The Griffin Daily News
College app fees at select schools waived
The Georgia Student Finance Commission has partnered with the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia and Georgia Military College to provide college application fee waivers at select schools during the month of March. This is the second round of fee waivers for students in the 2022 academic year and builds upon the success of “No Fee November” in 2021.
Marietta Daily Journal
KSU launches mental health research center for service members and first responders
By Leo Tochterman
Kennesaw State University has launched a research center aimed at reducing suicide, anxiety and depression among Georgia’s military and public safety personnel. The Center for the Advancement of Military and Emergency Service (AMES) was founded by two assistant psychology professors at KSU, Ben Moore and Israel Sanchez-Cardona, the university announced in a news release. Shortly after meeting in August 2020 as new professors, the pair began collaborating on the project thanks to their mutual passion “for helping improve mental health outcomes in underserved communities.” With approximately one million military and public safety personnel in Georgia, the men hope the center will be a resource for those during their time of need.
yahoo!news
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College curator receives statewide awards
The Albany Herald, Ga.
Polly Huff, curator at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Georgia Museum of Agriculture, recently received two peer-reviewed Georgia Association of Museums awards which spotlighted three of her 2021 Museum Gallery projects. Presented at the annual GAM conference in Thomasville, the Special Project Award, Budget Category 1 went to a large research project completed by Huff on a special 1899 Harp Mandolin owned by the late Donna Hatcher, an ABAC art professor. Huff followed a long trail of evidence to find that the instrument was one of five Style 18, Ebony guard harp mandolins sold on Oct. 21, 1899, by C.F. Martin of Nazareth, Pa., the only one of the five that survived.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AJC On Campus: Perdue’s pay, professor aids Ukraine via social media
By Eric Stirgus
It’s official. Former two-term Georgia governor and former U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will be the next University System of Georgia chancellor. The board voted Tuesday, without any no votes, to appoint him to the job, effective April 1. In this edition of AJC On Campus, we provide details about Perdue’s salary, admissions fee waivers at several dozen Georgia colleges and universities, and an effort by two members of Georgia’s congressional delegation that could help Fort Valley State University. We also note a big achievement for one Georgia Tech professor and how another professor there is using social media to help the Ukrainian people.
11Alive
Here’s how much Sonny Perdue will be paid when he starts as USG chancellor
Perdue will be the 14th person to lead USG.
Author: Associated Press
Former Gov. Sonny Perdue will be paid $523,900 a year when he takes the reins on April 1 as chancellor of the University System of Georgia. System spokesperson Lance Wallace said Friday that’s the same amount that Steve Wrigley was making as chancellor before retiring last year. The 19-member Board of Regents voted on Tuesday to hire Perdue to lead the system’s 26 universities and colleges, two weeks after naming Perdue as the sole finalist for the chancellor’s post.
Article also appeared in
Statesboro Herald
Ga. senators seek a ban on vaccine mandates for year
State agencies, local governments targeted
Jeff Amy
Georgia senators want to prevent state agencies and local governments from requiring COVID-19 vaccines, voting 31-19 on Friday to ban such requirements until mid-2023. Republicans supporting Senate Bill 345, which moves to the House for more debate, say the state shouldn’t be able to force the inoculation against the respiratory illness. Democrats say the GOP is kowtowing to misinformation on vaccines, discouraging a protective measure in a state that is close to the bottom in vaccination rates according to federal data.
Marietta Daily News
Kennesaw State names new dean to lead the Graduate College
Kennesaw State University has named Juliet Langman, an accomplished researcher with more than three decades of experience in academia, as dean of KSU’s Graduate College, effective July 1.
WTXL
AACSB accreditation keeps VSU among the best business schools in the world
Valdosta State University’s Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration was recently awarded extended accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) for its Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration programs. AACSB accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education and has been earned by roughly five percent of the world’s business schools. …VSU’s Department of Accounting holds specialized accreditation from the AACSB, putting it among the top two percent of collegiate accounting programs worldwide.
