USG Institutions:
www.goldenisles.news
CCGA students volunteerism is much appreciated
For college students at College of Coastal Georgia, there are many important programs on campus for which they can volunteer. Yet as many of them learned Tuesday, Glynn County has many nonprofits that offer mutual benefits for the organizations and the students. At CCGA, all students are encouraged volunteer and get involved however they can, a wonderful initiative called Service Learning. The idea is to augment classroom learning with community service activities. About 20 nonprofits participated in a volunteer fair at CCGA — seeking young people who can provide valuable assistance for them. …Which is why the Service Learning program at CCGA is such a valuable asset, not only for the students and the college, but the community as a whole.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA reveals name of donor who gave $33 million
By LEE SHEARER
The woman for whom a University of Georgia veterinary hospital will be named has left $9 million to UGA’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music, UGA officials announced Thursday. That sum is part of a $17 million bequest Cora Nunnally Miller gave to UGA. Over her lifetime, the Coca-Cola heiress gave $33 million to the university, counting that final gift. Miller donated $13.5 million to the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, including $7 million to help pay for construction of the UGA Small Animal Teaching Hospital on College Station Road. She also left $2 million to start an endowment “to support teaching, research and service” at the veterinary college, according to the university. Parts of Miller’s final bequest will also go to the UGA Honors Program and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, where $4 million of it will fund a new scholarship program for undergraduates in fine arts majors. Miller had already helped many students in the music school, where she supported scholarships and assistantships. She was the stepdaughter of Hugh Hodgson, the first chairman of UGA’s music department. “Cora Miller’s gifts have been transformative in countless students’ lives,” said Dale Monson, director of the School of Music, in a news release. She had asked to remain anonymous as a donor until after her death. Miller died in July, 2015 at “Hound Hill,” her home in Otis, Mass. Her father was Winship Nunnally Sr., an Atlanta businessman who was on the boards of the Coca-Cola Company, the Trust Company of Georgia, a predecessor of Sun Trust Bank, and Delta Airlines. He was also founder of the Nunnally Candy Company and himself a UGA donor.
www.macon.com
The Latest: A dozen Valdosta residents head to storm shelter
http://www.macon.com/news/state/georgia/article99314662.html
The Associated Press
ATLANTA – The Latest on the state of Georgia taking precautions ahead of Tropical Storm Hermine.
…Two more campuses in Georgia have are closing due to inclement weather and as a precaution ahead of Tropical Storm Hermine. Albany State University and Darton State College closed their campuses Thursday. The closing also includes satellite locations in Cairo and Cordele. The two colleges join Valdosta State and Georgia Southern, which both canceled all scheduled classes for Friday. Campuses at Albany and Darton will reopen Sept. 6. Georgia Southern University has closed the school’s campus and coastal center as a precaution before Tropical Storm Hermine. A statement was released on the school’s website Thursday. All classes scheduled for Friday are canceled and the only essential personnel should report to campus in Statesboro. Georgia Southern is the second college to cancel classes ahead of the storm heading toward Florida’s Gulf Coast.
www.crossroadsnews.com
State Farm grants support Perimeter College student success initiatives
http://crossroadsnews.com/news/2016/sep/02/state-farm-grants-support-perimeter-college-studen/
First-generation students and military personnel are among Perimeter College students who will benefit from a new partnership between State Farm Insurance and Georgia State University that earmarks $125,000 in grants for Perimeter success initiatives. The Bloomington, Ill.-based corporation has announced $265,000 in grants aimed at success initiatives for students at Georgia State and GSU’s Perimeter College. The partnership was launched in June. Maureen Davis, assistant vice president–systems for State Farm, said the company has a long history of supporting education and is pleased to make an investment into Georgia State. “This donation will help support the great work Georgia State does in supporting students in their goals for higher education,” Davis said.
www.crossroadsnews.com
DeKalb Library receives $15,000 grant for STEAM programs
http://crossroadsnews.com/news/2016/sep/02/dekalb-library-receives-15000-grant-steam-programs/
DeKalb Public Library patrons will have access to more STEAM learning programs thanks to a $15,000 grant from the Georgia Public Library Service. The library system will use the grant to enhance its science, technology, engineering, art and math learning capabilities. Funding for the grant was provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is encouraging public libraries to build their resources for art education as well as to continue the development of STEM resources.
www.bizjournals.com
Adidas to supply athletic gear to Kennesaw State for seven additional years
David Allison
Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Kennesaw State University said Thursday it’s extended its agreement with Adidas for an additional seven years. The athletic apparel company will be the official footwear, apparel and accessory brand of the KSU Owls through the 2022-23 season. Kennesaw State, the third-largest university in the University System of Georgia, said Adidas will supply all 18 of the Owls’ intercollegiate athletic programs with custom uniforms, footwear, apparel, accessories, equipment. The company will also outfit coaches and support staff, and have a highly-visible presence in the university’s bookstore and in the Owls’ online apparel store. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Adidas has been a partner of Kennesaw State since 2012.
www.officer.com
Off-Duty Georgia Campus Officers Attending Football Games Told to Leave Guns at Home
With the college football season quickly approaching, the police chief of Georgia Southern University has told her officers to leave their department issued guns at home is they are planning on attending a game while off duty. Police Chief Laura McCullough sent the email out to officers ahead of the season opener on Sept. 3, which also serves as the school’s Military Appreciation game, according to AllOnGeorgia.com. The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, which was was passed by Congress in 2004, permits on and off-duty officers to carry their weapons anywhere, with the exception of airplanes and national parks. Despite that law, federal and state law can be unclear about on whether or not off-duty law enforcement officers can carry on college campuses. Here is the entirety of the email sent out to officers:
www.ajc.com
Atlanta commission OKs historic district near Tech
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/atlanta-commission-oks-historic-district-near-tech/nsQGT/
David Ibata, For the AJC
The Atlanta Urban Design Commission, a city agency charged with overseeing historic buildings and districts, has approved the nomination of a historic area near Georgia Tech that includes the former Engineer’s Bookstore building. The commission recognized the Means Street Landmark District, a cluster of commercial and industrial buildings dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries behind Marietta Street and east of Bankhead Avenue. The action was in response to a developer’s plan to raze the Engineer’s Bookstore building at 748 Marietta and replace it with a gas station and convenience store. (The Atlanta Preservation Center, in an email to members, said the property has a new owner who does not plan to demolish the building.)
