University System News:
Savannah CEO
Regents Honor Scholars from Each Institution during Academic Recognition Day
Staff Report
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) honored 26 students who best represent the system’s highest scholastic ideals during Academic Recognition Day activities Feb. 11. Each of the system’s institutions selected a student with a 4.0 GPA who also reflects the system’s best qualities. They aim to strive for excellence and have the ability to share knowledge in various areas of expertise. Academic Recognition Day began 32 years ago as a celebration of Georgia students’ academic achievement. The honorees receive a resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives along with a letter of commendation from USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley. The 2020 honorees are as follows:
EducationDive
How the skills gap is changing the degree path
To address demand for job-specific training, these colleges are giving students more ways to gain work experience and short-term credentials while in school.
AUTHOR Mikhail Zinshteyn
Pressed to respond to students’ concerns about the rising cost of higher education and their sometimes-foggy understanding of how their learning translates into jobs, some colleges are reshaping the degree pathway. Their motivation for doing so is not only internal. Nontraditional education providers are proving to be stiff competition. Bootcamps prepare information technology and web-development workers in months, not years. And multinational firms now produce their own certificates that promise to be gateways to meaningful entry-level work. …The University System of Georgia, for example, is creating a new type of two-year degree that requires students to take internships and upper-division courses — demands typically not found in associate degrees. Georgia is calling these “nexus” degrees. “It’s really a unique opportunity for Georgians to be able to have sort of a crucial training that takes them straight into the entry-level position in a high-needs field,” said Tristan Denley, chief academic officer at the University System of Georgia, in an interview with Education Dive. He called it a “much more nimble kind of credential.” So far, two nexus degree programs are live, both at Columbus State University.
The Augusta Chronicle
Rick Franza: Business education moving in the right direction
By Richard M. Franza, Ph.D., Guest Columnist
In recent weeks, I have had much reason to reflect on how university-level business education is doing in Georgia, the United States and around the world. Earlier this month I attended the AACSB Deans’ Conference in Nashville, Tenn., where Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-accredited business schools gather to discuss relevant educational issues. In January, I chaired a meeting of business school deans and their representatives for the University System of Georgia in Atlanta. And lastly, I am preparing to be part of a visit team to evaluate the accreditation of a Southeastern business school in early March. Each of these activities has me thinking about the current and future state of business education. And though I am biased, I believe business education is on an excellent trajectory. At the Atlanta meeting, there were excellent signs for higher education in Georgia in general and for business education in particular. First, Dr. Tristan Denley, the USG’s executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and chief academic officer, presented an update on the progress of redesigning general education or “Gen Ed” in Georgia. Gen Ed is what every student takes no matter their major field of study. I am very impressed with the redesign’s emphasis on important skills such as critical thinking, global competencies, data/digital fluency and written and oral communications. These competencies will not only allow students to better succeed in their chosen academic majors, but also be more productive state, national and global citizens. Second, we heard from Tommy Marshall and Art Recesso, who are helping lead the USG’s efforts in financial technology, or “FinTech” education.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OPINION: What core courses should be required of Georgia college students?
By Maureen Downey
University System of Georgia rethinks the mandated general education classes kids must now take
An assistant professor at the University of North Georgia, Matthew Boedy writes today about the unveiling of draft revisions to the core curriculum at Georgia’s public colleges. The University System of Georgia is two semesters into rethinking its core curriculum. The USG wants to update its general education or core curriculum for undergraduate students with the goal of better preparing students for the workforce and changing economic realities and needs. As AJC higher education writer Eric Sturgis wrote in November:
The Augusta Chronicle
Provost Caughman leaves behind long legacy at AU
By Tom Corwin
Augusta University Provost Gretchen Caughman will retire later this year after a decade on the job, which included helping to create the school during the consolidation of two institutions.
