University System News:
Albany Herald
ABAC students attend national research conferences
From staff reports
Students enrolled in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College celebrated National Undergraduate Research week by presenting their research in conferences across the United States. Students enrolled in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College celebrated National Undergraduate Research week by presenting their research in conferences across the United States. Biology majors Jeremy Paradice from Moultrie, Jessica Wade from Douglas, David Howell from Fitzgerald, Caleigh Eberhardt from Orange Park, Fla., and Frank Garcia from Ty Ty presented their posters at the Association of Southeastern Biologists conference in Memphis, Tenn. Garcia won third place for Excellence in Undergraduate Research. These students were accompanied by their advisors, Kingsley Dunkley, Ben Gahagen, Bal Khatiwada and Matthew Aderholt. Another group of ABAC biology majors, which included Kristi Guerrero from Moultrie, Garrett Pierzchajlo from Tifton, Ashton McKinnon from Fitzgerald, and Dominique Cook from Plant City, Fla., presented their work at the national Experimental Biology conference in Orlando, Fla. They were accompanied by their mentors, Heather Cathcart, Andrew McIntosh, Leslie Pryor-McIntosh and Keetra Branch. For the first time ever, ABAC also had students accepted into the National Council for Undergraduate Research conference, a prestigious national conference at which students from top colleges and universities from around the country present their research. ABAC had eight students accepted, more than any other state college in Georgia.
The Daily Reflector
Steps for Shima: Six years after accident, amputee celebrating strides
By Kim Grizzard
On Easter Sunday 2013, Shima Nixon was front-page news, but not the way that anyone would ever want to be. On Good Friday, she stepped outside of her stalled car near the intersection of 10th and Elm streets after another car hit her, pinning her between the two. Within two days, she would lose her left leg above the knee. Four months later, infection would cost Nixon her right leg as well, leaving this former cheerleader a double amputee at age 21. Since then, Shima has been taking steps to rebuild a life that is even better than the one she once knew. Next month, the woman who came home from the hospital in a wheelchair will walk across the stage at Georgia Southern University to receive her bachelor’s degree in recreation therapy.
WTVM
CSU’s First Choice Campaign raises nearly $120 million
By Olivia Gunn
Columbus State University celebrated the close of its First Choice Campaign on Thursday. The gala took place at the RiverMill Event Center. First Choice was launched in 2012 and set a goal of raising $100 million. The success of the campaign has been instrumental in funding new CSU projects including, the Frank D. Brown Hall, Bo Bartlett Center, and more than 40 endowments for student scholarships, faculty position, and program support.
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Find CEOs in the basement: How CSU, StartUp Columbus is empowering young entrepreneurs
BY ALLIE DEAN
Can CEOs be born in a basement? Groups in the Columbus-Phenix City area that are dedicated to help small businesses thrive are banking on it. And so is Columbus State University, as the school announced this week it will be adding a new entrepreneurship and small business minor to its roster. The minor will be available July 1 and is an option for all students, regardless of major. Dr. Kirk Heriot, the Ray and Evelyn Crowley Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship in the Turner College of Business at CSU, said the minor will prepare students to contribute to, or create, start-ups in the community.
Athens Banner-Herald
Entrepreneurs competed for $10K prize at UGA
By Julia Sanders / Correspondent
Eight teams of students on Thursday pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges for UGA’s Next Top Entrepreneur competition. Competing at the newly-renovated Studio 225 on West Broad Street in downtown Athens, teams had five minutes to present their pitch to the audience and judges. The panel then asked contestants a number of challenging questions. “It’s like Shark Tank Live,” said spectator and UGA junior Hawa Camara. “It’s really interesting to be in class and learning all these things, and then seeing it live action.” At stake was a $10,000 prize. The first place team was Winter Innovations, a product development company with a vision to create simple healthcare solutions for surgeries.
The Red & Black
UGA School of Law to offer nine classes for undergraduates in fall 2019
Megan Mittelhammer | Contributor
The University of Georgia School of Law is offering nine classes for undergraduates during the fall 2019 semester. “This is something that law schools across the country have been doing more of in recent years,” Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Law Randy Beck said. “This year, we thought it was time to take a bigger step and try a few more courses.” Courses like Foundations of American Law and Undergraduate Mock Trial have been open to undergraduates for a few years now, but Beck said the law school wants to improve their interaction with UGA students who are considering law school down the road.
Middle Georgia CEO
Board of Regents Approves New Occupational Therapy Graduate Degree at Middle Georgia State
Middle Georgia State University News
A proposal to launch a new graduate program at Middle Georgia State University (MGA) was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia at its April meeting. The new degree, a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT), is a bridge program designed to help currently-licensed occupational therapy assistants advance their careers. “In the face of the ongoing epidemic of opioid addiction and abuse, the medical industry has identified alternative pain management solutions, and occupational therapy will be one of the key practices in that field to fight the symptoms of this public health crisis,” said Dr. Kevin Cantwell, dean of Graduate Studies at MGA. The new degree program, which is still undergoing review for accreditation, will help existing certified occupational therapy assistants (COTA’s) advance to positions as occupational therapists (OTR’s). For a COTA practicing with an associate’s degree, this bridge program will allow them to complete a master’s degree in only two years. The degree’s hybrid format will allow students to pursue graduate-level studies with online classes and monthly in-class meetings on the University’s Cochran Campus, all while continuing to work.
