Keep Your Money in Your Pocket: November is National Scholarship Month and the Ideal Time to Plan How to Pay for College

(BUSINESS WIRE)--As economic reports signal a national recession and consumers look to cut back on spending, scholarships are an ever-more important way to pay for college. Unlike other forms of financial aid, scholarships do not have to be repaid. November is National Scholarship Month and the ideal time for students to research the college scholarships that meet their needs.

Sallie Mae’s recent study on How America Pays for College, conducted by Gallup, found that 17 percent of students used scholarships to pay for college last year and that the average family covered 15 percent of the cost of college using a combination of grants and scholarships.

Scholarship awards range from a few dollars to a full tuition bill and are offered by private sources, such as The Sallie Mae Fund, in addition to federal and state governments. Students and parents can quickly identify the scholarships they may be eligible for by using Sallie Mae’s free online Scholarship Search, which includes information about more than 2.9 million scholarships worth more than $16 billion in scholarship dollars. The Scholarship Search is available at www.SallieMae.com/scholarships and through a new “widget” that allows any organization -- including high schools, colleges and other community organizations -- to easily make the free tool accessible on the organization’s own Web site. Organizations can visit www.SallieMae.com/widget and simply copy and paste the code into any page on their own Web site.

Families can see the value of scholarship contributions by using Sallie Mae’s Education Investment Planner (www.SallieMae.com/plan) to customize their own pay-for-college plan. Using the Planner, families may estimate the total cost of a college degree, build a plan to pay for college, and estimate the salary a graduate would need to keep repayment of student loans manageable. Sallie Mae’s Education Investment Planner helps families understand the total cost of college and how to pay for it without going beyond their means.

“In tough economic times like these, now is not the time to overpay for anything, particularly college,” said Martha Holler, spokeswoman, Sallie Mae. “With a little bit of extra effort, students will find that scholarships can help them keep more of their money in their own pocket.”

Scholarships are a key part of Sallie Mae’s 1-2-3 approach to paying for college: first, use free money by filling out the FAFSA to access need-based grants, research and apply for scholarships, and supplement with current income, college savings, and an interest-free monthly tuition payment plan. Second, explore federal loans, which offer fixed interest rates and flexible repayment options for students and parents. Third, consider covering any remaining unmet need with private education loans.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone

Georgia State Receives Grant to Educate Children about DNA’s “Language”

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Georgia State University with a three-year, $760,000 grant to help educate Georgia’s K-12 students about DNA and genetic principles through the university’s Bio-Bus program.

The grant is part of nearly $17 million in grants from the NIH’s Science Education Partnership Awards, aimed at stimulating scientific curiosity among students and to encourage hands-on science education.

The project’s goal is to teach children about DNA, the essential building blocks of genetics, as a language — something that has not done at early ages, said Barbara Baumstark, professor of biology and principal investigator of the project.

Baumstark said since DNA contains a certain code that is read from left to right, it is usually taught as a language. But concepts surrounding DNA, including the “alphabet” of the genetic language — adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine, abbreviated A, C, G and T —are not commonly taught until adolescence, even though younger children often acquire languages much more readily than older children and adolescents.

“We were missing an excellent opportunity to allow younger children to get familiar with DNA,” Baumstark said.

She and her colleagues will develop activities in partnership with the Decatur City Schools to teach children ages 6 to 9 to help get them familiar with the concepts. Those activities will hopefully spread to other schools throughout the state.

The Bio-Bus program brings biology education to Georgia school students, offering hands-on, inquiry-based activities designed to get K-12 students enthusiastic about science.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Georgia Tech Rank #16 Among Kiplinger’s Best Values

Georgia Tech receives national accolade for best value, ranking 16th among Kiplinger’s Personal Finance 100 best values in public colleges. Kiplinger ranks four-year institutions based top-notch academics and economic value.

Schools were selected from a pool of more than 500 public universities. The ranking reflects a variety of criteria including student-faculty ratios, four and six-year graduation rates, retention rates, tuition costs and need-based financial aid.

Kiplinger’s top three schools are University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Florida and the University of Virginia.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Fayette County School System Now Podcasting Board Meetings and Channel 24 Programming

Audio podcasts of Fayette County Board of Education meetings and Channel 24 videos are now available through the Fayette County school system’s website and the iTunes Store.

