The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After weeks of debate, mental health bill clears Georgia Senate panel
By Maya T. Prabhu
After two weeks of emotional hearings, a Senate panel on Monday passed its version of legislation that aims to expand the way mental health is covered in Georgia. The new version of House Bill 1013 would require most insurance companies to cover mental health care the same way physical health is covered, forgive student loans for mental health providers who work in underserved areas of the state and take other steps to improve care. The bill passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously.
11Alive
ACT, SAT test score requirements waived in the fall for 23 Georgia colleges
The waiver is temporary and affects applications for students starting in the fall of 2022.
Author: Tracey Amick Peer
ACT and SAT scores will not be required at many public colleges and universities in Georgia in the fall. The Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia is temporarily waiving test score requirements at 23 of its 26 institutions. “It’s been a tough couple of years, so I remember being very nervous,” said Akirya Rucker, a junior at Georgia State. Rucker said she thinks temporarily dropping the test requirement for new students will be a good thing. …Georgia State Director of Admissions, Romina Torres, called the move surprising.
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WGAU Radio
Some UNG applicants welcome news of SAT-ACT waivers
“These changes will make it possible for many students to receive their admission decision now”
Statesboro Herald
Partially restored test score waiver has immediate effect for Georgia Southern
About 1,000 previously incomplete applications now acceptable, but GS still expects smaller freshman class
Higher Ed Dive
MIT bucks trend, revives standardized test score requirement for admissions
Inside Higher Ed
MIT Reinstates SAT/ACT Requirement
Poultry Times
Georgia Tech student researchers tackle poultry industry challenges
Steven Thomas/GTRI Lance Barrett, left, and Ryan Giometti, right, are the first R. Harold and Patsy Harrison Student Interns in the Abit Massey Student Internship Program at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
The Georgia Tech Research Institute’s (GTRI) Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP) has selected Lance Barrett and Ryan Giometti as the 2022 R. Harold and Patsy Harrison Student Interns. They are the first recipients of the one-year funded internships made possible through an endowment from the R. Harold and Patsy Harrison Foundation. The internships are part of ATRP’s Abit Massey Student Internship Program, which provides Georgia Institute of Technology undergraduate students an opportunity to work alongside ATRP researchers on real-world challenges facing poultry production and processing. Interns also have the opportunity to gain practical industry knowledge by networking with staff at local poultry companies. The goal is to prepare the next generation of researchers and professionals to produce significant advances in innovation and technology. The program is funded entirely through donations and sponsorship from industry and friends of ATRP.
WJBF
Lakeside High School students participate in MCG simulation
by: Jennie Montgomery
The Medical College of Georgia is finding unique ways to train medical professionals of the future. Dozens of Lakeside High School students got a firsthand look at the art of medicine Friday. They attended a workshop at Augusta University, along with their teachers, and got some hands-on experience using mannequins. It was an interactive way to expose them to health care specialties.
Albany Herald
PHOTOS: Perspective students descend on Albany State University for an open house
Photos contributed by Reginald Christian
Perspective students and their family members descended on the Albany State University campus on Saturday, March 26, 22022, to learn more about a possible future at ASU.
Gainesville Times
Conner Evans
This fall, Hall County seniors could begin taking dual-enrollment courses at the University of Georgia for the first time through the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The George-Anne
Get Your Taxes Filed for Free Right Here in Statesboro
Raquel Upson, Correspondent
Georgia Southern’s School of Accountancy and the IRS banded together to offer free tax services to students and others in the Statesboro community needing help filing this season. “[Filing taxes] can be confusing to a lot of people,” said Collis White, an accounting major and member of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA). “We’re a resource for them to avoid having to file their own taxes.” VITA assists both students and people of the community. The program is intended to offer tax-help to anyone earning $68,000 or less, people with disabilities, the elderly, and taxpayers who speak limited English. VITA is offering free tax services for students until April 13th at City Campus in Downtown Statesboro.
