Georgia Southern is a Carnegie Doctoral-Research university providing the classic residential campus experience. Georgia's largest and most comprehensive center of higher education south of Atlanta, every state and 86 nations are represented in the student body. The University's hallmark is student-centered education for undergraduate and graduate students alike.
Georgia Southern University is classified as a doctoral/research institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. With an emphasis on academic distinction, excellent teaching, research, and student success, the University offers a comprehensive array of baccalaureate degrees and selected master's and doctoral programs. The University's hallmark is a culture of engagement that bridges theory with practice, extends the learning environment beyond the classroom, promotes student growth and life success, and prepares the student population for leadership and service as world citizens. Georgia Southern accomplishes its mission, in part, through its focus on providing a student-centered environment enhanced by technology, transcultural experiences, public/private partnerships, and stewardship of a safe, residential campus. Moreover, the University fosters access to its educational programs and enhances the quality of life in the region through collaborative relationships supporting education, health care and human services, cultural experiences, scientific and technological advancement, athletics, and regional economic development.
As evidenced by fall 2015 student demographic data, Georgia Southern University enrolls a primarily full-time, residential, undergraduate population. Of a fall 2015 total enrollment of 20,459 students, 17,963 (88%) were undergraduates and 16,904 (83%) were full-time. With a freshman on-campus residence requirement, the University housed 90.8% of beginning freshmen on campus. Consistent with its mission as a University System of Georgia institution, 94.4% of undergraduates were state of Georgia residents. The University enrolled 50.2% (n=9,018) undergraduate female students and 49.8% (n=8,945) undergraduate male students. Minorities accounted for 36.2% of the total University enrollment. Only 6.5% (n=1,168) of undergraduates were new transfer students with most of these coming from other System state colleges.
Georgia Southern's first-year retention rate of first-time, full-time, degree-seeking freshmen who entered in fall 2014 (and returned in fall 2015) was 81.5%. The six-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time, degree-seeking freshmen who entered in fall 2009 and completed a bachelor's degree was 50.4%. Approximately, 13.6% of this cohort completed their degree at another institution of higher education, representing a total degree completion rate of 64%.
While not a "highly selective" institution, Georgia Southern University generally enrolls above average freshmen. To be approved for regular freshman admission at Georgia Southern University, students must have a total SAT (math and critical reading) score of at least 1010 or have an ACT composite score of at least 21 and meet the Board of Regents minimum requirements for each portion of the SAT/ACT. Students must also have a satisfactory grade point average on the required high school curriculum (2.0 or higher). To be considered for transfer admission, students must be eligible to return to their current school, have a cumulative college GPA of 2.0 or higher on all work attempted, and have a minimum of 30 transferable semester hours or 45 transferable quarter hours.
Table 1 depicts the average SAT composite scores of beginning freshmen compared to those at other institutions in the University System of Georgia, the state of Georgia, and the nation for the past five years. The data indicate that the average SAT composite score of Georgia Southern freshmen is roughly 100 points higher than the national average SAT composite score, slightly higher than the System average SAT composite score, and well above the state average SAT composite score.
Table 2 displays the average high school GPA for beginning freshmen for the past five years. Again, the data demonstrate that Georgia Southern University generally admits above average students but would not be categorized as a "highly selective" institution.
Given the higher level of academic preparedness of the average freshman admit at Georgia Southern, the University has established a couple of programs aimed at improving access to students who are less well prepared, but given the opportunity, could most likely succeed in college. One such program aimed at increasing access for students who are not as well prepared academically is Georgia Southern's Learning Support program administered through the Academic Success Center. Students are placed into Learning Support based upon a Mathematics Placement Index (MPI) of less than 1165 (MATH 1001 or 1101) or less than 1265 (MATH 1111) and/or English Placement Index (EPI) of less than 4230 (ENGL 1101). Essentially, learning support provides students who have been admitted with inadequate skills in reading, composition, and/or mathematics the opportunity to develop those skills to entry-level competency for regular freshman credit hours. Learning Support courses carry institutional credit but do not count in the credits applied toward a degree and are not used in the calculation of GPA (except for Hope scholarship calculations). Students must satisfy Learning Support requirements and cannot accumulate more than 30 hours of degree-credit before Learning Support course completion. Students have a maximum of two semesters to exit Learning Support in English and Reading and three semesters to exit Learning Support in Math. A Learning Support student who does not complete requirements for an area in the appropriate number of semesters will be placed on academic dismissal.
