University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Enrollment in Georgia’s university system reaches another record high
By Eric Stirgus
Student enrollment in Georgia’s public university system increased for the seventh consecutive year, officials said in a report Tuesday to the state’s Board of Regents. This semester’s enrollment is 333,507, up 1.5% from the fall 2018 semester enrollment of 328,712. The new figures mark the fifth consecutive year the University System of Georgia has reported record high enrollment. The system’s enrollment increase comes amid a decline in enrollment nationwide in recent years as fewer students graduate from high school. Georgia, though, has seen an increase in high school graduates and in population in recent years. System officials, though, warn they expect to see a sharp decline in high school graduates in Georgia by 2025 due to a predicted decline in population growth.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
University System of Georgia enrollment hits record high
By Dave Williams, Staff Writer
Enrollment in the University System of Georgia’s 26 institutions rose by 1.5% this fall over the fall of last year to a record high 333,507 students. The fall semester of 2019 marked the sixth straight year of modest enrollment increases and the fifth consecutive year of record enrollment. “We have also seen a substantial rise in the number of students awarded degrees annually,” system Chancellor Steve Wrigley said. “Getting more Georgians through college to a degree improves not only their quality of life, but also Georgia’s economic competitiveness.”
Augusta Chronicle
AU fields its largest-ever freshman class
By Tom Corwin
Augusta University saw its largest freshman class ever this fall, with more than half from outside Augusta, and is continuing to grow overall, enrollment figures show.
The University System of Georgia released Fall 2019 enrollment figures on Tuesday and AU grew from 9,072 students the previous fall to 9,274. That includes its largest freshman class of 1,089. About 54 percent of those new students were from outside the Augusta area, a trend that the university has been seeing for a while now, “which is great news,” said AU Provost Gretchen Caughman.
WTOC
Georgia Southern offers resources for transitioning soldiers
The transition from the military to civilian life can prove difficult for many recent veterans. It can be difficult to figure out your next step. Georgia Southern University offers a number of resources for veterans seeking a degree. William Gammon, with the university’s office of military and veterans services, told Morning Break about what they offer.
WGXA
Gordon State’s Green Zone training helps veterans transition to college life
by Nick Gibson
This Veterans Day, Gordon State College held a special training to help veterans going from the military into college life. Green Zone Training gives veterans a safe space on campus as faculty and staff also learn more about veterans’ lives with the goal of making college campuses more military friendly.
The Tifton Gazette
ABAC launches new community health track
With the naming of Dr. Adrian Israel Martinez-Franco as the new head of the department of rural studies, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is launching a new community health track in the rural community development bachelor’s degree program. Dr. Matthew Anderson, dean of ABAC’s school of arts and sciences, believes the appointment of Martinez-Franco and the new Community Health program will have far reaching implications for ABAC students. “We are very excited that Dr. Martinez-Franco will be joining ABAC in this role,” Anderson said. “I am confident that the department of rural studies will thrive under his leadership, and students graduating from the programs will leave ABAC with the skills and knowledge to make a positive impact on the communities of rural Georgia and beyond.
AllOnGeorgia
Georgia’s 2019 CTAE graduation rate reaches 96.54%
The graduation rate for students involved in Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) programs has risen to 96.54 percent in Georgia. This rate – which applies to students who complete a Career Pathway – exceeds the statewide graduation rate by 14.54 percentage points. …CTAE is for all students, and Career Pathway completers are prepared to pursue higher education (through the University System of Georgia, Technical College System of Georgia, or another institution), enter the military, accept an apprenticeship opportunity or immediately begin their career.
The Gainesville Times
UNG to get off-campus student housing
Jeff Gill
A 486-bed student housing project near the University of North Georgia’s Gainesville campus was approved by the Oakwood City Council on a site slightly larger than one approved earlier this year.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
University of West Ga. students say no faculty cuts to balance budget
By Eric Stirgus
University of West Georgia students demanded during a meeting Monday that administrators find other ways to fill a $3 million budget gap that do not include cutting faculty. Administrators recently sent notices to an undisclosed number of faculty members saying the university may not renew their teaching contracts at the end of the school year to fill the budget gap. “I urge you, no, I demand you reconsider this,” one student said during a meeting Monday that was scheduled for one hour, but went 90 minutes. The administrators said the gap has been caused by a decline of about 500 students this year.
