University System News:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
No easy explanation for high costs of college
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2016-01-23/no-easy-explanation-high-costs-college
By Bill Kirby
Columnist
Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.
– Voltaire
Why does college cost so much? Why does tuition soar for no apparent reason? Why do required textbooks costs hundreds of dollars? Last year I actually asked one of our reporters to find the answers. I told him readers would probably be interested, but I really meant me. Like many of you, for the past several years my wife and I have scrimped and saved and done without to help put our child through a state school. And like many of you, we have hopes that the end result is a degree that improves his chance at finding a fulfilling job and a rewarding future with some money left over to help buy us a nice room at the retirement home. …Now in our fourth (and hopefully, final) year we are writing checks and asking questions. (“Do they heat the classrooms by burning money?” I ask.) The reporter – no novice, by the way – came back a week later and said he could find no definitive answer. The experts, he said, wise sages of academics, answered him in cliches, buzz-phrases and shrugs. They talked about “being competitive” and “national averages” and “research.” And nobody seemed to have an explanation for $100 textbooks. I was not surprised because that’s what they always say.
USG Institutions:
www.myajc.com
Lawmaker to spotlight Tech’s treatment of accused students
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/lawmaker-to-spotlight-techs-treatment-of-accused-s/np9s8/
By Janel Davis and Shannon McCaffrey – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech will face questions today from a state lawmaker looking at whether the school is doing enough to protect the rights of students accused of sexual assault and other wrongdoing. The hearing could be the first time Georgia Tech president Bud Peterson speaks publicly about the institution’s student discipline processes since recent reports about the impact of the school’s aggressive disciplining.Georgia Tech has expelled or suspended nearly every student it has investigated for sexual misconduct in the past five years, according to reports viewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The school has also handed down stiff penalties to fraternities, including one in which members were accused last summer of hurling racial slurs at a black female student.
www.globalatlanta.com
New UGA Certificate Program for Georgia Economic Developers
Phil Bolton
The Georgia Economic Developers Association and the University of Georgia have partnered to create the first certification program for economic developers working in the state. UGA President Jere W. Morehead announced the program to be offered through the Carl Vinson Institute of Government during his 2016 State of the University address on Jan. 20. “From this point forward, economic development professionals will be able to stay in this state to receive training in an area so central to the vitality of Georgia’s communities,” Dr. Morehead said in his address.
www.athensceo.com
Law School Creates Elite Fellowship with Goddard Foundation Gift
http://athensceo.com/news/2016/01/law-school-creates-elite-fellowship-goddard-foundation-gift/?utm_source=Athens+CEO&utm_campaign=0395cfe9e5-valdostaceo-daily_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3401d54c55-0395cfe9e5-303727209
Staff Report From Athens CEO
The University of Georgia School of Law has established an elite fellowship program as a result of a $2 million founding gift from The John N. Goddard Foundation. Initially, the program will offer three law school students annually the opportunity to receive an educational experience including domestic and international externships and guided research experiences, opportunities to meet some of the country’s top legal leaders and a full tuition scholarship. “Enhancing graduate and professional education is a priority of the University of Georgia,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “The Distinguished Law Fellows program will help us to further this goal while honoring one of our most accomplished alumni. We are grateful to the Goddard Foundation for their support.”
www.moultrieobserver.com
ABAC announces 196 fall term graduates
http://www.moultrieobserver.com/news/lifestyles/abac-announces-fall-term-graduates/article_a6f92afe-c23c-11e5-8a38-d76fede3c0b6.html
Staff Reports
TIFTON — A total of 196 students completed the requirements for graduation from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College at the end of the fall semester. Sixty-four of those students received bachelor’s degrees.
www.barnesville.com
GSC’s Burns elected to two national boards
http://www.barnesville.com/archives/8930-GSCs-Burns-elected-to-two-national-boards.html
Posted by Walter Geiger in Features
Gordon State College President Max Burns was recently elected to two national boards, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and the U.S. Fulbright Association. …“I am honored to serve on the boards of these two significant organizations,” Burns said. “Being a part of the governance body of SACSCOC and the Fulbright Association affords me the opportunity to support and promote the development of Gordon State College and the University System of Georgia.”
www.onlineathens.com
UGA professor contributes to new science education guidelines
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2016-01-23/uga-professor-contributes-new-science-education-guidelines
Kristen Morales
A new report released this week will give lawmakers, school officials and others specific direction when it comes to supporting and strengthening science teacher learning, says a University of Georgia professor who contributed to the effort. The report, “Science Teachers’ Learning: Enhancing Opportunities, Creating Supportive Contexts,” produced by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, assesses and discusses essential learning opportunities for elementary, middle and high school science teachers. The book also recommends new lines of research and steps administrators and lawmakers can take to strengthen science education in the U.S.
Higher Education News:
www.myajc.com
Will the gamble to improve one of Atlanta’s worst schools pay off?
