Tifton Gazette
EDITORIAL: ABAC, Tift better for Bridges
Dr. David Bridges has been the personification of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College for nearly two decades. Teresa MacCartney, then-acting University System of Georgia acting chancellor, put it well last fall. “As the longest-serving president among our 26 institutions and ever in the history of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, President David Bridges for the past 16 years has been a leading voice for rural Georgia and its students,” she said. “An ABAC graduate himself, he skillfully guided the college through the addition of bachelor’s degrees, consolidation with the former Bainbridge State College and record growth in enrollment. …Earlier this month, Tifton, Tift County, South Georgia and state officials gathered to pay tribute to Bridges as he prepares for his coming retirement. He originally set last Dec. 31 as his retirement date but offered to stay until a new president is found. The search is underway. A native of Parrott, Bridges is the only ABAC president to have once been an ABAC student… … Bridges will “retire as one of the most accomplished presidents in the 113-year history of ABAC,” college officials said. “After offering only associate degrees for 75 years, the college began offering bachelor’s degrees under Bridges’ leadership in 2008.” …Dr. David Bridges has been a boon to ABAC and the entire Tifton-Tift County area. South Georgia has been blessed to count him as a member and we wish him well in his future endeavors.
Times-Georgian
Lab at UWG is first of its kind in Georgia
A lab in Roy Richards Sr. Hall at the University of West Georgia has been approved to be an SAP Next-Gen Lab. The honor distinguishes UWG as a technology and innovation hub since it is the first approved SAP Next-Gen Lab in Georgia and currently one of 15 approved labs in the United States. The Management Information Systems (MIS) Lab was officially designated as an SAP Next-Gen Lab in a ribbon-cutting ceremony recently held at UWG, with Director for SAP Next-Gen Colleen Raftery and Heather Matthews, SAP’s director for global next-gen programs and university alliances, in attendance.
Albany Herald
PHOTOS: Albany State University, Marine Corps Logistics Base sign partnership agreement
Photos contributed by Reginald Christian
Albany State University and Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany announced an education partnership agreement on Tuesday that formally recognizes that ASU and MCLB Albany are active partners committed to expanding educational opportunities for military-affiliated students specifically in the area of cybersecurity and logistics. View photos from the signing here:
Reuters
These law schools crushed the job market in 2021
By Karen Sloan
Nearly 96% of Columbia Law School’s 2021 juris doctors landed permanent, full-time jobs that require passing the bar—the highest among all 196 American Bar Association-accredited law schools in a new ABA report. …The ABA on Monday released a trove of data on the Class of 2021’s employment outcomes that shows entry legal hiring more than bounced back after a decline in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 76% of last year’s new juris doctors found jobs that require bar passage within 10 months of leaving campus — up from 72% among the class of 2020. 2021 JDs in law jobs – Percent of 2021 JDs in full-time bar passage-required jobs …UGeorgia School of Law 92.57%; …The University of Georgia School of Law, ranked No. 29 by U.S. News, had the 5th highest percentage of recent grads in full-time law jobs, at nearly 93%. … Tony Waller, assistant dean for career services at the University of Georgia’s law school, said 2021 was a particularly strong employment year due in part to an uptick in graduates finding jobs at firms of 251 or more lawyers. A bolstered bar prep program and comprehensive mentoring in which every student was paired with a peer, an alum, a career counselor and a faculty member also helped, Waller added.
The Augusta Chronicle
‘She’s a super tough girl’: Teen is first for bone marrow harvesting at Augusta hospital
Miguel Legoas
Brianna Chitty, 14, of Aiken, is being treated for stage four Ewing’s Sarcoma at Children’s Hospital of Georgia after being diagnosed in December 2020. Brianna Chitty, 14, makes Diamond Art mosaics during chemotherapy treatments. It’s one of the ways she can still be a kid, despite facing down a rare and deadly bone cancer. …Over the past few months, Brianna has been treated at Children’s Hospital of Georgia at Augusta University Health, and it’s been a tough time for the family. …The cancer’s high-risk nature led the pediatric doctors to recommend something they had never done before: harvesting Brianna’s own bone marrow. …Medical College of Georgia’s pediatric hematology oncology chief Amir Mian said in a news release that the harvest process involves accelerating the growth of stem cells within the bone marrow. …When asked what she thinks about being AU Health’s first to undergo this procedure, Brianna said they didn’t find out until one of the nurses told her after they had already started. They were surprised, but Brianna saw it as “I’m opening a gate to new technology and new patients like me.”
