University System News:
Albany Herald
ABAC hosts Young Writer’s Conference
By Rachel Lord
While most people think of the Agricultural and Natural Resources programs when they think of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, ABAC also has thriving liberal arts programs as well. And a group of 25 high school students got the chance to see this for themselves at this year’s daylong Young Writer’s Conference at ABAC on Saturday. Jeff Newberry, an English professor at ABAC, said the idea of showing the wide variety of programs ABAC has to offer was one of the initial reasons for starting the conference. “The writing and communication program at ABAC is growing and thriving, and I think it’s exciting that potential students can see all that we have to offer,” Newberry said. “I think the event shows potential students that ABAC is not a one-trick pony. We have strong programs in all of the liberal arts.”
The Island Packet
Experiential learning at USCB benefits students, community | Opinion
By Eric Skipper Special To The Island Packet And The Beaufort Gazette
Perhaps the most fundamental objective of USCB’s Strategic Plan 2023 is to “strengthen and develop academic opportunities to meet the needs of a dynamic and changing world.” To this end, Chancellor Al Panu has made experiential learning a priority for all USCB students. … Some colleges have made experiential learning a hallmark of their educational platform. Northeastern and Georgia Tech leverage hugely successful co-op programs, whereby students alternate semesters between school and work. Often experiential learning opportunities result in job offers after graduation.
Emanuel County Live
EGSC-Statesboro Director selected to participate in Leadership Bulloch
by HARLEY STRICKLAND
Jessica Williamson, Director of East Georgia State College – Statesboro (EGSC – S), has been selected to participate in Leadership Bulloch, a program designed by the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce. The Leadership Bulloch Selection Committee targets people for the program who have a sincere commitment, motivation and interest to serve in the community and have demonstrated commitment by past community activities. The participants also must represent all segments of the community and have demonstrated leadership qualities. Williamson fits these qualifications by leading the Statesboro campus of EGSC. She develops strategic goals for the campus, oversees the delivery of services and serves as a member of the President’s Cabinet.
WGAU Radio
By: Kalah Mingo
Cas Mudde, Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor of International Affairs in the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs, has been named to Prospect Magazine’s 2019 list of “World’s Top 50 Thinkers.” Those selected are considered leaders in their fields who engage in original and profound ways of thinking with the central questions of the modern world. Mudde has been recognized for his extensive work on populist politics and the far right. He defined modern populism in 2004 and has since laid the groundwork for research and reporting in the area. His research interests extend to civil society, conceptualization, democracy and democratization, Euroskepticism, political parties, political ideologies, and social movements.
The Augusta Chronicle
New AU Health CEO is finance-focused
By Damon Cline
She’s a chief executive officer with chief financial officer sensibilities, which is exactly what Augusta University’s academic health system was seeking. Katrina Keefer, who was hired July 15 in the dual role of AU executive vice president for health affairs and CEO of AU Health System, spent the previous 15 years as CFO for Baptist Health in Montgomery, Ala., an affiliate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The 45-year-old executive has worked with bond agencies, restructured debt, overseen mergers and acquisitions and held organizations to their budgets. Her charge at AU will be bringing financial stability and accountability to the billion-dollar health system, which is expected to close its 2019 fiscal year with a $24 million loss.
