University System News:

Statesboro Herald

East Georgia State names new president

Dr. David Schecter, from USC-Spartanburg, to take over Jan. 3

From staff reports

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia named Dr. David Schecter president of East Georgia State College, effective Jan. 3, 2022. “Dr. David Schecter’s strong academic background and experience in public higher education administration will help EGSC maintain its focus on supporting students as they attain their degrees and join Georgia’s workforce,” USG Acting Chancellor Teresa MacCartney said in a Wednesday morning release. “I’m thrilled for the institution, and grateful to the campus search committee for their time and good work. We look forward to welcoming Dr. Schecter to Georgia.” Schecter has been serving as provost and senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., where he managed a budget of $38 million, administered a department of 686 employees and supervised deans of the schools and colleges and the library.

See also:

The Georgia Virtue

Schecter Named President Of East Georgia State College

Emanuel County Live

Finalist Named for East Georgia State College Presidency

WVTM

MILITARY MATTERS: North Georgia Cadets Win Spartan Ranger Challenge Vs. Top Schools

By Jason Dennis

While college football may be king in the southeast, the “Ranger Challenge” is the top varsity sport for Army ROTC. The University of North Georgia recently won that competition against some of the best cadets in the nation. Some of their team members took us inside their victory. The University of North Georgia’s Ranger Challenge team is rolling – on obstacles and with trophies. They just won their fourth straight Spartan Ranger Challenge. UNG senior Hayley Farmer, squad leader for “A” team, explains how the rigorous competition kicked off just after midnight.

The Red & Black

UGA to hold dedication ceremony, lecture for renamed Institute of Higher Education

Nathalee Simoneau

On Nov. 16, the University of Georgia will hold a dedication ceremony and lecture to honor the late former UGA administrator Louise McBee, according to UGA Today. UGA President Jere Morehead’s cabinet approved renaming the Institute of Higher Learning after McBee on Sept. 29.

WALB

GSW, Sumter Chapel raising money for grocery bus, kids in Africa

By Keshawn Ward

Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) is partnering with an Americus church to benefit the community and the less fortunate across the world. This partnership will bring quality and affordable food for students and people in Americus. It will also improve the quality of life for kids in Africa. …It’s hunger and awareness month at GSW in November. Anderson and GSW Director of Residential and Campus Life LaToya Stackhouse are giving students a platform. One of the goals is to raise money to get access to a grocery bus in the City of Americus.

Valdosta Daily Times

VECA students visit VSU sports exhibit

By Brittanye Blake

Valdosta Early College Academy seventh-grade students visited Valdosta State University STEAM Center art and science of sports interactive exhibit. The STEAM Center for Applied Creativity and Innovation, art and science of sports is an interactive exhibit which offers many real-life applications of art and science related to sports. “The goal of these hands-on, interactive displays is to increase STEAM knowledge, career opportunities and higher education degree awareness for our region,” Dr. Brian Gerber, director of the STEAM Center, said. …The emphasis is on job awareness and college majors so that visitors will see real-world application at each display.

Morning AgClips

UGA plant pathologist recognized for improving the world, one peanut at a time

Bob Kemerait has been instrumental in the continuing development of the Peanut Rx tool

When University of Georgia peanut pathologist Bob Kemerait does something, he does it wholeheartedly. A passionate advocate for producers both near his academic home at the University of Georgia Tifton campus and around the world, Kemerait describes himself as “a field guy,” most comfortable among the rows detecting, diagnosing and addressing the myriad diseases and pests that threaten Georgia’s second-largest row crop. Kemerait has been instrumental in the continuing development of the Peanut Rxtool that was created by peanut scientists at UGA and in neighboring states to help producers make critical crop decisions based on a number of risk factors including variety planted, inputs, row pattern, tillage, plant population, crop rotation, disease pressure, irrigation and planting date. He’s also been central to UGA’s international extension efforts in Guyana, Haiti, the Philippines and, most recently, Gambia, traveling intercontinentally to help small-scale farmers improve peanut production as an important source of nutrition and income. On Nov. 9, the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture honored Kemerait with the 2021 Southern Region Excellence in Extension Award.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia State University completes animal studies of anti-viral drug

By Eric Stirgus and Ariel Hart

Georgia State University researchers believe they’ve taken a step forward in helping to develop an oral drug to treat COVID-19. A new front has opened in the battle to develop medications to fight COVID-19. Now that effective vaccines are available to prevent the disease, researchers are focusing on drugs to treat COVID-19 after someone is infected and before they need hospitalization. The company Merck has recently taken the lead, producing an antiviral oral medication that it hopes will get federal approval here. A peer-reviewed study of GSU’s research, released last week in the top-line publication Nature Communications, found an oral version of the drug remdesivir was effective against the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in ferrets. Ferrets have been frequently used in COVID-19 research. Remdesivir, made by the drug company Gilead Sciences, is currently used to treat COVID-19, but it must be used intravenously.

