WALB
GSW sees largest freshmen class move in on Friday
By Fallon Howard
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) is making history this fall semester by having the largest freshman class ever. Moving day can be stressful but at GSW, the community makes sure students have what they need to make an easy transition for their first day. Everyone has been a freshman before. It’s what starts your educational journey for post-secondary degrees.
Gwinnett Daily Post
PHOTOS: Scenes from move-in day at Georgia Gwinnett College
Photos by Rod Reilly/GGC
New and returning students at Georgia Gwinnett College moved into student housing this week in preparation for the 2022 fall semester, which starts Monday at the Lawrenceville school.
WTOC
Georgia Southern students move-in to the Statesboro campus
By Dal Cannady
More than 4,500 of Georgia Southern’s 20,000 students in Statesboro move on to campus this weekend. University leaders say they try to make the process as personable as they do efficient – rain or shine. It’s the busiest weekend in the Boro with thousands of students returning or arriving for the first time. For new students, it can be overwhelming.
WLOX
Operation Move-In begins at Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus
Video
The Tifton Gazette
Reception for new ABAC president set
A reception for the campus and the community to honor Dr. Tracy Brundage, the new president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, is scheduled for 4-6 p.m., Aug. 10, in Tift Hall at ABAC. Brundage became the 11th president in the history of ABAC on Aug. 1. She began her presidency in her Tifton home because of COVID-19 protocols, college officials said in a statement. “My energy level continues to climb and I am excited about being on the campus in person,” Brundage said. “The start of the fall semester is just around the corner and that’s always a special day, particularly for the incoming freshmen.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia State Patrol’s first female pilot gets her wings
By Alexis Stevens
She always knew she wanted a career in law enforcement. But as a teenager, a helicopter flight at the beach made Haley Jo Lucas consider working in aviation. “That’s what changed my mind,” Lucas told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I just liked the way it flew and how you had to fly it, looking out over everything. Looking out from up there, it’s just a totally different world.” She didn’t have to choose one passion over the other. Instead, she made history. Lucas is the first female pilot for the Georgia State Patrol. …Lucas is one of 14 pilots employed by the State Patrol. She says she’s also the youngest. It’s taken years to reach her goal, but Lucas says it’s all been worth it. …After graduating from Middle Georgia State University in 2017 with a degree in aviation management, Lucas was hired by the State Patrol. She graduated from trooper school in 2019 and went to work on the roads for Post 34 in Manchester. In April 2021, Lucas joined the state patrol’s aviation unit. Since then, Lucas has been on daily missions, gaining experience and flyer miles while helping solve crimes.
Gwinnett Daily Post
New Georgia Gwinnett College internship program to pair students with area nonprofits
From staff reports
Nonprofit organizations are key to the economic vitality, stability and health of a community. A new Georgia Gwinnett College initiative will pair students with area nonprofits to gain insight, build interest and enhance their options to enter nonprofit careers. GGC’s Nonprofit Internship Program will offer juniors and seniors semester-long paid internship opportunities in Gwinnett County and the greater Atlanta area. Students who meet program qualifications will work up to 25 hours a week and will be paid up to $20 an hour, which officials say will spur interest, provide invaluable experiences, and contribute to their financial stability.
WALB
Bishop announces projects he wants funded in 2023
By Anthony Bordanaro
Congressman Sanford Bishop said he has new plans to bring broadband to rural areas and improve southwest Georgia. Bishop, who is running for re-election, explained the funding for projects he wants for the upcoming fiscal year at Thursday’s Rotary Club meeting in Albany. …A $1 million project would send money to the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers for Alzheimer’s caregiving.
Other projects in his current proposal are:
$2 million to Augusta University Southwest Campus in Albany for incentives to keep graduates in south Georgia
yahoo!news
Inaugural class of Rising Scholars at Fort Valley State spends summer conducting research
Carlton Fletcher, The Albany Herald, Ga.
