USG e-clips for May 26, 2022

University System News:

WFXL

VSU partners with UGA College of Pharmacy to meet growing demand for pharmacists

by FOX 31 STAFF

Valdosta State University is partnering with University of Georgia College of Pharmacy’s Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program to meet the growing demand for pharmacists VSU students interested in a career in pharmacy now have a streamlined approach for admission into the UGA College of Pharmacy’s Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. On May 25, officials from the two University System of Georgia institutions signed an articulation agreement that provides undergraduate chemistry / pre-pharmacy students at VSU with a guided pathway into UGA’s four-year pharmacy curriculum after only three years of undergraduate study.

Business Insider

Georgia Tech pairs students with local governments and businesses to solve issues related to public safety and climate change. Here’s how it works and how it’s made the state more resilient and sustainable.

Erica Sweeney

Atlanta and other cities and towns across Georgia face multiple challenges as they strive to become more future-ready, from ensuring residents have internet connectivity to minimizing coastal flooding to addressing public transportation issues. The Smart Cities and Inclusive Innovation (SCI2) initiative at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta is stepping in to help. SCI2 leverages research and development, strategic partnerships, technology, and grant funding to help communities across the state solve these problems. In turn, it also provides opportunities for students to learn in real-world environments, said Debra Lam, SCI2’s managing director and the founding executive director for the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation (PIN), a statewide public-private partnership between Georgia Tech, the state of Georgia, civic leaders, and the business community.

Marietta Daily Journal

Kennesaw State Spring Graduates: Cobb County grads shine

For Ellen Spiceland, 70, retirement provided time to fulfill a lifelong interest in learning all about the world – its cities, seas, wilderness and every place in between. …This week, Spiceland will come on campus to walk in the commencement ceremony and receive her newly earned degree in person. … Marion Granger is graduating with a master’s degree in applied statistics and analytics after earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from KSU. The two-time Owl has been called a “true rock star” by faculty members in the School of Data Science and Analytics within the College of Computing and Software Engineering. …Lt. Col. Trent Geisler is used to being a high achiever, which includes earning a Ph.D. in Analytics and Data Science from Kennesaw State in just three years.

WGAU Radio

UGA honors firms that hire the most alumni

Members of the Class of 2021 were hired by 2,950 unique employers

By Emily Ann Munnell, UGA Today

The University of Georgia Career Center honored the top 25 employers of the Class of 2021in the President’s Sky Suite at Sanford Stadium in Athens. These employers enjoyed a special night in the stadium, revisiting the Georgia Bulldogs National Championship season. Hairy Dawg was on hand to pose for photos with the honorees as Scott Williams, executive director of the UGA Career Center, presented each company’s representatives a special award. Data from UGA’s Career Outcomes Survey showed members of the Class of 2021 were hired by 2,950 unique employers. The survey data was also used to identify the employers that hired the most graduates from the class (public school systems not included).

Marietta Daily Journal

Frank Flanders recipient of ABAC student engagement award

The Albany Herald, Ga.

Frank Flanders recently received the 2022 W. Bruce and Rosalyn Ray Donaldson Excellence in Student Engagement award at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Flanders is an associate professor in the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources. A faculty member at ABAC since 2017, Flanders earned Ph.D. and master of science degrees in Agricultural Education and a bachelor of science degree in Agriculture from the University of Georgia. The spirit and purpose of this award is to publicly recognize one faculty member each year who engages in meaningful and creative ways with students at ABAC. Flanders became the sixth recipient of the award.

The Tifton Gazette

Wilson tapped staff excellence award

Vickie Wilson, administrative associate for the dean of students, has been selected as the 2022 recipient of the Roy Jackson Sr. Award for Staff Excellence at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. In his presentation of the award, Jerry Baker, ABAC provost and vice president for academic affairs, said, “With over 25 years of service to the college, there are few who have not had the pleasure of meeting and working with her. “Not only has she served in several offices in the past 25 years but she has also been an active member of ABAC Staff Council and has held positions on the Staff Council board. She truly exceeds every criterion of this award.” … The award is named for Jackson, a longtime supporter of ABAC.

Gwinnett Daily Post

Georgia Gwinnett College Vice President selected for national leadership program

From staff reports

Michelle Rosemond, vice president for Student Engagement and Success at Georgia Gwinnett College, was selected as one of 22 senior-level higher education professionals to participate in the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ 2022 Millennium Leadership Initiative. MLI is a premier leadership development program that provides individuals traditionally underrepresented in the highest ranks of postsecondary education with the opportunity to develop skills, gain a philosophical overview, and build the network and knowledge needed to advance to a president or chancellor position. Rosemond, known for her dedication to student success and wellness, has been published in “Diverse Issues in Higher Education” and “Times Higher Education,” and has presented nationally for the AASCU and National Association of Student Affairs Personnel Administrators on topics like underrepresented minorities in STEM and demonstrations of her work on labor market data-implications for practitioners.

