Macon Magazine
By Lisa Mayfield Spence
A relatively “young” university by most standards, Middle Georgia State University (MGA) is leading the change and redefining the role of collegiate higher education. Blake, originally from Wimbledon, England, has been at the helm since 2014. Under his leadership, the university has expanded its academic offerings and transitioned from an institution formerly known as Macon State College to one also offering master’s and doctoral degrees. Blake holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theology from Keble College of the University of Oxford, a postgraduate certificate in education from Westminster College (Oxford) and a Ph.D. in education from King’s College of the University of London. One of the school’s great accomplishments of the past few years, according to Blake, is the development of “niche” programs in aviation, nursing, and information technology at Middle Georgia. Programs of study such as these have proven themselves to be a major draw for students living out of state and out of the country. Additionally, MGA is one of only nine schools – and is the most affordable of the nine – in the United States with three FAA-certified programs.
The Brunswick News
College of Coastal Georgia plans to bolster nursing program
By Gordon Jackson
College of Coastal Georgia is planning to double the size of the Nunnally Health and Science Building as part of a plan to bolster the nursing program. Michelle Johnston, college president, made the announcement at Wednesday’s Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce meeting. Johnston told the audience that Georgia has an estimated 65,000 vacant nursing positions. Expanding the program will not be as simple as adding more desks in classrooms to add more students. With a cap of 20 students per instructor in nursing programs, it will be a matter of finding more faculty members, she said.
WRDW
Medical College of Georgia students commit to rural healthcare
Video – Medical College of Georgia students for their pinning ceremony as they enter the three plus program that helps students finish their bachelor’s degree in three years and saves them thousands of dollars in tuition fees but maybe more importantly it puts these future doctors and medical staff in a rural Georgia county.
13WMAZ
Students at the university saw aircraft from all over Central Georgia, including an unexpected visit.
Author: B.J. Patterson
Wednesday, Middle Georgia State University hosted their “Fly-In” event as they gear up for National Aviation Day this Friday. The event happened on the University’s aviation campus in Eastman from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Students welcomed planes and helicopters on campus before networking and learning from pilots about their aircraft. The Apache helicopters weren’t a part of the event, but students got a chance to get a closer look at them. Many pilots like Braxton Cook are alumni of Middle Georgia’s School of Aviation.
Albany Herald
Georgia Southwestern nursing school ranked No. 1 in Georgia
From staff reports
For the second time, Georgia Southwestern State University has received the top ranking as one of the “Top 10 Nursing Schools in Georgia” by Nurse.org. GSW’s No. 1 rank is based on the nursing program’s reputation, NCLEX pass rate, tuition and acceptance rate. These factors were reviewed by a selection panel of five experienced registered nurses. According to nurse.org, GSW is a “great destination for nursing students.” The “affordable” in-state tuition, “impressive” NCLEX pass rate at 96.88%, and “plentiful” programs to choose from is a “huge draw” for nursing students.
Americus Times-Recorder
Happy Birthday Rosalynn Carter! Celebrating with Georgia Farm Bureau and Georgia Library System
By admin
The Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail is partnering with Georgia Public Library Service and the Georgia Farm Bureau to establish new pollinator gardens in honor of Rosalynn Carter’s 95th birthday. Our goal was to add 95 new gardens registered with the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. We exceeded our goal with over 240 new public and private gardens registered! The new pollinator gardens include small container gardens, as well as larger in-ground gardens. Gardens are scattered across the state in public places like museums, libraries, businesses, schools, and private home gardens. …In addition to all the new pollinator gardens added in July and August, the Georgia Farm Bureau and The Georgia Public Library Service selected the children’s book The Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail: A Journey Through Plains to be placed in all 420 libraries in the state! …In honor of Mrs. Rosalynn Carter’s 95th birthday, over 50 Georgia libraries have established pollinator gardens and are using these gardens as learning experiences as well as providing habitat for pollinators.
The Tifton Gazette
EDITORIAL: Welcome Dr. Tracy Brundage
We want to add our voice in welcoming Dr. Tracy Brundage to Tifton and Tift County.
