flap their “wings,” making them look like spazzed-out fidget spinners. …The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Lab funded the research, which was conducted by experts at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Northwestern University. The endgame is to use these modular robots on the ground for real missions, according to a press statement. “For example, as envisioned by the Army Functional Concept for Maneuver, a robotic swarm may someday be capable of moving to a river and then autonomously forming a structure to span the gap,” said Sam Stanton, program manager of complex dynamics and systems at the Army Research Office, in the statement.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia fiscal economist says 50-50 chance of a recession next year
By James Salzer
The state’s fiscal economist told House and Senate budget-writers Thursday that there is a 50-50 chance of a mild recession next year, and that tax collections are expected to decline slightly for the first quarter of fiscal 2020. The comments by Jeffrey Dorfman, who also teaches applied economics at the University of Georgia, backed up Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to force state agencies to cut their budgets for fiscal 2020, which ends June 30, and fiscal 2021. “It is clear Governor Kemp’s approach to prepare for a tighter budgetary climate is a correct one,” Dorfman said.
Athens Banner-Herald
‘Vince Dooley Day’ proclaimed in Athens, Oconee County
By Wayne Ford
Vince Dooley, the 87-year-old man who spent 25 years as the University of Georgia head football coach, stood at the podium Thursday in Athens. This great-grandfather to twin girls spoke with a hoarse voice, something he attributed to a football game in Athens on Saturday. But he still entertained his audience with stories about football, history and gardening. On this day, “Vince Dooley Day” was proclaimed during a luncheon attended by about 300 people from elected officials, former players and friends. Proclamations were presented by Oconee County Board of Commission Chairman John Daniell and Athens-Clarke Mayor Kelly Girtz, the latter who also presented Dooley with a Key to the City. Dooley received a standing ovation.
WSB-TV
Georgia Tech men’s basketball team banned from 2019-20 postseason
By: Nicole Carr
In a blow to the Georgia Tech athletics program, the NCAA has imposed a four-year probation period, recruiting restrictions, scholarship cuts and a postseason ban on the men’s basketball program. The infractions are tied to illegal recruitment efforts, including player perks, a visit to a strip club, recreational money for a top recruit and other violations. They implicate a booster, former assistant coach Darryl LaBarrie and Ron Bell, a former friend of head coach Josh Pastner. The latter relationship has been embroiled in civil defamation lawsuit claiming that Pastner moved to settle last month, right before the case was set to go trial in Arizona. Despite what’s taken place over the past two years, Georgia Tech officials say they’re standing by Pastner, and are exploring options to appeal what they’ve called severe penalties. An NCAA infractions committee head said the penalties are in line with past punishments for similar offenses.
See also:
Albany Herald
NCAA hits Georgia Tech men’s basketball hard with four-year probation, postseason ban
Savannah Morning News
Chatham police add two neighborhood liason officers
The Chatham County Police Department has added two neighborhood liaison officers to the force to increase the effectiveness of its community policing efforts. The NLOs will act as the direct contact between residents, home owners associations, and other stakeholders, and the command staff of the Chatham County Police Department. Chatham spokeswoman Betsy Nolen said these NLOs will be in daily contact with community members on their beats, and will report back to command staff about issues, concerns, and opportunities for crime prevention and suppression. Nolen said the goal of the program is to increase communication between the department and residents, and to streamline the process of residents’ concerns reaching command staff where they can be strategically addressed. Officer Esquina White will serve as the NLO for the neighborhoods in west Chatham County. …White holds a Crime Prevention through Environmental Design designation from the National Institute of Crime Prevention. She earned a bachelor degree in public relations from Georgia Southern University and is pursuing a dual master’s degree in criminal justice and public administration at Florida International University.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Wesley Jenkins
John Kappelman alerted about half of the students in his online anthropology course to their “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” last Thursday. The reason: More than 70 had participated in a class GroupMe, in which information regarding lab and exam answers had been shared. “My disappointment arises from the fact that the rules for the class are clear,” wrote Kappelman, a professor in the departments of anthropology and geological sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. “Students are not permitted to ask about, discuss, or share information related to exams and labs.” Because every student had “signed and submitted a course honesty agreement,” according to Kappelman’s email, he recommended that every student in the GroupMe chat receive an F, and he referred the case to the dean of students. …The decision to extend punishment to every student in the chat raises questions of fairness for those who had it muted or never checked it. More broadly, the scandal highlights the difficult issue of expanding technology in the classroom, students in the Google generation who view the free exchange of information without citation as not problematic, and faculty members who are wary of the use — and perceived abuse — of new digital tools.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Common App Receives Two Grants to Help Underrepresented Students Attend College