Residents who cannot attend meetings of the board of education can now keep up with the latest discussions and item votes by listening to the taped meeting on their computers, usually as soon as the next day.

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed has been set up for the podcasts, allowing subscribers to the feed to receive immediate notification as soon as a new podcast is posted. The public can sign up for the free feed by going to the school system’s website, www.fcboe.org, and clicking on the feed link in the center of the page under “Channel 24 Headlines.” Be sure to click on the feed that says “new,” located just under the “board meeting podcast/channel 24 videocast” link. The other RSS feed is for press releases only and will not work for the podcasts.

“We are excited to be able to offer another level of communication to our stakeholders,” says Public Information Specialist Melinda Berry-Dreisbach. “Many times people are not able to attend our public meetings but they are interested in knowing what really happened. Now they can listen to the meetings and hear for themselves how the meeting evolved.”

The public can also sign up for the RSS feed by going to the iTunes Store. Persons who already have the iTunes Store downloaded on their computer can type “FCBOE” in the search box and select “FCBOE Board Meeting Podcasts.”

Because iTunes must review each podcast, it could take as long as one to two weeks before the subscriber is notified. The feed from the school system’s website will provide immediate notification of a new podcast.

Visitors to the podcast page will also notice that they can view videos that are currently airing or have aired on the school system’s educational channel, Comcast Channel 24. There is a separate RSS feed for the videos that can be accessed by clicking on the same feed link as the board meeting podcasts.

“This service has been requested for a long time by our stakeholders. Many Fayette County residents do not have Comcast Cable and a number of our employees live outside of the county. These stakeholders rarely, if ever, get to see the programming that is aired on the channel. Now they will be able to see all videotaped programming. Our next task will be getting the still announcements added to the site so that viewers can see the channel in its entirety,” says Berry-Dreisbach.

Just like the board meeting podcasts, the public can also go to the iTunes Store to sign up for the video feed by typing “FCBOE” in the search box and selecting the feed that says “FCBOE Channel 24 Videocasts.” However, remember that notification of new items may be delayed when using the feed from iTunes versus immediate notification with the feed from the school system’s site.

Anyone who has trouble accessing the podcast and videocast link or needs help with signing up for any of the RSS feeds, can contact Berry-Dreisbach in the Fayette County school system’s public information office, 770-460-3535.

-----
Editor's Note: There is no charge to use either the RSS or the iTunes Store podcast.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Georgia Tech Program Creates Career Paths or Future K-12 Teachers and College Faculty

While Georgia has a shortage of K-12 math and science teachers, fortunately the Georgia Institute of Technology is a top destination for students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Now Georgia Tech students who are interested in teaching at either the collegiate or K-12 level, will be able to enhance their instructive skills, learn about pathways to teaching and participate in teaching internships through a new program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Known as “Tech to Teaching,” the program integrates existing NSF-funded projects that provide instruction and support for faculty and students who are interested in teaching. The goal of the program is not only to support Georgia Tech students who choose teaching careers at any level, but also to help supply qualified K-12 teachers, with an emphasis on STEM fields, to Georgia classrooms.

“Georgia Tech is in a unique position to be a leader in this area and to assume the responsibility of educating more teachers at all levels in the science, technology, engineering and math disciplines,” says Anderson Smith, senior vice-provost for Academic Affairs. “Georgia imports a large number of science and math teachers. It makes sense for these teachers to be home-grown.”

The Tech to Teaching program creates an infrastructure at Georgia Tech that encourages and enables students to pursue careers in K-12 or college teaching, according to Donna Llewellyn, director of the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL).

“It is Georgia Tech’s responsibility to help solve the shortage of math and science teachers in Georgia,” explains Llewellyn. “We not only need to supply top-quality teachers to support an educated workforce in our state, but we also need to provide our K-12 schools with teachers equipped to fully prepare students to pursue a higher education here at Georgia Tech.”

The Tech to Teaching program will also reinforce existing collaborations between Georgia Tech and schools such as Georgia Perimeter College and Spelman College, where Georgia Tech graduate students will gain teaching experience by serving as instructors in introductory STEM courses. In addition, a partnership with Kennesaw State University provides the opportunity for undergraduate students to receive National Science Foundation stipends while completing their undergraduate degrees, and while working toward their Master's degree in chemistry or physics teaching. Nearby Georgia State University also serves as a certification option for Tech students through cross-registration.