Hanging on the wall of her office is a brightly colored, intricately patterned quilt that Augusta University Provost Gretchen Caughman created. She didn’t want to think about how many hours it took to piece and sew together and instead stood back and admired her handiwork. That also reflects a lot of her work as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Caughman, 64, who will retire at the end of the fiscal year June 30, will leave behind a long list of accomplishments since taking the job on an interim basis at the Medical College of Georgia in 2010. Within months of accepting a permanent appointment in 2011, the school was facing an edict from the University System of Georgia to consolidate with Augusta State University. But it was a role she was uniquely prepared for, having previously served as dean of the School of Graduate Studies at MCG for five years, a position with “a lot of responsibility (but) very little authority,” Caughman said. Every faculty member in the school is also a member of another school and also has other responsibilities, so “you have to influence rather than actually saying, ‘You go do it,’” she said. “You have to be able to lead without actually doing a lot of exertions of power.” Consolidation, merging two faculties and staff and very different cultures, required similar kinds of negotiations and establishing relationships, Caughman said.
Rome News-Tribune
KSU to offer two new degrees in the fall
By Thomas Hartwell
Kennesaw State University will offer two new degree programs beginning in August after it received approval from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. With the approval, the university adds to the more than 100 undergraduate and baccalaureate degree programs in the arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, natural sciences and business fields, as well as in architecture, engineering, information systems and nursing. KSU President Pamela Whitten said the addition of the Master of Science in cybersecurity and a Bachelor of Business Administration in hospitality management show the university is aware of the needs of its students, as well as the state and region workforce.
Albany Herald
ABAC students now opt for four-year degrees
From staff reports
When 27 students walked up the front steps of what is now Tift Hall to attend the Second District Agricultural and Mechanical School on Feb. 20, 1908, they had no idea they were laying the foundation for an institution that would create an annual economic impact of almost a half-billion dollars on South Georgia 112 years later. The Second District A&M School was an area high school that opened on that day in 1908. The school later became South Georgia A&M College in 1924, the Georgia State College for Men in 1929, and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in 1933. That former two-year college called ABAC became a four-year college and began offering bachelor’s degree classes in 2008, and the rest is history. Now ABAC is celebrating its 112th birthday with thousands of students pursuing four-year degrees.
Marietta Daily Journal
KSU to double size of nursing program to 1,000 students with Wellstar money
Aleks Gilbert
In an effort to address Georgia’s nursing shortage, Kennesaw State University announced Friday it will double the size of its nursing program over five years with an infusion of money from Wellstar Health System. By 2026, the size of KSU’s nursing program will balloon from 500 students to 1,000, with enrollment increasing 20% each year beginning in 2021. Wellstar will give the university about $9 million to finance the expansion. About $2.5 million will fund scholarships for 50 students each year in perpetuity; the rest will be used to hire professors and staff. Gov. Brian Kemp, who attended the ceremony announcing the expansion, said the deal was a “perfect example of how the private sector can partner with our state’s top-notch universities to make Georgia’s future even brighter.”
Gwinnett Daily Post
GGC, Gwinnett Tech partner for four-year business degree
By Taylor Denman
Gwinnett County’s technical college and state university have partnered to allow associate’s degree holders from Gwinnett Tech to transfer credits toward earning a bachelor’s degree at Georgia Gwinnett College. According to a GGC announcement, business majors who complete their two-year associate’s degree are able to seek a four-year degree in business at Georgia Gwinnett College thanks to an agreement signed Monday between GGC and Gwinnett Technical. “We are happy to, once again, work with our partners at Gwinnett Technical College to expand educational opportunities for students,” Jann L. Joseph, president of Georgia Gwinnett College, said in a statement. …The agreement allows Gwinnett Tech students who have met the requirements for an associate’s degree to transfer those credits to GGC to go toward a bachelor’s degree. The intent is to prevent course duplication and speed time to graduation.
Middle Georgia CEO
MGA History Professor Receives $40,000 Research Grant Awarded to American Religion Scholars
Dr. Andrew M. Manis, professor of history at Middle Georgia State University (MGA), is one of 12 recipients of a research sabbatical grant that the Louisville Institute awards annually to scholars of American religion. Beginning Sept. 1, 2020, the Louisville Institute will provide Manis with $40,000 in support of his research and writing of planned book entitled, “Outside Agitator” Times Two: Father Sam Gouvellis and the Greek Community during Birmingham’s Civil Rights Struggle.
