Ledger-Enquirer
Columbus State University president Chris Markwood retiring after seven years in charge
By Mark Rice
Columbus State University president Chris Markwood is retiring. CSU announced the news Thursday. His final day as president will be June 30. John Fuchko III, the University System of Georgia’s vice chancellor for organizational effectiveness, will serve as interim president of Columbus State until a new president is hired. “President Markwood has made a point throughout his career to focus on students and make sure they had the support they needed on campus and in the classroom to succeed,” USG acting chancellor Teresa MacCartney said in the news release. “We appreciate his service to USG and wish him and his family well.” The USG Board of Regents approved the hiring of Markwood in April 2015. He started leading CSU that June, replacing the retired Tim Mescon to become the fifth president in the institution’s history, now 64 years.
See also:
WRBL
Columbus State President Chris Markwood plans to retire this summer
Ledger-Enquirer
She beat brain cancer. Now, she’s Miss Columbus State and training to fight the disease
By Mark Rice
After overcoming childhood brain cancer, Tori Svenson is Miss Columbus State University 2022 — and training to become a nurse who helps cancer patients. She was crowned at the Feb. 19 competition on CSU’s main campus. …Svenson plans to use her platform to raise money for childhood cancer research through the Rally Foundation.
The Times
Hall, Gainesville school districts hire student teachers to address lack of staff
Ben Anderson
Madison Rizer hasn’t graduated yet, but she’s already been hired as a teacher in Hall County. She’s part of a new internship program in which student teachers at University of North Georgia are hired as full-time teachers during their senior year.
Valdosta Daily Times
Valdosta State University recently partnered with the City of Adel to develop a plan that will restore the city’s downtown area to its historic prominence as a center of community activity and pride. Working through VSU’s Center for South Georgia Regional Impact, Dr. Joseph Robbins, professor and head of VSU’s Department of Political Science, said students in his POLS 4100: Political Science Capstone course tackled the real-world project during fall semester 2021 with assistance from Dr. Keith Lee Jr., coordinator of VSU’s Public Administration and Organizational Leadership programs, university students said in a statement. The students collaborated with Adel’s mayor, downtown development manager, community development director and others. They researched neighboring communities. They studied building codes, city ordinances, building design plans, traffic patterns, economic development indices, social media curating and academic research to put together the strongest plan possible.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Clayton County Schools holding fireside chat on higher education
By Leon Stafford
Clayton County Schools will hold a virtual “fireside chat” Thursday to talk about post-secondary education for the district’s students. The meeting, which will be streamed live at 6:30 p.m. on YouTube, will feature Superintendent Morcease Beasley, Clayton State University President James Stuart, Atlanta Metropolitan State College President Georj Lewis, Gordon State College President Kirk Nooks and Stillman College President Cynthia Warrick. The district said the chat, created as part of the historically black colleges’ and universities’ “Yes You Can Promise” program, is “designed to expose attendees to candid dialogue about supports available to first-year college students. These supports are inclusive of not only academics but also personal, social, and emotional supports.”
Clayton News Daily
Clayton State dental students offering free dental services to children Saturday
From Staff Reports
Clayton State University’s Student American Dental Hygienists Association is offering free dental hygiene services to children ages 6-18 on Saturday. …Services offered will be cleaning, X-rays, fluoride treatments and sealants. …Individuals requiring disability-related accommodations for participation in any Clayton State University sponsored event or program may contact the Disability Resource Center at (678) 466-5445 or DisabilityResourceCenter@clayton.edu. Dental appointment times are limited and are provided on a first come, first-serve basis.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day – A Call to Diversify
Liann Herder
…For scholars who study the methodology behind teaching engineering, bringing more women and diversity into the workforce requires not just a shift in recruitment and marketing but a cultural change as well. Dr. Joachim Walther, founding director of the Engineering Education Transformations Institute (EETI) at the University of Georgia, teaches a course called Engineered Systems in Society. The course is required for all mechanical engineering majors and asks students to role-play in imaginary, real-world situations. “There’s a necessity to reshape engineering as a profession in the world,” said Walther. “At the heart of [it], engineering is a social, technical endeavor that is inherently humanistic and has to do with working with people in ways that acknowledge other sources of knowledge.” Students often come to engineering to “save the world,” said Walther. His class allows them to encounter engineering as it intersects with society, offering students “revelations” even after they graduate.