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/will-the-gamble-to-improve-one-of-atlantas-worst-s/np9mf/
By Molly Bloom – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a gamble to fix a dysfunctional school ahead of a potential state takeover, Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen merged one of the city’s best high schools with one of its worst. Combining Carver School of Technology, where about half of students graduate, with Carver Early College, where nearly every student goes on to a four-year college, tests the theory that threatening schools with extreme sanctions leads to rapid changes for the better — the theory behind Gov. Nathan Deal’s Opportunity School District plan. If voters approve that plan this fall, the state could take control of schools like the School of Technology. …Carver Early College was one of the success stories. The school attracted students who had excelled in middle school, the kind who boast about straight-A report cards. Early College students cram most of their required high school courses into their first two years and take classes at Georgia State University or Atlanta Metropolitan State College as juniors and seniors.
www.getschooled.blog.myajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Does money matter in education? In a word, yes.
http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2016/01/22/does-money-matter-in-education-in-a-word-yes/
I have never understood the disagreement over whether money matters in education. Top private schools – the ones that cater to the children of highly educated parents – charge tuition two to three times higher than the average per pupil spending at the local public schools. And these private schools serve students with every possible learning advantage, kids nurtured to excel from the first sonogram. The elite schools charge $17,000 to $25,000 a year in tuition and hit parents up for donations on a regular basis. Money pays for more teachers, better programs and extra enrichment. Readers routinely cite exceptions, the inner city charter school that is thriving on standard public school spending. But often times, extra dollars are flowing into these exceptions through corporate and community donations.
www.insidehighered.com
State Support on the Rise
A new report shows a slow but steady increase in higher education funding as states recover from the recession.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/01/25/state-support-higher-education-rises-41-percent-2016
By Ellen Wexler
State support for higher education is up 4.1 percent this year, according to a new report. The Grapevine report, released today, shows a slow but steady increase in state funding over the last few years. Between the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years, 39 states reported increases in state funding, while only nine reported decreases.The remaining two states — Illinois and Pennsylvania — have yet to finalize their budgets and are not included in the report. Once those data become available, the national averages could change significantly, given the two states’ size and significance. … Percent Change in State Appropriations … Georgia,
Total Support, Fiscal 2016 – 3,008,844,318; 1-Year Change, 2015-2016 -3.60%; 5-Year Change, Including Stimulus Funds – 1.80%
www.chronicle.com
Faced With Extreme Demands From Defiant Protesters, What’s a President to Do?
http://chronicle.com/article/Faced-With-Extreme-Demands/235038
By Sarah Brown and Katherine Mangan
Shutting down the conversation was the last thing Oberlin College’s president, Marvin Krislov, wanted to do when he told a group of student protesters that their 14-page list of demands, presented to him last month, was a nonstarter. But as he read through the stridently worded document, with its threat of “a full and forceful response” if all of the demands weren’t met, he knew there was no room for negotiation. “Part of our job as educators is to encourage students to find their voices and help them channel them productively to bring about change or improvement,” Mr. Krislov said in an interview on Friday. The manifesto they’d presented to him didn’t open the door to discussion, he said, but shut it. While the demands were among the most ambitious that have landed in the laps of college presidents in recent months, the defiant tone was familiar. … Elsewhere, college presidents, whom many see as reluctant to upset activists, have promised changes or at least scheduled meetings to talk with them. Some of the more extreme demands have softened as more voices have joined the conversation and compromises hammered out.
www.wsj.com
How the Feds Use Title IX to Bully Universities
Lowering the burden of proof for sex-assault cases isn’t required—but schools don’t dare challenge it.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-feds-use-title-ix-to-bully-universities-1453669725
By JACOB E. GERSEN
In the past several years politicians have lined up to condemn an epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses. But there is a genuine question of whether the Education Department has exceeded its legal authority in the way it has used Title IX to dictate colleges’ response to the serious problem of sexual assault. When an administrative agency makes rules and regulations—which are a form of law every bit as binding as those passed by Congress—it must follow the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, the bible of the bureaucracy. The process most often used involves “notice and comment”: The agency must publish the proposed regulation and respond to comments before issuing the final rule. This can take months or years, and at the end of the process parties affected by the new rule can challenge it in court.
www.insidehighered.com
Coursera Removes Free Track From Some MOOCs
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/01/25/coursera-removes-free-track-some-moocs
Massive open online course platform Coursera is removing the option to complete some of the courses offered on its platform for free. Coursera has previously offered a free track and a paid track that awards an identity-verified certificate, but as of last week, learners will have to pay a fee in some courses to have their assignments graded. Learners in those courses who choose not to pay can still browse the course materials, including discussions and assignments. “We are on a mission to change the world by providing universal access to the best learning experience,” Coursera said in a blog post. “To do this, we also need to have a business model that supports our platform, our partners, our content and everything we do for learners. The changes that we are making this year will move us toward sustainability and enable continued investment in our learning experience, without compromising our commitment to transforming lives for people around the world.”