University System News:
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Tech to launch master’s program in international security
By Dave Williams, Staff Writer
Georgia Tech soon could launch the state’s first master’s degree program in international security. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents is expected to vote this week to create a one-year master’s program to supply a growing workforce in a wide variety of jobs related to international security issues. The list of potential careers includes foreign service, think tanks, non-government-organizations, academia and multinational corporations, as well as jobs in the financial sector. “This unique focus fills a void,” the agenda packet accompanying Tuesday’s meeting of the regents’ Academic Affairs Committee states. “There is currently no graduate program in international security offered by a USG institution nor any peer institution in the geographical region.”
Athens Banner-Herald
Looking to grow, UGA asks Board of Regents to approve new dorm
By Lee Shearer
The University of Georgia is seeking state Board of Regents approval for a new residence hall on Baxter Street to house first-year students. The board is scheduled to meet on the UGA campus Tuesday and Wednesday, when Regents will also be asked to approve an $80 million renovation and expansion of the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall for the football team. UGA also wants permission to sell one of its research farms to fund “strategic initiatives” in the university’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ludacris named Georgia State University artist-in-residence
By Eric Stirgus
Rapper. Actor. Entrepreneur. Chris “Ludacris” Bridges has done it all. You can add artist-in-residence to the list. Georgia State University announced Tuesday that the Atlanta-based artist, who attended the university before his rap career blew up, will mentor students and work with professors in its Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) on entrepreneurship in the music and film industries. “Georgia State is one of the most innovative and diverse universities in the country,” he said in a statement. “I couldn’t imagine a better place to work with students than CMII.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Southern attempts to address book burning controversy
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia Southern University faculty are holding events Tuesday and Wednesday to address the uproar surrounding students who burned copies of a book written by an author who spoke there last week. Meanwhile, university administrators are pushing back against claims that a crowd gathered outside the lodging where the author, Jennine Capó Crucet, initially stayed, saying there was no report to campus police of anyone threatening her.
WTOC11
EDITORIAL
Consider This: Burning books at Georgia Southern
There aren’t many among us who can’t look back upon their college days and not regret an action or two. Let’s hope that’s the case for some Georgia Southern students who decided to exercise their First Amendment rights by thwarting those of someone else. Last week, author Jennine Capo Crucet was invited to the Statesboro campus to, according to her, discuss diversity and the college experience. …But the discord didn’t end there. Instead, it spilled outside the venue where a group of students burned the author’s book in a grill. …In burning Ms. Crucet’s book the students spit on the hard-won ideals that sent young men and women around the globe. The Georgia Southern students don’t need to burn books, they need to read them. I would suggest they start with the Diary of Anne Frank.
Albany Herald
UGA Tifton campus introduces new crop of student ambassadors
By Maria Sellers
The University of Georgia Tifton campus has 11 new student ambassadors who are representing the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for the 2019-2020 academic year. …UGA CAES ambassadors are student leaders who network and meet new people, including university leaders, agriculture professionals and future students, at various events throughout the year. “The ambassador program is an opportunity to develop a professional network and leadership skills, as well as recruit for the campus,” said Katie Murray, student recruiter at UGA-Tifton and coordinator of the Tifton ambassador program.
Albany Herald
Winners named for AMA writing competition
From staff reports
Two Albany sisters who dominated the top spots of the high school division for the past two years in the Albany Museum of Art’s annual “A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words” essay competition are carrying that success over to the college division this year. Winners in the fifth annual contest were announced recently at the AMA. Alana Dapper, an Albany State University student, captured first place in the college division. She won the $250 top prize for her essay “Looking Within.” …Chloe Butts, a student at Georgia Southwestern State University, claimed second place and a $175 award with her poem “Vulnerability.” Honorable mentions in the college division went to Colleen Colman, dually enrolled at GSW and Lee County High School, for her essay “Flying Marshmallows,” and to Will Tomlinson, also a GSW student, for his essay “Ontbijtjes Side A.”
