University System News:
Athens CEO
USG Executive Leadership Institute Welcomes the 2021-2022 Class
The University System of Georgia (USG) has named the 2021-2022 class of its Executive Leadership Institute (ELI), including 34 faculty and staff members from 25 USG institutions and the University System Office. “USG strongly supports investing in the development and retention of our future USG leaders, and these class members represent the best of faculty and staff across the state who will lead us into the future,” Vice Chancellor for Leadership & Institutional Development Stuart Rayfield said. “We congratulate them for this honor, and look forward to working with them as they continue to evolve and grow in their leadership development.” For over a decade, USG has hosted ELI for faculty and staff who are ready for a cabinet-level position in the near future. Presidents nominate one academic leader and one staff leader to participate.
Tifton CEO
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Presidential Search Committees Named
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) has named the two committees to conduct a national search for the next president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC). President David Bridges has announced his retirement after 17 years. “ABAC has benefited from 17 years of strong leadership under President Bridges and is the heart of Georgia’s rural community as the state’s leading agriculture college,” Acting Chancellor Teresa MacCartney said. “Its next leader must continue to focus on supporting students for success in the 21stcentury through its innovative industry partnerships, community involvement and unique mission. I’m grateful to the committee members for joining us in this effort and look forward to seeing the results of their work.” The search and screening of candidates is the responsibility of the campus-based Presidential Search and Screen Committee and will guide the first stage of the search. Members are as follows:
InsiderAdvantage
House committee hears updates from USG staff, Interim Chancellor
by Cindy Morley
After the special session of the Georgia General Assembly gaveled in Wednesday morning, members of the House Higher Education Committee spent time that afternoon listening to an extensive report from the University System of Georgia’s Acting Chancellor Teresa MacCartney and several USG staff members. They reported on a number of issues including enrollment numbers, mental health initiatives, affordability measures, and student success measures. They even touched on a new post-tenure review policy approved recently by the Georgia Board of Regents.
Georgia Gwinnett Post
Georgia Gwinnett College waiving application fees this month
By Curt Yeomans
Prospective students who want to attend Georgia Gwinnett College won’t have to pay a fee to apply for admission this month. The school announced it is waiving its application fee for this month only, a move officials at the college said will help high school students address financial challenges they will face as they prepare to go to college. The college said 81% of its students qualify for financial aid. GGC officials said students can participate in the Georgia Apply to College program, which gives high school students an opportunity to learn about various majors and colleges while also providing them with a volunteer service that helps them apply to colleges.
Athens CEO
UGA’s Timothy Coolong on Teaching Cultivation to Students
University of Georgia Department of Horticulture Professor of Horticulture Dr. Timothy Coolong talks about their hands-on approach of teaching and how it helps students when entering the workforce.
Carriage Trader
The 9th Annual State of Small Business in Chatham County will be presented live online, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, on SCORE SAVANNAH’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SCORESavannah/
Ten area business leaders of different sectors will each have three minutes to present a brief overview of the current situation in Chatham County pertaining to their industries. They will then offer their insights into what this means to the future of Savannah and the small business owner. The 2021 State of Small Business in Chatham County presenters are: …SPEAKER: Michael Toma, Ph.D., professor of economics, Georgia Southern University in Savannah Topic: Small Business Employment Stats …SPEAKER: Becky Brownlee, area director, Small Business Development Center, UGA TOPIC: Small Business Survey 2020 …Supporting sponsors include The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center,
NewsBreak
AU President Brooks Keel explains employee vaccination requirements during town hall
By Deirnesa Jefferson
In a town hall Friday, Augusta University president Dr. Brooks Keel said it will take a team effort to get about meet the vaccine requirements under President Biden’s executive order. Keel said under Biden’s executive order five thousand employees will now need to provide documentation of getting vaccinated by January 4, 2022. Keel said that’s about 84 percent of AU’s workforce. ” We are working just as quick as we possibly can to identify those individuals that do fall into the category of requiring vaccination,” Keel said. Keel said the executive order will apply to full time and part time employees as well as student workers. …The university will not be requiring vaccine passports — employees will upload their vaccine cards into a software to provide documentation.