WGAU
By: Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia’s Panhellenic Council and UGA’s Interfraternity Council are each giving $100,000, matched by the University Foundation, to establish two endowed, need-based scholarships administered through the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program.
WSB-TV
Georgia teen accepted to 15 different colleges
A middle Georgia high school senior says his hard work and studying has paid off – big time! Ladarious Pinkston goes to Washington County High School and has been accepted to 15 different colleges and offered four scholarships, according to WGXA-TV. Pinkston said after his father died in 2004, he was inspired to do his best to make his father proud. With a 3.7 GPA, Pinkston said he has decided on Middle Georgia State University, where he’ll play football. The senior says he wants to major in sports management.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Helicopter search for missing college student from Fulton comes up empty
By Zachary Hansen
Days after a 23-year-old college student from Fulton County went missing, authorities have intensified their search, utilizing a newly formed task force, a team of GBI agents and a helicopter unit. However, those efforts came up empty Monday. The Georgia State Patrol told AJC.com that their aviation unit flew several areas near Fort Valley State University and was not able to locate Anitra Lashay Gunn, who graduated from Westlake High School in 2016. She spoke to her father on Valentine’s Day but has not been seen or heard from since, according to the Fort Valley Department of Public Safety. She is a senior agriculture major at Fort Valley State University, Macon-based news station WMAZ-TV reported.
The Red & Black
Students earn top prizes in UGA competition melding science, creativity
Gabriela Miranda | Campus News Editor
Dante’s “Inferno” served as Alison Banks’ muse for an art project which earned her $1,000, according to a UGA Today news release. The University of Georgia master’s in geography student project won first place in the graduate student category of the Capturing Science Contest, sponsored by the UGA Libraries and Office of Research, the release said. Inspired by Dante’s journey through the circles of hell, Banks created an art project focused on the outcomes of climate science. …The Capturing Science Contest, established three years ago, was created to help students enhance their communication skills. The contest accepts entries based on a variety of topics and formats including music composition, math, chemistry and an archaeological spoof of “The Bachelorette.” Of the 50 entries, Madison Smith, a fifth-year environmental engineering student, won first place for undergraduate students for her creation of a board game centered around engineering.
Griffin Daily News
Seven lost UGA students found by helicopter
Staff Reports
Seven lost college students were found by the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office helicopter Saturday night.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3 teens accused of armed robbery, assault that nearly killed woman near KSU campus
By Zachary Hansen
Three teenagers face several felonies after being tied to an armed robbery and assault at an apartment complex advertised exclusively to Kennesaw State University students that nearly left a woman dead, authorities said. The violent incident happened at the U Club on Frey apartment complex about midnight Jan. 26, according to Cobb County arrest warrants. The trio is accused of being among a “group of associates responsible” for robbing and attacking two men while also nearly beating a woman to death.
WGAU
UGA Law team wins national competition
By: Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia Law School is celebrating a first-place finish in the latest moot court competition: the 70th annual National Moot Court Competition was held in New York City. The winning team members are third-year UGA law students Jonathan Kaufman, John Kenerly IV, and Joseph Stuhrenberg. …In addition to winning the national championship, Stuhrenberg was named best oralist in the final round.
Albany Herald
UGA ag college ranked No. 3 in U.S.
By Maria M. Lameiras CAES News
The University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is ranked third on the 2020 list of Best Colleges for Agricultural Sciences in the U.S. by rankings platform Niche. The ranking is based on overall Niche grade of the university, as well as test scores, percentage of college majors, program demand, student and alumni surveys, expenditures per student, research expenditures and percentage of total annual agricultural sciences graduates nationally that come from each program. Overall, UGA ranks 14th on Niche’s list of Best Big Colleges in the U.S. in 2020 rankings released this month.
Art Daily
Georgia Museum of Art wins award for “Richard Hunt” exhibition
This January, the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia received the award for exhibition of the year at the Georgia Association of Museums Conference for the exhibition “Richard Hunt: Synthesis.” The conference was held in Columbus, Georgia, January 26 – 29, 2020. “Richard Hunt: Synthesis” was on view at the Georgia Museum of Art October 20, 2018 – February 3, 2019. Shawnya Harris, Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art at the Georgia Museum of Art, organized the exhibition to fill a notable gap in critical evaluation of Hunt’s career.
