Archive for the ‘College’ Category

Dr. Kyle Marrero is the finalist for the presidency of the University of West Georgia

From the Board of Regents:

Board of Regents Chair “Dink” NeSmith and University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby have announced the name of the finalist for the University of West Georgia presidency, Dr. Kyle Marrero.

Marrero is currently vice president for University Advancement at the University of West Florida, Pensacola, a position he has held since August 2009. In this position, Marrero provides executive leadership to advance the mission of the university in the areas of alumni relations, development, marketing, communications and the University of West Florida Foundation.

He was given primary responsibility by the university president to lead the university’s effort to achieve the Carnegie Community and Curricular Engagement and Outreach and Partnerships Classification Award for 2015. This goal serves as one of the benchmarks of success specifically aligned to engaging in …

Continue reading New president of University of West Georgia will be Kyle Marrero of Florida. Background in opera and conducting. »

I don’t often have cause to share music videos but this magnanimous moment by performer Billy Joel while speaking recently at Vanderbilt University is worth sharing:

Continue reading A college lecture by Billy Joel turns into a performance to remember for Vanderbilt student and audience »

Should Georgia allow guns on its college campuses? (AJC file photo)

While the guns on campus bill sailed through the House, it’s encountering greater resistance on its journey over to the Senate. Passage in both chambers of the General Assembly is necessary for a bill to become a law.

House Bill 512, the Safe Carry Protection Act, would permit guns in in bars, churches, parts of college campuses and into unsecured government buildings, including courthouses.

The bill was opposed by the chancellor of the University System of Georgia. “I am suggesting that adding loaded weapons to an already potentially volatile mix of youthful exuberance, stress, and yes, at times alcohol and other factors, could lead to a tragedy of our own making that we could otherwise avoid,” Chancellor Hank Huckaby told lawmakers.

He didn’t make much headway with them. The bill won overwhelming approval in the House last week, passing 117-56, largely along party lines.

The bill’s success in the House …

Continue reading Guns on campus bill meets greater resistance now that it passes House and moves to Senate »

Should Georgia allow guns on its college campuses? (AJC file photo)

Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby spoke in opposition today to House Bill 512, which would comprehensively sweep away most restrictions on carrying firearms in Georgia, including on college campuses, on public school grounds and in churches.

Contrary to other states where the debate has shifted to restricting guns in the wake of the Newtown school massacre, many of two dozen gun bills filed in the Georgia Legislature aim to expand firearms access and reach.

Many educational leaders are concerned with bills allowing guns in schools and on campuses.

Here is Huckaby’s official statement from today’s hearing on HB 512:

I appear before you today as the chancellor of the University System of Georgia – a system of 31 institutions with 314,000 students and over 40,000 faculty and staff members. But I am also a father, and grandfather. I am a gun owner with many lifelong friends who are gun owners and hunters. Like …

Continue reading Chancellor: Keep guns off Georgia’s college campuses »

Education Week has a fascinating story this week on emerging research showing that many college students testing into remedial classes don’t need to be there.

A challenge in writing about education is the assumption factor. In Georgia, 70,000 students take remedial classes each year at our public colleges at an annual cost of $55 million. Nationally, the price tag is $7 billion.

We all despair that so many students are showing up at college unprepared and conclude that high schools aren’t doing their jobs.

But we never ask: Are these students being correctly identified?

Could it be that all some of them need are short-term refresher courses? Consider that many students are not entering college directly from high school and may have forgotten some of their math. According to Ed Week, close to a third of all entering college students are not coming directly from high school.

One study cited in the Ed Week story found that 20 percent of students in remedial math and 25 percent …

Continue reading New research: Too many college students routed into costly remedial courses when they only need a refresher »

I have known students to complain bitterly about grades and to disparage their professors on Internet rating sites.

But a grad student in Pennsylvania is taking her outrage to the courtroom. Before you attack the student, read the details. There are some odd elements to this case.

The woman was an otherwise A student who attended the class and participated in class discussions. And Megan Thode had an expert in her own home; her father teaches at the college, Lehigh University, and testified that he was stunned that a professor would give a student a zero for participation when the student showed up and talked.

