University System News:
AllOnGeorgia
EGSC President Robert G. Boehmer to retire; Dr. Dawn Cartee named interim
President Bob Boehmer has announced his retirement from East Georgia State College, effective December 1, 2020.
President Bob Boehmer has announced his retirement from East Georgia State College, effective December 1, 2020. Dr. Dawn H. Cartee has been appointed interim president. …The Board of Regents named Boehmer EGSC’s fifth president in September 2013 after one year as interim president. Prior to coming to EGSC, Boehmer served as the University of Georgia’s associate provost for academic planning, associate provost for institutional effectiveness and professor of legal studies, among other academic and administrative roles. During Boehmer’s tenure at EGSC, the college’s foundation grew from $987,000 in assets to nearly $3 million.
See also:
Middle Georgia CEO
EGSC President Robert G. Boehmer to Retire; Dr. Dawn Cartee Named Interim
AllOnGeorgia
Girls Empowerment Movement funded by Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation
The lab has received $591,000 to impact the region as a part of the overarching $5 million collaborative.
A girl’s physical activity initiative associated with the University of West Georgia College of Education’s (COE) Wolf Wellness Lab is being funded by the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation (AFYF) for its part in the implementation and sustainability of the new program, Girls Empowerment Movement (GEM). The lab has received $591,000 to impact the West Georgia region as a part of the overarching $5 million collaborative. This has been the largest grant given by AFYF in history.
Albany Herald
New start date announced for 2021 spring semester at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
From staff reports
Classes for the 2021 spring semester at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will begin on Jan. 19, and perhaps for the first time ever, there will be no spring break for students. ABAC President David Bridges said the continued uncertainty about the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated the change. …The ABAC spring semester was originally scheduled to begin on Jan. 11 with a week allotted for the annual spring break. The new calendar shows no campus holidays from the time classes begin on Jan. 19 until classes end on May 3. Final exams are scheduled for May 5-7 and May 10.
Douglas Now
SGSC Generates $68 Million In Local Economic Impact
South Georgia State College contributed $68 million to the regional economy and was responsible for more than 742 jobs locally, SGSC’s President Dr. Ingrid Thompson-Sellers recently announced. SGSC’s impact demonstrates significance for the region as shown in the study compiled by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University System of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors played a role in the more than $68 million recorded as the economic impact of the service area for fiscal year 2019 (July, 2018 through June, 2019). This area includes Coffee, Atkinson, Bacon, Jeff Davis, Ware, Pierce, Brantley and Clinch counties. During fiscal year 2019, SGSC’s total employment impact was noted as 742 on-campus and off-campus jobs that exist due to institution-related spending.
Georgia Trend
Georgia Southern University: Catalyzing Regional Growth
The university stands ready to support an economic development revolution in Southeast Georgia.
Patty Rasmussen
Any institution that’s been around 114 years is bound to go through more than a few life-changing events. Georgia Southern University (GSU), founded in 1906, has certainly seen its share. But the consolidation of GSU with Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah ranks as one of the most significant inflection points in the university’s history. …These aren’t just pie-in-the-sky platitudes but real-world plans being implemented even in the midst of a global pandemic. Take the health professions, for example, where GSU and Armstrong were already considered leaders in nursing, radiology and health information technology. “Now, combined, nearly one of every five undergraduate health professions degrees granted in the state of Georgia are from GSU,” says Marrero. “That’s our combined impact in terms of what we produce – over 300 licensed nurses a year. And we’re going to expand that cohort in our region.”
Savannah CEO
Parker College of Business Students Take First Place at National Academic Competition
Staff Report
For the second consecutive year, a team of Georgia Southern University Parker College of Business logistics students won the Intermodal Association of North America’s (IANA) National Academic Challenge, an academic competition that supports instruction designed to educate logistics and intermodal transportation students. Alecia Breen, Ana Ortiz-Contreras and David Hudgins outscored the other teams with their team presentation about determining fleet allocation and sizing decisions for a ground shipping company with services at 12 large marine ports in the U.S. The team had to consider dimensions of uncertainty for import and export volumes at the ports related to shifting supply chain strategies, effects of the global pandemic on intermodal freight and tariffs stemming from the trade war between the U.S. and China. It was the first time Ortiz-Contreras competed in the IANA Academic Challenge, which is hosted by the University of North Florida.
Columbus CEO
CSU Faculty Member Named as Grammy Award Semifinalist
Staff Report
Columbus State University faculty member Dr. Michelle Folta was recently recognized as a semifinalist for the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum’s annual Music Educator Award. Folta was one of only 24 music educators nationwide to receive the honor. The Music Educator Award recognizes current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in schools. Folta is an associate professor of choral and general music education at CSU. Last month, she was recognized as a Rising Star by Columbus and the Valley magazine. Folta has also been recognized in local media for her efforts to feed students throughout the economic challenges of COVID-19. In March, Folta began a “porch picnic,” in which she cooks to-go meals for her students.
Valdosta Daily Times
Far out: VSU professor helps with asteroid sampling mission
By Terry Richards
A NASA deep space probe pulled off a historic first Tuesday — and a Valdosta State University professor helped out. The unmanned OSIRIS-REx probe, launched in September 2016, lowered itself so close to an asteroid that it reached out a robotic arm and scraped the surface, collecting dust and pebbles to be returned to Earth for study. As the $800 million probe flew low and slow over the asteroid, known as 101955 Bennu, it headed for a point near Bennu’s north pole. Had the north pole objective proved a little dicey, OSIRIS-REx could have been re-aimed for a point near the asteroid’s equator — a spot identified for NASA as a place of interest by Dr. Martha Leake, professor of astronomy at Valdosta State University.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Oct. 25)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 7,827 | Deaths have been confirmed in all counties but one (Taliaferro). County is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated.
CONFIRMED CASES: 351,881 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
The bad news from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center about college enrollments continues.
By Madeline St. Amour
Transfer enrollment is down 4.7 percent compared to last fall, according to the latest report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. This report follows continuous bad news about enrollments for higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic that reveals a particular strain on community colleges. One transfer pathway has seen an increase, though. Upward transfers — students moving from a two-year college to a four-year institution — increased by 2.6 percent over last year. All other transfer pathways, including reverse transfers of students from four-year colleges to two-year colleges, lateral transfers of students between similar institutions and transfers of students at four-year colleges to two-year colleges for the summer term, are down. …But the report found mixed results on whether it’s increasing equity or access. The number of Asian, Latinx and white students taking upward transfer path are up, but it has slightly declined for Black students, he said.
Inside Higher Ed
With some colleges and universities planning to continue online learning into the spring, students are now looking at over a year of learning from home. How will their well-being and academics be affected?
By Lilah Burke
Winter break and the start of next term are fast approaching. At this point, most colleges that have announced their plans for the spring are intending to continue their modality and residence choices from the fall. Many have brought students back to campus but are continuing most instruction online. Others have encouraged students to stay home. For students at colleges that have gone remote, that means they will likely experience over a year of online learning. Research has shown that remote learning can be as good or better than in-person learning for the students who choose it. But thousands of students will soon be entering their third semester of remote instruction despite having self-selected for an in-person college experience. With remote learning moving into the long term, experts say the mental, emotional and academic impacts of that shift are likely to be challenging.