Orange Observer
Two West Orange High alums meet Jimmy Carter
As part of the President Jimmy Carter Leadership Program at Georgia Southwestern State University, Elli Lucas and Adam Wilson got the opportunity to spend time with the former president of the United States.
by: Troy Herring Sports Editor
Among the 20 Georgia Southwestern State University students sitting in Plains High School are freshmen Elli Lucas and Adam Wilson. It’s Friday, Sept. 13, and these collegians — who are a part of the school’s new President Jimmy Carter Leadership Program — are waiting for the program’s namesake. Their short wait pays off when the doors open and a smiling Jimmy Carter walks in. The excitement among students when the 39th president of the United States greeted them was palpable, Lucas said. …For the next 45 minutes, Carter spoke with the students about his life growing up in rural Georgia and about his time in the White House, before moving on to a Q&A where students got the chance to ask him whatever they wished. As a part of the President Jimmy Carter Leadership Program, participants had to read a book on Carter, so they each had a question in-hand to ask.
Union Recorder
A HELPING HAND: Kiwanis President Laura Burns reflects on a life of service
Catherine Dean
A Milledgeville native who returned to her hometown after finishing law school, Laura Burns has always had a deep desire to help others navigate through unexpected trials and difficult challenges. For her, professional life intertwines with volunteer work, which makes for a full, fast-paced, and rewarding life. …While a student at Baldwin High School, Burns was one of 60 candidates selected from across the state to attend a residential, early entrance program for gifted students at the University of West Georgia, where she earned concurrent high school and college credit. She continued her academic career by attending the University of Georgia and graduating with a bachelor of science in psychology in 2005, graduating magna cum laude. “It was during my time at UGA that I started to realize that I could help people through practicing law.
WTOC11
By Mike Cihla
Ask any teacher why the teach, and they will always say the children. They want to see all their students succeed and are their biggest cheerleaders. Kem Dennard teaches inclusion classes at Mattie Lively Elementary School in Statesboro. She finds having them involved in the process gets them motivated. “They set their goals in here, and we track our goals, and we get donuts when we reach our goal. A little bribery doesn’t hurt,” Dennard said. Dennard grew up in Millen and graduated from Georgia Southern and has been teaching for 29 years.
Bluffton Today
Georgia Southern to let graduates choose ceremony location
By Ann Meyer
Georgia Southern University undergraduate students graduating this December and next May will be allowed to attend their choice of a Savannah or Stateboro ceremony, the university said. “Whatever suits them, agnostic to where they went to school and took all their classes, whatever suits them is fine with us,” said Scot Lingrell, vice president of enrollment management at Georgia Southern. Students from all of the university’s colleges are expected to be represented at each major ceremony. The decision stems from comments the university received this past spring and summer, after it told students graduating in May 2019 they should attend a ceremony in Statesboro if their college or program was headquartered there and in Savannah if their program was headquartered at Armstrong.
Jamaica Observer
Scores of college students to square off in NCU debate series
Some 32 teams are expected to match skills in four rounds of debate that uses the British Parliamentary Style. Convenor of the debate series Noreen Daley says the event is geared towards influencing critical thinking, wide reading, and tolerance. It is also an opportunity for participants to develop comraderie while developing their articulation skills. …The featured participant this year is Dr Michael D Hester of nationally acclaimed debate powerhouse, University of West Georgia (UWG) in the US, where he is debate director and coordinator of the African-American Male Initiative. hester and his team are expected to conduct individual workshops, in partnership with Jamaican Association for Debating and Empowerment (JADE), for adjudicators and coaches for two-consecutive days prior to the event. …Daley disclosed that as a result of the university’s collaboration with JADE, the Student Debate and Communication Exchange Programme has come to fruition. Under the programme, an NCU debater has already travelled to Orlando, Florida, this school year, while others are slated to participate in a similar exchange with UWG in March, 2020.