Brundage is the new Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College president, following the retirement of longtime ABAC President Dr. David Bridges at the end of July. Brundage is the 11 president in the 114-year history of ABAC. She comes from serving as president of Keystone College in Pennsylvania. She took the ABAC office Aug. 1 but was briefly sidelined by COVID-19 her first week. On Aug. 8, she hit the ground running, welcoming new faculty, meeting the community, holding a press conference, addressing new ABAC students and handling other duties. Brundage has an impressive background in academics, college administration, business and community involvement.
Savannah CEO
Dr. Ryan Schroeder of Georgia Southern University on the Executive MPA
Dr. Ryan Schroeder is the Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Georgia Southern University. He talks about the launch next spring of the Executive Masters of Public Administration.
The Elberton Star
Holocaust exhibit on display at library
By News Staff
In partnership with the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, Georgia Public Library Service is proud to announce a tour of banner exhibits in public libraries statewide to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and to promote public understanding of the history.
WJCL
Gov. Kemp joins Georgia Southern leaders in effort to get Erk Russell inducted into Hall of Fame
Legendary football coach not in College Football Hall of Fame
Frank Sulkowski, Anchor/Reporter
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has joined the fight to get a college football coaching legend into the Hall of Fame. Kemp took to social media Wednesday night to urge College Football Hall of Fame officials to grant a waiver to allow Erk Russell to be inducted. “Legendary Georgia Southern and University of Georgia coach Erk Russell’s long and accomplished career – from his time as a talented player to his years of coaching teams to success – certainly meets the high standards for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame,” said Kemp in a post on Twitter. Kemp would add that he’s proud to support the effort and hopes a waiver will receive fair consideration.
WTOC
Gretsch family visits Georgia Southern University to see family history on display
By Dal Cannady
A local university and an international guitar company hope to strike a chord with music students. Members of the company’s founding family visited Georgia Southern University to see how some of their gifts have taken shape. Where else in South Georgia can you see one of Bo Diddley’s gold records, or guitars used by him or other American music icons? University leaders say the contributions from the Gretsch family will impact music students in this area for generations to come. Fred and Dinah Gretsch got their first glimpse at part of their family history on display. Their partnership with Georgia Southern includes not only money to fund scholarships and musical instruments for students to use. But also historic pieces once used by world-renowned artists.
WRDW
I-TEAM: Local study unlocks some mysteries about ‘long COVID’
By Meredith Anderson and Joi Daniels
Our I-TEAM has an update to our exclusive look inside one of the largest COVID studies happening in the country. Researchers here at the Medical College of Georgia have their first results from their first 200 patients, and doctors say they’re already seeing a clear pattern. This study is looking at the longer-lasting effects of COVID, and so far, the number one symptom is fatigue with 68.5% of study participants reporting that symptom. A close second is headaches at 66.5%.
Medical Xpress
A novel peptide augments the brain’s natural mechanism to help prevent seizures and protect neurons in research models of both Alzheimer’s and epilepsy, scientists report. The A1R-CT peptide the scientists developed, which can be administered through a nasal spray, holds promise for tamping down the uncontrolled electrical activity that is common after traumatic brain injury, stroke and which affects more than half of individuals with Alzheimer’s, says Dr. Qin Wang, neuropharmacologist and founding director of the Program for Alzheimer’s Therapeutics Discovery at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.
Seed Today
PlantGENE To Catalyze Plant Biotechnology Improvement
As the global population booms and climate change continues, improving crops to produce more food, use less resources like water and pesticides, and survive harsher environments will be needed to feed the planet sustainably. For example, fungal diseases are increasingly crippling production of crops like coffee, chocolate and bananas. Improving the crops to be resistant to disease could be essential to their survival. Biotechnology is key to crop improvement, enabling researchers to determine the functions of genes, which can then be bred into crops using traditional methods or modern engineering methods. …To overcome this bottleneck, Van Eck was recently awarded a $500,000 grant (IOS 2210962) from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to create the Plant Genetic Engineering Network Research Coordination Network (PlantGENE). PlantGENE is a network of plant biotechnologists that will work together to facilitate the sharing of technology, knowledge and protocols. …The PlantGENE steering committee includes Van Eck, Veena Veena and Nigel Taylor of the Danforth Plant Science Center, Heidi Kaeppler of the University of Wisconsin, Keunsub Lee of Iowa State University, Wayne Parrott of the University of Georgia, and Bill Gordon-Kamm of Corteva Agriscience.