Georgia Tech Lorraine students develop mobile app for use touring WWI battle sites
http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/georgia-ww1-blog.html
Three students who studied this year at the Georgia Tech campus in Lorraine, France, develop an app to assist those touring World War I battlefields in the area. Their work is acknowledged by the Georgia World War I Centennial Commission, which is administratively under the Board of Regents. Their web platform allows those managing World War I-related websites, historians, or relatives of veterans of the battles to upload content, which is moderated and then transferred to the mobile app. Visitors to the battle site use the app to discover hidden history as they travel the Lorraine region.
www.onlineathens.com
Georgia whistleblower law unconstitutional, say lawyers defending Board of Regents in lawsuit
By LEE SHEARER
Part of a Georgia law allowing whistleblowers to collect damages after being retaliated against by bosses is unconstitutional, lawyers for the state Board of Regents are saying. And even if it’s not, former University of Georgia accountant Sallyanne Barrow waited too late to file suit for her allegedly wrongful firing, according to lawyers Ed Tolley and Devin Hartness Smith, who are defending the Board of Regents. They are asking a Superior Court judge to throw the case out on those grounds in court papers filed in August. The Regents’ lawyers also argued in earlier filings that Barrow’s firing was for good and proper reasons. Barrow filed suit in December, saying she was retaliated against and ultimately fired after revealing questionable travel expenses and time accounting by her then-boss, former UGA alumni office director Deborah Dietzler. The retaliatory actions continued under the alumni office’s current director, Meredith Gurley Johnson, according to Barrow’s lawsuit. According to lawyers representing the Regents, administrators had valid reasons to give Barrow bad performance reviews, however. But whether Barrow was retaliated against is beside the point, according to the Regents’ most recent filings, which ask Senior Judge Robert Adamson to toss the lawsuit before it goes to trial. Barrow, associate director of the UGA Office of Alumni Relations, was fired in 2014, months after she told UGA police and other officials that Dietzler was scheduling work-related trips around marathons she ran in around the country. Dietzler also wasn’t recording time she took off from work, she said. A subsequent UGA internal investigation found “evidence of substantial misconduct and policy violations by Ms. Dietzler,” and further investigation by the state Office of the Attorney General concluded “some of Dietzler’s activities likely constituted criminal conduct that warranted further investigation and possible prosecution.” But Senior Assistant Attorney General David McLaughlin said prosecuting Dietzler would be “an unwise use of taxpayer resources” because of UGA administrators’ inaction following the audit. UGA failed to turn over the internal audit to University System of Georgia officials, as required by state policy, and did not discipline or fire Dietzler, but instead shifted her to other duties while she looked for work elsewhere. UGA administrators said what they did was not a cover-up, but an oversight.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
What’s the Right Public Message About Going to College?
http://www.chronicle.com/article/What-s-the-Right-Public/237613
By Beckie Supiano
The evidence is clear: For the average student, college is an investment that pays off. But averages conceal variation, and college outcomes vary widely. Variation in postcollege earnings and student debt has also increased over time, according to new research, raising the stakes on students’ college choices. College is no guarantee. Many students never graduate. Even someone who earns a degree doesn’t always make more money than the typical person with less education. Factor in the ubiquity of student debt, and there’s a chance that things will go badly wrong — especially for those who don’t graduate.
www.insidehighered.com
New Guide for Colleges on Affirmative Action Ruling
A new report provides guidance for colleges on how to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision affirming the right of colleges to consider race and ethnicity in admissions but also affirming certain limits on the practice. The guide is from the College Board and Education Counsel, strong supporters of affirmative action.
www.chronicle.com
In Sexual-Misconduct Cases, Colleges Weigh Privacy Against Transparency
http://www.chronicle.com/article/In-Sexual-Misconduct-Cases/237674
By Emma Pettit
In an attempt to guard information about the victims in a sexual-misconduct investigation, the University of Kentucky took an uncommon approach: It sued the student newspaper. The lawsuit was the latest development in a prolonged tussle between the publication, the Kentucky Kernel, and the university over access to information about a case involving a professor accused of sexual assault and harassment. The Kernel argues, and the state attorney general’s office agreed, that the details of the complaints should be released. But the university says that would endanger the privacy of those involved. So, to challenge the attorney general, it sued the paper.
www.diverseeducation.com
Analysis: Child Care Centers Losing Ground at Public Colleges
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
Despite an increase in the number of college students with children, campus-based child care at public colleges is steadily becoming more scarce, according to a new analysis released Thursday. The analysis — performed by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research — found that the share of public colleges with campus child care decreased in 36 states from 2005 through 2015, stayed the same in 13 states and the District of Columbia, and increased only in North Dakota. Meanwhile, the number of student parents increased from 3.2 million in 1995 to 4.8 million in 2012, according to the institute’s analysis. “Despite the growing need for student parent supports, campus child care centers have been closing across the country,” the institute states in a briefing paper released Thursday.