Athens Banner-Herald
Oconeefest aids UNG students from Oconee County
Kathleen Sprow has experienced firsthand the community-oriented nature of the University of North Georgia’s Oconee Campus. Sprow, the Oconee Campus Student Government Association president, said it makes nearby high school students want to attend UNG. “Our campus is such a great starting point for college students,” said Sprow, a sophomore from Augusta, who is pursuing a degree in kinesiology. The sixth annual Oconeefest, an event supporting scholarships for students from Oconee County attending any of the five University of North Georgia campuses, is an example of the university’s connection to the Oconee community. The scholarship fundraiser is set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 24 on the front lawn of the Oconee Campus. Dinner will begin about 6 p.m. Cyndee Perdue Moore, executive director of the Oconee Campus, said the goal for this year is to increase funds raised after raising more than $16,000 a year ago. “We want to introduce people to the University of North Georgia and let them hear from our students, have fun and raise some money for scholarships,” Moore said. “You don’t realize how much impact a small donation can have on a student and change the trajectory of their life.” …Money raised at Oconeefest supplies $1,000 scholarships to students, which may be used for tuition, books, lab fees, study abroad or other scholarly opportunities. The funds raised at this year’s festival will be available for students in spring 2020 and can be applied for through the Financial Aid Office.
Beckers Hospital Reveiw
Rural hospital execs in Georgia must finish finance classes by end of 2020
Kelly Gooch
Georgia is requiring executives and board members at 59 rural hospitals to take financial management classes and receive other training to improve rural healthcare, the Georgia Hospital Association confirmed. The requirement passed by Georgia lawmakers in 2018 comes amid a slew of rural hospital closures in the state. As of Aug. 23, at least seven rural hospitals had stopped providing inpatient care since 2010, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. The law mandates that CEOs, CFOs, board members and hospital authority members (if the facility is operated by a hospital authority) at designated rural Georgia hospitals complete an education program approved by Macon-based Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center at Mercer University School of Medicine. …The Georgia Hospital Association and Georgia Southern University in Statesboro are partnering to offer the training.
The New York Times
60 Years of Higher Ed — Really?
The idea that college education is over after four years, or even eight or 12 is so — yesterday.
By Alina Tugend
The 60-year curriculum. It’s a new way of thinking about higher education. Not as a discrete four years of classroom learning, but stretching over the six decades or so that today’s college students are expected to work over their lifetime. The 60-year curriculum, which is more an evolving model than a concrete program, is primarily taking shape in the continuing education arm of universities, with the goal of developing a higher education model that is much more nimble. It needs to respond quickly to the reality that employees now change jobs and careers many times and that rapidly evolving industries require them to continually learn new skills. “The real driver of the 60-year curriculum is the job market and length of life,” said Huntington D. Lambert, the dean of the division of continuing education and university extension at Harvard University, who is a leader in the movement. …Not all the changes are going on in continuing education. Last year, the Georgia Institute of Technology published a report two years in the making — “Deliberate Innovation, Lifelong Education,” — to serve as a road map of what higher education at Georgia Tech will look like in 20 years, said Rafael L. Bras, the university’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Georgia Tech and higher education in general, “will have to consider the possibility that students will come in and out of periods of intensive study. The undergraduate of the future — or the graduate — may spend two years, and then go off to do their start-up and then come back. “It’s a major change and, honestly, none of us are quite ready to do it yet,” Dr. Bras said. “But we need to start getting ready.”
Fox 5
Georgia Tech grad invents camera that’s catching criminals
By Doug Evans
An Atlanta company is helping to solve crime with a special camera that reads license plates and reports to police if a car is stolen. The idea came from a Georgia Tech grad after he was the victim of crime in Buckhead. “Garrett Langley our founder called the police and asked what can we do about these break-ins? And they said really what you need is a license plate reader,” said Josh Thomas, Flock Safety Marketing Director. Flock Safety of Atlanta started making solar-powered, license plate reader cameras that can alert police to a stolen vehicle. “So traditional license plate readers cost $10,000. So our founder said, hey I am an engineer from Georgia Tech, so he and his buddy made one and 60 days later they had their first arrest.” Thomas said. Now, police departments in more than 30 states are using the cameras to fight crime, including Fairburn, right here in metro Atlanta.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
How Blockchain Technology Will Disrupt Higher Education
By Richard DeMillo
Out of sight of most people, the information-technology world has been absorbed in a decade-long experiment with a technology called blockchain, an unwieldy and improbably expensive witches’ brew of software and mathematics that solves no readily apparent problem that matters in everyday life. Nevertheless, blockchain technology (or a close relative) will very likely disrupt much of the business of higher education. It will do so by solving a problem that few of us realized we had: There’s no reliably efficient and consistent way to keep track of a person’s entire educational history. That’s why a worldwide effort is underway to use blockchain technology to tame the internet so that it can become a universal, permanent record of educational achievement. …Last year, Georgia Tech’s Commission on Creating the Next in Education, which I co-chaired, recommended that the university commit itself to eliminating the artificial barriers between different kinds of schooling that would discourage lifetime education. We recognized that institutions would have to throw out time-tested ways of doing business, starting with the transcripts we use to keep track of what students learn. Locked in information silos, traditional college transcripts are closed and inscrutable. An entire ecosystem of unaccountable third parties exists only to analyze, compare, and interpret them.