by Sarah Wood
Common Application, a nonprofit higher education application organization, announced that they received two grants to help provide support for underrepresented students looking to attend college. The Kresge Foundation awarded the Common App $350,000 and the Michelson 20mm Foundation granted the organization $25,000. Three initiatives aimed to help students through the college process including applications, scholarships and financial aid will be funded under the grant.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
FUTURE Act Stalls in the U.S. Senate
by Sara Weissman
Historically Black colleges and universities are growing nervous as federal funding for minority serving institutions – set to expire Sept. 30 – stalls in the United States Senate. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education Act, or FUTURE Act, which would reauthorize $255 million in mandatory annual funds for these institutions for the next two years. But as the deadline approaches, Sen. Lamar Alexander, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, has asked to attach additional proposals to the legislation, delaying a vote. The Tennessee Republican’s new plan includes simplifying the FAFSA and expanding the students and programs eligible for Pell grants.
Inside Higher Ed
Lifting the Curtain on Income-Share Agreements
Income-share agreements are drawing attention from lawmakers, although relatively few students so far have signed up for the loan alternative. Two organizations with markedly different approaches are looking to change that.
By Andrew Kreighbaum
For a certain corner of higher ed, income-share agreements have emerged as the most exciting innovation to finance a college degree. The contracts obligate students to pay back a portion of their future income for a set number of years rather than take out student loans to cover unmet financial need. The concept was first tested in short-term programs like coding boot camps but increasingly is being pushed as an option for students at traditional colleges as well. The annual Education Finance Conference in Washington, D.C., this month attracted nearly 200 attendees for a series of sessions focused mostly on ISAs, a 40 percent increase in turnout from the year before.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
White Borrowers? Almost Paid Off. Black Borrowers? Still Indebted.
By Lauren Fisher
Twenty years after enrolling in college, the median white student-loan borrower will have paid off 94 percent of the debt he or she accumulated in that period. But the median black borrower for the same period will still owe 95 percent of his or her student-loan debt, according to a new report from the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University. The report, “Stalling Dreams,” found that the current system of higher-education financing exacerbates inequality, with black students facing the greatest challenges when it comes to funding their education through student loans. Students of color don’t just take on more loans; they also have greater difficulty paying them off, meaning they’re much more likely to experience long-term financial insecurity. The institute’s study tracked national data on a cohort of students who began college in the 1995-96 academic year. When they started college, 43 percent of white students in the cohort financed their education without student loans, compared with just a quarter of black students.
Inside Higher Ed
Decision Day Approaches for Admission Counselors
NACAC prepares to cut its losses in antitrust investigation with changes that could supercharge recruiting competition.
By Rick Seltzer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Cracks appearing in higher education’s predominant admissions model loomed large as the National Association for College Admission Counseling opened its national conference Thursday. The exhibit hall bustled with vendors, as always. NACAC leaders listed the usual long string of corporate and university sponsors. But early sessions contained many nods to the high-profile Varsity Blues admissions scandal, simmering legal issues and votes scheduled for Saturday to try to resolve a federal antitrust investigation. “This year, the issues we faced together weren’t necessarily the ones we anticipated when we signed up for board service,” said Stefanie D. Niles, NACAC president, at the conference’s opening general session. “Yet together we did our best to navigate the rocky terrain. We made some very tough decisions.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The U. of Montana Has Lost More Students This Decade Than Any Other Flagship. What’s Going On?
By Dan Bauman and Sarah Brown
No public flagship has been hollowed out more in the last decade than the University of Montana at Missoula. On Tuesday the university released the results of its undergraduate census, reporting a headcount of 6,321 for the fall of 2019. Compare that with the count taken at the start of the decade, in 2011, when 10,567 undergraduates enrolled. Indeed, after eight years of back-to-back declines, Montana’s undergraduate class has decreased by more than 40 percent, according to figures released by the university. The numbers were first reported on Tuesday by the Montana Kaimin, the university’s student newspaper. Though the data are less recent than the numbers released this week, disclosures by America’s flagship universities to the U.S. Department of Education over the past decade illustrate just how severe the declines have been at the Montana flagship.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Students aren’t showing up. And it’s only going to get worse.
