University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fort Valley State, Spelman among HBCUs receiving bomb threats
By Eric Stirgus
Two historically Black colleges in Georgia received bomb threats Tuesday morning, a disturbing trend that many HBCUs across the country have been threatened with in recent weeks. Fort Valley State University and Spelman College were among several HBCUs nationwide that received threats, according to published reports. The FBI said in a statement Tuesday it’s working with other law enforcement agencies to address any potential threats.
Stories also appeared in:
Inside Higher Ed
Multiple HBCUs Receive Bomb Threats Again
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Multiple HBCUs Receive Bomb Threats for the Second Time this Year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Albany State University reopens campuses after bomb threat
By Eric Stirgus
Bomb threats issued Monday against at least a half-dozen historically Black colleges and universities — including one in Georgia — are raising concerns that the schools and students are being specifically targeted. Albany State University closed its campuses after receiving a bomb threat to its academic buildings, officials said. Area police and the GBI were at the university to investigate. University operations were canceled for several hours before officials allowed employees and students to return to campus Monday afternoon. The university has about 6,300 students. It has two campuses in Albany, one in Cordele, and instructional sites in Cairo and Waycross.
Savannah CEO
Corporate Environments Partners with Junior Achievement on New Savannah Discovery Center
Staff Report
Corporate Environments is partnering with Junior Achievement on its new JA Colonial Group Discovery Center of Savannah. The Discovery Center, located in Savannah, Georgia, is an experiential facility that provides students a hands-on look at what their futures can hold. This immersive environment will impact 15,000 Coastal Empire students annually in partnership with local companies and school districts. “It’s this space that’s going to transform the lives of 15,000 middle school students a year throughout the whole costal Georgia region,” said Camille Russo, Vice President, Marketing, JA of Georgia. “It’s going to transform them by exposing and immersing them in financial literacy, entrepreneurship and career readiness, and by allowing them to really experience what it is like to live in the adult world.” Located in 25,000 square feet of space on Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus, the Discovery Center includes simulations for JA BizTown and JA Finance Park. Both models bring relevance, authenticity and application into the traditional learning model to energize students about academics and their future careers.
Albany Herald
R. Harold and Patsy Harrison Foundation pledges $2.6 million to support UGA poultry science
By Maria M. Lameiras CAES News
Gifts and pledges totaling more than $2.6 million from the R. Harold and Patsy Harrison Foundation have established the R. Harold and Patsy Harrison Distinguished Professorship in Poultry Science to support programs in the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Marietta Daily Journal
Interdisciplinary collaboration in research and teaching is the focus of KSU research talk
Staff reports
Kennesaw State University tropical plant expert Paula Jackson has spent more than 20 years providing students with field research opportunities near and far. She is the featured researcher during Research with Relevance – Chairs and Directors’ Showcase on Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. in an online format. Jackson, an ecophysiologist, will discuss her collaborative research efforts focused on the ecology and physiology of plants, and on the scholarship of teaching and learning. In both, Jackson emphasizes the importance of collaboration.
Columbus CEO
Deborah Kidder on the Turner College of Business at CSU
Dean of D. Abbott Turner College of Business at Columbus State University Deborah Kidder talks about her new role at Columbus State and how the University is leading the way in business education.
Marietta Daily Journal
Recent graduates share how a Kennesaw State MBA changed their careers
…A common thread for success
Dennis Marrow, executive director for the MBA program, said reports of alumni receiving promotions and landing new jobs shortly after graduation is common. He said the experiences of Bell, Reynolds and Zaragoza mirror what many KSU MBA students experience, often even before they graduate – the realization of career goals. Those results are rewarding for the MBA faculty in the Coles College of Business, he said. “Because our students are able to put newly acquired knowledge into practice in their jobs immediately, the great majority of KSU MBA students achieve some measure of their desired outcome long before completing their degrees,” Marrow said. “The real cachet of the KSU MBA is the outcomes our students achieve during and after completing their course of study. Our graduates’ success is our success.”
