University System News:
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UGA Weather Network Provides Vital Data to National Weather Service
Sharon Dowdy
The University of Georgia’s 86 weather stations record data 24 hours a day, seven days a week across Georgia. Farmers use this data to help them determine when to plant and treat their crops. During Hurricane Michael, the system helped the National Weather Service to track the storm and save lives. “Many of the National Weather Service’s sites stopped working as the storm moved through the area,” said Pam Knox, an agricultural climatologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and interim director of the university’s weather network. “Afterwards, the National Weather Service specifically mentioned to me how much they appreciated being able to use our network data to monitor the storm conditions when their own stations went down.” …“During Hurricane Michael, the National Weather Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Hurricane Center all wanted our data, and they wanted it yesterday,” Knox said. “We were getting bombed with requests and our weather network was the only one reliably operating in the area being hit by the hurricane.”
www.spoke.com
BestColleges.com Names 2018 Schools of Distinction Recipients
With a consistent increase in the number of online degree programs offered around the country, BestColleges.com honors excellence in online higher education
BestColleges.com, a leading provider of college planning resources and higher education research, today announced the recipients of its second annual Schools of Distinction award. This honor recognizes colleges and universities who have dedicated themselves to developing quality online programs. Of the over 3,500 eligible universities in the United States, more than 2,000 offer online degree programs, and of these schools, 100 earned the Schools of Distinction honor. This year, 15 schools received a gold standing, 26 silver, and 59 bronze. Recipients of the Schools of Distinction represent the top 10 percent of all online colleges nationwide. To be considered, colleges and universities must be a two or four year, accredited, not-for-profit institution that offer online degree programs ranked on BestColleges.com’s program rankings. Silver colleges and universities represent the 95th percentile of all online colleges ranked on BestColleges.com. All schools listed alphabetically: University of Georgia; Bronze colleges and universities round out the top 10% of BestColleges.com’s ranked online college. Some of the Bronze recipients include: Georgia Institute of Technology – Main Campus; University of West Georgia
www.albanyherald.com
GSW, Ga. Military College sign articulation agreement
Students can transition associate’s degree from GMC to GSW care management program
From Staff Reports
AMERICUS — Georgia Southwestern State University and Georgia Military College signed a new articulation agreement on GSW’s campus Thursday that is designed to ensure a smooth transition from associate’s degree programs at GMC to GSW’s new Long-Term Care Management program. Graduates with the LTCM degree will have the managerial, budgetary and communication skills necessary in the health management field. The degree prepares graduates to assist patients and families to connect with community resources, the transition from hospital to home, and manage the care of residents in an institutional setting. “We are excited to partner with Georgia Military College in educating the caregivers our aging and disabled communities desperately need,” GSW President Neal Weaver said in a GSW news release. “We hope that in simplifying the transition from institution to institution, more students are encouraged to pursue long-term care as a career.” Unique to the GSW campus is the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving, where the creation of LTCM degrees began. …“We are excited to expand our partnership with Georgia Southwestern to include their bachelor’s degree program in long-term care management that is offered through their College of Nursing and Health Sciences,” Caldwell said. “This expanded partnership will provide additional transfer opportunities for our students to pursue four-year degrees and provide an excellent opportunity through which GMC graduates can receive training in order to contribute to society as a health care professional.”
www.thebrunswicknews.com
College to host Coastal Science Symposium
By LAUREN MCDONALD
College of Coastal Georgia will host a Coastal Science Symposium on Friday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Campus Center. The event will explore coastal and marine science research and will include a panel discussion with coastal science experts, a student research showcase and information fair. “The symposium provides a forum for our students to exchange ideas with coastal researchers, managers, advocates and the broader community,” said Tate Holbrook, professor of biology and coordinator of the Coastal Ecology program, in a press release. “Whether it is collecting scientific data or organizing a beach cleanup, everyone can learn from one another and get inspired to work together on behalf of the Georgia coast.” …The college recently launched an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science degree that complements the Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences degree with a concentration in Coastal Ecology.
www.emanuelcountylive.com
EGSC biology students attend workshop in Atlanta
http://emanuelcountylive.com/2018/11/egsc-biology-students-attend-workshop-in-atlanta/
by KATELYN MOORE
On Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, Associate Professor of Biology Dr. John Cadle and Chair of the East Georgia State College Biology Department Dr. David Chevalier attended the Careers in Science and Medicine: Workshops and Recruitment Fair in Atlanta with five EGSC Bachelor of Science in Biology program students. Yamin Chhipa, Khadijah Johnson, Susanna Hall, Fiza Chhipa and Lesilie Harbin attended the workshop, and the trip was sponsored by the new Pre-Professional Student Club at EGSC. “This trip was the first activity for the new EGSC Pre-Professional Student Club,” added Dr. Chevalier. “The goal of this club is to provide students with opportunities to learn about careers in the medical and healthcare fields. We are planning additional activities and trips in order to help plan students’ applications to professional programs in healthcare.”
