University System News:
Marietta Daily Journal
Kennesaw State’s Coles College of Business inducts two into Hall of Fame
Two business leaders committed to helping Kennesaw State University students succeed – former Georgia Aquarium CEO Michael Leven and former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner J. Larry Stevens – were inducted on Oct. 20 into the Michael J. Coles College of Business Hall of Fame. The College recognized Leven and Stevens for promoting and embodying personal integrity, leadership and an entrepreneurial spirit. In a ceremony at KSU, they were honored for their commitment to innovation, community service and global engagement, elements at the heart of the College’s mission. …Leven has been involved closely with KSU for many years. In 2015, he became the then-largest single donor in the university’s history when he endowed and named the Michael A. Leven School of Management, Entrepreneurship and Hospitality in the Coles College of Business. AAHOA also established the Michael Leven and Lee Dushoff AAHOA Scholarship for Compassionate Leadership, which supports students in the KSU hospitality management program. …For more than 30 years, Stevens has been a member of the KSU Board of Trustees (having previously served as board chair) as well as the School of Accountancy Advisory Board. He played a major role in bringing student housing to the university and advised leadership on how to purchase the land for Fifth Third Bank Stadium. In 2011, he established the J. Larry Stevens Accounting Scholarship, which assists graduate and undergraduate accounting students.
WGAU Radio
UGA renews contract with Energy Dept
5 years, 34 million dollars
By Vicky L. Sutton-Jackson, UGA Today
The U.S. Department of Energy has renewed its cooperative agreement with the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory for an additional five years at a projected total contract value of $34 million. SREL serves as a scientific partner and independent evaluator of environmental consequences of DOE activities on the Savannah River Site. SREL is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year as DOE’s onsite partner at SRS, and SREL scientists have been actively engaged in research on the SRS over those decades.
Metro Atlanta CEO
Park Springs Foundation Awards Scholarships for Healthcare Workers and Their Families
The Park Springs Foundation, a volunteer-run organization comprised of members of Park Springs Life Plan Community, will award Park Springs employees and children of employees with scholarships of up to $10,500 for the 2021-2022 academic year. Scholarships provide up to $3,000 toward tuition and up to $500 toward books per semester for three semesters each year – fall, spring and summer – for those working toward academic degrees, skill development or certification at any not-for-profit private or public college, university or technical school. In the 2020-2021 academic year, Park Springs Foundation contributed $66,672 to the education of 24 Park Springs employees and their children. …2021-2022 Park Springs Foundation scholars are enrolled in various programs, predominantly nursing and health management programs but also including programs such as computer science, early childhood development and history. They are enrolled at educational institutions including Atlanta Metropolitan State College, Augusta Technical College, Georgia Gwinnett College, Georgia Military College, Georgia Piedmont Technical College, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University, Gwinnett Technical College, Southern Crescent Technical College and University of Georgia.
Athens CEO
Mobile Kitchen Trailer Will Help UGA Student-run Hunger Relief Program “Meet People Where They Are”
Aaron Cox
UGA’s Campus Kitchen program can now provide meals to even more food-insecure Athens area residents, thanks to a mobile food trailer purchased with grant money from the University of Georgia Parents Leadership Council and funds raised by the UGA Young Alumni network. The trailer, which will be housed at the UGArden student farm on South Milledge Avenue, functions like a traditional food truck but can be towed behind regular vehicles and doesn’t require a special license to drive. The 126 square feet of mobile cooking space will allow the student-run Campus Kitchen, a program operated through the UGA Office of Service-Learning, to provide more food options to hard-to-reach populations.
accesssWDUN
Official NASA event being hosted by University of North Georgia
By Kimberly Sizemore Anchor/Reporter
The University of North Georgia (UNG) is teaming up with NASA to mark a historic achievement with a two-day event. In recognition of the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, UNG has been chosen to hold an official NASA event that will include a presentation and some hands-on activities. Dr. Lesley Simanton-Coogan, Planetarium Director at UNG, explains why this telescope launch is so significant. “It’s basically the largest and most complex telescope that we have ever launched into space. A lot of times it’s compared to the Hubble Space Telescope and the reason for that is that, like Hubble, we expect that Webb is going to kind of revolutionize every topic across astronomy.” The telescope is expected to launch in December. This telescope will make significant contributions by allowing scientists to see things in space from a different vantage point than even Hubble is able to offer.