Prestigious Scholarships
Augusta University’s Greenblatt Library renovation to begin April 4 – Jagwire
Beginning Monday, April 4, the Robert B. Greenblatt, MD Library on the Health Sciences Campus at Augusta University will begin the second phase of a major renovation project that totals $4.9 million. The new phase of the project includes plans for a new main entrance to the library from Laney-Walker Boulevard and doubles the number of group study spaces on the second floor to 12 (each with eight seats and a conference table). The renovation also features a one-stop shop for student support services, as well as creating the infrastructure for a possible new dining option for students, faculty and staff.
WSB-TV
Georgia Tech professor headed to the Astronaut Hall of Fame (Video)
By Lori Wilson
A Georgia Tech professor and former astronaut is headed into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Dr. Sandy Magnus is a professor of practice at Georgia Tech, and one of her biggest roles is mentoring.
WRBL
CSU students march in support of Ukraine
It has been over a month since Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, and one Columbus State University student is making sure the Columbus community doesn’t forget about those suffering overseas. Saturday morning, Heaven Sanders, a sociology major at CSU, organized a march in downtown Columbus. The group wore blue and yellow and waved Urkranian flags in support of the country.
WGAU Radio
UGA: Russian invasion jeopardizes research in Ukraine
“At this point we have no idea how this will impact the long-term international collaborations that go on there”
By Kristen Morales, UGA Today
Russia’s occupation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine is putting research projects there in limbo, said University of Georgia scientist James Beasley. Russian troops moved across the Ukrainian border earlier this month, and one of their early points of entry was in the exclusion zone near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. But the invasion did more than cut off news of the defunct plant’s status—it also suspended a variety of ongoing research projects in the area. …The exclusion zone that surrounds the nuclear plant spans Ukraine and Belarus, and the site is home to a variety of ecological studies conducted by national and international scientists. This research has a deep, collaborative history that goes back decades. Researchers from the University of Georgia and the Savannah River Ecology Lab are also entwined in its history.
11Alive
Georgia Tech’s Rambin’ wreck gets new home (Video)
The 1930 model A couple was kept in a hidden location on campus for years.
Gwinnett Daily Post
COVID-19 pandemic fueled massive growth in green industry
By Leigh Beeson CAES News
Most people would say the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been a great couple of years. But for the green industry, like plant nurseries and greenhouses, it’s been a boon. .But will the uptick in gardening last once the last coronavirus restrictions are lifted? Probably not to the same extreme levels, according to new research from the University of Georgia. But for some, the introduction to gardening may have been just what they needed to dive into a new hobby. Of its more than 4,200 participants, the study found about one out of every three people began gardening in 2020 because they were home more. Many also put in new grass lawns and did outdoor renovations, such as installing new plant beds and other landscaping.
Savannah Morning News
Savannah River yields 15 Revolutionary War cannons as story of city’s history ‘expands’
Jessica Leigh Lebos
Sometimes, making way for the future brings up the past. In January, just as the U.S. Corps of Engineers Savannah District was wrapping up the 22 year-long Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) that dredged the Savannah River from 42 to 47 feet to accommodate larger vessels and increase port revenue, archaeologists made an astonishing find: Twelve Revolutionary War-era cannons that had been resting in the muddy depths for almost 250 years. “It was a surprise since this was an area that had been dredged before,” said Corps archaeologist Andrea Farmer. “But this is a very dynamic river. It’s just littered with historic material.” …The collection, which may be one of the largest ever recovered from the era, will be a welcome tool for historians. Compared to the other battles fought in Savannah, there is little to show of the Revolutionary War, as much of the architecture and artifacts before the Civil War was destroyed by fires, reminds Dr. Hendricks of Georgia Southern.
MinnPost
Although recruitment efforts for the program are focused on underrepresented minorities in public health, it will be open to all master’s degree-seeking students and professionals in public health.