University Business
Nine more women secure college and university president positions
Five were inaugurated in the past week and four are approved by boards, with all promising to put students first
By: Chris Burt
The lineup of higher education presidents continues to change like a baseball dugout scorecard, with names being crossed off and others inserted almost daily, at institutions ranging from the smallest colleges to land-grant universities. But a pattern that persists heading into the third month of the year is the number of women and leaders of color being officially sworn into their jobs or being installed in those top positions. …Two institutions still looking for new presidents are Hennepin College in Minnesota and Columbus State University in Georgia. …At Columbus State, Dr. Chris Markwood is retiring after seven years. Dr. John Fuchko III has been installed as interim president.
Albany Herald
Twenty-one coeds to compete for Ms. ABAC title
From staff reports
Twenty-one contestants will compete in the 52nd annual Ms. ABAC contest on Thursday at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Sponsored by the ABAC Agripreneurs, the theme of this year’s pageant is “Golden Moments.” The winner will receive a $500 academic scholarship. …They also will be judged on a written essay and an interview with the judges. The Top 10 contestants will answer a question on stage.
The George-Anne
Let’s Eliminate Maternal Mortality in Georgia
Taylor Coleman, Writer-Content Creator
Over the years, maternal mortality rates have increased. Maternal Mortality is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 1 year of the end of pregnancy from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy.” According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, Georgia has the highest maternal mortality rate than any other state. …A study, Maternal Mortality Among African American Women in the State of Georgia: Causes, Policy, and Ethical Considerations was conducted by Georgia Southern University’s faculty at the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health. This study discussed the factors that cause an increase in maternal mortality rates and aimed to identify the barriers that prevent the reduction in maternal mortality rates in the State of Georgia among African American women.
Savannah Morning News
GSU Economic Monitor: As tourism rebounded, local employment surpassed pre-pandemic levels
Zoe Nicholson
Savanah’s economy ended 2021 on several high notes. The local labor market surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with tourism and hospitality employment numbers recovering faster than industry experts forecasted, according to Georgia Southern University’s Economic Monitor. “We have outperformed the state of Georgia in terms of economic recovery from the pandemic,” said Michael Toma, the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Economics at Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong campus, who writes the quarterly report.
KPVI
New software from CAES improves accuracy of DNA sequence analysis
By Jennifer L Reynolds CAES News
Researchers from the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety have developed software that functions as an important step in improving the accuracy of DNA sequence analysis when testing for microbial contamination. Sepia is a cutting-edge read classifier, written by College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Assistant Professor Henk den Bakker, that is out now as open-source software. And it should make genome sequencing much faster for researchers studying bacteria.
BioMass Magazine
EPA awards $2 million to food waste anaerobic digestion projects
On Feb. 24, the U.S. EPA announced the selection of 11 organizations expected to receive a total of approximately $2 million in funding to divert food waste from landfills by expanding anaerobic digester capacity nationwide. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process in which microorganisms break down organic materials, such as food scraps, manure, and sewage sludge, in the absence of oxygen. The process produces biogas, which can be captured and used for energy production, and digestate, a nutrient-rich product used for fertilizer. …•Georgia Southern University Research and Services Foundation (Statesboro, Ga.): Plans to conduct a feasibility study to advance the understanding of how existing AD capacity at pulp and paper mills can be sustainably leveraged for the treatment of food waste from university campuses.
The Agribusiness Update
UGA on Bird Flu Threat and Ag Safety Awareness Week
Bob Larson
According to the CDC, new outbreaks of avian influenza, or bird flu, have been detected in U.S. aquatic birds, commercial poultry and backyard flocks since January. Although not a threat to human health or food safety in Georgia, avian flu presents a risk to all poultry operations, from hobbyist to the state’s $22.8 billion commercial industry. As reported by the UGA College of Ag and Environmental Sciences, the key to preventing the spread of the disease is biosecurity.
WJCL
Georgia Southern Police Department mourning death of retired K9 Bear
Shannon Royster, Anchor/Reporter
A Georgia Southern Police Department hero has died. K9 Bear served as an explosive detector for the Armstrong campus. He had recently retired from Georgia Southern in July of 2021 after four years at the department. Eleven-year-old Bear was also a military veteran.