Albany Herald
ABAC plans events for Black History Month
From staff reports
Movie nights, a cookout, and guest speakers are scheduled on the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College campus during February to celebrate African American History Month. A cookout at noon on Feb. 21 in the John Hunt Town Center will feature Nick Green, a former major league baseball player from Tifton. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Angels during his professional career. After his stint in the big leagues, Green continued to play baseball across the globe in places such as Taiwan and Venezuela. Currently, Green is a minor league pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox. He is one of only eight African American pitching coaches in major league baseball.
SaportaReport
University of North Georgia’s Black History Month
Avatar Megan Anderson
Yusef Salaam, one of the “Central Park Five,” was the keynote speaker for University of North Georgia’s Black History Month. He shared his story and answered questions on the Gainesville Campus. Salaam was one of five teenagers — four black and one Latino — wrongly convicted after a young woman was brutally raped and left for dead in April 1989 in New York City’s Central Park.
WTOC
Progress continues on GSU business incubator
An older building in Metter will have a new role in helping farm-related businesses get off the ground. The old public works building in Metter remains a work in progress. Soon it will serve as an incubator, not for chickens and eggs, but for new businesses looking to grow. The outside looks closer and closer to the design Georgia Southern University and the City of Metter have outlined. Inside, they’re dividing the old shop into individual offices for startup owners to rent. This incubator will mainly focus on agri-business, with a connection to the state department of Agriculture’s Georgia Grown program. The director says they’ll be able to offer resources and more to help businesses grow.
WRDW
University Hospital also looking to build free-standing ER in Columbia County
By Laura Pugliese
A report by the Office of Health Planning shows that University Hospital is working toward a free-standing ER in Columbia County. The letter of intent states that University Hospital put in the request in February. A University Hospital official says they are looking to build the free-standing ER at their existing Evans campus at 4200 University Parkway. According to the letter, the estimated cost of construction and development is $12.6 million. This comes just a few weeks after Doctors Hospital filed for a free-standing ER in Columbia County as well. The letter states Doctors Hospital’s proposed site is at 464 North Belair Road in Evans. This all falls in the midst of a legal battle between AU Medical Center and Doctors Hospital to build the first hospital in Columbia County.
WGAU
UGA touts job training benefits of Archway program
By: Baker Owens
Students at Thomson High School now have an on-site training program designed to help them prepare for available jobs when they graduate and meet a growing workforce need in the community. Twenty-seven students already have enrolled in the new welding program, which began in fall 2019 after community leaders, including representatives from the school system, the local chamber of commerce and the UGA Archway Partnership, recognized the need to begin the training in high school to meet a growing shortage of skilled workers in the region. Kerry Bridges, area manager for Georgia Power and a member of the McDuffie-Thomson Archway Partnership executive committee, asked the Georgia Power Foundation to support the new program. “The foundation board saw that because of Fort Gordon, Savannah River Site and Plant Vogtle all in this area, there was tremendous value in this project, and they decided to support it to the tune of $100,000,” Bridges said. Those three projects alone will employ thousands of welders and other skilled positions both during construction and in permanent, maintenance-type positions.
WTOC
Chatham Co., Georgia Southern team up to provide more play space for youth athletics
By Zach Logan
Chatham County will soon be able to accommodate more players for its youth athletic programs thanks to an agreement with Georgia Southern University. The county is renting additional field and gym space from Georgia Southern. The county has been using Georgia Southern’s Armstrong Campus gym going on three weeks now for its youth basketball program, which is costing the county around $2,100 to rent. Starting this spring, they will begin renting even more space on Savannah’s southside. Chatham County Parks and Recreation Director Steve Proper says throughout the last few years, they have seen a significant interest in the youth baseball and softball programs. But the county only has enough space to accommodate so many teams. With this new agreement with GSU Armstrong, the county will be able to rent field space from the university.
