University System News:
WSAV
Some Georgia Southern students’ tuition payments affected by the partial government shutdown
By: Khalil Maycock
We’ve told you how Coast Guard members are not being paid during this partial government shutdown, and now, if they’re in college, their tuition won’t be paid either. That’s because their Tuition Assistance program has been suspended.This suspension affects five students at Georgia Southern University. However, William Gammon, the Military Veterans Outreach Coordinator said the university will not remove the students from classes, and they don’t want to punish them for something out of their control.
The Herald-Gazette
Institute helps Gordon State launch workforce development collaboration
Posted by Walter Geiger in Features
Gordon State College is enhancing students’ career opportunities with a regional workforce development collaboration the college established through the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Employers, educators and community leaders in Gordon State’s 14-county primary service region are partnering with the college to better align degree and job readiness programs with west-central Georgia’s workforce needs. The Institute of Government worked with Gordon State administrators to identify in-demand job skills in the region between metro Atlanta and Macon and organize a 34-member steering committee that implemented strategies to create an effective workforce development program. Dr. Kirk A. Nooks, Gordon State president and steering committee member, says the collaboration opens new possibilities for students, the college and the regional economy.
13WMAZ
Georgia Southwestern University announces Promise Scholarship
The scholarship guarantees funds to incoming freshmen who live in the 56-county southwest region of Georgia.
Author: Kayla Solomon
TAYLOR COUNTY, Ga. — Taylor County High School seniors are almost at the finish line. For many of them, college is next. In an assembly Thursday morning, Georgia Southwestern University president Neal Weaver announced the Southwestern Promise scholarship for seniors who live within their 56-county map. To qualify, students must live in southwest Georgia and apply to the university. Students will get $1,000 in scholarship money if they get an 1100 on the SAT or 22 on the ACT and $2,000 for a 1200 on the SAT or 25 on the ACT. One student hoping to be a recipient is senior Trent Bennett. “I want to major in nursing and I looked it up on Georgia Southwestern’s website. They have a really good nursing school, it’s really good over there.”Georgia Southwestern president Neal Weaver says this scholarship money can be paired with others.
41NBC
STUDENTS IMPACTED BY HURRICANE MICHAEL RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIP AT GSW
By Tanya Modersitzki
Georgia Southwestern State University is redesigning its Southwestern Promise Scholarship. It is now geared towards helping students whose families were impacted by Hurricane Michael. “We know that Southwest Georgia was hit by Hurricane Michael, and the economic damage was tremendous,” GSW President Neal Weaver said. He estimates the storm cost the region more than a billion dollars in lost economic growth and activity.
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
Savannah State University to Offer Certificate Program in Virtual Forensic Science
Historically Black Savannah State University has added a certificate program in virtual forensic science to its academic offerings. The new program will include the study of evidence processing, documentation, and analysis. The new certificate initiative builds upon the forensic sciences degree program, but will be open to students in any major and those employed in law enforcement, military, forensic science, criminal justice, or homeland security. The program will provide immersive learning experience with the 3D virtual reality crime scene housed at Savannah State.
Daily Report
UGA Law Launches Fund in Teaching Tribute to Justice Hines
Dean Bo Rutledge chose a gathering of the Georgia Council of Superior Court Judges to announce plans for the Be Kind Fund to support a jurist-in-residence program.
By Katheryn Tucker
The University of Georgia School of Law plans to honor the late Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice P. Harris Hines with a teaching and scholarship program called the “Be Kind Fund,” which already has about $50,000 in contributions.
Athens CEO
UGA Climbs 12 Spots in New R&D Ranking
Staff Report From Athens CEO
The University of Georgia climbed 12 spots to No. 28 in the 2019 College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D, which highlights the top university recipients of research dollars in the social and behavioral sciences. UGA researchers received more than $16.3 million in social and behavioral sciences funding in fiscal year 2017, the most current available data, making it the top-ranked school in the state.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pay gaps persist for female professors at Georgia colleges
By Eric Stirgus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kennesaw State University professor Mary “Meg” Murray knew the risks when she sued her employers a decade ago. She believed she was a victim of gender discrimination after discovering a male faculty member with a similar work history had a higher salary. Murray thought she had done everything she was supposed to do to earn a fair salary: She published extensive research, coordinated faculty programs, chaired committees and received top marks on evaluations. The discovery stung. “I felt used,” Murray, an information systems professor, said in a recent interview. Murray knew the lawsuit could stall her career prospects, but she believed it was important to raise awareness to what she saw as a longstanding problem: male professors being paid more than women. “I hoped it would bring a little attention to the pay gap,” said Murray. “I don’t think I achieved that, but I tried.” A decade after filing her lawsuit, pay gaps still persist between men and women on some of the country’s largest campuses, including some in Georgia. Kennesaw State, for example, pays male full professors an average salary of $94,173 and women $87,202, an 8 percent difference, according to an internal study completed for the university last November. A 2015 Georgia Tech study found the average salary for male full professors was $145,011 in comparison to $126,366 for women, a 15 percent difference. Nationally, the gap is between 10 and 18 percent, according to some research.