Sun Belt Sports
Georgia Southern Wins First Sun Belt Women’s Golf Championship in Program History
(Final Results) Georgia Southern secured the first Sun Belt women’s golf championship in program history with a 54-hole total of 31-over par 895. The Eagles—who also held the 18-hole and 36-hole leads—fended off strong finishes from Coastal Carolina (+35, 899) and Arkansas State (+36, 900) at the par-72, 6,283-yard LPGA International Hills Course.
Daily Citizen
Lower cost of attendance for Dalton State College students next academic year
Dalton State College students will not see a tuition increase for the 2022-23 academic year and will see a decrease in the overall cost of attendance. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) recently voted to not raise tuition rates at 25 of 26 institutions for the 2022-23 academic year and eliminate the Special Institutional Fee system-wide. This is the third consecutive year the regents have kept tuition costs flat at Dalton State. Elimination of the Special Institutional Fee charged since 2009 will decrease the overall cost of attendance by $200 for Dalton State students each semester. Dalton State students who are residents of Georgia or Tennessee taking 15 credit hours or more will pay $1,962 a semester, while those outside of Georgia or Tennessee will pay $6,278 for 15 credit hours.
WRGA News
Cost to attend GHC drops as much as 10%
Students at Georgia Highlands College will save as much as $200 each semester moving forward after the elimination of the Special Institutional Fee. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) voted last week to eliminate the Special Institutional Fee charged since 2009 to students systemwide. The Board had initially established the Special Institutional Fee to provide financial support for high-quality academic programs and operations during the reductions in state funding caused by the Great Recession. The fee has continued since that time, but beginning in the Fiscal Year 2023, the state will increase USG’s budget by almost $230 million, allowing for the fee’s elimination. As an example, the percentage change for tuition and fees for two semesters for students pursuing a four-year degree from GHC has decreased by 10.2%. “The university system’s longstanding commitment to affordability helps empower students, keeping them on track to learn the skills they need to get good jobs in a highly skilled workforce,” USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue said. “That workforce is critical to the economic development that has allowed Georgia to thrive, and we are grateful to Governor Kemp and the General Assembly for passing a state budget this year that provides record support for public higher education and USG institutions statewide.” Additionally, GHC has been ranked one of the best returns on investment in the state for public colleges by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.
Patch
More than a decade of service in the Navy led Kevin “Mike” Hasty to develop a passion for oceanic preservation and pollution reduction. As a mechanical engineering major in the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing at Georgia Southern, he found a way to blend his passion with his area of study through a mentoring opportunity during the Engineering Design Challenge (EDC) 2022: Eagle-3D. EDC is an annual engineering design competition in which Georgia Southern students coach local high school students through engineering projects that are then put to the test.
Clayton News-Daily
UGA student’s Gently Soap wins at Collegiate Great Brands Competition
By Merritt Melancon
UGA News Service
Since the beginning of the year, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences graduate student Kristen Dunning has won $35,000 in new capital to expand her growing clean skin care line, Gently Soap. In February Dunning’s business took home first prize and $10,000 at UGA’s Venture Prize Competition. On March 31, a team of judges — all veterans of the consumer products industry — awarded her the top prize of $25,000 in the Collegiate Great Consumer Brands Competition. It’s the first time a UGA student won this nationwide competition, held at Studio 225.
Savannah Tribune
Allen-Jones Scholarship Boosts Support For 1st-Generation Students
By Eric Olson
In 2012, Vara Allen Jones’ colleagues surprised her by creating the Vara Allen-Jones Scholarship for Academic Excellence scholarship to support first-generation students and honor her service to the Anchorage community. Vara is a 2019 retired University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) tenured faculty member and past Vice Chancellor for Academic and Multicultural Services. She remembered that moment. …Her amazing story started as a first-year student at Savannah State College, now University (SSU), Georgia’s oldest historically Black public university. She worried that she was not prepared for the journey being the first in her family to go to college. “I know what it’s like to walk on a college campus and have no idea what’s expected of you. You don’t know what you don’t know. My exposure to academic advising, intentional mentoring and a clear expectation of excellence undergirded by support solidified my awareness of the impact these areas could have on student success. That awareness and passion began at Savannah State and continued throughout my career.” After earning her bachelor’s at Savannah State, she completed a master’s degree in counseling with an emphasis in higher education counseling at Georgia Southern University. Vara accepted a job at her alma mater, SSU, where she honed her counseling and leadership skills and experiences with high-impact student success programs. Vara had a career plan that led her to UAA, and she moved to Alaska at the age of 29. “I wanted to do something different,” she said.
