University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
ASU welcomes sea of students at induction ceremony
Fedrick: Success is the only option you have
By Jada Haynes
Albany State University welcomed a sea of freshmen into the institution Wednesday night. The occasion kicked off with a new student procession. The Class of 2022, dressed in white, filled the middle of the university’s HPER Gymnasium. After everyone was seated, induction began with two somber notes. Diamond Perry, ASU’s Student Government Association president-elect, called for a moment of silence for a student that died over the summer and a father who died during move-in time. “Death is not the greatest loss in life,” said Perry. “The greatest loss is what dies in us inside while we live. When life gives you trials, you turn those trials into testimony. So, yes, we have a past to cherish, but we also have a future to fulfill.” …ASU interim President Marion Fedrick provided a welcome address. She told students that while pursuing an education is an opportunity “that a lot of our ancestors did not get,” they will have the chance to do big things. But she said the road ahead won’t be easy. “This college won’t be easy,” Fedrick said. “We have top-notch professors, we have top-notch programs that you all have got to make the decision that you want to be a part of it. So it won’t be easy. It will be hard, but you all got this. You can do it, you can learn. …We’re going to do all we can to make sure that y’all are doing well.
www.wgxa.tv
Gordon State College offers food assistance to students in need
https://wgxa.tv/news/local/gordon-state-college-offers-food-assistance-to-students-in-need
by Matt Mackie
Students in need at Gordon State College in Barnesville won’t have to worry about where their next meal comes from. The push to start a food pantry at the college started six years ago, when Gordon State College counselor Erica Madoni went to a conference with over 20 other schools in Georgia’s university system. “All but two schools had a food pantry on their campus. So I left that day with a goal in mind to open one here at Gordon for our students who are struggling,” said Madoni. After an email survey about food and housing insecurity was sent to almost 4,000 students, school officials realized they needed to expand the operation this year. “We had roughly 300 students respond to those emails. There was roughly about 30 percent that reported that they had some form of basic needs insecurity in the past year,” Madoni said. College President Kirk Nooks said some of his new students relied on school provided-meals in their elementary, middle and high school days. “As they transition to college, those supports are no longer there. We don’t want to take for granted that all students have the resources,” said Nooks.
www.augustachronicle.com
Augusta University, Augusta Tech hold cyber center orientation
By Sarah LeBlanc
The schools will both hold classes in the new cyber center this year. Augusta University and Augusta Technical College students gathered at the new cyber center Thursday for orientation. The two schools will each hold classes in the Hull McKnight building and stressed collaboration for the upcoming school year. The students will be able to take classes for programming, system analysis and design and digital forensics. While the schools have worked together in the past, this year will be the first time they both have courses in the same building. “When we think about having those students that are in a two-year program, they are able to collaborate and work with their peers that are also in the four-year program and so I think the collaboration that will be beneficial to both parties, just that diversity in thought,” said Karen Ribble, assistant director at the cyber institute with Augusta University. “It’s going to be up to the students to collaborate moving forward but the idea that we have everyone in one building I think is a great start.”
www.wgauradio.com
MOREHEAD NAMES COMMITTEE FOR PROVOST SEARCH
By: Tim Bryant
University of Georgia President Jere Morehead appoints members of the search committee that will look for UGA’s next provost, a replacement Pam Whitten, who leaves Athens to become president at Kennesaw State University. Terry College of Business dean Bruce Ayers will co-chair the committee with Denise Spangler, who is dean of the University’s College of Education. Committee members:
www.northwestgeorgianews.com
John Head named vice president of enrollment management at Gordon State College
John D. Head has been named vice president for enrollment management and student affairs at Gordon State College. In that position he will be responsible for providing strategic and innovative leadership as Gordon’s chief student affairs officer. He will also lead, oversee, organize, and direct Gordon’s enrollment management strategy and the student affairs programs, activities, operations and services which include admissions, recruitment, registrar, student engagement, student activities, counseling and accessibility services, residence life, athletics, and the student activities and recreation center.
www.emanuelcountylive.com
Woods named information security officer
http://emanuelcountylive.com/2018/08/woods-named-information-security-officer-2/
by HALEI LAMB
As part of the University System of Georgia’s (USG) increased focus on the importance of information security within the USG and as a requirement of institutions in the USG, each institution must have in place an information security officer (ISO) who will be responsible for establishing, maintaining and reporting on information security roles, responsibilities, policies, standards, and procedures. The ISO’s primary roles are to ensure an institution’s information and IT systems are secure and privacy is protected. To this end, East Georgia State College recently named Ashley Woods as information security officer for the college.
www.bizjournals.com
25 years of HOPE: Zell Miller’s goal for HOPE Scholarship paying off
After a quarter of a century, 1.8 million Georgia students have benefitted from HOPE scholarships and grants.
By Mollie Simon
As a junior at Fitzgerald High School in 1992, Katie Harrison heard the buzz about a new state aid program that might help pay for college tuition. She and her classmates were hopeful. “At that time, we were 16 or 17. We had no political clout, but we were just thinking, ‘Please make this work,'” Harrison said. In June 1993, the first lottery tickets were sold in Georgia, creating funds for the HOPE Scholarship and pre-kindergarten programs in the state. Harrison was among the first class of students to benefit. A HOPE scholarship, combined with federal and school aid, helped the first-generation college student graduate from Oglethorpe University, a private school in Brookhaven. …When then-Gov. Zell Miller first discussed his intentions for HOPE in his 1992 State of the State address, he described educating the workforce as “the most critical long-term need Georgia faces.” A look at the numbers shows Miller’s goal for the program is paying off. Since 1992, the number of undergraduates enrolled in Georgia’s public colleges and universities has increased 67 percent and the number of bachelor’s degrees given annually has increased 113 percent. Georgia has also fared well in retaining graduates after college. Of the bachelor’s degree recipients who received HOPE, approximately 86 percent were employed in Georgia within five years of graduation, according to the most recent data from the University System of Georgia. That high percentage overall masks some differences among individual schools. For example, in 2017, 46 percent of all Georgia Tech alumni, regardless of whether they received HOPE or not, lived in the state compared to almost 80 percent of Georgia Southern University graduates, a difference attributable in part to more Tech students hailing from out of state.