University System News:
www.wgauradio.com
FORMER PRESIDENT IS IN AG HALL OF FAME
By: J. Merritt Melancon
He’s easily the most famous peanut farmer in history, and he is now the first president of the United States to be inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame. President Jimmy Carter was inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame, housed at the University of Georgia, on November 9 at the 64th UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Awards. “This has been the highlight of my life in agriculture, my induction tonight,” Carter told the crowd gathered at the ceremony. “It’s my honor to join all of my friends who are here, and those who are not here, as a member of Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame. I’m very thankful to everybody here.” The Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame was established in 1972 to recognize individuals who made unusual and extraordinary contributions to the agriculture and agribusiness industries in Georgia. The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association maintains the Hall of Fame.
www.bizjournals.com
Savannah businessman gives $5M to Georgia Southern University
By Jessica Saunders – Managing Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
A Savannah businessman has given $5 million to the Georgia Southern University Foundation, which is the largest single gift in university history. The Georgia Southern University Foundation Inc. received a $5 million gift for the College of Business from Greg Parker, president, founder and CEO of The Parker Companies in Savannah. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved the name of the Gregory M. Parker College of Business at Georgia Southern University. Parker is known for his commitment to technology, innovation and charitable giving, according to a university news release. “At Georgia Southern, we’re focused on student success and meeting the workforce needs of our region and the state,” Georgia Southern University President Shelley C. Nickel said in a statement. “This bold investment in our students will increase that effort and provide even greater opportunity for the leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow.” Allen C. Amason, dean of the college, said, “This $5 million gift signifies a new partnership between The Parker Companies and the College. It will enhance the quality of teaching and learning and scholarly activities while raising the profile of the Parker College of Business and Georgia Southern University across the region, state and nation. This partnership is a significant step forward in preparing more highly qualified students for the workforce.”
www.thegeorgeanne.com
Georgia Southern team awarded grant to study human impact on Okefenokee Swamp
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_a19e7a7d-f182-5ed0-944f-4d1998741576.html
By Shiann Sivell, The George-Anne staff
A team of Georgia Southern University professors has been awarded a $763,897 grant from the Gulf Research Program to study human impact on the Okefenokee Swamp. The grant will fund two years of the Okefenokee Understanding Real-world Relevance through Suwannee Watershed Assessment and Monitoring Project. The project was created by GS College of Education’s Lacey Huffling, Ph.D., and her colleagues, and will offer a summer of on-site learning experience at the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia.
www.tiftonceo.com
Four ABAC Ag Ed Cohort Members Participate in Special Program at the National FFA Convention
Staff Report From Tifton CEO
Four students from the Agricultural Education cohort at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College were hand-picked to participate in a special program at the recent National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. ABAC Ag Education majors Sarah Beth Hammond from Covington, Emily Dean from Jasper, Casey Elias from Monticello, and Samantha Wilhoite from Ringgold were selected to participate in the National Agriscience Program at the convention. The National Agriscience Program personnel invited only 30 students from across the country to learn more about special agriscience teaching techniques that are considered effective for agricultural education. These four were among 37 students attending the convention with the ABAC collegiate FFA chapter. Jessie Jackson, another ABAC Ag Education major from LaGrange, was selected as an official at the National Parliamentary Procedure Leadership Development Event.
www.wtxl.com
GSW offers new Southwestern Promise Scholarship for hurricane survivors
Southwest Georgia high school seniors are eligible for a new scholarship at Georgia Southwestern University. Students who live in one of the 55 counties devastated by Hurricane Michael and meet certain academic requirements are eligible for a $1,000 to $2,000 scholarship called “Southwestern Promise.”
www.ajc.com
Georgia Tech working to close major increase in ethics complaints
Officials moving to resolve cases faster
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia Tech is continuing to receive a “significantly” high number of internal ethics complaints, but they’re completing those investigations faster, according to a new report from its president. Georgia Tech has 106 open cases, according to the five-page report from its president, G.P. “Bud” Peterson, to University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley. The report said Tech, which has been slow in completing internal investigations, has cleared 178 cases since July 1. …University System officials meet weekly with Georgia Tech to review the status of ongoing cases and assist, which both groups said has sped up the investigative process.
Higher Education News:
www.chronicle.com
Colleges Are Taking Adult Students’ Needs More Seriously. What’s the Next Step?
By Goldie Blumenstyk NOVEMBER 12, 2018
Grading progress on the climate for adult students.
