University System News:
WTOC11
Investiture Ceremony held for GSU President
By Dal Cannady
Georgia Southern University’s president has been on the job since April. But Friday, he and the university officially celebrated his arrival. The investiture ceremony drew education leaders from across Georgia. Dr. Kyle Marrero talked about his career in education so far, much of it in music, and how he feels he’s the right person to lead this current Georgia Southern as it still navigates the waters of consolidation and growing it for the future. Marrero became the 14th president for the university, but also the first one to take the helm of a combined university that extends from Statesboro to Savannah to Hinesville. Student leaders spoke about what they feel he brings to the university. Community and economic leaders were on hand to hear speakers talk about Marrero’s drive to bring campuses and communities together to grow a region. He talked about the challenges of consolidation but also the opportunities it brings to the university and the region.
See also:
Savannah Morning News
GSU president honored at investiture ceremony
GPB News
Georgia Tech’s President On Student Mental Health, Campus Police Training And Creating Jobs
By Rickey Bevington & Sophia Saliby
The Georgia Institute of Technology has a new president. Ángel Cabrera has been on the job for just under two months. He formally steps into the role in a ceremony Monday. Cabrera is a Georgia Tech alumnus who returns to Atlanta after a seven-year tenure as president of George Mason University in Virginia. This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness. Rickey Bevington: You were a student at Tech in the 1980s. What has changed at the school in the last 30 years?
Cabrera: So much has changed, and yet, I can totally recognize the place and its culture, but the surroundings are totally different. You are from Atlanta. You may recall what Midtown was like when I was a grad student here. We rarely ventured across the connector into Midtown.
The Brunswick News
Links chapter raises awareness of CCGA degree programs
By LAUREN MCDONALD
High school students in the Golden Isles may drive past College of Coastal Georgia every day and never learn about the opportunities offered there until they step on campus. The local chapter of the Links, Inc., a nonprofit group aiming to give back to the community in a variety of ways, works to bridge that gap in awareness by bringing juniors and seniors to CCGA every October for its annual LIFE event. More than 140 students from Glynn, McIntosh and Camden counties participated in this year’s LIFE event Friday. The students met deans and faculty from the business, nursing and culinary arts programs. They also toured campus and had lunch in the on-campus dining hall.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia State University looks to improve faculty diversity
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia State University leaders determined a few years ago they had a problem. While numerous studies found the university has one of the most racially diverse student bodies in the nation, there was not that same level of diversity among its faculty. There weren’t enough women in front of the classroom as well. The university is taking steps to improve its diversity after a 13-member commission discussed potential solutions with faculty members last month. The ideas range from recruiting more female graduate students and nonwhite students to become faculty members to mandatory training for all department chairs, deans and search committee leaders to consider different methods when looking to fill teaching jobs. University President Mark Becker, who created the commission, said in a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution interview that making its faculty more diverse is one of Georgia State’s top goals.
Metro Atlanta CEO
Georgia State’s New Partnership With Georgia Tech Looks For Computing Solutions To Social Challenges
Staff Report
A new research partnership is connecting Georgia State University social scientists with Georgia Tech computer scientists in a unique collaboration to address historic social inequities. The partnership will be in the form of a two-semester fellowship program for 16 faculty members, eight from each university, split into pairs. Each pair will match a Georgia Tech computer scientist with a Georgia State social scientist, working together to develop interdisciplinary projects addressing historic and continuing inequity challenges in the southeastern United States. The Public Interest Technology Universities Network (PITUN) will fund this program with a $180,000 grant supported by the Ford Foundation, New America and the Hewlett Foundation. The grant is the first of its kind awarded by PITUN.
Albany Herald
Organizers envision a ‘new day’ for Albany State University
By Alan Mauldin
A group boosting Albany State University and looking to fend off a move to separate it from the state’s university system will continue its efforts at a Monday meeting. …As they have gained support, organizers have shifted the focus from, “We love our historically black colleges and universities” to ‘We are making it happen!” …Mallone, Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard and Udoto began organizing after legislation was introduced in January that would separate Albany State and sister historically black universities Fort Valley State and Savannah State U from the University System of Georgia. On Monday, the group plans to encourage attendees to donate to Albany State to make it strong for the future, regardless of the outcome of the proposed legislation, which could be reintroduced in 2020, Howard said. Dec. 3 is International Day of Giving, and the idea is to ask people to keep the three universities in mind when they make their donations on that day, he said. “Whether or not the bill passes, this is something we need,” Howard said.
