University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
Supreme Court of Georgia to hold special session at ASU
State’s top court to hear arguments in two appeals cases
From Staff Reports
ATLANTA – The Supreme Court of Georgia will hold oral arguments in Albany on Thursday at Albany State University. At the 10 a.m. session, the court will hear two appeals: one each in a civil case and a criminal case. The first is an appeal of a Georgia Court of Appeals ruling involving a lawsuit between two physicians and former partners in which one alleges the other stalked him and his employees. The second is an appeal of a young man convicted in Houston County and sentenced to life in prison for his role in a double murder. Each year, the Georgia Supreme Court travels outside Atlanta to hear cases for the purpose of making the court’s business and the judicial process more accessible to the public. Thursday’s session will be held in the Billy C. Black Auditorium of Albany State University, which is listed among the nation’s top Historically Black Colleges and Universities by U.S. News & World Report.
www.thegeorgeanne.com
Students issue open letter to Georgia Southern president in response to usage of the N-word on campus
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/news/article_f1ff590f-d9d7-5cc7-8715-5b89a1cc6e66.html
By Matthew Enfinger, The George-Anne staff
Georgia Southern University students walked out of their classes on Thursday to participate in a protest sit in at the Carroll Building Atrium and later would march to the president’s office at the Marvin-Pittman Building to deliver an open letter of demands to President Shelley Nickel. The march was co-organized by students Zachary Payne, Joshua Ahiakwo and Tyler Hicks in response to the usage of the N-word in the “triggerish” event over the summer and the reach allegations against professors Karen McCurdy and Rebecca Kennerly.
Sit in at Carroll
Students began filing into the Atrium around 11:11 a.m. where GS faculty members had set up a stage and led discussions pertaining to bias and race. …When on the steps of Marvin-Pittman, Ahiakwo read off an open letter that would be handed to Interim President Shelley Nickel. The open letter contained demands including a call for McCurdy and Kennerly to issue a public apology for using hate. …After speaking on the step of Marvin-Pittman, Payne, Ahiakwo and Hicks met with Nickel, the Vice-president of Student Affairs Georj Lewis and the university’s lawyer. Payne said after leaving the president’s office, he felt optimistic about the conversation.
www.savannahnow.com
Savannah State University announces layoffs amid student enrollment decline
By Brittini Ray
Savannah State University officials announced Friday that 26 faculty members will not be returning for the 2019-2020 academic year due to budget cuts. Last month, President Cheryl Dozier sent out a letter to all faculty and staff announcing that the university was considering layoffs due to a steady loss in revenue from enrollment decline. “While we have taken some interim measures to address the loss of revenue, such as eliminating vacant positions and placing restrictions on new hires, these are not sustainable options given the budgetary circumstances,” Dozier wrote in the October letter. Officials announced that the university would be “realigning its resources” in light of two consecutive years of declining enrollment and state-allocated funding. The university’s enrollment saw a 10.6 percent decline in fall 2017 and a 7.9 percent decline in fall 2018. State funding allocations are calculated annually on a two-year lag, according to Dozier. A Strategic Alignment of Resources planning committee has been established to guide the ongoing process of aligning university resources to match strategic institutional priorities: student success, student recruitment and retention, campus safety/security and increased institutional efficiency.
www.ajc.com
Savannah State to lay off more than two dozen faculty members
By Eric Stirgus
Savannah State University is laying off 26 non-tenured faculty members at the end of the academic year, which it says is necessary to balance its financial books. The university’s enrollment is down for a second consecutive year, according to a news release posted on its website late Friday. Last fall, Savannah State had 4,429 students, a 10.6 percent drop from the prior year. Enrollment is down this year by nearly 8 percent, according to the release. The cuts were coordinated across the university, officials said in the release. …The release said the unnamed faculty members can apply for positions at Savannah State as they open or other colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia.
See also:
www.insidehighered.com
Savannah State to Lay Off 26 Faculty Members
www.emanuelcountylive.com
Swainsboro Evening Optimist Club takes students to Savannah State University, Ralph Mark Gilbert Museum of Civil Rights
by WHITLEY CLIFTON
The picturesque city of Savannah provided a beautiful backdrop for the Swainsboro Evening Optimist Club to take a group of students on a college tour of Savannah State University for College Open Day. College Open Day is an event which allows visitors to access a campus in order to learn more about it. Open houses, like campus tours, provide students with a unique opportunity to obtain information so they can decide whether or not to apply to the school. A highlight of the trip was students having the opportunity to meet Dr. Cheryl Davenport Dozier, president of SSU. This event was for students in grades nine through 12.
www.onlineathens.com
Grow It, Know It program awarded
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20181104/grow-it-know-it-program-awarded
The Grow It, Know It program and the Clarke County School District was honored recently with the Golden Radish Innovative Partnership Award from the Georgia Department of Health. The local program partners schools with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, UGArden, UGA’s Crop and Soil Science Department, the Barrow County School System and the UGA Office of the Vice-president for public service and outreach. Volunteers work with middle school teachers in Clarke and Barrow counties to promote the use of school gardens and encourage sustainable agriculture. The program strives to build healthier attitudes about nutrition, agriculture and cooking. …“The Grow it! Know It program is an example of what can happen when community stakeholders — like the school system, UGA Extension and UGA Public Service — work together to achieve a common goal.”
