University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By James Salzer
The Georgia House is expected to approve legislation to kill an obscure law that raised questions last year about whether the University System of Georgia had shorted the state’s teacher pension program. The House on Wednesday was scheduled to take up House Bill 292, which would essentially make it clear that the University System doesn’t owe the money that a state audit last year said it did. However, they put the vote off a day.
Augusta CEO
Gov. Brian Kemp Announces Support of Georgia Cancer Center and Paceline
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has announced his support of the Georgia Cancer Center and Paceline as a part of the statewide initiative to end cancer. “Our state is proud to have world-renowned clinicians and researchers at the Georgia Cancer Center who are working around the clock to treat patients and find a cure,” said Kemp. “We are also incredibly fortunate to have organizations like Paceline, who are raising funds and uniting communities in support of their efforts. “Hardworking Georgians in every part of our great state have felt the impact of cancer in some way, shape, or form. Through Paceline and their annual Ride Weekend, we can do our part to help support life-saving research, celebrate survivors, and honor those who have passed. I am proud to support the Georgia Cancer Center and Paceline. Together, we can cure cancer faster!” The Georgia Cancer Center’s mission is to reduce the burden of cancer in the state of Georgia and across the globe through superior care, innovation and education. The Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University brings together a team of basic science researchers, clinical investigators, clinicians, radiation oncologists, nurse navigators, mid-level providers, patient support staff, and volunteers to create a community fostering innovation and care focused on improving the lives of patients.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AJC On Campus: Ga. House says no to budget cuts; Morehouse’s polo team
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia’s budget approval process is typically a speedy affair, but not this year. Lawmakers have spent the last few weeks holding hearings to find potential budget savings, including ways to avert potential cuts to some college programs. Here’s more about the status of those discussions and other news on the higher education front in the latest edition of AJC On Campus. Budget battles …Regents recap …KSU gets $8.7 million to expand nursing program …Remembering Betty Siegel …Georgia Gwinnett College-Gwinnett Tech partnership …Clayton State University-Southern Crescent Tech partnership …University System honors top students
Carriage Trader
Regional Leaders for the 2020 Class of Leadership Southeast Georgia Announced
By Carriage Trade
Regional Leaders for the 2020 Class of Leadership Southeast Georgia Announced
Leadership Southeast Georgia (LSEGA) is pleased to announce the 28 participants who have been selected to join its 2020 class. These individuals live and work within Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh and Screven counties, which together are known as Georgia’s coastal region. The participants have now embarked on a five-month leadership program designed to equip, empower and connect community leaders to help them promote positive growth and improve the quality of life in the region. The LSEGA Class of 2020 includes: …John Lester, Bulloch County, Georgia Southern University; …By the time the fifth session concludes in June, this group will have spent five weekends studying issues ranging from healthcare to economic development. Participants in previous years have seen everything from military installations to working farms to university campuses.
WGAU
UNG forms partnership with hospital
By: Tim Bryant
The University of North Georgia enters into a partnership with the Gainesville-based Northeast Georgia Health System, which will serve as the healthcare partner for UNG athletics.
From the UNG website…
Two of the largest organizations in the region are working closer together as the University of North Georgia (UNG) announced Feb. 15 that Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is the new official healthcare partner of UNG Athletics. The agreement is one of few in the nation for an NCAA Division II athletics program.
Albany Herald
Albany State University to host autism seminar
From staff reports
The Albany State University Department of Biological Sciences will host a seminar on the role of environmental factors in autism on Friday at 11 a.m. in the university’s Holley Fine Arts Center, Room 128. This seminar will provide insight on the role of environmental factors in autism and the rate at which autism is increasing. Omar Bagasra, a Claflin University professor and director of the South Carolina Center for Biotechnology, will serve as the seminar speaker.
Forsyth Herald
University of North Georgia continues scholarship trend
For the third year in a row, the University of North Georgia has been designated as a top-producing institution for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for the 2019-20 academic year. UNG also is the only public and private university in Georgia to receive the recognition for the student program in the current academic year. Four other Georgia higher education institutions were named to the top producer list on the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, which is for faculty, administrators and other professional researchers. The Fulbright is a prestigious and highly competitive fellowship that enables recent graduates and graduate students to pursue academic endeavors overseas. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between U.S. citizens and residents of more than 160 foreign countries.
