University System News:
Savannah CEO
Staff Report From Savannah CEO
Georgia Southern University President Shelley C. Nickel, Gov. Nathan Deal, University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley and Board of Regents Chair Don Waters cut the ribbon to open the University’s new Health Professions Academic Building. All shared enthusiasm for the expansive new facility, which enables the University to provide exceptional education and training opportunities to help students succeed while addressing the healthcare needs of the region. “This new Health Professions Academic Building is not just a representation of our physical expansion here on the Armstrong Campus, it represents our commitment to training healthcare professionals to enter an area of great need in our region, in our state – even in our nation,” said Nickel. “This new 63,000 square-foot facility was built with a rapidly changing healthcare field in mind. It is designed to train healthcare providers in a state-of-the-art interprofessional environment that encourages a team-oriented approach to healthcare – an approach that has been shown to improve delivery of care and patient outcomes.”
The George-Anne
Georgia Southern’s Counseling Center wins two awards
By Tatiana Joseph-Saunders
The Georgia Southern University’s Counseling Center won two awards for its internship program and director at a recent February 2019 conference. The Counseling Center won the Clinical Program of the Year for its Doctoral Internship for Health Services in Psychology and the Executive Director, Jodi Caldwell, won the College Counseling Director of the Year. The award is a meaningful recognition as a noteworthy program requires every staff member to work hard to provide a unique and valuable learning experience for interns, Caldwell said.
The George-Anne
Georgia Southern University’s Southern Leaders win gold level Excellence Award
By Elizabeth Gross
Georgia Southern University’s Southern Leaders Program won a gold level Excellence Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. Southern Leaders is an organization on campus that teaches its members leadership skills while helping out the Statesboro community through volunteer service and special projects. NASPA is an association for the advancement, health and sustainability for student affairs. NASPA recognizes the achievements of members who are positively influencing college education through programs, services and administration, according to a recent press release. Excellence Award candidates are judged based on their impact on student learning and success, relevance to institutional mission and success in addressing student needs.
Athens Banner-Herald
UGA has strong showing at Georgia Bio Awards
Allyson Mann
The University of Georgia fared well at the Georgia Bio Awards, with three awards recognizing people and programs either at or affiliated with the university. The awards were presented by Georgia Bio, the association for Georgia’s life sciences industry, at its 2019 annual awards dinner held Friday in Atlanta. Georgia Bio members include pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies; medical centers; universities and research institutes; government groups; and other business organizations involved in the development of life sciences-related products and services. This year, awards were presented to the International Biomedical Regulatory Sciences Program at the UGA College of Pharmacy and Benjamin Boward, a Ph.D. student in biochemistry and molecular biology at the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Another winner, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc., is a longtime industry partner of UGA.
Americus Times-Recorder
GSW announces nursing program expansion to address South Georgia’s critical nursing shortage
By Beth Alston
AMERICUS — Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) recently announced an expansion of its nursing program that will effectively double the number of students entering the program each year to help address the critical shortage of nurses in the state of Georgia. Beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year, GSW’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences will open a second nursing enrollment period that will allow an additional cohort of students to enter the program during spring semester. Currently, a single enrollment period each fall admits 40 students into the nursing program. The second enrollment period will double the number of enrolled students and nursing graduates.
See also:
Albany Herald
Georgia Southwestern State University to expand nursing program
Americus university effectively doubling number of nursing students to help address critical shortages
Albany Herald
ASU alumni chapter puts out call to grads, supporters
Albany alumni group involved in community service projects
By Janice Coats-Hard
ALBANY — “My Albany State, Your Albany State, and Our Albany State” are the words of imaginary voices that are echoing throughout southwest Georgia, across the state, nation and the world. Perhaps these voices, which emanate from a collaboration of strong ASU advocates who are stakeholders, alums, students, entrepreneurs, etc., have special connections to the ASU story. On this note, the Albany Alumni Chapter of Albany State University National Alumni Association has been demonstrating its stake in the ASU story through means of executing proactive visibility in the local community by rendering supportive services. It is noted that many of our city’s employees are productive ASU graduates who are making a remarkable difference.
The Brunswick News
College hosts first Coastal Scholars Showcase
By LAUREN MCDONALD
Faculty and staff at the College of Coastal Georgia are constantly engaged in a wide variety of research. Often, though, they’re so busy in their own work that there’s not adequate time to share the scholarship with their colleagues. The inaugural Coastal Scholars Showcase, held Friday at the college, aimed to change that and to create a collaborative environment for faculty and staff to share their work. The event also served as a resource for community members and students to join in on the collaboration.
