University System News:
www.politics.blog.ajc.com
Get ready for lawsuits seeking to block ‘mess’ of Georgia campus gun law
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/05/18/get-ready-for-lawsuits-seeking-to-block-mess-of-campus-gun-law/
Greg Bluestein
The gaping loopholes in Georgia’s “campus carry” law has left universities scrambling to figure out how to implement the new rules. On Wednesday’s “Political Rewind,” both Republicans and Democrats predicted a sweep of lawsuits aiming to block the legislation from taking effect in July because of murky language. “It’s impossible to know where you can carry a gun and where you cannot, and if you choose to move forward with this implementation, you will be depriving people with due process,” said Democratic state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, outlining a potential legal strategy. “That’s my theory about what’s going to happen. It’s too big a mess.” Republican strategist Heath Garrett said he also expected legal action.

www.jacksonville.com
Ingrid Thompson-Sellers named permanent president of South Georgia State College
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2017-05-17/ingrid-thompson-sellers-named-permanent-president-south-georgia-state
Ingrid Thompson-Sellers, the interim president of South Georgia State College since June 30, has been named the permanent president of the college that has campuses in Douglas and Waycross. University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley announced Wednesday that the Board of Regents approved her appointment to replace Virginia Carson who retired in 2016 after eight years as leader of South Georgia College in Douglas and later of South Georgia State College after a merger with Waycross College. …Under her leadership, the college began new initiatives to increase enrollment, reduce expenditures and increase investment in the technology infrastructure, according to a printed statement.

See also:
www.augustaceo.com
Ingrid Thompson-Sellers Named Permanent President of South Georgia State College
http://augustaceo.com/news/2017/05/ingrid-thompson-sellers-named-permanent-president-south-georgia-state-college-s/

www.wsfa.com
8 graduates make history at ABAC graduation ceremony
http://www.wsfa.com/story/35409498/8-graduates-make-history-at-abac-graduation-ceremony
By Emileigh Forrester, Anchor
Hundreds of students graduated from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Thursday, but for eight of the graduates, it was much more special than a typical commencement ceremony. That’s because they made history. As Savannah Brown received her degree, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College reached a milestone. “I think it means opportunities…just growth for ABAC,” said Brown. Brown is the first person to ever graduate from ABAC with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. “It’s kind of a new day for us in Nursing,” said ABAC President Dr. David Bridges. The college announced the new program just over a year ago. Now, it has eight new graduates. …Thursday’s ceremony also marked the first time ABAC has granted an honorary degree.

www.myajc.com
Georgia mother and daughter graduate college together
http://www.myajc.com/news/georgia-mother-and-daughter-graduate-college-together/KUZhu8W9V2FwylNeneZNqL/
By Najja Parker – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tasha Oliver wasn’t cheering her daughter on from the stands during her college graduation. She was right beside her, because the mom was walking across the stage to grab her bachelor’s degree, too. Oliver, who had her child Cierra Patterson at age 19, began her career with her husband in the U.S. Army. Dissatisfied with her cooking job, she decided to trade in her apron for scrubs to pursue a profession in the medical field. …So she enrolled into Clayton State University to become a registered nurse. By the time she had entered college and beat breast cancer twice, it was time for her daughter to enter undergrad. But it took a few months for Patterson to finally take school seriously. Once she did, she and her mother started taking classes and studying together as healthcare management majors. …Although unplanned, the two graduated at the same time in May.

www.augustaceo.com
MCG Student Wins Excellence in Public Health Award
http://augustaceo.com/news/2017/05/mcg-student-wins-excellence-public-health-award/
Staff Report From Augusta CEO
Dr. Anna Sulimirski, a 2017 MCG graduate, is the winner of the United States Public Health Service’s 2017 Excellence in Public Health Award. The award was created by the USPHS to inspire medical students to commit themselves to public health and become leaders in the field. It recognizes medical students who show their dedication to public health by making exceptional contributions to the community through initiatives including Healthy People 2020 and the National Prevention Strategy. Each year, every U.S. medical school is able to nominate one student who has worked hard to increase awareness about health care and put that knowledge into action. Sulimirski was recognized during MCG’s 2017 Hooding Ceremony for her work volunteering in Nicaragua and at several clinics that target the underserved and uninsured in Augusta.

