University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
ASU looks to enhance ‘student experience’ in retention bid
Albany State announces task force to study student issues at university
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/asu-looks-to-enhance-student-experience-in-retention-bid/article_6c1252bc-30ca-5885-a1d2-7017b09d2f35.html
Staff Reports
ALBANY — In an effort to improve student retention rates, Albany State University interim Executive Vice President Marion Fedrick has announced the formation of a student and faculty task force to help improve the “student experience.” Retention is one of the University System of Georgia’s priority concerns, along with recruitment and graduation. Fedrick issued the following campus communication Thursday afternoon:

www.walb.com
ASU creates student led task force to enhance student experience
http://www.walb.com/story/36810637/asu-creates-student-led-task-force-to-enhance-student-experience
By Whitney Shelton, Reporter
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Albany State University has decided to use students in a task force to enhance student life at the school.   This is the first major initiative the transition team has announced to help with creating the new Albany State. “College is all about the students. So, we want to make sure the students are having a great experience,” said Executive Interim Vice President Marion Fedrick. The transition team has already begun talking to students about what they want to see and they have narrowed it down to three areas. The three areas are first-year experience, student engagement for success and student support services. Team members want students to have a positive and successful experience from the moment they enroll all the way to graduation. “Just making sure that students, when they graduate, they can say, ‘I enjoyed my time at Albany State. I learned a lot and I had fun,'” explained student task force member Andre Armor. Armor said his main reason for becoming the task force president was understanding what it means to be a part of it.

www.ledger-enquirer.com
Higher ed boom (2nd article)
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/opinion/article183732441.html
BY DUSTY NIX
There’s no downside to this: For the second year in a row, total enrollment in University System of Georgia institutions has set a new record. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported this week that fall semester enrollment in the system’s 28 colleges and universities, including of course Columbus State University, is 325,203, an increase of 1.1 percent over the same time last year. Even better: Not only has the number of students starting college increased, but the number of students finishing has increased even more.

www.gwinnettdailypost.com
GGC aims to meet demand from growing film industry with new degree program
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/ggc-aims-to-meet-demand-from-growing-film-industry-with/article_1ce341e9-4ff4-5c7d-be35-abf35d458791.html
From Staff Reports
Georgia Gwinnett College is giving students an opportunity to break into the movie business through a new degree program that was recently launched at the Lawrenceville-based school. The Cinema and Media Arts program is designed to offer a hands-on education covering different areas of film making, including screen writing, design and production and entertainment industry studies, school officials said. The launching of the program comes at a time when television and film production is growing in Georgia communities, including Gwinnett County. “Remaining true to the mission of GGC, it’s imperative that we remain aware of employment trends and continue to develop programs that will give our graduates a competitive edge in the job market,” GGC President Dr. Stas Preczewski said in a statement. The program offers an interdisciplinary curriculum, which officials at the college said will prepare students not only for careers in the local film industry, but also in broadcasting, social media management, public relations and publishing. Students will also have opportunities to participate in internships that meet their area of focus, the school said.

www.onlineathens.com
Regents: UGA president, not faculty, to set academic calendars
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-11-09/regents-uga-president-not-faculty-set-academic-calendars
By Lee Shearer
University of Georgia faculty members no longer will be setting academic calendars. Under a new state Board of Regents policy, college presidents are now responsible for developing those calendars. At UGA, President Jere Morehead has designated Rahul Shrivastav, vice president for instruction, with that task. The vice president should “consider” faculty advice, according to a memo Morehead sent Shrivastav. Under previous rules, the UGA University Council was responsible for developing and voting on academic calendars, though the UGA president still had final approval.

www.ajc.com
More Georgia politicians taking sides on anthem protest
http://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/more-georgia-politicians-taking-sides-anthem-protest/D1BCSfWXMNRKU25jcceERI/
Eric Stirgus
More Georgia politicians are taking sides on protests during the national anthem at football games in light of guidance from the state attorney general’s office that notes constitutional protection for students who take a knee to raise awareness of police misconduct. Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp released a statement Thursday saying while he supports constitutional free speech rights, “because you have the right to protest, doesn’t make it right.” The attorney general’s office sent the guidance to the University System of Georgia after five Kennesaw State University cheerleaders began taking a knee during the anthem at football games to protest police misconduct and racial inequality, following similar actions of some pro football players. The university system released the guidance Wednesday.

