University System News:
Savannah Morning News
University System’s general education core to be updated
By Ann Meyer
To ensure graduates of Georgia’s 26 public universities are prepared for the workforce, the University System of Georgia’s core requirements are undergoing a complete redesign. The 42-credit hours that make up the USG general education curriculum could be adjusted and the required courses could change. Georgia Southern University and Savannah State University both are part of the USG system, which the Board of Regents governs. Savannah businessman Don Waters is chair of the regents. “The whole purpose of this work is to create a new core for a new century. We’re really committed to making sure the higher education curriculum is as current and as cutting edge as it can be,” said Tristen Denley, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer of USG. Denley is chair of a Design Principles Committee formed at the beginning of the summer to review the core curriculum, which he said was put in place about 20 years ago. The goal is “to really stress 21st century skills to make sure students really have those building blocks to be successful in the modern world,” Denley said.
Augusta Chronicle
Charity gives $1 million to fight childhood cancer
By Tom Corwin
Press On Fund gave a gift of $1 million over the next four years to help support pediatric cancer therapy at Children’s Hospital of Georgia and Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University. It was a large and generous gift of $1 million that a local charity gave Tuesday to support groundbreaking therapy and treatment of childhood cancer at the Georgia Cancer Center and the Children’s Hospital of Georgia at Augusta University.
See also:
WRDW
AUMC receives major donation for pediatric cancer research
Douglas Now
SGSC Receives Funding For African-American Male Initiative Program
South Georgia State College (SGSC) has received a $7,000 award from the University System of Georgia (USG) to fund the 2019-2020 African-American Male Initiative program for its students. The USG AAMI’s goal is to significantly increase the graduation rates and the number of degrees conferred upon African-American males at SGSC. Participants will experience cultural events and educational trips in addition to workshops designed to cover topics of relevance to African-American males.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Bernie Marcus’ foundation gives $2.1M for Georgia Tech initiative
By Eric Mandel – Digital Producer
The Marcus Foundation is donating $2.1 million to fund the next three years of the Create-X entrepreneurship program at Georgia Tech. CREATE-X is a faculty-led, student-focused initiative aimed at teaching students how to launch startups. The funding allows Georgia Tech to scale the initiative and provide more resources to student, faculty and alumni program participants, according to a news release. CREATE-X’s goal is to eventually have the entire Georgia Tech student body participate in the program. Steve McLaughlin, dean and chairperson of Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering and co-founder of CREATE-X, said the grant lets CREATE-X leadership focus on building a “scalable, long-term program model that gives our students the resources needed to create impactful startups.”
The Signal
A look into Georgia State’s Community Connections program
By Brady Stoughton
Connections with others are what establish and maintain communities, and the Multicultural Center at Georgia State is working to do their part by creating the Community Connections program. “[The initiative will] facilitate diversity and cultural competency education on Georgia State’s campus,” LaToya Harden, the student affairs advisor at the Multicultural Center, said. “[The program will provide] an opportunity for students to connect with each other, meet university faculty and staff and community partners,” the Multicultural Center website states. “Through this, individuals across Georgia State will discuss topics focused on growth and community and share ideas to ‘build a culture of care at Georgia State.’”
WSAV
Workshop helps facilitate relationships between police and community
by: Claire Going
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — The Savannah-Chatham Public School System (SCCPSS) has teamed up with local police officers to help fight police brutality. Georgia Southern University’s National Youth-At-Risk Conference partnered with SCCPSS to offer a workshop for educators, students, administrators, and school resource officers. …The conference began with excerpts from the documentary and focused on facilitating relationships between community members, students, and police officers. Students had the opportunity to voice their concerns about the climate in the community and ask officers questions. …One of the main goals for the workshop is that police and community members, including students, learn and grow together — not on separate islands.