“An increasingly popular educational path for students interested in K-12 teaching is to get their four-year bachelor’s degree in a particular content field, and then pursue a one-year Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree to earn their teacher certification,” says Marion Usselman, senior research scientist at the Institute’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC). “Georgia Tech students interested in STEM teaching are perfectly positioned to complete their teacher education training at one of the many colleges and universities in Georgia offering MAT degrees. Given the shortage of high school math and science teachers, they are very likely to quickly land a job, even before they are fully certified.”

“We aren’t going into the education degree business, but we are sending our exceptional students to our colleague universities that offer advanced education degree options,” says Llewellyn. “We also hope to initiate and develop partnerships with other universities as the program evolves.”Tech to Teaching, led by Georgia Tech Interim President Gary Schuster, is an initiative funded by a $1 million NSF grant combined with a $1.67 million commitment from Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech is one of six institutions that received NSF funding.

“Our goal is to add a new stanza to the Georgia Tech fight song,” says Usselman. “Students can come to Georgia Tech to be a ‘helluva teacher,’ not just a ‘helluva engineer.’”

The Tech to Teaching program will formally begin in January 2009. For more information, please contact Donna Llewellyn at donna.llewellyn@cetl.gatech.edu.
---
www.FayetteFrontPage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
---

Regents Name New Georgia State President

The Board of Regents has appointed Mark P. Becker, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of South Carolina, the next president of Georgia State University.

Becker, 50, will become the 7th president in Georgia State’s history in January, when President Carl Patton retires after 16 years of service.

With experience as a biostatistician, public health researcher and academic leader, Becker is a good fit for Georgia State, members of the presidential search committee said.

“Dr. Becker has the experience as a faculty member, a dean and a provost at leading research universities in the country,” said Paul Alberto, chair of the University Senate Executive Committee and a search committee member. “With that background, he will be able to work with the faculty to assess where we are and how we can move forward to greater national prominence.”

Prior to his appointment at the University of South Carolina, Becker spent three years at the University of Minnesota as a biostatistics professor, dean of the School of Public Health and assistant vice president of Public Health, Preparedness and Emergency Response.

From 1989 to 2000, Becker was a professor and associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. He also has held academic posts at the University of Washington, the University of Florida and Cornell University. Additionally, Becker has fundraising experience both as a dean and a provost.

Becker earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Towson State University and his doctorate in statistics from Pennsylvania State University.

Internationally recognized as a researcher in biostatistics and public health sciences, Becker has published more than 40 articles and has been principal investigator on research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

“Georgia State is poised to advance as one of our nation’s leading urban public research universities,” Becker said. “There is the opportunity, building on its location in Atlanta and the tremendous progress made under President Patton’s leadership, for the University to enhance Atlanta’s national and global stature.”

Becker, who is married to Laura Voisinet and has two children, Matthew, 22, and Julia, 18, said he enjoys outdoor activities like hiking and whitewater rafting and “experiencing and learning about new cultures.”

Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. said Becker will bring a lot to Georgia State.

“As the [presidential search] committee knows, as the Regents know, as I have come to know – let me assure the Georgia State community that you will enjoy becoming acquainted with and working with Dr. Becker.”

by Liz Babiarz
Georgia State University

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

UGA Researchers Receive $ 1.3 Million NIH Grant to Develop 3D Animated Biological Science Lessons for High School Students

After using 3-dimensional models and animation successfully for years to help veterinary students understand complicated biological processes, University of Georgia researchers now want to take the user-friendly lessons to Georgia high school students.

J. Steve Oliver, associate department head of science and math education in UGA’s College of Education, is principal investigator of the project, which received a 5-year $ 1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Science Education Partnership Program. Oliver and several other UGA researchers and state partners will create and evaluate 3D animated biology lessons for high school students in hopes of enticing more of them to choose careers in science. The grant is funded by the National Center for Research Resources, a part of the NIH.

“We’re deeply concerned about the general lack of interest in science among young people in our country,” said Oliver. “We believe at least part of the reason is that many don’t understand the relevance of science to their lives. The animated lessons will help them to see biology as ‘real,’ and not just a list of facts and terms.”

