The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kennesaw State president uses own money to start $100,000 scholarship
By Eric Stirgus
Kennesaw State University’s new president is digging into her own pockets to help students with financial challenges. Kathy Schwaig recently announced that she’s created a $100,000 need-based scholarship in her parents’ names, Ed and Nola Stewart. Schwaig, whose annual salary and benefits are close to $500,000, is personally funding the scholarship. …The scholarship is open to all students. Kennesaw State spokeswoman Tammy DeMel said the first scholarship will be awarded in time for the fall 2022 semester. In the first year, one student will receive $1,000 and it will increase over time, DeMel said.
The Georgia Virtue
Bulloch’s First REACH Scholars Graduate From College
On May 23, 2013, five promising young women, all in seventh-grade, became Bulloch County Schools’ first cohort of REACH Georgia Scholarship recipients. Now, nine years later, Amaya Brown, Kailana Low, Aisley Scarboro, Amonica Kirkland, and De’Neshia Jones are graduating from college, making graduate school plans, and establishing careers. …After maintaining their REACH Georgia eligibility throughout middle and high school, they each received the program’s $10,000 base scholarship for college. Also, depending on their choice of colleges, more than 60 Georgia colleges, universities and technical colleges, including Georgia Southern University, East Georgia College, and Ogeechee Technical College, double, and in some instances, triple match the base scholarship. The scholarship is in addition to any other grants or scholarships a student may earn, including HOPE Scholarships.
Seed Today
University of Georgia Establishes Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture
The University of Georgia is leveraging faculty expertise and strengthening industry ties through a new Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture whose research and outreach will help sustainably feed a growing global population. The creation of the institute complements investments from the university and the state of Georgia in new faculty, seed grant funding and equipment. “The Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture will be a key component of UGA’s future efforts to advance agriculture and economic development in the state of Georgia,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “I am excited about the synergies it will create in growing research and innovation, cultivating industry partnerships and expanding learning opportunities for our students.”
WGAU Radio
UGA creates new research institute
Work began last year
By Michael Terrazas, UGA Today
UGARI will take the lead in streamlining research administration and facilitating secure research practices, both of which are critical for landing more research partnerships. To help the University of Georgia secure future research contracts with federal mission-focused agencies, this spring the university created the UGA Research Institute, an administrative unit intended to help guide both the institution and its researchers in how to be better partners for mission agency research. UGARI will take the lead in streamlining research administration and facilitating secure research practices, both of which are critical for landing more research partnerships with mission agencies such as the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and NASA.
WTOC
By WTOC Staff
Georgia Southern will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center May 26 at 2:30 p.m. The center is named after two Georgia Southern graduates late Senator Jack Hill and his wife of 46 years, Ruth Ann Hill. In addition, the center will be a multi-story complex and will be the largest event space between Savannah and Macon. Construction is expected to be done by late 2024.
Athens Banner-Herald
Huckaby: A walk through the University of Georgia campus, and through memory lane
Darrell Huckaby Columnist
I was walking across campus, the other day, at the great and glorious University of Georgia, hallowed be thy name. My lovely wife, Lisa, and I do that every Saturday. We park at our normal tailgate spot on Agriculture Drive, sit at our table for a few minutes, and then hike to the stadium and around North Campus. I figure if I do it enough times between now and September, I will be able to do it when football season gets here. Honesty compels me to admit that it’s a tougher walk than it was twenty years ago – or even ten. I hope I have one more season left in me. If not, 2021 wasn’t a bad one to close out on. The last few weeks we have seen a lot of students gathered at the bridge overlooking Sanford Stadium having their pictures made with the stadium in the background, and a lot of seniors in caps and gowns posing in front of The Arch. Precious memories… Old times there…
WTOC
Georgia Southern University displays 2nd annual Hero’s Walk
By Dal Cannady
A powerful set of patriotic displays returned to Georgia Southern University’s campuses this month. They recognize fallen military members, some who have a connection to someone in the university community. The second annual Hero’s Walk pays tribute to servicemen and women killed in action. More than 1,500 flags bear the names of the fallen on the campuses in Statesboro, Savannah, and Hinesville. Georgia Southern’s Department of Military and Veterans Services started the display last year as a way to remember the original meaning of Memorial Day.