Savannah Morning News
Georgia Film Academy aims to train high schoolers for careers in Savannah’s booming industry
By Ann Meyer
Jeff Stepakoff, the executive director of the Georgia Film Academy, is convinced the best way to create a sustainable film industry is through education. Film companies want to feel confident Georgia has the workforce to support their productions. “We, of course, want to create jobs and economic activity while the sun is shining, and we’re going to keep doing that, but we also want to really create something permanent, a permanent sustainable entertainment industry,” Stepakoff said. The best way to do that is to provide the gold standard in production training to Georgians.
From technician to instructor
To teach Georgians the Hollywood-style of making films and television shows, Stepakoff has recruited experienced technicians and turned them into first-rate instructors. They’re people like John Grace, who worked on TV shows and features like the movie “Independence Day” before being hired to teach the Georgia Film Academy’s two-semester film production program at Savannah Technical College. Grace said Savannah Tech’s film students range in age from high school to a 67-year-old student who hasn’t stopped working since he finished the program. The Georgia Film Academy program has “been able to get students on literally every film and TV show that’s come here,” he said.
Savannah Morning News
Savannah Tech teams up with Georgia Film Academy for on-set production assistant program
By Ann Meyer
John Grace, a veteran camera and lights operator who has launched training programs in digital production for high school and college students, moved to Savannah three years ago to share the wealth of his expertise. He helped to launch the Georgia Film Academy’s on-set production assistant program at Savannah Technical College to provide the pipeline of talent film and television companies expect. The hands-on training students receive in the program puts it in a class of its own, Grace said. “I think this is the best program available.”
Below the line training
Students work on-set during the program and are ready to go to work when they complete it. The Georgia Film Academy program offered at Savannah Technical College is designed to prepare students specifically for what he calls “below the line” positions in television and films. “Everybody wants to direct, but the thing is, this is a below the line program,” Grace said. Unlike the handful of above-the-line directors, cinematographers and screenwriters involved in most productions, hundreds of people are employed on sets in below the line positions, he said. While the entry-level film-industry position is production assistant, the industry employs people in about 110 different crafts within film productions, from set construction, makeup, wardrobe and barbering to working behind the camera or on lights and sound. “Entry level is production assistant, but on a big show, there are probably 400 people working within the production in different capacities,” Grace said.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Awards luncheon spotlights Georgia’s film industry success
By Maria Saporta – Contributing Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia’s film industry took top honors at Georgia Trend’s 100 Most Influential luncheon Jan. 22. Lee Thomas, deputy commissioner of the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office, was named Georgian of the Year by the magazine. She was introduced by former Gov. Nathan Deal, who received that honor in 2013. “About a decade ago, the film industry was about a $241 million industry,” Deal told the guests gathered at the Georgia Aquarium. “Thanks to our honoree, we estimate that the current economic impact to our state last year was $9.5 billion.” Deal went on to say that 92,000 Georgians now have jobs thanks to the film industry, and that the average salary paid to people working in film production is $84,000 a year.” In her talk at the luncheon, Thomas provided a history of how Georgia has become the nation’s top destination for movie and television production. It started in 1973 when then-Gov. Jimmy Carter started the Georgia Film Office. …Then the state of Georgia passed an enhanced package of film tax credits in 2008 – the last year of the Gov. Sonny Perdue’s administration – to retain what production was still left. When Gov. Deal got into office, he nurtured the film industry – a cornerstone of Georgia’s rise as a place to do business (Site Selection Magazine has designated Georgia as the top state for business for the past six consecutive years). …Deal also started the Georgia Film Academy to help train Georgians to work for the industry – saying he wanted to be sure the crews hired by the movie industry were Georgians.
Albany Herald
Coastal Plain Regional Library System hosts library advocacy workshop
South Georgia area library representatives attend workshop to learn how to advocate for their facilities
By Rachel Lord, Staff Correspondent
The Coastal Plain Regional Library system headquarters in Tifton hosted their first library advocacy workshop on Wednesday. The workshop was open to libraries within the CPRL system, libraries outside of the system and members of the general public. Twenty six people attended the workshop, including representatives from the CPRL system’s six county libraries, the Lee County Library, the South Georgia Regional Library in Valdosta, the Houston County Library and three people from the general public. Sandy Hester, director of the CPRL system, said she wanted to host the workshop to “equip (library) supporters with the tools they need” to show other community members and elected officials why libraries are so important. “Local funding is extremely critical to each one of our branches in our system and to libraries across the state,” Hester said. “The best way (to get that funding) is not for library staff to go to county commission meetings and city council meetings and board of education meetings, but to grow our support base and to give them the tools they need.” Hester reached out to the Georgia Public Library Service, which oversees state and federal funding and provides resources for public libraries in the state. Ben Carter, the assistant state librarian for library development with GPLS, came down to lead the workshop.