Albany Herald
Georgia Southwestern receives $10K grant for African-American Male Initiative
Grant to help recruit, educate and graduate more African-American males at GSW
From staff reports
The African-American Male Initiative program at Georgia Southwestern State University was recently awarded a $10,000 grant by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia to recruit, educate and graduate more African-American males. “The AAMI grant is needed and has been a pillar of support for our young men for quite some time,” Ervin Anderson, executive director for AAMI at GSW, said. The USG’s AAMI is a statewide initiative designed to increase the number of African-American males completing post-secondary education from any of the 26 USG institutions.
Albany Herald
ASU brings some south of the border fare on campus
Aladdin, the dining partner of Albany State University, celebrated the grand opening of Chilaca, a fast-casual Mexican brand, on Friday. Chilaca joins ASU’s family of retail dining brands that respond to national dining and food trends in higher education. The strength and appeal of the Mexican restaurant segment in higher education led Aladdin, member of the Elior North America family of culinary management companies, to create their signature brand, described as more authentic then Tex-Mex. Students will enjoy tacos, burritos and bowls topped with their choice of fresh proteins and vegetables for lunch and dinner.
WJBF
Students hold “sit-in” after alleged firing of multicultural leader at Augusta University
by: Renetta DuBose
A group of Augusta University students conducted a modern day “sit-in” following what they call the unfair firing of a multicultural leader at the school. Students from several groups filled the Multicultural Center inside the student center at Augusta University to protest in the form of a “sit -in.” They told NewsChannel 6 the one person who promoted diversity and inclusion the most on campus was fired October 15. Now, they are organizing on behalf of Karen Mobley, demanding an unbiased, full review into her alleged termination. They said it all started a week prior when Mobley closed the center’s doors to do a deep cleaning and repairs after students allegedly trashed the place. The school closed for fall break and then they heard the news. The students said Mobley was there for them.
Metro Atlanta CEO
UGA Griffin Campus 5K to Benefit Griffin-Spalding County United Way
Ashley N Biles
The University of Georgia Griffin campus will hold its inaugural Dawg Dash 5K on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 9 a.m. on the campus located at 1109 Experiment Street in Griffin, Georgia. The event, which is open to all ages and fitness levels, will also include a 1-mile fun run/walk. …Proceeds from the event will benefit the Griffin-Spalding County United Way and UGA-Griffin.
The Red & Black
UGA proposes construction of a new dorm at Creswell Parking Lot
Jacqueline GaNun | Contributor
One item on the agenda at the Oct. 15 Board of Regents meeting was a proposal for the construction of a new dorm on UGA’s campus, to be completed the fall semester of 2022. The dorm would be constructed in the gravel parking lot east of Creswell Hall, where the old Bolton Dining Commons was located. The new dorm would complement the renovations of Russell Hall and Brumby Hall, both built in the 1960s. The residence hall would have about 525 beds, allowing for incremental growth in UGA’s freshman class and providing beds to use as “swing space” as UGA continues to renovate residence halls on campus, according to the agenda.
Augusta Chronicle
Augusta’s cyber center seeks environment for innovation
By Tom Corwin
A mix of large companies, small companies, academics and government together can create the right ecosystem for innovation, official says. A recent large expansion at Georgia Cyber Center also points to the need to allow space for smaller companies to come in and grow at the center as it fosters innovation, an official said. Parsons Corp. will add 80 positions and take over a floor in the Shaffer MacCartney Building at the center and those kinds of expansions are important, said Michael Shaffer, executive vice president for strategic partnerships and economic development at Augusta University, which is managing the center. Having a big company like Parsons there helps add to the “ecosystem” the center is trying to create in a mix of private companies, universities and college and government agencies like the Georgia Bureau of Investigations Cyber Crime Center, he said. The cyber center is now around 25 percent academia, close to 40 percent government and over 40 percent industry and that is the mix officials wanted to see, Shaffer said. “That is the magic of Georgia Cyber Center that doesn’t exist anywhere else, which is industry, academia and government in one building,” he said. And that creates the right ecosystem to foster collaboration that can then aid agencies at Fort Gordon like the U.S. Army Cyber Command, which will complete moving its headquarters there next year, Shaffer said.