Emanuel County Live
Celebration of Life to be held for Jean Anderson Morgan
by HARLEY STRICKLAND
A celebration of life will be held to honor the life of Jean Anderson Morgan. The celebration will be held at East Georgia State College’s Luck F. Gambrell Center Auditorium located at 131 College Circle in Swainsboro. It will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 3. …Morgan moved to Swainsboro after marrying her husband, Jimmy Morgan. The couple lived in Swainsboro for over 40 years. Their home is now part of East Georgia State College and is used by students, faculty and administrators for social gatherings and school events. Morgan had a gift of leadership. She pursued a life-long commitment to education, the arts, civic and community service. She was always generously giving her time to help others. She regularly volunteered at the Emanuel County Food Pantry, and she served on the boards of Brewton Parker College and East Georgia State College. East Georgia State College was especially important to Morgan. She was involved with its growth, and she was chosen as the first chair of the East Georgia State College Foundation in 1974. With her help, the college was able to build the Jean Anderson Morgan Student Activities Center, known as the JAM.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Air Force awards Georgia Tech Research Institute contract worth potentially $500M
By Jessica Saunders – Managing Editor
The United States Air Force has awarded Georgia Tech Applied Research Corp. a $245.9 million contract for electronic warfare and avionics systems support. The contract provides for essential engineering, research and development capabilities and services for the development and sustainment of systems, according to the Department of Defense. Work will be performed at Atlanta, Georgia, and is expected to be completed by July 8, 2029. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract has a total ceiling of $491 million, with a performance base period of five years with a 5-year option, according to Georgia Tech, which is based in Atlanta.
WTOC
Georgia Southern building evacuated after potential release of asbestos
Georgia Southern evacuated a building on Monday after a routine HVAC repair produced what the college is calling “a potential release of asbestos”. The University evacuated the Math/Physics building on Statesboro as a precaution and per EPD regulations. The building will remain closed until the area is cleared and cleaned. Crews will be monitoring the air throughout the day on Tuesday, with results expected by Wednesday at noon.
WTOC
New cold storage facility aims to increase trade of frozen food at Port of Savannah
By Zach Logan
A new cold storage facility is coming to Chatham County in hopes of increasing trade of fresh and frozen food through the Port of Savannah. Americold, an operator of temperature-controlled infrastructure, will break ground on a new cold storage facility in Bloomingdale on Tuesday. It’s expected to bring more jobs and commerce to the greater Savannah area. Construction has already started on this new facility on Old River Road close to Interstate 16, which we know is an important factor. Companies want to make sure they’re close to the interstates so they can get their goods moving. It is also close to the Port of Savannah, which is also a big part of this project. …According to a Georgia Southern University professor of economics, these jobs are good for the area.
Times of India
These ant-sized robots can sense climate change, repair body injuries
Scientists have developed a 3D-printed robot — about the size of the world’s smallest ant — that moves by harnessing vibration from ultrasound sources or even tiny speakers. Swarms of these “micro-bristle-bots” could work together to sense environmental changes, move materials, or repair injuries inside the human body in the future, said the researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
WLTZ
Cougars Sweep ITA All-Star Team Awards
For the first time in program history, the Columbus State University men’s tennis team collected all three spots on the 2019 Division II Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Collegiate All-Star Team. After finishing the year as the top-ranked singles player in the nation, KP Pannu earned the singles position on the team while the doubles pairing of Zach Whaanga and Alvaro Regalado picked up the honors for the second consecutive season.
Higher Education News:
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
The Future of Higher Education and Industry
by Janet Kline
Social media manager. App developer. Uber driver and Podcast producer. These are just a few of the many jobs that didn’t exist 35 years ago. And as current trends go, there will undoubtedly be a number of new professions that will be created over the next decade or so, forcing higher education leaders to rethink how they train and prepare students for the emerging workforce. The same is true when it comes to higher education terminology. At one time, not too long ago, terms like food and housing insecurity and Latinx were not part of higher education’s lexicon. “In many ways, higher education has experienced a radical transformation quickly, one that requires continual updates,” says Dr. Kenneth C. Parker, an education consultant who studies trends in education. “The challenge is whether institutions are readying themselves to meet these challenges.” Homeland security and cybersecurity, he says, are relatively new areas of studies at the college and university level, and those programs have taken off with a considerable degree of success.
Inside Higher Ed
New Gossip App Hits College Campuses
Pop wants to become the next big messaging app for students. But will it avoid the mistakes of Yik Yak and other failed campus-based apps before it?