Today, the judge in the case criticized both sides, according to the Morning Call, which is the local newspaper in the area covering the trial. (Here is a good piece by the Call on today’s proceedings.)

From the story:

“It’s regrettable that this case hasn’t been resolved,” Judge Emil Giordano said in the third day of a civil trial in which Megan Thode is seeking $1.3 …

Continue reading Grad student says C-plus cost her $1.3 million in lost wages. Takes her case to court but judge is wary. »

As promised by President Obama last night, here is the info on and link to the new federal College Scorecard.

The easy-to-use site provides basic information — the tuition costs, the grad rate,  average loan amount, repayment rate and some employment information.

From the U.S. DOE:

Following President Obama’s State of the Union address, today the U.S. Department of Education released an interactive College Scorecard, which provides students and families the critical information they need to make smart decisions about where to enroll for higher education.

The College Scorecard – as part of President Obama’s continued efforts to hold colleges accountable for cost, value and quality – highlights key indicators about the cost and value of institutions across the country to help students choose a school that is well-suited to meet their needs, priced affordably, and is consistent with their educational and career goals.

“Through tax credits, grants and better loans, we’ve made …

Continue reading Feds release College Scorecard announced by President Obama during State of the Union address »

The Senate Democrats offered this response to the governor’s plan to lower the GPA for HOPE grants for students in technical colleges, which have reported a steep decline since Nathan Deal imposed a 3.0 GPA requirement.

Senate Democrats said Gov. Deal’s proposal to lower the grade point average requirement in Georgia’s HOPE Grant for students in the technical college system is a reasonable first step, but doesn’t go far enough to repair the broken HOPE Grant and Scholarship programs.

Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, whip of the Senate Democratic Caucus, is an author of Senate Bill 59 that would reduce the GPA from 3.0 to 2.0 for a HOPE Grant recipient. The measure is similar to the Gov. Deal’s recent HOPE Grant proposal. But Fort said real HOPE reform is a multi-prong approach that requires the state’s leadership to account for all current and future students and requires changes across the grant and scholarship spectrum.

“The purpose of the HOPE Grant and the HOPE Scholarship …

Continue reading Democrats: Governor’s changes to HOPE Grant still leave students “out in the cold.” »

Duke students upset over an Asian-themed frat party went on the offensive and posted these photos from the event around campus.

In the stupid fraternity tricks department, Duke University’s Kappa Sigma is making national headlines for an Asian-themed frat party Friday that it held despite concerns from the university.

The consequences have been swift and considerable. Hundreds of Duke students condemned the party in a campus rally Wednesday. And the national organization of the Kappa Sigma fraternity suspended the operations of the Duke chapter pending an investigation.

The party is igniting debate nationwide including on the Duke Chronicle, the independent newspaper on the campus, which stopped public commenting after nearly 400 remarks.

I read a lot of the comments, many of which went like this: “I can’t believe people get offended so easily. Pretty soon they’ll be shouting to ban Halloween… No more nuns, or cowboys, or beer girls… The problem is not THEM the problem is …

Continue reading An Asian-themed party earns a Duke fraternity criticism and suspension »

Gov. Nathan Deal has apparently heard some of the protests about the changes he made two years ago to HOPE, reversing his decision to require that even students going to the state’s technical colleges on HOPE Grants also have a 3.0 GPA.

The AJC reported that nearly 9,000 technical college students lost the award last year because they couldn’t meet the higher standard. Ron Jackson, the commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia, told legislators last month that thousands of other students dropped out of the technical colleges or didn’t enroll because they couldn’t afford to pay what HOPE no longer covered.

The system’s enrollment dropped by about 24,500 students to 170,860 last year. Historically, nearly 75 percent of technical college students receive HOPE.

The change needs the Legislature’s approval, but has bi-partisan support and is expected to pass.

Now, the question is: Will Deal respond to complaints about how few rural students are getting the Zell …

Continue reading Gov. Deal responds to concerns about HOPE Grant and lowers GPA requirement to 2.0 »