AllOnGeorgia
Georgia Southern, Nine Line Foundation sign agreement to promote veteran education
Georgia Southern University’s Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Carl L. Reiber Ph.D., and Nine Line Foundation President Megan Hostler recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the Armstrong Campus’ Sustainable Aquaponics Research Center (SARC). “Signing this MOU exemplifies what Georgia Southern should be doing, which is working with the community,” Reiber said. “We’re taking what we do very well, which is education, and combining it with community need. This, specifically, is a serious community need. It’s an amazing opportunity to advance all of those causes at once.”
AllOnGeorgia
Georgia Southern Statesboro Campus, city of Statesboro team up to improve health
City of Statesboro employees are improving their health and wellness thanks to the help of Georgia Southern University faculty and students who have customized a worksite wellness program that meets the needs of the city’s diverse workforce. Faculty members from the Department of Health Sciences and Kinesiology, Bridget Melton, Ed.D., Greg Ryan, Ph.D., Ron Snarr, Ph.D., and Amy Jo Riggs, Ph.D., have spearheaded the mutually-benefiting partnership, which not only allows for unique learning experiences for undergraduate and graduate exercise science students, but it also provides wellness education and programming to city employees.
Albany Herald
HBCU supporters hear report on Senate Bill 278
By Carlton Fletcher
Collectively, the large crowd that gathered at the downtown Law Enforcement Center Community Room to hear state Sen. Freddie Powell Sims talk about a proposed Senate bill that could potentially take Georgia’s three public historically black colleges and universities out of the University System of Georgia had one burning question. How did this happen? Ward I Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard called for the town hall-like gathering after word filtered out that Savannah state Sen. Lester Jackson had authored a bill, Senate Bill 278, that would make Georgia’s three public HBCUs — Albany State, Fort Valley State and Savannah State universities — “agricultural and mechanical” universities, remove them from the state university system and provide for a 19-person board to oversee the running of the schools, including selecting leadership.
Albany Herald
CARLTON FLETCHER: State senator’s proposal ignores legacies of HBCUs
…Jackson held a press conference at the Capitol on April 2, the final day of the 2019 legislative session, to discuss the details of SB 278, a title altered from SB 273, which was rendered moot when the other five members of the study committee — all of whom attended HBCUs — removed their name from the proposed legislation. Since then, though, as a “massive backlash” has erupted, he has kept mostly quiet about the proposal. Albany State English professor Gwendolyn Alford offered an interesting tidbit for attendees of the town hall meeting to chew on when she, at the end of the question-answer session, asked, “When are we going to stop looking at everything as black and white and start looking at what’s right and wrong? Our students deserve better than what we are giving them.” Jackson’s proposal to chop the three state public HBCUs out of the University System of Georgia does not offer any apparent means by which the educational offerings of students at those three universities will improve. And by proposing a “takeover” of sorts by some government-appointed board shows the senator’s complete lack of understanding of the legacies of these three institutions.
The George-Anne
Georgia Southern students take Savannah to Ireland
Jenna Wiley, the George-Anne contributor
A new exhibit showcasing the connection between Savannah and Ireland has been established at the Dunbrody Emigrant Experience Center in New Ross, Ireland, thanks to several Georgia Southern University students and staff. The students and staff conducted research at the city archives in both Savannah and New Ross. Their findings resulted in an exhibit that is being established in the historic Dunbrody Center. The Dunbrody Center’s main attraction is a full-scale, three-mast replica of a sailing ship, named the Dunbrody. The center sees 110,000 visitors annually. “Our students determined that the Dunbrody’s first ever commercial voyage was to Savannah, seeking Georgia timber and that subsequent voyages by it and its sister ships brought immigrants from southeastern Ireland to the Hostess City,” Howard Keeley, Ph.D., director of Georgia Southern’s Center for Irish Research and Teaching said.
The George-Anne
Georgia Southern student arrested for firearm possession in RAC parking Tuesday
By Elizabeth Gross
A Georgia Southern University student was arrested for possession of a firearm in a school safety zone on Tuesday at the Recreational Activity Center following an argument at a flag football game. Quantavius Clover, 19, was found in the RAC parking lot with a loaded Smith & Wesson .38 special revolver and a box containing three bullets in a backpack, according to the police incident report. The incident report states that Clover was too young to be eligible for a conceal carry permit. Clover was in further violation of the campus carry policy due to possessing a firearm at an area designated for the use of athletics. Clover was handcuffed and detained after claiming ownership of the weapon and was placed under arrest after the reporting officer spoke to witnesses, according to the incident report.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NEW DETAILS: UGA student shot during armed robbery near campus
By Asia Simone Burns
At least one University of Georgia student has been taken to a local hospital after a shooting and armed robbery near the campus, authorities said. Athens-Clarke County police officers were sent to the 2100 block of South Milledge Avenue on a shooting call just after 7:15 a.m. Monday, according to agency spokesman Geoffrey Gilland. While officers were en route, the police department received a second call about an armed robbery near the same location. When police arrived, they found a 22-year-old man who had been shot. He was given first aid and taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries, Gilland said.