Marietta Daily Journal
Kennesaw State and Georgia Aquarium find avenues to work together
Visitors love Georgia Aquarium for the wide variety of aquatic life they can view up close. For some Kennesaw State University faculty and students, the downtown Atlanta attraction has provided an outlet for their expertise and talents. In disciplines as diverse as music, game design, and biology, Georgia Aquarium is incorporating the work of innovative members of the KSU community into its operations and its mission to foster marine research.
The George-Anne
Let’s Talk Mental Health with the 100 Collegiate Women
Alyssia Ross and Maya Kogbodi
We are officially back on-campus, after being away for some time. Although we’re all excited to return on campus, the transition can be challenging for some students and even for faculty members. Learning how to learn online then returning to normal lecture halls has been reported as tough on a lot of students’ mental health. UF Health spokesperson Ken Garicia stated in an email, “The clinic saw a 106% increase of adult patients who attended their first appointment in the month of August between 2019 and 2020, according to the UF department of Psychiatry. The numbers will increase again by 4% in 2021. For scheduled new adult patients, the clinic saw a 21% increase in August between 2020 and 2021, as reported to UF Health by UF’s Department of Psychiatry.” The 100 Collegiate Women of America took the time to consider this and decided to host a Pillow Talk open to everyone on Wednesday, January 26th that focused on Mental Health.
Albany CEO
GSW Homecoming Festivities Kick Off First Week of February
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) will celebrate 2022 Homecoming, themed “Alice in Wonderland,” the week of Monday, Jan. 31 – Saturday, Feb. 5. GSW alumni and the community are invited to attend select events throughout the week to show their support and Hurricane pride.
Ledger-Enquirer
New CSU show set to be first to tour since COVID-19 hit
By Mike Haskey
Columbus State University Theatre Department’s production of “Cows Don’t Fly and Other Known Facts” opened Jan. 29 at CSU’s Riverside Theatre Complex. The show also is set to tour area schools. It’s CSU’s first touring show since COVID-19 began.
Tifton Gazette
‘Farm Story’ exhibit opens at ABAC
An insightful new exhibition titled “A Farm Story” involving a unique collaboration between an artist, her mentor and ABAC Curator Polly Huff opens to the public for the first time Feb. 1 at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Georgia Museum of Agriculture.
Columbus CEO
Finalists selected for CSU’s Donald L. Jordan Literary Award
Columbus State University Press is pleased to announce the five finalists for the 2022 Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence. The $10,000 prize that includes a contract for publication receives hundreds of submissions annually from national and international authors. Prize winners’ manuscripts are published through the imprint, DLJ Books at CSU Press. The Donald L. Jordan Prize seeks to encourage and promote writings that honor the values of responsibility, gratitude, generosity, love and faith. The five finalists were selected by Dr. Allen Gee, the DLJ Distinguished Chair of Creative Writing and editor of CSU Press.
The Times
What lawmakers, educators say about push to ban critical race theory
Ben Anderson
Georgia Republicans have introduced two bills this month that propose to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in public schools and universities, and violations would be met by pauses in government funding. The more recent bill, Senate Bill 377, was introduced last week by Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Toccoa, who said in a press release that CRT and other “divisive topics” must be banned in higher education before they start “seeping down into our K-12 schools.” Rep. Emory Dunahoo, R-Gillsville, said he and his colleagues “have found a lot out” during their investigations in the past year, but for now they are holding their cards close to their chests. He co-sponsored House Bill 888, which concerns public elementary and secondary schools. Dunahoo has sent a list of three questions to all colleges within the University System of Georgia. The questions center on privilege and oppression, asking whether students are being taught that “possessing certain characteristics inherently designates them as either being ‘privileged’ or ‘oppressed,’” or whether there are any courses “teaching students who identify as white, male, heterosexual or Christian (that they) are intrinsically privileged and oppressive, which is defined as ‘malicious or unjust’ and ‘wrong.’” He said details will be forthcoming once hearings and committee meetings get underway. Together, the bills propose to withhold funding from schools and universities that violate their dictates.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Salaries topped $1 million in 2021 for at least nine of Georgia’s state employees
University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was the highest paid state employee in the fiscal 2021 at $6.9 million. The budget year ended in June, months before he led the Bulldogs to their first national title in 41 years.
