University System News:
www.thegeorgeanne.com
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
GS faces federal Department of Education review
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_f2840bca-bf4b-11e7-aa5f-5355a5958751.html
By Ian Leonard The George-Anne staff
On Aug. 3, 2015 then interim president Jean Bartels, Ph.D., received a message from the Federal Student Aid Office, an office of the U.S. Department of Education (DoE), detailing an extensive review of Georgia Southern University’s use of Title IV funds. Included with this letter was a 26-page preliminary program review of GS conducted by three DoE agents from May 11, 2015 to May 15, 2015, during which they found and documented 13 instances of noncompliance perpetrated by the university, according to documents obtained from the university through a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA). In the 2016 fiscal year, eight universities in the state of Georgia received their final determinations from the same process, resulting in the collective return of over $7.3 million to the Federal DoE. The smallest fine issued was $109,460 to Life University in Marietta, Ga., while Atlanta Metropolitan State College in Atlanta, Ga. was told to return $2,675,375.89 in funds to the DoE. The following schools were also ultimately fined in their final determinations in fiscal year 2016:
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College – $194,632.01
Gordon State College – $251,743
South Georgia State College – $388,164.96
Augusta University – $588,795.03
Middle Georgia State University – $957,160
Atlanta Metropolitan State College – $2,675,375.89
…The topic was brought up at a faculty senate this past August, when a faculty member brought a question to the senate floor. “Michelle Haberland said she had heard in a department meeting that [GS] had a problem related to Financial Aid that resulted in significant fines,” according to the senate minutes. “She asked President Hebert to clarify what was going on.” To this inquiry President Hebert was noted saying that institutions throughout the nation were audited for Financial Aid purposes and asked Amy Ballagh. Ph.D., Interim Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, to clarify the status of the audit. At the time of the senate meeting Haberland stated that the university had recently sent documents to the DoE and was awaiting a response. When asked whether the DoE had responded since the time of that senate meeting Ballagh said they had not. They also are not currently aware of the status of the review.

www.huffingtonpost.com
Transforming Teacher Preparation: How States are Leading the Way
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/transforming-teacher-preparation-how-states-are-leading_us_59fa1307e4b09afdf01c3fc9
Chris Minnich, Contributor
Choosing to become a teacher is an admirable decision. While other careers may offer an ease-in policy or probationary period to get up to speed, as an educator, you are expected to know how to change the lives of human beings and are deemed responsible for their success beginning day one. Preparation programs try their best to emulate these expectations through rigorous coursework and student-teacher practicums. But a challenge that continues to persist is the lack of preparation teachers receive to meet the needs of new demands placed on students. In September, we launched Transforming Educator Preparation: Lessons Learned from Leading States, a playbook that highlights the work being done in states to reform teacher preparation. …We’ve highlighted examples of their progress over the last three years below. Georgia stood out as a model on how to effectively engage stakeholders through their P-20 collaboratives regional program. The Georgia Department of Education collaborated with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission and the University System of Georgia to create this group charged with promoting continuous program improvement and student achievement through the preparation of teacher candidates and the professional development of P-20 educators.

www.myajc.com
UGA reports record graduation and retention rates
http://www.myajc.com/news/local-education/uga-reports-record-graduation-and-retention-rates/gIJTxQeCogdZHrP0NIdfON/
By Eric Stirgus
The University of Georgia is retaining and graduating students at record rates, according to data it released Wednesday. Two-thirds of its students are graduating within four years and 85 percent are graduating within six years, UGA reported. The university’s freshman student retention rate is now 96 percent, one percentage point higher than its prior high, officials said. UGA believe its efforts to ensure each student has engaged in internships, study abroad and service-learning have resulted in higher levels of academic engagement. Administrators also believe online learning has helped, saying a record 16,447 students took summer courses in 2017, and 28 percent of those enrollments were online.

See also:
www.ledger-enquirer.com
UGA’s graduation, retention rates at all-time highs
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/education/article182129296.html?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=67f1b9e693-eGaMorning-11_2_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-67f1b9e693-86731974&mc_cid=67f1b9e693&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56

www.athensceo.com
Dean Benjamin C. Ayers on the Upcoming 2018 Terry College of Business Georgia Economic Outlook Series
http://athensceo.com/video/2017/11/ben-ayers-launching-2018-georgia-economic-outlook-series/?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=67f1b9e693-eGaMorning-11_2_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-67f1b9e693-86731974&mc_cid=67f1b9e693&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business Dean Benjamin C. Ayers talks about the upcoming 2018 Georgia Economic Outlook series and the communities they will be visiting statewide.