Growing Georgia
Local Businesses “Call the Dawgs to Tifton” to Show Support for UGA-Tifton
Colorful bulldog statues have popped up all around Tifton, Georgia — from downtown to a variety of popular local businesses — to encourage support for the University of Georgia Tifton campus as part of the “Call the Dawgs to Tifton” initiative. The initiative originally began as a fundraiser for UGA-Tifton’s Agribusiness Club and Collegiate FFA and expanded from there, said Katie Murray, admissions counselor at UGA-Tifton. …UGA-Tifton houses a branch of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, where students can earn undergraduate and graduate degrees studying alongside world-renowned agricultural scientists. …Local businesses purchased the statues from UGA-Tifton and collaborated with a local artist to paint each bulldog with a design theme of their choice. The businesses also name their beloved mascot. The local Chick-Fil-A named its bulldog statue Nugget, Ameris Bank calls its statue Buck, and the local Planet Fitness christened its statue Gear.
Athens Banner-Herald
UGA researcher honored with Distinction Award
By Sarah Freund / Correspondent
The University of Georgia recently honored a number of former graduate students at their annual Graduate School Alumni of Distinction Awards. Among the list of those who received awards for their contributions to the world was Dr. Marion Bradford, a biochemist and former graduate student at UGA during the 1970s. While studying at UGA, Bradford uncovered a simple method regarding protein testing that revolutionized a common scientific process. He wrote about his findings in a dissertation that has become one of the most cited scientific papers in history. Bradford discovered that mixing Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250, a dye that the textile industry had been using for years, with different solutions could reveal the concentration of proteins in a given sample. His discovery of this simple method cut the process of testing for protein in samples down from two hours to around five minutes. His discovery, which was referred to as the “Bradford Assay,” was patented in 1976. The process he developed is now commonplace in laboratories around the world. A ceremony this month honored Dr. Bradford and other recipients of the award at the University of Georgia Special Collections Library.
Athens CEO
Staff Report
The Georgia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and University of Georgia (UGA) Institute of Gerontology are partnering together for the first time to offer free Alzheimer’s and dementia education program starting on Friday, November 1, 2019 at UGA Gerontology’s CARE Center. For the three-part program, the education focus will be on planning after an Alzheimer’s or related dementia diagnosis, including tips on how to build a care team and discuss available local resources for planning for the future. Current research and treatments will also be discussed.
Albany Herald
DICK YARBROUGH: UGA is winning where it counts
I bow to no one in my love for and loyalty to the University of Georgia. I bleed red and black. I have served as president of the National Alumni Association, have been named the university’s outstanding graduate and today endow a professorship as well as fellowships at my beloved Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications. I can never repay my university for what it has done for me. Luckily, I finished when I did because these days gaining admission to the University of Georgia is no easy thing. Entering freshmen come with an average SAT of 1,365 and a grade-point average of 4.04. UGA has produced 24 Rhodes Scholars over the past two decades, making it one of nation’s top three producers of such scholars among public institutions. I mention all the above to say my alma mater is more than just football, a fact that seems to escape some of the pea brains on social media who think the sky is falling because the Bulldogs lost to South Carolina and didn’t look overwhelming in defeating Kentucky.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Senate Bill to Require Colleges to Report Hazing
By Elin Johnson
Two U.S. senators have introduced a bill that would require colleges and universities to post incidents and history of hazing on their websites. Senators Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, and Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, backed the End All Hazing Act, which asks that institutions publish details and occurrences of hazing that happen on campus or within a student organization. Under this bill, institutions must report incidents they were made aware of that violated standards of conduct or federal, state or local hazing laws. Additionally institutions would include in the report incidents where conduct threatened a student’s physical safety. To supplement this, institutions would have to include the name of the student organization involved, the alleged violation, dates of the incident and subsequent investigation, and finding that violation occurred. Institutions would exclude identifying details of students involved.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Scholars Address Issues of Mobility in Higher Education
by Lois Elfman
…At the gathering, three other scholars presented their research and discussed policy implications. They highlighted that in today’s world, different racial, ethnic and economic groups have different access to higher education. The bottom line, they argue, is that the federal and state governments need to invest in higher education because the data shows it will make a difference in people’s economic lives. “Even if you’re a well prepared student, your odds are still so much lower for getting a college degree that we need to involve more sectors in education to make that last dollar work,” said Flores. “We have to be creative.”