University System News:
Albany Herald
Senate bill would increase in-state admissions to top Georgia colleges
By Dave Williams Bureau Chief, Capitol Beat News Service
Legislation aimed at increasing the number of in-state students admitted to the University System of Georgia’s top-tier schools is being introduced in the state Senate. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Brandon Beach, would require the university system to make sure at least 90% of early-action admissions to the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University and Augusta University are offered to in-state students.
Metro Atlanta CEO
Georgia Tech Sets 2020 Legislative Priorities
Staff Report
The Georgia General Assembly began its legislative session on Monday, Jan. 13, with new and returning faces under the Gold Dome following elections in November. mGeorgia Tech’s Office of Institute Relations, led by Vice President Lynn M. Durham, hit the ground running this year to promote Tech’s legislative priorities. Top of mind is Tech Square and securing $30.7 million for Phase III, a two-tower complex that will house graduate and executive education for the Ernest Scheller Jr. College of Business and the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. …Together with the University System of Georgia (USG), the Georgia Tech team will work to promote important systemwide priorities. This includes $75 million in new Formula Funds for enrollment growth, shared among all USG institutions to support critical day-to-day operations and academic quality, and Major Repair and Rehabilitation Funds to repair aging facilities across the USG.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Georgia Regent denies lawsuit claim he ran Ponzi scheme
By Eric Stirgus
Former Georgia Board of Regents member Dean Alford is denying claims in a civil lawsuit that he ran a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors out of about $6 million. Alford’s attorney submitted paperwork Monday refuting the allegations in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in October.
“Mr. Alford denies that he engaged in any wrongful conduct, that he violated any laws, or that he is liable for the claims asserted by plaintiffs,” the attorney, James Eidson, wrote.
Morgan County Citizen
Commissioner Riden seeks reelection in District 3
By Tia Lynn Ivey
Ben Riden Jr. announced he will seek reelection to Morgan County Board of Commissioners. Riden, who won the District 3 seat in 2016, is hoping to secure a second term. As of now, he is running unopposed, but there is time for others to enter the race. …Riden is a life-long Morgan County resident. He graduated from Morgan County High School in 1975 and earned his accounting degree from the University of Georgia in 1979. According to Riden, he has 35 years of experience in auditing, accounting and governmental finance. Riden, who is now retired from his CPA-position from the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, currently still works part-time as a consultant for the board.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
When 4 Years Is Not Enough, These Colleges Persist in Getting More Students to Graduate
The Chronicle List
Four years to earn a bachelor’s or equivalent degree may be the dream goal, but at hundreds of four-year public and private nonprofit colleges, most students fall short of achieving that. Fortunately, four years is not the make-it-or-break-it point — even at colleges whose overall graduation rates are low. The colleges listed below graduated the highest percentages of their completing students in the fifth or sixth year, as measured in 2018 for the cohort of first-time, full-time students who started in 2012. Nearly 37 percent of such students at four-year public colleges who graduated within six years completed in either the fifth or sixth year. …4-year public institutions – 9. Georgia Gwinnett College; 15. Albany State University; 16. Dalton State College; 30. Augusta University; 34. Clayton State University; 36. Kennesaw State University; 43. Fort Valley State University; 59. Columbus State University; 61. Savannah State University; 74. Middle Georgia State University; 102. Valdosta State University; 119 Georgia Institute of Technology; 126. University of West Georgia; 146. Georgia Southwestern State University; 159. Georgia State University; 172. Georgia Southern University
The Shelby Report
The Coca-Cola Foundation To Give $1M To First-Generation UGA Students
The Coca-Cola Foundation has pledged another $1 million toward scholarships for University of Georgia (UGA) students who are the first in their families to attend college. It is the foundation’s fourth such commitment. In 2007, The Coca-Cola Foundation established the Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars Program at UGA with a gift of $1 million and continued its support in 2011 and 2015 by making $1 million gifts for additional cohorts of Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars. …The Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship provides $5,000 per year and is renewable for an additional three years if the recipients maintain certain academic standards. The Coca-Cola Foundation says its partnership with UGA has transformed the lives of 165 first-generation students since 2007.