WSB-TV
Students find new ways to help people with 3D printers
WSB-TV
Sharks taking bite out of Georgia’s beloved local shrimp industry
There were a lot of shark sightings on nearby beaches this summer that may have impacted vacationers. Now those sharks may be impacting what you find in your grocery store. Georgia fishermen tell Channel 2 Action News regulation protecting some sharks from being over fished is deterring fishermen from catching the fish all together. Commercial shrimp fishermen said a booming population is now tearing up their fishing nets and wallets. “Sharks can be a nightmare. They just eat at your wallet and your time,” explained shrimp boat captain John-Boy Solomon. …Conservationist warn the problem is not as simple as getting rid of the sharks. “Just as much as shrimp and fishermen are part of our coastal ecosystem, so are those sharks,” said Bryan Fluech with the University of Georgia’s Marine Extension and Sea Grant. Fluech connects fishermen with resources, and science-based outreach. He said tighter regulation on shark fishing means less people catching them. Now regulators are trying to balance shark conservation with the needs of shrimp fishermen. “You already have a depressed industry, and when we talk about the shark issue it’s just one other factor that can impact the fishermen trying to make their living on the water,” Fluech said. Fluech called the decline of Georgia’s fishing industry a “death by a thousand cuts.” He said demand for imported shrimp, aging boats and fishermen, along with the sharks are weakening the state’s multimillion-dollar industry.
WUGA
UGA Evaluation Team Receives Grant from Governor’s Office of Highway Safety
By JAKEESTROFF
Researchers from the UGA College of Public Health’s Department of Health Promotion and Behavior received a $231,155.67 grant from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) to evaluate the effectiveness of educational and law enforcement focused programs. For the fifteenth straight year, the evaluation team, Traffic Safety Research and Evaluation Group (TSREG), led by principal investigator Carol Cotton, will systematically review and analyze grantee effectiveness and, ultimately, determine the overall effectiveness of GOHS in managing hundreds of grantees.
Fruit Growers News
Georgia Farm Bureau awards $94,000 in grants to UGA scientists
The Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) has awarded $94,000 in research grants to seven Georgia scientists and their research teams who are addressing production issues impacting Georgia farmers. GFB President Gerald Long announced the recipients of the organization’s Harvest 20 Research Grants on Aug. 8 during the 2019 GFB Commodity Conference held at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center.
WGAU
UGA gets $1.5 million to honor late Ecology student
By: Beth Gavrilles
John Spencer, a master’s student in ecology at the University of Georgia, was passionate about freshwater ecology, conservation and ecological restoration. A graduate fellowship established through a $1.5 million commitment from John’s mother and stepfather, Kathelen and Dan Amos, is ensuring that his legacy will reach far into the future. “Kathelen and Dan Amos are two of the most generous and devoted alumni of the university,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “Their establishment of the John K. Spencer Fellowship is a meaningful tribute to John that will help advance the important work he intended to carry out.” John Spencer arrived at UGA in the fall of 2014 and immediately distinguished himself at the Odum School of Ecology for his hard work, ready laugh, enthusiasm and, most of all, his thoughtfulness. He cared deeply about people and the natural world. His untimely death in 2016 left his family, friends and colleagues devastated.