As the inaugural class of Rising Scholars, ten Fort Valley State University students have spent the summer on UGA’s Athens campus conducting research in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The students stand in front of Conner Hall on UGA’s Athens campus. As the inaugural class of Rising Scholars, ten Fort Valley State University students have spent the summer on UGA’s Athens campus conducting research in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. In the back row from left, pictured are Nallely Mendez, Nadia Ford, Curvieon Ezell, April Bramble and Carrienton Stevenson, and in the front row from left, Yuri Smith, Na’Kiyah Conner, Anaya Arnold and Dakota Walker. Not pictured is Rising Scholar Sydney Lawrence.
Marietta Daily Journal
‘That college experience’: KSU opens new $37M dorm
By Hunter Riggall
As Kennesaw State University continues to balloon in size, the university is adding 508 beds to its on-campus housing, bringing the school’s total housing stock to around 6,000 beds. KSU cut the ribbon on its latest dorm, dubbed The Summit, on Friday morning. The $37 million, 105,000-square-foot facility will house freshman students, who will start moving in Wednesday. President Kathy Schwaig said the new five-story dorm, located on Marietta Drive on the campus’ south side, is needed to keep pace with the growth of the university. As of last fall, KSU had about 43,000 students, the third-largest enrollment in the state behind Georgia State and Georgia Tech.
August CEO
Augusta University Hosting Eighth Annual Fall Kick-Off Aug. 12th
Staff Report
Augusta University is hosting its eighth annual Fall Kick-Off at noon Aug. 12 at the Maxwell Theatre. The event will also be livestreamed. The event, while intended for faculty members and staff with academic roles, is open to all interested faculty and staff. …The formal presentation will begin at noon, featuring Augusta University President Brooks A. Keel, PhD and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr. Neil MacKinnon. To conclude the session, MacKinnon will conduct a short Q&A.
Statesboro Herald
Kiwanis launches project to send Bulloch grades 1-5 students to GS field trip sites
Destinations: Museum, Botanic Garden, Wildlife Center, Planetarium, Gretsch Music Collection
Al Hackle/Staff
With the presentation of a $20,800 check Thursday, the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro launched a cooperative project to send all Bulloch County Schools first- through fifth-grade students on field trips to one of five outreach centers on the Statesboro campus of Georgia Southern University this school year. If the program continues for five years, students now in first grade, by the time they complete fifth grade, will have visited the Georgia Southern Museum, the Botanic Garden, the Center for Wildlife Education with its Lamar Q Ball Jr. Raptor Center, the Georgia Southern University Planetarium and, the newest attraction, the Gretsch Collection of musical instruments and experiences.
WTOC
Summer Bonanza hosts media institute for kids
By Camille Syed
A youth mentor summer program is wrapping up this years activities with a media institute for their junior journalist. Summer Bonanza leaders mentored 80 children from ages six to 17 every Saturday since school ended in May. Over the summer, children joined the Georgia Southern Chapter of LINKS to become a little journalist and explore Savannah. Tomorrow, the child with the best video will be rewarded.
Augusta CEO
Healthy Grandparents Program Donates Backpacks, Supplies to Local Families
Staff Report
The Healthy Grandparents Program handed out more than 150 backpacks filled with school supplies, as well as blankets and other necessities, in preparation for the new school year on July 29 at the Henry Brigham Community Center. The program was established at Augusta University’s College of Nursing in January 1999 to provide physical, emotional and social support to grandparents and great-grandparents raising their grandchildren aged 0-17.
KPVI
UGA Extension celebrates pollinator advocate Rosalynn Carter’s 95th birthday
By Jordan Powers
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is partnering with the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail to honor the former first lady’s work in pollinator conservation with a unique 95th birthday initiative. “We are asking gardeners and pollinator advocates to post a message for former First Lady Carter on social media wishing her a happy birthday or thanking her for her years of work in pollinator conservation,” Becky Griffin, community and school garden coordinator for the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, said. “We are encouraging people to be inventive with their posts, maybe creating a short video or posting a photo of their pollinator garden.” Griffin, who also coordinates the Great Georgia Pollinator Census, added that celebrating Carter’s 95th birthday is a special way to kick off the 2022 event. Carter will turn 95 on Aug. 18, the day before the pollinator census on Aug. 19 and 20.
