University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
Augusta medical students take bus tour of Albany
Students learn about various illnesses at Chehaw Park
By Jada Haynes
ALBANY — Second-year students at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University visited Albany as part of a two-day bus tour on Monday that included stops at MCG’s southwest campus and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. During the day, the students visited Chehaw Park for an overview of pressing public health issues facing rural Georgia and learned about the transmission, prevention and intervention of zoonotic illnesses — illnesses than can be spread from animals to human — while they interacted with some of the animals at the Chehaw park zoo. Dr. Doug Patten, the associate dean of MCG’s southwest campus, spoke about the tour’s purpose. “When they come on the bus tour here, for many of them, this is their first opportunity to ever be in southwest Georgia,” Patten said. “Most of the kids in this class, like most classes, are from the metro Atlanta area. … We want to showcase the community, we want to showcase the event, but we also want to showcase what their learning opportunities would be if they chose to come here.” Yutong Dong, a second-year MCG student, said that he’s visited Albany before and is interested in working at Phoebe for his third-year rotation. He said that the bus tour is “a great opportunity for us to learn about the health care disparities and what we can do as future physicians.”
www.tiftongazette.com
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College to hold Constitution Day ceremony on September 21
TIFTON — Elizabeth Matherne, lead attorney with the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative (SIFI), will speak at the annual Constitution Day ceremony at 2 p.m. on Sept. 21 in the Chapel of All Faiths on the campus of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. The SIFI team provides free services to immigrant detainees at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) which is controlled by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. ICDC is the second largest facility of this type in Georgia. Matherne will be joined by team attorney Erin Argueta and program director Lisa Walters for a question and answer session. Their work falls in line with the United States Constitution as it centers around the right to due process for all people on American soil, as addressed in the Fourth Amendment and the 14th Amendment. ABAC has a natural tie to the annual Constitution Day because Abraham Baldwin, the namesake for the institution, was one of only two Georgia signers for the historic document 231 years ago on Sept. 17, 1787 in Philadelphia.
www.athensceo.com
UGA Receives National Diversity Award for Fifth Consecutive Year
Sam Fahmy
Over the past year, University of Georgia students, faculty and staff fanned across the state to help recruit historically underrepresented and first-generation students to the birthplace of public higher education. On campus, new programs were launched to promote the academic success of students from rural areas and to broaden the pipeline of students pursuing advanced STEM degrees. These efforts, among many others, have been recognized at a national level through the 2018 INSIGHT Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award. The HEED Award is the only national recognition honoring colleges and universities that exhibit outstanding efforts and success in the area of diversity and inclusion, and 2018 marks the fifth consecutive year that UGA has been honored.
www.onlineathens.com
Mary Frances Early focus of new documentary
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20180917/mary-frances-early-focus-of-new-documentary
By Matt Chambers
Mary Frances Early, the first African American to receive a degree from the University of Georgia, last week was honored at a premiere screening of a documentary featuring her life story. “Mary Frances Early: The Quiet Trailblazer” was screened at an Atlanta event that included UGA officials, alumni, and friends and family of Early. The film, which is narrated by former WSB-TV Atlanta anchor and UGA alumna Monica Pearson, chronicles Early’s role in opening the door of educational opportunities to African Americans. The film will air on Georgia Public Broadcasting 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and 11 a.m. Sunday. An on-campus screening is also being arranged. Co-executive produced by Maurice Daniels, professor emeritus and dean emeritus of UGA’s School of Social Work, and Michelle Cook, vice provost for diversity and inclusion and strategic university initiatives, the documentary follows Early’s life, using archival materials, personal papers, news coverage and personal interviews. “Ms. Early has made a profound impact on the lives of countless individuals throughout her life,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “This documentary will continue to honor her pioneering and trailblazing path, which is still being felt across the state of Georgia.”
www.ajc.com
UGA works to resolve career fair schedule conflict on Jewish holy day
By Eric Stirgus
University of Georgia officials, facing complaints about holding the fall career fair on the most solemn day on the Jewish calendar, are working to serve students who won’t be able to attend the event. Some students and organizations recently raised concerns about the timing of the career fair on Yom Kippur, which is Wednesday. “What is appalling is that last year they held the same career fair on Rosh Hashanah,” according to one post on social media. University officials said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday that they met individually with affected students and have offered to connect them with prospective employers who plan to attend the fair. Hillels of Georgia, an organization that supports Jewish undergraduate and graduate students, said in a letter to parents that UGA’s Career Center “expressed their deep regret for this oversight.”
www.theinkwellonline.com
Armstrong Campus Participates in Suicide Prevention Week
https://theinkwellonline.com/2018/09/17/armstrong-campus-participates-in-suicide-prevention-week/
By: Gabriel Williams, Staff Writer
One life lost is one too many. In support of National Suicide Prevention Week, the Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern University will host several empowerment events for students as part of a national effort in preventing suicide. The events will be spearheaded by Active Minds a student-led organization that aims to help bring awareness to mental health stigmas. Health Service and Peers Educating Peers (PEP) will also be coordinating events that week as well. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people ages 20-24. In fact, 1-in-12 college students in the United States plans suicide. Many young adults feel that there isn’t anyone they can trust and talk about their problems with. However, Armstrong has people that can you help through whatever you are going through, right now.
