University System News:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Board of Regents approves Dooley Field at UGA
By Eric Stirgus
Dooley Field is officially a done deal. The Georgia Board of Regents approved a proposal Tuesday to name the University of Georgia’s football field after former head coach and athletics director Vince Dooley. The board approved the proposal without opposition. University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley and some board members praised the idea when it was announced two weeks ago.
Columbus CEO
CSU Approved for New Innovative Degree in Robotics Engineering
Staff Report From Columbus CEO
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved today for Columbus State University to offer a new bachelor of science and master of science degrees in robotics engineering. The program could begin as early as fall 2019. This will be a first for CSU as the university continues to prepare the technology workforce for our region. “This is a game changer for our university, our community, and our current and future students,” said CSU President Chris Markwood. “The job outlook in robotics engineering is extremely bright, with an increasingly high demand for talent right here in the Columbus. This is yet another opportunity for us to work with local employers to train tomorrow’s workforce with the exact skills needed within our region.”
accessWDUN
State grants $15.9 million to UNG for capital improvements
By Rebecca Hubbard Reporter/Anchor
Lawmakers approved almost $16 million dollars for the University of North Georgia to use towards making capital improvements at the school. The Executive Director of Communications, Sylvia Carson, said the bulk of the funds will be used for the old Lanier Tech campus across from the school’s current Gainesville campus. “The goal is to be able to acquire the seven building that Lanier Tech has left available, which totals about 165,000 square feet,” Carson said, “and to re-align some of our current academic and administrative departments. Carson explained that the school is also seeing an increase in the number of students who want to pursue degrees in cyber security, computer forensics, and computer science which requires a facility to accommodate the students in the Mike Cottrell College of Business on the Dahlonega campus.
Albany Herald
UGArden provides fresh produce to students
By Sadie Lackey
Food insecurity is an issue among college students that is rarely discussed but all too common. With limited funds or inconsistent income streams, some college students may have to choose between paying rent and buying groceries. With this issue affecting their friends and neighbors, students working at UGArden, the University of Georgia’s student-run farm, decided to take action. With the help of a $5,409 grant from the UGA Parents Leadership Council, a group of highly engaged parents, UGArden will now be able to provide fresh produce to the UGA Food Pantry, John McGinnis, president of the UGArden Club, said.
Albany Herald
Elementary school raises funds for ABAC scholarship
From Staff Reports
The faculty, staff, and students at Annie Belle Clark Elementary School in Tifton recently raised $4,844 for the Sophia Ruth Fisher Endowed Scholarship at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College through their annual “Maggie Lee for Good Day.”
Albany CEO
Brandon Waters Named 2019 GSW Outstanding Scholar
Staff Report From Albany CEO
Brandon Waters, a non-traditional senior education major from Pitts, Ga., was recently named Georgia Southwestern State University’s 2019 Outstanding Scholar, the university’s highest academic honor. Waters currently holds a 4.0 GPA, which puts him at the top of his class. The Outstanding Scholar Award represents superb scholastic achievement. A student must have a near-perfect GPA even to be considered for this award.
Jackson Progress-Argus
Twins earn high school diplomas, associate’s degrees
By Michael Davis
A pair of Jackson High School Lady Devils will be picking up their diplomas later this month, having already earned associate’s degrees from Gordon State College. Twins Molly and Mallory Watson have been dually enrolled at Gordon State since the start of their junior years, attending Gordon and taking online courses full time with no classes on Jackson High’s campus. …Molly’s associate’s degree is in elementary education. She’s been accepted to the University of Georgia where she plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in special education while a part of the Air Force ROTC program there. UGA’s Air Force ROTC program was part of the reason she chose to attend UGA. …Mallory plans to continue her education at Gordon State this fall, building on her associate’s in general studies to earn a degree in education. She also plans to continue playing softball as part of the Gordon State team. While still being close to home, “at Gordon, I’ll be able to experience college,” she said. Both say dual enrollment was an invaluable experience for them, with Molly’s tuition being entirely free and only a couple of Mallory’s classes not covered by the Move On When Ready program.
Columbus CEO
CSU Veteran Graduates Receives Suits from Local Businesses
Staff Report From Columbus CEO
Three Columbus State University veteran graduates are headed into the civilian workforce, armed with a new degree and a new suit for job interviews. The suits were donated by local businesses as part of CSU’s 2nd Annual Suits for Vets campaign. The program is coordinated by CSU’s office of military enrollment, a department at CSU that is focused on serving the needs of military-affiliated students.
