WFXL
USG permanently endows scholarship fund in honor of trailblazing librarian
by FOX 31 STAFF
The University System of Georgia Foundation has permanently endowed the Merryll Penson Scholarship Fund, a GALILEO initiative honoring the work of a trailblazing former director. Donations from EBSCO ($30,000) and ProQuest ($27,500) recently helped grow the fund to a threshold allowing it to be available for future aspiring librarians. To date, about $66,900 has been donated to the fund, including $9,400 in individual contributions. …Penson, who served as GALILEO executive director from 2000 to 2016, led efforts to create GALILEO while library director at Columbus State University She retired in 2016, capping a 32-year career as a spirited advocate for Georgia libraries. Penson was integral in establishing GALILEO, as well as the GALILEO Interconnected Libraries and the New Georgia Encyclopedia. Additionally, she strengthened and expanded the Digital Library of Georgia, the Civil Rights Digital Library, and the Georgia Knowledge Repository.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MARTA tries to lure customers back amid pandemic
By David Wickert
MARTA riders driven away by the coronavirus pandemic have begun to return to trains and buses, but the transit agency faces plenty of challenges as it tries to lure back more customers. More metro Atlanta residents are working from home in what looks like a permanent lifestyle change. Ride-hailing services are still poaching customers from public transportation. Staffing shortages have plagued transit agencies, disrupting service. And the pandemic continues to roll in waves across the country. …Kari Watkins, a Georgia Tech professor and one of the researchers who studied national ridership trends, said the pandemic accelerated trends such as telework and home shopping that diminished trips on public transportation. But she said transit proved its value in transporting essential workers such as hospital employees during the pandemic. …Georgia Tech won a $1 million federal grant in 2020 to launch a center to study declining transit ridership and how agencies can recover from the pandemic. Though its work is not complete, Watkins sees promise in several strategies MARTA is exploring.
WRDW
After pandemic drop, local universities hope to boost enrollment
By Alyssa Lyons
The National Student Clearing House Research Center says enrollment at colleges and universities was down nearly 5 percent this spring compared to 2021. Even graduate and professional student enrollment dipped. At our local schools, it’s a similar story with enrollment dropping at both Augusta University and USC-Aiken. AU President Brooks Keel says the school hopes to rebound and have increased enrollment year after year. We’ve spoken to both universities. Here’s what they’re saying about getting more students through the doors.
Forbes
College Admission: Data, Transparency, And Match
Brennan Barnard Contributor
Ask yourself this: Does it matter whether Princeton was ranked the number one or number three university in the country this year? Do you really care if Stanford’s overall admit rate was 3.95% or 2.16%? What does it mean to you if the University of Pennsylvania denied 94.32% or 95.74% of all applicants? News flash: these institutions are uber selective. You could be the most qualified student in the country with perfect grades and test scores, an exceptionally written college essay, glowing recommendations, and impactful community involvement, and still be turned down by the most selective colleges. The reality is, you are rolling the dice when applying to these schools. …Rick Clark, the assistant vice president and executive director of undergraduate admission at Georgia Tech, suggests a different way of considering data. He argues that “perhaps the more helpful/student-minded approach would be to flip admit rates to deny rates and publish the middle 50% of students not offered admission.” He adds, “part of diminishing stress is providing perspective, options, and showing data from a variety of angles.”
WRDW
Three career fairs scheduled for local job seekers
By Staff
If you’re looking for a job, there are a few hiring fairs planned in coming days across the CRSA. …June 7: Augusta University job fair from 2-4 p.m. at Goodwill Job Connection, 3179 Washington Road, Augusta. Jobs are available in information technology, public safety, maintenance, groundskeeping, environmental services. Human resources, administrative, nursing, dental assistants and research.
3BLMedia
Georgia Climate Project Receives $300,000 Grant from Ray C. Anderson Foundation
The Ray C. Anderson Foundation has awarded a $300,000 grant to Emory University and its partners for the next phase of the Georgia Climate Project, a state-wide consortium of nine colleges and universities working to strengthen Georgia’s ability to prepare for and respond to a changing climate. The Georgia Climate Project was founded in 2018 as a collaborative effort among Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia. Its scope has since expanded to include Agnes Scott College, Columbus State University, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University, Spelman College and the University of North Georgia.
WGAU Radio
UGA works with coastal communities to bolster oyster populations
“We’d like Georgia communities to have the information they need to avoid unnecessary conflicts and confusion”
By Margaret Blanchard, UGA Today
Is an oyster livestock? What exactly are the potential land-based components of marine oyster farms? Where might these activities be located, and how can communities adjust their land use codes to provide for them? Those are just a few questions coastal communities face as oyster farming, or oyster mariculture, grows in Georgia. As new state laws increase opportunities for communities to potentially benefit from this industry, University of Georgia researchers at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government are working to help land use planners and potential farmers navigate the legal framework. The effort comes from watching neighboring states wrestle with issues between landowners and oyster farmers as demand for the salty shellfish increases.