Five years of Learning Support data are provided in Table 3. Included are the number of students admitted into each area of Learning Support (math, English, and/or reading); the number and percentage of those that completed; the number and percentage of students who stopped attending the Learning Support classes; and the number and percentage of Learning Support students who were dismissed after not completing the program within the required number of semesters. Also shown is the total number of Learning Support admits and the percentage this number represents of the total freshman enrollment for that year. Over this time span, the total number of Learning Support students has dropped from 159 (2010-11) to 51 (2014-15) and has hovered at about 2% of the total freshman enrollment. More importantly, the data show a general trend toward increasing success in getting Learning Support students through the program with less attrition; however, there is still room for improvement—especially for Learning Support math students.
Given the current structure and resources of the Academic Success Center (which are dedicated primarily to the Learning Support Program), the Center is unable to serve all students who fall into academic difficulty (at-risk students) during the course of their academic studies. While advisors can flag these students, the Academic Success Center does not have the resources to serve effectively all of their needs. Georgia Southern seeks to address this deficiency through this plan.
Since the implementation of the Complete College Georgia initiative, Georgia Southern University has set forth an overarching goal of increasing first-year retention, progression, and graduation (RPG) by one percentage point each year. As noted in the University's 2015 Complete College Georgia (CCG) Status Report, the institution was successful in increasing first-year retention from 80% to 81%, and Georgia Southern has several mechanisms in place to continue progress in this area. Less attention has been paid to progression rates, but the data demonstrate a need for such a focus. Table 4 displays retention rates for first-time freshmen and transfer freshmen by cohort for the past five years. Historically, and as affirmed by these more recent data, the institution has witnessed the greatest attrition in first-time freshmen and in transfer freshmen between the junior and senior year. Less surprising is the higher rate of attrition of transfer freshmen compared to first-time freshmen between the sophomore and junior year, suggesting that these students may be transferring out.
Although Table 4 shows the largest attrition rate between the junior and senior year, it can be argued that this result is a consequence of students experiencing difficulties in their sophomore year. For instance, students whose grades fall and who get into academic difficulties during the sophomore year may eventually give up or transfer out by their senior year. Other students who encounter financial aid issues may elect to work more hours and attend class less or spend less time on class work. Greater investigation of sophomore students is needed to understand what is happening with this student population, identify potential barriers, and alleviate where possible to help students return for successful junior and senior years.
Goals I and II of the 2015-2016 CCG plan shift the focus from first-year retention rates (which will continue but not as part of this plan) to progression of sophomores to juniors.
Another population that needs attention are Georgia Southern's at-risk students (defined inclusively as students at academic and financial risk). While the Academic Success Center tracks the progress of learning support students in developmental math, English, and reading courses, it does not appear that the institution tracks the subsequent performance, progression, and graduation rates of these students nor can the Academic Success Center (with its current resources) handle the need for additional services for students who fall into at-risk status during the course of their academic studies. By far, the larger group of students who fail to register for the subsequent semester are those who experience registration and academic success issues. A mid-semester report of fall 2015 registered students showed 302 students who did not register for spring 2016 by January 27, 2016. Of these 302 unregistered students, 70 or 23% did not register due to registration and academic success issues. These students exhibited a fall 2015 GPA in the 1.78 to 1.94 range, suggesting that they need additional academic support/assistance. Three students (1%) were unable to get the courses they needed. These three students held an average fall 2015 GPA of 2.99. Another 161 students, 53%, were transferring out with an average fall 2015 GPA of 2.88. While advisors can and do refer at-risk students to available campus resources, Academic Affairs is unable to address this need solely on its own. Rather what is needed is a campus-wide academic success plan that identifies the specific needs currently being unmet and the resources required to meet those needs.
Therefore, goal III of the 2015-2016 CCG plan is to reduce the percentage of students in an academic warning category (operationalized as any category other than good standing) by five percentage points by spring 2021 through transforming the way that remediation is accomplished.
The University continues to offer the Eagle Incentive Program (EIP) which provides students who are provisionally accepted for fall admission with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to succeed at college level work in the summer. Students who pass all summer courses and earn at least a 2.0 GPA with no "F" or "W" grades can enroll under regular admission for the fall semester. To be eligible for the Eagle Incentive Program, students must have a 920-1000 SAT (math and critical reading) score or a 20 ACT composite score and meet the Board of Regents minimum requirements for each portion of the SAT/ACT; have a high school academic GPA of 2.0 or higher; and have completed the required high school curriculum. Students take three college level academic courses and earn eight hours of academic credit during the summer. These are not remedial courses and count toward their degree.
Over the past ten years, the Eagle Incentive Program has averaged 476 admits each summer, representing 17% of the total freshman population[CC1] . For fall 2015, 51.6% (n=258/500) of EIP students were Pell-grant eligible; 40.8% (n=204/500) were first generation. Table 5 displays the number of freshmen admitted each summer into the Eagle Incentive Program since its inception in summer 2005; the percentage this number represents of the total freshman enrollment for that year; the percentage of EIP students retained the subsequent fall; and the percentage of EIP students retained the following fall compared to the percentage of non-EIP students retained that same fall. As shown, the University has a strong track record of converting these provisional admit students to regular admission and retaining them the following fall.
