The George-Anne

President Nickel sends farewell address to Georgia Southern community

By Brendan Ward, The George-Anne staff

Interim President Shelley Nickel sent out a farewell address to the Georgia Southern University community Tuesday. Nickel has served as president of GS following the resignation of former president Jaimie Hebert in 2018. Her tenure comes to an end as new president Kyle Marrero will take over on April 1. The full letter can be read below: Colleagues and Students:

WGAU Radio

UGA PUMPS NEW MONEY INTO DIVERSITY PROGRAM

By: Tim Bryant

UGA says proposals are now being received for the second phase of the University’s New Approaches to Diversity and Inclusion Program. The program, which supported 21 innovative programs last year, is being renewed with $300,000 in private funds set aside by University president Jere Morehead. From UGA Media Relations… Proposals are now being received for the second phase of the New Approaches to Diversity and Inclusion Program. The program, which supported 21 innovative programs last year, is being renewed with $300,000 in private funds set aside by President Jere W. Morehead.

Savannah Morning News

Editorial: A toast to Savannah’s hospitality industry

Savannah’s hospitality industry serves as a major economic engine for the region, providing jobs for 27,000 area residents and contributing an annual economic impact of nearly $3 billion. On Thursday, the Savannah Tourism Leadership Council, the leading local hospitality trade organization, will host the Tourism Awards & Scholarship Dinner at the Savannah Convention Center. This annual event serves as a tribute to exceptional members of the local hospitality industry, celebrating individuals who embody Southern hospitality at its finest. …The Tourism Awards & Scholarship Dinner honors the best of the hospitality community, recognizing individuals who go “above and beyond” to provide incredible guest experiences. The Savannah Tourism Leadership Council will also present scholarships of up to $3,000 to students at area colleges, universities and technical colleges who are interested in pursuing careers in the hospitality industry. To date, the organization has awarded more than $85,000 in scholarships to students from Georgia Southern University, Savannah Technical College, University of South Carolina-Beaufort, Ogeechee Technical College and other area institutions. That’s a real investment in the future of our city’s tourism infrastructure that has the power to change lives and to make Savannah’s hospitality industry even stronger.

Inside Higher Ed

Discussion Boards: Valuable? Overused? Discuss.

Instructors and students alike are growing tired of the discussion board formula. Innovative approaches point to the potential for more meaningful online learning experiences.

By Mark Lieberman

…Learning management systems are the primary vessel for discussion forums in online courses. Designers at Blackboard, among the first major LMS providers to service higher education, initially drew on discussion forums that already existed in “technical circles,” according to Phil Miller, Blackboard’s chief learning and innovation officer. At first, Miller said, many instructors used them primarily to allow students to introduce themselves at the beginning of a course. Over time, Blackboard started receiving requests for more innovative variations, like a “fishbowl” approach in which the instructor and a handful of students discuss a topic while the rest of the class observes. That evolution mirrors the trajectory of many experienced online instructors. Charles Hodges, a professor of instructional technology at Georgia Southern University, spent the early years of his online teaching career requiring students to answer a discussion post inspired by that week’s reading. Over a 16-week semester, this process became exhausting for him, and difficult at times for his students to navigate. When Hodges noticed that most of his students were responding to the prompt within the last 30 minutes before the Sunday deadline, he decided to instead require students to make an initial post by Wednesday, allowing a few days for discussion to percolate.

WGAU Radio

UGA REPORTS INCREASE IN STEM ENROLLMENT

By: Aaron Hale

The number of University of Georgia undergraduate students in STEM disciplines has risen approximately 20 percent over the past five years, with 11,832 (40 percent of the student body) declaring a major in science, technology, engineering or mathematics in the fall of 2018 alone.  Combine this surge with the recent launch of UGA’s Innovation District and construction beginning on the I-STEM Research Building, and you can feel the STEM momentum on campus. The increase in STEM-related majors matches national trends. According to the Education Commission of the States, STEM jobs in the U.S. are expected to grow 13 percent from 2017 to 2027. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates that 93 percent of all STEM occupations provide wages (average salary is $87,570) above the national average and more than twice the national average of non-STEM jobs. Such trends indicate that the world is looking to STEM professionals to address its grand challenges.

WGAU Radio

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH AWARDS GRANTS

The University of Georgia College of Public Health has awarded mini-grants to four student-led community outreach projects focused on addressing health disparities in Athens-Clarke County. Nearly $3,400 in funding was distributed for the projects through a new experiential learning program called Community Mini-Grants for Inclusion, Research, and Engagement, launched in Fall 2018 by the College faculty’s Diversity Committee. The program, explained Diversity Committee member Sarah DeYoung, allows students to gain experience in grant proposal writing. This includes identifying a problem or need, thinking through the logistics of research design, identifying and developing stakeholders in the community, and mapping out ways to implement research and outreach.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Ga student praised for removing trash from beach during Spring Break

By Eric Stirgus

Spring break is often a time for college students to hit the beach and get a little rowdy. One Georgia student is being credited for doing something different during his Spring Break trip last weekend – he picked up trash by hand off Miami Beach. University of West Georgia freshman Joshua Caraway, 19, was disturbed all of the bottles, red cups and other junk he found on the beach.