WFXG
Lawsuit filed against AU Health, other defendants over sexual assault of ICU patient
By J. Bryan Randall
A woman has filed a lawsuit against AU Health, MCG Health, Augusta University Medical Center, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and others after she claims she was sexually assaulted while in the Intensive Care Unit. The lawsuit, filed Feb. 21 in Richmond County Superior Court, claims that the plaintiff went to AU Health to have a kidney removed on Oct. 23, 2019. The lawsuit goes on to claims that, due to negligence by the hospital, that procedure caused near-death complications and left her in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, where she was left unconscious, intubated, and restrained in a bed. The plaintiff claims in the early-morning hours of Oct. 30, 2019, her estranged, allegedly schizophrenic and homeless husband was granted access to her room by hospital staff. The lawsuit claims the man sexually assaulted the plaintiff until a nurse caught him in the act and told him to leave.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Faculty group censures Georgia university system over tenure changes
By Eric Stirgus
The American Association of University Professors took the rare step of censuring the University System of Georgia, a move some believe will hurt in recruiting top-flight professors from other schools. The censure is in response to the Georgia Board of Regents’ decision in October to revamp its post-tenure faculty review process. University System leaders and the board said the changes were needed to better measure student success. Many Georgia professors disagreed, saying the revisions will make it easier to fire professors and stifle academic freedom. The century-old association voted unanimously Saturday to censure the Georgia system. The association has no regulatory power over Georgia, but it hopes the action will draw national scrutiny to its complaints about the system’s changes. …The University System says on its website it is working with faculty and campus leaders to refine the standards before they’re implemented this fall.
See also:
Inside Higher Ed
University System of Georgia Censured Over Tenure Changes
The Augusta Chronicle
National faculty organization censures University System of Georgia over tenure
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
AAUP Censures University System of Georgia
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated March 4)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,914,642
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 30,049 | 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’s confirmed pandemic deaths pass 30,000
By Ariel Hart
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia’s confirmed coronavirus deaths on Friday afternoon surpassed 30,000. For the first time, the state has added 10,000 deaths in less than six months. The march from 10,000 deaths, reached in January 2021, to 20,000, reached in September, took just under eight months. The state Department of Public Health’s daily report Friday showed an increase of 58 deaths of Georgia patients with a confirmed COVID diagnosis, reaching a total for the state of 30,049.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Senate drops effort to control race discussions in colleges
By Ty Tagami
Committee advances bill after also deleting financial penalties for K-12 schools
A Senate version of legislation that seeks to control classroom discussions of race would no longer affect Georgia’s public colleges and universities. In addition, K-12 school districts would no longer face financial penalties for violating the provisions in Senate Bill 377. The Senate Education and Youth Committee made those amendments Monday before advancing the bill in a 5-4 vote. The legislation now goes to the Senate Rules Committee before a possible vote on the Senate floor. In its new form, it would apply only to K-12 classrooms and to training for state government employees.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Florida the Latest State to Close Presidential Searches
A new bill exempts presidential searches at Florida’s public institutions from open records law, keeping candidates’ names confidential until the end. Faculty unions oppose such measures.
By Emma Whitford
The Florida Legislature passed a bill Friday that would close presidential searches at state colleges and universities, effectively keeping applicants’ identities hidden from the public until the institution decides on three finalists. Under Florida’s existing open records laws, the names of applicants are available to the public throughout the search process. The state House of Representatives approved the bill 86 to 26, and the state Senate passed the measure last month. Now it awaits approval from Gov. Ron DeSantis. Advocates of the bill, including state senators Jeff Brandes and Darryl Rouson, say the legislation would help state institutions attract a more qualified and diverse pool of candidates, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. At least five of the state’s 12 public universities will seek a new president in the next few years, and the University of Florida plans to begin a search for its next president this month.
Inside Higher Ed
Enrollment Cap May Cost Berkeley 400 Students, Not 3,050
By Josh Moody
The University of California, Berkeley, has adjusted the expected number of students it would lose due to a court-ordered enrollment cap from the previously estimated 3,050 to around 400 total. The updated figure was released Friday, one day after the California Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from UC Berkeley, thus leaving the order from a lower court intact. The enrollment cap was brought on by a lawsuit from Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods, a community group that successfully sued the university over its expansion plans, invoking the California Environmental Quality Act.
See also:
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
California’s Supreme Court Upholds Ruling UC Berkeley Must Cap Enrollment