Savannah CEO
Registration Now Open for Georgia Tech-Savannah Coding Boot Camp
Staff Report
Georgia Tech-Savannah opens up registration for their award-winning Coding Boot Camp program in an effort to introduce people to the specialized skills needed to tap into the rewarding web development industry. The challenging curriculum is composed into a 24-week program that gives students the skills needed to become proficient in front-end and back-end technologies. Classes begin on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at the Georgia Tech-Savannah campus at 210 Technology Circle. Registration is now open.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
JUST IN: Suspect sketches released in on-campus robbery of UGA student
By Chelsea Prince
University of Georgia police have released sketches of two suspects in a recent on-campus robbery of a student at gunpoint. The 18-year-old student reported to police that he was approached Oct. 10 by two armed men in a parking lot near Russell Hall, a residence hall for first-year students. The men took his cellphone, wallet, keys and headphones just before midnight and took off running toward Cloverhurst Avenue. The sketches were released Tuesday. The two suspects were described as men in their early 20s, both about 6 feet tall with slender builds.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coroner: Evidence indicates Georgia Southern football player died of drug overdose
By Chelsea Prince
A freshman offensive lineman at Georgia Southern University died Monday night after he was found unresponsive in his dorm room. Jordan Wiggins, 18, played at Godby High School in Tallahassee, Florida, before he enrolled at Georgia Southern this fall with the intent of majoring in electrical engineering, according to the university’s football roster. He was scheduled to redshirt this season. Wiggins was located Monday after a family member requested a wellness check, a spokesman for the university said. He was taken to East Georgia Regional Medical Center, where he died. An official cause of death is pending toxicology results, Bulloch County Coroner Jake Futch told AJC.com. “The immediate evidence indicates that he took his own life due to a drug overdose,” he said Wednesday.
Savannah Morning News
Coroner: Georgia Southern player died by intentional overdose
By Travis Jaudon
The death of Georgia Southern freshman football player Jordan Wiggins was caused by an intentional overdose, according to the Bulloch County Coroner. “An official cause of death will be determined by the (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) in Pooler where the autopsy was performed,” Jake A. Futch told the Savannah Morning News on Tuesday, Oct. 22. “But all the evidence points to suicide. He intended to do it based off of texts he sent to family and friends before.”
Albany CEO
Staff Report
The Georgia Southwestern Foundation was recently awarded a $3,000 grant from Wells Fargo to support Georgia Southwestern State University’s (GSW) Office of First-Year Experience (FYE) and its efforts to increase student success, engagement and retention. Student progression and retention continue to be priorities for Georgia Southwestern. The University places great emphasis on retaining students and providing them with the tools to be successful, especially during their first year. To aid students with continuing on a positive path, Georgia Southwestern has implemented initiatives to increase first-year student success, engagement and retention. FYE’s Storm Spotter program provides peer mentors and early intervention specialists for first-year students. Such retention efforts are designed to quickly connect struggling first-year students to campus support services or other activities thus helping them remain at GSW, ultimately enhancing the Americus community and southwest Georgia region.
PR Underground
New UWG Facility Supported by Lead Donation from David Johnson of Cane Bay Partners
Cane Bay Partners VI, LLLP Co-Founder David Johnson is proud to have participated in the groundbreaking on Friday of the new Roy Richards Sr. Hall at the University of West Georgia, for which he provided the lead monetary gift. The new 70,000-square-foot facility will house UWG’s Richards College of Business, of which Johnson is an alumnus. It will provide facilities for the Small Business Development Center, the Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy, the Center for Business and Economic Research, flexible learning spaces, expanded administrative and faculty spaces, student learning labs and conference rooms. “One of the best decisions I made was to Go West,” Johnson said during his remarks at the groundbreaking. “I’m really pleased to be in the financial position to make the lead gift and get the ball rolling. I have always wanted to repay what I have benefitted from.”
WGAU Radio
UGA gets grant for substance abuse research
By: Tim Bryant
A professor in the University of Georgia’s School of Social Work will use a $1.4 million grant from the US Health Resources and Services Administration to train UGA grad students to help meet a shortage in the field of mental and behavioral health services. Dr. Orion Mowbray says the grant money will help with research in substance abuse issues, especially opioids.
