University System News:
The Inkwell
INVESTITURE CEREMONY FOR DR. MARRERO
Rebecca Munday, Staff Writer
“It’s really important for me to support my president,” said Lydia Boone, a senior, public health major, who attended the Investiture Celebrations Speaker Series and Reception in Fine Arts Hall. The event was part of the Investiture Celebrations of the 14th president of Georgia Southern University, Dr. Kyle Marrero, on the evening of Oct. 24. …There were a handful of students in attendance. Each of the six speakers for the event spoke about what the core values of Georgia Southern University meant to them and what they thought it meant to the university. First, Chair of the Board of Regents, Regent Don. L. Waters, an Armstrong State University alumnus, spoke on his experiences collaborating with other companies as the president and CEO of Brasseler USA, Inc. …Chancellor Dr. Steve W. Wrigley Ph.D, who works for the University System of Georgia, spoke on academic excellence. “Excellence is not being comfortable,” said Wrigley. Wrigley quoted the line “It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world,” from the Dolly Parton song “Tennessee Homesick Blues.” Wrigley explained his quote this way, “In a world where it is easy to get by as a rhinestone, shiny on the outside but lacking substance on the inside, it’s hard to sustain a commitment to excellence.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Which colleges in Georgia are most expensive? New rankings released
By Courtney Kueppers
These are Georgia’s most expensive colleges and universities
The average cost to attend college has skyrocketed in the last couple decades. According to one report, tuition prices rose eight times faster than wage growth in the United States. Georgia is no exception to the nationwide trend. For example, the cost of attending Georgia Tech has jumped up 77% since 2009, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. A new report from the publication looked at colleges and universities in the state and ranked the schools on total cost of attendance in fiscal year 2018. Total cost includes categories like tuition, supplies, room and board and transportation. …Most Expensive colleges in Georgia, based on fiscal year 2018: …Georgia Tech, University of Georgia and Georgia State University came in further down the list at No. 21, 24 and 25, respectively.
USA Today
US college enrollment keeps falling, but applications are skyrocketing at these schools
Samuel Stebbins
Undergraduate enrollment in America’s colleges and universities has fallen for eight consecutive years. In the fall of 2017, there were 16.8 million students enrolled in undergraduate programs, a 7% decrease from the total enrollment of 18.1 million in 2010. The decline in college enrollment is attributable to a wide range of factors, including climbing tuition costs and the threat of a lifetime paying off student loans. The downward trend in interest in attending school is not universal, however, and some colleges and universities are reporting a surge in applicants. Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed five-year changes in the number of applications submitted to nearly 600 four-year post-secondary institutions to identify the 100 colleges where applications climbed the most.
- Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
- 5 yr. increase in applications: 123.6%
- 2017-2018 applications: 31,497
- Total undergraduate enrollment: 17,068
- Acceptance rate: 23.4%
- Annual price: $28,776
Albany Herald
ABAC open for exploration on Stallion day
From Staff Reports
High school seniors will have a chance to win a $500 tuition waiver and much more on Nov. 9 during Stallion Day at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Registration begins at 8 a.m. in the college’s Donaldson Dining Hall. Stallion Day kicks off with campus tours guided by the ABAC Ambassadors from 8-8:45 a.m., followed by Club Connections in Gressette Gymnasium and a continuation of campus tours. Information sessions on topics ranging from financial aid, the honors program and student engagement programs are then provided on the agenda. Visiting students will also be able to stop by the different schools of study based on their area of academic interest to learn more about the programs being offered.
The Nation
College Students Are Hungry and Homeless—and Not Getting Enough Help
With no federal assistance in sight, colleges are scrambling to fill the void with food pantries and vouchers. But the patchwork approach only goes so far.
By Bridget Huber
One of the first lessons Jalyn Wharton learned her freshman year at Kennesaw State University was how to stretch a pizza so it would feed her for a week. It wasn’t the only time she’d had to ration food. When she was in high school, her family became homeless and Wharton would sometimes eat less to make sure her younger siblings got enough. Even as her family bounced between hotels and friends’ houses, Wharton stayed focused on school. Everyone told her education was her path out of poverty. She finished high school with honors and was thrilled to get into Kennesaw State, a research institution with 35,000 students near Atlanta, Georgia. …As Wharton hustled to pay for classes and feed herself, back in Indiana her mother tried to help. She urged Wharton to get in touch with a woman she’d heard of called “Miss Marcy” who ran an office on campus that could sort things out. Wharton balked. …But her mother prevailed and soon Wharton found herself sitting with Marcy Stidum, a social worker who has been helping homeless and hungry students at Kennesaw State for most of the last eight years. Stidum, a hugger with an unflappable demeanor, gave Wharton groceries and toiletries, and pulled strings to get her reclassified as an in-state student and lodged in a room on campus. “She helped me get my feet on the ground,” Wharton says, adding that without her help she doubts she would have made it through the first semester.
