DAHLONEGA (Feb. 14, 2007) –  The Faculty Board of the University Press of North Georgia will celebrate its debut publication on Feb. 23 from noon to 1:30 in the Adams Great Room of the Hoag Student Center on the NGCSU campus. The “Book Launch” reception is free and open to the public.

Appalachian artist Billy Roper will sign copies of the press’ first book, “Billy Roper: Visual Storyteller,” that accompanies the current art exhibit in the Fine Arts Gallery. Refreshments will be served.

At the event, Boundless Expressions, NGCSU's Creative Writing Club, will hold a drawing for the raffle prize, “Yin/Yang,” a painting by Billy Roper. All proceeds will go to the Lumpkin County Literacy Coalition. Raffle tickets cost $3 each or $5 for two.  To purchase raffle tickets, contact Boundless Expressions president Lacey Shore at LaceyShore@aol.com, Valerie Fambrough at vmfambrough@ngcsu.edu, or B. J. Robinson at brobinson@ngcsu.edu. Online, go to www.upnorthgeorgia.org, or call Robinson at 706-864-1835.

Learn more about the Press and plans for the future, meet the people behind the debut book, and celebrate an important innovation at the university.

Supported by the President’s Innovation Fund, the University Press of North Georgia is a scholarly, peer-reviewed press.

DAHLONEGA (Feb. 12, 2007) – On Monday, Feb. 12, North Georgia College & State University President David Potter signed the second exchange agreement between North Georgia and Tsinghua University, represented by Dr. Zhongshe Lu, deputy director of the Foreign Languages Department of the university in China. Building on the student exchange program already in place, the new agreement provides for an exchange program for NGCSU Department of English faculty to travel to China to teach for a semester. Tshinghua faculty will come to the Dahlonega campus to teach courses ranging from literature to Chinese culture.

Pictured are:  Seated, President Potter and Dr. Lu; Standing, Dr. Dlynn Armstrong-Williams, director of the Center for Global Engagement; Dr. Tanya Bennett, interim head of the English department; Sherman Day, former NGCSU president; and Dean of Arts & Letters Christopher Jespersen.

DAHLONEGA (Feb. 12, 2007) – The 2005-06 Annual Report Card from the Georgia Office of Student Achievement ranks North Georgia College & State University as the top state university in Georgia for graduation rates. This is the fifth year NGCSU’s graduation rates have been at the top of the 13 state universities in the University System of Georgia.

North Georgia’s 44.8 percent graduation rate – measured on a six-year period for first- and full-time, degree seeking freshmen – ranked behind only Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. Those research universities graduate 3 of 4 students in six years.

Of the 15 University System of Georgia institutions with teacher education programs, North Georgia ranked third with 94 percent pass rates on the PRAXIS II content specific tests, just below Kennesaw State University and UGA. NGCSU was also among the top three schools for the Praxis I academic skills assessment test.

North Georgia is also successful in retaining freshmen students to continue with college into their second year. Retention of the freshman group from fall 2004 to fall 2005 was reported at 78.3 percent, fifth best in the state among 35 research and other institutions in the University System of Georgia.

NGCSU’s Associate of Science in Nursing Program graduated 50 percent of students within three years, far above the 20.8 percent average for state universities with associate’s degree programs. North Georgia now offers the nursing program in Hall and Forsyth counties and on the main Dahlonega campus.

The full education report card for Georgia’s public education system, for K-12 to postsecondary education, is located at www.ga-oea.org.

North Georgia students enjoy snow day DAHLONEGA (Feb. 2, 2007) – North Georgia College & State University students were out of class and outside in the cold on Feb. 1 when more than three inches of snow blanketed the Dahlonega campus. The university closed for the day, but students in kayaks and improvised sleds dotted the white landscape. In the early morning hours, students in the Corps of Cadets made a snow boulder that lasted through the day in the center of an otherwise deserted campus.
		Photo: Kayla Wright
Photo: Lacey Garland		Photo: Kayla Wright
Photo: Jennifer Crook	Photo: Kayla Wright

DAHLONEGA (Feb. 2, 2007) – On Feb. 1, while North Georgia College & State University was closed for a "Snow Day," physics Professor Robert Fuller, director of the Environmental Leadership Center, left his office and went out into that day's local environment with his camera. Fuller got his shoes and socks wet taking photographs of the campus blanketed in white. Among the scenes he captured are:

A campus police car maintaining security while negotiating icy slush.		A lone student strolling by a Leadership banner.
The giant snowball created as a student-group effort.		Price Memorial Hall