University System News:
The Gainesville Times
Editorial: Strong economy demands strong education, workforce training
The Times editorial board
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce last week hosted a forum at the Dahlonega campus of the University of North Georgia to discuss ways to bring positive economic growth and prosperity to the rural areas north of Atlanta and its suburban communities. In a panel discussion that included state Sen. Steve Gooch of Dahlonega and state Rep. Rick Jasperse of Jasper, education, workforce development and health care were among the topics highlighted as being essential to bringing economic prosperity.
Savannah Morning News
SSU merger rumors, decline in student enrollment addressed during NAACP meeting
By Asha Gilbert
Facing a drop in student enrollment and a search for a permanent president, Savannah State University’s future has been called into question. Merger rumors, enrollment concerns, and the search for a new president were covered during the Savannah Branch NAACP Mass Meeting on Sunday, July 28. Although the Interim President Kimberly Ballard-Washington was not in attendance, Chairman of the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia Don Waters took the podium to address the crowd. “Why can’t our young people come home?” Waters said he was asked. “What are they coming home to?” he responded. Since 2014, SSU has lost 838 students, according to Waters. He also said how the decline in enrollment directly affected the two rounds of layoffs SSU experienced in the last year. “If you add 800 students and lose them in two semesters, then you’re going to be in trouble,” Waters said. “Because the funding of this allocation of money is going to come to you based on credit hours, growth and student enrollment growth.” …Waters dispelled merger rumors and said he hopes the national search for a new president will begin this calendar year or at the latest at the beginning of the next fiscal year. Waters discussed having a dream for his hometown including SSU, but the city lacks the economic vitality found in hub cities like Atlanta.
WTOC
Savannah NAACP holds meeting to discuss future of Savannah State University
The Savannah branch of the NAACP held a mass meeting on Sunday afternoon with the chairman of the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia. Everyone was there to discuss the future of Savannah State University. Among the topics is the search for a new president for the university after Cheryl Dossier retired. The university has had issues with student retention, budgets, crime, and more. The Board of Regents governs 26 universities in the University System of Georgia. Twelve of those, including Savannah State, are having problems with keeping students. …“Well, we think we can better serve the HBCU’s and the state of Georgia by holding our entire public university system together,” said Don Waters, chairman of the Board of Regents.
Albany Herald
Fall classes available at ABAC Moultrie
Seven classes offered in Moultrie by Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College still have spaces available for the 2019 fall semester. Moultrie Site Director Jena Willis said the classes include American Literature, Human Communication, College Algebra, Composition I, United States History, Introduction to Sociology, and Principles of Biology I with lab. Willis said ABAC is also offering English 1101 at Colquitt County High School for dual-enrolled students. Spots are available in this class as well.
Douglas Now
SGSC HOSTS ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARDS (RYLA) TO GROW FUTURE LEADERS
By Sarah Braswell
Early this summer, over sixty rising 11th and 12th graders from Southeast Georgia congregated on South Georgia State College’s Douglas Campus to be recognized for their leadership skills at the 2019 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, better known as RYLA. Clubs within Rotary District 6920 recognize and sponsor one to four students from their club area who have demonstrated leadership ability to attend RYLA. The students then return to their sponsoring Rotary Club and give a presentation on all they experienced and learned from the retreat. District 6920 RYLA, sponsored by the Douglas Rotary Club, is a 4-day long camp highlighted by networking, team building, and leadership classes.
accessWDUN
University of North Georgia: New Blue Ridge campus a year from opening
In the mountains of Fannin County, the University of North Georgia’s new stand-alone Blue Ridge Campus continues to take shape. The main roads have been paved, and utilities have been installed and will be tied into city mains. Site grading has begun, and construction on the building itself should begin in August. The campus is scheduled to be completed in time for classes beginning fall semester 2020. The new campus is located off Ga. 515, about three miles from the current Blue Ridge Campus. Georgia Speaker of the House of Representatives David Ralston helped secure $5.5 million in state funds for the new Blue Ridge Campus in the 2019 fiscal year budget. Ralston, a UNG alumnus, represents Georgia District 7, including Fannin County, in the General Assembly.
Construction Equipment Guide
Georgia Tech Goes Green With New Building
Lori Lovely – Ceg Correspondent
Nearing completion after two years of construction, the Living Building at Georgia Tech University sets the bar for green buildings by becoming the first structure in the state certified under the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most rigorous green building certification standard. Georgia Tech is using this project to demonstrate how its thoughtful stewardship of resources and innovative thinking can benefit future generations. Funded by their largest single grant ever awarded — $25 million for design and construction, with another $5 million for support activities — The Kendeda Fund, a private family foundation based in Atlanta, Ga., that focuses on community-driven projects, anticipates that the structure will receive a 3.1 Living Building Challenge certification.