Connect Savannah

Taking back the night

Two events for sexual violence awareness take place this week

By Rachael Flora

IN APRIL, we recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month. “Sexual assault awareness is critical because it starts a meaningful conversation,” says Doris Williams, director of the Rape Crisis Center of the Coastal Empire. …Take Back the Night was created to help women feel safer in their environments, so its message was especially welcome at universities. In the 1960s, women in Belgium and England protested their safety while walking alone, beginning the Take Back the Night protests. The Take Back the Night Foundation started in 2001 with Katie Koestner, who was the first woman to speak publicly about being the victim of campus date rape. The foundation, which now holds events in over 800 communities, strives to create safe environments and respectful relationships. This year, Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus and Savannah State University will both host Take Back the Night events. Both schools observe Sexual Assault Awareness Week, which for Armstrong campus takes place Mar. 25-29 and for Savannah State takes place April 1-4.

Athens CEO

Five UGA Faculty Members Honored as Meigs Professors

Camie Williams

Five University of Georgia faculty members have been named Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professors, the highest university recognition for excellence in instruction. “Our 2019 Meigs Professors represent a range of fields, but they share a commitment to engaging students and challenging them to apply their knowledge in creative and meaningful ways,” said Interim Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Libby V. Morris, whose office sponsors the award. “They are exemplary educators at a university with a national reputation for offering students extraordinary learning experiences.”

Daily Magazine

No Right to College for Illegal Immigrants

By National Review

At a time when Americans believe immigration to be the most important issue facing the nation, the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that Georgia’s state colleges and universities can’t be forced to admit illegal immigrants as students. And that includes aliens who qualified under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program implemented by former president Barack Obama in 2012. In an opinion handed down earlier this month, a three-judge panel upheld the right of the Georgia Board of Regents, which runs the state-university system, to verify the “lawful presence” of applicants before granting them admission as students to the “more selective schools in the University System.” Selective schools are defined as any Georgia college or university that “did not admit all academically qualified applicants” in the “two most recent academic years.” That applies to at least three state colleges, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, one of the best-known engineering schools in the country.

WALB

GSW athlete honored with ‘Peach of an Athlete’ award

By Bobby Poitevint

A Georgia Southwestern State University athlete is being honored for his work off the field. Chris Avery was named the “Peach of an Athlete” role model. The award is given to athletes who assist in community service on and off the field. The Hurricane soccer team member said he has helped with the Tim Tebow Foundation and Relay for Life, to name a couple. ..Avery is now a senior and is pursuing a communications degree. He said he wants to be a broadcast sports reporter after he graduates school.

WJBF

Local baseball icon Todd Greene honored by Georgia Senate

By:  Brendan Robertson

On Tuesday, the Georgia Senate took time to recognize the on-field and off the field accomplishments of former Evans High School and Georgia Southern standout Todd Greene. With his family by his side, Greene’s extensive accomplishments were laid out in Senate Resolution 284..  A graduate of Evans High School, Greene was a part of the back-to-back state championship teams in 1988 and 1989. His No. 10 jersey is retired at the team’s field. Greene went on to become a four-time All-American at Georgia Southern, setting new school records in nearly every offensive category. He became the first player in school history to have his number retired.

Saporta Report

Photo Pick: UNG Disaster Training by Peggy Cozart

University of North Georgia’s College of Health Sciences and Professions and the College of Education held a simulated virus response exercise recently at the UNG Convocation Center. Students in the athletic training, counseling, nursing and physical therapy departments provided care for their fellow students who played the role of being infected. Members of the Corps of Cadets provided both moulage — the art of applying mock injuries — and security for the fictional viral emergency