Table 6 documents the six-year graduation rates of EIP students versus non-EIP students from 2005 to 2009. The data show an upward trajectory for EIP student graduation success, culminating in a comparable six-year graduation rate to that of non-EIP students. Clearly, this program demonstrates success at getting EIP students to graduation.
*This percentage compares to an overall national completion rate of 57.9% for students who enrolled in a four-year public institution in the fall of 2009 and graduated from a four-year public institution (Inside Higher Education, College Completion Rates Decline More Rapidly, November 17, 2015, https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/11/17/college-completion-rates-decline-more-rapidly).
Please note that since Georgia Southern elected to refine its goals this year, developing a new multi-year plan in response to the BOR feedback received last year, much of what is reported is still in the planning stages. The institution will have more interim measures of progress next year.
Increase the sophomore to junior progression rate from 64.9% (fall 2015) to 70% by fall 2020.
Recognizing that improving performance measures takes time, Georgia Southern has opted to develop multi-year goals; therefore, most of 2015-2016 was devoted to planning and organizing the applicable action teams. For example, the former Interim Provost launched a series of campus-wide Student Success Workshops, comprised of deans, associate deans, department chairs, and select faculty. This group will continue to meet periodically during the forthcoming academic year. As of the end of spring 2016, two sub-committees had been initiated: (1) to review academic policies and procedures that may act as barriers to student success and progression and propose revisions (addressed in goal 3); and (2) to improve communication around early alerts and to expand who receives early alerts.
The sub-committee on early alerts met and made two sets of recommendations. One was to improve communication through the establishment of injection messages which students receive when they log into the campus single sign-on. Previously, students only knew they received early alerts if they 1) actively logged into the system to check their alerts or 2) received an email or phone message from an advisor or other staff member. The committee further customized the messages based on the type of alert the faculty member submits. Therefore, a student who has attendance problems receives a different message than one who has missed assignments or a student who has earned low grades on initial assignments. Previously, students only received the alert abbreviation (for instance: "UA") which they had to use a key to interpret (in the previous example, "Unsatisfactory Attendance"). These changes went into effect Fall 2016.
The second set of changes, proposed to go into effect Fall 2017, requires Faculty Senate approval. Presently, the only students who receive early alerts are those classified as freshmen, irrespective of the specific classes they are taking. We propose to change the early alerts based upon specific courses rather than the students' classification. Alerts are most appropriate for introductory courses in which students often struggle and/or which are gateways for progression in the major. The current system does not effectively identify students who may be struggling in these courses. Some students for which faculty wish to submit an early alert are not able to receive alerts (and indeed, a growing number of students enter Georgia Southern as sophomores due to AP or dual enrolled credit and never receive alerts). In other cases, faculty end up with a small number of students classified as freshmen in an upper division course for which early alerts are less appropriate. In this case, they often only find out they need to submit when they receive an injection page or communication from their dean's office. This change will simplify the process and align it with its intended purpose. The proposal is for all students taking classes in Areas A-E of the core curriculum to potentially receive alerts. Departments who oversee courses outside Areas A-E could also opt in to making alerts available for their courses as well.
Another proposed change is to remove the option of "Satisfactory," which is not really an early alert, but a remnant of an older system that called early alerts "midterm grades." Too often, faculty still conceive of alerts as midterm grades, often waiting as long as possible to submit because they want to provide the best snapshot of how students are doing at the time of the deadline to submit. This delay defeats the purpose, which is to send an early warning as soon as possible. The proposal is to replace "Satisfactory" with "no alert," thus still requiring faculty to submit, but working toward changing faculty perception of early alerts.
Fall Term Retention and Graduation Rates Table (http://em.georgiasouthern.edu/osra/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/fb1516.pdf, p. 50) produced by the Office of Strategic Research and Analysis, Georgia Southern University annual Fact Book. For each fall term, the table reports the entering cohort number, the retention rate cohort number, 1st year retention, 2nd year retention, 3rd year retention, and 4th year retention along with graduation data. For this goal, focus will be placed on the retention rate reported under 2nd year retention.
Benchmarking data will continue to be collected on when the largest percentage of unsatisfactory early alert grades are submitted. These trend data will be used to measure the success of expanding early alerts if and when implemented in fall 2017. Data will also be collected on the number of unsatisfactory early alerts converted to satisfactory by the end of the semester as well as the number of satisfactory early alerts that became unsatisfactory by the end of the semester.
Faculty can enter early alerts for freshmen as early as the first day of classes and extending over a seven week period. In spring 2015, 41.2% of unsatisfactory early alerts were submitted during the final week (week 7). For fall 2015, 44.8% of unsatisfactory early alerts were submitted during week 7. During spring 2016, 51.7% of unsatisfactory early alerts were submitted in week 7. Posting early alerts this late in the semester hinders students' ability to get 'back on track' academically. The proposed changes are designed to encourage faculty submission much earlier.