Albany Herald
Sandy Hester to be honored at public reception after receiving statewide award for library service
By Rachel Lord, Staff Correspondent
Sandy Hester, director of the Coastal Plain Regional Library System, recently received the Librarian of the Year Award from the Georgia Public Library System. Hester’s award was announced at the quarterly public library director meeting in December. The Librarian of the Year is one of three awards given out by GPLS. Hester said she was in complete shock when she realized she had been selected for the honor. …GPLS also gives out awards for Library of the Year and Library Champion of the Year. The three awards honor different aspects of library service.
The Red & Black
‘What MLK stood for’: United Group of Artists brings third annual MLK Day Parade and Music Fest
Grace Townsend | Contributor
Approaching the corner of Washington Street and North Hull Street, crowds of people of all walks of life come into view, ranging from young families to grandparents lounging in chairs lining the street. One handheld sign truly set the mood of the event: “Positive signs only.” As the parade began, signs with messages such as “The Dream Lives” and “Love More” colored the crowd. And thus began the third annual MLK Day Parade and Music Fest on Jan. 21, 2019. “In Athens, there is a desire to foster a community,” attendee Elizabeth Lyle said. With an expected volume of over 1,000 attendees according to Mokah-Jasmine Johnson, co-founder of the United Group of Artists, the city of Athens came together to celebrate diversity in a uniform way. An abundance of races, ages and genders came together to support the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. …Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services was one of the vendors which awaited the influx of traffic from the parade. “The entire community of the disabled folks are so unheard, so we are always looking for opportunities to get the word out,” Theresa Rice, GLASS Outreach Specialist, said. The concept of bringing attention to the unheard perfectly captures the essence of the event. The attendees brought signs and beliefs about spreading ideas that might not have a large voice in the noisy world. Ideas such as love and unity are muddled during the time of government shutdowns and political turmoil.
GPB
‘A Generation Exposed To Everything, Everywhere’: Why College Students Struggle With Mental Health
By LEIGHTON ROWELL & VIRGINIA PRESCOTT
Amid the stress of college finals last semester, two Georgia Tech students died by suicide. National data indicate the problem is not unique to one school. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college student, and about 1 in 12 students has a suicide plan, according to the National College Health Assessment. Georgia Tech has been working to address mental health concerns on campus, allocating millions of dollars to expand resources. Third-year student Collin Spencer has advocated for those efforts as director the Mental Health Student Coalition. He joined “On Second Thought” in studio for a discussion about campus culture and changes he hopes to see before graduating. (w/audio)
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech students readying rocket test at Spaceport Camden
By Dave Williams – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Members of America’s next generation of aerospace engineers expect to gain some hands-on experience this spring at a planned commercial spaceport in southeastern Georgia. Two students in the School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech have applied to the Federal Aviation Administration for authorization to conduct a test launch of an eight-foot solid-fuel rocket at Spaceport Camden. “At the university, you learn textbook material,” said Abhraneel “Neel” Dutta, launch vehicle manager for the Yellow Jackets Space Program. …The Georgia Tech students plan to fire a 26-pound rocket four feet in diameter to an altitude of up to 12,000 feet. The main purpose is to test a control system the students have designed in the forward end of the vehicle that features four fins, said Alton “A.J.” Schultheis, an aerospace engineering major at Georgia Tech and the mission operations manager.
U.S. News & World Report
Georgia Official Seeks to Replace Criticized Voting Machines
Georgia’s new elections chief on Wednesday asked lawmakers for $150 million to replace the state’s outdated electronic voting machines.
BY BEN NADLER, Associated Press
Georgia’s new elections chief asked lawmakers Wednesday for $150 million to replace the state’s outdated electronic voting machines. In doing so, he all but closed the door on a hand-marked paper balloting system that experts say is cheapest and most secure. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Georgia legislators meeting for budget hearings that a new voting system is his top priority … Raffensperger’s presentation followed a study committee’s recommendation earlier this month to use ballot-marking devices over hand-marked paper ballots by a 13-3 vote … The three votes for hand-marked paper ballots came from two Democratic lawmakers and the commission’s lone cybersecurity expert, Georgia Tech professor Wenke Lee. Lee explained why he favored hand-marked paper ballots in an opinion piece published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week. “Paper provides the trail of evidence for post-election audits to determine if software caused an error in election outcomes and does so without re-running an entire election. Paper is human readable and manually countable when needed,” Lee wrote.