Parkinson’s News Today
Georgia Southern Speech Center Wins Parkinson Voice Project Grant
by Mary Chapman
A grant from the Parkinson Voice Project will be used to enhance the training and resources available to speech language pathologists and graduate students with the RiteCare Center for Communication Disorders at Georgia Southern University. Such awards, whose sum was not disclosed, are given annually by Parkinson Voice Project (PVP) through its SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd Grant Program, with a goal of making quality speech therapy accessible to people with Parkinson’s disease worldwide.
Savannah Business Journal
Savannah Business Journal Staff Report
The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center received a $42,000 grant from the Truist Foundation to establish an entrepreneurship academy. The Truist Entrepreneurship Academy will be a two-year training and development program designed to support small business owners and entrepreneurs. Through a series of eight modules, participants will be guided through topics necessary to grow a successful business. Modules have been developed and will be delivered by experience faculty from the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center.
Savannah Business Journal
True Blue 5k/Abbie’s Adventure Race returns Oct. 30 to raise scholarship funds
Staff Report
The Abbie DeLoach Foundation (ADF) is bringing back the annual True Blue 5K/Abbie’s Adventure Race event, held in partnership with Georgia Southern University (GSU) Campus Recreation and Intramurals. The event will be held during the school’s homecoming weekend festivities on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, which lead up to the spirited GSU football game.
Independent.ie
Wexford Enterprise Centre welcomes delegation from Georgia, USA
News of further development of TradeBridge, the international trade programme between Wexford and Savannah, Georgia, USA is expected within the coming weeks following a recent visit by the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. …As Commissioner, Mr. Wilson is responsible for creating jobs and investment opportunities in Georgia through business recruitment and expansion, small business growth, international trade and tourism, as well as the arts, film and music industries. Though his Department is not directly involved with TradeBridge, the Commissioner has been following this successful pilot trade initiative as well as the establishment of the International Learning Center with Georgia Southern University, which will also be based in Wexford town.
WGAU Radio
UGA reports slight uptick in campus COVID count
Down more than 90 percent from Labor Day peak
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia reports a slight increase in its weekly update on campus coronavirus cases: there were 34 positive tests for COVID 19 during the week that ended this past Sunday, up from 28 the week before but down more than 90 percent from the peak reported around Labor Day. Of this week’s cases, UGA says 22 were students, ten were staff, and two were University faculty members.
Georgia Recorder
State House committee hears pitch to give Georgia DACA students in-state tuition
By: Ross Williams
Georgia lawmakers are set to convene under the Gold Dome in January for the 2022 General Assembly, and that means a second chance for bills that did not cross the finish line this year. Immigration rights activists are hoping a proposed law that would allow Georgia’s so-called Dreamers — recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — to pay tuition rates more in line with other Georgia students will get a second look from the legislature in 2022. …The revised bill also proposes to exempt universities that have not admitted all qualified applicants in the two most recent academic years, which would rule out the state’s most competitive colleges, including the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. …But Carpenter said he feels pretty good about the bill’s chances. Businesses are looking to hire qualified workers, he said, and enrollment is down at several Georgia colleges. While the University System of Georgia expanded its enrollment by 2.4% overall between fall 2019 and fall 2020, the system’s nine state colleges saw their enrollment drop by an average of 7% during that time, both facts that could make the bill an easier sell to budget-minded conservatives, Carpenter said.
The Red & Black
Fall Fest 2021 promotes campus sustainability
Natalia Duron
With stylish outfits and tasty produce, fall is the best season to start incorporating sustainability into one’s life. Fashion and farming are two industries that have developed to become more environmentally aware, and with this year’s Fall Fest, students were able to learn how to sustainably dress and cook for the season. Fall Fest took place on the lawn of the Zell B. Miller Learning Center on Wednesday, with like-minded clubs that promote sustainability teaming up to talk to students about their organizations. The clubs involved were Swap Shop at UGA, Farmers Market Friends and Fair Fashion UGA. Most Wednesdays Farm to Campus Markets is at the MLC lawn, but this is the first Fall Fest this year in which fashion and farming collaborated.
