University System News:
www.goldenisles.news
Replacement of school leaders will have community impacts
Come July, public schools in Glynn County from pre-K up through college will have new leadership. Two weeks ago, the University System of Georgia announced College of Coastal Georgia President Greg Aloia will retire effective June 30. The University System moved quickly and named Margaret Amstutz as the interim president to take over, at least temporarily, after Aloia leaves. Based on her qualifications, she seems like a good permanent replacement as well. In his four years as president, Aloia worked to expand program and course offerings at the college, oversaw the construction of a new dormitory and added key faculty and staff to make Coastal a destination college for students around Georgia and the rest of the country. …College of Coastal Georgia is a valuable asset for our local elementary, middle and high school students. It shows them what to strive for and that college is not only attainable, but a realistic option. Whoever winds up taking the reins permanently in both positions, they must remember that CCGA and the Glynn County School System offer something special that many communities our size do not. By maintaining a close relationship and finding new ways to cooperate for the betterment of all students in the Golden Isles, we will all reap the benefits of a better educated workforce. …With that in mind, we wish the Glynn County School System and College of Coastal Georgia well in finding permanent new leaders. There is a lot riding on it.
www.savannahnow.com
New committee ready to tackle Armstrong, Georgia Southern merger
http://savannahnow.com/news/2017-01-26/new-committee-ready-tackle-armstrong-georgia-southern-merger
By Dash Coleman
The presidents of Armstrong State and Georgia Southern universities have named representatives to serve on a committee aimed at figuring out how to consolidate the two schools. The University System of Georgia announced the names of the committee members Thursday, about two weeks after the system’s governing body, the Board of Regents, voted unanimously to begin a yearlong process to combine the two schools as a new entity that will retain Georgia Southern’s name and president. The committee has 20 representatives from both Armstrong and Georgia Southern as well as one representative from Savannah State University. Most people on the committee are senior members of the institutions, although one student government representative from each school is included. The committee will travel to Atlanta next week to meet with USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley. …In Atlanta, the committee members will be formally charged with figuring out how proceed. A priority will be to develop a mission statement for the new university. Beyond that, the committee will likely create working groups in the coming months that will involve non-committee members to focus on specific topics. “There could be anywhere from 800-900 specific tasks, action items and focus areas that have to come together,” said Charlie Sutlive, USG’s vice chancellor for communications.
www.theinkwellonline.com
‘We do not have every answer:’Emotions run high at consolidation town hall
Emily Smith, Editor in Chief
The first consolidation meeting drew a huge crowd to the Fine Arts Auditorium last Thursday, Jan. 19. Tensions ran high as officials attempted to keep the disgruntled audience in check after being unable to definitively answer several questions . The meeting’s panelists included Bleicken, Georgia Southern President Jaimie Hebert and USG vice chancellors John Fuchko III and Shelley Nickel. University System of Georgia official Shelly Nickel was met with boos and opposition after suggesting early in her introduction that Armstrong attendees were “very interested in the future of and the creation of a new university in this region.” Following the commotion, the event’s moderator and later Armstrong President Linda Bleicken had to repeatedly reminded the audience to be respectful. “Thank you for understandably showing your passion for Armstrong,” Bleicken said. “This is a hospitable place … and part of our hospitality, of course, is always going to be extended to guests to our campus.” The meeting’s focus was to begin answering questions pertaining to the consolidation of Armstrong and Georgia Southern University. The merger would create the fourth largest public university in Georgia with about 27,000 students. The decision is suspected to be more cost efficient and offer more programs on each campus.
www.victorysportsnetwork.com
Dalton State Athletics Reorganization Plan Announced
Dalton State College will cut four NAIA-sponsored sports teams, the cheerleading program, add one sport, and scale back two others as it reorganizes its intercollegiate athletics program into one it can afford to maintain. Men’s and women’s tennis will be dropped from the 10-team roster as will women’s volleyball and men’s cross country. The cheer program, which is not an NAIA sanctioned sport at Dalton State, will be eliminated, and scholarships for men’s soccer and men’s golf will be scaled back unless or until private support can be developed to bring them back to full strength. The other remaining sports: men’s basketball, women’s soccer, women’s golf, and women’s cross country, will also be financially impacted but on a smaller scale. Women’s track and field will be added with athletes from the cross country team participating. Administrators estimate that program cuts and other budget tightening measures will save approximately $1 million. “The good news is that athletics continues at Dalton State but in a more sustainable fashion,” said Interim Athletic Director Jon Jaudon. “This plan allows us to maintain the excellent results we desire. Our goal is to compete for and win conference and national championships.” The new configuration of seven sports teams will not only be more financially sustainable but will bring the program into compliance with Title IX requirements for gender equity.
www.thegeorgeanne.com
MLK Commemoration Speakers come at a cost for Georgia Southern
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_2997a2fe-4c09-52a3-90ee-1ec9a02d3004.html
By Tandra Smith the George Anne
Georgia Southern University has spent over $140,000 on the Martin Luther King Celebration Speaker series, hosted by Multicultural Student Center, since 2010, according to contracts obtained by a Georgia Open Records Act request. A grand total of $149,600 has been spent on eight of the last 12 MLK Commemoration Speakers. The series’ most recent speaker, Nikki Giovanni, was paid $15,800 for her appearance at GS, which included all hotel charges, meals and professional ground transportation in the city of Statesboro. Former speakers had similar requests from things as simple as room temperature water for their on stage podium to fruit baskets and natural orange juice in the green room. GS isn’t unique in these types of costs for speakers. According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, colleges often pick celebrity and high profile speakers so they can impress donors or even get potential students to decide to attend their school. …Every MLK speaker is solely funded through student fees. While some students are fine with how the event gets funded, some had some concerns.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
West Georgia names Dean as new football coach
From Staff Reports
CARROLLTON — The University of West Georgia named David Dean its new head football coach Wednesday. Dean joined an elite fraternity in his first year as a head coach, leading the Valdosta State Blazers to the 2007 NCAA Division II national championship. VSU had a 13-1 record in that season, including a 7-1 mark in the Gulf South Conference. Dean became just the second NCAA Division II coach to win the title as a first-year head coach.
www.onlineathens.com
Man brings live bombs to Athens police headquarters
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-01-26/man-brings-live-bombs-athens-police-headquarters
Joe Johnson
Four devices that were brought by a man Thursday morning to the Athens-Clarke County Police Department’s headquarters on Lexington Road were determined to be actual bombs that police took to an offsite location to safely detonate them. The man told police he found the pipe bombs in a storage shed that belonged to his father, who recently passed away. The shed was on the father’s property off of Hull Road, police said. Believing them to possibly be real explosives, the man brought them in his truck to the Lexington Road police headquarters in an attempt to turn them over to authorities. Almost immediately after he arrived at about 10:15 a.m., the police building was placed on lockdown for the safety of employees and members of the public. Members of the University of Georgia Police Department’s Bomb Disposal Unit responded to the scene and used a robot to remove the devices from the truck and X-ray them to determine if they were actual bombs, said Athens-Clarke County police spokesman Epifanio Rodriguez. He described the devices as capped PVC pipes containing apparent gunpowder and had visible fuses and wiring. …Once the bombs were determined to be real, UGA bomb disposal technicians carefully loaded them into their explosives containment vehicle and transported them to the county landfill for controlled detonation at about 1:30 p.m.