WTOC
Georgia State Patrol looking to fill around 100 positions
For quite some time, there has been a shortage of Georgia State Troopers. Last year, Georgia State Patrol told us they were trying to fill 150 trooper positions. We spoke to GSP in Statesboro on Friday. They say there are still about 100 positions that need to be filled, and they need people to apply. Currently, there are several trooper schools going on throughout the state. Right now, GSP is actively recruiting and getting ready for the schools coming up in the fall. “We have our recruiters out on social media trying to get the world out to let people know that we do need applicants and we need people to fill positions that will be vacant,” said Capt. Billy Hitchens, Troop F Commander. …GSP has been giving people an inside look at the job. People interested have been given a chance to ride along with a trooper to see what the job is about. They have also teamed up with Georgia Southern University. “We are also doing an internship program with Georgia Southern University. We have two interns currently. We feel like that would be a good way to get people in the door to see what we do and see if this is a job they really wish to do.” Hitchens says sometimes we always see the negative side of the job, but having people get an inside look helps them to see the positive side as well.
Daily Report
Alston & Bird Partners With Georgia State University on Legal Analytics
‘I don’t think we just want to limit ourselves to waiting for the market to try and deliver to us. We want to think more about it,’ said Alston & Bird senior director of legal technology innovation Nola Vanhoy.
By Frank Ready
Alston & Bird is headed back to school. The Atlanta-based firm is partnering with the Legal Analytics Lab at Georgia State University to receive some hands-on tutoring in data analytics and related tools such as machine learning and text mining. In return, the firm’s attorneys will guest-lecture in graduate-level classes and participate in analytics programs on campus. Beyond the mutual educational value, the partnership grants Alston some independence from the whims of the legal tech marketplace, where attorneys can sometimes be at the mercy of vendors. As law schools dive deeper into the technology sphere, a symbiotic relationship with firms could combine the practical experience and scientific exploration needed to refine the next generation of legal technology. While Alston won’t be turning its back on third-party analytics products any time soon, the firm’s senior director of legal technology innovation Nola Vanhoy said they are looking to dive a bit deeper with their approach to tech.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s new leadership flexes muscles, and regents undergo shake-up
By Greg Bluestein Eric Stirgus
Three mainstays of the powerful board that oversees Georgia’s public colleges and universities were effectively ousted as Gov. Brian Kemp and his allies try to assert more control over the state’s higher education system. Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan leveraged a technical error Nathan Deal made in his last days as governor to challenge his appointment of three longtime members of the Board of Regents to new seven-year terms.The fallout of the move, which crystallized late Thursday, meant that Dean Alford, Don Leebern Jr. and Richard Tucker will soon no longer serve on the board, one of the most coveted assignments in state government. It’s not immediately clear when their terms will end. Leebern, a Columbus liquor magnate and wealthy benefactor, is the board’s second-longest-serving member in state history, and he’s long been intertwined in every major decision involving the higher education system — particularly those involving his alma mater, the University of Georgia.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Get School with Maureen Downey
Given soaring costs, can students work their way through college?
Whenever I write about the lack of need-based college aid in Georgia, readers assure me students can work their way through school. After all, they did it, sharing their recollections of mowing lawns or flipping burgers to afford tuition. Such statements overlook the soaring price of a college degree today, which can’t be met by a job at Burger King. According to College Board data, tuition at a private college was $15,160 in 1987-1988. Thirty years later, in 2017-2018, annual tuition averaged $34,740. For public colleges, tuition jumped from an average of $3,190 a year in 1987-1988 to $9,970 in 2017-2018. In 2010-2011, students who graduated from top public campuses in the state, such as the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech, borrowed an average of $16,705. By 2015-16, average borrowing had climbed to $21,907. Only 30 percent of low-income students in the University System get either the HOPE or Zell Miller scholarships, compared to 42 percent of middle- and upper-income students. Nearly one-half of University System of Georgia students are getting federal loans to pay for school.
As my AJC colleague Eric Stirgus recently reported, the Georgia Legislature may again tackle the issue of need-based aid:
Higher Education News:
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Food Pantries at College Campuses Across The U.S. Tackle Student Food Insecurity
by Monica Levitan
Low-income students around the country are enrolling in colleges at increasing rates, and 39 percent of undergraduates were at or below 130 percent of the 2016 federal poverty line, according to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. Universities in Kentucky and Southern Indiana have opened on-campus food pantries and begun food rescue programs in attempts to meet students’ basic needs. Students at the University of Louisville recently opened a food pantry on the campus, adding to the list of similar programs at local colleges like Bellarmine University, Spalding University and IU-Southeast. Over 640 colleges and universities around the country operate food pantries on campus, according to data from the College and University Food Bank Alliance.