Metro Atlanta CEO
KSU Coles College of Business Inducts Two into Hall of Fame
Staff Report
Two local business leaders dedicated to providing opportunities for Kennesaw State University students were inducted Wednesday night into the Michael J. Coles College of Business Hall of Fame. Coles College supporters Sid Mookerji and Richard Taylor were recognized for promoting and embodying personal integrity, leadership and an entrepreneurial spirit. In a ceremony at Kennesaw State, Mookerji and Taylor were honored for their commitment to innovation, community service and global engagement, elements at the heart of the College’s mission. “Over the last five years, the Coles College has inducted some extraordinary people into the Hall of Fame, and this year is no exception,” said Robin Cheramie, interim dean of the Coles College of Business. “It is an extremely rewarding experience to honor two exceptional leaders like Sid and Richard, who have done so much for our students.”
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Georgia Trend’s ‘40 Under 40’ list includes three young leaders from Columbus
BY Mark Rice
Three young professionals making a positive impact in Columbus have been honored for being among the most effective and respected rising community leaders in the state.
Georgia Trend magazine’s 2019 “40 Under 40” list has been released, and it includes:
Eric Crouch, a fifth-grade teacher at Double Churches Elementary School.
Dr. Brooke Devlin, director of quality management at West Central Georgia Regional Hospital.
Jason McKenzie, founder of Ride On Adventure and co-owner of Ride On Bikes. …Crouch, Devlin and McKenzie are alumni of CSU.
Albany CEO
ABAC Names Rural Studies Head, Launches Track in Community Health
Staff Report From Georgia CEO
With the naming of Dr. Adrian Israel Martinez-Franco as the new head of the Department of Rural Studies, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is launching a new Community Health track in the Rural Community Development bachelor’s degree program. Dr. Matthew Anderson, Dean of ABAC’s School of Arts and Sciences, believes the appointment of Martinez-Franco and the new Community Health program will have far reaching implications for ABAC students.
The West Georgian
How much do your professors make?
by Justin Hodges
Teachers and professors reign as the most influential and pivotal figures in the United States, they’re often the most maltreated as well. Dispute over education salaries constantly causes outrage, primarily in the public grade school spectrum where resources are continually being cut. Teachers lead growing generations down the path of life, making them heroes. The best of the best walk among us at universities. The ongoing growth of the University of West Georgia correlates with the school’s practical core of professors, many which trialed years of seasoned experience and solid standing in their respective fields before migrating to classrooms. While the discrepancy of pay for grade school teachers drives political debates, our university professors get a better chunk of the cheddar. However, the distribution of that parmesan could be seen as inconsistent.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Milton’s inaugural Wall of Fame to include World Series champ
By Ben Brasch
Milton is taking time to give a “good game” to some of the best athletes ever to sweat in the city. The first six names will be etched into new Milton Wall of Fame on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.Each of the inaugural inductees are from Milton or were involved in youth recreational programming/high school athletics before excelling at their sports. “The purpose of the Wall of Fame is to recognize and honor the achievement and success of deserving athletes, coaches, and contributors,” the city said. A total of 15 people were nominated this year. …The six inductees are: …Lydia Witkowski: Played softball at Hofstra University and Georgia Southern University Once a person is nominated and meets selection requirements, they will stay on the ballot for seven years.
WRBL
UGA kicker among award finalists
by: Connor Hackling
Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship was among the 12 finalists selected for the Campbell Trophy, given to the top scholar-athlete in college football. …The finalists receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and the winner receives an additional $7,000 in scholarship money and the trophy named after former Columbia player and coach William V. Campbell.