WJCL
Savannah State Band Director arrested, accused of DUI
Marques Dwyane Graham, 42, arrested for DUI, speeding, open container, expired license, and obstruction.
The Director of Bands at Savannah State University faces several charges following an arrest for driving under the influence. Marques Dwyane Graham, 42, was arrested last week on several charges, and it’s not his first run in with law enforcement. Graham was pulled over by the Georgia State Patrol on I-16 after he said he was going home from a date on April 13. According to the arrest report, when the officer approached the car he said he noticed a “strong odor” of alcohol. Officers also said Graham’s speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and that he denied drinking. The report said Graham declined to take a field sobriety test and resisted arrest.
Global Trade
TOP 10 STATES FOR TECH-DRIVEN MANUFACTURING
Written by Taylor Girardi-Schachter
There are few phrases that give workers pause like “tech-driven manufacturing.” After all, with wild doomsday scenarios like robots taking all the jobs, it’s easy to see this emerging field as a bad thing. But tech-driven manufacturing is anything but bad—it’s actually quite positive—and not just for workers, but for businesses and consumers, too. If you’re ready to automate your manufacturing processes but aren’t sure where to start, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 states for tech manufacturing–states with a skilled workforce that’s already using automation to create products–right here in America. If you’re ready to automate your manufacturing processes but aren’t sure where to start, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 states for tech manufacturing–states with a skilled workforce that’s already using automation to create products–right here in America. With the 2012-launched Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI) and initiatives such as the Georgia Center of Innovation for Manufacturing, the Peach State is pulling out all the stops to train its workforce in tech-driven manufacturing.
Techno FAQ
The 10 Best Universities for Robotics in the USA
According to Indeed.com, the average salary for robotic engineers in the U.S. currently stands at $100,501 per year. Money is not the only motivation for studying robotics. But let’s be honest: it’s always good to know that you’ll settle well after graduating. With a degree in robotics, you’ll have plenty of opportunities for career growth. We’ll list the top 10 universities that offer great robotics programs in the USA. 4. Georgia Tech: Are you looking for an institution precisely focused on robotics and intelligent machines? You want to live in a relatively small campus where you’ll only see people with similar interests? Then you’re the perfect fit for the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at Georgia Tech. You can attend an ARMS traineeship program in healthcare robotics if you want to focus on that area. There’s also an outstanding PhD program to consider.
GPB
Shark Research Could Help Ga. Shrimpers
By EMILY JONES
The movie “Jaws” famously shows us a shark’s eye view of swimmers in the water, their legs kicking while the shark prepares to attack. We know that sharks don’t really go after people like the movie’s monster great white. But we still have a lot to learn about how they detect their prey. A researcher at Georgia Southern University is trying to change that. It turns out, understanding sharks’ senses could help people make a living on the water.
Higher Education News:
Forbes
College Unbound Helps Working Adults Earn Fast Affordable Degrees
Tom Vander Ark Contributor
Jose grew up without many options. As a young man, he went to prison for attempted murder. After getting out he enrolled in a community college but was frustrated with his slow progress. After finding College Unbound, Jose earned an associate’s degree in six months. But Jose reoffended and went back to prison. Fortunately, there was a cohort of College Unbound in prison and he was able to continue making progress. Once released he graduated. Now 35, Jose is house manager at a shelter and provides students support for College Unbound. And, he’s working on a graduate degree. Zuli was a teen mom. She finished high school at night while taking community college classes. She worked in banking but her lack of a degree held her back. A move into the nonprofit sector was more rewarding for Zuli but her progress remained limited. At an open house for College Unbound, she learned she could earn college credit for projects she had done. With prior credits and credit for learning, Zuli was able to make rapid progress and will graduate in June.
Inside Higher Ed
General education is under threat, but it’s worth the fight. Advocates share war and success stories at Inside Higher Ed event.
By Colleen Flaherty
General education is not simply filler for a student’s time in college beyond the major. Done well, gen ed can answer students’ questions about what college is, and why it matters. Gen ed is also a great American contribution to higher education, affording students the time and space for intellectual exploration, and teaching them to learn to think in different ways. Yet general education is under threat. Politicians question the value of it, specifically requirements that aren’t explicitly job oriented. Students don’t always get it. And creating and adopting a strong general education program demands much of already time- if not resource-strapped professors and their institutions. Is gen ed worth the fight? Speakers at Wednesday’s Inside Higher Ed Leadership Series event, The Future of Gen Ed, think so. The sold-out all-day meeting, held at Gallup’s headquarters here, featured conversations on why general education matters more than ever, along with data-driven arguments for gen ed.