See also:
The Augusta Chronicle
Majority of employees at Augusta University will have to comply with vaccine mandate
MSN
Majority of employees at Augusta University will have to comply with vaccine mandate
accessWDUN
UNG spearheading effort to educate high schoolers on cybersecurity
By Austin Eller Anchor/Reporter
Amid a shortage in critical cybersecurity workers across the country, several key Georgia education leaders are partnering for CyberStart America in Georgia, an initiative aimed at educating high school students across the state about the industry. The CyberStart America in Georgia initiative gives students the opportunity to learn about cyber and cybersecurity skills through a series of online games from Oct. 27, 2021, through April 27, 2022. Lindsay Linsky, co-leader of the CyberStart Georgia Task Force and University of North Georgia associate professor of middle grades education, said high school students could be the solution for the future of cybersecurity in the United States. …UNG, the Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Tech Research Institute, Georgia Cyber Center and Gwinnett County Public Schools have all partnered for the initiative to solve this workforce shortage.
WTOC
Statesboro community feeling positive impact from new GSU football coach
By Dal Cannady
Georgia Southern University made national news Thursday in hiring a new coach. As much as Southern fans want to see a new coach get the Eagles back on a winning track, local business people we talked to say that winning and losing ripples to almost every aspect of business in the community. The announcement of Clay Helton’s arrival in Statesboro is the talk of the town in The Boro. At Southern Exchange, William Martin says he’s feeling excitement from customers. …Martin says the promise of success from a new coach gives many fans hope for next year.
The West Georgian
UWG CAMPUS TOURS: BECOMING A STUDENT TOUR GUIDE
By Kinadi Dill
The University of West Georgia is open for tours this semester and currently offers several ways for incoming students and inquiring families to visit the 645-acre campus. With over 13,000 students enrolled at UWG, the campus tour department offers five different options to view the campus, all of which accommodate those who are considering UWG as their school of choice. …The first tour options available are showcases, where students and families are able to see the campus, meet professors, tour residence halls and learn more about campus life. Students are able to apply and possibly receive acceptance on the spot during showcase tours. The next tour option is specifically designed for incoming transfer students, where transfer visitors are able to tour the campus, attend informational sessions, meet with admissions representatives and learn about various transfer opportunities. Large groups can also tour the campus.
The Salem News
Professor studying decline in wild turkey population
The wild turkey population has been declining in the U.S. over the last 10 to 15 years, and Auburn University professor Will Gulsby is determined to find out why. Gulsby is an associate professor of wildlife management in Auburn University’s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and will be conducting research to identify the areas where the wild turkey population is decreasing in regions of Alabama and the reasons behind it. Gulsby said the turkey population is not just declining in Alabama but is also declining in other areas throughout the southeast. …Gulsby will be releasing research updates throughout the study, and hopes to start publishing results within three to four years. He will be collaborating with Michael Chamberlain from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Florida Looks at Raising the Stakes on Post-Tenure Review
By Emma Pettit
Amid “renewed interest” from Florida lawmakers into how tenured professors’ performance is judged, a post-tenure review proposal is circulating at state universities. The draft set off alarm bells for some faculty leaders, who say in its current form, it would hobble tenure protections by giving too much power to administrators. Florida professors were already on edge about academic freedom. News broke a week ago that three political-science professors at the University of Florida had been barred from offering paid testimony in a voting-rights lawsuit against the state. A reason given was that, because the university is a state actor, litigation against the state is “adverse to UF’s interests.” The university used the same reasoning when it barred a pediatrician who supported mask mandates in Florida schools from participating in lawsuits against state agencies, The Chronicle previously reported. …News of the post-tenure review proposal — first reported by the Tampa Bay Times — also comes shortly after a revised post-tenure review policy sparked strong dissent at Georgia’s public universities. University System of Georgia regents approved the revisions over the objections of faculty members who said the changes would severely weaken tenured professors’ job security. Now, some Florida professors are making similar arguments about the draft proposal.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Student loan debt also a problem for many Georgia parents
By Eric Stirgus
Alpharetta resident Randy Michael, 66, knows the amount of money he owes in student loans for his four children to the dollar. $119,910. Three of the four children had the HOPE Scholarship, which paid for nearly all of their tuition costs to attend public universities in Georgia. The kids also held part-time jobs in college. Yet, they had other college expenses they could not afford, so he took out federal Parent PLUS loans.