Athens Banner-Herald
Army vet earns teaching degree to help kids with special needs
By Kathryn Kao
From improvised explosive devices to analytical geometry, the range of topics Perry West has taught over the last two decades serves as a rough sketch of his life as both a veteran of the U.S. Army and a student in the University of Georgia’s College of Education. West, who retired from the Army in 2007 after 24 years of service, recently graduated from UGA with a bachelor’s degree in special education. With multiple military awards under his name, including a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Combat Action Badge and Legion of Merit, it’s only fitting that the former sergeant major graduate with a perfect 4.0 GPA. “Being a nontraditional student in the military, they teach you how to be a self-starter; you don’t need anybody to motivate you,” said West, who plans on returning to UGA in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in special education.
Times-Georgian
UWG alum connecting youth, NCAA athletes
By Colton Campbell
When it comes to leveraging his expertise and interests into a career, one University of West Georgia graduate really knocks it out of the park. University of West Georgia Former UWG baseball standout and 2013 Richards College of Business graduate Blake McLemore launched Train Collegiate, an app that connects adults and parents of youth athletes with local, active college athletes for in-person sports lessons.
Georgia Trend
Education Georgia online MBAs among the best
BY MARY ANN DEMUTH
A recent BusinessStudent.com study ranked eight Georgia universities on its list of the nation’s top 200 online MBA programs. These include Columbus State University at No. 16, Mercer University – Atlanta at No. 48, Kennesaw State University at No. 73, University of West Georgia at No. 103, Georgia College at No. 105, Georgia Southern University at No. 112, Brenau University at No. 133 and Valdosta State University at No. 149.
Albany CEO
GSW Foundation Executive Director Reda Rowell Announces Retirement
Staff Report From Albany CEO
Georgia Southwestern Foundation Executive Director Reda Rowell recently announced her retirement effective May 1 after serving the Foundation for over six years. “Beginning with the warm welcome that my husband Kelly and I received in Americus and at Georgia Southwestern, working the GSW faculty, staff and Foundation has been an honor and a pleasure,” said Rowell. “With many thanks to GSW alumni and friends, I am especially proud of the many new scholarships, initiatives, and activities made possible during my 6 years here and of the 2 national awards we received for overall fundraising excellence.” During Rowell’s tenure, the Foundation received nearly $7 million in contributions and created 38 new scholarships.
Albany Herald
UGA Tifton campus moves into second 100 years
By Clint Thompson
For 100 years, the University of Georgia Tifton campus has been committed to agricultural research that benefits the state of Georgia and the world. As the campus turns the page to its next century, UGA-Tifton is focused on cultivating the next generation of agricultural leaders who will help feed and clothe a growing population. UGA-Tifton held a centennial celebration earlier this month that was as much a time of hope and excitement for the future as it was a day of reflection on past accomplishments.
Albany Herald
Future of state’s public HBCUs topic of meeting
From Staff Reports
State Sen. Freddie Powell Sims and concerned alumni from Georgia’s three public historically black colleges and universities are expected to speak at a panel discussion of the future of the state’s HBCUs Tuesday. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the James C. Reese Student Union Building on Albany State University’s East Campus. Ward I Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard is coordinating the meeting, along with James Hill, the head of ASU’s English Department. Howard hosted a similar meeting to discuss the future of Georgia’s public HBCUs after Sims announced that one of her colleagues in the state Senate, Lester Jackson of Savannah, had submitted a proposed bill that would remove Albany State University, Fort Valley State University and Savannah State University from the University System of Georgia and reassign them to an Agricultural and Mechanical University System run by a board of directors separate from the University System.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NEW FINDINGS: Georgia teacher pension board must decide if colleges owe millions
By James Salzer
Four months after state auditors said Georgia’s universities had been shortchanging the teacher pension fund, the retirement system’s board is considering whether to send the colleges a rather hefty bill. Teachers and retirees in the 400,000-member Teachers Retirement System have expressed outrage over the auditors’ findings that hundreds of millions of dollars never made it into the fund. They say the $600 million auditors say TRS was shortchanged helped back up state lawmakers who argued that the fund is financially unsustainable. But University System officials dispute the auditors’ conclusion and say the system pays more than its fair share. They say forcing them to make new payments could have serious consequences, including major spending cuts at colleges and higher tuition or fees for students.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Court hears arguments in Georgia campus speech dispute
By Eric Stirgus
Attorneys representing students who say Georgia Gwinnett College violated their freedom of expression rights argued their case Tuesday before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The dispute began in 2016 when a student, Chike Uzuegbunam, filed the lawsuit against the college in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, arguing his free speech rights were violated. Uzuegbunam said a college official told him he couldn’t distribute fliers sharing his Christian faith where he was standing on campus. The college had two “free speech expression areas,” which his attorneys described as “tiny.” Another student, Joseph Bradford, who also wanted to preach on campus, joined the case as a plaintiff. The case drew headlines when then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions filed a 26-page “statement of interest” in support of the students.