The needs of adult students are becoming more top-of-mind throughout higher education. While many colleges still have a long way to go before they could honestly call themselves adult-friendly, I’ve noticed a marked uptick in interest and activity over the past year — and that isn’t just because I became more attuned to the topic after reporting and writing my report on ”The Adult Student.” I’ve also just become more optimistic about a possible solution to one of the most intractable obstacles lower-income adults face when they’re trying to return to college to complete a degree: getting transcripts and credit for their prior college work if they owe money to that institution. (More on that below.) I’m reflecting on this now because this week I’ll be speaking at the annual conference for the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, in Cleveland. Since attending CAEL’s 2017 meeting, I’ve learned a ton about the financial, logistical, and academic challenges adults face. I also developed an appreciation for the important role that communities and employers can play in smoothing the pathway to college. I call that “building networks,” and in Cleveland on Wednesday, I’ll be joined by some experts to talk about ways to tap into and nurture that ecosystem. Over the past year, I also learned a lot about what employers can do on their own to improve educational options for their employees. The most notable approach: covering tuition upfront rather than as a reimbursement after the fact, which can be a financial barrier for lower-wage workers. It’s been edifying to see that practice carried out in several education partnerships announced over the past year by big employers like Walmart, Disney, and FedEx. Uber’s recently announced program with Arizona State University offers tuition upfront too.
www.chronicle.com
Amazon’s New Headquarters Is Coming to Northern Virginia. Here’s How Local Colleges Helped Make That Happen
By Cailin Crowe
Amazon, the world’s largest internet retailer, has picked New York City and Arlington, Va., for its second headquarters locations. The move has prompted local colleges, including Virginia Tech and George Mason University, to make new investments and open new centers to tie in with expected economic and employment boom. A “highly educated labor pool” was among the tech giant’s top criteria for selecting its new headquarters, according to the company’s request for proposals. Long Island City, in Queens, N.Y., and the Crystal City area of Arlington were chosen, in part, due to the strength of their local talent and higher-education institutions. Local colleges and universities have already set major overhauls in motion to help meet Amazon’s requirements. The two headquarters should bring 25,000 jobs to each region and will begin hiring in 2019. “This is a watershed moment for Virginia Tech,” said Timothy D. Sands, president of Virginia Tech. “As a land-grant research institution, we knew we needed to claim our role of driving economic development in Virginia.” The University of Washington, in Seattle, has seen what having tech giants for neighbors can do for an institution. The university calls Microsoft and Amazon its neighbors, and Microsoft’s founders have given it more than $1 billion.
www.bizjournals.com
Georgia leaders react to HQ2: ‘Atlanta will be just fine’
Amazon’s second headquarters isn’t coming to Atlanta. The tech giant made that official Tuesday, announcing plans to split its highly coveted project known as HQ2 between Crystal City (rebranded in Amazon’s press release as part of “National Landing”) and Long Island City in Queens. Each will ultimately get more than 25,000 Amazon employees as part of the deal. In addition, Amazon announced it selected Nashville for a new Center of Excellence for its Operations business, which is responsible for the company’s transportation, supply chain and other activities. That site will receive 5,000 jobs. When Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) launched its HQ2 search in September 2017,Atlanta was considered one of the early favorites. But, as Atlanta Business Chronicle outlined on Nov. 9, a number of factors may have pushed the city out of the running. Below is how some of Georgia’s business leaders and influencers have responded to the news: … Gov. Nathan Deal:
www.chronicle.com
Will Blockchain Revolutionize Scholarly Journal Publishing?
By Alexander C. Kafka
Since the 1990s, some academic netizens have predicted that open access will upend scholarly journal publishing, yet an oligopoly still dominates the $25-billion industry. Orvium, a European start-up, recently joined those taking on the giant players. It offers a publishing and business plan based on blockchain — a coding structure that embeds origins and changes within a file. The format will allow for open-access or other licensing models to be determined by each client journal’s editors. The company’s ultimate objective is “to be the leading publication platform for the research community while returning the benefits of science to society.” Manuel Martin, Orvium’s 38-year-old CEO and cofounder, said in a phone interview from Geneva that the company is in a period of beta testing and should be operational in 2019. A data scientist who has worked with CERN and NASA, Martin, who was born in Spain, said that he and his fellow cofounders, Antonio Romero and Roberto Rabasco, started the company to make journal publishing cheaper, faster, and more transparent. Skeptics acknowledge blockchain’s potential for greater transparency but doubt that it will be faster or cheaper than other platforms that include article preprints. They question Orvium’s intent to lift anonymity from article reviewers. They are dubious, too, about elements of the business plan and point to a history of would-be publishing disruptors being bought up by the very companies they planned to compete with.
A Quest for Transparency
Enter blockchain, which is perhaps best known as the foundation for the digital currency Bitcoin but has been discussed as a potentially revolutionary force in applications ranging from entertainment products to institutional and government bureaucracies. Blockchain files’ fundamental benefit is that they carry their histories within them.