University System News:
Athens CEO
University System of Georgia Foundation Raises More Than $900,000 for Need-based Scholarships
Staff Report From Georgia CEO
The 15th annual Regents’ Scholarship Gala, hosted by the University System of Georgia (USG) Foundation, raised more than $900,000 to support and provide need-based scholarships for students at all 26 USG institutions. Governor Brian Kemp also presented former First Lady Sandra Deal with a lifetime achievement award for her contributions to public education and literacy in Georgia.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AJC On Campus: Students honored, Emory gets big check, KSU’s new look
By Eric Stirgus
Last week, we told you about Gov. Brian Kemp leveraging a technical error Nathan Deal apparently made in his last days as governor to challenge the appointment of three longtime members of the Board of Regents to new seven-year terms. For now, all three are still on the board and they came to last week’s monthly meeting. It was a full agenda, with one surprise at the outset.Here’s our weekly AJC On Campus, a round up of some of what’s going on at metro Atlanta’s colleges and universities: Regents recap Georgia’s Board of Regents last week appointed Micheal Crafton as interim president of the University of West Georgia. The prior president, Kyle Marrero, was named president of Georgia Southern University. The board passed a motion issuing an exception to its policy regarding restrictions against a relative supervising another relative. Crafton’s wife teaches at the university, a University System of Georgia official said. …Arrests at board meeting Before the board got to business, nine people were arrested at the start of the meeting. They were there to protest the state’s policy that denies in-state tuition rates to undocumented students. … Regents gala nets major haul for scholarships The Regents reported last week raising more than $900,000 at its annual gala to provide needs-based scholarships at all 26 institutions. …Simply the best One more word concerning last week’s meeting. Well, a few more words. The board recognized a student from each of its 26 institutions for their work in the classroom as part of its annual Academic Recognition Day. …Kennesaw State’s new look Kennesaw State University on Monday unveiled its new logo, the first major change to the institution’s branded mark in more than 20 years, officials said. “The new logo capitalizes on the popularity of the athletics mark and adds the name of the University to create one unified logo.” …Coming this week A KSU student who says he’s the target of a racial social media post has scheduled a news conference Tuesday with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to discuss the “ongoing climate of race based hate and threats on campus,” according to a news release.
Middle Georgia CEO
Middle Georgia State to Offer Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management
A Bachelor of Science in Sport Management is joining Middle Georgia State University’s degree lineup. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the degree proposal at its February 12 meeting in Atlanta.
Edsurge
Across the Country, Universities Are Answering the Call for Innovation
By Dan Sommer
On the heels of strong job numbers and low unemployment throughout 2018, the hiring outlook for the year ahead maintains that momentum. Job creation continues to be up, with the U.S. labor department just last week reporting a record 7.3 million job openings in December 2018 and payroll growth at its highest since 2015. Yet, all of this good news nearly overshadows the reality that there is a finite pool of skilled workers for many of the fastest-growing roles, including software development engineers, business analysts, genetic counselors, and nurse practitioners. We need to move quickly to educate workers across the country for jobs in tech, finance, healthcare and more. And although not a formal scholarship, Georgia Tech’s low-cost computer science degree programs—built through partnerships with AT&T and Udacity—is making quality education affordable.
Gainesville Times
UNG surpasses own record for Fulbright semifinalists
Joshua Silavent
Perhaps it’s little wonder why Monica Pizano and Melissa Silva are such good friends. University of North Georgia seniors Monica Pizano, left, and Melissa Silva are two of 13 students selected as semi-finalists for Fulbright scholarships with hopes of studying abroad. 13 students is a record amount for the school.
The George-Anne
Georgia Southern student one of five nationwide to win leadership award
By Savannah Johnson
A Georgia Southern University student was one of only five students nationwide to win the 2019 Jordan Smith Undergraduate Fellowship making this the second year in a row that a GS student has received this honor. Senior Jessica ‘Riley’ Martinez is pursuing a psychology major and a double minor in French and information technology. She has been working with the First-Year Experience department for three years.
Athens Banner-Herald
$1.5 million initiative goes to upgrade labs across UGA’s campus
By Sam Fahmy
Labs and research support spaces across campus will be getting an upgrade, thanks to a $1.5 million presidential initiative that seeks to build on the university’s dramatic growth in research activity. Presidential renovation funds have been distributed to nine schools and colleges and will be used to upgrade labs and replace core equipment that enables faculty members to conduct research and be more competitive in seeking grant funding. Proposals were solicited from deans and chosen based on links to college and university strategic priorities, as well as implications for faculty recruitment efforts and grant funding opportunities. To advance the research mission of the university and attract and retain outstanding faculty, we must support state-of-the-art facilities that assist the faculty with their groundbreaking work,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “I am pleased the institution has been able to help several faculty with critical needs, thanks to this initiative.”
