University System News:
WGAU Radio
By: Tim Bryant
Governor Brian Kemp and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black are on the University of Georgia campus in Tifton tonight. They’ll be providing an update for Georgia farmers who continue to await federal disaster assistance in the aftermath of last October’s Hurricane Michael.
The Sentinel
KSU begins training, CAR progresses
Cade Lanktree
Kennesaw State made progress on initiatives involving the Comprehensive Administrative Review in January 2019 when the Center for University Learning launched new training for supervisors and managers to increase internal communication. The program is intended for newly hired or promoted supervisors and managers who work with direct reports, and it serves to provide policy, procedural and administrative information and resources to such individuals. While the training is meant for new or promoted faculty, those in such positions who would like to refresh themselves on the content are also welcome to attend. …The training sessions are a part of the overall plan within the CAR brought forth to the University System of Georgia by Chancellor Steve Wrigley in 2017 and follow a KSU-specific schedule implemented by a committee.
Savannah CEO
Georgia Southern Student Selected as Board of Regents Academic Day Representative
Staff Report From Savannah CEO
Georgia Southern University student Edward Legaspi was recently recognized by the University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents and the Georgia General Assembly for receiving the Academic Recognition Day Award. Legaspi, who is a senior double majoring in accounting and information systems, was nominated by the Parker College of Business for representing the highest scholastic ideals of Georgia Southern. The award is considered one of the greatest academic honors a USG student can achieve. “To be recognized by my college, the president and the university is probably the highest honor I’ve ever received,” said Legaspi. “I am thankful for my professors and friends in my college, because I do not believe I would be anywhere near where I am today without them.”
Tifton CEO
Tift County Student Wins Tuition Grant at ABAC Scholars Forum
Staff Report From Tifton CEO
Sydney Doss, a senior from Tift County High School, won a $500 tuition grant at the recent Stallion Scholars Forum at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. The event was by invitation only and gave high achieving high school students from across Georgia and surrounding states an opportunity to see the scale and variety of academic programs available at ABAC.
Savannah Morning News
Georgia Southern at-risk youth conference in Savannah advocates for parental involvement
By Ann Meyer
Parent-teacher conferences can quickly become counterproductive when one party goes on the attack and the other gets defensive. A parent who comes across as difficult is an advocate for her child. “We need her on our team,” said Timothy Allen, CEO of Gilead Consulting Group in Dorchester, Mass., who spoke Monday at the 30th annual National Youth-at-Risk Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Savannah. The conference, hosted by Georgia Southern University’s College of Education, runs through Wednesday. Research suggests parental involvement is a factor in student achievement, yet at-risk youth are less likely to have engaged parents. Unless a school system makes a concerted effort to involve parents, the cycle will continue, Allen said. …Allen presented the results of a survey of 500 parents of at-risk students that asked why they weren’t more involved with their child’s school. Respondents said they didn’t trust the school, they felt their input wasn’t wanted or they cited cultural and language barriers. Conference participants offered other possible reasons parents seem apathetic, such as if they are upset about an incident involving their child but not wanting to complain for fear of retaliation.
Savannah CEO
Savannah Speech and Hearing Center Honors Caroline Steed As Volunteer of the Year
Staff Report From Savannah CEO
Savannah Speech and Hearing Center, a nonprofit organization serving the speech pathology and audiology needs of the Coastal Empire since 1954, is pleased to announce Caroline Steed as this year’s recipient of the Annie F. Oliver Award for Volunteer of the Year. The Annie F. Oliver Award recognizes excellence and a strong commitment to volunteering for the betterment of the Savannah Speech and Hearing Center Community. Steed was honored with the award at a special volunteer reception held this week. The award was created in 1979 to honor Annie F. Oliver, an administrator of the Savannah Speech and Hearing Center from 1962 to 1978 and a community volunteer. …In addition, volunteers were recognized for donating over 1570 hours to Savannah Speech and Hearing Center during 2018 including 238 hours spent screening over 6935 students in public, private and preschools in the greater Savannah area. “This was a record year of volunteering at the center and we could not have done it without the support of our board of directors and our community partners which include Georgia Southern University’s Department of Communication Science and Disorders, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools, and the Telfair Museums’ Outreach Program,” said Ann Curry, Volunteer Coordinator at Savannah Speech and Hearing Center.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Women’s History Month: Georgia Women of Achievement
By Nedra Rhone, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH Throughout March, we’ll spotlight notable women with Georgia connections in the daily Living section on Mondays and Tuesdays. Go to ajc.com/womens-history to see videos on the women featured here each week.
Higher education in America was once the domain of men, but since 1980, more women have graced the nation’s college campuses than men. Last year, 56 percent of all college students in the U.S. were women, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Before the trend reversed in the late 20th century, there were many pioneering women who were the first to elbow their way into the hallowed halls of higher ed. One of them was Mary Dorothy Lyndon, the first female graduate of the University of Georgia in 1914 — five years before women were officially admitted as regular students. Lyndon, a native of Newnan, would go on to serve as dean of women and associate professor of education during the 1919-20 school year, the first year women were allowed to attend the university as full students. In 1921, she organized the first female chapter of Phi Mu at UGA.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
How Did Black Colleges Raise a Generation of Activists?
By Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz
Jelani M. Favors came across a prayer in the archives of Jackson State University’s student newspaper, The Blue and White Flash, submitted by a then student, Onezimae Clark, and addressed to members of her 1945 graduating class. Clark prayed that God would give prospective teachers inspiration and help them “fight for justice for all.” They needed to do that, she wrote, because otherwise “there will be so few leaders and great men and women of tomorrow that the progress of our race will be impeded.” Favors, an assistant professor of history at Clayton State University, was doing research for his dissertation, which would later be expanded into a new book, Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism (University of North Carolina Press). …He kept digging into how students like Clark at black colleges and universities had been taught the values of activism. In his book, Favors argues that historically black colleges and universities played an important role in shaping black activists through a second curriculum that made social change a priority. Understanding that history today, when those colleges are often plagued with financially uncertainty, is more important than ever. Favors spoke recently with The Chronicle about campus activism, the importance of the humanities, and how institutions can work for change.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Research Brief Explores the Impact of Predominantly Black Institutions
by Tiffany Pennamon
A new research brief sponsored by the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) at the University of Pennsylvania aims to spark further research on how predominantly Black institutions (PBIs) evolve to accommodate the underrepresented groups they serve. Since PBIs were first recognized in Congress in 2007, many have taken advantage of the Department of Education’s Strengthening Predominantly Black Institutions Program to increase their capacity to serve and support more low- and middle-income Black college students, according to the brief, “Predominantly Black Institutions: Pathways to Black Student Educational Attainment.” The brief explores five PBIs’ efforts to provide educational opportunities to Black, first-generation and other marginalized students, in addition to the student support initiatives they have established with their federal funding. Featured PBIs include Chicago State University, Trinity Washington University, Community College of Philadelphia, Georgia State Perimeter College and Baton Rouge Community College. …The brief also explores the initiatives put in place at Chicago State University, Community College of Philadelphia and Georgia State University – Perimeter College after these PBIs received competitive grants. PBI competitive grants strengthen programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, health education, internationalization or globalization, teacher preparation or programs that improve educational outcomes for Black males. At Georgia State University – Perimeter College, for instance, the school received the largest institutional gift – $3 million – to expand Project Raising Achievement and Increasing Success in Education (RAISE), an initiative to support students in remedial math courses through academic success coaching.
Athens Banner-Herald
UGA team to help elderly care facilities create ‘all-hazards’ plan
By Lauren Baggett / University of Georgia
The Institute for Disaster Management at the University of Georgia College of Public Health has received $1.6 million in civil money penalty funds from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to better prepare certified long-term care facilities’ staffs to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies. In the past two years, Georgia has been hit with an unprecedented number of disasters. This represents a significant risk for the growing number of older adults moving into Georgia, said Curt Harris, associate director of the Institute for Disaster Management, or IDM, and lead investigator on the project.
Americus Times Recorder
GSW breaks ground on new indoor baseball and softball hitting facility
By Ken Gustafson
Well over 100 people ranging from Americus Mayor Barry Blount to the city council members to members of the GSW women’s soccer team were in the baseball/softball parking lot on the campus of Georgia Southwestern State University on Saturday, March 2, to witness the groundbreaking of a new indoor baseball and softball hitting facility expected to be completed in the fall of 2019. GSW President Neal Weaver, Ph.D., made his opening remarks. “Welcome to what we hope is a very exciting event and start to a very exciting project here at Georgia Southwestern. This is something that has been talked about at the university for a long time and something that we are very excited to finally get started,” Weaver said. Weaver went on to thank those involved in the Canes 360 program and the GSW Foundation for their support in making this project possible. “Without Canes 360 and the commitment that is being made through individuals, this project would not be possible,” Weaver said. “It is a great example of how all of us coming together and each of us doing our part can really do big and exciting things for the university.”
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Edcucation
By Lily Jackson
President Trump’s announcement of an executive order that threatens to cut off federal research money from colleges that do not support free speech has drawn criticism from college leaders and legal scholars on two fronts. First, they say, it might not be legal. Second, they argue, it’s a terrible idea. …Pushback from academe arrived almost immediately, with Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education, referring to the planned order as “a solution in search of a problem.”
Inside Higher Ed
Opposition to Trump’s Executive Order Plan
By Scott Jaschik
The University of Chicago is known for its strong commitment to free expression on campus. The university’s president, Robert J. Zimmer, has repeatedly called on colleges to assure that their institutions are open to all kinds of speakers, without regard to whether some on campus disagree with their views. On Monday, Zimmer sent an email to his campus opposing President Trump’s plan to issue an executive order to cut off federal research dollars to institutions determined not to be supporting free speech. His email said in part, “There are two related features of potential federal engagement on this issue that would threaten the mission of institutions of higher education. They would do so by creating the specter of less rather than more free expression, and by deeply chilling the environment for discourse and intellectual challenge. The first feature is the precedent of the federal government establishing its own standing to interfere in the issue of speech on campuses. This opens the door to any number of troubling policies over time that the federal government, whatever the political party involved, might adopt on such matters. It makes the government, with all its power and authority, a party to defining the very nature of discussion on campus. The second feature is the inevitable establishment of a bureaucracy to enforce any governmental position.
Inside Higher Ed
New Pick to Lead Office of Federal Student Aid
By Andrew Kreighbaum
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced Monday that Mark A. Brown will lead the Office of Federal Student as chief operating officer. Brown, a retired major general in the U.S. Air Force, will replace James Manning, who has served as the acting FSA chief since last year.