Implement Soar in 4 campaign.
Increase the percentage of sophomore students enrolling in 15 or more credit hours per semester from 39.8% (fall 2015) to 45% by fall 2020 and junior students from 43.5% (fall 2015) to 50% by fall 2020.
In the study, "Redefining Full-Time in College: Evidence on 15-Credit Strategies" (Klempin, 2014), the benefits of a 15-credit course load per semester are documented. A minimum full-time load is not sufficient to allow students to graduate on time. The study examines different strategies, including expanding flat tuition to cover 12 to 20 credits, which resulted in an increase in credits attempted per semester. Given Georgia Southern's primarily traditional, full-time undergraduate population, encouraging students to register for a 15-credit hour load per semester has considerable potential to reduce time to degree.
By the end of spring 2016, a SOAR in 4 teaser video had been created and distributed on campus. A splash video for SOAR in 4 was distributed at summer 2016 orientation. Both videos have three objectives: (1) promote graduation in four years by telling students that the data show they are more likely to graduate if they complete 15-17 hours per semester; (2) boost GPAs by informing students that students completing more than 15 hours per semester have higher GPAs than those who take fewer hours; and (3) save students money by telling them that taking a 12 credit hour load per semester puts them on track to graduate in 5 years which will cost students an additional $10,000.
Percentage of sophomores registered for 15 or more credit hours; percentage of juniors registered for 15 or more credit hours each fall semester. Report produced by the Office of First-Year Experience.
The interim measure of progress will be 41% of sophomores registered for 15 credits or more in fall 2016 and 45% of juniors registered for 15 credits or more in fall 2016.
Although data show that students who complete 15-17 credit hours per semester are more likely to graduate, in many cases, it is important to recognize that for certain majors, it is in the best interest of students to take advantage of specific opportunities (i.e., internships, co-ops) which may prolong their time to graduation, but better prepare them for their careers.
Reduce the percentage of students in an academic warning category (operationalized as any category other than good standing) by five percentage points by spring 2021 through a review of institutional academic policies which may impede a student's ability to progress and through transforming the way that remediation is accomplished.
While the Academic Success Center tracks the progress of learning support students in developmental math, English, and reading courses, it does not appear that the institution tracks the subsequent performance, progression, and graduation rates of these students nor can the Academic Success Center (with its current resources) handle the need for additional services for students who fall into at-risk status during the course of their academic studies. By far, the larger group of students who fail to register for the subsequent semester are those who experience registration and academic success issues. A mid-semester report of fall 2015 registered students showed 302 students who did not register for spring 2016 by January 27, 2016. Of these 302 unregistered students, 70 or 23% did not register due to registration and academic success issues. These students exhibited a fall 2015 GPA in the 1.78 to 1.94 range, suggesting that they need additional academic support/assistance. Three students (1%) were unable to get the courses they needed. These three students held an average fall 2015 GPA of 2.99. Another 161 students, 53%, were transferring out with an average fall 2015 GPA of 2.88. While advisors can and do refer at-risk students to available campus resources, Academic Affairs is unable to address this need solely on its own. Rather what is needed is a campus-wide academic success plan that identifies the specific needs currently being unmet and the resources required to meet those needs.
Most of 2015-2016 was devoted to planning and organizing the applicable action teams. For example, the former Interim Provost launched a series of campus-wide Student Success Workshops, comprised of deans, associate deans, department chairs, and select faculty. This group will continue to meet periodically during the forthcoming academic year. As of the end of spring 2016, two sub-committees had been initiated: (1) to review academic policies and procedures* that may act as barriers to student success and progression and propose revisions (e.g., current academic standing policy); and (2) to expand the Early Alerts to include key core curriculum classes, incorporate "kudos," and propose 5 and 10 week reporting dates (addressed under goal 1).
*The following data helped to identify potential academic standing policies which may be acting as a barrier to student success. A comparison of 'not registered' students from spring 2015 to spring 2016 revealed a total of 79 additional 'not registered' students for spring 2016. Twenty-seven of the 79 students who did not register in spring 2016 had a Warning 1 academic standing. An additional 16 were on Probation 1. These two groups alone accounted for 54% of the 79 unregistered students. It is believed that the University's academic standing policy is too punitive, encouraging students to drop-out or transfer before hitting Exclusionary standing. The institution's current policy determines academic standing based upon cumulative GPA and does not account for students who may still be in academic difficulty but have a successful current semester, ending the term with a GPA of over 2.0. While a GPA above 2.0 is good, it may not be sufficient to raise the overall GPA to 2.0 or above, forcing the student into the next stage of academic standing and one step closer to Exclusion, sending negative feedback to the student despite a good academic semester performance.