South Georgia Advocate
GSW Wesley Foundation sees rapid growth, strong leadership
By Kara Witherow, Editor
For Georgia Southwestern State University junior Jessica Montanye, the Wesley Foundation is a home away from home. Without the foundation of the campus ministry and the support she finds there, she probably wouldn’t be attending church today, she said. “If The Wes wasn’t there …. I would have probably left the church.” This fall, the campus ministry welcomed 85 students at its kickoff event and is averaging more than 60 students at its recently restored Tuesday night worship services.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
NEH grant will advance Ivan Allen Jr. archive project at Georgia Tech
By Maria Saporta – Contributing Writer
The Ivan Allen Archive Project at Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. “When completed, this tool will provide not just researchers, but communities themselves, with innovative methods for preserving and exploring history,” said Tech’s Brad Rittenhouse.
Gainesville Times
This new clinic at UNG Gainesville offers students one-stop shop for health needs
Kelsey Podo
University of North Georgia students on the Gainesville campus now have one less hurdle for receiving quality health services. Instead of relying on health insurance or driving to the Dahlonega campus, they can visit the new Student Health Services clinic, which is across from the Student Center. The clinic’s services are funded by a $65 mandatory fee, which is paid by students who have six hours or more of semester class credit. UNG paid $900,000 for the facility’s renovations.
Marietta Daily Journal
KSU professor named Outstanding Educator by American Accounting Association
Dana Hermanson was recently honored by the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association with the Outstanding Educator Award at their Midyear Meeting in Houston, Texas. The award recognizes exemplary contributions in accounting research and teaching. It emphasizes publications, student guidance and excellence in the classroom. Hermanson, who has taught accounting in Kennesaw State University’s Michael J. Coles College of Business School of Accountancy since 1993, was recognized with his longtime friend and co-author, Mark Beasley, of North Carolina State University.
Growing Georgia
UGA-Tifton Assistant Dean Joe West Recipient of Distinguished Service Award
Joe West, assistant dean of the University of Georgia Tifton campus, was honored with the Distinguished Service Award at the Georgia Peanut Farm Show, held Jan. 16 at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center. West expressed his appreciation for the recognition of his service and support for the peanut industry. …Joy Crosby, director of communications for the Georgia Peanut Commission, said West has been an asset to UGA-Tifton providing support for world-class research since taking over as assistant dean in 2008.
WRDW
‘This has become my family’: 11-year-old fights health battle with community by her side
By Brady Trapnell
The Ronald McDonald House is a lifeline for many families at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia. It’s become a home away from home for one family the past seven years. 11-year-old Haley Peeples is a quiet fighter in the midst of a scary battle. “The doctors like to call her severe and complex,” said Rachael Peeples, Haley’s mom. As her mom says, outside Haley looks fine, but on the inside she’s dealing with a lot. “We are diagnosed with about 16 different things. Epilepsy, autism, she has 5 brain tumors,” Peeples said. …Doctor’s say Haley’s journey has no end in sight. But, keeping the hope alive is a group effort. College students from Alpha Delta Pi visit her often. The family also relies on their faith and their Ronald McDonald House family.
The Augusta Chronicle
AU Health could top $1B in FY2020 revenue
By Damon Cline
AU Health fights to contain costs as revenues rise. “Insatiable” patient demand has AU Health on track to surpass $1 billion in revenue for the first time in its history, but executives said serious cost-cutting measures must continue to avoid a repeat of the previous year’s operating loss. AU Health CEO Katrina Keefer told the university-affiliated health system’s board the $1.6 million in earnings reported during the first six months of the 2020 fiscal year was a $6 million improvement over the $4.9 million loss in the prior-year period. Operating revenues of $77.3 million were offset by expenses of $71.4 million during the first half; a disparity that will need to widen even further for the academic medical center to end its fiscal year on June 30 without another loss.
NBC41
CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY FOR MGA’S NEW ENROLLMENT CENTER
By Rashaad Vann
Private donors funded $3 million to build a new enrollment center at Middle Georgia State University. MGA representatives and project donors broke ground for the new facility Thursday. According to the university, the 8,000-square-foot building will help future students enroll.
Cstore Decisions
Parker’s Donates $2,500 to Support Breast Cancer Services
Susan G. Komen Coastal Georgia has invested more than $3.1 million into local programs to give vulnerable populations access to breast cancer education, screening, diagnostic and support services.
By Isabelle Gustafson
Parker’s recently donated $2,500 to Susan G. Komen Coastal Georgia, helping the nonprofit organization offer breast cancer screenings, support services and ongoing education to area residents. Every year, Parker’s donates a portion of the proceeds from the sale of pink Breast Cancer Awareness refillable cups to Susan G. Komen Coastal Georgia. …Parker’s founder and CEO Greg Parker donated $5 million to name the Parker College of Business at Georgia Southern University in 2018.