National Geographic
Enormous ‘rogue waves’ can appear out of nowhere. Math is revealing their secrets.
Once considered a maritime myth, these towering waves can pose serious risks to ships in the open sea. Now scientists are developing ways to predict them before they strike.
By Ally Hirschlag
In 1826 Captain Jules Dumont d’Urville, a French scientist and naval officer, was caught in a turbulent storm while crossing the Indian Ocean. He watched as a wall of water rose some 100 feet above his ship, the Astrolabe. It was one of several waves more than 80 feet tall that he recorded during the wild storm. One of his crew was lost to the sea. Yet after Dumont d’Urville made it back to land, his story, backed by three witnesses, seemed so outlandish that it was dismissed as fantasy. Scientists at the time believed waves could only reach about 30 feet tall, so the handful of 19th century reports of massive waves rising in the open ocean were largely written off as maritime myths. Only later would scientists realize that the accounts were rare because many mariners who experienced these so-called rogue waves didn’t survive to tell the tale. …When water is trapped in a narrow channel such as a wave tank, it’s much easier for large waves to form and to be observed. However, these experiments represent an “unrealistic scenario” because waves cannot spread in all directions as they would at sea, says Francesco Fedele, an ocean engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
MSN
Strawberries linked to hepatitis A: Here’s how the virus might’ve contaminated the fruit
Amanda Pérez Pintado, USA TODAY
Public health officials are investigating an outbreak of hepatitis A potentially linked to organic strawberries. But how could the virus have gotten into the fruit in the first place? The source of any hepatitis A food contamination is human, said Francisco Diez, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia.
Axios Atlanta
Metro Atlanta becomes hotbed for real estate investors
Thomas Wheatley
Companies that buy and rent large numbers of homes — and sometimes tack on fees and charge-backs that can drain tenants’ finances — are gobbling up large chunks of metro Atlanta’s already tight real-estate market.
Why it matters: Home ownership is part and parcel of the American dream and a key driver of wealth.
…The big picture: Institutional investors that own more than 50 homes dampened local homeownership rates in metro Atlanta, says Brian An, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech, with Black would-be homebuyers particularly pushed out.
WRDW
AU names Steven Paine new men’s golf coach
By Nick Proto
Augusta University has named Steven Paine Director of Golf and new men’s head golf coach, per release. This announcement comes after former head coach Jack O’Keefe announced he would be stepping down at the end of the 2021-2022 season. O’Keefe had led the Jaguars since December of 2013.
Nevada Sports Net
Here’s how much Nevada football will pay for Georgia Southern game; see all the payouts
By Chris Murray
Nevada football cut a bargain price to bring Georgia Southern to Reno for the 2024 season. The Wolf Pack will pay the Eagles only $100,000 for the game scheduled for Sept. 7, 2024, its lowest rate for a home game in at least 15 seasons. For example, Nevada’s non-league home games with Texas State and Incarnate Word this season will cost $400,000 apiece. NSN received the Georgia Southern contract via a public records request last week. The Georgia Southern addition completed the Wolf Pack’s 2024 non-conference schedule, which also includes games with BYU (Aug. 31), Minnesota (Sept. 14) and Eastern Washington (Sept. 21). Nevada hasn’t announced the BYU or EWU games, but NSN received those game contracts via a public records request in January.
Axios Atlanta
Remember when… the Atlanta zoo was a “national disgrace?”
Thomas Wheatley
In the early 1980s, Atlanta’s zoo was known as one of the country’s worst — a depressing and woefully managed city-owned-and-operated mess.
Animals were confined to cages with little to no shade and lacked access to open-air environments. …Breaking point: In the summer of 1984, after the death of Twinkles and amid calls for reform by city, county and civic leaders, a Fulton grand jury (!) recommended a city-county authority take over the zoo.
Terry Maple, a primatologist at Georgia Tech who called the zoo a “national disgrace,” was appointed the zoo’s executive director. Maple rallied investments and donations to upgrade the facility, hired the zoo’s first full-time veterinarian and was largely credited with turning things around.
Patch
The Descendant Community From The James Madison Enslaving Period Seeks Share Of Authority
(By Stephen P. Hanna, Amy Potter and Derek H. Alderman.) (Amy Potter is an associate professor of geography at Georgia Southern University.)