www.polk.allongeorgia.com
UNG film students get tested at film festival
http://polk.allongeorgia.com/ung-film-students-get-tested-at-film-festival/
Some students at the University of North Georgia (UNG) from the film and digital media program won the Audience Award at the 2017 Athens 24 Hour-ish Film Festival for their horror-comedy short film, “And Beyond.” Beginning the week April 26th, the students were able to write, shoot, and edit film in less than a weekend. Students Tatianna Pangle and Jeremy Thao, the producers, Director Tylere Brown, First Assistant and Key Grip Brandon Adams, Tyler Calder as the sound-audio mixer, Tara Toombs as script supervisor, and Editor Kristina Kromer created the production. Thao wrote and directed the film production, while Pangle and Madeleine Pearson starred in the film.

www.jacksonville.com
Retiring College of Coastal Georgia president named dean at East Tennessee State
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2017-05-17/retiring-college-coastal-georgia-president-named-dean-east-tennessee-state?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=62fd5a1014-eGaMorning-5_18_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-62fd5a1014-86731974&mc_cid=62fd5a1014&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56
By Terry Dickson
Gregory A. Aloia will become a dean at East Tennessee State University on July 1, one day after his official retirement as president of the College of Coastal Georgia. loia, who has been president of Coastal Georgia since 2013, announced his retirement in January. Margaret A. Amstutz will become interim president of Coastal Georgia the day Aloia assumes his new Tennessee job.

www.goldenisles.news
Aloia looks to future
http://goldenisles.news/news/local_news/aloia-looks-to-future/article_47197865-c9f8-548f-994e-84361e8ef3aa.html#utm_source=goldenisles.news&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1495101773&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline
By LINDSEY ADKISON
Greg Aloia is looking to the future. The outgoing president of the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick was recently tapped as the new dean of the Clemmer College of Education at East Tennessee State University. He will begin work on the Johnson City campus on July 1. He will effectively step down June 30. Aloia announced plans to resign from the Brunswick institution on Jan. 13, following four years in the leadership role …Bert Bach, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at ETSU, expects Aloia to quickly become part of the family at the university. “Dr. Aloia is a widely respected and experienced educator who will serve the Clemmer College of Education well,” Bach said. “He brings a reputation as an energetic and successful administrator, and he has an unusually rich and broad scope of experience. He has served previously as a faculty member, as a department chair, as a dean and as a president at two institutions.”

www.emanuelcoutylive.com
Vess named Vice President for Academic Affairs at EGSC
http://emanuelcountylive.com/2017/05/vess-named-vice-president-for-academic-affairs-at-egsc/
by KATELYN MOORE
Following a national search, East Georgia State College (EGSC) has named Dr. Deborah Vess as the institution’s new Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA).  She will replace Dr. Tim Goodman, EGSC’s VPAA for the past 15 years, who will be retiring June 30. As VPAA, Vess will oversee the institution’s overall academic program, and provide oversight for all accreditation and academic management needs of the College. She begins her new position with the college on July 1, 2017. EGSC President Dr. Robert Boehmer said, “A search for a Vice-President for Academic Affairs is one of the most important processes at any institution of higher education. Due to the leadership of Dean Cheek as chair of this search committee and the outstanding work of all of the members, we found three highly qualified finalists.”

www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Georgia Gwinnett College VP to leave for job in Florida
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/georgia-gwinnett-college-vp-to-leave-for-job-in-florida/article_2805871c-5b39-5ce2-8c0d-7bb3fccc50f1.html
By Keith Farner
A top member of the leadership at Georgia Gwinnett College has announced plans to take a job at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. Eddie Beauchamp, vice president of operations, has accepted a position as regional vice chancellor for business and finance at USFSM. Beauchamp’s departure date is still being determined, and GGC officials did not name an interim or replacement for him. A charter staff member, Beauchamp was appointed the first vice president for Business and Finance in January of 2006. He served as a member of the GGC start-up planning team. In 2010, he became VP of operations.

