USG e-clips for June 28, 2021

University System News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Chancellor reflects on Georgia university system as he prepares for retirement

By Eric Stirgus

Steve Wrigley has been involved in some of the most important decisions concerning higher education in Georgia over the last few decades. He was part of then-Gov. Zell Miller’s team about a quarter-century ago that created the HOPE Scholarship, an academically merit-based aid program that became a national model that has helped thousands of students pay for their college education in Georgia. Over the last four years, Wrigley has been chancellor of the University System of Georgia, managing the 26-school system through consolidations, changes to curriculum guidelines and the coronavirus pandemic. …Here are some of his comments on a variety of topics:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia’s university system prepares for critical period

By Eric Stirgus

Projected enrollment declines, tuition affordability issues for new leaders

Georgia State University President Mark Becker walked outside his office Wednesday afternoon to greet a visitor while the man who will soon step into his job, M. Brian Blake, was in a conference room a few feet away beginning the transition process. The two men talked briefly in the hallway, where Becker offered his additional help before Blake departed. Here, and at several public universities statewide, the baton is being passed to a new group of leaders. The University System of Georgia has hired three presidents since May and is conducting searches for presidents at three other schools. The system is in the midst of an unexpected six month-long process of hiring a new chancellor, marked by the fractious campaign to put former Gov. Sonny Perdue in the job. The state’s Board of Regents on Wednesday named one of the system’s top administrators, Teresa MacCartney, acting chancellor for an unspecified period.

The George-Anne

GS alumna becomes interim USG chancellor

Fernanda Camacho Hauser, Correspondent

The Board of Regents has appointed Georgia Southern alumna Teresa MacCartney as interim Chancellor of the University System of Georgia (USG) to begin her interim term on the first of next month. The current and retiring Chancellor Steve Wrigley is retiring after a career as a public servant of 36 years including overseeing the everyday running of several of USG’s departments. According to the news release from the USG, MacCartney’s interim appointment was made on the basis of her extensive experience and abilities.

See also:

AllOnGeorgia

Board of Regents Names Teresa MacCartney Acting Chancellor of University System of Georgia

PressReader

Longtime state agency manager named acting USG chancellor

The Washington Post

‘Harvard for the masses’ — at a community college in Atlanta

By Valerie Strauss, Reporter

While it’s not impossible to fail out of Harvard University, the school is known for providing a range of supports to its students that help the vast majority make it through. With its extraordinary wealth, that is easier for Harvard to do than most other schools. That is especially true of community colleges, two-year institutions that often get short shrift in national discussions about higher education but that provide millions of students from across the country with an affordable route to a bachelor’s degree. …”Six years ago, just 6 percent of the students enrolled at Atlanta’s Perimeter College earned a degree in three years. That year, the college merged with neighboring Georgia State University, which has a well-deserved reputation for boosting graduation rates and closing the opportunity gap. The effect has been astonishing — now, more than 80 percent of Perimeter’s full-time students have either graduated, transferred or are still enrolled within three years of starting college.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia State’s incoming president to get $950,000 starting salary

By Eric Stirgus

Georgia State University’s incoming president, M. Brian Blake, will receive an initial annual compensation of $950,000, state records show. Blake, the outgoing provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at George Washington University, will replace Mark Becker, who is leaving in early August after 12 years as Georgia State’s president. Becker’s most recent annual compensation was about $1.1 million.

The Brunswick News

CCGA student recognized by university system for academic achievement

By Lauren McDonald

The University System of Georgia recently named Allison Bennett as the College of Coastal Georgia’s 2021 Academic Recognition Day Honoree. Bennett, who graduated in May with her bachelor of science in psychology, was chosen because of her exemplary academic performance in her courses. Academic Recognition Day began 34 years ago to celebrate outstanding scholars in the university system. Each institution selects a single outstanding student for a total of 26 honorees that the chancellor and board of regents recognize.

Athens CEO

CAES Ratcliffe Scholars Enrich Their Education with Experiential Learning

Caroline Hinton

The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) offers an exceptional array of courses taught by world-renowned professors — but it is often experiences beyond the walls of the classroom that truly set students apart. The CAES Ratcliffe Scholars Program promotes and encourages undergraduate students to participate in formative, out-of-classroom learning experiences. Each year, four undergraduate students are selected to receive a $5,000 scholarship toward an enriching, hands-on experience of their choice that will help further their educational goals. These opportunities can vary from internships to study abroad programs and more. This year, four CAES students were named Ratcliffe Scholars and each has chosen an opportunity unique to their educational and professional goals.

CSR Wire

Georgia Climate Project Receives $300,000 Grant From Ray C. Anderson Foundation

The Ray C. Anderson Foundation has awarded a $300,000 grant to Emory University and its partners for the next phase of the Georgia Climate Project, a state-wide consortium of nine colleges and universities working to strengthen Georgia’s ability to prepare for and respond to a changing climate. The Georgia Climate Project was founded in 2018 as a collaborative effort among Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia. Its scope has since expanded to include Agnes Scott College, Columbus State University, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University, Spelman College and the University of North Georgia.