Another policy that needs to be re-visited is the grade forgiveness policy. Again, the current policy mandates that all attempts at a course be included in the GPA. Ideally, a student would be allowed a set number of credits (e.g., 15 credit hours/3 courses) where they could select the higher grade only to apply to their GPA.
The percentage of 'not registered' undergraduate students in spring term (n = number of 'not registered' undergraduate students as of the Wednesday in January after the end of drop/add divided by the number of prior fall semester 'eligible to register' undergraduate students.) The goal is to reduce by 5% with the understanding that the baseline changes each year.
Baseline measure is the number of 'eligible to register' undergraduate students in the fall semester. While this number will vary each fall term, the objective is to reduce by 5% by the end of drop/add the following spring semester.
The strategies for this goal (review of academic standing and grade forgiveness policies and development of a campus-wide academic success plan) are still under active development. Measures of progress will be continuing to collect data on the number/percentage of students who are not registered and their current academic standing along with data for students on academic standing and current GPA. These benchmarking data will allow progress to be tracked once changes have been fully implemented.
Having returned from attending the University System of Georgia's workshop on Beyond Financial Aid, we are more cognizant of ways in which we could help students who are unable to register for financial reasons. While the University does provide some financial literacy activities, they are currently offered in a decentralized, ad hoc fashion. It would be worthwhile for us to develop an integrated and centralized message regarding financial literacy that all units could tap into when conducting their individual activities. As part of a financial literacy program, students would be informed of student loan implications and obligations as well as provided with tools for managing those funds to support their education. For example, sharing information with students on the median student loan debt by program, average starting salary in their chosen field, and the amount of time it would take them to pay back the student loan might provide them with incentives for better managing loan resources, reducing the number of students who fall into financial difficulties.
Reduce barriers to degree completion via participation in Gateways to Completion® and focus on intrusive advising (building relationships) to keep students on track for graduation.
Increase the first-time freshmen six-year graduation rate from 50.4% (fall 2009 first-time freshman cohort) to 55% by 2020.
While Georgia Southern has the data to indicate which gateway courses cause students the most difficulty, it is less known what the specific problems are that students have. Through implementation of Gateways to Completion®, the institution will begin to collect the data needed to identify the problems in gateway courses that can be barriers to student success and retention.
During summer 2016, course(s) were selected for piloting Gateways to Completion® during fall 2016. During the pilot phase, opportunities for improvement will be identified. Full implementation of Gateways to Completion® is set for spring 2017.
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) utilizes a model of intrusive advising that has also demonstrated success in converting students, who have been in academic difficulty at one or more points in their academic studies, to graduates. This model was employed to address an unmet need to serve at-risk students. Beginning in fall 2014, whenever a student falls into academic difficulty or is identified by the advisor as at-risk, the student's regular advisor implements intrusive advising practices. Key among these practices is the use of academic success plans—multiple levels of plans that are assigned based upon the level of the student's need. Advisors also refer students to campus resources as needed. Of the students who began fall 2013 in academic difficulty, 22 (4%) have now graduated. Of the students in academic difficulty at the start of fall 2014, 28 (4%) have now graduated. Of those in academic difficulty at the start of fall 2015, 28 (5%) have now graduated. Six percent (n=34) of students in academic difficulty at the start of spring 2016 graduated. It is hoped that Gateways to Completion® will allow us to apply similar efforts on a much broader scale.
Fall Term Retention and Graduation Rates Table (http://em.georgiasouthern.edu/osra/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/fb1516.pdf, p. 50) produced by the Office of Strategic Research and Analysis, Georgia Southern University annual Fact Book. For each fall term, the table reports retention data along with the following graduation data: graduation rate cohort number, percentage who graduated in 4 years or less, percentage who graduated in 5 years or less, and percentage who graduated in 6 years or less. For this goal, focus will be placed on the percentage of students who graduate in 6 years or less.
One interim measure of progress will be successful launching of the Gateways to Completion® by spring 2017.
It is important to note that Georgia Southern University has a new President, Dr. Jaimie Hebert, effective as of July 1, 2016. President Hebert has already spoken about the need to revisit and revise Georgia Southern's strategic plan. Consequently, the University's Complete College Georgia plan will be an evolving plan as the new President highlights specific CCG-related student initiatives and/or reallocates resources to that end.
In the interim, it is recognized that ultimate success of these goals relies on campus-wide efforts and "buy-in." Therefore, much of 2015-2016 was spent establishing faculty and staff action teams with plans to move initiatives forward through Faculty Senate during 2016-2017.
Finally, it is worth re-stating from our 2015 Complete College Georgia plan that offering incentivized tuition rates for students who take 15 credits per semester would be a very useful tool in improving progression rates.