AllOnGeorgia

Future Veterinarian’s Society Paws for a Cause 5K Fun Run November 13

The 5th Annual All Paws for a Cause 5K will be on Saturday, November 13, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm, at the Recreation Activity Center(RAC) at Georgia Southern University. This event is presented by Future Veterinarian’s Society and proceeds will go to the Humane Society of Statesboro and Bulloch County. Participants can fun walk or run, alone or with a dog.

WTOC

Glory, one of the bald eagles at Georgia Southern, passes away

By WTOC Staff

One of the bald eagles has passed at the Center for Wildlife Education at Georgia Southern University. The university announced via social media that Glory, an almost 37-year-old eagle, died of natural causes. Glory lived at the Lamar Q Ball, Jr. Raptor Center and has been with the wildlife center since it opened 25 years ago, according to the center.

Savannah Morning News

That’s so Savannah: Where to see the world’s largest collection of ticks

Georgia Southern University is home to The U.S. National Tick Collection, the largest of its kind in the world.

Christopher Berinato

Sandflies are pesky little biters and mosquitoes can make the outdoors absolutely miserable, but no blood-sucking parasite in the South is as troublesome or tenacious as a tick. The little mites latch onto your warmest, hard-to-reach places and sip on you for days before you realize they’re even there, by which time you have to pull the stubborn bloodsuckers out with tweezers (don’t leave the head). Then there’s the possibility of contracting Lyme disease or, God forbid, an allergy to red meat (from a Lone Star tick). ‘That’s so Savannah’:Come for the ‘boo’ and stay for the brew at haunted microbrewery Most people would rather avoid ticks altogether, but for those who would like to learn more about them, Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro campus houses the largest collection of ticks in the world. The U.S. National Tick Collection belongs to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, but has been kept at GSU since 1990.

Albany Herald

COVID-19 cases remain low at UGA

UGA News Service

Reported cases of COVID-19 at the University of Georgia held steady from the previous week as the fall semester continues into the 12th week, with overall cases remaining well below the highest recorded peak of the semester. A total of 22 cases were reported for the week of Nov. 1-7, an increase of one case from the previous week. This week’s figure marks a 96% decrease from the peak of cases reported around Labor Day. In addition, three out of 466 asymptomatic individuals tested positive, for a rate of 0.64%. The University Health Center posted the data as part of the weekly update on its website Wednesday morning. Of the 22 cases reported in DawgCheck, 12 were students and 10 were staff members. No faculty members reported positive cases.

Other News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Nov. 10)

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

CONFIRMED CASES: 1,271,271

CONFIRMED DEATHS: 25,255 | 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.

MSN

For 1st time in months, a local hospital has no COVID patients

Staff and wire reports

As COVID-19 cases continue to fall from the delta-variant surge, the CSRA has hit a milestone: One local hospital has zero coronavirus inpatients. The Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center reported that momentous number Wednesday. Although the hospital has never seen the volume of COVID cases as some other Augusta hospitals, its patient count is down from the mid to upper teens of a few weeks ago. University Hospital, a local bellwether of the pandemic, saw 167 patients at the peak of the pandemic in January and again on Sept. 7 during the delta surge. On Wednesday, University was down to 23 inpatients — still what many would call an uncomfortable level but definitely an improvement.

Higher Education News:

Inside Higher Ed

Relieving the Verification Burden

FAFSA verification is a process that can be a burden on both students and institutions. College access advisers and financial aid administrators say data sharing and changing how the Education Department selects students for verification could go a long way in providing relief.

By Alexis Gravely

Each year, millions of students who receive federal financial aid are required to undergo an additional review of their financial information by the Department of Education called verification, a process that has proven to be burdensome for both students and institutions. But the department could ease that burden by modifying some of its own processes, according to a recent report from the National College Attainment Network and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. “Through properly placed algorithms and targeting, it is possible for Federal Student Aid to continue to decrease the number of students who are selected while still showing responsibility over tax dollars,” said Carrie Warick, director of policy and advocacy at NCAN.

Inside Higher Ed

APLU President to Retire Next Fall

By Emma Whitford

Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, will retire in September 2022 after more than 16 years in the role. McPherson said he’s leaving his post to spend more time with his family and to devote more time to projects and causes that are important to him. He plans to stay active in the higher education industry but isn’t sure exactly how he’ll continue his work. “It has been an extraordinary honor to lead APLU for all these years and I am grateful for all of the experiences and accomplishments we’ve achieved together as a public university community,” McPherson said in a press release. “This is a bittersweet moment for me.” During his tenure at APLU, McPherson grew the association from a well-respected trade organization to a strong advocate for public universities, said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education

Meet the New President of ASHE: Dr. Joy Gaston Gayles

Jamal Watson

A life in academia as a full professor—including being elected president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)—wasn’t exactly the life that Dr. Joy Gaston Gayles had considered for herself when she arrived at Shaw University as a first-generation college student some three decades ago. …An expert on intercollegiate sports, Gayles took the helm of ASHE this week—becoming only the second Black woman and the fifth Black person—to lead the 46-year-old organization that focuses on the study of higher education. Her selection to lead the organization has received widespread praise across the field.