WGXA
‘Look at it now’: 50 years of athletics at Georgia College
by Miles Garrett
Walking around Georgia College and State University, you’ll see the staple of any other university in the country: classrooms, fraternities, and of course, athletic facilities. But it wasn’t always like that for GCSU’s students. “We had no facilities other than two tennis courts, but they needed to grow,” Floyd Anderson, the first athletic director in the school’s history, said. Fifty years ago in 1969, Georgia College was two years removed from being an all-female school. In an effort to appeal to more men, an idea was sparked to help expand. “First they went co-ed and so they needed students, male students, and then they thought about athletics. Athletics would draw the men in,” said Anderson. But the process took some time. …Today, Georgia College fields seven men’s athletic programs and nine for women.
The Augusta Chronicle
Editorial: Just what the doctor ordered
Add three plus three plus six. For our state, it could add up to a revolutionary shift forward in health care. Augusta University and the Medical College of Georgia are developing and proposing an inventive approach toward medical education, made public earlier this year. It’s being called the MCG 3+ Track. It debuted at the “3+3+6” initiative. It’s a powerful idea with a ton of merit: Shorten medical school from four years to three, for students who commit to becoming primary care physicians. Those are the doctors who often are a patient’s first stop when seeking care – such as family doctors and pediatricians, among others. After graduating, the doctors complete three-year primary care residencies. Residency is the intense, specialized postgraduate education students receive after leaving med school. After that, the freshly minted physicians agree to spend at least six years practicing their new profession in rural Georgia, whose distance from quality health care is vast. Three plus three plus six. Easy addition. But for too long, the education of physicians in this state has been a frustrating exercise in subtraction. Start with 100% of medical-school graduates who become doctors – many educated at MCG right here in Augusta. Now subtract about 75%. That’s the amount of grads who leave the state to pursue their medical careers. Next, take the amount of money in a med-school graduate’s bank account. Now subtract about $200,000. That’s the average debt those new doctors face. It’s a lot of money to pay back.
The Augusta Chronicle
Rick Franza: Free college? No. Affordable college? Yes!
By Richard M. Franza, Ph.D. / Guest Columnist
On July 30-31, the second round of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates will take place. If this round is anything like the first, the topics of “free college” and student loan debt forgiveness/cancellation will be front and center. In that first round in late June, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were the most strident in their calls for student-debt elimination and “free college.” …As someone with two children in college and who has worked in higher education for over two decades, I will agree college can be expensive. The cost of higher education has increased much faster than the rate of inflation during the past 20 to 30 years, which has definitely played a significant role in the current amount of student debt. While I am concerned about increasing college costs, I also am concerned about the other reasons student debt is climbing amid louder calls for “free college. …Unfortunately, many consumers of higher education – whether it is parents or the students themselves – are not as well informed about higher education as they could be or should be. We could certainly do more to help them. The first thing every consumer should know is that a college education is an investment, not a disposable item. So, when choosing a college and a major, the consumer should consider both the cost of the investment and its potential return. While some high-priced colleges provide an outstanding potential return, the consumer must consider what they can afford now, as well as what his/her wherewithal will be to pay back any debt incurred to finance the investment.
The Red & Black
UGA professor who profited off caviar sales to pay back more than $200,000
Hunter Riggall | Managing Editor
Douglas Peterson, the former University of Georgia professor who was forced to retire last year for profiting off the sale of UGA-produced caviar, will pay back about $218,000 to the university, according to a UGA statement. Peterson, who for years oversaw UGA’s farm-raised sturgeon caviar program, was investigated by UGA’s Internal Auditing Division and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for charging an unauthorized “consulting fee” when selling the caviar. Because the full amount that Peterson made over the years was not known when a separation agreement between Peterson and UGA was signed last August, the agreement mandated that Peterson pay $85,000 back to UGA by Jan. 31 of this year. In the agreement, Peterson agreed to cooperate with IAD investigators to determine the full balance. Peterson told IAD during the investigation that he estimated the balance could be around $200,000. The entire amount — now determined to be $218,735 — must be paid by Sept. 31, per the agreement. As of the July 18 statement, Peterson still had $133,735 left to pay. The $85,000 paid so far was paid “according to the agreed upon schedule,” according to the statement, which was provided in response to an open records request.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Brandon Adams toxicology test indicates no foul play in death
By Ken Sugiura
A toxicology exam performed on the body of Georgia Tech football player Brandon Adams did not indicate foul play, according to a statement from the Atlanta police department released Tuesday to the AJC. As a result, police will not pursue the case further. Adams died March 23, sending a shock through the Yellow Jackets team and fan base. According to a police report, Adams died after collapsing while taking a break from practicing a step-dancing routine with friends. After he went into convulsions and began foaming at the mouth, friends took him to Emory University Hospital Midtown, where he died. He was 21.