WFXL
Nicholas Urquhart selected as 2022 Recipient of E. Lanier Carson Leadership Award at ABAC
by Takyia Price
An Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College administration member was recently awarded a leadership award. Director of Academic Support Nicholas Urquhart was selected as the recipient of the E. Lanier Carson Leadership award for the 2021-22 academic year. Urquhart oversees the Academic Support Counselors, Accommodations and Disability Services, the Counseling Center, the Tutoring Center, and the Testing Center. …He will complete his doctorate in higher education from Georgia Southern University this month. The award was established in 1973. The purpose of the E. Lanier Carson Leadership Award is to recognize leadership contributions of an ABAC administrator who is not eligible for one of the faculty or staff awards.
Albany Herald
Ashburn student receives top associate’s degree award at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
From staff reports
Elijah Alford of Ashburn received the top associate’s degree award presented to a graduate at the recent spring commencement ceremony at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Alford, who received an associate’s in fine arts in Music degree, was named the recipient of the college’s George P. Donaldson Award. He received a plaque and a check for $500 from the ABAC Alumni Association, which sponsors the award and conducts the interviews that lead to the presentation. Recipients must participate in the commencement ceremony. Donaldson was president of ABAC from 1947 until 1961. ABAC President David Bridges said Donaldson is perhaps the most beloved ABAC president of all time because of his love for people and his love for the college.
Marietta Daily Journal
Kennesaw State professor finds purpose, inspiration in collaboration
Whether it’s helping with research designed to save bats from extinction or working with the theater department on a play about Bigfoot, Kennesaw State University biologist Thomas McElroy is a natural collaborator. …Over his 18 years at KSU, McElroy, an associate professor of biology who studies genetic variations in various populations, has been a go-to resource and valuable partner for faculty members throughout the College of Science and Mathematics and beyond. One of the reasons he came to work at KSU was the opportunity for collaboration with fellow faculty members.
Athens Banner-Herald
How UGA’s basketball court found a second life 450 miles away near Nakobe Dean’s hometown
Marc Weiszer
The home court where Anthony Edwards showed off his game prior to being the NBA No. 1 overall pick and Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Andy Landers coached in his final seasons has found a second life. The wood floor used for Georgia basketball games in Stegeman Coliseum for 10 years stretching the Mark Fox and Tom Crean coaching years until before last season is being used about 450 miles away from Athens. It was bought last October by real estate developer Greg Drumwright for his just opened 60,000 square foot Gatorade Fieldhouse in Hernando, Miss., about a 20-minute drive from Memphis. … Drumwright was sent a text with the court surrounded by Stegeman’s black seats that were installed in 2017 during an $8 million renovation. “It looked so good,” Drumwright said. “I told him, yeah, I’ve got to have that one.” He also liked that he was acquiring a court used by an SEC program. There is a local connection for the Georgia court on the football side. Butkus Award winning linebacker Nakobe Dean who played at Georgia hails from Horn Lake, Miss., about 10 miles away from Drumwright’s new facility. …Drumwright said the floor from Georgia is one the most expensive ones he bought. “For them to be able to see that floor in its arena and then to be able to walk out on it and to practice on it, to play on it, it’s just something special about it,” Drumwright said. “I can’t describe the look on a kids’ face but it’s a very special look versus just a regular wood floor.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta to host technology jobs fair at Georgia Institute of Technology
By Wilborn P. Nobles III
The city of Atlanta is currently hiring for 21 positions — including IT program managers, tech analysts, cloud and server engineers and five internships — and will look for candidates at a job fair on Tuesday. The Technology Job and Resource Fair will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Dalney Building. During the event, potential candidates will have an opportunity to apply for job openings, meet and speak to hiring professionals and network with other career experts, according to the city.
