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Jacobs named to national higher education advisory panel

(Oct. 18, 2012) — Dr. Bonita Jacobs, president of North Georgia College & State University, has been named to the Community College Advisory Panel (CCAP), a national group comprising college presidents and chancellors and dedicated to promoting national recognition of community colleges and access to higher education.

Jacobs headshot - web"I am honored and delighted to become a member of the College Board’s Community College Advisory Panel," Jacobs said. "A robust community college system supports the needs of students and increases postsecondary educational opportunities.  I am eager to continue the dialog about the increasingly critical role that access colleges play in the national higher education agenda." 

Two of the panel's key initiatives, access to higher education and student transfers, are topics in which Jacobs has much experience.

Jacobs has researched and written extensively on the topic of student transfers as it relates to student success and higher education administration. She is a frequent keynote speaker and consultant on transfer student issues and previously served as executive director of the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students, which strives to increase access to and attainment of higher education by promoting successful student transfers. The institute recently moved to the North Georgia campus from its former location in Texas and is under the leadership of a new director, Dr. Janet Marling.

Providing wider access to higher education to students throughout the region is part of the mission for the new University of North Georgia, which would be created from the consolidation of North Georgia and Gainesville State College. The consolidation of the two institutions, expected to be implemented in January 2013, is pending final approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

Members of the panel, which meets two times a year, are appointed to three-year terms.

CCAP was created through the outreach and advocacy efforts of the College Board, a member-governed, not-for-profit organization addressing issues facing educators. More than 6,000 institutions comprise the College Board membership, which includes K-12 schools and two- and four-year postsecondary institutions. The group's mission is to increase access to and success in higher education for all students, especially those from underserved groups.

In addition to advocacy, the College Board created and administers the SAT college entrance exam, Advanced Placement tests, the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), college placement tests, and other similar programs.