By Lindsay McKenzie
Despite their relatively short shelf life, the development of campus-based social media platforms isn’t slowing down. Pop, the latest social media app to target students, is hoping to become the next big thing on college campuses. Like other college social media apps before it, Pop takes elements of other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Slack, and brings them together with the aim of creating a digital community. The goal is to help students find each other, said Alex Kehr, the CEO of Pop. The app has only been launched on two college campuses so far, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Oregon. Kehr says his team picked the colleges at random. …You don’t have to be a student to join the UCLA or the Oregon Pop community, but you do have to be on campus and have an iPhone, explained Kehr. Once you’ve joined a community, you can talk to anyone else in that community. People create profiles and groups and send each other direct messages. There is also a page called “the wall,” where anyone in the community can post anything, which is similar to Yik Yak, the controversial anonymous messaging app that launched in 2013 and shut down four years later, but without the built-in anonymity.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Study: Cutting Federal Graduate Loans Would Harm Black Students, HBCUs
by LaMont Jones
Cuts to federal student loans for graduate and professional students could be devastating to African-Americans and, in a ripple effect, historically Black colleges and universities, according to a study by the AccessLex Institute. As Congress wrestles with reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, some lawmakers have proposed limiting federal loans to graduate students as a way to reduce over-borrowing and high loan debt levels for students – even though professional and grad students have some of the best repayment rates. Black students take out federal student loans at the highest rate of any racial group, and HBCUs and their students tend to rely more heavily on those funds than their White counterparts. AccessLex researchers said reducing or eliminating federal loan options such as Grad PLUS would force many Black students to either not pursue graduate studies or apply for private-sector educational loans, which have stricter criteria and higher interest rates.
Inside Higher Ed
Suit Seeks to Protect Students Accused of Sexual Assault
A lawyer is seeking class-action status for a lawsuit on behalf of college students who want the right to question their accusers.
By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
In a groundbreaking move, the first-ever prospective class-action lawsuit that would benefit students accused of sexual assault has been filed against a university, potentially reversing the outcomes of dozens of sexual violence cases. Experts say the suit against Michigan State University is a clever legal maneuver that takes advantage of a significant ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Judges determined in September 2018 that students accused of sexual assault, or their representatives, had a right to directly question their accuser, which legal experts said would reshape the notion of due process in these cases. The lawsuit could theoretically challenge, even retroactively, the results of any campus sexual violence case that didn’t offer due process protections.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
University of Alaska Regents Vote to Declare Financial Exigency
By Katherine Mangan
Updated (7/22/2019, 3:35 p.m.) with options the university is considering.
The University of Alaska’s Board of Regents declared financial exigency on Monday, calling it a sad but necessary step given the budget crisis created by a 41-percent cut in the university’s budget from the state. The vote was 10 to 1 in favor of the declaration, which system leaders said was needed to allow the system to downsize rapidly. That could include closing programs and laying off tenured faculty members. “It’s hard for me to contemplate the path we may have to go down,” said John Davies, the board’s chairman. “But we do have a fiduciary responsibility to be sure the institution survives. Unfortunately, I think we’re grappling with survival.” Members who said they were voting reluctantly in favor of the motion pointed out that it was a tool, not a plan for making cuts, and that it could be modified, restricted, or withdrawn if lawmakers restored at least some of the budget.
The Charlotte Observer
UNC System is undergoing leadership change. Could new chancellors be more like CEOs?
BY KATE MURPHY
When students return to campus next month, five of the 17 University of North Carolina System campuses will have either a new or interim chancellor at the helm. The system itself also is in search of a permanent leader, marking a significant time of transition for state universities. Harry Smith, chairman of the UNC System Board of Governors, recognizes there’s been a lot of leadership change. But he said he and other board members see this as an opportunity to appoint university leaders who know how to successfully manage and grow a large business, manage its finances and make good long-term strategic decisions. They’re interested in non-traditional chancellors who are more like CEOs than academics and who will then be accompanied by a “powerhouse” provost, CFO and athletic director.