KALB
Louisiana Legislature approves tenure study task force
By Piper Hutchinson
The Louisiana House gave final passage Monday, May 23 to a resolution to study tenure policies at universities in Louisiana. Senate Concurrent Resolution 6, sponsored by Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe, creates the Task Force on Tenure in Postsecondary Education. The task force would report back to lawmakers with suggestions on changing tenure policies in the state. The resolution passed the House on a 60-30 vote. …In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law in April that would make it harder for faculty to retain tenure, allowing the Board of Trustees the opportunity to terminate Faculty every five years. Last fall, the University System of Georgia implemented dramatic tenure reforms some referred to as “the death of tenure.” Georgia’s public university system allows college administrators to fire tenured professors with little to no input from faculty members, a direct challenge to traditional tenure policies and the only policy of its kind in the country. Those reforms were attributed by faculty in Georgia to Tristan Denley, who now works for the Louisiana Board of Regents. Denley has been referred to as the “architect of the death of tenure.” A spokesperson for the Board of Regents said earlier this year that Denley has no role here in tenure decisions.
Higher Education News:
The Hechinger Report
OPINION: With college enrollment tumbling, new strategies are urgently needed
Four-year colleges must take notice — and reach out to nontraditional students
by Josh Wyner
U.S. college enrollments have declined by 3 million students over the past decade. While the decrease has been concentrated in community colleges, it’s coming soon to many four-year institutions. Demographers predict an “enrollment cliff” beginning in 2025, when the traditional college-age population will start shrinking for the foreseeable future. Unless they bring in more students, colleges will struggle financially, and some could shut their doors. Some are already doing so. The result: fewer Americans will have the skills needed to strengthen our democracy, advance our knowledge-based economy and solve the challenges of our time — from climate change to life-threatening diseases to racial inequities.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Financial-Aid Offices Are Short-Staffed — and Some Are ‘Drowning’ as a Result
By Eric Hoover
Many financial-aid offices are understaffed and struggling to fill open positions, according to new survey results from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. The findings, released on Tuesday, echo a major concern within a profession that helps keep higher education’s wheels turning: Leaner staffs with a long list of responsibilities are finding it more difficult to serve students while complying with federal and state regulations. For some financial-aid offices, the association wrote in a summary of its findings, “what was once a challenge — albeit a manageable one — has become a crisis.”
Inside Higher Ed
Report: Colleges’ Role in Easing Nursing Shortages
By Sara Weissman
A new report by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, examines barriers in higher education that contribute to the nation’s nursing shortages and how policy makers can help colleges and universities train more nurses. The report, released Monday, points out that universities turn away “tens of thousands of qualified students” from nursing programs every year because of a lack of capacity. Meanwhile, nurses fatigued by the emotional toll of the pandemic have left the profession in droves. The report notes that the nursing workforce decreased by 3 percent from 2020 to 2021, the largest drop in more than two decades. Campuses struggle to register more nursing students because of an ongoing lack of nursing educators, limited clinical placements for student nurses and insufficient space to accommodate more students, according to the report.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Majors They Wish They Hadn’t Chosen
By Audrey Williams June
What would people change about their higher-education journey? A new report from the Federal Reserve Board, released on Monday, provides some answers to that question. The report, “Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2021,” details the findings of a survey that was conducted in October and November of 2021. Among the higher-education issues respondents were asked about were online education, the value of college, and student debt. …Perhaps the most interesting response was to a question asking adults who had completed at least some college whether they would have chosen a different major.
Higher Ed Dive
Education Department delays release of draft Title IX rule again, now targets June
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
The U.S. Department of Education is once again pushing back the release of its highly awaited regulatory proposal on Title IX and now plans to publish it in June. The draft rule will dictate how colleges and K-12 schools must investigate and potentially punish sexual misconduct. The head of the department’s Office for Civil Rights last year said it expected to issue the proposed regulation in April. The department then delayed the draft until this month. But the department “is taking the time necessary to ensure that schools are providing students with educational environments free from discrimination,” an agency spokesperson said in a statement, explaining why it now anticipates releasing the draft regulation next month.