Oliver’s UGA co-PIs on the project include Jim Moore, Cindi Ward, and Scott Brown, professors in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Four other professors from vet med, Gaylen Edwards, David Hurley, Oliver Li and Tom Robertson, along with Randall Tackett, a professor in the College of Pharmacy, and Mike Hussey, an associate professor of dramatic media, will help create the 3D animations. Al Cohen and Sara Templin in the College of Education will coordinate the evaluation efforts when the new materials are used in schools. Other partners include faculty at Augusta State University, high school science teachers and the Biological Science Curriculum Study Organization., a group in Colorado Springs, Colorado that has been developing biology curricula for middle and high school students across the nation for more than 50 years. The BSCS will guide aspects of the biology curriculum and oversee national distribution upon completion of the project.

Researchers will create and then evaluate the effectiveness of the lessons, which present five vital biological processes—filtration, passive and active transport, blood pressure and glucose homeostasis in the body. The 3D animations will compare the function and structure of a healthy kidney to one affected by diabetes. Students will examine each of the biological processes in the normal kidney, and then investigate how they are altered in the diseased kidney, subconsciously learning the material while enjoying the experience.

“The typical student doesn’t appreciate the potentially damaging effects on their cells and organs of lifestyle choices they make every day,” said Jim Moore, who teaches UGA veterinary students. “For example, the incidence of diabetes is increasing in pet animals the same way it is in the human population—and perhaps for the same reasons: a lack of exercise and obesity. We believe that some high school students will be better able to explore the consequences of the disease in a pet animal than might be possible with a disease they believe only affects humans.”

To introduce high school students to the clinical reality of diabetes in humans and pet animals, the researchers will host visits to UGA’s Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy. During the visits, students will see animals with diabetes, learn how veterinarians and physicians evaluate kidney function in humans and animals, and see how clinical trials are performed to evaluate the effectiveness of new treatments.

“By coupling this unique learning method with on-site visits, we believe students will be far more receptive to choosing a science-based career path, be it as a scientist or a science teacher,” said Oliver.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Emory Fellow Wins Whiting Writers' Award

Laleh Khadivi, a fellow in Emory University's Creative Writing Program, has received a 2008 Whiting Writers' Award. The $50,000 award, which annually recognizes 10 young writers, was presented to Khadivi yesterday in New York City. (http://www.whitingfoundation.org/whiting_2008.html)

Khadivi was honored for her first book, "The Age of Orphans," a historical novel set in Iran during the first Shah's ascent to power. Born in Esfahan, Iran, Khadivi is of Kurdish and Persian heritage.

"The Age of Orphans" follows the life of a Kurdish boy whose family is killed by the armies of the Shah as part of a "modernizing effort." The boy is then adopted into those same armies and taught to kill his own people.

This first book is part of a trilogy that follows the lives of three generations of Kurdish men and will be published by Bloomsbury in March. "The award gives me more time to work on the triology," says Khadivi, adding that when her teaching stint at Emory ends, she is considering taking a year off to work on the next book.

Khadivi, who has lived in a variety of countries, is a graduate of Atlanta International School and now calls the United States home. Previously, she was a documentary filmmaker and directed "900 Women," a film about incarcerated women in Louisiana. She has produced a number of other films that focus on the criminal justice system.

She holds an undergraduate degree from Reed College and an MFA degree from Mills College. Khadivi is currently the Fellow in Fiction at Emory, a two-year appointment for those holding a graduate degree in creative writing and who have a manuscript underway.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

Booth Middle School's Edinger Named Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year

Peachtree City Wal-Mart representatives Darren Gaddy (far left) and Freda Jones (far right) award Dave Edinger (center left) a $1,000 check as the store’s Teacher of the Year winner as Principal Ted Lombard looks on.


The Peachtree City Wal-Mart has named eighth grade science teacher Dave Edinger of J.C. Booth Middle as its Teacher of the Year.

Edinger received a $1,000 check from Wal-Mart for being selected as the Peachtree City store’s winner.

Wal-Mart’s Teacher of the Year program is one of the largest teacher recognition programs in the country. Since its inception in 1996, the program has recognized nearly 11,000 teachers nationwide and contributed more than $6.6 million in educational grants to schools.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

Fayette County Retired Teacher Honored by the Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Republic of Germany has awarded the Cross of Merit, First Class, to retired Fayette County High German teacher Mechthild Vogt.

She was officially presented with the honor on October1 during a special ceremony at the Georgia Department of Education. Dr. Lutz Goergens, consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany in Atlanta, presided over the presentation.

The Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit) is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany, between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year in all eight classes.

Vogt taught German at Fayette County High for 30 years, for 20 of them she sponsored a German-American Partnership exchange program with a high school outside of Frankfurt in Hofheim, Germany. Over 500 German students visited Fayette County during that time, making friends with American students and experiencing American culture first hand. She spent many of her summer vacations taking her students to Germany for three weeks for a similar experience with German culture.

In awarding the Cross of Merit, Goergens credited Vogt with helping people from both countries better understand each other.

“Ms. Vogt, there is more understanding and sympathy for Germany in the United States today as a result of your work. And there is more understanding and sympathy for the United States in Germany,” he said.

Vogt looked back on her career with great satisfaction as she summarized her feelings while finishing her remarks.

“If I have done my part to help with the understanding and with friendships between our peoples, then I feel that I have reached my most ambitious goal and that all my work was worth it,” she said.

-----

www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Financial Times Ranks the Executive MBA Program at UGA's Terry College of Business Among the Top 25 in the U.S. and Top 60 in the World

The Executive MBA program at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business received its highest ranking to date in a global survey published Oct. 27 in the Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business news organizations.

The Terry Executive MBA is ranked 22nd in the United States and 59th in the world, according to the Financial Times’ annual ranking. The Terry EMBA made the most significant improvement of any program ranked the past two years, rising 18 spots in this year’s ranking. Emory’s Goizueta Business School is the only other ranked executive MBA program in Georgia (18th in the U.S., 53rd in the world).

Terry’s “Career Progress” rank was third highest nationally and 13th in the world. This measurement calculates the change in the level of seniority and the size of the company graduates work for now versus the period before they entered the EMBA program.

The average salary reported by graduates three years after completing the program was $153,750, which ranked 19th among U.S. business schools. Similarly, Terry ranked 20th in average salary growth when 2005 graduates were asked to compare their current salaries with their pre-EMBA salaries.

Terry’s Executive MBA program was established in 2001. The program moved to its current location at the Terry Executive Education Center in Buckhead in 2005.

“As a relatively new program in Atlanta, the Terry EMBA is already well known for quality,” said Terry College Dean Robert T. Sumichrast. “Most gratifying in the Financial Times survey were the high scores reported by our EMBA graduates who were asked how their careers had advanced since completing the program and how well they had fulfilled their goals when they set out to get an MBA.”

For the measure “Aims Achieved,” the Terry EMBA ranked 22nd in the world and seventh best in the United States. The “aims achieved” measurement quantifies the extent to which EMBA graduates reported fulfilling their most important goals for pursuing an MBA.

“The Terry EMBA emphasizes personal leadership development and the practical application of management concepts and skills to real business settings,” said Richard Daniels, director of the Executive MBA program. “The rankings illustrate that such an approach creates value for employers and has a real impact on the career trajectory of our participants.”

Now in its eighth year, the Financial Times ranking is compiled using data from two sets of surveys. One is completed by alumni who graduated three years ago from the EMBA programs the Financial Times considered for the ranking. The other survey is completed by the business schools.

The Terry College’s Executive MBA degree is an 18-month program based in Buckhead, geared toward mid-level professionals to senior managers. The format combines weekend class sessions with asynchronous interaction using distance learning technologies. The program offers personalized service, individual leadership coaching, and a 12-day international residency.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

GA Tech Places Eighth in Two World University Technology Rankings

The Georgia Institute of Technology recently was listed among the top world universities in engineering and technology in two separate global rankings.

Georgia Tech ranked eighth on the list of the world’s top universities in engineering and information technology prepared by the Times Higher Education Supplement-QS. The list, considered the definitive university ranking guide in the United Kingdom, was compiled though a study conducted by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) and published in the Times Higher Education supplement, an independent annual education survey.

Georgia Tech also garnered the eighth spot on the list of the top 100 world universities in engineering/technology and computer sciences, according to Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). ARWU ranks major institutions according to their academic or research performance in each of five broad subject fields according to a formula that factors in the following indicators: alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and fields medals; highly cited researchers; articles indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI); the percentage of articles published in the leading journals of each field; and engineering research expenditures.

Earlier this year, Georgia Tech was ranked seventh nationally among public universities for undergraduates in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings. For the past decade, Georgia Tech has been among the top ten public universities for undergraduates in the United States.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page