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

AJC On Campus: Trump targets student debt, campus speech disruptions

By Eric Stirgus

Donald Trump’s administration, and the president himself, spent a lot of time last week talking about higher education. Trump acted on his warning to withhold funding to colleges and universities that limit speech on campus. He also talked about student loan debt. Here’s more about that and other issues in this week’s AJC On Campus round up. Trump’s executive order Trump signed an executive order Thursday that could cut funding to schools are determined to have limited or prevented students, guest speakers and organizations from expressing their views on campus. Trump also talked broadly about upcoming plans to make colleges and universities more accountable for student loan debt. UGA & race Racism and diversity are major topics again at the University of Georgia after the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity was suspended last weekend in the wake of a video showing some members using racist language to describe African-Americans and mocking slavery. UGA’s student government association hosted a town hall meeting Monday evening to discuss the issue. …KSU off-campus housing needs By May, Cobb County government officials may have new regulations concerning off-campus housing for Kennesaw State University students. The county has had a moratorium on new off-campus student housing since 2018. KSU has the third-largest enrollment of any school in Georgia, and is continuing to grow. …Georgia Tech student center update Fulton County’s Board of Commissioners last week approved $115 million in bonds to renovate Georgia Tech’s student center.  The center will expand services into four new buildings across a 15-acre site. Construction is scheduled to begin in May with the grand opening in 2022. …Raises on the way? University System of Georgia officials may soon get 2 percent raises now that the Georgia Senate has backed a $27.5 billion state budget for fiscal 2020 …“We’re not a start-up anymore” That’s one of the things Georgia Gwinnett College’s interim president Mary Beth Walker said during a meeting her staff organized with reporters last week. The college was founded in 2006, but already facing infrastructure challenges, particularly with information technology, she said. As we know today’s technology is obsolete tomorrow. Walker also discussed doing more to help adult learners by offering more certificate courses.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Georgia Tech fires women’s hoops coach for fostering ‘toxic’ and ‘hostile’ atmosphere

By Jay Clemons – 11Alive

The Georgia Tech athletics department took permanent action against MaChelle Joseph on Tuesday, firing the school’s head women’s basketball coach of 16 years. On Feb. 27, Joseph had been placed on administrative leave, while school officials launched an independent investigation into the program —handled by Littler Mendelson P.C. Employment and Labor Law Solutions Worldwide. The main allegation: The basketball players had been subject to mistreatment by Joseph and the Tech staff. A final report on the investigation was submitted by Littler Mendelson on March 20. Among the findings were that every student-athlete reported “concerns regarding alleged emotional or mental mistreatment” by Joseph, and that student-athletes described the environment around the team as “toxic,” “suffocating,” “unhealthy” and “hostile” and described Joseph’s conduct as “bullying” and “emotionally, mentally and verbally ‘abusive.’”

The Augusta Chronicle

Georgia Tech fires women’s coach MaChelle Joseph

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press

MaChelle Joseph was fired Tuesday after nearly 16 seasons as the women’s basketball coach at Georgia Tech, with the two sides giving strikingly different reasons for her dismissal. The school, which suspended Joseph late in the season for what it would only describe as a personnel matter, said it was left with no choice after an independent investigation into alleged mistreatment of players and staff, as well as possible NCAA violations. Joseph’s attorney reiterated that her client was being punished for complaining about gender equity issues at the Atlantic Coast Conference school, which is already facing NCAA allegations of wrongdoing in its men’s basketball program as well as mourning the unexpected death of a football player this past weekend. The Yellow Jackets women’s team closed the season on a four-game losing streak, three of those defeats coming after Joseph was placed on leave Feb. 27. Two of Georgia Tech’s top four scorers quit the team at the same time.

WJCL

Savannah native Anita Howard named head coach of Georgia Southern Women’s Basketball

Howard to be introduced Monday in Statesboro

Frank Sulkowski

Savannah native Anita Howard is returning to southeast Georgia. Howard set to be named the new women’s basketball coach at Georgia Southern University. Sources telling WJCL 22 News that an introductory press conference will be held Monday in Statesboro. Howard comes to Georgia Southern from NCAA Division II Columbus State University where she served as head coach for three seasons. She guided Columbus State to 66-25 record since taking over in 2016. Howard would guide the Lady Cougars to the NCAA Division II National Tournament twice.

Gainesville Times

UNG has rapid growth on and off Gainesville campus

Joshua Silavent

Six years after the birth of the University of North Georgia from the consolidation of North Georgia College & State University and Gainesville State College, commercial and residential growth is booming around the Hall County campus.

Medical Health News

Northeast Georgia Health System expanding with graduate medical education, Lumpkin campus …

To create more space for the GME program, NGHS is building a Medical Park 2 facility near the existing Medical Park 1 building on Jesse Jewell Parkway. The building will house a 25,000-square-foot family medicine practice where residents will work with physicians to care for everyone from babies to seniors, said Dr. Monica Newton, the program director for the GME family medicine program and the chair of primary and urgent care for Northeast Georgia Physicians Group. …Plans for Northeast Georgia Medical Center Lumpkin were announced in February. NGHS will open an emergency department at the former Chestatee Regional Hospital site in July and will later open a new hospital in Lumpkin, tentatively in 2022. Chestatee Regional closed in July 2018. The temporary hospital at that site will have an emergency room, inpatient beds and imaging services.  NGHS already owns a 57-acre property off of Ga. 400 near the intersection with Ga. 60 in Dahlonega that will be built into the permanent NGMC Lumpkin. NGHS is leasing the Chestatee Regional property from the University System Georgia Board of Regents. The University of North Georgia hopes to relocate some of its health sciences programs to the building once it is vacated.