Rome News-Tribune
By Olivia Morley
Three community leaders were spotlighted by Floyd County commissioners this week in honor of Black History Month. This year the office was flooded with nominations, according to County Clerk Erin Elrod. However, they had to narrow it down to three people who have made a lasting impact on Rome and Floyd County. Dr. Robersteen Howard was recognized for her long time work as a pediatrician with the Harbin Clinic. “Dr. Howard is a true trailblazer as she was the first Black female pediatrician in Floyd County back in 1995,” County Manager Jamie McCord said in introducing her. Howard became a partner with Harbin Clinic in 1997 and currently serves as the chairwoman of Harbin’s credential committee. She’s also the pediatric clerkship director for the Medical College of Georgia and serves as an associate professor at the college.
Savannah CEO
Georgia Southern’s Waters College of Health Professions Establishes Advisory Board
Georgia Southern University’s Waters College of Health Professions has selected a group of alumni and local health experts to make up the Waters College Advisory Board (WCAB) to support and facilitate the success of the college. Established in 2022, the WCAB provides advice, counsel and ideas to members of the college on a variety of issues including programs, placement and the competitive environment of education in the health professions. “The advisory board was established to aid in the growth and development of the Waters College of Health Professions,” said Barry Joyner, Ph.D., dean of the college. “The experiences and expertise of the advisory board members will be valuable resources as we look to enhance the quality, visibility and reputation of the college.” Additionally, board members will assist with fundraising and development efforts to increase the visibility of the college.
WGAU Radio
Local briefs include A-CC redistricting controversy, donation for Ga Museum of Art
Barrow Co candidate quits congressional contest
By Tim Bryant
Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz spoke at a Wednesday news conference in Lawrenceville, joining officials from Gwinnett County, Cobb County, and Augusta-Richmond County in complaining about local redistricting. The upset in Athens stems from a new Athens-Clarke County Commission district map drawn by Republicans in the local legislative delegation. The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia has received a gift of $4.7 million from the W. Newton Morris Charitable Foundation. There is no play today at the University of Georgia Golf Course: the course on Riverbend Road in Athens is closed to allow for aeration of the greens. UGA says the driving range is open.
Patch
University Of Georgia: UGA Expands Efforts To Promote Student Mental Health And Well-Being
Student Affairs leads initiative to strengthen the university’s mental health and well-being offerings
A new University of Georgia initiative is enhancing campus-wide mental health and well-being resources to help students become more active, healthy and successful. In his 2022 State of the University Address, President Jere W. Morehead noted the increased need for mental health and well-being resources for students at UGA and across the nation. …Morehead has asked Vice President for Student Affairs Victor K. Wilson to lead UGA’s efforts in this area and has dedicated $1 million in private funds over the next two years to expand and strengthen UGA’s extensive mental health and well-being offerings.
GBPI
By Jennifer Lee
Georgia is one of only two states that lack broad need-based financial aid.
75 percent of Georgians support funding a need-based aid scholarship for college students.
Nearly 112,000 students deal with unmet financial need, according to the University System of Georgia (USG).
42 percent of students reported not receiving any financial support from parents or guardians; 39 percent struggled with stable housing; 37 percent had very low or low food security.
Students from more secure family financial backgrounds are more likely to graduate from college.
In Georgia, college students’ families reflect a wide range of resources. The median family income for students at the most selective colleges and universities exceeds $100,000; however, it is below $40,000 in 17 of the 26 colleges in the university system.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia lawmakers favor tuition bill for refugee college students
By Eric Stirgus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Several state lawmakers voiced their support Wednesday for legislation that would make it easier for refugees to pay tuition at Georgia’s public colleges and universities. House Bill 932 seeks to extend in-state tuition rates to refugee students at the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia as soon as they settle in the state. Currently, refugees must wait one year after settling in Georgia to establish residency to qualify for the lower in-state tuition rates, which are roughly three times smaller than their out-of-state counterparts.
