University System News:
www.savannahnow.com
Interim Georgia Southern president prioritizes programs for Armstrong campus
By Ann Meyer
The consolidation of Georgia Southern’s Statesboro and Armstrong campuses is resulting in a new priority for the Savannah campus on preparing students for careers in logistics, health care professions and education, Shelley Clark Nickel, university interim president, said Friday. “All of that we’ll do under the lens of student success. We want to make sure our students get the best education they can,” Nickel said. Nickel, who served as executive vice chancellor for strategy and fiscal affairs for the University System of Georgia and as treasurer for the Board of Regents, was named interim president May 16 and officially started in the new position July 1. She also served as president of the Georgia Student Finance Commission, which administers scholarship, grant and loan programs for students, including the HOPE Program. Nickel replaces President Jaimie Hebert while University System Georgia conducts a national search for Hebert’s successor. Hebert, who became the 13th president of Georgia Southern in July 2016, started July 1 in his new role as provost and vice president of academic affairs at University of Louisiana Lafayette, according to a news release.
www.statesboroherald.com
Nickel leads GSU as interim president
University system exec a leader in consolidations, strategy
https://www.statesboroherald.com/local/nickel-leads-gsu-interim-president/
AL HACKLE/Staff
Already active on Georgia Southern University’s campuses for weeks, Shelley Clark Nickel officially becomes its interim president today. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised since I got here at the enthusiasm that people have for the university both inside and on campus and within the communities surrounding our campuses,” Nickel said. “They’re very excited about the future, looking at the opportunities and the possibilities and are all offering their help, so that’s what I’ve seen so far.” She left her previous job, as the University System of Georgia’s executive vice chancellor for strategy and fiscal affairs and treasurer for the Board of Regents, for as long as needed, but hopes to return. In that role, Nickel has led the system-wide consolidation effort, which has reduced the number of USG institutions from 35 to 26. One of the two most recently completed mergers was that of Savannah-based Armstrong State University into Georgia Southern, creating a “new Georgia Southern University” officially last Jan. 1. The university now has three campuses, including the original campus, growing in Statesboro since 1906, the Armstrong campus in Savannah, and the Liberty campus, previously Armstrong’s Liberty Center, in Hinesville. At its creation, this new Georgia Southern had more than 27,000 students.
www.statesboroherald.com
Another GS president search ahead
Nickel: Open search may discourage some prospects
https://www.statesboroherald.com/local/another-gs-president-search-ahead/
AL HACKLE/Staff
When the campus committee to search for a new Georgia Southern University president is named, members will face an important preliminary decision, whether to conduct an open search or a confidential one. An open search, like the one that followed Dr. Brooks Keel’s departure as Georgia Southern president in mid-2015, would bring several candidates to campus to appear in public forums. But none of the five semifinalists who spoke in the forums in the spring of 2016 had been president of a university. One was a law school dean and most, including Dr. Jaimie Hebert, who was then selected by the Board of Regents for the job, were provosts and vice presidents, second-in-command at universities. Hebert’s departure after two years, which took him through the heat of the consolidation of Armstrong State University into Georgia Southern, sets the stage for a new search. A confidential search, with the committee doing “airport interviews” in a hotel somewhere, with no public forums and with the regents then announcing just one or two finalists, could have certain advantages, interim GS President Shelley C. Nickel said in an interview this week. “That takes less time, to do it that way,” Nickel said. “I think you probably just saw the Kennesaw search was announced in February and they have a president starting mid-July, so it’s a fairly condensed timeline from the big open searches.”
www.albanyherald.com
ASU president turns attention to health care professions
Marion Fedrick participates in State of Community health care forum
From Staff Reports
ALBANY – In the wake of the recent Albany Area Chamber of Commerce-sponsored State of the Community event that focused on health care in the region, Albany State University interim President Marion Fedrick said the university is working with health care providers to assure that its graduates meet employer needs. Fedrick highlighted the importance of having a statewide conversation about health care needs and education at the chamber’s State of the Community event. The initiative brought together community leaders and health care professionals to have an insightful dialogue about health care education in southwest Georgia and what it means for the region’s economy. The health care education panel included representatives from the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center, the Medical College of Georgia Southwest Campus, the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy Southwest Campus and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. “I think that, on the University System of Georgia level, a larger conversation needs to happen among all of our schools that offer health care degrees,” Fedrick said. “We need to strengthen our collective ability to educate and graduate our students in health care fields.”