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Wall Street hits new highs in strongest week since August
https://i-invdn-com.akamaized.net/trkd-images/LYNXMPEG0G106_L.jpg
© Reuters. Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York
By Noel Randewich
(Reuters) – Wall Street climbed to record highs on Friday, with major indexes turning in their strongest weekly gains since August, after strong U.S. housing data and signs of resilience in the Chinese economy raised hopes of a rebound in global growth.
Market sentiment brightened further this week after the United States and China sealed a Phase 1 trade deal, pausing an 18-month tariff dispute that has weighed on financial markets globally.
Earlier in the day, data showed China ended 2019 on a somewhat firmer note, even as economic growth cooled to its weakest in nearly 30 years.
Meanwhile, U.S. homebuilding surged to a 13-year high in December, suggesting the housing market recovery was back on track amid low mortgage rates.
"The macro data points both here and abroad have been relatively positive," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.
"That is creating an increased sense of optimism going into not just the earnings, but also guidance which is far more important at this point for both Q1 and fiscal 2020."
Analysts expect earnings at S&P 500 companies to drop 0.8% in the fourth quarter, but forecast a 5.8% rise in the first quarter of 2020, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Many investors expect companies to be more upbeat about the future following the truce in the China-U.S. trade war.
"We think the most important thing this earnings season will be what CEOs say about their outlooks," said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments in Charlotte. "That always matters, but we think that because of the speed at which some of these global uncertainties have been resolved, it's unlikely we will see those things coming through in the numbers."
Billionaire David Tepper, who founded hedge fund Appaloosa Management, told CNBC that he remains bullish on U.S. equities.
"We have been long and continue that way," he said.
All three main indexes closed at record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average () rose 0.17% to end at 29,348.1 points, while the S&P 500 () gained 0.39% to 3,329.62.
The Nasdaq Composite () added 0.34% to 9,388.94.
For the week, the S&P 500 added 1.96%, the Dow rose 1.82% and the Nasdaq increased 2.29%.
In a thin day for earnings, oilfield service provider Schlumberger NV (N:) reported a slightly better-than-expected quarterly profit, but its stock dipped 1.1%.
Google-parent Alphabet Inc (O:) rose 2.0%, extending gains after it became the fourth U.S. company to top a market value of $1 trillion on Thursday.
Technology majors including Visa Inc (N:), Apple Inc (O:) and Qualcomm Inc (O:) provided among the top boosts to the S&P 500.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.21-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.24-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 127 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 207 new highs and 14 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.3 billion shares, compared with an average of 7.0 billion shares over the last 20 trading days.
Emirates seeks 3,000 cabin crew as operations ramp up
Tesla could widen release of 'self-driving' software in two weeks
Merck&Co Stock Rises 3%
Futures inch lower on worsening China virus concerns, mixed earnings
Iron Ore Retreats as Investors Eye Weaker Economy, Steel Outlook
S&P 500 breaches 3,000 mark for first time since early March

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Accueil Tous les numéros Volume 65 / Numéro 4 (Juillet-Août 2010) Therapie, 65 4 (2010) 301-308 Résumé
Affaires réglementaires / Regulatory System
Thérapie 2010 Juillet-Août; 65 (4): 301–308
Regulatory system
Clinical Trials Legislation - Preparing for the Revision of the European Directive Scheduled for 2011
Pascal Bilbault1, Chantal Belorgey2, Faiez Zannad3, Danielle Golinelli4, Yannick Pletan5 and participants of Round Table n° 4 of Giens XXV
1 Laboratoire Boehringer Ingelheim, Reims, France
2 Afssaps, Saint-Denis, France
3 Centre d'Investigation Clinique, Hôpital Jeanne d'Arc, Dommartin les Toul, France
4 Direction Générale de la Santé, Paris, France
5 Laboratoire Pfizer, Paris, France
Correspondence and offprints : Pascal Bilbault, Recherche Clinique Boehringer Ingelheim France, 12 rue André Huet, 51060 Reims Cedex, France. E-mail: pascal.bilbault@boehringer-ingelheim.com
Received: 29 March 2010
The aim of the Round Table was to make recommendations with regard to the imminent revision of the European Directive on clinical drug trials (2001/20/CE). While recognising the importance of compliance with this Directive, which is not optimal in some member states of the European Union, it would be constructive to simplify further and harmonise its application in every country. Without necessarily resorting to a revision, some of the Directive's dispositions could be improved, such as the definition of "investigational medicinal products" (IMP) and what should be considered as "substantial amendements", as well as harmonising and improving the way in which Ethics Committees are run, either on a European Commission level, or by relying more on the European Network of Research Ethics Committees (EUREC) which already exists in several European member states.
