AJC On Campus: Trump targets student debt, campus speech disruptions

Trump’s executive order

Trump signed an executive order Thursday that could cut funding to schools are determined to have limited or prevented students, guest speakers and organizations from expressing their views on campus. Trump also talked broadly about upcoming plans to make colleges and universities more accountable for student loan debt. Here's our report about it.

UGA & race

Racism and diversity are major topics again at the University of Georgia after the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity was suspended last weekend in the wake of a video showing some members using racist language to describe African-Americans and mocking slavery. UGA's student government association hosted a town hall meeting Monday evening to discuss the issue. Students discussed several ideas, such as mandatory multicultural student training that's similar to what the university does concerning alcohol abuse, and an official recognition of UGA's history with slavery, The Red & Black, UGA's student newspaper reported. Meanwhile, the university is seeking proposals for its diversity and inclusion program. The university has $300,000 for those programs.

More help for Argosy University students

Claremont University, a non-profit online graduate school based in California, is the latest school offering help to former Argosy University students. The school said it's streamlining its admissions procedures and opening scholarship opportunities for "stranded Argosy students." Claremont is not yet authorized to offer courses in Georgia. The state's Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission is working with the school to offer programs in this state. We told you last week that several other schools, including Beulah Heights University in Atlanta, are offering various forms of support to the students. Argosy, a for-profit that held classes in Sandy Springs, closed earlier this month after financial problems.

KSU off-campus housing needs

By May, Cobb County government officials may have new regulations concerning off-campus housing for Kennesaw State University students. The county has had a moratorium on new off-campus student housing since 2018. KSU has the third-largest enrollment of any school in Georgia, and is continuing to grow. Most students live off-campus and the county is trying to find a handle on that growth, particularly the need for student housing. Read more here.

Georgia Tech student center update

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Fulton County’s Board of Commissioners last week approved $115 million in bonds to renovate Georgia Tech’s student center.  The center will expand services into four new buildings across a 15-acre site. Construction is scheduled to begin in May with the grand opening in 2022. Georgia Tech is hosting four updates. The first is scheduled Wed., March 27, 1 p.m. at the Student Center Theater.

Raises on the way?

University System of Georgia officials may soon get 2 percent raises now that the Georgia Senate has backed a $27.5 billion state budget for fiscal 2020 — which begins July 1. Here's a story about the budget negotiations.

“We’re not a start-up anymore”

That’s one of the things Georgia Gwinnett College’s interim president Mary Beth Walker said during a meeting her staff organized with reporters last week. The college was founded in 2006, but already facing infrastructure challenges, particularly with information technology, she said. As we know today’s technology is obsolete tomorrow. Walker also discussed doing more to help adult learners by offering more certificate courses. The average student age is 22.5 and one in eight students are 25 and older. “We’re not a start-up anymore,” she said. “It’s time we move up to another level.” The mission of taking the 12,500-student GGC to another level will be left to one of four finalists for the president’s job. Walker, who took over after last year’s retirement of Stanley “Stas” Preczewski, will become the provost at Cal State Northridge in July.

Soaring students

The Technical College System of Georgia recently honored 26 students with its Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy Education (EAGLE) Award for outstanding achievement in the state’s adult education program. Simonne A. Crane, a delegate from West Georgia Technical College, was named as TCSG’s 2019 adult education student of the year.

Here’s the list of students:

The number of the week: 49

That’s the percentage of recent college graduates who say they didn’t need to go to college to do their current jobs, according to the Rockefeller Foundation. The stat was included in a report released last week by the Progressive Policy Institute that found, in part, many colleges and universities are controlled by faculty unequipped or unwilling to prepare students for careers that align with employer needs.

Education Notebook

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AJC Gwinnett County education reporter Arlinda Smith Broady recently talked to Collins Hill High School Principal Kerensa Wing, who was named 2019 Principal of the Year by the Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals. They talked about a number of subjects, including what she likes most and least about the job. Here’s her

.