www.ajc.com
For Kennesaw State student, ending campus hazing is personal
By Eric Stirgus
For Kennesaw State University senior Juliana Piazza, ending hazing on college campuses became very personal a year ago. On Feb. 4, 2017, her cousin, Timothy, died two days after a drinking party at a fraternity house at Penn State University, where he was a student. Tim was pledging to join Beta Theta Pi fraternity. A grand jury found Piazza, 19, died as a direct result of “reckless conduct” of members of the fraternity, aided by the permissive atmosphere fostered by Penn State’s Interfraternity Council. Juliana Piazza organized a meeting Monday on campus where Tim’s mother, Evelyn, and Rae Ann Gruver, whose son, Maxwell, an 18-year-old from Roswell, died after an alleged hazing incident at Louisiana State University, spoke about the dangers of hazing. The parents are part of an organization called Parents United to Stop Hazing and Piazza thought “it would be an important message to be heard at Kennesaw.”
www.thegeorgeanne.com
Student Government Association passes diversity and inclusion resolution
http://www.thegeorgeanne.com/camayak-content/article_455c7339-e7b3-55c8-b16c-e86cbec5f637.html
By Rachel Adams, The George-Anne staff
The diversity and inclusion resolution proposed by a Student Government Association senator was passed Nov. 3. According to a previous George-Anne article, KeyShawn Housey, SGA senator-at-large, introduced a proposal to promote and improve discussion regarding diversity and inclusion at the solidarity walk on Oct. 19. Housey later held a listening session on Oct. 22 to discuss and answer questions about the resolution. The resolution reads: “The Georgia Southern University Student Government Association supports the implementation of an ethnicity and diversity training curriculum and providing students and staff the platform to speak their grievances regarding race, diversity and inclusion.” Housey said in an email that as of Saturday, the resolution was passed by a United States Government Association as university legislation and that all its contents have now been put into effect University-wide. “I have been notified that members of the administration have read the legislation and are beginning to work on their role in its implementation,” Housey said. “I expect that myself and President Steele will work closely with them throughout the process.” Students will also have a chance to be involved in the upcoming changes by providing their feedback and opinions. The President’s Cabinet, Presidential Diversity Advisory Council and the SGA must provide a report on the progress of race relations at GS, which will be completed based on feedback from students and faculty.
www.diverseeducation.com
Savannah State Announces Layoff of 26 Faculty Members due to Declining Enrollment
by Tiffany Pennamon
Savannah State University (SSU) announced plans to lay off 26 non-tenured faculty members due to budget cuts tied to declining student enrollment and state-allocated funding. The affected faculty members will stay on through the 2018-19 academic year and will not have their contracts renewed for the 2019-20 year. Individuals will receive transition assistance and be eligible to apply for future opportunities at SSU or other institutions within the University System of Georgia (USG). “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,” said SSU president Dr. Cheryl D. Dozier in a letter to faculty and staff. SSU is the oldest public historically Black college or university (HBCU) in Georgia.
www.bizjournals.com
Georgia Tech names new director for Advanced Technology Development Center
By David Allison – Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech said Monday it’s named John Avery as its next director of its Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) business incubator. The announcement follows a four-month national search for a new leader at ATDC following the departure of Jen Bonnett, who left in June 2018 to become the Savannah Economic Development Authority’s vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship. Most recently, Avery — a Georgia Tech graduate — was engineering group manager of Panasonic Automotive Systems’ Panasonic Innovation Center at the Georgia Tech campus. As director of the ATDC, Avery will lead a team of 26 full- and part-time staff and advisors who run ATDC’s various initiatives.
www.athensceo.com
UGA Focuses on Building a Healthier Georgia through Collaborative Leadership
Staff Report From Georgia CEO
The Athens Community Council on Aging is a repository for services geared to help older adults and their families with issues like health and wellness, hunger and transportation. The building on Hoyt Street that houses the council sees a steady stream of partners that have been cultivated from nonprofit organizations, state agencies and the University of Georgia. It can be difficult to manage groups with such a wide variety of interests and accompanying viewpoints. As a participant in UGA’s Public Health Leadership Academy, ACCA director of operations Erin Beasley developed tools to help her more skillfully balance the role of each outside group so they can be better partners. “The range of partnerships you manage in the public health sphere is so broad, to accomplish anything everyone has to come together and work towards common goals,” Beasley says. “That can sometimes pose a challenge.” “The academy provided concrete tools I can apply each and every day at my job, both in managing our staff and our partnerships.” The University of Georgia J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development and College of Public Health, with financial support from Georgia Power, created the Public Health Leadership Academy (PHLA) in 2015.
www.futurity.org
FINANCIAL EDUCATION COULD EASE STUDENT LOAN STRESS
Estimates indicate that a quarter of American adults currently have student loans to pay off, and most don’t have the financial literacy to manage their debt successfully. The average student in the Class of 2016 has $37,172 in student loan debt. More needs to be done to educate borrowers about managing debt as well as the various repayment options that might be available to them, says Lu Fan, assistant professor of personal financial planning at the University of Missouri. “A majority of borrowers, 55 percent, reported being worried about their student loans; however, only 30 percent of borrowers said that they had received financial education about paying off their student loans,” Fan says. “Moreover, only 40 percent of borrowers reported having financial influence from their parents. Given the number of people who need student loans to attend college, we need to do better at educating borrowers.” Using the 2015 National Financial Capability Study dataset, Fan and Swarn Chatterjee, professor at the University of Georgia, found that having student loan debt caused mental stress for borrowers. The researchers looked at more than 2,600 responses from the dataset, focusing on respondents who had a student loan, were between the ages of 24 and 65, were no longer a student, were employed, and were the primary decision makers in their household.