Growing Georgia
Historic Cooking Class Offered at ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture on Feb. 22
Sharpen your culinary skills during the History After Dark: Open-Hearth Cooking class on Feb. 22 from 2:30-6 p.m. at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Georgia Museum of Agriculture. Join GMA Historic Interpreters at the Gibbs House to prepare, cook, and eat a variety of dishes popular in the past. Museum Historic Village Supervisor Gina Beckman said the program will highlight historic foodways and cooking techniques of the past. …GMA interpreters will teach participants open hearth cooking, fire building and safety, outdoor kitchen skills, and more. …Open Hearth Cooking is part of the “History After Dark” program series which provides guests of all ages the opportunity to experience the Museum after hours. The series features evening programs throughout the year on a variety of topics and immersive activities.
WGAU
UGA to host engineering conference
By: Mike Wooten, UGA Today
Engineering and technology researchers from around the world will gather at the University of Georgia next month for REV2020, the 17th International Conference on Remote Engineering and Virtual Instrumentation. More than 100 faculty members, students and industry representatives are expected to attend the conference, which will be held at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel Feb. 25 through Feb. 28. The theme of the conference – “Cross Reality and Data Science in Engineering” – focuses on topics such as online engineering, cyber-physical systems and the Internet of Things, including remote engineering and virtual instrumentation.
Union Recorder
The future bright at Lake Country Gymnastics & All Stars
Gina Towner
Missy Swicord is used to working hard. These days, the former All-American gymnast and Georgia College Athletic Hall of Fame member applies the work ethic she developed as a gymnast to get through the long days that come with juggling a full-time job and owning her own gym. “I never opened the gym to be a gym owner,” said Swicord. “I’m a banker by trade. Owning the gym is my hobby and I love it.” Swicord opened Lake Country Gymnastics & All Stars in 2009, and despite the long hours she sometimes puts in, she is dedicated to training the young athletes who come to her gym more than a decade later. …Eight cheerleaders have graduated from LCGA’s program and have gone on to win cheer scholarships at schools such as Georgia Southern, the University of Georgia and the University of West Georgia.
Denison
NSF awards $200K grant to Denison geoscientist Anjali Fernandes
Assistant Professor of Geosciences Anjali Fernandes and her team have been awarded a grant of $199,947 from the National Science Foundation to study Mississippi River flood deposits at the Bonnet Carre Spillway outside of New Orleans to advance the understanding of hydrodynamic controls and support models for better prediction of flooding events in floodplains. In addition to significant research, the NSF grant is funding accessible research opportunities for diverse geoscience students, including African American, Hispanic and Native American students who currently comprise less than nine percent of all students enrolled in geoscience graduate programs. Fernandes is the lead principal investigator for the study. She is working in conjunction with co-principal investigators Antoinette Abeyta (University of New Mexico, Gallup), Robert Mahon (University of New Orleans), and Travis Swanson (Georgia Southern University).
WTOC
Doctors talk about Coronavirus’ impact on the Coastal Empire
By Blair Caldwell
Across the globe, China is the epicenter for the deadly Coronavirus. There have been 17 deaths and more than 600 cases. So far, just one case has been reported in the U.S. Doctors in Savannah talked about the local impact and preparations underway now. Health officials at Memorial Health say they are looking closely at the Novel Coronavirus because there is still so much to learn about the outbreak that has so many alarmed. … Georgia Southern University sent the following statement, “Student Health Services clinics on both campuses will continue to screen persons presenting with fever and/or acute respiratory illness for recent travel history, and will respond to any who appear to be at risk for 2019 nCoV as per current CDC recommendations.”
WJBF
Doctors Hospital files paperwork to build Columbia County emergency room
Doctors Hospital has filed a 2nd Certificate of Need with the Department of Community Health to bring a new facility to Evans. The paperwork filed with the state on January 21 2020, indicates the application is for a Free Standing Emergency Room. NewsChannel 6 has learned, the facility will be built at the site of the former Fatz Café restaurant on the corner of North Belair Road and Hereford Farm Road. According to a spokesperson with Doctors Hospital, the first certificate of need for a free standing ER was denied in 2012 with the state claiming Columbia County was adequately served by hospitals in Augusta. Later in June of 2014, Doctors Hospital along with Augusta University (formerly Georgia Regents University Health) and University Hospital each requested approval to build a full hospital in the county.