www.albanyherald.com
ASU student takes top honor at South Georgia College Art Competition
Albany, Valdosta State art students show pieces in six categories
By Carlton Fletcher
Albany State University student Benjamin McMiller’s sculpture “The Broomwich” was named Best in Show among entries in the Albany Area Arts Council’s 15th annual South Georgia College Art Competition. Top works created by students at Albany and Valdosta State universities in six categories were honored during a reception/awards ceremony at the Carnegie Library Gallery Friday night. “The community has always embraced this exhibit; we always have a good turnout of our core supporters, and usually people who do not come to our gallery as often come out for the college exhibit,” Arts Council Executive Director Nicole Williams said. “There’s something about college students where they’re a little more willing to go outside the box, so you usually see some interesting and exciting pieces. “…Only the best from both schools, as determined by their professors, are part of the exhibit.” Abby Mickler, a Valdosta State junior who took second-place in the drawing competition with her piece “Contently Eerie,” said entering the competition has allowed her to branch out. …Both VSU Associate Professor of Art/Photography Dominick Gheesling and Albany State interim Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences/Professor of Fine Arts/Painting & Drawing Chazz Williams said events like the South Georgia College Art Competition provide great experiences for their students.
www.wgauradio.com
COLLUSION? UGA SETS UP FLAGSHIP PROGRAM WITH RUSSIA
By: Tim Bryant
The development of global partnerships and a growing Eastern European economy have created an expansion of job opportunities for professionals with Russian language skills in fields ranging from the biological and mathematical sciences to the social sciences and international affairs. To meet this growing need, a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Security Education Program was recently awarded to the University of Georgia to establish the Russian Domestic Undergraduate Flagship Program. The renewable grant brings more than $275,000 to UGA in the first year and is expected to provide more than $1 million, pending congressional approval, during the first full grant cycle. The Language Flagship Programs are administered by the Institute of International Education, which oversees several elite grant programs, such as Fulbright. The Language Flagship currently funds 25 Flagship Centers across the country in languages considered vital to national security and to the challenges of a global society, such as environmental degradation, global disease and hunger and economic pressures.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA hopes to grow education with new children’s garden
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20181103/uga-hopes-to-grow-education-with-new-childrens-garden
By Leah Moss
Celebrate the breathtaking world of nature with a journey into dark caves brimming with dinosaur fossils, climb through a larger-than-life overturned chestnut tree, and soar above the tree canopy in a magical treehouse in the woods. The Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden, set to open in early 2019 at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia, will be a groundbreaking destination for children to learn more about the wonders of the state’s natural resources while planting, climbing, crawling and skipping through a two-and-a-half-acre accessible environment. “The children’s garden is an exploration, a journey, not something you just walk through,” said Jenny Cruse-Sanders, director of the State Botanical Garden. “Everything is designed with attention to detail and an educational component.” Named for Alice H. Richards, a charter member of the State Botanical Garden’s Board of Advisors, the children’s garden will officially open on March 23. The new attraction is expected to draw more than 50,000 visitors a year. The garden is an interactive outdoor classroom for hands-on education.
www.albanyherald.com
Poet Juliana Gray to give reading at ABAC
Merger with Bainbridge makes ABAC part of Georgia Poetry Circuit
By Rachel Lord
Herald Correspondent
Award winning poet Juliana Gray will give a reading at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural college here on Nov. 5. The reading will be the first in the 2018-19 Georgia Poetry Circuit series at ABAC. The Georgia Poetry Circuit is a group of Georgia colleges and universities that brings three poets annually to all the members’ campuses. Each poet gives a reading that is free and open to the public at each member university campus. Poets also meet with creative writing students at each campus for discussions and workshops. ABAC is a new member of the Georgia Poetry Circuit. When ABAC and Bainbridge College, which was a circuit member, consolidated, ABAC became a member of the GPC.
www.augustachronicle.com
Medical trial targeting cancer genes comes to MCG
https://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20181104/medical-trial-targeting-cancer-genes-comes-to-mcg
By Sarah LeBlanc
The academic lab has recently been designated as the seventh in the nation for the NCI-MATCH trial. A medical trial that targets cancer-causing genes instead of cancer type is coming to Augusta.