Other points in the Directive do require revision, especially those relating to:
the definition of the respective roles of Ethics Committees and Competent Authorities,
the simplification of safety information to Ethics Committees (giving them access to the Eudravigilance database for adverse reactions occurring during clinical trials and providing them with only new safety issues or with a summary of the Annual Safety Report),
the possibility of one single European authorisation for the trial, centralised and/or decentralised, when the trial is multinational.
The recommended changes could be made within the scope of a European Regulation, avoiding the need to transpose it at a later date into each country's regulations, which is a source of possible lack of harmonisation. More specifically, for trials with institutional sponsors and/or investigator driven trials such as "drug therapy strategy trials", modulating restrictions according to the "risk added by the research" would enable the trial's organisation to be simplified regarding monitoring, adverse reactions reporting and study drugs labelling.
Key words: clinical trials / european Directive / biomedical research / revision / risk
Adaptation of the Clinical Trials Directive — Recommendations on the Contents of a Dossier for the Request for Authorisation of the First Trials in Human Subjects
Thérapie 2004 Mai-Juin; 59 (3):337-347
The Conduct of Clinical Trials for Medicinal Products in Europe in the Light of the European Clinical Trials Directive. Review of Regulatory and Practical Aspects in the Different Countries
The European "Clinical Trial" Regulation; Relationship with the Jardé Act: a Giens Workshop
Thérapie 2015 Janvier-Février; 70 (1): 29–36
Committee for the Protection of Persons
Guidelines for Clinical Research in Developing Countries


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"Keith's sold his soul to the Devil" – that's what they said when they saw the weather that we had for the work party on Saturday 11th January. I know that's not true, but it was a fantastically beautiful day, wall-to-wall blue sky, and it was due to the bones. Divination by throwing chicken bones is quite common, but don't forget, we have just celebrated Christmas and turkey bones are that much larger, bigger print, easier to read!
The leat still contained water from the recent wet weather, so we started work at the far end, where it was dry, and worked our way back towards the car park. The work of clearing overhanging thorn branches and gorse went a lot faster than expected …..
In the photograph above, the left half of the leat bed is covered by leaves to, roughly, half the depth of the leat. This is a lot of leaves, mainly oak and beech that have washed down from an area further towards Yelverton – there are none of these trees here. The leaves will probably be dealt with later by burning in situ.
When the leat banks are cleared of gorse, it forms an attractive feature to walk along.
I have to thank Chris Francis, Derek Collins, John & Elaine Viant, Hilary Luce, John Lucas, John & Rachel Watson, Sylvia Hamilton and Val Barns who, including myself, made eleven volunteers: the A Team …..
During the day, the sun became remarkably warm and the various fleece jackets etc. that were worn earlier in the day began to be shed, for comfort.
The photograph above shows Sheep's Tor (right), Lether Tor (centre) and Peak Hill (left of centre). The photograph below shows a zoomed view to Sheep's Tor.
Following the recent heavy rain, there was still water in the leat – this is draining, in particular, from Harrowbeer, the old WW2 aerodrome …..
The photographs above give some idea of how it was working in a wet leat – after we had started in the dry!
A pony samples our work!
Towards the end of the afternoon session, a pony came to look at what we had been doing and to sample some of the freshly cut gorse. We received no complaints!
This morning, we started work at the far (Yelverton) end of the leat (as it exists on Roborough Common) and worked to SX 51632 85244, a distance of 355 metres.
After loading the tools back into the cars in the rather crowded car park, we broke with tradition – due to the crowds of people – and diverted to the Burrator Inn, at Dousland. Here passed a very convivial debriefing session that formed the perfect end to a meteorologically, as well as results-wise, perfect day.


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text:
Derek Adams
Why it was the right time for Plymouth Argyle to sack Derek Adams
Axing a manager with one game of the season to go might seem an odd decision but it could prove to be what saves the Pilgrims season
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I once described Derek Adams as being the man that lifted the fog from Home Park after John Sheridan's less than favorable tenure.
At one point he seemed like the saviour, a man that was destined to get Plymouth Argyle back to where they belong.
And it is important that the Green Army remember some of the good times he gave us.
Getting the side into a play-off final following THAT Peter Hartley header against Portsmouth, securing promotion with a 6-1 drubbing of Newport County, tactically thwarting Jurgen Klopp in a 0-0 draw at Anfield in the FA Cup and almost guiding the Pilgrims into the League One play-offs at the first time of asking.
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We have to thank him for that, there were some good times, there really were.
Some will look back on a play-off final defeat to AFC Wimbledon at Wembley, others will remember missing out on the League Two title because of a draw at Grimsby in the final game of the season and some will look back at failing to make the League One play-offs at the last moment.
People are entitled to look at it that way but you can't forget the joy of seeing hundreds of fans storm onto the Home Park pitch and the joy of seeing the team drive through Plymouth on an open top bus.
