University System News:

AllOnGeorgia

Civil Engineering Graduate at GSU Thrived Through Engagement

For as long as she can remember, Myla Kelly has been enthralled by architecture. It was this fascination which led her to pursue a degree in civil engineering. With support from her instructors in the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing, who helped to embolden her through the challenges, Kelly realized her dream as she crossed the commencement stage with a degree in civil engineering and a minor in finance from Georgia Southern University.

GrowingGeorgia

Schmeisser Selected as ABAC Advising Award Recipient

Dr. Hans Schmeisser, an Associate Professor of Political Science in the School of Arts and Sciences, has been named the recipient of the 2021 W. Bruce and Rosalyn Ray Donaldson Excellence in Advising Award at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. …He has been an ABAC faculty member since 2009. The criteria for the W. Bruce and Rosalyn Ray Donaldson Excellence in Advising Award includes strong interpersonal skills, a caring attitude toward advisees, mastery of institutional regulations and policies and procedures, the ability to engage in career and life planning versus simply course scheduling, and availability to advisees. Other factors in considering this recognition include peer perception of a nominee’s advising skills and student advisee evaluations.

Patch

University Of Georgia: Foster Care, Homelessness Are Higher Education Hurdles

New research shows stable housing, money for books among chief concerns

A college education is estimated to add $1 million to a person’s lifetime earning potential, but for some students the path to earning one is riddled with obstacles. That journey is even more difficult for students who have been in the foster care system or experienced homelessness, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

Georgia Trend

From the Publisher: Keeping Pace?

Stabilizing our workforce is key to maintaining Georgia’s reputation for good business.

Ben Young

Georgia continues to be recognized for its business- friendly environment, and it seems announcements about new manufacturing operations locating or expanding here are happening daily. But can the state provide the advanced workforce manufacturing now requires? …In spite of the challenges, Georgia is having great success attracting manufacturers. Along with Quick Start, companies benefit from higher education initiatives like the Georgia Southern University Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, an applied research center that incorporates education and industry partners to support a variety of market sectors.

The Augusta Chronicle

Keel: Augusta University “back to pre-COVID-19 normal” for vaccinated

Tom Corwin

Augusta University President Brooks Keel had a spoiler alert at the beginning of his townhall on Tuesday: it was “probably the last virtual townhall we will have to give,” he said. With fewer patients testing positive and more people fully vaccinated, for the fall semester “we are back to pre-COVID-19 normal,” Keel said. In the last week, the positive rate for COVID-19 was less than 5% and from a high of more than 120 COVID-19 patients in AU Medical Center “the census for this morning, June 1, was two,” he said. “We couldn’t be more excited about that.” Following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fully vaccinated people will no longer be required to wear a mask or to socially distance on campus when classes resume in the fall.

WJCL

Another mass vaccination clinic closes in Chatham County

Dave Williams, Reporter

There is now one mass COVID-19 vaccination site in Chatham County. Tuesday was the last day for the vaccination site at Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Center. The clinic, which was a partnership between Georgia Southern University, Gulfstream, Hospice Savannah and SouthCoast Health, has been open since April and was equipped to handle about 500 people a day, but they never saw more than 45 people on a given day. But, now, with the vaccine more readily available, the time has come to close the site, leaders said.

WSB-TV

Georgia college professor, student name new species of tiny shrimp-like creature

It may seem like scuds are the lowest creatures on earth. And that’s because they are—literally—the lowest. Scuds are bottom dwellers at the bottom of the food chain. They suck up nutrients in the muddy depths of lakes, rivers, streams, marsh and ocean—only to become food for larger aquatic invertebrates and fish. About 10,000 different species of these shrimplike creatures are known to exist. Now one more’s been added to the list. Georgia College Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Kristine White and junior environmental scienc e major Sally Sir of Duluth, Georgia, have discovered an amphipod never before identified by anyone else. They found it in a collection of about 7,000 amphipods White collected in the mid-2000s as a post-doctoral student in Okinawa, Japan. …Most importantly, they gave it a name and sent the information off to the international journal, Zootaxa, where several peer reviewers will determine once-and-for-all whether it’s a new species. They should hear the news by August. Until then, the organism’s new Latin name—bestowed by White for its hairy appearance—cannot be disclosed.

11Alive

Georgia Tech, Emory researchers advance possible light and sound treatment of Alzheimer’s

The treatment could potentially slow the disease’s progress.

Author: Jonathan Raymond

New findings in a study by researchers from Georgia Tech and Emory could point the way to a therapeutic treatment for Alzheimer’s with the potential to slow the incurable disease’s advance. The study published this month in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions examined whether a technique of flickering lights and sound – which has been found to reduce Alzheimer’s in mice – was viable to try with humans.

News Medical Life Sciences

Researchers receive $5 million NIH grant to reduce childhood obesity disparities

Reviewed by Emily Henderson

A research team led by the University of Minnesota Medical School has been awarded a $5 million grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to conduct a clinical trial that hopes to identify the most effective approach to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in childhood obesity. Lead investigator of the study, Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH, LMFT, CFLE, is a professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the U of M Medical School and will lead an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the U of M and the University of Georgia.

