University System News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Transitions: New President at Endicott College, California State U. at Northridge Names Provost
Appointments, resignations, retirements, awards, deaths
Compiled by Julia Piper
Mary Beth Walker, interim president of Georgia Gwinnett College and associate provost for strategic initiatives and innovation at Georgia State University, will become provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University at Northridge on July 1.
Albany Herald
MARION FEDRICK: Success of our students, community unites us all
GUEST COLUMN: Albany State University prepares for Blue & Gold Gala
It has been 116 years since the founding of Albany State University, and we are still making history. On Saturday, the university will celebrate its inaugural Blue & Gold Scholarship Gala, one of the many events planned this week to celebrate the legacy of our founder, Dr. Joseph Winthrop Holley. In 1903, Dr. Holley left Rhode Island and journeyed to Albany to create an institution that would nurture the minds of students for years to come. I am encouraged through the legacy of Dr. Holley and those who now reap the benefits of his hard work. One of the joys of my work is engaging with our alumni, faculty, staff and students. They often share with me their extraordinary achievements and plans. The Blue & Gold Scholarship Gala is an opportunity to ensure that current and future Golden Rams are placed in the best financial situation possible to obtain an education. The generous financial investments from individuals, businesses and organizations allow the university to continue elevating and empowering ASU students and the Albany community. So many great things are happening at Albany State. You, our dedicated alumni, supporters and friends of the university, should be proud.
Albany Herald
ASU president: University on verge of something big
Albany State set to host first Blue & Gold Scholarship Gala Saturday
By Carlton Fletcher
As Albany State University President Marion Fedrick reflects on the sold-out (“Two weeks in advance!”) Blue & Gold Scholarship Gala scheduled Saturday at the downtown Hilton Garden Inn, an event that had originally been scheduled during the university’s homecoming week, she can’t stop herself from reverting to cheerleader mode. But, the Albany State president notes, that’s something she can’t quite help. “We are beyond the merger,” Fedrick said, measuring her tone so as not to wake of the “six or seven kids here with my daughter.” “Sure, there are some ongoing things with that process and there are some things we’re going to have to do to strengthen the university, but there is a distinct feeling that students, faculty, the alumni, our supporters, they’re looking forward. There’s a growing feeling that Albany State is truly ‘our university.’ …Fedrick said having the Gala sell out of both sponsorships and individual tickets offers evidence of the growing support for the university in the community. But, she said, it also affords staff planning the event time to focus on “fine-tuning” the black-tie fundraiser that kicks off with a reception at 6:30 p.m. “What’s been really gratifying is having so many people stop me to say, ‘I’m going to the Gala,’” Fedrick said. “This is just a really special way to close out a special week, which culminates with our Founder’s Day Convocation and ceremony Friday. And this is not going to be a typical convocation. It’s an event at which we’re encouraging everyone — students, faculty, alumni, businesses, supporters — to get involved. “It’s an opportunity for everyone to take ownership of our institution.”
Georgia Entertainment News
Georgia Southern students win awards at the Uni-Fest Student Film Festival
BY STAFF
Two Georgia Southern University students won awards at the 2019 Uni-Fest Film Festival in Atlanta on March 30 and 31. Uni-Fest is an annual film festival for students in Georgia to show their film-making skills, receive feedback on their films and network with professionals. The GS films screened at the festival were “NOSTOS 12” by senior multimedia film and production major, Connor Rentz, and “I Hate When Balloons Fly Away” by junior film and production major Madison Bunker and Jared Cobb. …Rentz’s film won awards for best performance in a leading role, production design and best sound design. …Madison Bunker and Jared Cobb’s film “I Hate When Balloons Fly Away’ were nominated for best directing and best editing.
WLTZ
CSU to Host Special Sustainability Fair April 3rd
Miller Robson
Columbus State University’s annually held Sustainability event promotes environmentally friendly programs conducted by the University and brings in local businesses’ that also promote sustainable practices and gives them a chance to promote their services and products. All of this is to encourage and educate Columbus State University Faculty and Staff along with CSU students and local high school students and the community to increase recycling and other environmentally helpful activities.
Middle Georgia CEO
If not for Beth Brown, Middle Georgia State University’s respiratory therapy degree might not exist today. Instead, a program that just hit the quarter century mark has produced more than 500 graduates and recently transitioned from an associate’s to a Bachelor of Science degree. “There is no way to exaggerate Beth’s impact,” said Teri Miller, current chair of MGA’s Department of Respiratory Therapy in the School of Health Sciences. “She built the foundation.” Brown, 64, is leaving her life’s work this May for a well-earned retirement that will include kayaking, quilting, and time spent with seven grandchildren. Her legacy is the hundreds of well-educated, critically thinking Middle Georgia State RT graduates who continue to work and lead at medical facilities and other healthcare providers throughout the region and beyond.
Savannah CEO
Bethesda Academy and Georgia Southern University Partner for Agricultural Research
Staff Report From Savannah CEO
Students at Bethesda Academy, a residential and day school for boys in grades six through 12, are joining forces with chemistry students from Georgia Southern University – Armstrong Campus to try to answer questions on how gardening methods impact the nutritional value of produce. The research will focus on determining the antioxidant levels in food grown by three different methods: conventional soil-based cultivation using conventional fertilizers and pesticides, organic cultivation using sustainable, non-toxic processes and aquaponics, growing plants in fish tanks with a water-based system. Bethesda will offer the local organic testing ground and, in exchange, students will get the opportunity to engage with chemists in hands-on learning activities.
The New York Times
Introducing the World’s First Gene-Edited Lizard
Scientists weren’t expecting him to look like this.
By Heather Murphy
Scientists have been altering the genes of mice, pigs, goats, chickens and butterflies for quite some time. But even as Crispr, a transformative gene-editing tool, made seemingly impossible genetic alterations possible, reptiles had remained untouched. That changed with the birth of a nearly transparent Anolis lizard, the first gene-edited reptile, according to the draft of a study made public this week. Ashley Rasys, a graduate student at the University of Georgia who was involved in the lizard’s creation, arrived shortly after he broke through his thick M&M-size shell. “I was floored,” she said. “We weren’t really expecting to generate an albino lizard at first,” she added. The steps involved in creating him are outlined in the paper, which was first reported by Science magazine. Scientists now have another model to utilize in genetic research.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Education Department Urged to Evaluate Second-Chance Pell
By Andrew Kreighbaum
In a report released Thursday, the Government Accountability Office called on the Education Department to assess the performance of a pilot project to award Pell Grants to incarcerated students. The federal government has awarded $35.6 million to about 8,800 students in the two years since the Second-Chance Pell program started. GAO conducted interviews with 12 of 64 participating colleges as part of its review of the program.
Inside Higher Ed
Community Colleges Team Up to Improve Graduation Rates for Single Moms
By Ashley A. Smith
Education Design Lab, a nonprofit that designs and tests unique college models that seek to help underserved students, announced Thursday that four community colleges would over the next six years test new strategies to help improve graduation rates for single mothers. Central New Mexico Community College, Delgado Community College in Louisiana, Monroe Community College in New York and Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana were selected to partner with Education Design Lab and create student interventions that will raise college degree attainment rates for single mothers by 30 percent at their institutions by 2024. Each college will receive a one-time $50,000 award to support the launch of its pilot programs after the design is completed.