www.ksusentinel.com
KSU teaches annual Rape Aggression Defense classes
http://ksusentinel.com/2018/09/17/ksu-teaches-annual-rape-aggression-defense-classes/
SABRINA KERNS
Kennesaw State began its Rape Aggression Defense classes on Monday, Sept. 17, in the multipurpose room of the Austin Residential Complex on the Kennesaw campus. RAD is a self-defense course meant for women of all ages and fitness levels as a way to learn options to escape an attacker, according to KSU’s website. The classes begin with a lecture portion focusing on risk awareness, risk reduction and risk avoidance. The lecture is followed up by hands-on tactical training. “RAD classes are important for students as these classes provide an educational foundation for individuals so they may become more aware of their surroundings to ultimately reduce, recognize and avoid situations that may become harmful to that individual,” said Heather Tucker, KSU Police Department records manager.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Why More Colleges Are Trying Restorative Justice in Sex-Assault Cases
By Katherine Mangan
It started, like so many dorm parties, with a group of friends drinking in someone’s room. She was pretty drunk by the time the room cleared and she and the other student were alone together. She remembers them kissing and then waking up, her clothes off, underneath him. …If her only choice had been to file a formal complaint and cooperate in a Title IX investigation, she might not have done it. Instead, she opted for an alternative process in which she helped draft a contract that spelled out steps to help him realize the harm he’d caused and that required him to make amends. The College of New Jersey is among a small but growing number of institutions that now offer alternatives to trial-like investigations that critics say can be traumatic for everyone involved. The U.S. education secretary, Betsy DeVos, has indicated, through Title IX guidance issued in 2017 and then in draft regulations obtained and reported last month by The New York Times, that the Trump administration welcomes alternative ways of handling sexual-misconduct disputes. Approaches that start with the offender admitting responsibility and agreeing to repair the harm appeal to some students who aren’t interested in seeing someone suspended or expelled. Proponents see alternative resolution agreements as a way to cut down on Title IX investigations, save colleges money, and potentially be fairer to the accused. But skeptics worry students will feel pressured to bypass a formal investigation and will regret it later on if offenders get off too easily.
www.diverseeducation.com
Lawmakers Sponsor Bill Requiring Colleges to Disclose Hazing
by LaMont Jones
Days after Tim Piazza’s parents announced a new campaign to fight fraternity hazing, legislation has been introduced requiring incidents of hazing to be included in a college’s annual crime report so that such information is public record, according to a report by mycentraljersey.com. “The devastating loss of Penn State student and Readington Township resident Timothy Piazza will not be forgotten,” U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance, R-7th District and lead sponsor of the bipartisan Report and Educate About Campus Hazing (REACH) Act, said in a statement. “It is heartbreaking that his young life was tragically cut short. “I have asked for and received the bipartisan support of my colleagues to lead the REACH Act, legislation that will require colleges and universities to disclose incidents of hazing as part of annual crime reports.
www.insidehighered.com
Alexander: Congress Shouldn’t Pass Campus Free Speech Law
By Andrew Kreighbaum
Senator Lamar Alexander, the chairman of the Senate education committee, said Monday that Congress shouldn’t attempt to attach federal funding to a college’s protection of free speech rights on campus. Higher ed leaders should instead promote campus speech themselves by taking steps like refusing the heckler’s veto and adopting the Chicago principles of freedom of expression, Alexander said. “It doesn’t work,” he said of a potential federal mandate. Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, shared those thoughts in an exchange with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as part of a Justice Department forum on free speech in higher education, an issue that has increasingly preoccupied Trump administration officials.
www.insidehighered.com
Education Dept. Blocked From Canceling Debt Collection Contracts
By Andrew Kreighbaum
A federal court last week blocked the Education Department’s plans to cancel contracts with debt collection firms handling defaulted student loans. The decision to drop the debt collectors was part of a broader overhaul of loan servicing pursued by the Office of Federal Student Aid. But Judge Thomas Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims found that the department’s justification for canceling the contracts was “slipshod” and that its alternative — a plan to offer more enhanced servicing to borrowers before they default — included scant details.
www.insidehighered.com
DeVos Gets Another Chance on Obama Loan Rule
By Andrew Kreighbaum
The Department of Education has until Oct. 12 to offer a stronger justification for delaying an Obama-era student loan rule issued to help defrauded borrowers. If it can’t do so, the rule will take effect, a federal judge said Monday. U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss ruled earlier this month that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos unlawfully delayed the rule, known as borrower defense, because the decision did not include an adequate rationale. After the delay, consumer groups and Democratic attorneys general sued the department.