Metro Atlanta CEO
Kennesaw State Honors Trustees and Alumni
Staff Report
Six prominent Kennesaw State trustees and alumni were recognized Tuesday night during the University’s annual Trustee and Alumni Award Ceremony at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Ellen Scott Long, Steven Cadranel, Mickey Dunn, Chester A. (Chet) Austin, Jeffrey C. Shropshire and Trenton D. Turk were honored by the KSU Foundation and the University’s Alumni Association.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia Southern alum picked to lead Taylor Morrison’s Atlanta division
One of the city’s largest homebuilders picked a Georgia Southern alum to lead its Atlanta operations. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taylor Morrison Home Corp. (NYSE: TMHCS) said Tuesday it hired Rick Carruthers as its new Atlanta division president. A message seeking comment about the previous Atlanta president was not returned. Carruthers, who earned his M.B.A at Georgia Southern University, is tasked with overseeing all divisional aspects of the company’s day-to-day homebuilding operations.
Reflector
Mitchelson named interim chancellor at ECU
Ron Mitchelson, provost and senior vice chancellor of academic affairs at East Carolina University, has been appointed as interim chancellor by UNC System President Bill Roper. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Ron Mitchelson as interim chancellor at East Carolina University, effective immediately,” Roper said in a statement issued today. “As a longtime member of Pirate Nation, I know Ron will do a great job leading the university while the ECU search committee begins the vital work of identifying the university’s next chancellor.” Mitchelson, who came to ECU in 1999 as a professor and chair of the Department of Geography, has served as provost since 2015. Before coming to Greenville, he held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Georgia
The Covington News
NIH awards up to $130 million to develop universal flu vaccine
Staff Report
The University of Georgia has signed a contract with the National Institutes of Health for an initial award of $8 million to develop a new, more advanced influenza vaccine designed to protect against multiple strains of influenza virus in a single dose. The total funding could be up to $130 million over seven years if all contract options are exercised. UGA faculty will lead one of NIH’s new prestigious Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers and collaborate with teams from 14 other universities and research institutes to create and test new vaccines that may one day replace seasonal vaccines administered every year during flu season.
The Cullman Tribune
Good Hope Primary welcomes Alliance of Therapy Dogs
By: W.C. Mann
On Tuesday, Good Hope Primary School (GHP) welcomed Alliance of Therapy Dogs (ATD) trainer Paula Kretzschmar and handler Dena York, along with the school’s two newest therapists: Standard Poodle Luke and English Setter Adi (short for “Adrenaline,” a lively one!). The dogs and their handlers visited kids in one classroom before being introduced to the entire student body at an afternoon assembly. The visit officially kicked off a partnership between ATD and GHP in a pilot program that could lead to the use of therapy dogs in other area schools. …All students who will interact with the dogs must bring a signed permission slip from home first, in accordance with system policy. Why therapy dogs? A paper published at Georgia Southern University (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1173578.pdf), based on data from 2001-2017 and released in 2017, stated: “In our analysis, three categories of therapeutic benefit emerged: a) increased reading and language skills, b) social, emotional, and humane gains, and c) improved gross motor skills. Numerous studies have found that literacy skills can be improved from reading to dogs and that children gain confidence in reading and report an increased love of reading . . . Therapy dogs can also provide stability and comfort to children who are living in poverty or abusive homes. Caring for a classroom animal teaches responsibility, builds confidence, and gives children a sense of pride and accomplishment.”
WGAU
UGA Engineering professors study resilience
By: Mike Wooten
Resilience is a vital goal of engineering. When designing buildings and infrastructure, engineers want to create structures and systems that can adapt, absorb and respond to disruptive events. But what about the engineers themselves? In what may be the first study on resilience in engineering education, researchers in the University of Georgia College of Engineering are examining the role that academic resilience plays in enhancing student performance in challenging core engineering courses. Their goal is to better equip undergraduates to succeed in college and to deal more effectively with professional challenges after graduation.
The Tifton Gazette
By Maria Sellers CAES News
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.
WABE
From Public Transit To Micromobility, A Look At Atlanta’s Transit Landscape
CANDACE WHEELER
Traffic delays cost the average American 97 hours, or about $1,300, a year, according to INRIX, a company that analyzes transportation. In 2018 the company published a worldwide Traffic Scorecard showing their calculations for how much time the average commuter loses annually due to traffic congestion. So what can be done to address Atlanta’s traffic and congestion issues? That’s one of the questions we put to local experts as “Closer Look” kicked off its weeklong series, “Gridlocked: What’s Moving Atlanta?” Joseph Hacker, Professor in the Department of Public Management and Policy at Georgia State, and Bill Diong, associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Kennesaw State University, stopped by “Closer Look” to talk about the transit outlook for the Atlanta region.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
New Rules on Accreditation and State Authorization
Trump administration calls its final rules on accreditation and state approval of online providers a rightsizing of bureaucracy that protects students. Consumer advocates and Democrats see an unraveling of federal oversight.