Gwinnett Daily Post

Lawrenceville, Georgia Gwinnett College leaders see new college corridor as key to stronger relationship between school, town

By Curt Yeomans

For Lawrenceville officials, the new college corridor connecting Georgia Gwinnett College with the city’s downtown district has been called a “red carpet” coming from the college to the heart of Lawrenceville. GGC President Jann Joseph is quick to point out, however, that the new gateway does in fact go in both directions — people can use it to come to the college from the Lawrenceville Square. “You know, red carpets don’t always go in one direction,” Joseph said. “They are carpets, they go both ways, so I would say let’s just make it a green carpet, a GGC green carpet to campus.”

The Georgia Virtue

Georgia Southern, ABAC Partner To Fast-Track Degrees In Public Health Programs, Bolster State Health Care Workforce

A new agreement between Georgia Southern University and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), located in Tifton, Georgia, will help students earn graduate degrees in public health and strengthen the state’s health care workforce. The agreement, signed in May, will allow ABAC students who earn a bachelor’s in rural community development with a community health track, and meet all Georgia Southern criteria, to earn fast-track consideration for admission to the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health (JPHCOPH) Master of Public Health (MPH) or Public Health Certificate programs.

accessWDUN

15-year-old Mountain Ed. valedictorian enrolls at UNG

By Austin Eller Anchor/Reporter

Sydnee Poore, the 2021 Mountain Education Charter High School valedictorian recently enrolled at the University of North Georgia after graduating from high school three years early. Poore, 15, said it took a lot of extra work over her time at Mountain Education, but she was able to get ahead due to the structure of the curriculum at the school which allows students to go at their own pace.

Daily Citizen-News

Dalton State successfully hatches another endangered turtle species

Dalton State College’s Turtle Assurance Colony (TAC) has successfully bred another endangered turtle species. A Forsten’s tortoise, Indotestudo forstenii, hatched last week making it the fifth species to successfully breed at the college. “It is not common to breed this species in captivity, but it has been done,” said Chris Manis, assistant professor of biology and research associate who oversees TAC. “Success for this species is spotty in captivity. The good thing is, now we know this male and female are fertile.” TAC has one male and three female Forsten’s tortoises on breeding loan from private breeders. Members of the Turtle Survival Alliance, a global partnership dedicated to saving endangered turtle and tortoise species worldwide, loan animals for breeding to help keep the gene pool deep. …Dalton State now participates in two programs geared toward saving endangered turtles, TAC and Saving Animals from Extinction (SAFE).

WJCL

Military veteran, Georgia Southern University police K-9 settles into retirement

After serving his country and community, Bear is ready for a much needed retirement

By Kiana Burks

Georgia Southern University is celebrating the retirement of Bear, an 11-year-old K-9 and military veteran who has worked with the Georgia Southern University Police Department for about four years.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Opinion: How can those with fear of needles become vaccinated?

By Amy Baxter, The Conversation

Amy Baxter, M.D., is a physician specializing in pain management and a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at Augusta University.

Some proven ideas could help increase inoculation rate.

If you’re among the 25% of Americans averse to needles, you’re probably not surprised by the COVID-19 immunization stall. Even for those who want to be inoculated, bribes with beer or lottery tickets may not be enough to override anxiety made worse by pervasive images of needles. Needle fear has increased dramatically since a landmark 1995 study by J.G. Hamilton reported that 10% of adults and 25% of children feared needles. In that paper, adult patients who remembered when their fear began described a stressful needle experience around age 5. …While adults are not just big children, combining these concepts with findings from available adult injection studies suggest a few potential interventions.

Other News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated June 27)

An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state

CONFIRMED DEATHS: 18,469 | 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: 902,577 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.

Higher Education News:

Inside Higher Ed

Summer Brings Another Wave of Tuition Freezes

While some colleges and universities have announced tuition freezes for the upcoming academic year, most institutions are planning to raise tuition by about 2 percent.

By Emma Whitford

Dozens of colleges and universities have opted to freeze tuition for the upcoming academic year. Such announcements were popular last spring, as colleges scrambled to retain and attract students who were unsure about online education or experienced financial setbacks related to the pandemic. Many colleges are planning to reopen fully in the fall and are working hard to bring back students who sat out last year. College leaders want to make their institutions more attractive to potential students. The leaders also want to be mindful of some families’ precarious financial situations and ensure that they’re not pricing out potential students, said Jim Hundrieser, vice president of consulting and business development at the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Student Success This Fall Will Depend on Faculty-Staff Cooperation

Seven ways to foster greater collaboration between the academic and student-support divisions of your campus.

By Lee Skallerup Bessette and Joseph P. Fisher

One endless year ago, administrators could plausibly think they understood “the college experience,” because it was steeped in rituals, rhythms, and requirements that stretched back decades. The pandemic severed those connections along with any sense of normalcy — maybe forever. This fall, the academic and cultural experiences that colleges and universities aspire to offer will most certainly be new, but they will not be “normal,” and we should avoid fanciful phrasings that seek to elide that reality. At this point in the pandemic, many undergraduates have taken nearly 50 percent of their coursework remotely or in some hybrid format. Sizable graduate-student populations, particularly at the master’s-degree level, will have experienced the bulk, or even all, of their coursework online. Many undergraduates will matriculate to a campus for the first time in the fall without the typical orientation. How can we best support all of those students? How should we help those in labs and research groups? How should we run mentoring programs? Or supervise extracurricular clubs and activities? And, certainly, how best can we ensure health and safety within campus housing? The questions and answers about this fall are — as has so often been the case in the past year — unprecedented. From our perspective in campus leadership roles in student-affairs and faculty-support departments, we have some ideas on how to proceed.