Albany Herald
Georgia 4-H celebrates excellence at 79th annual 4-H State Congress
By Josie Smith
Top 4-Hers from around the state gathered in Atlanta recently to celebrate the 79th annual 4-H State Congress, an event packed with competition and recognition. State Congress includes the state-level Project Achievement and Leadership in Action contests and acknowledges youth development professionals, supporters and public officials for their contributions to the success of 4-H in Georgia. Students who place first at state-level competitions in Georgia 4-H earn the title of “Master 4-Her.” During State Congress, 204 delegates competed in 50 Project Achievement areas and seven delegates competed in the Leadership in Action contest; one individual from each project area and two Leadership in Action competitors received Master 4-Her status. More than 48,000 members participated in Project Achievement this year through 4-H programs at the county level. This essential Georgia 4-H program element empowers young people with leadership, creativity, public speaking and record-keeping skills that will last a lifetime. At the high school level, students choose a project of interest from a list of areas that include agriculture, human development, performing arts, communication, engineering and work force. …Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp received the 2022 Georgia 4-H Green Jacket Award. This prestigious award is presented to individuals who have shown outstanding, significant and ongoing statewide support to the program. …For more information about Georgia 4-H, contact a UGA Extension office or visit georgia4h.org.
WGAU Radio
African civic leaders study at UGA
“UGA is incredibly fortunate to be able to host such a distinguished group of young African leaders”
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia played host to a delegation of more than two dozen civic leaders from Africa as part of a US State Department-funded arrangement with the Mandela Washington Fellowship. The officials from Africa spent six weeks in Athens.
From Katie Cowart, UGA Today…
The University of Georgia recently hosted 25 of Africa’s bright, emerging civic engagement leaders for a six-week Leadership Institute, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), empowers young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, networking, professional opportunities and local community engagement.
The Business Journals
Atlanta startup Vacmobile Corp. joins Georgia Tech’s ATDC
By Zach Armstrong – Tech and Innovation Reporter
Vacmobile Corp. is the latest startup accepted into an Atlanta program that has helped generate some of the city’s most successful tech companies. Vacmobile software allows users to upload their immunization history on a mobile device to send that data where it’s required. It will join the Advanced Technology Development Center’s Accelerate portfolio. ATDC is a business accelerator based out of the Georgia Institute of Technology that has launched over 190 startups since 1980 such as Salesloft and Playon! Sports. Vacmobile will remain housed in Tech Alpharetta but will work with ATDC’s mentors to scale.
MSN
Dementia: Blood vessel disease may worsen cognitive decline, new study finds
Christopher Sharp
One of these risk factors for dementia is the health of the body’s cardiovascular system; the healthier this is the healthier the brain should be. The reason for this is because a strong heart will be able to pump the maximum amount of oxygen around the body to the organs, such as the brain, which need it the most. The presence of cardiovascular disease can affect cardiovascular health and thus the amount of oxygen fed to the crucial centres of the brain. A new study undertaken by Augusta University in the United States has looked at how a type of disease affecting the blood vessels can in turn affect neurological health.
Researchers found disease in these blood vessels affects the white matter in the brain; the impact of this is reduced cognitive function and memory in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.
WSB-TV
Researchers catch record-breaking lake sturgeon in Georgia’s Coosa River
By WSBTV.com News Staff
Researchers from the University of Georgia have caught the largest lake sturgeon ever reported to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. DNR officials say the researchers caught 52 inch, 24 pound lake sturgeon from a portion of the Coosa River in Rome. They say the fish is the largest of its species that they’ve since they began stocking the native species in 2001. Before releasing the fish back into the river, it was implanted with a radio tag so researchers and DNR officials can continue to monitor it.
Savannah Morning News
Jellyfish plentiful in waters off Tybee beach this time of year. What you need to know
Warm ocean water temperature, easterly winds bringing ‘smacks’ of jellyfish closer to shore
Nancy Guan
What’s soft, squishy but probably not so cuddly? A group of jellyfish, or a “smack”, as Bryan Fluech, associate director of the Marine Extension at the University of Georgia, calls it. During this time of year, Tybee Island’s warm waters draw in more visitors than ever, both in human and jelly form, which could lead to a higher number of jellyfish stings, said Fluech. Beachgoers are constantly sharing the surf with different walks of marine life that call the ocean their home. And more often than not, it’s the blooms of jellyfish that sway at the mercy of the ocean current. Last weekend, strong easterly winds blowing against the shores led to a larger presence of these gelatinous creatures and a higher-than-usual number of stings. A little over 300 stings were reported last Saturday, according to the Tybee Island Fire Department (TIFD), whereas the average sits around 150-200 per day.