Statesboro Herald
Statesboro Youth Chorale singing its way back
Group looking for 4- to 14-year-olds
HOLLI DEAL SAXON/staff
When a child sings, it is honest. It is expression, usually of joy and hope, and three local music lovers want to bring a once popular children’s choir program back to Statesboro so more children can experience the magic of music The Statesboro Youth Chorale has been on hiatus for several months, but Dr. Michael Braz, Dr. Tamara Harper and fellow music aficionado Emily Kochetta hope to revive the popular children’s activity. Actually, the program has already begun, and the trio anticipates a robust participation. Statesboro Youth Chorale is for children ages 4 to 14 whose voices still have a juvenile quality and have not undergone the voice changes of puberty. …The Statesboro Youth Chorale is not a new concept but a revision of the original, Braz said. He and Georgia Southern University music professor Sandra McLain first formed the program as a private endeavor in 1993. After a few years it lapsed, but in 2004 music professor Sarah Hancock helped Braz bring it back.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fayette facing worker shortage as county businesses plan expansions
By Leon Stafford
Fayette County promotes itself as a great place to live with tree-line boulevards, good schools and low crime. But businesses in the southside community are struggling to find workers as they compete with higher paying jobs in Atlanta and at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport while losing out on recent high school graduates, who have eschewed the area for a more youth-oriented Midtown lifestyle, according to a Clayton State University study and interviews with business owners.
AllOnGeorgia
Access to fresh food: Professor researches food deserts in surrounding communities
Dr. Susana Velez-Castrillon, associate professor in the Richards College of Business at the University of West Georgia, is conducting research on the topic of food deserts in Carroll County and the impact they have on communities. A food desert is an area where many residents experience a lack of access to fresh food. …It‘s very difficult for citizens who do not own vehicles to access the larger stores in town because those stores are not in a central location. …Velez-Castrillon, a native of Colombia who teaches in the Department of Management, had the idea to conduct research on food deserts while shopping at the Hispanic supermarkets in Carrollton with her husband. She began to analyze the people who frequent the Hispanic stores in town as well as the reasons some people do not.
WSAV
Period Pantry, Georgia Southern University-Armstrong Campus
(2nd article)
Nora Cook, a member of Georgia Southern University’s (GSU) Feminists United group, says her idea for starting the campus Period Pantry stemmed from a personal crisis. “I am an underprivileged independent college student, much like 60 percent of other independent college students,” Cook said. “I live below the poverty line, and I had a moment where I did not have the funds to provide products for myself.” Cook said she then found herself in a position of being not only able to help herself, but also others facing similar situations. She knew she couldn’t do it alone, so after some research, in March of 2019, she reached out to Champion and the Homeless Period Project.
WJBF
Protecting Georgia’s voting system and preparing future cyber workers
by: Marlena Wilson
Augusta University School of Computer and Cyber Sciences is in the spotlight for the next half hour, we’ll talk about what they do over there to get our students ready for the workforce more so talk about their key role in Georgia’s elections as far as making sure that the electronic systems that are being put into place work. The Georgia’s Secretary of State’s office has reached out to our friends at AU and partnered with them so it is extremely important to remember that when you go to the ballot box and all things knock on wood function as they should. Dr. Alex Schwarzmann is the Dean of the Augusta University School of Cyber and Computer Sciences. Brad Means: Dean Schwarzmann, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here. Dr. Alex Schwarzmann: Glad to be here, thank you.
NBC News
LA County built its new voting machines from scratch. Will they be ready?
The county has been in a race against the clock to shore up vulnerabilities in its system ahead of California’s Democratic primary.
By Kevin Monahan, Ben Popken, Rich Schapiro and Cynthia McFadden
Los Angeles County has spent the last 10 years creating what it hopes is the voting system of the future, a $300 million fleet of cutting-edge machines built from scratch. But as it prepares to roll out the new equipment for the first time when early voting in California’s Democratic primaries kicks off next week, the county is in a race against the clock to shore up critical vulnerabilities highlighted in an alarming third-party assessment. The technical report commissioned by the California secretary of state identified a wide variety of security flaws and operational issues, including insecure ballot boxes and exposed USB ports that rogue actors could exploit to alter votes. “At first reading, it’s terrifying,” said Richard DeMillo, a computer science professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology who specializes in voting security. “There are things that are clear security vulnerabilities in the system that are brushed aside.”