www.savannahnow.com
Georgia Southern acquires living laboratory in South Effingham
Park plans for 1,400 acres fall through
http://savannahnow.com/effingham-now/news/2017-05-17/georgia-southern-acquires-living-laboratory-south-effingham
By Mary Landers mary.landers@savannahnow.com
While Georgia Southern University is working on the upcoming consolidation with Armstrong State University located in Savannah and Hinesville, and an enlarged student population of 27,000, the Statesboro-based school has acquired its first permanent scientific field station. Known as the Effingham Wetlands, the parcel measures about 1,400 acres and was recently donated by the Southeastern Trust for Parks and Land (STPAL) to the Georgia Southern University Foundation with the express purpose of using the property as a vibrant living laboratory. The trust got the property from an anonymous donor in December 2013 and had planned to open a park there, with such amenities as walking trails, a shooting range and sanctuaries for bees, birds and butterflies. But creating a park on the land proved difficult. About 350 acres of the tract is wetlands. The property, on the southern boundary of Effingham County, between Ga. 17 and Ga. 30, has about 150 acres in Chatham County and was valued for tax purposes at $1.05 million. It was an incredible windfall for the university. “Because this large tract of undeveloped natural wetland is embedded in one of the most rapidly developing areas in Georgia, just 12 miles northwest of downtown Savannah, we felt compelled to take advantage of the opportunities this property provides for the university, said Georgia Southern President Jaimie Hebert. “It will become a tremendous resource over time for our student and faculty scientists, especially those in the College of Science and Mathematics.”

www.eurekalert.org
Researchers harness metabolism to reverse aggressiveness in leukemia
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-05/uog-rhm051717.php
University of Georgia researchers, with colleagues from the University of Tokyo, have identified a new drug target for the two most common types of myeloid leukemia, including a way to turn back the most aggressive form of the disease. They published their findings today in the journal Nature. By blocking a protein called BCAT1, the researchers were able to stop cancer cell growth in mice and human blood samples from leukemia patients.

www.gwinnettdailypost.com
GGC women’s tennis wins 30th straight to reach NAIA quarters
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/sports/college/ggc-women-s-tennis-wins-th-straight-to-reach-naia/article_03a4c2e6-3b85-11e7-afd1-f711b15770ef.html
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Georgia Gwinnett College women’s tennis team captured its 30th straight victory on Wednesday, dating back to the 2016 season, as the Grizzlies defeated No. 16 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 5-0 in the Round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals at the NAIA Women’s Tennis National Championship tournament. Georgia Gwinnett is now just three wins away from repeating as the NAIA National Champions and capturing their third title in four seasons.

www.bizjournals.com
Kennesaw State sends first football player to NFL
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/05/17/kennesaw-state-sends-first-football-player-to-nfl.html
Phil W. Hudson
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Kennesaw State University sent its first football player to the National Football League just two years after the sport’s school debut. Former Kennesaw State defensive back Dante Blackmon, who also became the first Owl to earn an NFL mini-camp tryout, became the first player in school history to sign a contract with a NFL team after inking an undrafted free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts following his tryout this past weekend.

www.myajc.com
Armed robbery near Georgia State concerns students, police
http://www.myajc.com/news/crime–law/armed-robbery-near-georgia-state-concerns-students-police/3QZAPDloVgzduuM86lqX2I/
By Steve Burns – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The armed robbery of a woman near the Georgia State University campus has students and police concerned. Though the victim was not a GSU student, the two men involved made off with her backpack and credit cards, Channel 2 Action News reported. The incident happened on Decatur Street on Sunday night as the woman walked alone. GSU police say two men appeared, stuck a gun in her face and took her goods. “I don’t know what I would’ve done in that situation,” student Debbie Kalugey said. “It’s really unfortunate.” “I don’t stay over here past 5 o’clock,” Kalugey said. “Usually my class ends before 5, so after that I’m gone. So I’m on the bus and in my car.”

Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
FAFSA Applications by High School Seniors Are Up
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/05/18/fafsa-applications-high-school-seniors-are?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=e7468e0296-DNU20170518&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-e7468e0296-197515277&mc_cid=e7468e0296&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Andrew Kreighbaum
More high school seniors had applied for federal student aid by this month than the previous year’s seniors had by June 30 last year, the National College Access Network said Wednesday. Data released this month by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid showed that 1.98 million high school seniors completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid by May 5, 2017. That was about 5,000 more than during the entire 2016 aid cycle.