Growing Georgia
Georgia Farm Bureau Supplies Grant for UGA-Tifton Plant Pathologist to Study Blueberry Disease
A plant pathologist at the University of Georgia Tifton campus is using a grant from the Georgia Farm Bureau to study a bacterial disease that is harming the state’s blueberry crops. Jonathan Oliver, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UGA-Tifton, says the $7,000 grant will fund his studies of a new strain of the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa. While this grant supports blueberry research, the pathogen can also affect other crops such as grapes, peaches and pecans, as well as oak and elm trees. Since Xylella is a leading cause of plant death in southern highbush blueberries in Georgia, it is important for Oliver to study the pathogen to help prevent crop loss.
Albany Herald
Georgia Southwestern State University to participate in young adult safe driving program
From staff reports
Georgia Southwestern State University will receive a $9,955 grant to participate in the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Georgia Young Adult Program. The GOHS addresses young adult driver crashes, injuries and fatalities, and partners with colleges and universities throughout the state to implement this program. … With the grant funds, GSW iHelp Peer Educators say they plan to host workshops and events on alcohol awareness. The mission of iHelp Peer Educators is to encourage GSW students to make healthy, low-risk lifestyle choices by promoting low-risk drinking behaviors, and educating students, faculty, and staff about alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse. The university also plans to communicate the dangers of alcohol abuse throughout the school year by email and on social media.
Savannah Morning News
Cattle barn transformed to classrooms
A 71-year-old cattle barn was reborn as a modern classroom and laboratory building in a dedication ceremony on Oct. 22 at the University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. University President Jere Morehead presided over the ceremony, which capped a year-long, $3-million renovation of the reinforced concrete and steel beam structure. A press release issued by Skidaway Institute detailed how the Ocean Sciences Instructional Center was built in 1948 by Robert and Dorothy Roebling who operated a cattle breeding facility they called Modena Plantation. It was designed as a show barn for their herd of Black Angus cattle. In 1967, the Roeblings donated their property to the state of Georgia to become the home of Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. About a half dozen Roebling descendants attended the ceremony Tuesday, according to UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography spokesman Michael Sullivan.
The Inkwell
Police Called On Black Teenagers At Henderson Library
Lila Miller, A&E Editor
A local Statesboro woman is angry with a Georgia Southern librarian who called the police on her son and his friend utilizing the Zach S. Henderson Library on the Statesboro campus. The former GS Business and Social Services alum took to Facebook on Friday Oct. 19 to sound off on her frustrations over what she viewed as a racially charged incident. Police cars parked outside of Henderson Library on Oct. 19. Photo originally uploaded to Facebook. The woman left her 15-year-old son and a friend at the library as she had done frequently during the summer months. The two boys were listening to headphones and using the library’s computers at the time. Henderson Librarian, Kristen Hicks reportedly asked their ages and the boys continued using the services. Twenty minutes later, a police officer arrived on the scene, the boy called his mother, and another police officer came.
Education Dive
Report: College leaders not confident they can beat new competition
AUTHOR Hallie Busta
Dive Brief:
When it comes to strategic planning, just one in six colleges is looking a decade or more ahead, according to a new report from the American Council on Education (ACE), Huron and the Georgia Institute of Technology based on a survey of 495 leaders at four-year institutions.
SF GATE
The LANAP protocol is a minimally invasive procedure to treat moderate to severe gum disease using the PerioLase MVP-7 dental laser instead of cut and sew surgery.
Dr. Brock Pumphrey of Atlanta Center for Advanced Periodontics, Cosmetic & Implant Dentistry is now certified in the LANAP and LAPIP protocols. Dr. Pumphrey is on the leading edge of periodontics, treating patients with a minimally invasive laser treatment with favorable and predictable results to save their teeth and implants and help regrow bone lost to periodontitis peri-implantitis. …He attended Augusta University (previously known as Medical College of Georgia) where he earned his dental degree, then continued his education at Augusta University in advanced periodontics for an additional 3 years earning his certificate.