Marietta Daily Journal
Murder suspect identified in KSU student’s death
Rosie Manins
Cobb police have an arrest warrant for the man they say shot and killed a Kennesaw State University student at off-campus accommodation on Oct. 6. Kashman Rael Thomas, of Marietta, is accused of murdering 18-year-old KSU student Oluwafemi Oyerinde, of Lawrenceville, at the Stadium Village apartment complex on Hidden Forest Court in Marietta, less than two miles from the KSU campus in Kennesaw.
Marietta Daily Journal
‘Spread love’ the message of vigil remembering murdered KSU freshman
By Thomas Hartwell
Scores of students showed up to a vigil held to remember a Kennesaw State University freshman found shot to death earlier this month, and organizers reminded attendees to “spread love.” More than 150 converged on the Legacy Gazebo near the social sciences building on KSU’s campus at 6:30 p.m. Monday, observing a moment of silence, holding tea lights and sharing their thoughts on what vigil organizers called the “senseless violence” that took the life of Oluwafemi Oyerinde.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘Love’ the message as hundreds attend KSU vigil for slain freshman
By Alexis Stevens
No arrests yet in the shooting death of Femi Oyerinde, 18
At least 300 members of the Kennesaw State University community — including students, staff and President Pamela Whitten — gathered for a vigil Monday night to honor a slain freshman. Not everyone knew Oluwafemi “Femi” Oyerinde, the 18-year-old shot Oct. 6 outside his apartment. But everyone that spoke agreed on one thing: The teen’s senseless death was one that didn’t have to happen. “Love” and “appreciation” were the themes of the vigil, the organizer told the crowd. Love one another and appreciate the value of life, Michael Aniagboso said at the Legacy Gazebo.
WJCL
Police make arrest in Georgia Southern University rape case, learn of 2 other alleged rapes
A man is accused of raping a woman at Georgia Southern University last year.
A man is accused of raping a woman at Georgia Southern University last year. The Statesboro Herald reports Tyler Christian Richards of Savannah was arrested last week and is being held without bond. Jail records show he was charged with a single count of rape. The newspaper didn’t report his age or say if he had an attorney. …GSU spokeswoman Jennifer Wise says campus police received reports last week of two other apparent rapes, both of which allegedly happened in 2017. She didn’t say if any suspects had been identified.
Douglas Now
NEW REDESIGNED SGSC HAWKS MASCOT TO SOAR INTO BASKETBALL HOME SEASON OPENERS
New redesigned SGSC Hawks mascot to soar into basketball home season openers Over the past several weeks, South Georgia State College (SGSC) students, faculty and staff have been stumbling upon brightly colored eggs scattered throughout the Douglas and Waycross campuses. The first response typically was surprise at finding an egg in the middle of the fall season and the second response was curiosity. That curiosity drove them to open the egg which revealed that a new SGSC mascot would soon “hatch” and it needed a name. The instructions inside provided directions on how to participate in the naming of the new mascot. The South Georgia State College Hawks will introduce the new official college and athletic team mascot and reveal its name at the first two basketball home season openers Nov. 6 in Douglas and Nov. 16 in Waycross. All are welcome to come early and enjoy the pregame festivities with a live remote radio broadcast, music and prizes along with player and coach interviews. This will be a time to visit with friends and former alums and even catch a first look and snap a photo with our new Hawk.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Colleges Spend Millions to Host Presidential Debates. What Do They Get in Return?
By Audrey Williams June
For the past four decades, many of the televised bouts of verbal sparring between candidates for president, and between those for vice president, have taken place on college campuses. That trend will continue in 2020. …The first college to host a presidential debate, in 1976, was the College of William & Mary — which counts four U.S. presidents among its alumni: George Washington (who earned a surveyor’s license there at 17), Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe (who’d dropped out of college to fight in the Revolutionary War), and John Tyler. The William & Mary debate featured a face-off between President Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter, then governor of Georgia. Twelve years later, the University of California at Los Angeles and Wake Forest University followed, jump-starting colleges’ longtime reign as the go-to sites for general-election debates. Since 1976, there have been 39 presidential and vice-presidential debates, 28 of which have been held on college campuses. Competition can be fierce, however. In some years, as many as a dozen colleges have applied for what is generally four spots. Some colleges, such as Columbus State University, in Georgia, the University of Cincinnati, Texas A&M University at College Station, and Saint Mary’s College of California, have applied to be debate hosts but didn’t make the cut. …What do colleges get in return? Here’s what the colleges that have hosted debates since 1988 have said.