By Ava Kian | Staff Writer
Throughout the pandemic, cracks in the public health system became apparent to those in the field. Inefficient reporting systems and a shortage of workforce data skillsets made it extremely difficult to share critical information about who COVID was impacting in real-time. The University of Minnesota is participating in the TRaining in Informatics for Underrepresented Minorities in Public Health (TRIUMPH), which aims to strengthen the public health data skillsets of underserved students and professional trainees. As a part of the program, the school of nursing is creating an informatics certificate program and the school of public health is creating an informatics track, both set to begin in the fall of 2022. …The five school consortium, funded by a $7.9 million grant from the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, covers informatics programs at the University of Minnesota, University of South Florida, Bethune-Cookman University and Georgia Southern University.
The Reveille
Opinion: State lawmaker threatens academic freedom, university recruitment with attack on tenure
Charlie Stephens
In 2012, former Gov. Bobby Jindal pushed a K-12 education “reform” package that gutted tenure protections through the state legislature at a warp speed of just three weeks. During this year’s legislative session, Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe, is taking it one step further by proposing a bill to “study and make recommendations relative to tenure policies of public postsecondary education institutions.” Professors are rightfully concerned about the recommendations that would come out of this committee, considering the state’s history of weakening tenure protections. This comes mere weeks after the Louisiana Board of Regents hired Tristan Denley from the University of Georgia System—a man described as “the architect of the death of tenure.”
Nashville Tennessean
Cole Swindell’s album ‘Stereotype’ rewards his life, well survived
The Georgia native discusses patiently waiting through some incredibly trying personal times to release his best album yet.
Marcus K. Dowling
In Nashville circles, 38-year-old Cole Swindell is regarded as a successful artist on the cusp of something much more significant. Via “Stereotype,” his fourth studio album out on April 8 via Warner Music Nashville, his more impactful moment as a superstar has finally arrived. …Aside from topping country music’s radio charts, Swindell’s no stranger to acclaim. In 2015, he was the Academy of Country Music’s Best New Artist award winner. He’s toured with Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney (2015), Florida Georgia Line (2016), Dierks Bentley (2017), Luke Bryan (2019) and Thomas Rhett (2021). Plus, he’s written hits for Craig Campbell, Scotty McCreery and the previously mentioned Bryan (with whom he credits launching his career back when they were Sigma Chi fraternity brothers at Georgia Southern University) and Rhett.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated March 28)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,925,754
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 30,965 | 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
UPDATE: FDA authorizes more adults to get 2nd COVID-19 booster shot
By Zachary Hansen
More Georgians now have the option to get a second coronavirus booster shot. Extra booster shots used to only be available for people who are immunocompromised, but the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it’s authorizing an additional booster dose for anyone 50 and older. The announcement, which various media outlets reported was anticipated, applies to both Pfizer and Moderna boosters. Proponents of the new policy said it helps boost COVID-19 protection as Western Europe and some parts of the U.S. have seen a rise in cases connected to the emergence of the new omicon subvariant, BA.2. However, some health experts argue second booster shots may not be necessary at this time and could distract from fledgling efforts to persuade more Americans to get their first vaccine doses.
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MSN
FDA is expected to approve FOURTH Covid vaccine shot to Americans 50+
WRDW
As COVID cases surge in Europe and Asia, what does that mean for us?
By Celeste Springer
Locally and across the U.S., we’ve seen a decrease in COVID hospitalizations and restrictions. However, could we see a similar surge to what’s happening in Europe and Asia? We spoke to local doctors about how things differ here at home. The current COVID stats in China are reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic. The World Health Organization is contributing 86 percent of new cases globally to an omicron subvariant, also called ‘stealth omicron.’
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Biden Seeks Big Increase for Pell
But in president’s fiscal 2023 plan, there is no proposal for a free community college program.
By Scott Jaschik
President Biden proposed a $2,175 increase in the maximum Pell Grant Monday in his budget proposal to Congress for fiscal 2023. That would bring the maximum annual Pell award to $8,670. There is no guarantee the president will get what he’s asking for. And Republicans in Congress are already taking aim at the overall budget proposal. Although the Pell increase is expected to be popular (even with some Republicans), it likely will get caught up in the larger debates about federal spending.