www.dailyreportonline.com
Georgia Attorney General Quits Defense in Server Wiping Case
Secretary of State Brian Kemp released a statement Wednesday saying the law firm of former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes will represent Kemp and other state election officials.
https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/sites/dailyreportonline/2017/11/01/georgia-attorney-general-quits-defense-in-server-wiping-case/?et=editorial&bu=Daily%20Report&cn=20171101&src=EMC-Email&pt=Breaking%20News
By Frank Bajak, Associated Press
The Georgia attorney general’s office will no longer represent state election officials in an elections integrity lawsuit in which a crucial computer server was quietly wiped clean three days after the suit was filed, The Associated Press has learned. The lawsuit aims to force Georgia to retire its antiquated and heavily criticized touchscreen election technology, which does not provide an auditable paper trail. The server in question was a statewide staging location for key election-related data. It made national headlines in June after a security expert disclosed a gaping security hole that wasn’t fixed for six months after he first reported it to election authorities. Personal data was exposed for Georgia’s 6.7 million voters, as were passwords used by county officials to access files. The assistant state attorney general handling the case, Cristina Correia, notified the court and participating attorneys Wednesday that her office was withdrawing from the case, according to an email obtained by the AP. Spokeswoman Katelyn McCreary offered no explanation and said she couldn’t comment “on pending matters.” …The server’s data was destroyed July 7 by technicians at the Center for Elections Systems at Kennesaw State University, which runs the state’s election system, Correia had previously informed attorneys in the case. The erased hard drives are central to the lawsuit because they could have revealed whether Georgia’s most recent elections were compromised by hackers.

See also:
www.accesswdun.com
Georgia attorney general quits defense in server wiping case
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/11/600122

www.politics.blog.ajc.com
Why the state AG’s office isn’t representing Kemp in data server case
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/11/02/why-the-state-ags-office-isnt-representing-kemp-in-data-server-case/
Greg Bluestein
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Thursday the state didn’t “quit” a lawsuit representing the state’s top elections official, but that the office had to withdraw from the lawsuit because of a conflict of interest involving another state client. His statement comes a day after Secretary of State Brian Kemp confirmed that his office will be represented by former Gov. Roy Barnes in the lawsuit filed by a national election transparency group seeking to force the state to overhaul its election system. The move comes less than a week after it was revealed that a Kennesaw State University center that runs the state’s elections erased a server containing voting information at the center of the lawsuit.

Higher Education News:
www.myajc.com
How are Georgia’s schools doing? Report cards due soon
http://www.myajc.com/news/local-education/how-are-georgia-schools-doing-report-cards-due-soon/mPCxNcnDmBm9XFo3UI1bTN/?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=67f1b9e693-eGaMorning-11_2_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-67f1b9e693-86731974&mc_cid=67f1b9e693&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
By Ty Tagami – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The release of the complicated report cards for Georgia schools is imminent, and the results are important even if parents don’t always understand them.
The College and Career Ready Performance Index ranks schools from best to worst based on a host of measures, such as test pass rates, while also using more obscure indicators, such as one called “exceeding the bar.” Its results give administrators, teachers and parents consistent, if not always well understood, yearly guideposts to measure their school’s success or failure. And the failures could soon face serious consequences. The bottom five percent of lowest-performing schools will be subject to intervention by the state, which could cost teachers their jobs or see school administrations changed. But just as the state hired a new turnaround officer to oversee the interventions, state Superintendent Richard Woods is pushing significant changes to the CCRPI to meet new federal education guidelines and to make it more understandable. The changes were necessary, but caught Woods between those who think test scores are critical to measure student progress, such as Gov. Nathan Deal, and others who say they are a flawed way to measure learning and that a focus on test results changes how classes are taught, with teachers “teaching to” what they think is on the tests.

www.diverseeducation.com
Expert: Changes in Education Not Keeping Pace with Workforce Needs
http://diverseeducation.com/article/104527/?utm_campaign=DIV1711%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20NOV2&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Sarah Glover
A glimpse into America’s future labor market suggests a boom in health care jobs, soaring employment in clean energy and a continued decline in manufacturing positions. Those are among the key takeaways from 10-year employment projections released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The findings offer more evidence of widening socioeconomic inequality, the migration of jobs to the service sector and a drop in the number of middle-class jobs for workers with only a high school diploma. This unfolding economic shift is challenging educators to shape curricula that will prepare students for positions requiring an elusive combination of soft skills — the ability to solve problems, communicate effectively and work with others — along with technical capacities.

www.chronicle.com
Few Details Emerge in Sexual-Misconduct Investigation of 3 Dartmouth Professors
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Few-Details-Emerge-in/241644?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=6c5b5faa09374bb6a091023ba7cc1a40&elq=b70c86d175d74725a5406cd7b4f8a54b&elqaid=16409&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7102
By Tom Bartlett
It began with a few posters, and quickly became a big story. Last week posters appeared on the Dartmouth College campus asking what had happened to two psychology professors, Paul Whalen and William Kelley. They weren’t in their offices, and there was no explanation for their absence. Reporters for the student newspaper, The Dartmouth, asked the college’s administration what was going on. They were told that the professors were on paid leave due to “ongoing investigations into allegations of serious misconduct.” At first there was no hint about what kind of misconduct. But whatever it was, it was apparently worrisome enough that their access to the New Hampshire campus had been restricted. And it wasn’t just Mr. Whalen and Mr. Kelley. A third psychology professor, Todd Heatherton, was added to the serious-misconduct list by the college. Mr. Heatherton, well known among psychologists for his research on self-regulation, has an endowed chair and directs the Center for Social Brain Sciences. He was already on sabbatical, so nobody thought his absence was strange. In the days that followed, it would emerge that the investigation concerned alleged sexual misconduct. …Any sex-related scandal involving professors at an Ivy League institution is likely to make headlines. But the vague allegations at Dartmouth have taken on extra significance as Hollywood, the news media, and other industries come to grips with their problem of powerful men and sexual misconduct. As the science blogger Neuroskeptic asked on Twitter in reference to Dartmouth: “Is this the start of psychology’s Weinstein scandal?”