The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia system waives ACT, SAT requirements for most universities
By Eric Stirgus
Students interested in applying to take undergraduate courses at most public universities in Georgia this fall won’t need to submit an ACT or SAT score to enroll. The University System of Georgia announced this week it will temporarily waive test score requirements for admission at 23 of its 26 colleges and universities. The waiver does not include applicants to Georgia College & State University, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, which are the system’s most academically competitive schools. Most applicants to those schools have already submitted their forms for fall enrollment.
See also:
Ledger-Enquirer
No SAT or ACT required for some students applying to Columbus State University
WSAV
Some colleges that waived SAT, ACT during pandemic now requiring them again
The Augusta Chronicle
Miguel Arnold’s 33 points propels Augusta University basketball to Final Four
Will Cheney
Junior guard Miguel Arnold exploded for 33 points in Augusta University’s 81-69 overtime win over Chico State in the NCAA Division-II Elite Eight Tuesday. He came in riding a wave of momentum from hitting the game-winning shot in the Southeast Regional final. His teammate Tyree Myers nailed a 3-pointer with just under two minutes left in overtime to give the Jags a 74-69 lead, which they never relinquished. Augusta outscored Chico 15-3 in overtime. …With the win, No. 3 Augusta (32-3) moves on to face No. 2 University of Indiana Pennsylvania (33-2) in the semifinals Thursday.
11Alive
Each backpack represents the 1,100 students who lose their lives to suicide every year.
Author: Sydney Spencer
If you were to walk on the Kennesaw State University campus today, you’d be surprised to see the campus covered in backpacks. This was an art display done in partnership with the nonprofit organization Active Minds as a way to bring awareness to mental health and suicide prevention. The exhibit is called Send Silence Packing where 1,100 backpacks represented the number of students who lose their lives to suicide every year. Each Backpack included personal stories and pictures from someone who has lost a loved one to the tragedy. Dr. Josh Gunn, Kennesaw State’s Executive Director of Counseling and Psychological Services, spoke on how the school used this event in hopes to get more people talking about the issue and recognize its importance.
WSAV
Photo Gallery: Holi festivals at Georgia Southern
by: Angel Colquitt
Georgia Southern held its annual Holi festivals on the Statesboro and Armstrong campuses this week. The first was smaller and held on Monday. The larger festival was held on Tuesday. Attendees were able to participate in the throwing of colored powder to celebrate the coming of Spring as well as to commemorate several Hindu legends and stories. You can read more about these by visiting the link here.
WTVM
Columbus State University holds grand opening for servant leadership center
By Jatavia O’Neal
Columbus State University held a grand opening today for the William B. Turner Center for Servant Leadership. One of the programs delivered by the center is an annual stipend and leadership development opportunities for students throughout their entire undergraduate career. The center was named in honor of William B. Turner following a one million dollar donation gift from The Coca-Cola Foundation. The renaming and rededication also honored Turner for bringing the philosophy of servant leadership to the CSU campus and the Columbus community.
See also:
Columbus CEO
Grand Opening of the Turner Center for Servant Leadership at CSU
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Developers eye ‘Gateway’ site near Gwinnett college for 525 apartments
By Tyler Wilkins – Reporter
A team of developers plan to turn a prime piece of undeveloped land in a booming apartment area into residential units and medical office space. A team of developers, including Garfunkel Development and ECI Group, plans to place 325 market-rate apartments, 200 senior apartments and medical office space near Georgia Gwinnett College. The project could also include commercial components, including a climate-controlled storage facility that looks like an office tower. …The city expects its College Corridor – a 1.5-mile road with large sidewalks and bike lanes that provides a direct link between downtown and Georgia Gwinnett College – to spur redevelopment over the next few years.
The Red & Black
UGA professor works to combat human trafficking
Khushi Kapadia
David Okech, a professor in the University of Georgia’s School of Social Work, established the Center on Human Trafficking Research & Outreach in 2021, after developing an interest in aiding victims following a study abroad trip he led. Okech said in an email to The Red & Black that when taking students to Ghana in 2010, he discovered his interest in helping survivors of human trafficking while working alongside his students at a residential care facility for girls and women at-risk of trafficking. CenHTRO’s goal is to address gaps in the measurement of human trafficking’s worldwide prevalence and implement evidence-informed interventions, Okech said.
The City Menus
UWG launches new Computer Science Endorsement program
By Jonathan Dockery
Georgia is a leader in the national movement to broaden K-12 students’ access to computer science education. The University of West Georgia is supporting these efforts with its new Computer Science Endorsement program for current teachers certified by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. The program is offered through a collaboration between faculty in the College of Education (COE) and the College of Arts, Culture and Scientific Inquiry (CACSI).
The Oak Ridger
ORAU welcomes new board members, six new universities
Officials at Oak Ridge Associated Universities recently announced the election of two new board members, a new Council chair and vice-chair, and welcomed six new institutions to its 152-member university consortium. …ORAU also announced the addition of the following universities to its consortium as sponsoring and associate member institutions:
…University of West Georgia, associate member, a public research university accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. “We’re honored to have these distinguished individuals and institutions help us continue in our mission to advance national priorities and serve the public interest by integrating academic, government and scientific resources globally. Together we will build upon the momentum our team has created to strategically position ORAU for the future,” ORAU President and CEO Andy Page stated in the release.