By James Salzer
Thanks to a strong economy and federal spending, Georgia ended the most recently completed fiscal year with a record surplus, and some of its leaders had a good year as well. At least nine state employees — from professors and coaches to pension fund investors — made more than $1 million during fiscal 2021, according to the state’s Open Georgia salary website. That came in a fiscal year — which ended June 30 — during which most state employees didn’t get a pay raise. The public is used to football coaches earning big money — University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart made $6.9 million in fiscal 2021, according to Open Georgia, and Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins $3.5 million.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Jan. 31)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,842,500
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 27,595 | 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:
Inside Higher Ed
State Higher Ed Funding Tops $100B in Fiscal 2022
Without accounting for inflation, state funding levels increased by 6.5 percent year over year in fiscal 2022. This jump is due in part to ongoing federal support, recovering state revenues and reversals of state funding cuts from earlier in the pandemic.
By Emma Whitford
State support for higher education eclipsed $100 billion for the first time this fiscal year, the latest Grapevine report on state higher education funding shows. The Grapevine report—put together by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association and Illinois State University—is based on survey data from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and offers a preliminary look at state higher education funding in fiscal year 2022, which began July 1, 2021. Without factoring in federal stimulus money, total state support for higher education increased by 8.5 percent year over year in fiscal 2022. …Seven states reported a decline in state support over the past two years: Alaska, Georgia, Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York and Wyoming.
Inside Higher Ed
Emory Replaces Loans With Grants
By Scott Jaschik
Emory University announced Monday that it will replace all need-based loans as part of undergraduate students’ financial aid packages, replacing them with institutional grants and scholarships beginning this fall for the 2022–23 academic year. The university currently spends $143 million on need-based aid for undergraduates. As a result of the change, Emory will spend $151 million next year.
Inside Higher Ed
Shining a Light on Rural Colleges
Two new mapping projects aim to expand understanding of rural colleges and the challenges they face. One focuses on where rural college are located, the other on colleges serving rural populations.
By Josh Moody
What is a rural college? And where can such institutions be found? The questions seem simple, but in higher education, the answers are surprisingly complex. Now two new reports aim to clarify them. The first, released in December, comes from the University of Wisconsin and is titled “Mapping Rural Colleges and Their Communities.” Nicholas Hillman, an education professor at the University of Wisconsin who spearheaded the report, says the research was born out of the question “Where are rural colleges located?” Hillman and his team combed through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System as well as the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs to understand where colleges are located, then plugged their addresses into a data set and mapped those colleges. They turned up programs in far-flung corners of the U.S. as well as educational partnerships serving students in unexpected locations, such as hotels and conference centers. …The second study, released Monday, comes from the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges and is also a mapping project. However, the ARRC effort focuses on identifying and mapping institutions that are rural-serving rather than colleges that are located in rural areas, factoring in colleges that may be in well-populated towns or suburban areas but have a strong regional pull.
Inside Higher Ed
Using Colleges’ Outcomes to Gauge Risk for Students
A framework developed to identify the riskiest colleges for veterans could be a model for state regulators and accreditors to spot colleges that could close or harm students.
By Doug Lederman
Perhaps more than any other group of prospective college students, veterans have been at risk of being mistreated by unscrupulous institutions. That’s partially because the federal GI Bill makes billions of dollars in aid available to hundreds of thousands of enrolled veterans (and their family members) each year, and because the funds historically have had fewer strings attached for institutions that enroll those students than do many federal student aid programs. That is about to change. Two pieces of legislation enacted by Congress in recent years have required the agencies in each state that approve colleges for eligibility in the GI Bill program to conduct “risk-based” reviews to gauge whether the institutions leave students better off and provide a good return to taxpayers. The uptake has been slow, however, in large part because those agencies—like many bodies charged with regulating industries—don’t have enough employees or time to make informed judgments about all potential providers.