University System News:
13WMAZ
MGSU graduate leaves home country to pursue nursing career
Gabriella Taunton-Carcamo left Honduras at 17-years-old speaking little to no English and worked her way to graduating with a nursing degree at Middle Georgia State.
Author: Pepper Baker
Graduate nurse Gabriella Taunton-Carcamo came a long way to Central Georgia so she could become a nurse. “I moved to the United States back in 2013 beginning of the year, from Honduras and I pretty much just wanted to have a better chance at life,” Carcamo said. At 17-years-old, she left her mom in Honduras as a high school junior to move in with her dad and step-mom in Warner Robins, and it didn’t start off easy. …She knew little to no English, and went through the English classes as a second language program at Warner Robins High School. With the help of her dad and stepmom, she became fluent in six months. …In Fall of 2016, she attended Middle Georgia State. …Gabriella walked across the graduation stage in May, and is now working in a nursing program through Middle Georgia State and Coliseum Medical Centers.
The Oconee Enterprise
Student earns second UGA degree at 73
by Julia Fechter
Five-and-a-half decades after Olyn Gee dreamed of attending the University of Georgia, he graduated from the school’s Grady College of Journalism with his second post-baccalaureate degree. As a teen, Gee’s parents couldn’t afford to send him to the flagship institution, so he instead went to a small community college in his then-home state of South Carolina. In 2018, Gee earned his first post-bachelor’s degree in political science. He is just one Georgia resident who’s taken advantage of the state’s “62 and Older Program.” The initiative allows any senior-aged person to take undergraduate-level courses tuition free, excluding costs of books and other fees. In 2011, Gee started driving from Canton, where he lived, to UGA for Tuesday and Thursday classes.
Marietta Daily Journal
Kennesaw State undergraduate student pursues Ph.D. following internship with NASA
Kennesaw State University student Ryan Foster has long been fascinated with airplanes and rockets. His passion for aerospace engineering is what guided him to an internship at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration last fall, and is ultimately what led this undergraduate student to being accepted into a highly competitive Ph.D. program. However, his recent successes are just the latest in a long list of academic achievements at KSU. A standout in the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Foster is graduating this month with a degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in aerospace engineering. Throughout college, he served as a teaching assistant for an aerodynamics course, conducted undergraduate research that he presented at three academic conferences and completed two internships, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. He also was selected as the “Academic Student of the Year” by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and is a Zell Miller and Lockheed Martin scholarship recipient.
The Times-Georgian
Service Dog Helps UWG Veteran Navigate College Life, Graduation after Military
By Julie Lineback University of West Georgia
Veterans are used to someone having their backs. In Justine Furr’s case, this someone just happens to have four paws and a tail. On May 14, Misti, an Australian shepherd, was right by Furr’s side at the University of West Georgia’s stadium when Furr received her bachelor of science in anthropology.
Marietta Daily Journal
Fitzgerald student tops in arts and sciences at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
Luke Guy from Fitzgerald has been selected as the top student in the School of Arts and Sciences at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Matthew Anderson, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said Guy will receive the school’s 2021 Award of Distinction. Guy majors in the ABAC bachelor’s degree program in biology, pre-professional track. He has compiled a 3.98 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and has been on both the President’s List and Dean’s List. Two clubs on campus would not be established if it were not for Guy. He is the president and founder of both the Pre-Med Mentoring Program at ABAC and ABAC Gives Back Service Organization.
The Times-Georgian
Alan Thomas earns posthumous degree at UWG
The family of Alan Thomas was conferred an honorary degree Saturday by the University of West Georgia, posthumously honoring a man who already has a scholarship and golf tournament in his name.
Now, Thomas has joined his family as an alumnus of the institution.
Middle Georgia CEO
Jessica Willcox on the CGTC & GSW Partnership for Nursing
Division Head for Nursing at Central Georgia Technical College Jessica Willcox talks about the recent partnership between CGTC & Georgia Southwestern that will allow CGTC nursing students to transition into an online bachelor’s degree with GSW.
Polk Today
New UGA Extension Office in Cedartown celebrates ribbon cutting on Monday
Local officials, business owners, youth 4-H leaders and more gathered at the new University of Georgia Extension Office for Polk County on Monday to celebrate an official milestone. Extension Coordinator Gibson Priest thanked county officials including most of the County Commission – Hal Floyd, Scotty Tillery, Linda Lile and Gary Martin were in attendance – who were on hand for a Polk County Chamber of Commerce-organized Ribbon Cutting ceremony for the new offices held on Monday, following a long wait to get mostly back to normal for the organization after their move last year just down Main Street to the former headquarters of Cedarstream.