The Current
Itchy eyes? Why pollen season arrives earlier in Coastal Georgia
Georgia Southern University Biology Professor Alan Harvey explains why our trees shed that yellow dust.
by Crissie Elrick Bath/Georgia Southern University
As a seasonal allergy sufferer, Alan Harvey, Ph.D., was curious what types of pollen cause his sniffles and sneezes in Statesboro. So the biology professor at Georgia Southern University’s College of Science and Mathematics did what any curious mind would do — he began exploring the types of pollen throughout Coastal Georgia while trying to narrow down the culprit of his symptoms. What he didn’t expect was his findings to launch a collaborative art-science project that is becoming an exhibit on pollen at the Georgia Southern Museum. Read below to learn more about Harvey’s research and the upcoming exhibit “Pollen Nation” about why the yellow dust falls earlier each year.
Albany Herald
Cleantech Symposium to focus on key areas of sustainability research
By Jordan Powers CAES News
On April 20, the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the UGA Office of Sustainability, the Consulate General of Switzerland and the Swiss Business Hub in Atlanta will host the 2022 Cleantech Symposium to posit a critical question, “Can Tech Save the World?” The symposium, hosted in the UGA Innovation District, will focus on two key areas of sustainability research and entrepreneurship: water management and water conservation, and biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
Nature
The rise of citational justice: how scholars are making references fairer
An emerging movement aims to push researchers to pay more heed to inequities in scholarly citations.
Diana Kwon
Christen Smith was at a conference in October 2017 when she felt a familiar jolt of frustration. A presenter showed a slide with passages that had been paraphrased from one of her books — and, to her dismay, had failed to credit her. …Citations are not just a way to acknowledge a person’s contributions to research. Because funders and universities commonly consider citation metrics when making decisions about grants, hiring and promotions, citations can have a significant impact on a scholar’s career, says Cassidy Sugimoto, an information scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. “Citations, in many ways, are the currency of the academic market.”
EurekAlert!
New clues about how a high-salt diet contributes to cardiometabolic diseases found deep in the brain
Deep in the brain a group of large neurons produce a hormone which prompts our bodies to hold onto more fluid and increase blood pressure. Scientists say these neurons play a critical role in enabling our bodies to maintain healthy homeostasis by using this skill set to efficiently eliminate the excessive salt we consume in an unhealthy meal. But scientists at the Medical College of Georgia and Georgia State University also say that the chronic high-salt diet most Americans consume can turn this system against us, resulting in hyperactivity of these neurons, continuing production of this hormone vasopressin, constriction of blood vessels and increasing our risk for common cardiometabolic diseases like high blood pressure and heart disease. A new $2.7 million multi-principal investigator grant (RHL162575A1) from the National Institutes of Health is enabling the scientists to further explore this apparently novel way cardiometabolic diseases happen and identify new therapeutic targets for them.
GPB
UGA brain center to study genetic and environmental factors in developing Parkinson’s disease
By: Ellen Eldridge
The University of Georgia is receiving millions in federal funding for its Johnny Isakson Center for Brain Science and Neurological Disorders. GPB’s Ellen Eldridge has more on how they plan to use the money. With Parkinson’s disease, everything comes down to an early diagnosis. That’s because, as nerve damage worsens, so do the symptoms of Parkinson’s, and the condition becomes harder to treat, according to Anumantha Kanthasamy, the lead researcher with the University of Georgia’s new Johnny Isakson Center for Brain Science and Neurological Disorders.
The Current
Abrams Campaign Comes to Coast, Lawmakers Cheer Bills
…Watson touts Coastal Georgia budget successes
With the Georgia State Assembly deciding the fate of the 45 bills that cleared the Senate and the 60 that cleared the House before its scheduled adjournment on April 4, Sen. Ben Watson, a Republican representing Coastal Georgia’s First District, indicated Friday that it was too early to assign a final grade to legislature’s legislative accomplishments. But Watson underscored budget successes for coastal Georgia, though, including an additional $80 million for the completion, renovation and expansion of the Savannah Convention Center on Hutchinson Island, $2.1 million The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography will receive some $2.1 million to expand the capacity of its 92-foot research vessel, Savannah, and $720,000 for the Savannah Technical College’s culinary institute. Public school teachers and state employees are also getting overdue salary raises.
Times-Georgian
UWG chemistry alum thrives in pharmaceutical industry
By Julie Lineback Special To The Times-Georgian
Chris Crittenden had a plan. He was going to enroll at the University of West Georgia, get the general chemistry courses out of the way, then transfer to Georgia Tech to pursue chemical engineering due to his passion for math and science. Then he met Dr. Farooq Khan, who supported Crittenden in ways that resonate with the Big Six — a key facet of UWG’s strategic plan. This sent the alumnus on a trajectory that led him to one of the most influential powerhouses in the biotechnology industry. …Today, Crittenden is a senior scientist at Genentech, a pharmaceutical company that works to develop medicines for people with serious and life-threatening diseases.
