Albany Herald

Board of Regents names new chair, vice chair

From staff reports

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia elected Regent Sachin Shailendra to a one-year term as the board’s chair and Regent James M. Hull to a one-year term as the board’s vice chair. Shailendra will serve as board chair from Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2020. Shailendra is the founder and president of SG Contracting Inc., and is known for his integrity, honesty and commitment to client satisfaction. His extensive portfolio of construction experience and his ability to solve problems and effectively communicate plans and processes at all levels make him a valuable leader to assist owners, subcontractors, architects, and designers with new projects and renovation projects alike.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Georgia’s entertainment industry to be in spotlight at Chronicle event

Georgia has quickly become one of the top filming locations in the world. During the 12 months that ended June 30, 2019, 399 productions filmed in Georgia including 26 feature films, 31 independent films, 214 television series, 91 commercials and 29 music videos, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. In 2018, film and television productions spent $2.7 billion in Georgia. The amount spent in 2019 is preliminary and expected to increase as productions finalize their numbers. “The entertainment industry has found a home in Georgia,” Georgia Deputy Commissioner for Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Lee Thomas said in September. “While the spotlight certainly shines on our competitive incentive, it is the Georgia-based skilled crew, diverse topography, available infrastructure, and the hundreds of small businesses that support our productions that keep us ranked as one of the top filming locations in the world.”

WGXA

Gordon State College First Lady reads to Middle Georgia school children

by WGXA Digital News Staff

Gordon State College First Lady Alison Nooks is giving back to the Middle Georgia community one book at a time. Nooks has made it her mission since 2018 to read to children the same age as her two youngest children, Konnor and Kaydence, as she follows them in their journey through school. “One way that we do that with our own children is reading, and so we decided that this would be a fun way, at least I did, for my journey to start at Gordon State College by meeting small children, and talking about ways that they can grow as individuals,” Nooks says.

AllOnGeorgia

Georgia Southern High School Dual Enrollment Numbers Up by ~150

Official figures released recently show that a growth in dual-enrollment students, new transfer, fully online and overall graduate students helped Georgia Southern University begin to reverse its latest enrollment trend. Georgia Southern’s official enrollment for Fall 2019 is 26,054, which is just 1.3 percent down from Fall 2018. In terms of overall enrollment, Georgia Southern remains the 5th-largest university in Georgia, and the largest institution south of Interstate 20.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Ludacris, Ga. State discuss how to expand ATL entertainment industry

By Eric Stirgus

Atlanta’s role in producing music stars and providing venues for hit movies is well-established. The city, and the state’s role in other parts of the entertainment industry, though, has room to grow. That was a major part of the discussion during a day-long workshop Saturday organized by Georgia State University’s College of Law and Creative Media Industries Institute headlined by star rapper/actor/entrepreneur Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, who grew up in Atlanta and studied at the university. More than 100 people attended, many students. Financing and post-production of most entertainment projects is still dominated by New York and Los Angeles, Ludacris and others said during panel discussions Saturday. The speakers talked about how students and other Georgians can get more involved in those areas.

The Red & Black

UGA to triple graduate student emergency financial support fund

Spencer Donovan | City News Editor

The University of Georgia will increase its graduate student emergency fund by $100,000 per year for the next two years, a Nov. 18 UGA news release announced. The money will come from private funding. Graduate students who experience a “temporary hardship related to an emergency situation” can apply for up to $2,000 in one-time financial assistance from the fund. The UGA Graduate School has disbursed about $50,000 to graduate students since the fund’s creation during the 2018-2019 academic year.

WCTV

Valdosta State initiative helps improve child literacy across South Georgia

By: Emma Wheeler | WCTV Eyewitness News

Valdosta State University is turning pages for a brighter future for students in Valdosta. VSU is partnering with the Scottish Rite Foundation to increase child literacy in students across South Georgia. This fall, the VSU College of Education and Human Services tested more than 900 kindergarten students in the Valdosta City Schools and Brooks County Schools districts signs of dyslexia or difficulties reading.

Griffin Daily News

Berry Global hosts networking night for Gordon student

By Katheryne Fields

Plant Manager Richard Composto and Human Resources Manager April Asher shared the variety of products designed and created by Berry Global Inc. with Gordon State College students at a recent Business After Hours networking event.