Accuweather
Robots team up to help gather hurricane data in Atlantic Ocean
They’ll be focusing their joint mission on the edge of the Gulfstream, a strong ocean current that moves warm water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean.
Inside Higher Ed
The Growth of Part-Time Readers
Institutions with surging applications find that they can’t manage them all without help. Some admissions leaders worry about the trend, but most accept it.
By Scott Jaschik
Admissions offices are gearing up for another year and planning for the annual influx of applications. Highly competitive colleges and universities, which receive applications from tens of thousands more students than they could ever accept, experienced a surge in applications over the last two years and expect that trend to continue. This means they’ll need to hire more people to read more applications. At many colleges, that means hiring more part-time readers. Most admissions offices at competitive colleges have been doing so for decades, from well before the pandemic. But the numbers are going up. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, about 60 part-timers will be hired this year. Richard A. Clark, director of undergraduate admission, 15 readers were hired five years ago compared to three to five readers a decade ago.
Other News:
Medical Xpress
Fatigue, headache among top lingering symptoms months after COVID
Fatigue and headache were the most common symptoms reported by individuals an average of more than four months out from having COVID-19, investigators report. Muscle aches, cough, changes in smell and taste, fever, chills and nasal congestion were next in the long line of lingering symptoms. “Our results support the growing evidence that there are chronic neuropsychiatric symptoms following COVID-19 infections,” Medical College of Georgia investigators write in the journal Brain, Behavior, & Immunity. “There are a lot of symptoms that we did not know early on in the pandemic what to make of them, but now it’s clear there is a long COVID syndrome and that a lot of people are affected,” says Dr. Elizabeth Rutkowski, MCG neurologist and the study’s corresponding author. The published study reports on preliminary findings from the first visit of the first 200 patients enrolled in the COVID-19 Neurological and Molecular Prospective Cohort Study in Georgia, or CONGA, who were recruited on average about 125 days after testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. CONGA was established at MCG early in the pandemic in 2020 to examine the severity and longevity of neurological problems and began enrolling participants in March 2020 with the ultimate goal of recruiting 500 over five years.
Albany Herald
Counties with highest COVID-19 infection rates in Georgia
Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest COVID-19 infection rates in Georgia using data from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Stacker compiled a list of the counties with highest COVID-19 infection rates in Georgia using data from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and vaccination data from Covid Act Now. Counties are ranked by the highest infection rate per 100,000 residents within the week leading up to August 2, 2022. Cumulative cases per 100,000 served as a tiebreaker.
Keep reading to see whether your county ranks among the highest COVID-19 infection rates in your state. (Countdown starts from #50)
Counties with highest COVID-19 infection rates in Georgia
#1. Sumter County, GA; – New cases per 100k in the past week: 593 (175 new cases, +13% change from previous week)
#2. Thomas County, GA; – New cases per 100k in the past week: 540 (240 new cases, +100% change from previous week)
#3. Schley County, GA; – New cases per 100k in the past week: 495 (26 new cases, +189% change from previous week)
#4. Miller County, GA; – New cases per 100k in the past week: 490 (28 new cases, 0% change from previous week)
#5. Grady County, GA; – New cases per 100k in the past week: 487 (120 new cases, +60% change from previous week)
Higher Education News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
50-year-old program supports students beyond graduation
By H.M. Cauley, For the AJC
Fifty years ago, the Communities in Schools initiative launched in Atlanta to support students with whatever it takes to keep them in school. Since then, the program has spread to 26 states and served about 1.6 million. In the metro area, CIS works in four districts with 62 schools, most of which have low academic performance records. “We place site coordinators in those schools to deal with the barriers that keep students from being educated and participating in the American dream,” said CEO Frank Brown, who has been with the organization for eight years. “We have a three-tier service: We identify attendance, academic and behavioral problems that speak to dropping out or a student not earning a high school diploma.” …This year, CIS solidified plans to go beyond elementary and high school levels to assist program alums who moved on to college. “We say high school isn’t enough,” said Brown. “We started helping 11th and 12th graders get ready for the SATs, even helping with fees and filling out FAFSA forms to get over the barriers that might keep them from getting into college.” The alum program has about 164 participants in college, tech schools or the military. They’re supported with funds to cover tuition and transportation costs, provided they maintain a 2.5 GPA and come back to do community service work.