By BILL CONLEY
Question: Who do you think made the following observation — and when? “Even more alarming is the perception among a growing number of young people today that, with escalating college costs and diminishing payoffs in terms of guaranteed career opportunities, a postsecondary education simply may not be worth the huge investment.” If you guessed that I pulled this from a magazine article published in the past couple of years, you wouldn’t be alone. Point of fact: The above statement was made by Jack Maguire in Boston College Magazine … in 1976. For those of us who have been doing admissions work for a while — I’ve been in the business since 1980 — to hear some form of Maguire’s concern today just seems like déjà vu all over again. The 1980s were quickly dubbed the “demographic decade” as high-school graduation rates declined and a stubborn recession pressed family pocketbooks. In fact, Maguire is widely acknowledged as the father of enrollment management, the science that would be called upon to relieve higher education’s enrollment pressures at the time.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
6 Takeaways for Colleges That Want to Help Low-Income Students Get Career-Ready
By Goldie Blumenstyk
The extra challenges of career-ready education at colleges serving low-income students.
With the rise of the gig economy, the erosion of job security and employer-provided training, and the threats to jobs from a coming wave of automation, the role of education in helping people prepare for their working lives — perhaps over and over again — couldn’t be more pressing. That’s a point I’ve made at several public events over the past few months, after completing research for my “Career Ready Education” report. Easy for me to say, right? And even more to the point, of course: Actually helping students prepare for their careers is easier said than done. …All of that came sharply into focus for me last week when I spoke to 75 college leaders from the Yes We Must Coalition at their gathering at Augsburg University, in Minneapolis, on engaging with employers. (The 35-member coalition includes only colleges where at least half of the students qualify for Pell Grants and the overall undergraduate enrollment is no greater than 7,500.)
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Want to Know Where Ph.D.s in English Get Jobs? This Is What Grad Programs Will Tell You
By Audrey Williams June
The road to the professoriate, when stripped down to its most basic milestones, goes like this: Enroll in graduate school. Earn a Ph.D. Land a tenure-track job — eventually. Or, just as likely, not at all. Current and prospective graduate students trying to predict whether they’ll beat the odds to join the faculty ranks face a tough task. That’s because colleges vary widely in what they say publicly about where their Ph.D. students land after graduation.
Inside Higher Ed
Assessing the Value of an Undergrad Degree
A new study from Academically Adrift’s co-author seeks to evaluate a broad range of student experiences and outcomes as well as new ways to measure learning.
By Lilah Burke
A broad and ambitious attempt to understand what students get out of higher education, both experientially and intellectually, took an important step this week at the University of California, Irvine. Richard Arum coauthored the high-profile book Academically Adrift, which evaluated the critical thinking skills students gain in college, with unflattering results for higher education. Arum is now dean of the university’s education school, where he is leading a project to survey students’ experiences in college as well as learning outcomes that have in the past eluded measurement. Some of the study’s 1,000 randomly selected students began the survey process Wednesday. The project is meant to incorporate a complicated array of student data, ranging from answers to short experience surveys — where students report what they are doing at the moment, whom they are with and how engaged they are — to behavior on learning management systems, grades and measures of civic reasoning. “We’ll have the ability to identify student experiences inside and outside the classroom, as well as undergraduate outcomes, in a way that’s more rich, complex and deep than anything that’s occurred previously in the field,” Arum said.
The New York Times
Caltech Gets a Windfall for Climate Research: $750 Million
The gift from Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the billionaire owners of bottled water and agriculture companies, comes amid growing urgency over climate change.
By Dana Goldstein
It will take huge efforts, according to experts, to avert disasters related to climate change. Commitments from reluctant leaders to reform the global economy. Shifts in the daily routines of citizens. And research from the world’s greatest minds — lots of it. To help pay for that research, the billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick are set to announce on Thursday the second-largest donation ever to an American university: $750 million to the California Institute of Technology for environmental study, much of it focused on technological solutions to combat climate change.