University System News:

WSAV

Savannah State honors graduate with prestigious award

By Angel Colquitt

Savannah State University has honored recent graduate Khayree Hasan with the President’s Second Mile Award. This is the highest honor a graduating senior can receive from the school. “It’s a representation of the university,” Hasan said in an interview on Monday. “It means I have achieved something that few people do.” Hasan is the College of Education’s third graduate of Middle Grades Education, with a concentration in English, Language Arts and Social Studies. 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Readers Write: Tenure changes needed to get rid of incompetent professors

By Bruce Peoples

Hats off to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents for implementing changes to the post-tenure review process for university professors (”Report slams tenure review changes by university system,” News, Dec. 10). Tenure is an archaic job-guarantee policy that makes it nearly impossible to fire incompetent professors. Tenure allows professors like my daughter had – who chronically showed up late to class, was rude to her students, and even fell asleep in class — to continue teaching and waste students’ time and money. What professors need is a fair process to determine whether they should keep their job — something most of us in the real world do not have. They have tenure; we have layoffs, downsizing, and plant closings.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Nursing Hall of Fame announces inaugural inductees

By Nancy Clanton

The Georgia Nursing Hall of Fame has its first cohort of inductees. The Hall of Fame recognizes exemplary nurses who have become legends for their dedication to nursing in the state. “As GNF President, I am so happy to see the Georgia Nursing Hall of Fame come to fruition,” Georgia Nurses Foundation President Wanda Jones, BSN, RN, MSN, FNP-BC, said earlier this year. “We have been planning this program for over two years to honor and showcase the many nursing legends in Georgia.” … Lucy Marion, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAANP: Marion is a professor and dean emerita at Augusta University. Although now retired, she was dean of the College of Nursing for nearly 16 years.

All Access

Spirit Of College Radio Awards Announced For Student Broadcasters

By Roy Trakin

The organizers of the annual WORLD COLLEGE RADIO DAY have announced their 2021 SPIRIT OF COLLEGE RADIO AWARDS winners. The awards are presented by the COLLEGE RADIO FOUNDATION in recognition of “truly outstanding and spirited efforts” made by college radio stations on WORLD COLLEGE RADIO, which took place on OCTOBER 1st this year. The theme for this year’s WCRD event was “In Tough Times, We Thrive.” Of the over 600 stations that participate, only ten stations are chosen. This year the following stations were selected to be recognized with this award: WOLF RADIO (UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA). Commenting on the winners, COLLEGE RADIO DAY founder ROB QUICKE opined, “Every day is a day to celebrate college radio, but these stations took it to the next level! These stations are to be congratulated for doing brilliant work in the most challenging of circumstances.”

The Tifton Gazette

ABAC Nursing honors top graduates

Staff Reports

The nursing program at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College recently honored its top graduates from ABAC’s campus in Tifton and from ABAC Bainbridge at the 2021 fall semester pinning ceremony. Dr. Jeffrey Ross, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, said a total of 57 students, 45 from Tifton and 12 from ABAC Bainbridge, received associate degree pins, and 26 students received bachelor’s degree pins at the ceremony. Carrie H. Dunn from Omega received the Southwell Clinical Excellence Award, and the Memorial Hospital and Manor in Bainbridge Clinical Excellence Award went to Katlyn McKenzie Lawson from Leesburg.

Marietta Daily Journal

Book by KSU professor wins national award

Staff Reports

Farooq Kperogi, Ph.D., a Communications Professor at Kennesaw State University, announced that his book, “Nigeria’s Digital Diaspora: Citizen Media, Democracy and Participation,” was awarded the 2021 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Winner. The book, a 312-page hardcover priced at $88, was published by the University of Rochester Press in 2020. Every year in their December issue, in print and online, CHOICE publishes a list of Outstanding Academic Titles that were reviewed during the previous calendar year. The prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles reviewed by CHOICE and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community.

WGAU
New dean for UGA’s School of Social Work

By Tim Bryant

The University of Georgia names a new dean for its School of Social Work. Philip Hong is a professor and associate dean for research at Loyola University in Chicago. His appointment at UGA is effective July 1.

Athens Banner-Herald
Key Georgia football support staffer resigns amid university investigation

By Marc Weiszer

Josh Lee, Georgia’s director of football operations since December of 2014, has resigned. Lee was a key staffer under head coach Kirby Smart who had been with him for all six of his seasons. The resignation comes amid an investigation by UGA’s Equal Opportunity Office, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lee did not respond for requests for comment Monday night by the Athens Banner-Herald. “The Athletic Association can confirm that Director of Football Operations Josh Lee has resigned to pursue other professional opportunities,” UGA athletics said in a statement late Monday night. “We do not have any further comment.”

The story also appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Other News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Dec. 21)

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

CONFIRMED CASES: 1,317,209

CONFIRMED DEATHS: 26,144 | 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

Georgia braces for feared surge of COVID-19 cases in stretched hospitals

By Joshua Sharpe

Georgia hospital officials say their already busy facilities are bracing for surges of COVID-19 cases as the omicron variant sweeps through the state. Across the state, 81 percent of intensive care beds were filled at 1 p.m. Tuesday, along with 64 percent of emergency room beds, state figures showed. Hospitals were severely overcrowded and emergency rooms were diverting patients throughout the state, including metro Atlanta, where 80% of emergency department beds were filled. Omicron rapidly overtook the delta variant as the most common in a cluster of Southern states, including Georgia, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Epidemiologists say omicron spreads much more easily than previous variants. Early indications are fewer will become seriously ill from omicron and the hospital admission rate is lower than with other variants. But as the number infected climbs sharply, health officials have said they’re worried it will still lead to overwhelmed medical facilities.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia leaders stay on a passive course amid omicron threat

By Johnny Edwards and Willoughby Mariano

With a rapidly spreading COVID-19 variant threatening the state just as families prepare to gather indoors for the holidays, Georgia’s leaders are offering few ideas to blunt another surge. Gov. Brian Kemp, who has been criticized this year for his hands-off approach to the pandemic and his resistance to mask and vaccine mandates, struck an optimistic tone when asked about the omicron variant at an Atlanta Community Food Bank event on Monday. Kemp said it doesn’t seem as potent as the delta variant, and that he had spoken that morning with Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey and they will “continue to monitor.” Asked if any new measures will be taken, Kemp said, “Not at this point. I think from looking where we are, we’re still holding our own.”

Higher Education News:

Fulton Daily Report

Indiana University General Counsel Steps Down Amid Public Records Controversy

By Phillip Bantz

After more than nine years as Indiana University’s general counsel and vice president, Jacqueline Simmons vacated the post earlier this month. Her exit occurred amid a controversy involving a tenured law professor who raised questions about the “tortuous and flawed” search for the school’s new president. The law professor, Steve Sanders, described Simmons departure as having “happened behind the scenes” and “almost overnight.” “The only indication that anyone would have had was that suddenly Jackie Simmons had disappeared from her own office’s website, and there was an interim general counsel listed,” he said. “It’s always been customary that when there is a transition at the vice president level, there are press releases thanking them for their service.”

Inside Higher Ed

More Colleges Discourage Students From Being on Campus in January

By Scott Jaschik

More colleges are adopting policies to discourage—or in some cases ban—students from being on campus in January. Generally, the colleges that are acting start up the first week in January. Institutions with later starts tend to be waiting to decide. DePaul, Harvard and Stanford University students won’t have in-person classes the first weeks of the semester, those universities announced; Pennsylvania State University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the U of Southern California are considering such a move.

Inside Higher Ed

7 U of California Campuses Will Start January Online

By Scott Jaschik