The Augusta Chronicle
Sniffing out disease: Doctor duo to take immunology research ‘to a new level’ in Augusta
Tom Corwin
The COVID-19 pandemic has focused unprecedented attention on the immune system as central to good health. Scientists tasked with creating a center devoted to it at Medical College of Georgia say the immune system is integral to combatting illness from cancer to heart disease. This includes groundbreaking and surprising work on how some immune cells can actually smell and react to other cells in both good ways and bad. Drs. Klaus Ley and Lynn Hedrick, a husband-and-wife team from the prestigious La Jolla Institute for Immunology in California, will be coming to MCG at Augusta University to create a new Center for Immunology. It will include recruiting 20 researchers to aid in that effort and tie into existing initiatives like AU’s effort to address inflammation and aging.
GBPI
Completion Grants Help Students Persist and Graduate
By Jennifer Lee
Access to postsecondary education can transform a student’s life. But sometimes, especially for the 42 percent of students paying for college and living costs on their own, a small financial setback can make paying a tuition or housing bill just out of reach and threaten years of educational progress. Completion grants are a solution to this problem. Also known as retention grants or “gap funding,” they are a recent innovation in student financial aid: small but meaningful financial aid awards for students who have made substantial progress in their degree programs but face financial barriers to graduation. Completion grants are a relatively small and cost-effective form of financial aid. At Georgia State University (GSU), a pioneer of this approach, the average Panther Retention Grant is 900 dollars. Nine out of 10 recipients were still enrolled a year later. When GSU started the program in 2011, university administrators found they were losing students who were academically on track but running out of financial aid.
Georgia Recorder
Georgia legislators target COVID mask, vaccine precautions with mandate bans
By: Stanley Dunlap And Ross Williams
Republican state lawmakers’ fight against COVID-19 mandates gained steam Wednesday, with committees advancing bills that would relax restrictions on school mask requirements and prohibit governments from requiring proof of vaccination at public buildings or to use services. A House committee advanced the Gov. Brian Kemp-backed bill that allows parents to opt their children out of masks requirements at public and charter schools. Also Wednesday, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed Senate Bill 345 that prohibit state and local governments, including public universities, from requiring proof of a COVID-19 vaccination through June 2023. …Dr. Isaac Chun-Hai Fung, associate professor of epidemiology at the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University, said he has questions about the two bills. “Are we moving too fast to limit the power of the state and local governments as well as schools and school districts to do what is needed, should we enter another public health crisis again? Isn’t it prudent to take legislative actions in a cautious manner and consider the wide range of possibilities into the future?” “Given the rapid evolution of the virus, we may not know what the future looks like for this pandemic,” he added. “We won’t even know when another virus emerges and leads us into another pandemic again.”
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Feb. 23)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,907,207
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 29,441 | 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
AFT survey on adjunct working conditions finds that COVID-19 made an already bad situation more dire.
By Colleen Flaherty
A new study from the American Federation of Teachers shines a harsh light on working conditions for adjunct professors—and provides additional insight into how the pandemic has affected this faculty group in particular. The upshot: adjunct academic work was precarious even before the pandemic, and the coronavirus made “a grave situation even worse.” “When campuses were shut down in March 2020, adjuncts were given only hours to move their classes online, often without sufficient training or technical support to make the transition successful,” the study says. “They faced an academic year of uncertain enrollments and employment prospects, compounded by the anxieties of being asked to return to the classroom amid a checkered public health response to the pandemic.” That’s in addition to food insecurity, limited health-care coverage and housing issues, according to the AFT. The new study is based on a survey of about 1,900 adjunct instructors at two- and four-year institutions fielded from May to August 2020.
Inside Higher Ed
Hampton U Receives Bomb Threat; FBI Releases Update
By Maria Carrasco
Hampton University, a historically Black institution in Virginia, received a bomb threat Wednesday morning, which forced the university into lockdown, 13News Now, an ABC-affiliated station, reported. A spokesperson for the Hampton Police Division said the threat call came in just before 9 a.m. and that department officers investigated and reopened the campus three hours later, according to 13News Now. Hampton University said in a statement that investigators “found the threat unsubstantiated” and an all clear was issued, though it is unclear who sent in the threat. The bomb threat was the first this year for Hampton but the latest in a string of bomb threats directed at HBCUs, across the country this month and in January, which the FBI is investigating.