Higher Ed Dive
Colleges seek better ways to rename buildings
Campuses consider policies for renaming buildings as higher ed reexamines who deserves to be honored. Has a shared framework emerged?
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Montana State University Billings will review the name of its main administration building, McMullen Hall, after recently rediscovered documents show the building’s namesake vocally supported eugenics. … The review in Montana started less than a month after the University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved a policy change that allows buildings to be renamed after 75 years, or sooner if issues arise around their namesakes. …Different approaches to similar problems
In Georgia last year, two member universities of the Universities Studying Slavery consortium diverged in how they reacted to internal renaming recommendations. Emory University, a private nonprofit institution in Atlanta, renamed multiple buildings at once as part of a larger reckoning with racism and dispossession in the institution’s history. The changes came based on recommendations from a university task force dedicated to disenfranchised populations, according to a letter from Emory President Gregory Fenves. …Unlike at Emory, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents declined to rename any of 75 buildings recommended by an advisory group in 2021. “The purpose of history is to instruct,” the board said in a statement. “History can teach us important lessons, lessons that if understood and applied make Georgia and its people stronger.”
yahoo!finance
Multifamily Executive Magazine Ranks Corvias in Top 10 for Student Housing Management Companies
Corvias was named as a Top 10 Student Housing Management Company by Multifamily Executive Magazine, a national publication for property management news and business strategies. Throughout 2021, independent industry research firm J Turner Research monitored online reputation ratings, including review sites and Internet Listing Services, to aggregate data and rank student housing owners and managers. At Mashburn Hall at Dalton State College (Dalton, Georgia), a 365-bed facility provides a mixture of suites, as well as ADA-compliant units and dynamic living and learning spaces. …Corvias partners with 15 colleges in 6 states across the U.S. and the District of Columbia, including in …Georgia at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Augusta University, College of Coastal Georgia, Columbus State University, Dalton State College, East Georgia State College, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University and University of North Georgia;
Marietta Daily Journal
KSU cyber security expert on potential Russian cyber-attacks: ‘Don’t panic’
Zach Edmondson
Despite President Joe Biden’s warning that Russia may engage in cyber-attacks against the United States, Dr. Andy Green, cybersecurity expert at Kennesaw State University, says it is too early to declare “the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming.” This comes after Biden told American business leaders to strengthen their cyber defenses during a business roundtable Monday. Biden said Russia is likely to use cyber-attacks in retaliation against the U.S. for imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine. Green said that, in reality, Russia is always capable of engaging in cyber-attacks. The fact that the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia doesn’t necessarily mean Russian cyber-attacks are coming. The real question: is Russia willing to escalate the ongoing war by cyber-attacking the U.S.?
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated March 22)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,923,335
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 30,775 | 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.
ABC News
How are we watching for the next COVID variant?
Sequencing efforts have improved, but experts say there’s a long way to go.
By Sophie Putka | MedPage Today
The only certain thing about the future of SARS-CoV-2 variants is that nothing is certain — but researchers in the U.S. are doing their best to keep an eye out for the next troublesome variant, even in the face of numerous challenges.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Study on Impact of Student Loan Pause
By Scott Jaschik
A new analysis by the California Policy Lab and the Student Loan Law Initiative shows that the student loan pause improved the credit standing for most of the 26 million affected borrowers who have had their payments paused since March 2020. The analysis also projects what may happen if the pause expires in May, including that at least 7.8 million borrowers are at high risk of struggling to repay their loans. “The pause was a key way Congress alleviated financial pressures on Americans during the pandemic, and it appears to have worked quite well,” explained co-author Evan White, executive director at the California Policy Lab.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Administrators Who Feel Erased by Covid
Stress, uncertainty, and budget cuts have taken a toll on international educators. Can the programs recover?
By Karin Fischer
…In the outbreak’s early days, there was a mad scramble to bring Americans back from studying overseas and to help international students return safely to their home countries. As the pandemic stretched on, administrators had to design virtual alternatives to education abroad, facilitate Zoom classes for foreign students half a world away, and provide support to those who decided to — or had to — stay in the United States. Abrupt changes to visa rules left colleges scurrying to ensure their international students could legally remain here, even if classes were taught online. Still, many global programs were planned only to be canceled. International students were recruited yet couldn’t make it to campus. Those challenges amped up anxiety in a sector where many positions are funded directly by student fees. There’s no comprehensive accounting of just how many international-education jobs have been lost during the pandemic. An October 2020 survey by the Forum on Education Abroad found that 40 percent of study-abroad offices had experienced staff reductions, and eight in 10 reported their budgets had been cut. Among English-language programs, two-thirds reported program reductions and layoffs or furloughs in 2020, according to the Institute of International Education. EnglishUSA, an association of intensive English centers, said 60 of its programs had closed since July 2020. Anecdotally, everyone in international education seems to know someone who has lost a job or been furloughed.