AllOnGeorgia
UWG hosts Second Annual West Georgia High School Ethics Bowl
Nearly 60 students from six high schools across the state gathered in the University of West Georgia’s Pafford Building recently to compete in the Second Annual West Georgia High School Ethics Bowl. “Ethics bowls promote ethical awareness in students by introducing them to real life and timely moral issues, encouraging them to develop reflectively sound moral responses,” said Dr. Walter Riker, the organizer of the event and associate professor of philosophy within the College of Arts and Humanities at UWG. By engaging students in intensive ethical discussion, the ethics bowl supports constructive dialogue and furthers the next generation’s ability to make ethical decisions. According to the National High School Ethics Bowl’s mission statement, the event’s collaborative model rewards students for the depth of their thought, their ability to think carefully and analytically about complex issues, and the respect they show to the diverse perspectives of their peers.
The Red & Black
UGA to have more electric buses than any other university in the nation
Erin Schilling | Staff Writer
A plan to add more electric buses on campus adds another superlative to the University of Georgia’s reputation — the largest fleet of electric buses at any U.S. university. Director of UGA Transportation and Parking Services Don Walter couldn’t contain his excitement when talking about this sustainable initiative. “This is really cutting-edge technology,” Walter said. “We have people from all over the country calling us and visiting us.” …The university currently has eight Proterra buses at its transportation facility along with 12 charging stations. Thanks to federal and state grants, UGA will have 33 zero-emission electric buses, which will account for a third of the total fleet, and start phasing out diesel predecessors, on campus by 2021, Walter said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATE: College student’s boyfriend arrested, named person of interest in her death
By Zachary Hansen
For four days, authorities had been tirelessly combing through country backroads and woodlines across three Middle Georgia counties in hopes of finding a missing Fort Valley State University student. On Tuesday, deputies stumbled across her car’s detached bumper 150 feet off a two-lane Crawford County road. Next to it, partially hidden under an assortment of sticks, was the young woman’s body. DeMarcus Little, the boyfriend of 23-year-old Anitra Lashay Gunn, was arrested late Tuesday and named a person of interest in her death by police. …Little, 23, of Fort Valley, was charged with criminal damage to property, but he does not face charges in connection with her death. Fort Valley police added that more charges could be forthcoming.
WMAZ
Update: Body of missing FVSU student Anitra Gunn found in Crawford County
The GBI says they found the body of 23-year-old Anitra Gunn near the Peach-Crawford County line
Author: Andrew Plaskowsky
Law enforcement officials have recovered the body of missing Fort Valley student Anitra Gunn. According to GBI Special Agent JT Ricketson, her body was recovered in Crawford County near the Peach-Crawford county line. In a Tuesday evening news conference, Peach County Sheriff Terry Deese took questions from reporters about the search for Gunn.
The Red & Black
3 UGA employees arrested for bribery and theft by conversion
Gabriela Miranda | Campus News Editor
Three employees in the University Health Center Vision Clinic were arrested on charges of bribery and theft by conversion, according to a Feb. 12 University of Georgia Police Department report. In October 2019, UGA Internal Auditing Division notified UGAPD of an anonymous tip alleging an employee in the UHC Vision Clinic received gift cards and kept them for themselves, according to a December 2019 UGAPD report. A second anonymous tip was made in reference to the same employee in November.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Defensive minds convening upon Georgia Tech for ‘summit’
By Ken Sugiura
In the search for improved schemes and tactics, Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins will bring together defensive coaches from several teams, including the Falcons, to present and trade ideas Wednesday at Tech. The practice of bringing together coaching staffs from multiple schools to talk strategy is common in the offseason. Collins held a similar “summit,” as he called it, when he was at Temple. “It’s really, really good, because you get to sit in a room with a bunch of other guys that have different takes on different things and you sit there (and say), ‘Here’s what we’re seeing in our league. Do y’all see it?’” Collins told the AJC. “’What’s some good things that you do with it?’ So it’s a good sharing of ideas, and it’s really good for the young coaches on the staff.”
WJBF
Local man speaks about his experience after returning from China due to COVID-19
by: Ashley Flete
43 that’s how many people are under investigation in the U.S. for the corona-virus. The CDC marks 81 of those cases as pending. NewsChannel 6’s Ashley Flete spoke to one local man who might fall in that number. JaVeon Brigham worked in China for almost two years before the corona-virus shortened his trip. …Brigham says he is on his ninth day of having to monitor his temperature. He was told if he noticed any changes to report them to the CDC. To further understand the virus, I spoke to Dr. Jose Vazquez, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical College of Georgia. “This one apparently has been associated with bats and snakes. They’ve jumped from animals into humans. These are unique because they attack the lower respiratory track. Instead of most viruses where they attack the upper respiratory track.” Brigham says it’s also up to you to do your research and educate yourself about what’s going on around you. “As much as I’ve read about it. I would just say not to give into the fear of what the coronavirus represents because the fear has spread much farther and faster than the coronavirus, itself.”