Higher Education News:
www.myajc.com
Georgia’s college savings plan reduces fees, increases state tax deduction
http://www.myajc.com/blog/talk-town/georgia-college-savings-plan-reduces-fees-increases-state-tax-deduction/uhHwb4TdgYwHyEL6oqabeN/
By Nedra Rhone
Governor Nathan Deal recently announced Georgia’s Path2College 529 College Savings Plan — which helps families save for college tuition and related expenses — had reached assets of $2 billion. That number is it twice as much as it was five years ago. As a result, fees for the plan were reduced by almost 17 percent earlier this month. The plans do not have sales charges, enrollment or other maintenance fees, but account holders will see program management fees fall from 0.12 to 0.10 percent with total Asset Based Fees decreasing to a range of 0.00 to 0.35 percent.

www.diverseeducation.com
García to Lead American Association of State Colleges and Universities
http://diverseeducation.com/article/104852/?utm_campaign=DIV1711%20DAILY%20NEWSLETTER%20NOV10&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua
by Joseph Hong
Dr. Mildred García, who has led California State University Fullerton for the past five years, is leaving her post to become president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, or AASCU, making her the first Latina in higher education to hold that position. García, who was a first-generation college student, hopes to place an emphasis on diversity and inclusion to her new role. She said that her presidency will begin in January with a listening tour where she will visit with various board members and presidents from AASCU’s 400 member institutions.

www.citylab.com
How Universities Foster Economic Growth—and Democracy
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/11/how-universities-foster-economic-growthand-democracy/545051/?utm_source=twb
RICHARD FLORIDA
The knowledge, talent, and ideas that power urban economies do not emerge out of thin air: They are shaped and organized by great research universities. Universities have long played a role in educating people and contributing to a more civilized, tolerant, and democratic society. And in more recent decades, research universities like Stanford and MIT have been credited with helping spur the development of tech clusters in the Bay Area and around Boston. But today, universities play an even more central role as catalysts in the development of advanced urban economies. A new study by economists at the London School of Economics details just how a big a role universities play in urban economic development. It finds that universities themselves, rather than the innovation or human capital they help produce, actually have a demonstrable impact on economic output, and, even more interestingly, on democratic values.

www.chronicle.com
Signs Naming Students Accused of Sexual Assault Reopen Wounds at Atlanta Colleges
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Signs-Naming-Students-Accused/241734?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest
By Sarah Brown and Julia Martinez
For four years, students at three Atlanta-area colleges have expressed outrage over how their institutions handle sexual violence. This week, however, some students went a step further, publicizing the names of peers and others who they say have committed sexual assault. Signs posted Wednesday throughout the campuses of Morehouse College, a men’s college, and Spelman College, a women’s college, listed names of male students and accused them of rape. Other signs accused Morehouse and Spelman officials of protecting rapists. The signs were later removed by campus police officers. (Morehouse, Spelman, and Clark Atlanta University belong to the Atlanta University Center Consortium, known as the AUC.) On Thursday morning, the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel on Morehouse’s campus was spray-painted with the words “Practice what you preach Morehouse + end rape culture.” Campus police officers later covered the graffiti with a brown tarp.

www.chronicle.com
To Help Combat Racism, Kansas State U. Will Cancel Classes (for 2 Hours)
http://www.chronicle.com/article/To-Help-Combat-Racism-Kansas/241733?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=75f79f43960e4ca292cc007a1490daa1&elq=03c287f0a96b47429331c005afcb7a95&elqaid=16543&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7167
By Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz
Kansas State University has seen such a steady stream of racially charged incidents this semester that administrators are taking the unprecedented step of canceling all classes and closing campus offices for two hours on Tuesday to encourage people to attend an event promoting diversity.
Administrators said they wanted to do something positive, to take control of the conversation. Participants will first take part in a Unity Walk to Anderson Hall, the main administrative building, and then participate in KSUnite, a diversity program to discuss inclusion, race, and race relations. “We want to lead the narrative,” said Jeffery B. Morris, vice president for communications and marketing. “We want to come out and say this drip, drip, drip of attacks is wearing us down, and we’re going to stand up and say we’re going to push back as a community and as a campus. We’re not going to let other people define our values.”