Gwinnett Daily Post
Papers of state Reps. Pedro Marin, Brenda Lopez among Hispanic heritage documents donated to UGA
By Curt Yeomans
Future generations of Georgians will be able to visit the University of Georgia and study the work of two Gwinnett legislators who made state history with their respective elections to public office. The papers of state Reps. Pedro Marin, D-Duluth, and Brenda Lopez, D-Norcross, are part of a collection of Hispanic and Latino heritage records that are being donated to UGA’s Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. The donation is being made through a partnership between the library and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. “This partnership marks a milestone in meeting the library’s commitment to collect materials that comprehensively document the full spectrum of political life and public policy in Georgia,” Russell Library director Sheryl Vogt said in a statement. “Our project also helps fulfill the university’s mission to serve all the people of this state. Historical materials and memories from the Latino and Hispanic communities will be invaluable testimony to the achievements of these Georgians.”
Morning AgClips
Sunbelt Expo show goes on despite threat of welcome rain
Georgia farmers need rain to quench drought conditions covering the state
Rainy weather threatened to washout opening day of the 42nd Annual Sunbelt Expo on Oct. 15, but as it turned out, it didn’t rain on the show’s antique tractor parade or the day’s festivities. …Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, members of the Georgia Grown team and Sunbelt Expo staff cut the ribbon for the Georgia Grown Marketplace housed in Expo’s Family Living Center. …“What you are celebrating here today is that a lot of people had a dream. They’ve been making products that people have been telling them they ought to sell, and they followed that dream,” said Commissioner Black. “The Georgia Grown brand is about people being willing to dream and the partnerships between the UGA College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences’s Flavor of Georgia Contest and our department to highlight and market these businesses.” …Gov. Brian Kemp spoke at the Sunbelt Expo Farmer of the Year lunch saying, “Agriculture is the fabric of our state. It’s what keeps our economy diverse and makes our state a great state to raise our families.” …For the first time in Expo history, all of the contestants in the show’s annual Milking Contest were women. Staff from the ag schools at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) and the Universities of Auburn, Florida and Georgia competed against each other for bragging rights. Georgia had two contestants in the Expo Milking Contest – UGA’s Assistant Professor Jillian Bohlen, who teaches in the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences’ Animal & Dairy Science Department and Allison Miller, a lecturer of animal science at ABAC’s School of Agriculture & Natural Resources.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
College Closures, Student Debt, and More Takeaways From the Road
By Goldie Blumenstyk
You’re reading the latest issue of The Edge, a weekly newsletter by Goldie Blumenstyk. Sign up here to get her insights on the people, trends, and ideas that are reshaping higher education. I’m Goldie Blumenstyk, a senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education, covering innovation in and around academe. Here’s what I’m thinking about this week.
…Balancing benefit with cost in the debates about student debt. Mounting student debt continues to dominate the headlines (and the policy platforms of several candidates for president and legislation in Congress), and there’s nothing like that figure of $1.5 trillion in total student debt to get people’s attention. Yet after attending an innovation-themed event in Indianapolis, I’m still thinking about the less clickbaity side of that equation, as raised by one of the speakers. It came from Beth Akers, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, who noted, “When we do cost-benefit analysis without the benefits, things look really bad.”
Medium
Just How Important is the College Degree?
The Evolution of the College Degree and Extant Data Proving The Degree’s Importance
Andy Chan
…The most recent narrative is this: college degrees are slowly losing value. They are typically described as illusions of security and false stamps of professional competency. It perpetuates the idea that knowledge is static — in that vein, companies who still hang on to their requirement for a college degree are, by default, old, clunky dinosaurs belonging to a bygone era. Google’s meteoric rise in non-college-educated employees and PwC’s high school accountant programs seem to reinforce that idea. If giants like them, with global operations and billions in revenue, are making paradigm shifts in the way they acquire talents, what can then be said of those who are ‘lagging behind’?