www.albanyherald.com
ASU summer camp helps prepare Putnam County students for college life
Putnam County Charter School System partners with ASU for college prep summer camp
From Staff Reports
ALBANY — With almost three months of school vacation, summertime provides the perfect opportunity for high school students to begin preparations for college. Students from the Putnam County Charter School System did just that by participating in two weeklong summer camps at Albany State University. During the weeks of June 6-9 and June 13-16, 45 PCCSS students participated in a summer program at ASU that introduced them to the academic demands of college life prior to acceptance. During the week, students explored opportunities for attending college, prepared for and completed college entrance exams, and received assistance with completing college applications. As part of the program, students also developed skills related to decision-making, time management, financial literacy, career selection, and social and character development. Kimberly Holmes, the vice president of Institutional Effectiveness, said the camp provided students with excellent opportunities and experiences to prepare them for college life. Holmes added that she hopes to see the Putnam County students back on campus as university students. “Our faculty conducted lab experiments, engaged the students in dance and music performances, simulated clinical experiences and demonstrated STEM education activities
www.savannahnow.com
Savannah teens get a jump on college in summer medical program
By Ann Meyer
When her friends want to hang out this summer, 17-year-old Auset Lee’s answer is most likely to be no. The rising senior at Woodville Tompkins Technical & Career High School is sacrificing her social life to get a jump on the competition for college by attending a Student Education Enrichment Program (SEEP) at Savannah State University. The program is administered by the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, which launched it about eight years ago at Alfred E. Beach High School to encourage students from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in the health professions to pursue a health care career, said Linda James, assistant dean of student diversity in the Office of Student and Multicultural Affairs at Medical College of Georgia. It has since expanded to Woodville Tompkins. “It’s a diversity outreach initiative,” James said. The program strives to attract African American and Hispanic high school students, but James said the medical school also has a pipeline program targeted at increasing the number of rural health care providers. “What we want to do is increase the pipeline for those regions, from those small towns around Savannah,” James said.
www.jacksonprogress-argus.com
Gordon State College to break ground on new Student Services Center
Special to the Progress-Argus
Gordon State College has scheduled a groundbreaking celebration for its new Student Services Center at the corner of College Drive and Spencer Street. Leaders from Gordon State College and other officials will gather at 9 a.m. July 12 at the site. The public is invited to attend. Construction is expected to begin in late July with an anticipated completion date of early summer 2019, college officials said in a news release. The single-story building is designed to centralize the admissions process for students. “We want to make the admissions process as seamless as possible for students. To be able to offer admissions, financial aid and a component of the business office literally within steps of each other in a single building allows Gordon State College to do just that,” GSC President Kirk A. Nooks said. The 11,271-square-foot building will feature desktop and laptop computer stations, a waiting room for parents and a meeting room that can accommodate seating for 60 or be used for events that require open space. Sliding glass partitions offer privacy while still allowing natural light and an open feel, college officials said.
www.mdjonline.com
College to use $4M in funding to renovate former Dallas bank building
Georgia Highlands College has received a total of $4.1 million in state funding to renovate its Winn Building in Dallas near the current Paulding instructional site. The project will transform the facility into a modern academic building and expand degree and program offerings in the area. Georgia Highlands was approved for funding under the fiscal year 2019 state budget which was approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Nathan Deal. “We would like to especially thank our legislators for all they do to support GHC, the (University System of Georgia) and education in the state,” said Vice President for Advancement Mary Transue, who also serves in the college’s Government Relations role. “Without their tireless support and dedication, this venture would not have been possible.” Paulding County donated the Winn Building, a former bank building, to Georgia Highlands in 2010. Georgia Highlands President Don Green stated the renovations will help raise graduation and retention rates as well as grow the site by increasing the capability for students to earn degrees and graduate on time without needing to leave Dallas.