Those are the moments football fans live for and as we all know, they don't happen down in this part of the world too often.
Liverpool manager Jurgan Klopp shakes hands with Plymouth Argyle manager Derek Adams after the 0-0 draw at Anfield
Whilst I will look back and remember those times, I am in no doubt that Simon Hallett and the rest of the board have made the right decision in calling time on the Scot's tenure.
Many said that it was the beginning of the end when he called a section of the fans yobs before Christmas and perhaps, looking back, it was.
This season Derek Adams seemed to change, he had gone from a man saying all the right things following his appointment to being a man that barely said anything at all.
He refused to give fans any details about contracts or injuries, in fact much like Theresa May, he could speak for five or 10 minutes without really saying anything at all.
He then stopped talking to Plymouth Live prior to games and just last week he refused to answer questions about substitutions.
Live reaction as Plymouth Argyle sack manager Derek Adams
When asked why he decided to take Ruben Lameiras off in a 3-0 defeat to Barnsley, Adams responded: "No. Good try, but no."
It felt like Adams thought everybody was against him but that was far from the truth, you only have to listen to episodes of ArgyleChat to realise that.
The truth is that fans who pay a lot of money to follow the club up and down the country, deserved to know the answers to basic questions.
Fast forward to Saturday's 5-1 drubbing at Accrington Stanley, a result which sent the Pilgrims crashing into the bottom four, and things got even worse
Plymouth Argyle fans are still angry after the 5-1 defeat at Accrington Stanley sent them into the League One relegation zone. PHOTO: Mandatory by-line: Tom Sandberg/Pinnacle
The Scot refused to speak to any media after the game and that was the moment it became obvious that there was no turning back.
If you are happy to take the praise and plaudits when things are going well, you have to have the cajonas to take the flak when things are going appallingly.
The best way for football managers and football players to prove 'doubters' wrong is on the pitch.
This season Adams could not get the players to do that and was alienating himself from too many people.
Let's not forget Freddie Ladapo's tweet, which totally undermined Adams, who had said the top goalscorer had ruled himself out of the Barnsley game.
It showed signs that all was not right in the dressing room and when you add that to problems with an increasing number of supporters and his issues with the media, there was only ever going to be one outcome.
On Saturday, Argyle have their biggest game in recent history as Scunthorpe United come to town.
If Adams had remained in charge, the atmosphere at the ground could have been extremely toxic and it could have distracted the players from a hugely important job.
Instead, Kevin Nancekivell will take charge of the Pilgrims and it could give everybody the bounce needed to claim victory and in turn secure League One status for another season.
I can only speak for myself and, I must say that I was fearful for next weekend but now, given the news, I am excited instead.
So, thank you for all you did Mr Adams but we are ready for a new dawn.
Derek Adams at Argyle
Adams appointed manager - June 11, 2015
Derek Adams was appointed Argyle manager, a year after leaving his former club, Ross County
In his first season in English football as a manager, Adams guided Plymouth Argyle FC to the League 2 Play Off Final at Wembley for the first time in 20 years. They lost to AFC Wimbledon.
Argyle v Liverpool - January, 2017
Argyle nabbed a 0-0 draw away to Liverpool at Anfield in the FA Cup 3rd round, playing against the youngest team in the club's history, forcing a replay at Home Park 10 days later. The team just missed out, losing 0-1 in the rematch to a goal from Lucas Leiva but it was one of Argyle's biggest matches in Adams' tenure.
A draw for Argyle away at Grimsby in the last game of the season saw the club miss out on top position in League Two to Portsmouth on goal difference, but they were promoted to League One after sixth seasons in the bottom division.
Argyle's first season back in League One since 2010/11 and they had a dreadful start to the season, losing 9 of the first 12 games. But thanks to a storming second half of the season, which everyone hoped Adams could pull off again the following year, they bounced back to within one place of the play offs.
Another poor start to the season saw many fans turn on Adams before Christmas. But a brilliant start to 2019 saw them climb up a tight table and gave the manager a stay of execution. By March, it had started to unravel again, though, culminating in a humiliating 5-1 defeat away at Accrington Stanley on April 27 in the penultimate game of the season, which saw them into the relegation zone.
Adams sacked - April 28, 2019
A statement released by the club read: "Plymouth Argyle have today (April 28) agreed by mutual consent that Derek Adams be relieved of his duties as Head of Football and First-Team Manager with immediate effect.The club would like to place on record its sincere gratitude to Derek, not only for his hard work and dedication in his management of the team, but also for his wider input into the club during four challenging and often exciting seasons. Assistant-manager Paul Wotton has been similarly relieved of his duties, by mutual consent with immediate effect, and the club also thanks Paul for his contribution and commitment to the Pilgrims' coaching team."
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