The Red & Black
Charlayne Hunter-Gault funds grant, gives UGA students chance to serve minority communities
Daniell Osakwe | Contributor
Projects involving virtual reality, theater and campaigning for the rights of immigrants are all ways that University of Georgia students plan on giving a voice to the voiceless. Funded by Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Ron Gault, the Giving Voice to the Voiceless Fund allows selected UGA students from all academic disciplines an opportunity to promote the welfare of voiceless communities within Athens and beyond.
Connect Savannah
‘Moveable Feast’ lecture at Beach Institute features experts
By Rachael Flora
HOW OFTEN do you think about racism? Most likely, you don’t, at least not often. Racism has so permeated our society that it’s not an active topic of conversation. However, by activating that discussion, we can subvert the structures that enable racism and disrupt its effects. Georgia Southern University is working on that disruption with a three-speaker panel this Thursday. “Everyday Anti-Racism: Images, Institutions, and You” is the second in the four-part lecture series A Moveable Feast, an Armstrong tradition that GSU has kept alive.
Marietta Daily Journal
KSU to adopt athletics logo university-wide
Staff reports
Kennesaw State University announced Monday it would be adopting KSU’s athletics logo as its official logo. The new logo marks the “first significant change to the institution’s branded mark” in more than 20 years, according to a press release from the university. Using the athletics logo capitalizes on that mark’s popularity, and the university is adding its name to create one unified logo, the release states. The new logo will replace all other Kennesaw State marks, including the “mountain” logo, which has been used for more than 20 years.
The Augusta Chronicle
Homeschool community staple in last year of teaching
By Sarah LeBlanc
Savannah River Site Engineer has taught homeschooled students math for more than 12 years. As his daughter finishes middle school, he will finish teaching Matchcounts. For more than 10 years, engineer Jim Coleman has led a team of the brightest home-schooled middle school students to the annual regional Mathcounts competition. The competition, held at Augusta University, tests students on their knowledge of advanced math. Teams and students who succeed in the contest move on to the state competition. Coleman’s students are the only home-schooled team.
Macon Telegraph
Downtown Macon visitors could soon take advantage of public WiFi thanks to local project
BY STANLEY DUNLAP
The heart of downtown Macon should soon have free Wi-Fi service. Middle Georgia State University would use a $39,848 grant to install the wireless internet network that would be available to the public for at least 18 months. The target Wi-Fi network will be installed in Poplar Street Park with a signal strong enough to go down Poplar Street and reach Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
WGXA
Macon-Bibb celebrates Georgia Arbor Day with special ceremony
by Victoria De Cardenas
Macon-Bibb County celebrated Georgia Arbor Day on Friday.
These entities took park:
Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission
Macon-Bibb Parks & Beautification
Middle Georgia State University
Georgia Forestry Commission
Middle Georgia State University’s Michael Glisson presenting four Yoshino Cherry trees and four Princeton Elms trees to be planted across from the Vein Specialists of the South at 556 3rd Street
WTOC
Savannah State student dead after shooting at Edgewater Trace apartments
The Savannah Police Department is investigating a fatal shooting at the Edgewater Trace apartments Sunday night. Police arrived just before 10 p.m. and found 24-year-old Marcus Drummer with life-threatening injuries. Drummer later succumbed to his injuries. Representatives with Savannah State University confirm that Mr. Drummer was a student at Savannah State.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
For a Dissatisfied Public, Colleges’ Internal Affairs Become Fair Game
By Karin Fischer
The academy has long set itself apart from the rest of the world, as a place of open inquiry and critical thinking. That autonomy is part of what has given higher education authority and influence. Increasingly, though, the public has little patience for it. You see it in lawmakers’ threatening college budgets when they object to a course, legal action to force campuses to host unwelcome speakers, and freedom-of-information requests to expose internal college decision-making and potential bias. Proponents of these steps say they are necessary to protect the public interest. For many in higher education, they are an unwelcome intrusion, an attempt by outsiders at micromanagement.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Path Across America’s Divide Starts at Its Colleges
By David Scobey
Higher education is now a fault line in American politics; the 2016 election made this crystal clear. Hillary Clinton won the support of college graduates by an estimated 21 percentage points and graduates of color by twice that margin; Donald Trump won noncollege voters 50-43 and white voters without degrees — nearly half the electorate — by 36 points. Similar divisions surfaced in Americans’ attitudes toward higher education. One 2017 survey showed that Democrats viewed higher education positively by 72 percent to 19 percent, while 58 percent of Republicans judged its effects to be negative. Thus alongside race (and entwined with it), education has become a primary predictor of the red-blue divide, more salient than income, age, or gender. Pundits, partisans, and a million social-media feeds are debating the political implications of this news. But what does it mean for higher education?