Higher Education News:
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Representatives Introduce Pell Grant Sustainability Act
by Sarah Wood
U.S. Representative Susie Lee and Sean Casten have collaborated to create the Pell Grant Sustainability Act in order to ensure “federal resources for college students keep up with current costs by indexing Pell Grants to inflation.” Pell Grants are becoming less valuable each year, making it difficult for 7 million students to afford college tuition. From 2009 to 2018, the value of Pell Grants remained stagnant while inflation rose 17 percent, according to Lee.
Inside Higher Ed
Report: First-Year Focus for Graduation
By Madeline St. Amour
Complete College America released a report earlier this month that outlines a strategy, called Purpose First, to combine career choice, guided pathways and first-year momentum for college students. The report, “College, On Purpose,” contains best practices for improving institutional culture, career exploration, academic structures, first-year strategies and recruiting, admissions and onboarding at colleges.
Inside Higher Ed
Early Decision: For the Privileged?
Who benefits from the admissions practice and what should be done about its implications for equity?
By Rick Seltzer
With colleges and universities enrolling more and more early-decision applicants, a panel of experts at the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s national conference last month convened to answer the question of who, exactly, is benefiting. Panelists didn’t disagree — the privileged are benefiting. That includes students privileged enough to be thinking about college early in their high school careers and privileged enough to able to pledge to accept admission to a college without seeing its financial aid offer first. It also includes colleges that are privileged enough to attract students willing to enroll under early-decision terms. The panelists spent most of their time discussing related questions: what to do about early decision and whether an admissions mechanism catering to the interests of the best-off institutions and students can be harnessed to serve a greater good.
Inside Higher Ed
Author discusses his book that seeks a new framework for the debate about free speech on campus.
By Scott Jaschik
Ulrich Baer wants to shake up the campus debates on free speech. In What Snowflakes Get Right: Free Speech, Truth and Equality on Campus (Oxford University Press), Baer argues that free speech can’t be separated, as many try to, from issues of equity. He praises the “snowflakes” as a source of valuable ideas. And he writes that free speech is given too dominant a role in campus debate today. Baer, a professor of comparative literature, German and English at New York University, responded via email to questions about his book. Q: What’s wrong with the way the free speech debate is understood on campus?
Inside Higher Ed
Study says that when it comes to everyday mentoring and training in the sciences, postdocs are the new PIs.
By Colleen Flaherty
Finding a doctoral adviser who isn’t just a great scientist but also a skilled mentor is kind of a crapshoot. Yet while having a trainee-focused principal investigator, or PI, in the natural sciences is certainly beneficial, a new study says it’s not essential to the development of scientific skills. Instead, the paper says, peer mentors within one’s lab play a much more important role.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Data-tracking enters a provocative new phase
By Lee Gardner
Stories like that dot the higher-education landscape as more colleges take advantage of burgeoning Big Data technology to keep tabs on their students and find more places where they can successfully intervene. But recently, the practice of tracking students has taken a more literal turn.
Inside Higher Ed
HBCUs Plan Cuts After Congress Misses Funding Deadline
By Andrew Kreighbaum
The Senate’s failure to renew $255 million in annual mandatory funding for historically black colleges is already having consequences on campuses, wrote Harry L. Williams, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, in a letter to lawmakers Monday. The group, which represents public historically black colleges, had called on the Senate to pass the FUTURE Act, which would have provided a short-term extension of Title III, Part F, funds that pay for STEM education at HBCUs. Senator Lamar Alexander, the GOP chairman of the Senate education committee, blocked the bill from passing on a voice vote before those funds expired on Sept. 30.