CBN News
Christian Student Gets His Day in Court, Blocked from Sharing Gospel
Emily Jones
The Alliance Defending Freedom will go before the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday to defend a former college student who was silenced while trying to share the gospel with fellow students at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC). School administrators repeatedly silenced student Chike Uzuegbunam in 2016 when he tried to pass out Christian literature on campus and talk to students about his faith. The school stopped him and said he was violating their speech zone policy which required him to ask three days in advance for permission to speak, limiting him to two small speech zones on campus.
Saporta Report
Photo Pick: UNG develops app to help citizen Scientists ID snakes
A copperhead, worm snake, scarlet snake, black racer and timber rattlesnake are among the 20-plus species that can be identified with the “Snake ID for Citizen Scientists” app developed by University of North Georgia faculty and students. Jessica Patterson, a lecturer of biology, collaborated with Dr. Allison Bailey, associate professor of environmental studies in the Lewis F. Rogers Institute for Environmental and Spatial Analysis (IESA) at UNG, and student Jacob Lougee to develop the app. Its purpose is to find snakes possibly suffering from deadly fungi and pinpoint their location via GPS with IESA’s help.
Athens Banner-Herald
Boyfriend charged with UGA professor’s murder
By Joe Johnson
A University of Georgia professor was strangled to death by her boyfriend Saturday night at the home of a Milledgeville man who subsequently committed suicide, according to Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee. Massee said the alleged murder of 43-year-old Marianne Clopton Shockley of Madison was one of the “strangest” cases his agency had ever investigated. Shockley was an entomology professor with UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Her boyfriend, 41-year-old Marcus Allen Lillard of Milledgeville was charged with murder, aggravated assault and concealing the death of another, the sheriff said.
Inside Higher Ed
The Shape of Higher Ed to Come
Making pragmatic predictions
Steven Mintz
Predicting the future is easy. Anyone can do it. Getting the predictions right, however, is what’s hard. A video produced by Microsoft Office Labs in 2009 offered a vision of technology in 2019. It included simultaneous transitions between languages, touch screens, gesture controls, e-paper, wall-sized smart displays, voice activated digital assistants, and pocket projectors. All have their counterparts today, but remember what’s missing. There are no team-based, mobile collaboration tools, like Slack or Google Docs, and nothing about predictive analytics, apps, machine learning, or the Cloud. The video doesn’t envision 3-D printing or the omnipresence of GPS. Speculations about the future are often wrong for several reasons: They convey a false sense of certainty, extrapolate current trends, and fail to anticipate contingencies, those “unknown unknowns” that include unforeseen events and shifting circumstances. Recent months have brought a spate of books and reports predicting the future of higher education, from Deloitte’s Center for Higher Education Excellence and Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities to the non-profit Education Design Lab. David J. Staley’s Alternative Universities offers ten innovative designs for the universities of the future.
Higher Education News:
Daily Nurse
Mercer University Announces New Accelerated Nursing Program on the Atlanta Campus
Georgia, News
Mercer University Georgia Baptist College of Nursing (GBCN) has announced a new Accelerated Bachelors of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program will start this month. The program was created in response to Georgia’s ongoing nursing shortage and is designed to be a cost-effective way for students with a non-nursing bachelor’s degree to earn their BSN in as little as a year. The program is a collaboration between GBCN and Orbis Education, a company that partners with universities in order to expand and improve on their existing pre-professional programs, primarily in the nursing and occupational therapy fields. The program is looking to admit eight lab groups with 12 students per group for the first semester. According to Aaron Van Berg, an admissions counselor at GBCN, Georgia is one of the most severely understaffed states in the country.