Athens Banner-Herald

As Vince Dooley approaches 90, he’s still learning history, gardening, football and life

Loran Smith Special to the Banner-Herald

…Last week, Great Southern honored Vince Dooley. The Great Southern tribute brought about reflections from one speaker who finds the former Bulldog coaching icon to be more than a football coach. He is a historian, author, master gardener, fisherman, researcher and lecturer. Being a historian, he allowed recently how cheerleading began. …Vince went to Auburn on scholarship to play both basketball and football, but he preferred basketball in his early years. It was his best friend Bobby Duke who refused to let Vince sleep in on the first day of August football practice his junior year in high school. Duke rousted him out of bed and thereby “saved” Vince’s football career.  …Vince, a nonagenarian to be, in recent years kept a quote at his desk at home from the great Michelangelo, who said on his 87th birthday, “I’m still learning.” When Vince becomes a nonagenarian in September, he can quote the famous Renaissance artist/sculptor. He will still be learning.

WGAU Radio

UGA Presents announces lineup of performances and entertainers

“Our 2022-23 season will bring a variety of brilliant performing artists to Athens”

By Tim Bryant

The University of Georgia rolls out the lineup for the next UGA Presents series of performances: famed violinist Itzhak Perlman is on the roster of entertainers for the series that begins in September. Tickets go on sale next month.

From UGA…

One of the greatest living violinists, an acclaimed an acclaimed singer/songwriter with Athens ties, and a seminal American ballet anchor the new UGA Presents season, announced May 23. Itzhak Perlman, Kishi Bashi with the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra, and the Martha Graham Dance Company in Appalachian Spring are just a few of the 35 soloists, ensembles, and theatrical companies appearing on the mainstage season and in Piedmont Athens Regional Performances for Young People.

The Tifton Gazette

ABAC hosts Young Writers Conference

The English and Communication Department at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will offer a virtual Young Writers Conference 9 a.m.-noon, June 25.

Dr. Wendy Harrison, department chair for English and Communication at ABAC, said the conference is open to ninth-grade students through college students, college officials said in a statement.

There is no charge for the conference, but participants must register at https://link.abac.edu/YWC2022.

“The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Your South, Your Story’ and workshops this year will focus on ‘Reading Like a Writer,’ ‘Publishing Dos and Don’ts’ and ‘World-Building,’ in which students will create their own worlds in writing,” Harrison said. “Workshops will be led by ABAC faculty, who are themselves published writers and can offer both practical and technical advice to student writers.

Gwinnett Daily Post

Georgia Gwinnett College students ‘dress out’ for hazardous materials training

By Collin Elder Special to the Daily Post

Georgia Gwinnett College has introduced its first continuing education program – training in Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER). The program certifies students in the proper protocols and safety measures for dealing with hazardous materials, including in environmental crises. Dr. James Russell, an associate professor of biology at GGC, coordinated this program and said he is excited for this inaugural certification. …The program consists of a series of classes in which students are guided through the processes of safely dealing with a wide variety of hazardous materials. The program includes a “dress out” session in which students gear up in Level C hazmat suits and walk a training course featuring treatment of dummy waste barrels, maneuvering the barrels safely, dressing down and decontaminating equipment.

Science

Scientists turn tomatoes into a rich source for vitamin D

Knocking out one gene boosts levels of a precursor to the essential nutrient

By Erik Stokstad

Tomatoes get riper and tastier in the summer Sun. Two studies now show that with a little help from gene editing, Sun-ripened tomatoes can also stockpile a precursor molecule to vitamin D, a vital nutrient normally found mainly in animal products. “This could be a game changer” in nations where vitamin D deficiency is a problem, says Esther van der Knaap, a plant geneticist at the University of Georgia, Athens. Biofortified plants could also help vegans get enough of the nutrient. The finding “opens up a very exciting new era for vitamin D,” says nutritional scientist Susan Lanham-New of the University of Surrey. Vitamin D helps regulate how the body uses calcium, for example, leading to stronger bones. And there’s some evidence that low levels are linked to higher risk of cardiovascular disease and other health problems.

RFD TV

It is time for fresh cabbage in Georgia!

By Currey McCullough

…Producers are hard at work right now harvesting this year’s cabbage crop. The Farm Monitor’s John Holcomb takes us to Demott Produce in the Peach State. Lettuce growers: there could be changes coming to the makeup of the leafy greens or how it can be processed. Researchers at the University of Georgia are mapping out the microbiome of the vegetable to see if they can figure out what interactions cause e-coli during processing and which bacteria can stop it. This could eventually lead to changes in production.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Work in Public Education? You Might Be an Investor in Chegg

By Dan Bauman

Think you can sell Juan B. Gutiérrez on Chegg? Probably not. The University of Texas at San Antonio math professor and department chair is a critic of the ed-tech platform. He says he’s witnessed firsthand how the site’s services can be co-opted by bad actors, and he believes the company owes much of its success and profitability to academic misconduct. “I definitely condemn that business model,” Gutiérrez said. Gutiérrez also happens to be an investor in Chegg — one of the more than 1.5 million current and former public-education employees who count on the Teacher Retirement System of Texas to manage their retirement savings. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, three other state-run pension funds for public-education employees also own shares in the controversial education-technology company: …Indeed, as Chegg added subscribers to its rolls during the pandemic, alleged incidents of academic misconduct linked to the company also proliferated. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, students allegedly posted final-exam questions to the platform. Chemistry students at Boston University would come under scrutiny next for their use of the Chegg Tutors feature. And in an interview with the campus newspaper last year, a University of Oregon instructor recalled busting one student who had used Chegg services on an exam.