Higher Education News:
www.albanyherald.com
Georgia ranks No.1 state for business for sixth time
Site Selection again names Georgia top state for business
From Staff Reports
Gov. Nathan Deal announced Monday that Georgia’s business climate has been ranked first in the nation for the sixth consecutive year making Georgia the first state to hold the No. 1 ranking for six consecutive years under leadership of the same governor. This ranking was made by Site Selection, an economic development trade publication. “For six years now, Georgia’s business climate has been ranked No. 1 in the nation, as people from all over the country have come to our communities to find opportunity, jobs, hope and prosperity,” Deal said in a press release. “Earning this distinction six consecutive times speaks to the immense strength of our business-friendly environment and the value of the strategic investments we’ve made across our state. Today’s announcement is the result of exceptional collaboration between public- and private-sector partners who create economic opportunities in Georgia’s communities, as well as conservative policies that attract more and more business to our state each year. I appreciate Site Selection once again recognizing Georgia with this honor, and we are proud of the foundation that we have built and maintained for over half a decade. …“A six-year top business climate winning streak is highly unusual,” Mark Arend, editor-in-chief of Site Selection said in a news release. “But it stands to reason, given Gov. Deal’s commitment to making Georgia a competitive location for business early in his administration and every year since. Capital investors tell us the state delivers the fiscal soundness, logistics infrastructure, competitive business costs and workers they require today and in the future.” Deal was joined at a news conference by Arend, Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson, and former Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioners Attorney General Chris Carr and Chris Cummiskey.
www.insidehighered.com
More Students Are Being Treated for Mental Health Issues
By Paul Fain
College students increasingly are being diagnosed and treated for mental health issues, according to a new study published by the American Psychiatric Association. The study included survey data from 155,000 students at 196 college campuses. It found that the rate of respondents being treated for mental health issues in the past year increased to 34 percent in 2017 from 19 percent in 2007, while the percentage of students with lifetime diagnoses increased to 36 percent from 22 percent.
www.diverseeducation.com
Study: Students are Becoming More Politically Engaged
by Walter Hudson
As millions of Americans head to the polls across the country today, a new study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has found an increased activism among students at more than half of all secondary schools across the U.S. The findings are revealing, highlighting the attitudes of school counselors and college admission officers who note an increased political engagement among college-bound students and those already enrolled at colleges and universities across the nation. …According to NACAC officials, the findings are among several new surveys administered by the association that explores the effects of today’s political rhetoric on college-bound students and examines how the political climate is affecting the college admissions process.
www.diverseeducation.com
Harvard University Faculty and Staff Required to Complete Sexual Assault Prevention Training Module
by Monica Levitan
Harvard University provost Dr. Alan M. Garber and executive vice president Katie N. Lapp announced in an email that all faculty and staff will take a sexual assault prevention training module. The training was created to remind Harvard’s faculty and staff about campus policy and resources and requires them to complete the 45-minute program by Dec. 17, according to The Harvard Crimson. After the emergence of the #MeToo movement, Harvard government professor Jorge I. Dominguez was accused of sexual harassment by 18 women spanning nearly 40 years and banned well-known economics professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr. from being in his lab while the university investigated sexual harassment allegations against him. …Scenarios given in the training module are meant to represent possible experiences of Harvard affiliates. The training will only be deemed completed if faculty and staff receive 80 percent or higher on the assessment at the end of the program, The Harvard Crimson reported.
www.insidehighered.com
Feds Prod Universities to Address Website Accessibility Complaints
Universities are under legal pressure to make their websites fully accessible to people with disabilities, but is “fully” even possible?
By Lindsay McKenzie
Hundreds of colleges and universities across the country are currently under investigation by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights for failing to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities. Universities that receive federal financial aid are required by law to make reasonable accommodations to ensure their web content is accessible to everyone, including, but not limited to, people who are blind, deaf or have limited mobility. Awareness of the importance of web accessibility has grown among university leaders in recent years partly due to numerous well-publicized lawsuits. Yet ensuring that every aspect of a university’s sprawling web presence meets recommended web-accessibility standards remains a huge challenge. Part of the problem is the sheer volume of content universities have online, said Scott Lissner, Americans With Disabilities Act compliance officer at Ohio State University. Universities can have thousands of webpages, with hundreds of faculty members and staff constantly adding, removing or changing content. This “amoeba-like” quality makes it difficult to monitor content for accessibility, said Lissner.