University System News:
www.wbrc.com
New interim president taking over helm of Georgia Southern University
By Dal Cannady, Reporter
STATESBORO, GA (WTOC) – A new leader is taking over the helm of Georgia Southern University. Interim President Shelley Nickel is taking over during a very sensitive time. She’s excited to lead the university, even if it’s helping steer through the tough waters of transition. Nickel serves as an executive vice chancellor in the University System of Georgia and this is her second time as an interim president at one of the state’s schools. She says she’s already toured both the Statesboro and Savannah campuses and studied the consolidation process. While much of that has happened, there are phases of it that are still getting adjusted. Part of Nickel’s mission will be making sure those transitions work. “We’re in the process of reviewing all those plans that we laid out to make sure we’ve done everything. Where there need to be some tweaks, maybe we do some of those as well,” Nickel said. “What surprised me was the enthusiasm people still have and excitement about the future of Georgia Southern.” …Nickel says her role will be to make sure the consolidation goes along the plans set down by delegates at both schools and to expand the degree programs offered to students, no matter where they attend.
www.fox28media.com
Georgia Southern welcomes a new interim president
http://fox28media.com/news/local/gsu-students-are-weary-about-yet-another-change-in-leadership
BY CAITLYN PENTER
Statesboro, Ga. (WTGS Fox 28) — Leadership changes are coming to Georgia Southern University. Dr. Jaimie Hebert is GSU’s outgoing president. He is stepping down effective June 30. Shelley Clark Nickel is stepping into the role until a permanent president is found. “I am really excited. I have landed here and am so excited to be a part of the Eagle nation,” said Nickel. Nickel comes to Georgia Southern with lots of experience. She has served as interim president for Gordon State College. She just recently served as the Georgia University System’s executive vice chancellor for strategy and fiscal affairs. During that role, she implemented system-wide projects and made sure that things were financially and fiscally sound. Nickel said she is very optimistic about integrating the Armstrong campus more firmly into the Georgia Southern community. She realizes that she has some obstacles ahead.
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. …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
Georgia Tech names new research director
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia Tech announced Thursday it has a new executive vice president for research, one of the most critical roles at the institution. Chaouki T. Abdallah, currently provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico, will direct Georgia Tech’s $824 million research program. He will move into the role in mid-August, succeeding Stephen E. Cross, who is stepping down after serving as Tech’s first executive vice president for research for the past eight years. He has received research funding from the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, other national laboratories and various companies, Tech officials said. Abdallah is a Tech grad with master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering.
www.ajc.com
Covington biotech plant gets FDA boost
https://www.ajc.com/business/covington-biotech-plant-gets-fda-boost/KmvRzXzm73PiFZIXKX23TN/
A Covington biotech operation has received government approval needed to start producing the first of its flagship products, a replacement therapy for treatment of people with immune deficiency diseases. The endorsement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of the Shire facility will mean the company’s operations – accounting for a 900-person workforce – will grow to 1,000 by year’s end, according to Matt Walker, Shire’s chief of technical operations… The Ireland-based company, which has U.S. corporate headquarters in Massachusetts, has four manufacturing plants. The others are in Los Angeles, Austria and Italy, Walker said. “You wouldn’t necessarily think about having one in Covington, Georgia.” The plant was built on open land in 2012 with incentives from the state, and the promise of hiring skilled employees who had been trained at Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia and other area schools, he said.
www.bizjournals.com
Fintech firm moves headquarters to Decatur from New York City
By Eric Mandel – Digital Producer , Atlanta Business Chronicle
HiddenLevers announced Thursday it has shifted its headquarters from New York City to Decatur, in another sign that Atlanta’s fintech scene is gaining traction. HiddenLevers is a small financial risk technologies provider that has surpassed $200 billion for assets on its platform. Founded in late 2009 in former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s technology incubator in New York, HiddenLevers has grown to nearly 2,000 users, spread across 400-plus firms… “The coastal flight is real — many companies are rethinking where they want to expand. Our headcount is growing more in Atlanta than New York, and let’s face it, Atlanta is one of the most dynamic cities in America now,” said Praveen Ghanta, HiddenLevers founder and Tech Lead, in a news release. “We keep finding exceptional talent there and this new campus is our commitment to Atlanta growth.” A report released in May from the Technology Association of Georgia and Georgia Tech, found that there are more than 38,000 fintech specialists in Georgia and that the top 20 Georgia-based fintech companies generate an estimated $72 billion in annual revenue.
Higher Education News:
www.washingtonpost.com
College students are forming mental-health clubs — and they’re making a difference
By Amy Ellis Nutt
Mental-health problems among college students have been climbing since the 1990s, according to the American Psychological Association. And with services increasingly stretched at campus health centers, students have been taking action themselves through peer-run mental-health clubs and organizations. The approach appears to be paying off, a new study finds. In what they describe as the largest study of its kind, researchers found that across 12 California colleges, such student-run efforts were associated with increased awareness of mental-health issues, reduced stigma and a rise in “helping behaviors.”
www.chronicle.com
Want to Help Professors Become Better Teachers? Find Them a Mentor
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Want-to-Help-Professors-Become/243788?cid=wcontentlist
By Beth McMurtrie
… The value of faculty mentorship to young instructors and researchers has long been known. But it may not occur very often: According to one survey, only about one in four undergraduate-teaching faculty members mentor others “to a great extent.” Typically, mentors help their less experienced peers do things like learn how to navigate campus hierarchies, plan their careers, or map out research agendas. But mentorship can also help improve teaching. As professors, including seasoned faculty members, explore new ways of teaching in online and active-learning classrooms, they too find that having a strong mentor is critical to their success. Instructional designers may be great at helping redesign a curriculum. And academic technologists are key to understanding new technologies. But for day-to-day teaching challenges, nothing beats an ally who has been there, done that. But it may not occur very often: According to one survey, only about one in four undergraduate-teaching faculty members mentor others “to a great extent.”