The McDuffie Progress

4-Hers earn Master status with competition victories

By Heather Shultz CAES News

Spring is the season when Georgia 4-Hers participate in annual competitions that test the skills they have developed throughout the school year. In April and May, 4-H statewide competitions included poultry judging, horse judging and hippology contests. In April, 55 students participated in the 2021 Georgia 4-H State Poultry Judging Contest, sponsored by Mike Giles and Carla Abshire and hosted by Georgia 4-H and the University of Georgia Department of Poultry Science. …This evaluation competition is a major event for the Georgia 4-H Poultry Program, a culmination of many months — and sometimes years — of hard work.

Albany Herald

Albany State University professor calls for impeachment of mayor, commissioners

By Carlton Fletcher

An Albany State University professor has sent a letter to the Albany City Commission calling for an “impeachment investigation” into actions he said were committed by Mayor Bo Dorough and Commissioners Chad Warbington and B.J. Fletcher. James B. Pratt Jr. accused the city leaders of abuse of powers, neglect of duties, and first amendment violations. He also asked for “an ethics investigation of (assistant city manager) Barry Brooks and (assistant city clerk) Sissy Kelly for collusion to obstruct and to cultivate a culture of obstruction as well as misrepresentation of official correspondence and communication.” …Dorough called Pratt’s accusations “asinine” and said a meeting with the professor did not happen the way he recounted it. “I’m not going to talk about this, other than to say I had lunch with Mr. Pratt, at which time he set forth what he said were his priorities for the city,” Dorough said after the commission meeting.

Other News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Coronavirus in Georgia: COVID-19 Dashboard

Q: What is the latest on confirmed and probable coronavirus cases in Georgia?

896,255 TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES

1,124,080 TOTAL INCLUDING PROBABLE CASES

Q: What is the latest on coronavirus deaths in Georgia?

18,069 TOTAL CONFIRMED DEATHS

20,838 TOTAL INCLUDING PROBABLE DEATHS

Higher Education News:

WJCL

Gov. Brian Kemp says teaching Critical Race Theory is ‘dangerous’ for Georgia kids. But what is it?

Georgia Gov. Kemp has joined other GOP governors in speaking out against Critical Race Theory, with Kemp calling it “dangerous” and “divisive.” But proponents say it should be taught in schools so that children today can learn from past mistakes.

Danae Bucci, Reporter

Several politicians have spoken out against Critical Race Theory but some researchers say it could be beneficial to students. Theorist OiYan Poon says in her studies, students can learn more about the societal effects of racism and how to understand how it happens. She says that can lead to prevention of more serious racist acts from happening in the future. “I think not teaching about race and racism and helping children to understand why racism happens is a big mistake,” Poon said. Critical Race Theory is a concept that’s been around for decades and that seeks to understand and address inequality and racism in the US. The term also has become politicized and been attacked by its critics as a Marxist ideology that’s a threat to the American way of life. …Georgia Superintendent Richard Woods says he has no plans on implementing the curriculum. …Several governors echoed the same concerns, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. In a statement, the Governor says the teachings are “dangerous” and “divisive.”

Inside Higher Ed

Can Biden Shrink the Black-White Wealth Gap Without Canceling Loan Debt?

President Biden has released a plan to tackle racial wealth disparities in the United States, but he excluded the cancellation of student loan debt, which experts argue is one of the biggest parts of the problem.

By Alexis Gravely

President Biden has announced a plan intended to help narrow the racial wealth gap, but it doesn’t include any cancellation of student loan debt — which some are arguing is necessary to make meaningful steps toward closing the wealth divide. …But omitting student loan debt cancellation from the actions the administration wants to take won’t do enough to address the wealth gap, NAACP president Derrick Johnson told The Washington Post.

Forbes

When They Grant Tenure, More Colleges Are Taking Professors’ Diversity Work Into Account

Marybeth Gasman, Contributor

College faculty who work on fostering diversity within their institutions are getting rewarded at an increasing number of colleges and universities. The reward comes in the form of favorable consideration in the tenure process. This change is particularly important to women of color, who do a disproportionate amount of diversity-focused work.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education

Report: Student-Parents More Likely to Feel Mental Health Stressors

by Arrman Kyaw

Large percentages of student-parents face a number of stressors that put them at greater risk for mental health issues than non-parenting students, according to a new report from Ascend at the Aspen Institute and The Jed Foundation (JED). The report, “Improving Mental Health of Student Parents: A Framework for Higher Education,” was produced from a combination of literature reviews, analyses of national data and original study.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

How to Obtain (and Survive) a Meaningful ‘Administrator Review’

Senior administrators oversee a lot of performance evaluations, but what happens when they are the ones in the spotlight?

By Jeffrey Ratje

A lot of colleges and universities conduct comprehensive reviews every five years of every dean, vice president, or other senior leader. Unlike performance appraisals that determine raises or promotions, an “administrator review” is supposed to be a coaching tool to help leaders improve on the job, not decide if they get to keep it. The reality, however, is that people on campus — the faculty and staff members who weigh in and the leader under the microscope — often view the review as a performance evaluation. And a potentially helpful process turns into an uncomfortable spotlight. One of the unintended side effects — unfortunate yet not terribly surprising — is the turnover of valuable administrators.