AllOnGeorgia
100% of Georgia Counties Join Cybersecurity Protection Group
Every Georgia county has joined a national cybersecurity-protection organization, the first state with more than 100 counties to do so, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced last week. At Raffensperger’s urging, the counties joined the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing Analysis Center, or EI-ISAC, which is a part of the Center for Internet Security, considered the go-to resource for cyber threat prevention, protection, response, and recovery for federal, state and local government. The Center for Internet Security has been a leader in providing cybersecurity best practices for more than a decade. …The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office urged counties to join EI-ISAC. To combat cyber threats, Raffensperger’s office also has partnered with the Cyber Center at Augusta University, other educational institutions in the state and federal organizations like the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Savannah Morning News
Try Savannah Science on Tap for laid-back learning
By Steven Alford
Science can be an intimidating subject for some, a labyrinth of technical jargon and complicated subject matter. But a lecture series from professors at Georgia Southern Armstrong Campus aims at dispelling some of those hurdles by making science fun and relatable – with a few drinks thrown in for good measure. It’s called Science on Tap, when twice a semester, the university hosts speakers at Savannah Coffee Roasters to cover a range of intriguing and educational topics. … The lecture series is a way to make science approachable for those who might have found it stuffy in the past, said Brent Feske, associate dean and professor of biochemistry at the Armstrong campus. “Science way too often, because it’s technical and hard, it scares people,” Feske said. “We want to create a laid-back, low-key environment to talk about a fun science topic, so when people leave, they’ve learned something cool.” Science on Tap is one of the latest ways the university is working to engage the community and communicate through new and interesting avenues, Feske said, an effort to change public perceptions on how accessible education can be.
WSB-TV
Are foreign spies looking to target Georgia Tech?
By: Richard Belcher
A Channel 2 Action News investigation shows the FBI’s interest in protecting Georgia Tech from foreign espionage. You’ve seen the headlines: A top professor at Harvard was indicted for lying about receiving money from China. Federal prosecutors in Atlanta indicted four Chinese military officers for the massive data breach at Equifax. Former federal prosecutor Kamal Ghali says China’s efforts are well-documented. Georgia Tech, especially the research institute that does classified work for the Defense Department, is another enticing target for foreign spies. “Georgia Tech, as well as a number of other research institutions, are targets for that kind of espionage and cyberthreat activity by governments such as China,” Ghali said. Channel 2′s Richard Belcher used the state open records law to ask for emails between the university and the FBI. It took six months for Georgia Tech to comply.
Albany Herald
UGA ag forecast shows Georgia beef, poultry on the rise
By Sharon Dowdy CAES News
This year’s forecasts for peanuts, poultry, pecans, cotton and other Georgia crops were presented by University of Georgia agricultural economist Adam Rabinowitz during the first of five Georgia Ag Forecast events held across the state. Farmers and others in the agricultural industry met at the Georgia Farm Bureau Building in Macon. According to Rabinowitz, Georgia beef and poultry production will increase while most other crops produced in the state will remain steady or decrease. Following is an overview of the 2020 Ag Forecast.
WGAU
By: Tim Bryant
The Chief Economist for the US Department of Agriculture is in Athens today: Robert Johansson delivers the University of Georgia’s annual JW Fanning Lecture, 10 o’clock this morning at the downtown Holiday Inn on Broad Street in Athens.
Valdosta Daily Times
Chamber: Economic forecast good for 2020
A recession in 2020 is unlikely, according to three economists addressing nearly 200 area business leaders. The economists made the forecast during the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce’s Business Outlook Breakfast, sponsored for the seventh consecutive year by Southeastern Credit Union at the James H. Rainwater Conference Center. Economic experts assessed expected performance on the national, state and local levels, chamber officials said. Dr. Roger Tutterow, director of the Econometric Center at Kennesaw State University, Dr. Jeffery Humphreys, director of Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, and Dr. Cynthia Tori, a professor of economics at Valdosta State University, agreed overall the future looks bright for the U.S., the State of Georgia and Lowndes County, chamber officials said.