By Paul Fain
The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday released the final version of federal regulations covering accreditation and the state authorization of online education providers. The 519-page rule will take effect in July 2020. It hews closely to the recommendations a group of 15 department-chosen federal negotiators agreed to in April. The process, while often contentious, led to the first consensus in a negotiated rule-making session on federal education policy in nearly a decade. The department said it would soon publish proposed rules on related consensus agreements on issues related to distance education and innovation, federal grants for teachers, and religious colleges’ eligibility for federal financial aid.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
College Affordability Act Passes Out of Committee to the U.S. House of Representatives
by Sara Weissman
Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee passed the College Affordability Act out of committee on Thursday with a 28 to 22 vote. The College Affordability Act – introduced by Chairman Rep. Bobby Scott and other committee members two weeks ago – is the first attempt at a comprehensive overhaul of higher education legislation since Higher Education Act reauthorization in 2008. The bill seeks to make college more affordable with a plan for tuition-free community college, a $500 increase to the maximum Pell grant award, a repeal of the ban on Pell grants for incarcerated students and more. The version of the bill that left committee has over 40 proposed amendments, Forbes reported.
Inside Higher Ed
House Panel Passes College Legislation on Party Lines
By Doug Lederman
The House of Representatives’ Education and Labor Committee on Thursday passed along party lines legislation aimed at making college more affordable, with unanimous support from the Democratic majority. The College Affordability Act, as the legislation is known, boosts the size of the Pell Grant, enacts a federal-state partnership to make community colleges free, streamlines student loan repayment and codifies Obama-era college accountability rules. It would also restore the gainful-employment rule, aimed at weeding out poorly performing for-profit and vocational programs.
Inside Higher Ed
It’s more common than you might think. And that’s a bad thing for trainees and for science, a new study says.
By Colleen Flaherty
It’s considered extremely bad form — or misconduct — for a professor to take credit for a graduate student’s or postdoctoral researcher’s work. And yet this happens commonly within the peer-review process, according to a new study in eLife. The study, which is based on an online survey of about 500 early-career researchers concentrated in the life sciences, found that nearly half of respondents had ghostwritten a review for an invited reviewer, typically a faculty adviser. Three-quarters of respondents had engaged in what the authors say is the much more honest and beneficial process of co-reviewing articles. Ghostwriting awards no credit to the trainee and is therefore unethical, the article says. Co-reviewing — in which a student works with the invited reviewer with the understanding that his or her name will be submitted to the publication — provides graduate students and postdocs training in the peer-review process and gives credit where it’s due.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
What Exactly Is a ‘Free’ Textbook, and Other Questions About Open Resources
By Beth McMurtrie
Transitioning Away From Textbooks
A few months ago, we asked you to tell us about some of the teaching experiments taking place on your campuses, so that we could share the lessons you’ve learned. One popular project, we found, is to switch from traditional textbooks to open educational resources, or OER. While those experiments are just beginning, I decided to get an early take on how things are going. Are people excited? Frustrated? Confused? Who is doing the work, and how will you know if you succeeded? I reached out to a number of the readers who wrote in about OER. Here are their initial takeaways.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
College Athletes Push for More Mental-Health Care, Fighting ‘Tough It Out’ Culture
By Kelly Field
…The start of college is a difficult time for many students, bringing homesickness, roommate conflicts, and uneasy freedoms. But for college athletes like Lubarsky, it comes with additional challenges: intense demands on their time, the pressure to perform, and the stress of being in the spotlight, their every move scrutinized. While athletes are physically healthier than many of their peers, surveys have found that they’re just as likely to suffer from mental illnesses — and less likely to seek help. The reluctance stems, in part, from the culture of athletics. From a young age, athletes are trained to push through the pain and be “mentally tough.” Those attitudes are starting to shift, as professional athletes open up about their own struggles with mental illness, and the NCAA shines a light on the issue. More colleges are screening students for mental-health problems, and some are adding sports psychologists to their athletics staff. But the biggest driver of change may prove to be students like Lubarsky, who is part of a growing movement of athletes who are challenging the culture of college sports and pressuring their athletics departments to treat mental illness with the same urgency as musculoskeletal injury.