www.insidehighered.com
Trump Budget Seeks Cuts to Student Loan Programs
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/05/18/trump-budget-seeks-cuts-student-loan-programs?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=e7468e0296-DNU20170518&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-e7468e0296-197515277&mc_cid=e7468e0296&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Andrew Kreighbaum
The White House budget proposal expected next week includes major changes to federal financial aid programs, according to details reported Wednesday by The Washington Post. The newspaper obtained documents it said were described as a “near-final” version of the forthcoming budget by a Department of Education employee. The Trump administration’s proposal calls for cutting $700 million in Perkins Loans and makes unspecified cuts to subsidized loans, possibly ending interest subsidies for new borrowers. It would also cut the Federal Work-Study program by $490 million — almost half — and eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program entirely. One source with knowledge of the PSLF proposal said it would grandfather in current borrowers.

www.insidehighered.com
House Version of Student Data Bill
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/05/18/house-version-student-data-bill?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=e7468e0296-DNU20170518&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-e7468e0296-197515277&mc_cid=e7468e0296&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Paul Fain
A bipartisan group of influential U.S. senators released a bill Monday that would overturn the ban on a federal student-level data system that would allow for the tracking of employment and graduation rates. A bipartisan companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives followed Tuesday. The House version, introduced by Representatives Paul Mitchell, a Michigan Republican, and Jared Polis, a Colorado Democrat, is dubbed the College Transparency Act of 2017. It closely mirrors the Senate version, with the bill’s sponsors saying it would help students and families with “actionable and customizable” information on student outcomes, while also securely protecting students’ privacy. Some of the opposition to dropping the 2008 ban, from both sides of the aisle, is based on privacy concerns. The largest private college group is against this push for a federal data system, but public higher education groups back it.

www.insidehighered.com
N.Y. to Review Compliance on Sex Assault Law
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/05/18/ny-review-compliance-sex-assault-law?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=e7468e0296-DNU20170518&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-e7468e0296-197515277&mc_cid=e7468e0296&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Scott Jaschik
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has ordered state authorities to review colleges’ compliance with the Enough Is Enough law he signed in 2015 to require colleges to take tough steps to prevent and investigate sex assaults.

www.insidehighered.com
Why Do Colleges Recruit Athletes Who Have Committed Sexual Assault?
Indiana University recently adopted a policy that bans athletes with a history of sexual assault, raising the question why other institutions and NCAA conferences aren’t doing the same.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/05/18/indiana-ban-sexual-assault-offenders-applauded-not-adopted-elsewhere?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=e7468e0296-DNU20170518&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-e7468e0296-197515277&mc_cid=e7468e0296&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
When Indiana University at Bloomington last month adopted a policy barring athletes with a record of sexual violence, people questioned: Why aren’t all institutions doing so? Amid high-profile cases and an increased awareness of sexual assaults perpetrated by college athletes, advocates have lobbied the National Collegiate Athletic Association to institute some sort of blanket measure. The NCAA, and even individual conferences, has shied away from an associationwide decree, however.
A rule from the Southeastern Conference inspired Indiana’s policy, though Indiana’s is more expansive, said Jeremy Gray, Indiana’s senior associate athletic director. Indiana disqualifies both freshman and transfer students who have been convicted of or pleaded no contest to a felony sexual violence charge, including dating or domestic violence and rape.

www.chronicle.com
NIH Is Firm on Plan to Limit Per-Person Grant Awards
http://www.chronicle.com/article/NIH-Is-Firm-on-Plan-to-Limit/240102?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=ca73c27a57a14c34942c6f1d75e273c1&elq=f024688138704549816e7fc49c3aed5e&elqaid=13986&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=5839
By Paul Basken
Despite facing protests, the National Institutes of Health promised Wednesday to move ahead with a plan to impose a general limit of three major grants per researcher, persuaded by data linking quantity to declining effectiveness. “We are determined to take some action now that we have this data,” the NIH’s director, Francis S. Collins, told a House appropriations subcommittee. “When you’ve seen that data,” he added after the hearing, “you can’t just walk away and say, ‘Oh, that’s fine.’” Dr. Collins was referring to statistics compiled in recent months by Michael S. Lauer, the top NIH official in charge of external grant awards, showing that researcher productivity as measured by journal citations tends to decline once a scientist holds at least three major NIH grants. The proposed three-grant limit is the latest in a series of attempts by the NIH, made over the years with limited success, to help younger researchers compete against more senior colleagues who have both the personal connections and the scientific experience to win relatively larger shares of federal grant support.