Albany Herald

Tony Duckworth appointed Athletics Director at Albany State University

From staff reports

Albany State University President Marion Ross Fedrick has announced an addition to her executive leadership team with the selection of Tony Duckworth as Athletics Director/Chief Athletics Administrator. The appointment is effective Jan. 2, 2020.

Forbes

Colleges And Universities Are Challenged But There Are Some Innovators Who Are Succeeding

Lucie LapovskyContributor

Personal Finance

Colleges and universities face daunting challenges to their sustainability if they continue to pursue a “business as usual” model. The cost of providing higher education continues to rise for most institutions with fewer students either able or willing to pay the price. Competition among institutions for students has increased especially between public and private institutions; this is exacerbated by the demographic changes in the country whereby the number of high school graduates has decreased in most of the country and where fertility rates are at their lowest levels in our nation’s history.  Enrollment in higher education has declined in each of the last eight years. Compounding this problem is the change in the composition of high school graduates by race/ethnicity and a significant projected decrease in graduates from religious and private high. Within the next ten years, the 18-24 year old population in the country will be majority non-white. …Other institutional innovators include Georgia Tech which started an on-line Master’s in Computer Science in 2014 which it offers for $7,000 for the whole program. Georgia Tech has scaled this program and it now enrolls 9,000 students; it has the same admissions standards as its on-the-ground program. Tech has added two more on-line master’s programs – Data Analytics and Cyber Security which they are using MOOC technology to scale. …There has also seen an increase in mergers. The University System of Georgia has reduced the number of institutions in the System from 36 to 26 since 2015 by merging 10 of its institutions.

Savannah Morning News

Bus tour reveals local impacts of statewide gerrymandering in Savannah

By Nick Robertson

A busload of civic-minded voters braved inclement conditions Saturday to tour Savannah communities that are notably affected by gerrymandering — the practice of strategically dividing election districts to provide demographic advantages to one political party. Organized for the first time by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia, Saturday’s “Gerry Meander” tour welcomed the public to join a road trip traveling from Southside Savannah to the waterfront Wyld Dock Bar, enhanced by a pair of speakers providing insight about gerrymandering and Georgia’s redistricting system during the ride. Despite below-average temperatures and unrelenting rain, almost 20 participants took part in this educational excursion. …The tour continued to The Wyld, where participants could view a segment of Savannah State University that is enigmatically divided between state Senate Districts GA-1 and GA-2, Rolfes said. Along the way, tour participants heard presentations by Kimberly Martin, an assistant professor in political science and international relations at the Georgia Southern University Armstrong Campus, and Pat Byrd, the chair of Fair Districts GA, a nonpartisan organization promoting the Democracy Act. According to Martin, the “Gerry Meander” tour was an intriguing way to highlight how local communities are impacted by state-level politicians, encouraging ordinary residents to engage their elected representatives.

Gwinnett Daily Post

Mexican perspective at the front of Georgia Gwinnett College immigration panel discussion

By Taylor Denman

The divisive topic of immigration in the U.S. has been oft-documented on 24-hour cable news and in editorials of national newspapers, so much so that it’s perhaps drowned out the perspective of another crucial stakeholder in the debate: Mexican natives themselves. Karla Valenzuela, a faculty member of the Universidad Iberoamericana Department of International Studies in Mexico City, explained to Georgia Gwinnett College students and faculty that while Americans with differing political views can’t agree on a comprehensive policy to facilitate immigration in the U.S., Mexico struggles with similar dilemmas.

Tifton Gazette

ABAC student presents research at conference

Crysta Botdorf from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College was selected from college students across the state to present her research at the recent conference of the Georgia Sociological Association at the Jekyll Island Club. Dr. Jewrell Rivers, Botdorf’s faculty research mentor and academic advisor, said that Botdorf received a scholarship from the editorial board of the Journal of Teaching Historically Underserved Student Populations (JTHUSP) to present her research at the conference. Her research was sponsored by the Helping Professions Association (HPA), a student organization on the ABAC campus. Rivers is a member of the journal’s editorial board and an HPA advisor. Botdorf’s research involved a literature review over media influences on violent crime.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Ga. Tech senior resurrects Students for Life; takes on abortion