Higher Education News:

Higher Ed Dive

Undergraduate enrollment falls 4.7% this spring

Natalie Schwartz, Editor

Some 662,000 fewer undergraduates enrolled in college in spring 2022 compared to the year before, continuing a downward trend seen throughout the pandemic, according to figures released Thursday by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.  Those losses represent a 4.7% decline in undergraduate students — a steeper downturn than what was seen in the fall. Dips occurred across all institution types tracked, including public universities, private institutions and community colleges.  The report spells more bad news for the higher education sector, which has been hammered by enrollment declines for years.

Inside Higher Ed

Are We Taking Gen Ed for Granted?

In light of survey results showing disconnects in general education, colleges can take steps to create more intentional, intelligible programs, Jennifer Hart writes.

By Jennifer Hart

In the 2022 Survey of College and University Chief Academic Officers, published earlier this month by Inside Higher Ed and Hanover Research, provosts at 178 public, private nonprofit and for-profit institutions had quite a lot to say about general education. Among the results that stood out:

Ninety percent of provosts somewhat or strongly agree that general education is a crucial part of any college degree.

Sixty-five percent believe that faculty members at their college are enthusiastic about teaching courses that are part of the general education requirements.

Only 32 percent believe that students at their college understand the purpose of general education requirements.

Seventy-five percent are satisfied with their institution’s general education program and requirements.

Sixty-seven percent say their college recently evaluated the effectiveness of its general education requirements.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Students Are Missing the Point of College

Too many of them are alienated from their institutions. Here’s what to do about it.

By Wendy Fischman and Howard Gardner

Alack of engagement among college students has been widely reported. Professors readily offer anecdotes of students missing classes, turning in papers late, and dropping out entirely. Naturally, much of this, of late, has been attributed to the pandemic — a cascade of catastrophes, to paraphrase one faculty member’s remarks to The Chronicle, that encompass physical, emotional, and social challenges. The narrative has stuck, and administrators and faculty members are starting to give advice about how to solve the “student-disengagement crisis.” While it’s possible that today’s students seem more disconnected than ever before, the lack of student engagement is a long-standing issue — a contemporary form of the “anomie” Émile Durkheim detailed well over a century ago. At the heart of the disengagement is a lack of belonging, one amply documented by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary’s “The Need to Belong,” and by the higher ed-focused research of Jennifer Case and Anthony Jack, among others.

Inside Higher Ed

Students’ Opinions of Professors Lean Positive

Asked about professors’ choices in instructional materials, fairness in grading and other factors, students rate professors highly. But there’s still work to be done.

By Melissa Ezarik

“I’ve had some really incredible and engaging professors,” wrote a Student Voice survey respondent attending a private university in New York. The next sentence of that comment, however, reflects just how individualized the education experience is, and how hard it is for students to give an overall rating of professors: “I’ve also had some really awful, racist/sexist/homophobic professors who didn’t listen to any student feedback.” Still, when asked about the quality of current professors in six areas, the 2,000 undergraduates responding to the Student Voice survey, conducted in mid-April by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse with support from Kaplan, largely gave high marks. That’s especially true in terms of academic rigor, communicating course expectations, technology use and choice of instructional materials, which at least one in four students rated as excellent and between seven and eight out of 10 students rated as either excellent or good.

The New Yorker

The SAT Has Gone Digital. How Else Should College Admissions Change?

Eren Orbey talks about inequality in college admissions, and what it’s like to take the new digital SAT.

The contributing writer Eren Orbey recently wrote about how the pandemic forced colleges and universities to experiment with test-optional admissions and how the College Board developed a new digital SAT. This week, the newsletter editor Jessie Li spoke to Orbey about the importance of the SAT, inequality in college admissions, and what it was like to take the new digital test. The SAT feels like such an integral part of the college-admissions process—some students even have parents who enroll them in rigorous after-school test-prep programs just so that they can ace the exam. But the SAT is also partially a relic from another time, something that has evolved as times have changed. What’s your sense of its importance as a factor in college admissions today? I was surprised, in my reporting, how quickly executives from the College Board were willing to say that the test is lower stakes, as they put it in their press release. They really do seem to be advertising the digital SAT as a different kind of tool, focusing on its power to help certain students stand out rather than on its potential threat to students who don’t score well.

Inside Higher Ed

Louisiana Lawmakers to Review Tenure Policies

By Colleen Flaherty

Both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature have now passed a resolution “to perform an in-depth review of the merits of and need for tenure, to study public postsecondary tenure policies, and to propose any recommendations regarding tenure policies, including any specific proposals for legislation.” This makes Louisiana just the latest state (or state university system) to considering changing, or to change, faculty tenure protections.