The NCI-MATCH trial has selected the Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory at the Medical College of Georgia as one of seven designated academic labs in the nation. The National Cancer Institute’s Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice trial accepts patients with metastatic cancer, relapsed cancer or a resistant cancer that is not affected by chemotherapy or radiation. Metastatic cancer is when the disease has spread into different parts of the body. “Traditionally the way we treat cancers is basically based on what is the origin the cancer is coming from or what is the type of cancer, so if you have a brain cancer, we have a therapy for brain cancer, if you have lung cancer, we have a therapy for lung cancer, and so on,” said Dr. Ravindra Kolhe, a molecular pathologist and the director of the GEM lab in the MCG Department of Pathology. That method of treatment is not always effective, though, Kolhe said. So about four years ago, the National Cancer Institute created the MATCH trial to determine what is driving a tumor rather than focusing on where the tumor is located.
www.technology.org
Pilot Project Will Use Campus Wastewater to Grow Vegetables
https://www.technology.org/2018/11/05/pilot-project-will-use-campus-wastewater-to-grow-vegetables/
Even if you do your best to eat local, chances are most of the fruits and vegetables you consume come from far away — especially if you live in a big city. Water and land for growing crops are hard to come by in urban areas. Finding more sustainable methods for growing produce in urban areas would have enormous benefits. A pilot project by Georgia Tech’s Yongsheng Chen, a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, aims to use wastewater from the campus to do just that. “The overarching goal is trying to figure out a way to use wastewater nutrients to grow produce in urban areas so we can decentralize vegetable production,” Chen said.
www.redandblack.com
UGA professor wins an Emmy, brings awareness to environmental issues in Georgia
Alaa Ahmed | Contributor
Winning an Emmy award is not a typical accomplishment for scientists. However, for James Porter, a University of Georgia ecology professor, it was an extension of his work as a scientist and educator. “I see both my Sundance win, my Peabody award and my Emmy award as a direct outcome of my teaching,” Porter said. Porter was among the team behind “Chasing Coral,” a documentary that recently won an Emmy award for Outstanding Nature Documentary. “Chasing Coral” focuses on the decline of coral reefs in oceans, a phenomenon known as coral bleaching. The film featured a series of Porter’s photos that show “before” and “after” states of coral reefs.
www.onlineathens.com
New truffle species named after UGA professor
http://www.onlineathens.com/news/20181103/new-truffle-species-named-after-uga-professor
By Bryce Ethridge
University of Georgia professor Tim Brenneman now has a newly discovered truffle species named after him: Tuber brennemanii. Brenneman, an expert in pecan diseases, collaborated with plant pathologist Matthew Smith at the University of Florida to help discover the species. Smith’s doctoral student, Arthur Grupe, published the research in Mycologia, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, and honored Brenneman with the truffle designation. The paper describes two new species of truffles discovered on the roots of pecan trees. One was named in honor of Brenneman and the other species was named Tuber floridanum, a truffle species seen more commonly in Florida. “Since we had worked together so much on this, they decided to name the other species after me,” he said. “I was very surprised and pleased. I didn’t know they were going to do that.”
www.bizjournals.com
Hoping to land a sports scholarship? Georgia Tech, UGA among pricey colleges that can still leave you paying
By Jeff Jeffrey – National Digital Producer, The Business Journals,
If a coveted “full ride” is the goal for your little soccer or football stars at home, then take note: Not all college sports scholarships are the same. Gone are the days when a college sports program’s prestige and pathway to a potential pro career were the main factors in selecting where to take one’s talents. Rather, in an era when the cost of school attendance can vary by tens-of-thousands-of-dollars, today’s amateur athletes also need to consider whether a given college’s financial aid will be enough to get them to graduation. A Business Journals analysis of roughly 2,000 colleges found aid packages at many schools, particularly prominent private colleges, often fall well short of each campus’ estimated cost of attendance. The numbers also highlighted a material difference in what male athletes receive on average versus their female peers. …At Georgia Tech, male athletes averaged nearly $3,000 more aid ($20,463 vs. $17,523) than female athletes last year, according to DOE data. Those sums amount to a chunk of the yearly cost for in-state students ($28,368) but are less than half of what’s needed for out-of-state ($48,964). And while the athletic aid-to-sticker price ratio for men was 65 percent, it dipped to 35 percent for women.
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
States’ Slow, Steady Embrace of Need-Based Aid
Amount of state financial aid dollars awarded based on financial need grew by 3 percent in most recent year, and by half over a decade, annual study finds.
By Doug Lederman
… The annual report of the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs, or NASSGAP, finds that the amount of all undergraduate financial aid that states allocated based on students’ financial need grew by 2.9 percent from 2015-16 to 2016-17, the latest available data. (The NASSGAP study lags by a year due to data-collection demands.) Total need-based aid grew by 20.7 percent from 2011-12 to 2016-17 and by 52.2 percent from 2006-07 to 2016-17 …To put it in dollar terms, states allocated $233 million more in need-based grants in 2016-17 than they did the previous year, and just $18 million in additional non-need-based grants.
www.insidehighered.com
What to Expect When You’re Expecting Tech Transformation
Sessions at Educause touched on academic technology collaboration, transparency around data collection, transitioning to active learning and more.
By Lindsay McKenzie and Mark Lieberman
… This year’s Educause Annual Conference, which brought together technology leaders at institutions and companies to collectively confront uncertainty over the roles digital tools can and should play in the future of higher education. Whether it’s flipping classrooms to encourage active learning, streamlining options for online assessment, tackling tough questions about data transparency or testing new applications of AI and blockchain, the path forward is murky, particularly when buzzwords and trends come and go with increasing frequency. Inside Higher Ed and “Inside Digital Learning” spent much of last week attending sessions, sitting in on meetings and absorbing the spirit of innovation. Here’s a look at what we found.