The Augusta Chronicle
Growing pains part of Augusta area’s continued growth, experts note in economic forecast
The Augusta area continues to grow but there are areas that need addressing, including workforce development and housing, according to an economic outlook forecast Thursday. The 2020 forecast was presented by the Terry Business College at the University of Georgia and the Augusta Economic Development Authority. Cal Wray, president of the authority, said there has been an 8.5 percent growth in population since 2010 in the Augusta area — Richmond, Columbia, Burke, McDuffie, Lincoln, Aiken and Edgefield counties — with 4.5 percent of that in the last five years to be just over 609,000. Of the nearly 270,000 in the workforce, the majority work in manufacturing, cyber, technology and healthcare, with key employers being Augusta University, Fort Gordon, Savannah River Site and Plant Vogtle.
Daily Citizen
UGA study of downtown Dalton’s economic impact expected by the end of April
By Charles Oliver
Local officials say they know downtown Dalton has a big impact on the local economy, and they say they believe that by this spring they’ll have the numbers to support that. The University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, which works with local governments to promote better governance, is conducting an economic impact study of the downtown area. “I think it will provide validation that downtown is an economic generator not just for the city but the whole community,” said John Davis, a member of the board of the Downtown Dalton Development Authority (DDDA), which commissioned the study.
Technology Networks
Certain Enzymes Implicated in Cancer Also Cannibalize Each Other
Like motley bandits, certain enzymes implicated in cancer and other diseases also annihilate each other. A new study reveals details of their mutual foils in the hopes that these behaviors can be leveraged to fight the enzymes’ disease potential. The bandits are cathepsins, enzymes that normally dispose of unneeded protein in our cells. But in unhealthy scenarios, cathepsins can promote illnesses like cancer, atherosclerosis, and sickle cell disease. Many experimental drugs that inhibit them, while effective, have failed due to side effects that could not be well explained, so researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology abandoned the common focus on single cathepsins to model three key cathepsins as a system.
world.wng.org
Nine years after the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, wildlife populations are flourishing in the abandoned area. …University of Georgia researchers analyzed 267,000 wildlife photos, gathered from 106 camera sites, and found that the level of human activity, elevation, and habitat type influenced the abundance of species far more than radiation levels did. In general, each species continued the same behavioral patterns they exhibited before the disaster. The researchers concluded that any effects of radiation on middle- to large-sized mammals occurred within individuals, not within whole populations. They did not assess the health of individual animals.
Engineering and Technology
Sea level rise could reshape the US and trigger mass migration
By E&T editorial staff
A study using machine learning has found that sea level rise will indirectly impact land-locked regions in the US, as coastal populations move inland to seek drier ground. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC), is the first to use machine learning models to project migration patterns resulting from sea level rise. Using these models, the team found the impact of rising oceans will ripple across the country beyond coastal areas at risk of flooding, as affected people move inland. …“We talk about rising sea levels, but the effects go much further than those directly affected on the coasts,” said Caleb Robinson, a visiting doctoral researcher from Georgia Tech advised by Dilkina and the study’s first author. “We wanted to look not only at who would be displaced but also where they would go.” The researchers found the greatest effects of sea-level rise migration will be felt by inland areas immediately adjacent to the coast, as well as urban areas in the south-east US.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
A New Player in the College Completion Market
MOOC platform Coursera is teaming up with the University of North Texas to offer an online bachelor’s degree aimed at working adults with some college credit.
By Lindsay McKenzie
Online learning provider Coursera took another step into the undergraduate education market yesterday with the launch of its first bachelor’s degree program at a university in the United States. The University of North Texas, a public research institution in Denton, Tex., will offer its bachelor of applied arts and sciences (B.A.A.S.) program through Coursera beginning in fall 2020. The bachelor’s degree program is aimed at working adults with some college education and course credits but no degree, said Adam Fein, vice president for digital strategy and innovation at UNT. He hopes the degree will also attract community college students, veterans and students based overseas.
Inside Higher Ed
Soros to Spend $1 Billion on Higher Ed Network
By Paul Fain
George Soros, the Hungarian American investor and philanthropist, on Thursday announced the creation of a $1 billion global network that seeks to “transform” higher education. “The Open Society University Network is a new model of global higher education,” the Open Society Foundations, a grant-making group founded by Soros, said in a news release. “It will integrate learning and knowledge creation across geographic and demographic boundaries, promote civic engagement to advance open societies and expand access of underserved communities to higher education.”