Macon Telegraph
Tenn. university to offer tuition discounts in 9 states
The Associated Press
A Tennessee university plans to offer discounted tuition starting this fall to students from nine surrounding states. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga officials said the goal of the new regional tuition program is to attract and retain diverse talent in the area as well as reach enrollment goals laid out for the University of Tennessee system, The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. “We really have paid attention to Tennessee residents and how we serve the state of Tennessee well,” university Chancellor Steve Angle said. “This kind of is rounding out our student body and bringing in additional young people to this community that can add to the economy and hopefully drive the future of the region. We are trying to set UTC up to be a net importer of talent in the community.” Under the program, students from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia would pay about $18,000 a year instead of about $26,000 a year as out-of-state students.
See also:
The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Tennessee university offers tuition discounts to Georgia students
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Colleges Need to Rethink Their Market — and Maybe Their Mission
Too many institutions are stuck in the last decade.
By Jeffrey J. Selingo
Last spring, for research I was doing on college admissions, I spent time in high-school counseling offices as seniors streamed through to announce where they had been accepted to college. Even when the news was good, the students’ voices often betrayed a tinge of disappointment. They had gotten in, but now they were facing the reality of how to pay for college. What surprised me was that even in wealthy schools, I heard students tell counselors that their parents might be able to pay the full tuition bill but they didn’t want to. That the conversation about college affordability has crept into those neighborhoods, too, should ring a warning bell for higher-education leaders. Today, less than 28 percent of first-year students didn’t receive aid from their institutions; in 2006-7, about 39 percent didn’t. The upward trend in the number of students looking for financial assistance has occurred in an economy that’s been in expansion mode for 11 years. Late last month, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the economy might finally be slowing down. The financial model that colleges have relied on since the baby boomers were in college, and then duct-taped together for much of the last decade, is fraying.
Higher Education News:
GBPI
Unused Lottery Funds Available to Support More Affordable Access to College
By Jennifer Lee
Since FY 2011, lawmakers have appropriated an average of $60 million more every year for HOPE Scholarships and Grants than students receive.[1] Over time, the state treasury has amassed nearly $1.3 billion in lottery reserves built up from unspent surplus funds.[2] Georgia is required by law to have 50 percent of the prior year’s net lottery proceeds saved in case of a shortfall, or $572 million.[3] Lottery reserves exceed that benchmark by more than $700 million.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Report: Diminishing Financial Aid for Low-Income Students
by Lois Elfman
As public institutions become less and less affordable for low-income students, a new report says that, as universities chase high rankings and future donors, financial aid money is too often allocated to students who don’t really need it. “Crisis Point: How Enrollment Management and the Merit-Aid Arms Race Are Derailing Public Higher Education,” a report authored by Stephen Burd, a senior writer and editor with the education policy program at New America, reveals that public four-year universities spent at least $32 billion of their financial aid dollars on students who lack financial need.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Report: Almost Half of Student Debt is Being Repaid Through Income-Driven Plans
by Lois Elfman
As of 2017, approximately half of student debt is being repaid through income-driven plans, says a report issued by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this month. The report, titled “Income-Driven Repayment Plans for Student Loans: Budgetary Cost and Policy Options,” examines the budgetary costs and policy options of income-driven student loan repayment plans. These plans tie the amount of payments to a borrower’s income and allow for forgiveness after 20 to 25 years. They were introduced by Congress to reduce defaults. “A lot of people cannot make their minimum student loan standard payments,” said Robyn Smith, of counsel to the National Consumer Law Center, who has represented many people on issues of student loans. “If they can’t make their minimum payments and they don’t have an income-driven repayment plan, they will go into default.”
Inside Higher Ed
Florida: Professors Can’t Exclude Students Because of Fear of Virus
University acts after it received a complaint.