Fox 5 Atlanta
Former Georgia State dean, professor pleads guilty to child porn charges
By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
The Department of Justice said a former Georgia State University professor and dean pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to the possession of child pornography. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia said 48-year-old Daniel Deocampo was found with sexually explicit images and videos of children as young as five years old. …Erskine said Georgia State University’s Cyber Security Department alerted the FBI in November 2020 that an employee appeared to be accessing websites containing child pornography through the university’s network. The investigation allegedly found Deocampo was accessing child porn websites from his home several times.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Nov. 5)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,268,462
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 25,094 | 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.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
FAFSA Verification Can Be a Burden for Students and Colleges. Here Are Some Proposals for Easing It.
By Eric Hoover
The U.S. Department of Education should “better leverage” existing federal data to ease the burden of aid verification on students and colleges, two prominent organizations propose in a new report. Their recommendations come amid increased scrutiny of the lengthy audit-like process that disproportionately affects low-income college applicants — and takes up a great deal of financial-aid offices’ time. Nearly one in five students who completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, in the first three quarters of the 2021-22 cycle was selected for verification. That extra step often requires applicants to complete additional institutional forms and submit supporting documents (such as tax transcripts) and signed statements (such as a verification of non-tax-filing status) to prove that the information on their FAFSA is accurate. Financial-aid officers must then review the additional documents students submit for discrepancies, recalculate their expected family contribution, and report changes to the government. Students who don’t complete the process cannot receive federal aid. But the tedious task can prove especially difficult for disadvantaged applicants, as The Chronicle reported in an in-depth article.
Inside Higher Ed
Elevating the Mental Health Conversation
Advocates say a comprehensive approach is required to address mental health challenges on college campuses, but more information is needed about what does and doesn’t work. Bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress aims to find that information out.
By Alexis Gravely
College students and campuses across the country are facing growing mental health challenges that have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Education recently offered a federal response to the crisis, and now, members of Congress are adding to the conversation, as institutional leaders and advocates consider what more should be done to help struggling students. Last month, Representative David Trone, a Democrat from Maryland, and Senator Bob Casey, the Democrat from Pennsylvania, introduced a bipartisan bill that would establish a national commission to study mental health concerns at institutions of higher education. The commission would provide an “environmental scan” of the institutional policies and services available to students, said Laurel Stine, senior vice president of public policy at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. That overview would lead to a road map of what specifically can be done to improve mental health services on campuses. The bill is cosponsored by several Democratic senators, including Tim Kaine from Virginia and Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, and Republican representatives John Joyce and Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania.
Inside Higher Ed
Court Temporarily Blocks OSHA Vaccine Mandate
By Elizabeth Redden
A federal appeals court in Louisiana temporarily stayed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large employers on Saturday, The New York Times reported. The court said it was temporarily suspending the new rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandating that employers with 100 or more employees require their employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing “because the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate.”
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
CDC Hosts Virtual Recruitment Event for HBCU Students
Rebecca Kelliher
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will hold a virtual recruiting event this Tuesday, November 9, for students and recent graduates of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The event is called “Noted. Building on the Legacy of HBCUs in Public Health.”
Inside Higher Ed
U of Florida says three professors can now testify as experts in an elections lawsuit, and they can accept customary payment for their time. The professors are suing the university anyway. Backing the professors, UF’s faculty union describes a larger pattern of apparent political interference in academic matters.
By Colleen Flaherty
Backing down completely from its earlier refusal to let three professors serve as expert witnesses in a voting rights case against the state, the University of Florida said Friday the professors may participate, even if they’re paid. In a partial concession to the professors and the university’s growing list of critics, the university had already said the professors could testify if they did so pro bono. In announcing the full reversal, Florida president Kent Fuchs also said he’d appointed a task force and charged it with recommending how the university should respond “when employees request approval to serve as expert witnesses in litigation in which their employer, the state of Florida, is a party.” Fuchs set a preliminary recommendation deadline of Nov. 29. (Fuchs had already announced he was forming a task force to review the university’s general conflict-of-interest policy, which was last updated a year ago.) The three professors of political science who’d asked to be involved in the voting rights case — Sharon Austin, Michael McDonald and Daniel A. Smith — responded to Fuchs with their own announcement: they’re suing him, Provost Joe Glover and the university’s Board of Trustees, in federal court for violating the First Amendment.