The West Georgian
UWG PEER EDUCATION HOLDS ALCOHOL AWARENESS WEEK
By Kayla Henderson
The week of October 22- 28 is recognized as National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week. The University of West Georgia recognized this week and partnered with Health Services’ Peer Education program to spread awareness on the dangers of alcohol, binge drinking and consequences of drinking under the influence.
WSAV
Georgia Southern hosts ‘Celebrate Together’ on Armstrong Campus
by: WSAV Staff, Bunny Ware
Georgia Southern University hosted its “Celebrate Together” event on the Savannah Armstrong Campus ahead of Homecoming. Organizers say they’re happy to be back together after a year away due to the pandemic. Thursday’s event boasted a dunk tank, rock wall, mechanical bull, archery tag, animals, music and more for students and faculty to enjoy. Even the university’s president stepped up to the dunk tank.
Phys Org
Study: The benefits of automation and AI are mixed regarding worker well-being
by Georgia State University
Employers who prioritize employee health and well-being enjoy a competitive advantage in retaining and hiring employees during what many are calling “The Great Resignation.” Those investing in automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing productivity gains. However, adopting advanced technologies like AI can produce mixed or negative effects on worker well-being according to a new study by Ph.D. candidates Luísa Nazareno of Georgia State University and Daniel Schiff of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Control Design
A glimpse into the peach orchard of the future
By Ai-Ping Hu, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Peaches, not surprisingly, pack a punch for Georgia’s economy. More than 130 million pounds of peaches are produced in Georgia per year, and the southern staple has a total farm gate value of more than $71 million. But cultivating peaches is a complex and manually-intensive process that has put a strain on many farms stretched for time and workers. To solve this problem, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) at Georgia Institute of Technology has developed an intelligent robot designed to handle the human-based tasks of thinning and pruning peach trees, which could result in significant cost savings for peach farms in Georgia.
Time
Critics Say Academic Freedom Will Suffer After Georgia Changed the Rules of Tenure
By Katie Reilly
OCTOBER 21, 2021 4:33 PM EDT
Tenure, one of the bedrocks of higher education in the U.S., is at the center of a heated debate in the world of academia after Georgia’s public university system changed the process for reviewing and firing professors whose tenured status has long protected them. The revisions, which could make it easier to get rid of faculty seen as falling short in performance reviews, and which include a new “student success” metric in those reviews, come at a time of heightened tensions on college campuses over what professors should — and should not—be allowed to teach. While Georgia isn’t the first state to change its tenure system, these changes are seen by critics as going far beyond what others have done and encouraging other university systems to follow suit. …The state university system’s Board of Regents approved the revisions on Oct. 13 based on the recommendations of a working group of faculty, administrators and regents, who were appointed by former university chancellor Steve Wrigley in 2020.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UGA professor: In gutting tenure, Regents endanger reputation, research funding of colleges
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
With tenure weakened, Georgia students could see less diverse, less renowned faculty
In a guest column, a distinguished professor at the University of Georgia warns that the changes made to the tenure process by the Board of Regents will undermine the state’s ability to recruit and retain elite faculty. Dr. Cas Mudde says the outcome of the Regents’ new post-tenure review process will be “less challenging research and teaching and with fewer excellent faculty and (even fewer) faculty from marginalized groups.” Mudde is the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor of International Affairs and Distinguished University Professor at UGA.