Wall Street Journal
Student Bailouts and the College-Loan Complex
Parents and taxpayers, wake up.
Two conclusions from the student-loan fiasco are plain (“The Great Pandemic Student-Loan Scam,” Review & Outlook, March 19). First, there is a very large number of college degrees that are not worth the price. Wake up, parents and students. Second, the federal government is a grossly incompetent lender of money. Wake up, taxpayers. A less obvious conclusion is that the flood of federal money into these institutions via loans has caused the unprecedented inflation in college education and made them unaffordable for most. This has led to the government controlling these institutions, since it is the de facto financier. Now there is a push to forgive the student loans. How is that fair? If we forgive student debt to the government, we should forgive all personal debt to the feds. Why should the college graduate be treated better than everyone else?
Atlanta Business Chronicle
University endowments eye more private equity, venture capital and crypto
By Hilary Burns – Editor, The National Observer: Higher Education Edition
Expect more college and university endowments to invest in private equity and venture capital moving forward. That was one takeaway from a conversation with leaders of TIFF Investment Management, a firm that advises nonprofit organizations, including higher-education institutions. The schools that saw the largest returns in fiscal 2021, a record year for university endowments, profited most from private equity and venture funds, said Kane Brenan, TIFF’s CEO, and Jess Portis, head of member portfolio management and services. That’s inspiring more college endowments to find ways to get a piece of the action. …Some schools are also exploring how to add cryptocurrencies to their investment strategies, an area that’s previously proven too volatile for most endowment managers’ comfort but the upsides have become hard to ignore, Portis said. The Business Journals recently spoke with Brenan and Portis about the state of university endowments, including the investments that colleges are stepping away from (namely Russia and fossil fuels) and the areas catching their eyes. The following is an edited transcript of the conversation.
Inside Higher Ed
The California Student Housing Crunch
With rents higher than tuition and fees at many California colleges, a growing number of students face housing insecurity, forced to live in hotels or cars. Institutions can’t build dorms fast enough.
By Josh Moody
When Anna Holman, a graduate student in theater, dance and performance studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, left the city last summer to conduct research, she didn’t know how hard it would be to return. Unable to secure campus housing, she ended up temporarily living in her car. Holman says her experience is not unique. Homeless students have become a familiar fixture of higher education in California, forced to choose between aspirations and basic needs. …In California, where public in-state tuition is relatively affordable compared to other states, it isn’t the cost of a college degree that’s giving students sticker shock—it’s the price of housing. A growing share face ever-rising rents in hot real estate markets that often lack campus housing options, forcing them to make extreme sacrifices or defer the dream of higher education.
The Washington Post
Howard University faculty calls off strike after reaching tentative labor deal
The agreement paves the way to higher salaries and more opportunities for permanent employment, union leaders say.
By Lauren Lumpkin
Howard University faculty embraced and exchanged “congratulations” Wednesday, hours after their union reached an early-morning tentative labor deal with school officials and narrowly avoided a planned three-day strike. “This has been a long time coming,” said Cyrus Hampton, a master instructor in the English department. About two-dozen faculty, union leaders and students celebrated on Howard’s quad — about 200 feet from the Blackburn University Center, where students waged a month-long protest against the administration in the fall. …The labor group, which represents more than 300 Howard University part-time adjunct and full-time nontenure-track faculty members, said the deal it reached around 3:30 a.m. paves the way for higher salaries and more opportunities for permanent employment. Nontenure-track faculty, such as lecturers, are typically hired by universities on a contractual basis and are not working toward tenure — an academic appointment that comes with job protection — while adjuncts often teach one-to-two courses per semester. The deal is subject to ratification by the university’s president, Wayne A.I. Frederick, and union members who will vote in the coming weeks.