The Chronicle of Higher Education
When Faculty of Color Feel Isolated, Consortia Expand Their Networks
By Emma Pettit
…Research has shown that the cards are often stacked against academics of color: They face student evaluations rife with racial bias, higher expectations of “invisible labor” like diversity and inclusion work, microagressions, and outright discrimination. Taken together, it’s an uphill climb, especially at small and mostly white institutions. Opportunities to expand their networks and demystify academe could make that climb easier, Moore thought.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
TMCF Raised $5.8M for HBCU Student Scholarships and Programs
by Sarah Wood
Over $5.8 million was raised at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s (TMCF) Anniversary Awards Gala over the weekend. Terrence Jenkins, an TMCF National Ambassador and actor, hosted the gala and launched the new fundraising initiative, the Forever Fund. Additionally, Ally Financial Inc. presented Dr. Harry L. Williams, TMCF president and CEO, with a $1.5 million check. All the money raised from the event will go towards creating more scholarships and programs dedicated to help students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly Black institutions (PBIs) earn internships and full-time jobs, according to TMCF. There were over 450 HBCU students and 1,200 guests in attendance.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Report: HBCU Enrollment Increase is a Result of Current Political Climate
by Sarah Wood
New research found that an increase in applications and enrollment at one-third of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) over the past three years directly correlates to the current social and political climate created under President Donald J. Trump’s presidency. Response to Racism: How HBCU Enrollment Grew in the Face of Hatred was carried out by the associate dean of extended learning at Widener University Dr. Janelle L. Williams and Dr. Robert T. Palmer, chair and associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Howard University. It was sponsored and funded by the Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) and NODA: Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention in Higher Education.
Hechinger Report
Many HBCUs are teetering between surviving and thriving
These storied schools are largely responsible for the nation’s black middle class. They are also on the brink of financial ruin.
by Delece Smith-Barrow
…The legacy of HBCUs is in every thread of American life. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the author Alice Walker and the “Black Panther” lead actor Chadwick Boseman are just a few of their culturally impactful graduates. Although HBCUs make up only 3 percent of four-year colleges in the country, they have produced 80 percent of the nation’s black judges and 50 percent of its black doctors. Among black college graduates with a degree in STEM, 27 percent are from historically black colleges. And remarkably, HBCUs have trained roughly 50 percent of black teachers. They are also on the brink of disaster.
Inside Higher Ed
Major Football Coaches’ Salaries Rise 9%, to $2.67M
By Doug Lederman
The average head coach in the top tier of college football programs is earning $2.67 million this year, up 9 percent from the year before, USA Today’s annual database of Football Bowl Subdivision coaches shows.
Inside Higher Ed
Recent allegations of copyright violations against a professor who shared his own work on his website spark debate about ownership and whether peer reviewers should be paid.
By Colleen Flaherty
Like many academics, William Cunningham, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, shares his own articles — published and soon-to-be — on his website. And like most academics, he does so in the interest of science, not personal profit. So Cunningham and hundreds of his colleagues were recently irked by a takedown notice he received from the American Psychological Association, telling him that the articles he had published through the organization and then posted on his website were in violation of copyright law. The notice triggered a chain of responses — including a warning from his website platform, WordPress, that multiple such violations put the future of his entire website at risk. And because the APA had previously issued similar takedown notices, the threat of losing his website seemed real to Cunningham. …Should Peer Reviewers Be Paid?
Even if Cunningham’s run-in with the APA was resolved — this time — the incident brings two clear questions to the fore: Can authors share their work on their own websites? And, more controversially, should peer reviewers be paid?
Inside Higher Ed
Cal State System Chancellor to Retire
By Paul Fain
Timothy P. White, who has been the California State University system’s chancellor since 2012, announced Tuesday that he will retire next year. White took the helm of the large system, which enrolls roughly 480,000 students at 23 campuses, in the wake of the Great Recession. State support for the system declined by nearly $1 billion amid the downturn. Since then its general fund allocation has increased from $2.3 billion to $3.6 billion, the system noted.