Athens CEO
Georgia 4-H Awarded Tech Changemakers Grant
Kasey Bozeman
The University of Georgia 4-H program was selected as one of 23 land-grant universities to implement the 4-H Tech Changemakers program for the upcoming year. Funded through a partnership between the National 4-H Council and corporate donors Microsoft, Land O’Lakes, Verizon and Tractor Supply Company, the 4-H Tech Changemakers program empowers middle- and high-school 4-H’ers to teach digital skills to adults in their local communities. Georgia 4-H has been participating since the program’s inception in 2017.
Inside Higher Ed
As colleges consider how to incorporate new CDC guidance for vaccinated individuals into their planning, some lift mask mandates. Others say not so fast.
By Elizabeth Redden
Colleges and universities are scrambling to revise campus public safety protocols in the wake of new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not need to wear masks in most indoor and outdoor settings or maintain physical distance from others. The CDC guidance, which was issued late last week, has added a layer of confusion to the already politicized debate about mask wearing and is prompting some institutions that had mask mandates in place to change course. Some colleges have begun lifting indoor mask mandates, while others are keeping them in place for now, citing considerations such as a need to increase vaccination rates and the inability to determine who is or is not vaccinated. …Among the colleges that have lifted campus mask mandates in response to the new CDC guidance are Eastern Oklahoma State College, Georgia Institute of Technology and the Universities of Florida, Montana and Tennessee at Knoxville.
Statesboro Herald
COVID-19 cases on decline, activities on the increase
Jim Healy/staff
Splash in the Boro opens for the 2021 season this weekend, and summer camps at the Averitt Center, Georgia Southern University and the Statesboro-Bulloch County Recreation Department are set to begin in the coming weeks. After more than a year of cancelled or postponed events and activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bulloch County residents and people across the state and nation are planning for a summer that’s almost back to normal.
AllOnGeorgia
Georgia Southern Athletic Training Students Get Creative in National Art Competition
Under the guidance of Associate Professor Tamerah Hunt, Ph.D., 15 graduate athletic training students flexed their artistic muscles during the National Institute on Minority Health Disparities Art Competition. Students enrolled in the Advanced Rehabilitation Skills in Athletic Training course were challenged by Hunt to share their vision of an America where health disparities based on race and ethnicity, geography, socioeconomic status, and sexual and gender identity are a thing of the past, and where all populations have an equal opportunity to live long, healthy and productive lives. Participants each created a piece of artwork to represent their vision, and then all pieces were placed together to form a collage. …Though the group did not win the competition, Hunt reflected on the personal growth the competition provided.
Fox5 Atlanta
Atlanta police to test new tech that pinpoints shooting locations
By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
The city of Atlanta will be implementing new technology to help pinpoint the location of a shooting. The Atlanta Police Department with the support of the Atlanta Police Foundation is testing the ShotSpotter system. The three-month test run will not cost the city and will be under the umbrella of the APD’s Operation Shield network. …The system has been implemented in other areas and cities across Georgia. In 2018, the University of West Georgia showed off their newly installed system to FOX 5 which officials say quickly proved effective in located two shooting scenes in the first month alone.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated May 19)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 17,849 | Deaths have been confirmed in every county. This figure does not include additional cases that the DPH reports as suspected COVID-19-related deaths. County is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated.
CONFIRMED CASES: 891,502 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Tuition Discount Rates Reach New High
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated already-existing trends, pushing the average tuition discount rate for first-time undergraduates to 53.9 percent this year. Expect discounting to keep climbing even after the pandemic subsides.
By Emma Whitford
Average tuition discount rates among private, nonprofit colleges continued to climb in the 2020-21 academic year as many institutions worked to retain and attract students during the pandemic, a new study from the National Association of College and University Business Officers found. The average discount rate for first-time undergraduates reached 53.9 percent — an all-time high — during the 2020-21 academic year, according to NACUBO’s preliminary estimates released Wednesday. In other words, for every $100 in tuition colleges appear to charge on paper, they do not collect $53.90 from first-time undergraduate students. Last year, the average discount rate held steady from the year prior at 51.2 percent, falling just short of predictions. The new study revised initial estimates that had shown the discount rate last year was tracking incrementally higher than the year before.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Pandemic Brings Increased Interest to Nursing Profession
by Sarah Wood
Meghan Wenzinger, a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, recalled her mother—who is a nurse practitioner—receiving a letter from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo last spring, asking for extra health care support for COVID-19 patients in New York City. Wanting to help but also lacking experience, she became motivated to continue her nursing education. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, Wenzinger was not the only one inspired to pursue the nursing field. In 2020, enrollment in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs increased by 5.6%. Master’s and Doctor of Nursing practice programs also rose by 4.1% and 8.9%, according to the American Associate of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).