The George-Anne
No charges to be filed in reported rape at Southern Pines
By Sarah Smith
The victim of the reported rape at Southern Pines university housing has stated that she does not wish to file any criminal charges against the offender(s) in this case, according to a waiver of criminal prosecution that was signed on Monday. “This decision is made freely and without promise and/or coercion,” the signed waiver reads. “I release Georgia Southern University, and the GSU Division of Public Safety from any and all liabilities stemming from this case.”
WHAS
Are shorter summers better for students?
Some schools in southern Indiana are starting school at the end of July. Does this modified calendar help students in the long run?
Author: Rob Harris
…For a few years now, some Indiana schools have opted for shorter summer break. Back in 2013, New Albany Floyd County Schools joined the trend and adopted what’s called a “balanced calendar.” It’s not quite year-round school, but it’s in the same vein: They have a shorter summer break, head back to school early in August, and then get longer breaks in the fall, winter and spring. …Now, let’s talk data—or, perhaps, the need for more data. First off, we do know that the reading and learning loss over the summer is a real and measurable thing. It hits kids in poverty particularly hard, since they have fewer opportunities during the summer months. Schools with balanced calendars also report better attendance and less burnout. As for overall academic success—there isn’t too much publicly available research yet. One study from Georgia Southern University actually did not find a significant difference in learning between elementary school students on a balanced calendar and their peers on a traditional calendar. Still, New Albany Floyd County Schools said it has seen an improvement in student performance since making the switch.
Patch
Kennesaw Student Entrepreneur Launches Payment App
The KSU Entrepreneurship Center helped grow a Kennesaw student’s business and app he developed.
By Kathleen Sturgeon, Patch Staff
When Caleb Gilbert worked as a part-time tutor, a canceled session meant losing out on valuable time and money. Today, Gilbert’s new business venture – called Esgro – aims to help service providers avoid similar frustrations. … He took the idea to his friend Payton Johnson, a computer science graduate from Georgia Tech, and the two began working on the technology. Realizing they had a unique idea on their hands, they brought in Themiya Chandraratna, also a Georgia Tech computer science graduate, and reached out to the Coles College of Business Entrepreneurship Center for guidance on launching Esgro.
WSB
Bees atop Georgia university building will be research focus
Nearly 100,000 bees have found a new home on the rooftop of a campus building at a south Georgia university.
Researchers at Valdosta State University have relocated the bees there from other places on campus to increase their population, The Valdosta Daily Times reported Multiple departments at the university also hope to study them for clues as to why bees across the nation are dying off, according to the newspaper. …Scientists say the loss of bees is a huge problem for people, who rely on the insect for foods such as strawberries, pecans, melons and almonds. The insects are pollinators and produce honey, but they are dying off by nearly 40 percent, Uyeno added.
GPB
UGA Is Looking For People To Count Bees, Butterflies And Wasps
By Marianna Bacallao
Next month, thousands of Georgians will be participating in the country’s first ever citizen-led pollinator census. The University of Georgia is calling on volunteers to count bees, wasps and butterflies in their own backyards. On Aug. 23 and 24, participants will be making history when they record that data for the university. “You’re going to set your timer, and you’re going to count the insects that land on that plant in a 15-minute window,” Becky Griffin said. Griffin is an entomologist and the UGA pollinator census coordinator. After a successful pilot program last year with 50 participants from the Athens school system, Griffin is ready to take this program statewide.
Higher Education News:
Los Angeles Times
Gender gap in STEM fields could be due to girls’ reading skills, not math ability
By Stephanie De Marco
Why don’t more girls grow up to become scientists and engineers? It’s not that they’re bad at math, a new study argues. It’s that they’re even better at reading. This comparative advantage in reading is the primary reason why women are outnumbered by men in technical fields, according to a report published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study authors, economists Thomas Breda of the Paris School of Economics and Clotilde Napp of the French National Center for Scientific Research, came to this conclusion by analyzing survey data from 300,000 high school students in 64 countries around the world.