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Strong Returns for Early-College High Schools
By Paul Fain
Early-college high schools, a form of dual enrollment in which high school students can earn a diploma and an associate degree or two years of college credits at the same time, has a positive, lasting impact on participants’ enrollment and success in college, according to a new policy brief from the American Institutes of Research. The research also found a strong return on investments made in early colleges. For example, one study found that 84 percent of early-college students enrolled in college, compared with 77 percent of their peers in a control group. And early-college students are more likely than their peers to earn a college degree, with 21 percent of participants in one study graduating with a bachelor’s degree within four years, compared to 11 percent of control group students. Within six years, the gap closed to 30 percent for early-college participants and 25 percent for their peers. Another study found an average increase of $33,709 in lifetime earnings for early-college participants.
Inside Higher Ed
Effort to Increase Pell Enrollment Slows
Initiative aimed at increasing Pell-eligible student enrollment at high-performing colleges is doing well. But a sudden plateau in progress shows hard choices colleges may need to make to move forward.
By Madeline St. Amour
An initiative aimed at enrolling more low-income students in top-tier colleges is on track to complete its goal. But the most recent data show a concerning slowdown of the project’s results. The American Talent Initiative, managed by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and Ithaka S+R, began in the 2016-17 academic year with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Its goal is to enroll 50,000 more low- and moderate-income students at institutions with graduation rates of 70 percent or higher by 2025. While the initiative tracks data from 320 U.S. institutions that meet this criteria, only 128 are official members. Between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 academic years, the 320 institutions with high graduation rates enrolled 20,696 more students who are eligible for federal Pell Grants, about 40 percent of the initiative’s ultimate goal.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Dozens of Colleges Pledged to Enroll More Low-Income Students. So Why Did Their Numbers Go Down?
By Goldie Blumenstyk
Good intentions go only so far when the goal is to enroll more low-income students.
People looking for the good news in the update released on Wednesday by the American Talent Initiative can certainly find some in the data showing an overall increase in the number of low-income students enrolled in colleges with high graduation rates since 2015-16. The bad news, however, may be far more telling. As the report shows, 320 colleges with graduation rates of 70 percent or more increased their enrollment of low- and middle-income students by nearly 21,000 in two years — 40 percent toward the ATI’s goal of 50,000 by 2025. And the 128 colleges that have formally committed to the initiative accounted for a disproportionate share of that increase — nearly 13,000 students. But hold the applause. That’s because the report goes on to analyze results for 120 ATI members for the 2018-19 year and found two troubling signs.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Survey Findings Spotlight Food, Housing Insecurity Among College Students
by Pearl Stewart
When Bowie State University in Maryland announced this week that it is opening a food pantry on campus to provide free, nutritious food for students in need, it joined a growing number of higher education institutions around the country offering such services. Sharif Coombs (left) and David Medley at a food pantry at Bowie State University. Photo courtesy of Bowie State University. However, the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice released its 2019 #RealCollege survey findings this week, which found that despite such efforts, 39% of student respondents were food-insecure within 30 days prior of taking the survey. It also found that 46% of respondents were housing-insecure in the previous year and 17% were homeless at some time during previous year.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
If Law Allows, Nurse Practitioners May Be Answer to U.S. Physician Shortage
by Lois Elfman
As the U.S. faces a severe shortage of primary care physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs) are ready, willing and able to meet healthcare needs — if only they’re allowed to do so. NPs are advanced practice registered nurses who have earned either a master’s or doctorate degree. Specialties include acute care, adult gerontology, emergency, neonatal, pediatric, psychiatric, women’s health and family practice. NPs are filling the primary care needs in many underserved communities, and today’s training is designed to equip them to address healthcare disparities. An obstacle for maximizing NPs across the U.S. is the fact that the majority of states do not grant them full scope of practice. At present, only 22 states and the District of Columbia allow NPs to practice on their own to the full extent of their training. Other states allow a collaborative agreement with a physician, and some states, such as California, require direct supervision by a physician.