By Gracie Bonds Staples

For most of this year as state after state passed strict laws targeting Roe v. Wade with severe bans, news across the country seemed bleak for abortion-rights advocates, but what a difference a few weeks have made. On Oct. 1, a federal judge temporarily blocked Georgia’s “heartbeat bill” that Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law in May. It would have gone into effect in January 2020. The ACLU, Planned Parenthood and other reproductive-rights organizations filed the lawsuit in June, and the lawsuit is still waiting to be argued in court. …As Ed Setzler, the Georgia legislator who sponsored the “heartbeat bill,” put it recently, the football was kicked down the field with House Bill 481, which outlaws most abortions after a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity. The abortion-rights lobby received it, knelt in the end zone and began celebrating. But supporters of the “heartbeat bill” are at the 20-yard line and ready to go. The analogy brought a smile to Brian Cochran’s face. Cochran is a Georgia Tech senior and president of Students for Life, the nonprofit organization he literally resurrected soon after arriving on campus.

News4jax

St. Marys couple killed in wrong-way crash were high school sweethearts

Christopher and Brittany Hesling and their 4-year-old son died; couple’s 6-month-old daughter was only member of family to survive

Family and friends are remembering a husband, wife and the couple’s 4-year-old son who died in a wrong-way crash late Saturday evening in Alachua County. …An online wedding announcement said Christopher, who went to Georgia Southern University and the University of Tennessee, and Brittany, who attended Armstrong Atlantic State University, married in 2012.

WDBJ

University of Lynchburg names new president to start in 2020

The University of Lynchburg has appointed Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar its 11th president. Her term will begin in July 2020 after the retirement of Dr. Kenneth R. Garren, who has served as president since 2001. …In 2014, Morrison-Shetlar became the provost at Western Carolina University. She also has held leadership roles as dean of Elon College of Arts and Sciences at Elon University, vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies at the University of Central Florida, and director of faculty development at Georgia Southern University. …She will be the first woman and the first person born outside the United States to serve as president of the University of Lynchburg.

City of South Fulton Observer

Dr. Jason Stamper Named Principal at Banneker

Following the departure of Dr. Duke Bradley, Fulton County Schools has announced that Dr. Jason Stamper will take the reigns at Banneker High School as its new principal. Stamper was most recently principal at Woodland Middle. …While at the University of West Georgia, he earned master’s degree in business education and a doctorate in school improvement.

Cision

The iQ Group Global Welcomes Dr. Jonathan Arambula as Vice President of Research, OncoTEX Inc.

The iQ Group Global, an enterprise dedicated to developing early stage bioscience assets, announced that Dr. Jonathan Arambula will join The iQ Group Global as the Vice President of Research, OncoTEX Inc. OncoTEX Inc. is a member company of The iQ Group Global that specializes in the development of oncology drugs. Its novel anticancer drug platform, TEX Core has the ability to develop a range of well-tolerated, MRI-detectable cancer therapeutics that target drug-sensitive and drug-resistant solid tumours. In his role as Vice President of Research, Dr. Arambula will serve as a key member of the Translational Research & Early Development Team, where he will be responsible for formulating and executing the research strategy for the TEX Core anticancer platform. As the co-inventor of OxaliTEX, Dr. Arambula is uniquely positioned to drive the development of OxaliTEX and other compounds using the TEX Core platform. …Prior to that, Dr. Arambula was an assistant professor of Biochemistry at Georgia Southern University.

AgriMarketing

NEW NATIONAL FFA ADVISOR AND EXECUTIVE SECRETARY NAMED

The National Council for Agricultural Education (The Council) named Dr. James Woodard the Director of Agricultural Education, FFA Board Chair and National FFA Advisor. Amendments to the National FFA Constitution and Bylaws adopted by the delegates at the 92nd National FFA Convention & Expo stipulated that it is now the responsibility of The Council to appoint this leadership position. …In this role, Dr. Woodard will serve as chairperson of the National FFA Board of Directors, where he will provide oversight for the National FFA Organization. He will advise the National FFA Officers, the board of directors, and the National FFA Delegates and committees on matters of policy, and will help the national officers conduct meetings. In this three-year renewable role, he will co-direct the joint governance committee of the National FFA Organization and the National FFA Foundation Board of Trustees, and serve as an advocate for issues affecting FFA and agricultural education stakeholders. …He began his collegiate studies as an agriculture major at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and later completed his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education at the University of Georgia. In 2015, Dr. Woodard received his doctorate in education leadership and administration from the University of Georgia.