Tifton Gazette
Spirit of the Entrepreneur: Domino’s
By Jason A. Smith
Being an entrepreneur isn’t always easy, and everyone does it a little differently. Some open online stores, while others open brick-and-mortar storefronts. Some go all in and invest their lives into a new venture, while others start a new business as something to do on the side. Regardless of the type, entrepreneurs help drive the local economy. Jason Teel, supervisor, started his career in the pizza business when he was in high school. Teel worked weekends for his father, Ricky Teel, president of RT Pizza. By the time he was a senior in high school, he knew he wanted to go into the family business. …After embarking on a career with his father and Domino’s, Teel earned an associate’s degree at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College before attending Valdosta State University and earning a bachelor’s degree in business management.
Higher Education News:
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
New Report Urges Nation to Strengthen STEM Programs at Minority Serving Institutions
A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has called for education leaders, policymakers, and the private sector to take a range of actions to strengthen STEM programs and degree attainment at the nation’s minority serving institutions (MSIs). “Given the projected demographic profile of our nation, the educational outcomes and STEM readiness of students of color will have direct implications for America’s economic growth, national security, and global prosperity,” said Lorelle Espinosa, co-chair of the committee that wrote the report, and vice president for research at the American Council on Education.
The Washington Post
Colleges have been under pressure to admit needier kids. It’s backfiring.
By Catherine Rampell, Columnist
Pressure has been building on colleges to stop chasing the same small subset of privileged, highly test-prepped applicants and start admitting needier kids. But new research suggests that the particular form this pressure has taken — including popular rankings based on Pell enrollment — has been at least partly backfiring. In fact, at some of the schools most celebrated for providing opportunities for poor students, admissions and financial aid offices appear to be worsening their neglect of the low- and middle-income kids we want them to help. For decades, U.S. News & World Report rankings distorted schools’ decisions about which students to admit and how to allocate their scarce aid dollars (often throwing them at richer kids with higher test scores). Then, a second generation of rankings came along, one intended to measure how hard schools were working to enroll high-potential, low-income students who could benefit most from a college degree.
NBC News
Asian-American college students have highest amount of unmet financial need, study finds
“But certainly in dollar figures across the board … Asian-American students have the most dollar value on that need than every other race.”
By Mythili Sampathkumar
Asian-American students face the largest gap between what they must pay for college and the financial resources available to them, a new study has found. The December study examined Department of Education data for the 2015-2016 academic year and looked at “unmet need,” a measure of the “gap between the cost of college and all student resources that do not need to be repaid.” It found that while the average low-income student at a public four-year university had unmet need of $12,792, the average low-income Asian-American student at those schools had unmet need of $16,756. The trend held consistent no matter the student’s income level or the type of school attended, according to researchers at the Washington-based Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), though the size of the gap varied.
Inside Higher Ed
‘Higher Ed’s Most Important Watchdog’?
Two new governors want to raise the profile of state coordinating boards, but legislators and public flagship universities may balk at the idea.
By Greg Toppo
At least two newly elected Democratic governors have vowed to highlight and strengthen the role of coordinating boards, saying they are essential to keeping state higher education systems running equitably and efficiently. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has vowed to create a new version of the California Postsecondary Education Commission, which has been defunct since 2011. And in Colorado, Jared Polis, the new governor, formerly a longtime Democratic congressman, has vowed to strengthen his state’s existing board. In both states, the new leaders want statewide bodies to better coordinate how the various sectors of higher education — from community colleges to research universities — work together to serve the states’ residents. Coordinating boards are often charged with deciding how to allocate limited state funds and ensuring that a state’s collective postsecondary institutions are serving its interests, which sometimes put them at odds with the leaders of individual institutions like flagship research universities, which often have national and international ambitions and interests.
Reuters
U.S. universities unplug from China’s Huawei under pressure from Trump
Heather Somerville, Jane Lanhee Lee
Top U.S. universities are ditching telecom equipment made by Huawei Technologies and other Chinese companies to avoid losing federal funding under a new national security law backed by the Trump administration. U.S. officials allege Chinese telecom manufacturers are producing equipment that allows their government to spy on users abroad, including Western researchers working on leading-edge technologies. Beijing and the Chinese companies have repeatedly denied such claims. The University of California at Berkeley has removed a Huawei video-conferencing system, a university official said, while the UC campus in Irvine is working to replace five pieces of Chinese-made audio-video equipment. Other schools, such as the University of Wisconsin, are in the process of reviewing their suppliers. UC San Diego, meanwhile, has gone a step further.