Albany Herald
UGA Professor Michael Strand selected as inaugural Pulliam Chair
By Sharon Dowdy & Merritt Melancon CAES News
Professor Michael Strand has dedicated his career to unlocking the power of basic science to improve agriculture, and that dedication has earned him the recognition of the state’s agricultural community. This fall Strand, a professor of entomology in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, has been selected as the inaugural H.M Pulliam Chair at CAES. The chair was established in 2018 by the family of Henley Morris Pulliam, who served as an agriculture teacher in Georgia during the heart of the Great Depression and through his retirement in 1968.
Growing Georgia
Integrated Approach, New Tools Help Protect Pecans against Fungicide-Resistant Scab
By: Clint Thompson
To protect against scab disease resistance, Georgia pecan farmers now have a new fungicide in their arsenal, according to University of Georgia plant pathologist Tim Brenneman. Miravis, which is already being used successfully on other crops such as peanuts, contains a new active ingredient, pydiflumetofen, that should strengthen current pecan disease management programs, said Brenneman, a professor in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
WRDW
Former Georgia Southern football star giving free turkeys to Augusta families in need
By Staff
A Georgia Southern University Hall of Fame football player and his wife are gearing up for the holiday season by giving to those who need it most. Voncellies Allen and his wife Jasmine are giving away 100 free turkeys on November 23rd in the Augusta community. “We have been blessed and wanted to be a blessing to the less fortunate this giving season,” Jasmine Allen said.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Former Earthlink CFO, UGA alum picked as Stratix CEO
By Madison Hogan – Atlanta Inno Staff Writer
Metro Atlanta-based mobility provider Stratix has hired Louis M. Alterman as the company’s next president, CEO and board member. Alterman’s new position takes effect Dec. 1. Alterman replaces Gina Gallo, the company’s CEO since 2011. Stratix said she is pursuing other opportunities outside the company. Alterman, a University of Georgia graduate with an MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, has more than 20 years of industry experience and most recently served as CFO of Rackspace and Earthlink.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Tuition Revenue Growth Expected to Slow
By Rick Seltzer
Growth in net tuition revenue is expected to slow in the 2020 fiscal year for both public and private universities, Moody’s Investors Service reported Monday. Public institutions’ median annual net tuition revenue growth is projected at 1 percent, down from 1.8 percent last year. Private institutions’ median net tuition revenue growth is expected to be 2.3 percent, a decline from 2.8 percent. The projections come from surveys of institutions for which Moody’s provides bond ratings.
Inside Higher Ed
A report on 2017-18 state grants and aid shows that grant programs, including funding boosts in Florida and New York, contributed to a significant increase in state aid nationally.
By Greta Anderson
State investment in college students grew more last year than in the past decade, according to an annual study of grant and aid programs released Tuesday. Undergraduate aid grew by 8.62 percent during the 2017-18 academic year compared to an annual growth rate of 1 to 6 percent, adjusted for inflation, since 2007-08, a new report by the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs outlines. State financial aid programs in the U.S. reached $13.6 billion, compared to $12.8 billion dedicated to postsecondary students in 2016-17, says the report by NASSGAP, which represents agencies that administer state student financial aid. NASSGAP’s 2017-18 analysis showed states confronting issues of college affordability and workforce shortages with an urgency not shown before.
Inside Higher Ed
Rift Over State Reciprocity Rules
New federal rules on distance education highlight long-standing tensions between consumer advocates seeking stronger state-level protections for students and higher education groups seeking shared national standards.
By Lindsay McKenzie
Regulating universities that operate across state lines is contentious and complicated. So it was considered a remarkable achievement when a panel of negotiators selected by the U.S. Department of Education reached consensus on new distance education rules earlier this year. Not everyone is happy with the final regulations, however. Robyn Smith, a consumer advocate who served on the negotiated rule-making panel, said the final rules published by the department in late October are not consistent with what the panel agreed to in April. “I am outraged by the final regulations,” Smith wrote in a statement earlier this month. Smith, a lawyer who is counsel to the National Consumer Law Center and a senior attorney for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, said the department substantially changed the distance education regulation “without sufficient factual justification.” The department amended the regulation “to allow schools to offer distance education under reciprocity agreements that prohibit states from enforcing the state laws specifically enacted to prevent for-profit school abuses,” said Smith. “As a result, the department has limited the ability of states to protect millions of students from predatory schools that waste students’ time and money while loading them with unaffordable debt.”