Virginia Mercury, News Partner
On May 17, after weeks of negative stories on Montpelier in the national press, the foundation that operates the Virginia plantation home of James Madison finally made good on its promise to share authority with descendants of people enslaved by the man known as “the father” of the U.S. Constitution. This agreement is the result of a long struggle by this descendant community to make enslaved people more prominent in the history Montpelier offers the public. Though presidential plantation museums began addressing the topic of enslavement over 20 years ago, descendants were not given power over their ancestors’ stories. In 2018, provoked by years of slavery being taught in erroneous ways, a summit of educators, museum professionals and descendants gathered at Montpelier to define a set of best practices for how historic sites should work with descendant communities.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Where Do Students Go to College? A New Study Looks State by State
By Isha Trivedi
Where students decide to go to college is a subject of never-ending intrigue in higher ed, with entire campus offices devoted to influencing those decisions. College choices are also complicated, with a range of factors — cost, location, program offerings, facilities, and more — moving the needle in different directions for individual students. A new study co-authored by Craig Wills, the computer-science department head at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Chayanne Sandoval-Williams, a rising fourth-year undergraduate student at WPI, tries to provide some direction. …On average, 54 percent of all college-bound students attend an in-state public college, while 15 percent attend an in-state private college.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Would a ‘Designated Advocate’ Help Students in Crisis?
By Wyatt Myskow
The death of Katie Meyer, the Stanford University women’s soccer goalie who took her own life in March, brought scrutiny to college disciplinary processes and the stress they can cause students. Meyer’s parents are now proposing a new university policy they believe could have helped their daughter when she was in crisis. The proposed policy, which the parents have named “Katie’s Save,” would allow students to choose a “designated advocate” who would be notified by their college if they are facing “challenging circumstances,” including physical injuries, mental-health problems, disciplinary issues, and more. As a situation unfolds, an advocate could help provide support for the student if needed. Students could opt in to the program during registration at their college.
Inside Higher Ed
Dropping the Degree as a Hiring Requirement
The state of Maryland joins numerous employers in no longer requiring a bachelor’s degree for many jobs. What are the implications for colleges and universities?
By Doug Lederman
The state of Maryland recently announced that it would no longer require a bachelor’s degree in the hiring process for nearly half of its jobs, joining a growing number of companies and other employers. A recent episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, explored Maryland’s decision to look beyond the four-year degree and the implications for higher education. Bridgette Gray, chief customer officer at the nonprofit group Opportunity@Work, which is helping Maryland identify nondegreed workers to fill jobs in technology, administration and customer service, describes the market conditions that prompted the state’s decision and why equity was a primary factor behind its move. Brandon Busteed, chief partnership officer and global head of learn-work innovation at Kaplan, discusses the larger forces at play and explains how colleges and universities can respond in ways that not only sustain their relevance but position them better for the coming changes and how learning is likely to happen.
EdSurge
With Money From Facebook, 10 Colleges Turn Their Campuses into ‘Metaversities’
Is education moving to a “tri-brid” model that flows between in-person, online and simulated environments?
By Rebecca Koenig
Diving into a magnified human cell. Studying stars from the surface of the moon. Tossing a Frisbee on the quad with a classmate who lives 700 miles away. These scenarios are far-fetched for most college students. Yet a new virtual reality experiment aims to make them possible. Ten higher education institutions across the U.S. have signed up to create digital versions of themselves that look 3D and feel immersive when accessed by students wearing VR headsets. Drawing on lingo that has gained popularity among tech entrepreneurs, these online simulations of colleges are being called “metaversities.” The technology supporting these metaversities comes from Engage, an Irish company that has produced virtual-reality experiences depicting the Titanic voyage, the Apollo 11 space mission and the bombing of Berlin during World War II. The design interface comes from VictoryXR, a company that sells virtual-reality education technology. And money for the project—as well as donated VR headsets for students at the participating colleges—comes from Meta, the company that owns Facebook.
Higher Ed Dive
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
A coalition of 37 sexual assault prevention groups and law firms is calling on the U.S. Department of Education to investigate colleges reportedly coercing students into signing agreements that restrict them from discussing misconduct they report under Title IX. Title IX is the cornerstone federal law banning sex-based discrimination in education settings, including sexual harassment and assault. In a letter Thursday, the organizations accuse institutions of pressuring students into following gag orders during or after Title IX investigations. The groups want the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to prohibit colleges from forcing students to sign such confidentiality agreements before providing them with accommodations or investigating their cases. They also want OCR to issue guidance for how colleges should inform students of their legal rights.
Inside Higher Ed
A new bill could strengthen the rules requiring institutions to report foreign gifts. Some say the measure is necessary; others argue it will create undue stress for colleges and the government alike.
By Liam Knox
Every year, the Department of Education sends a checklist to colleges and universities reminding them of the various federal laws and regulations they have to comply with, including environmental standards, Title IX and FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. For many years, that checklist did not mention any reporting requirements for foreign gifts and contracts. As a result, many higher education institutions were caught off guard in 2019 when the department began launching investigations of colleges and universities for noncompliance with the regulations. …Now, three years later, lawmakers are attempting to strengthen and clarify the reporting mandates for donations that come from abroad. The Bipartisan Innovation Act, versions of which passed the House and Senate this spring, is meant to boost America’s competitiveness in the global economy, but it also includes language that would beef up foreign donation transparency laws for higher education institutions.