www.ajc.com
Body of Valdosta State student pulled from Mississippi River
By Chelsea Prince, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The body of a Valdosta State University student was recovered from the Mississippi River Sunday, days after friends saw the man fall into the river after a concert. Pace Ervin Taylor, 19, was walking along the river near Memphis Friday night when he slipped and fell in, the Valdosta Daily Times reported. The Tallahassee, Fla., native was a rising sophomore and a member of the Mu Nu Chapter of Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc., VSU said in a statement obtained by the newspaper. Taylor was with friends at a Widespread Panic concert on the Mud Island peninsula when he jumped a concrete barrier wall and made his way to the river bank, Memphis police said.
www.valdostadailytimes.com
VSU student’s body pulled from river
By Terry Richards
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The body of a missing Valdosta State University student was recovered from the Mississippi River Sunday, according to the man’s family. Friday, 19-year-old Pace Ervin Taylor went missing after falling into the river after a concert, according to Memphis television station WMC. Pace was a freshman from Tallahassee, Florida, and a member of the Mu Nu Chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity, according to a statement from VSU. The Tallahassee Democrat reports that Taylor was with friends at the concert Friday night. Taylor’s friends said they were joking about jumping in the Mississippi River because of how hot it was that night, according to WMC. Taylor then hopped over the wall and walked along the bank, when he slipped and fell in, according to his mother. His friends watched, unable to help him, as the current took him away.
www.albanyherald.com
Earp selected as dean of ABAC School of Nursing
New Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College dean’s tenure starts today
By Tessa Green
TIFTON — Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is gaining a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as its new dean of the ABAC School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Jaibun Earp will replace Troy Spicer, who is returning to a position inside the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, as dean of the discipline. Jerry Baker, ABAC’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, said Earp will begin duties today. Baker said he believes her experience and expertise will be useful in leading the new nursing program since the former Bainbridge State College nursing program is now a part of ABAC. “We believe that Dr. Earp has the vision and leadership skills necessary to address the challenges of combining two excellent nursing programs into one,” Baker said. “Her experience with curriculum development in her previous positions will also be important assets.”
www.onlineathens.com
UGA police chief retiring with eye on 2020 Oconee sheriff election
By Joe Johnson
Though he has served in law enforcement for three decades, Jimmy Williamson will be at the ripe young age of 51 when he officially retires Saturday as chief of the University of Georgia Police Department. That leaves him with plenty of time to continue serving in other capacities in law enforcement. “I’m going to continue working for UGA right up to June 30, but after then I’m going to take some time off and recharge my batteries a bit and find somewhere that I can assist somehow,” Williamson said. …“I believe I have the education, training and experience to serve as another law enforcement agency head, and there would be no better place to do that than in Oconee County,” he said. “Oconee County is my life when I am not at UGA. It is where my children go to school and play Little League. Oconee County is as much a part of my life as UGA. …The UGA police chief position was the capstone in Williamson’s 30-year career working for the University System of Georgia.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Student Needs Have Changed. Advising Must Change, Too.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Student-Needs-Have-Changed/243797
By Michael Anft
…Feeling overwhelmed, and considering whether she should stay in college, Walker sought help from the academic advising office. In doing so, she could turn not to a stranger but rather to an ally she had met during orientation the summer before she started college — Charles Baker, an adviser who had also been trained as an academic life coach. … Across the nation, colleges are looking for better ways to keep students like Walker, who come from lower-income backgrounds, and help them toward graduation. Florida State, Indiana, and the University of North Carolina have launched or will soon begin coaching programs designed to keep at-risk students from dropping out. But the coaching program at Oklahoma may be unique. The university has certified 42 advisers — about one-third of the campus’s total — as academic life coaches. The six months of training each has undertaken have helped move Oklahoma toward more-intensive advising models that encourage students to make their own decisions, think more deeply about what they want to get out of college, and work to shape their college experience.