Savannah Tribune
Healthy Savannah Celebrates 15th Year Anniversary
Healthy Savannah celebrates its 15th anniversary in May. “Healthy Savannah is an established organization with a long history and strong future ahead”. “Healthy Savannah plans to energize its community partners and new members about making the healthy choice, the easy choice through professional development workshops and fundraisers.” …Healthy Savannah is pleased to announce it has received the 2020 Karl E. Peace Leadership Award. The award recognizes “leadership in expanding the impact of public health among their peers and/or in the state of Georgia,” and is given annually by the Gamma Theta Chapter of Delta Omega at Georgia Southern University.
Statesboro Herald
Annual ArtsFest set for Saturday
From staff reports
The 2022 ArtsFest returns for its 40th year on Saturday and once again will be held on Sweetheart Circle at Georgia Southern University from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Jackson Progress-Argus
Dr. Anna Daniel Reddish receives UGA’s Young Alumni Achievement Award
From staff reports
Dr. Anna Daniel Reddish, daughter of Millard and Mary Frances Daniel of Jackson, received the Young Alumni Achievement Award from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the Tate Center at the University of Georgia on April 9. Reddish received her BSA in Animal Science from UGA in 2008 and her MADS in Animal and Dairy Science from UGA in 2009. Dr. Reddish is a university relations liaison with IDEXX.
University World News
Higher education cannot neglect social-emotional learning
Alejandro Caballero 16 April 2022
One significant impact of the pandemic on higher education is how it has shifted the view of the role of social-emotional learning. …We are starting to see interesting tertiary educational models emerging that put social-emotional learning front and centre, with programmes that seek to build new skills in students and reinforce ones learned before they move to the tertiary level. The South Africa-based Maharishi Institute, for example, uses transcendental meditation techniques to help students who struggle academically due to post-traumatic stress disorder. …Another institution moving in this direction is Georgia Tech in the United States, which has developed a support system with a strong social-emotional component aimed at preventing dropouts. As online and hybrid offerings continue to expand, limiting dropouts will be an issue of growing importance.
Albany Herald
Poultry Science research topic of UGA conference
By Jordan Powers CAES News
The UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will host the second annual Georgia Precision Poultry Farming Conference via Zoom May 3. The $40 registration fee is waived for students, but registration — open until May 1 — is required for all attendees. The conference will be recorded to share with all registered participants.
Athens Banner-Herald
Rape charge against former UGA star football player Bacarri Rambo is dismissed
Wayne Ford
A rape charge against former University of Georgia All-American football safety Bacarri Rambo was dismissed Tuesday in Clarke County Superior Court. The charge was dismissed by an order from the Western Circuit District’s Attorney’s Office and signed by Superior Court Judge Patrick Haggard, according to Rambo’s Athens lawyer, Kim Stephens. “I’m pleased with the D.A.’s office,” Stephens said. “After viewing some material we provided to them after he had been arrested, it brought into question the veracity of the allegation and charge made.”
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Students Need More Counseling—and More Than Counseling
Student impressions of and experiences with campus mental health services and supports show there’s still work to be done in providing needed help. How can colleges make existing services more accessible and expand offerings?
By Melissa Ezarik
The need is great, but the takers are few. While the mental health challenges facing college students are well documented, many students aren’t seeking out counseling and other support services available to them on campus. In the latest Student Voice survey, only 34 percent of students who say they have personally struggled with any item from a list of mental health challenges during college—which included anxiety, disordered eating, significant mood swings, suicidal ideation, substance abuse and other challenges—had used in-person counseling or telecounseling, gotten grief counseling, or been referred to an off-campus therapist for support during the pandemic. And lest anyone think such mental health concerns are uncommon, note this: students selecting one or more of seven challenges listed total 1,794 of the survey’s 2,000-student sample. The survey was conducted March 16 to 22 by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse, with support from Kaplan.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
A Surge In Tech Companies Target Student Mental Health Support
Rebecca Kelliher
With the pandemic exacerbating a student mental health crisis and overwhelming many campus counseling centers, new tech companies have emerged to help fill resource gaps. But as colleges navigate a flood of vendors while weighing liability and cost, experts say institutions should read the fine print and see tech as a tool, not a cure-all. “What I can say overall is that students really benefit from having another person to talk to,” said Dr. Sanjay Nath, a professor of clinical psychology at Widener University and director of its clinical psychology program. “A lot of studies show that apps like mood trackers or modules on cognitive behavioral therapy can be effective. But a lot of work shows that when a mental health professional is involved, it’s better. To me, as a psychologist, the relationship is key.” The mental health technology industry overall is seeing massive growth.
