University System News:
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Atlanta Business Chronicle names 2019 Most Admired CEO honorees
Atlanta Business Chronicle today announced our 2019 Most Admired CEOs. The 44 executives in 22 categories and industries will be honored at an awards dinner on the evening of Aug. 22 at The Fairmont. Learn more about the event here. Check out the list of honorees below, listed in alphabetical order by industry and name:
Music, Film and TV
Jeffrey Stepakoff, Executive Director, Georgia Film Academy
The Augusta Chronicle
Nursing Workforce Summit at AU addresses statewide nursing shortage
By Erika Wells Staff Writer
There is no end in sight for the nursing shortage in Georgia but leaders from the education and medical communities met Thursday in Augusta to come up with possible solutions. The University System of Georgia in conjunction with Augusta University and Albany State University hosted the Nursing Workforce Summit at the J. Harold Harrison, M.D. Education Commons with attendees from across the state. It was an opportunity for educational institutes with nursing programs and health systems that hire the students to discuss how to meet future workforce demand. Georgia is a state with one of the biggest shortages and that is projected to continue for decades, said Lucy Marion, the dean of the College of Nursing at Augusta University. “At Augusta University, we’ve continued to grow our numbers, stretching our resources as best we can to get as much students as we can through our program,” she said.
The Brunswick News
College partners with Department of Public Health to host workshop
By Lauren Mcdonald
Several public health nurses found themselves in a familiar educational setting Thursday. College of Coastal Georgia’s Department of Nursing hosted a pediatric assessment training workshop Thursday, titled “Everything You Wanted to Know About Pediatric Assessment and Communication Technique for the Public Health Nurse.” More than 20 nurses attended the workshop, and many were graduates of the college’s nursing program. “This is a partnership with College of Coastal Georgia, and we are excited with the partnership because it strengthens the knowledge base of our nurses,” said Betty Dixon, director of nursing and clinical services for the Coastal Health District. “And we also partner with the college when their students nurses rotate through our departments.” The Coastal Health District asked the college to lead the workshop for public health nurses from Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long and McIntosh counties.
Savannah CEO
Infinity, Inc. Announces 20th Anniversary Scholarship Recipient
Staff Report
Local IT services provider Infinity Inc. recently announced the recipient of an academic scholarship in honor of the company’s 20th anniversary. Ryan McKenna, a 2019 graduate of South Effingham High School, received the $2000 scholarship which will assist with educational costs. Ryan plans to attend Georgia Southern University in the fall and will major in Information Technology with a minor in Cybersecurity.
Growing America
ABAC Degree in Agricultural Technology and Systems Management Fills AET Need
During the 111-year history of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, hundreds of graduates have earned a diploma in Agricultural Engineering Technology (AET). For years, it was a popular two-year degree at ABAC, both among students and the employers who hired ABAC graduates from the program. ABAC President David Bridges believes a new ABAC major in Agricultural Technology and Systems Management will quench the thirst of those students who want the AET background but need a four-year degree for their chosen profession. “Jobs are available for students who complete this major,” Bridges said. “These are the type of employees that companies are looking for. These graduates have applied skills. They have been in the shops. They can solve problems in the field. …Dr. Mark Kistler, Dean of the ABAC School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the degree is a perfect fit for students and employers.
Eurekalert
Sheaths drive powerful new artificial muscles
Over the last 15 years, researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas and their international colleagues have invented several types of strong, powerful artificial muscles using materials ranging from high-tech carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to ordinary fishing line. In a new study published July 12 in the journal Science, the researchers describe their latest advance, called sheath-run artificial muscles, or SRAMs. …Study authors also include researchers from Georgia Southern University;
Coastal Courier
UGA Skidaway Institute gliders improve hurricane predictions
The models hurricane forecasters use to predict the paths of storms have become much more accurate in recent years, but not so much the models’ ability to accurately predict a storm’s intensity. Now, underwater gliders, operated by researchers at the University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, are part of a national effort to use marine robots to improve the accuracy of storm forecast models. …Gliders are torpedo-shaped crafts that can be packed with sensors and sent on underwater missions to collect oceanographic data. The gliders measure temperature and salinity, among other parameters, as they profile up and down in the water. Equipped with satellite phones, the gliders surface periodically to transmit their recorded data during missions that can last from weeks to months.
Times-Georgian
Expert: Roughly 30 buried on UWG campus
BY KEN DENNEY
THE TIMES-GEORGIAN
Experts have concluded that a cemetery containing roughly 30 people and potentially up to 50 exists on the front campus of the University of West Georgia.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
More Students Are Sticking With College
By Paul Fain
The national college persistence rate has increased by 2.2 percentage points during the last eight years, according to new data released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which is able to track the progress of 97 percent of undergraduates who are enrolled at degree-granting postsecondary institutions that are eligible to receive federal financial aid. The center found that 74 percent of the 3.5 million students who enrolled in college for the first time in the fall of 2017 persisted one year later, meaning they were still enrolled in college or had earned a credential at any higher education institution. But despite the slight increase, more than a quarter of all new college students are leaving higher education in their first year. And the center’s new data show wide persistence gaps among different types of institutions and across racial and ethnic lines.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
In Lawsuit, Teachers Accuse Education Department of Botching Public-Service Loans
By Steven Johnson
The American Federation of Teachers accused the Education Department and its secretary, Betsy DeVos, of “gross mismanagement” of a loan-forgiveness program, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in federal court. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, meant to encourage people to pursue careers in the public interest, has come under scrutiny for a rocky rollout. Thousands of people expecting relief on their student loans have remained stuck with high balances. Eight of those people joined the lawsuit.
Inside Higher Ed
Teachers Sue DeVos Over Public Service Loan Forgiveness
By Andrew Kreighbaum
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten filed a lawsuit against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in federal court Thursday alleging “gross mismanagement” of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The AFT brought the lawsuit on behalf of eight members who are seeking to have their loan debt discharged. The department under DeVos, the organization argues, is responsible for processing errors and failures to oversee the loan servicers that handle student loan payments.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Nell Gluckman
In his eight years as a trustee of the University of South Carolina, Charles H. Williams said he’d never gotten a call from the governor about university business. So Williams was surprised when Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s Republican governor, called him last Friday, the day after the Fourth of July, telling him who to hire as the next university president. “I flatly told him,” Williams said. “I said, ‘I’m not going to support him.’” It was a strange request because the Board of Trustees had already decided to extend its search after considering the governor’s pick, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr., a former superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. But still, according to Williams, McMaster wanted the trustees to vote on Caslen and threatened to call the vote himself if the board chair did not. A few days later, the board chairman did, and a vote was scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m. On Thursday afternoon, the South Carolina newspaper The State reported that a judge had ordered the vote be postponed, because the trustees had not been given enough notice before the meeting.