Forbes
It’s Time To Retire The Terms ‘Hard’ And ‘Soft’ Science
Marshall Shepherd Senior Contributor (Director of the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Atmospheric Sciences Program)
In a previous Forbes essay, I urged the academic, private sector, and federal enterprises to banish the term “minorities” when referring to certain under-represented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). I made an argument that the term was “microaggressive” and minimized groups unintentionally. This week, I heard some refer to a particular discipline as a “soft science,” and it evoked a similar twinge of microaggression. Here’s why I argue we must retire terminology that refers to science disciplines as though they were ice cream or candy. I know, I know. This terminology has been around forever. As I have grown older (and hopefully wiser), I have come to realize that longevity is often a measure of an inertia for the status quo rather than “right or wrong.” Traditionally, people have referred to things like physics, chemistry, astronomy, climatology, or biology as “hard” sciences. Heck, I am an atmospheric scientist so my discipline falls into the category too. From my observations, a discipline is considered a “hard” science if it is extremely mathematical, involves certain methodological approaches, or has more replicable results. Behavioral and social sciences, which might include sociology, human geography, psychology, or communication studies, have typically been called “soft” sciences. Digging into this a bit more, I found that others have argued for this “ivory tower prehistoric” framing to be put to rest.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
Vaccination, other precautions successfully limited campus COVID-19 spread, study says
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
A dozen masked young people sit scattered across a lecture hall.
Dive Brief:
A combination of COVID-19 vaccination and other risk mitigation efforts can be highly effective at limiting disease spread at large universities, reducing classroom transmission risk to negligible levels, according to a new peer-reviewed article. Researchers from Boston University studied their own institution, which had nine possible cases of coronavirus transmission in classrooms between Sept. 1 and Dec. 1, 2021, despite a return to full in-person instruction. No cases were confirmed to be the result of in-class transmission. That fall, the university required students and employees to be vaccinated and wear face coverings, but it did not enforce social distancing. More than 140,000 in-person class meetings took place during that semester. Class sizes ranged from 2 students to more than 400, with an average of 31.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Working Together, HBCUs and City Leadership Can Create Thriving Economies
Liann Herder
The relationship between Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their city leadership starts with a simple handshake but results in economic growth, research connecting with policy, and increased opportunities for Black and Brown individuals to give back to their community as they accelerate into the middle class and beyond. Frank Scott, Jr., mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas.Frank Scott, Jr., mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas. That’s the message from a webinar hosted by the Rutgers University Center for Minority Serving Institutions, which gathered together not only HBCU presidents but the African American Mayors Association (AAMA) in conversation about the importance of building relationships between the postsecondary institutions and the municipalities in which they reside.
Inside Higher Ed
Colleges Report Strong Fundraising Year
Many colleges have set fundraising records as fiscal year 2022 comes to a close. Experts note that higher ed philanthropy has boomed in recent years, even amid a pandemic.
By Josh Moody
With fiscal year 2022 in the books, some colleges are reporting blockbuster fundraising years even amid economic uncertainty and a period of high inflation. A number of colleges—public, private, both predominantly white institutions and historically Black colleges and universities—are seeing success, some reporting record donations for fiscal year 2022, which ended June 30. Broadly speaking, the results vary by institution, with some colleges missing the money train while others have cashed in on the generosity of donors. Well-known institutions like Pennsylvania State University, the University of Oklahoma and Virginia Tech are just a handful of the many that reported fundraising years that surpassed prior records. For example, Penn State reported commitments of more than $437 million, up from the previous high of $381.2 million; the University of Oklahoma counted $317 million in gifts and pledges, surpassing last year’s record high of $237 million; and Virginia Tech hauled in $268.5 million, up from last year’s record of $200.3 million.
Inside Higher Ed
State Gag Order Bills Increase for Higher Ed
Scott Jaschik
State legislative proposals to restrict the freedom to teach and learn have increased by 250 percent in 2022 compared to last year, according to a report released today by PEN America, the free expression and literary organization. Most of the bills focus on K-12 education, but 39 percent of bills have targeted colleges and universities, compared with 30 percent last year. The bills generally focus on race and ban th