Higher Ed Dive
Ed Dept reviews payments for student loan forgiveness to fix ‘forbearance steering’
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Reporter
Dive Brief:
U.S. Department of Education officials on Tuesday announced fixes to what they described as “inexcusable” pitfalls with the student loan system, saying they will cancel debts of tens of thousands of borrowers. The agency focused on income-driven repayment, or IDR, which locks borrowers into a 20- or 25-year plan that has them pay off debt based on the amount they earn. Any remaining balance on a borrower’s tab is wiped away after a plan’s payment period ends. The Education Department said Tuesday all borrowers’ past payments on Direct Student Loans and Federal Family Education Loan Program loans will now qualify toward having loan debt forgiven under IDR, regardless of their type of repayment plan. The department also said borrowers who entered forbearance — which temporarily allows for no or small monthly payments — for more than 12 months consecutively, or 36 months total, will have that forbearance period count toward IDR. It said forbearance will also count toward Public Service Loan forgiveness, or PSLF, which cancels the debt of certain workers who make 10 years of on-time payments.
See also:
Inside Higher Ed
Education Department plans to forgive 40,000 student loans immediately and place 3.6 million borrowers three years closer to debt forgiveness. Reaction is mixed.
Inside Higher Ed
More Students Are Using Their Own Money to Pay for College
By Maria Carrasco
More students are using their own money to pay for college rather than relying on their parents’ funds, according to the College Ave Student Loans survey conducted by Barnes & Noble College Insights. The survey found that out of 1,100 respondents attending four-year colleges, 45 percent said they paid for their education with their own savings and income. That’s an 8 percent increase over 2019, when 37 percent of students said they used their own funds for college. The top method of paying for college was merit financial aid—meaning scholarships and grants—cited by 51 percent of students, though that was down from 64 percent in 2019. Tied for third this year were students who relied on their parents’ savings and incomes and those who took out federal student loans, at 41 percent each.
Inside Higher Ed
Big Bet on the Student Housing Market
By Doug Lederman
One of the largest investment firms in the world is betting big—nearly $13 billion—that interest in attending residential colleges and universities isn’t fading anytime soon. Blackstone on Tuesday confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that it would spend $12.8 billion to buy American Campus Communities, among the largest owners of student housing on and off campus. American Campus says it has more than 200 residential communities on and near about 100 college and university campuses. The Journal quoted Nadeem Meghji, a Blackstone official, as describing student housing as relatively recession-proof.
Inside Higher Ed
When Presidential Searches Fail
Though most presidential searches end with a candidate being hired, a small number fail in public and dramatic ways. Some experts blame search firms; other find fault with the institutional process.
By Josh Moody
Failed presidential searches are a nightmare for all involved. For the university, it means going back to the drawing board. For the candidate, it’s time and energy spent in vain. But how often do presidential searches fail? And why? The answer to both questions can be difficult to pin down. But some scholars believe that more presidential searches are failing. In some cases, a college can’t find a suitable candidate, so no one is offered the job. Other times a board hires a president who winds up leaving before the end of their appointed term. …If a search ends without a presidential appointment, colleges often restart the process, usually with an interim president in place. Sometimes the interim is then elevated to the presidency. But for the college trustees, the search committee and the search firms, failure can be mortifying.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Keeping HBCUs Accountable to Their Mission, Students, and Communities
Liann Herder
As institutions created to uplift Black people, accountability for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is more complicated than simply enrolling and graduating students. During a webinar hosted by Diverse on Tuesday, HBCU thought-leaders shared their recommendations for HBCUs to maintain accountability, stay in-line with their mission values, and create student-centered learning supported by data and behind-the-scenes efforts to build endowments, engage stakeholders, and affirm the importance of HBCUs for state and federal leaders. As the world emerges slowly from the pandemic, experts say HBCUs will need to carefully build strategic plans and strengthen their storytelling skills.
Inside Higher Ed
Florida Passes Posttenure-Review Law
By Colleen Flaherty
Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, on Tuesday signed SB 7044, which establishes a new posttenure, five-year review cycle for professors at public institutions. “It’s all about trying to make these institutions more in line with what the state’s priorities are, and quite frankly of the priorities of parents throughout the state of Florida,” DeSantis said at a bill-signing event, according to Florida Politics. The bill passed 77 to 40 in the Florida House of Representatives and 22 to 15 in the Florida Senate. The State University System of Florida’s Board of Governors will oversee the new process, which must legally include a review of “accomplishments and productivity; assigned duties in research, teaching and service; performance metrics, evaluations and ratings; and recognition and compensation considerations, as well as improvement plans and consequences for underperformance.”
See also:
Diverse Issues in Higher Education