By Cas Mudde
WSB-TV
GSU professor posted neo-Nazi, racist propaganda on social media, SPLC claims
By WSBTV.com News Staff
An investigation by the Southern Poverty Law Center claims that a Georgia State University professor posted neo-Nazi and racist propaganda on social media. The SPLC said that Larry Coty, who teaches math at GSU’s Perimeter College, has made extensive posts on extremist websites. The human rights nonprofit featured Coty on its Hatewatch blog on Thursday. The SPLC launched its investigation into Coty after a tip from a former student. The investigation found that Coty shared propaganda from a German neo-Nazi group, praised a notorious Nazi SS military unit and actively posted on Russian social media site VK.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Oct. 21)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,256,278
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 24,239 | 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.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATE: CDC expands booster rollout, OKs mixing shots
By Lauran Neergaard and Mike Stobbe, Associated Press
Millions more Americans can get a COVID-19 booster and choose a different company’s vaccine for that next shot, federal health officials said Thursday. Certain people who received Pfizer vaccinations months ago already are eligible for a booster, and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says specific Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients qualify, too. And in a bigger change, the agency is allowing the flexibility of “mixing and matching” that extra dose regardless of which type people received first. The Food and Drug Administration had already authorized such an expansion of the nation’s booster campaign Wednesday, and it was also endorsed Thursday by a CDC advisory panel. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky approved the boosters as recommended by the advisory panel and also OK’d mixing and matching vaccines.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
CDC director urges employers to encourage workers get vaccinated
Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Healthcare Forum Oct. 21 began with a “fireside chat” between David Rubinger, market president and publisher of the Chronicle, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC). During their talk, Walensky answered questions about the role of employers in bringing workers back to the office, the importance of both flu and Covid-19 vaccinations, how she makes crucial crisis management decisions and what other issues the CDC oversees at its headquarters in Atlanta. On employers’ responsibilities to their workers as they return to the office during the pandemic: “Employers can very much be a trusted messenger in this. People go to their employers for advice all the time. Employers themselves can help build vaccine confidence, encourage people to get vacinnated and encourage open, public dialogue and conversation. It can be in a place where people go to get their questions answered, and a very trusted place.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
COVID death rate in rural Georgia now double that in urban areas
By Helena Oliviero, Ariel Hart, John Perry
The health department crew set up shop in a building near the Georgia National Fair’s north gate, not far from the stage where a juggler and a hypnotist would later perform, a short walk to the midway where throngs of people lined up for the Grand Carousel, the Dizzy Dragon and other carnival rides. All around the clinicians, a steady stream of people flowed by. But few expressed interest in what they were hawking: COVID-19 shots, free for the taking. It was a fine idea. The North Central Health District employees wanted to make the vaccinations accessible to more of the state’s residents, especially those who live in the rural areas that surround the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry. But — despite the workers approaching fair attendees, answering their questions about the vaccines, sharing data on the shots’ effectiveness — the results were disappointing. …But public health experts say it’s imperative that they keep trying. Since August, as the pandemic’s delta variant caused a surge in cases, rural Georgians have been dying of COVID-19 at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of state health data.
Higher Education News:
USA Today
Pell Grant put college within my reach. Now, let’s double it: University chancellor
So many of these students already have the odds stacked against them. Pell Grants can encourage more students not only to apply but also to succeed.
Joseph I. Castro, Opinion contributor
As Congress remains mired in weeks of negotiations surrounding the potential $3.5 trillion spending bill, one measure still being debated stands above the rest. The time is now for our legislators to recognize and strengthen one of our country’s most transformative programs – one that has unlocked the life-changing opportunities of a college degree for millions of low- and moderate-income students each year over the past half-century. I should know. I was a Pell Grant recipient, myself. There is little doubt that the additional grant funding made available to me represented a pathway to a college education that would have otherwise remained sadly and frustratingly out of reach. Without that pathway, my life would have turned out demonstrably differently. I was one of the lucky ones.
Inside Higher Ed
Supporting Students With Long COVID
Disabilities services professionals want to get the word out about how students may be affected by long COVID. A new workbook offers tips for those helping these students navigate college while coping with the virus’s lingering effects.
By Elizabeth Redden
…As an array of unexpected and in some cases quite serious side effects of the virus continue to show up in people who have recovered from COVID-19 infections, college disability services professionals are now spreading the word on long COVID symptoms and trying to build awareness of how colleges can support students like Morris who are experiencing long-term effects of COVID-19. The Biden administration said in July that long COVID can qualify as a disability under federal disabilities law. … The long-COVID task force facilitated by Jarrow has published a workbook to help others in the field who are navigating this issue. The task force is currently revising the formatting of this document to make it fully accessible for individuals with disabilities using assistive technology. When completed, the accessible document will be available on the website of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). The workbook includes detailed suggestions for questions disability services professionals can ask students during intake interviews to determine how COVID-19 has affected their lives, including their studies, and what accommodations, if any, may be appropriate. The workbook is not prescriptive and recognizes that colleges will differ in their approaches.