By Scott Jaschik
The University of Florida has said that faculty members may not exclude students from class because of fears they have coronavirus. No one at the university has been reported to have the virus, but at least one professor was trying to exclude students from his course because of coughing. (Florida is currently experiencing the flu.) The university’s provost, Joseph Glover, sent this notice to deans and department chairs: “We are aware that some instructors have asked students who are showing visible cold- or flu-like symptoms to leave class and return with a letter from the Student Health Care Center confirming that they do not have coronavirus. Please remind your instructors that no cases of coronavirus have been reported at UF or elsewhere in Alachua County and that this area has not been identified as an area of public health concern by the CDC. While instructors are encouraged to care for their students and their health, please inform your instructors that they are not to excuse a student from class to confirm they are free of the coronavirus.” The message included a link to an update provided by the university’s health center director that no cases were reported at the university.
The Washington Post
By Valerie Strauss
Reporter
There was a lot of talk about revamping college admissions after the Operation Varsity Blues scandal erupted last year. Varsity Blues was a federal investigation into college admissions fraud that resulted in the recent indictments of dozens of people, including parents and college coaches and famous actresses. That talk continued at a recent college admissions conference at the University of Southern California — one of the schools at the center of the scandal — with suggestions for improvement tossed up for discussion. Liz Willen, editor of the Hechinger Report — a nonprofit independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education — attended the conference, and this post is her telling of what was said and what she thinks won’t actually happen in college admissions. This appeared on the Hechinger Report’s website, and Willen gave me permission to republish this, which I am doing as a reminder of just how slow things change in the world of education.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Report: White Supremacist Propaganda on University Campuses Doubled in 2019
by Pearl Stewart
White supremacist groups amplified their propaganda campaigns on campuses in 2019, targeting 433 colleges and doubling their efforts from the previous year, according to a recent report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Of the 2,713 White supremacist propaganda incidents in 2019, as many as 630 took place on college campuses – nearly double the 320 tallied in 2018. This is the highest number of propaganda incidents ADL has ever recorded, the report stated. “Although White supremacists have always leafleted U.S. campuses, their campaign targeting college students ramped up in January 2016 and has continued since then,” according to the ADL Center on Extremism. Their data revealed that in 2019, the various form of propaganda averaged more than seven incidents per day.
Inside Higher Ed
Title IX Complicates Hill Negotiations on Higher Ed
Final Title IX rule from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is expected to set off a fight on Capitol Hill, and one of the casualties could be reauthorizing the Higher Education Act.
By Kery Murakami
Any deal to update the law governing federal student aid would have to overcome concerns about the highly charged new rule U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is about to release on what colleges are required do about allegations of sexual assault or harassment on campuses. That was the message from an aide to Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, who said the Title IX rule would be a stumbling block toward reauthorizing the Higher Education Act. “Senator Murray is a vocal opponent of Secretary DeVos’ efforts to roll back Title IX protections for students and has made clear from the start of negotiations that any reauthorization of our country’s higher education laws must address the four key challenges of affordability, accountability, accessibility and campus safety,” the aide to the Washington Democrat said Friday in a statement. “So the question is how much Senate Republicans will be willing to work with her in a serious way to protect students.” In recent days, the two top members of Congress involved in negotiating HEA’s reauthorization — Murray and Lamar Alexander, the Republican chairman of the Senate education committee — have expressed optimism about being able to cut at least a limited deal by the end of year, before Alexander retires.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Next Wave of #MeToo
Momentum is growing to take the movement further.
By Emma Pettit
The momentum of #MeToo on campuses has encouraged advocates to push for a broader definition of misconduct, more-lasting consequences for perpetrators, and accountability to the community.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Welcome to The Chronicle’s sixth annual Trends Report. In the past year, we’ve seen the shifts we identified in 2019 continue or even accelerate. Think of three of them, in particular: New levels of public mistrust. Momentum behind mega-universities. The return of in loco parentis. All of those factor into this year’s list, as colleges deal with what is, for many of them, the most urgent challenge of all: enrolling enough students to stay solvent. Which institutions will survive, and how can you tell? What is fair and right to do in the scramble for students? When it comes to keeping those students — and faculty members — safe, how can colleges protect due process? What other growing legal risks do colleges face? This report will help you answer those questions and others. You’ll find expert analysis, insights born of deep reporting, and commentary to spark thinking on your campus. Here are the major trends we’ve identified for 2020.