Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to have this opportunity to thank the many people responsible for the recent GSU faculty and staff conversion to the Microsoft Office 365 with Exchange E-mail Service. Under the direction of the Division of Information Systems and Technology (IS&T), led by Associate Provost/CIO J.L. Albert, it took many talented people who worked for months - years, in some cases - to make the migration seamless for most of our employees. While there are isolated migration-related issues still being worked out, already it is clear that the move to Exchange is an important step forward for our campus.
Recently, I was pleased to read in Diverse Issues in Higher Education about GSU's continuing and impressive success in recruiting and graduating a diverse student body. According to the report, GSU ranks 28th nationally in granting bachelor's degrees to minority students. That's up more than 10 slots from last year. Also, GSU is ranked 5th in total bachelor's degrees granted to African Americans, and No. 1 among non-HBCU and non-for-profit institutions. Finally, according to the same report, GSU is ranked 48th in the nation in bachelor's degrees granted to Asian-American students, higher than any other institution in Georgia. Our success in recruiting and graduating a diverse student body is laudable in its own right, but even more importantly it provides the foundation from which we will attain our Strategic Plan goal of becoming "a national model for undergraduate education by demonstrating that students from all backgrounds can achieve academic and career success at high rates."
The recent news that The Scientist has ranked Georgia State University in the top 15 of U.S. academic institutions for best places for researchers to work in academia is another indicator of the rising profile of our programs in the life sciences. Kudos to our faculty, staff and students for a job well done!
On August 21 we will host Freshmen Convocation to welcome our newest class of talented young men and women. The keynote speaker will be acclaimed author Jonathan Safran Foer, who wrote this year's freshman reading book, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." Having the author of our freshmen reading book join us as the keynote speaker for convocation is a truly special way to welcome our freshmen into the academy.
I find the beginning of Fall Semester to be a time of great energy and optimism as we launch into a new academic year filled with the promise of what is possible. Many wonderful things are already happening on our campus, and in the year ahead we will continue to rise to new heights as we pursue the goals in our Strategic Plan. Thank you for your hard work and dedication as we all work to make Georgia State University the best it can be.
Sincerely,
Mark P. Becker
President
Upcoming Events
July 18
Cinefest Film Theatre: The Imperialists Are Still Alive (Multi-Day Event)
Cinefest Film Theatre: Vidal Sassoon (Multi-Day Event)
Writing a Winning Personal Essay
July 19
Quit Tobacco Tuesdays
Weight Watchers At Work
Microsoft Powerpoint 2010
Microsoft Access 2010
Office 365 & Outlook Online Workshop
July 20
New Employee Orientation (NEO)
Feed Your Senses
Wellness Wednesday Seminar - "The Benefits of Massage: Everything You KNEAD to Know"
Searching and Applying for Scholarships
Staff Council Meeting
July 21
Cinefest Film Theatre: Shampoo
GSU Players present Writing in the Sand: An Evening With John Herbert (Multi-Day Event)
July 22
Guided Meditation
Yoga Class
July 25
Summer Faculty Meeting