The Hechinger Report
Spiraling rents are wreaking havoc on college students seeking housing for the fall
Big hikes are forcing students deeper into debt, risk pushing more out of school altogether
by Jon Marcus
… Rents have gone up more than 9 percent over the last year in Berkeley, according to Zillow. Nationwide, they’ve risen 14 percent, on average, the real estate firm Redfin reports — and by even more than that in cities tracked by Realtor.com that have large student populations, such as Boston (up 24 percent), New York (21 percent) and Austin, Texas (20 percent). That’s becoming a huge problem for college students faced with spiraling off-campus housing costs. It’s also spilling over into long waiting lists for less-expensive on-campus dorms. Off-campus living isn’t necessarily by choice. Few universities have space to accommodate all of their students on campus, and most require some to live off campus for at least part of the time they’re enrolled. …Not all colleges and universities are in major cities or in college towns such as Ithaca and Ann Arbor. But the price of off-campus student housing is up about 6 percent nationally.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
An expansionist mind-set could lead to a disastrous future.
By James Rushing Daniel
Higher education is fanatical about growth. Institutionally, colleges strive to increase their enrollments, campus acreage, and endowments. As a sector, higher ed is marketing itself to ever more students, expanding online, and padding the ranks of administrators. In lockstep with the business world, colleges have also framed prosperity as necessarily tied to economic growth. Institutions broadly champion the goods of profit, development, and technological innovation. They present themselves as essential to the building of individual wealth and broader societal and economic advancement. As Barack Obama put it in 2014 at Northwestern University (which over the course of a decade expanded its research funding by nearly half a billion dollars and its campus by 3.5 million square feet), “This is a university that is brimming with the possibilities of a new economy — your research and technology; the ideas and the innovation; the training of doctors and educators, and scientists and entrepreneurs. You can’t help but visit a campus like this and feel the promise of the future.”
Health Day News
Skip the Texts: Face-to-Face Meetings Make College Students Happier
Alan Mozes
In a world where everyone spends more and more time with eyes fixed on their phones, new research suggests young people feel happier after socializing with friends in person rather than virtually. The conclusion is an outgrowth of nearly four years spent analyzing how social habits of more than 3,000 college students affected their state of mind. “The findings of this study suggest that talking to people face to face makes us feel better than texting back and forth, for example,” said James Maddux, senior scholar at the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being in Fairfax, Va., who reviewed the results. He said it’s important because people are increasingly relying on “media-mediated communication” such as email, texting, Facebook posts and comments at the expense of actually meeting and talking with people. So the findings, Maddux suggested, offer “a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the ways that different types of social interactions affect the well-being of different types of people in different types of situations.”
Inside Higher Ed
Preventing Serious Accidents on Campus
A new bill introduced in the House would require colleges to submit information to the federal government on serious injuries and deaths that occur from accidents.
By Meghan Brink
…Colleges are required to collect data on instances of serious crime that occurs on campus that are submitted to the federal government through the CLERY Act, a law named after Jeanne Clery, a student who was raped and murdered in a dorm at Lehigh University in 1986. This includes hate crimes, fires, sexual assault domestic violence and substance abuse. Information on accidents, despite being the leading cause of death among college students according to the American College Health Association, are not collected by colleges. …A bipartisan bill introduced in the House in July could change this. The so-called College Operational Reporting of Emergencies Involving Teens and Young Adults Safety (COREY) Act , introduced by Representatives Joe Courtney and Jim Himes, both Democrats from Connecticut, would amend the CLERY Act of 1990 to require colleges to disclose instances resulting in “serious harm or death” in their annual safety report. This includes any accidents related to slips, bike or motor vehicle accidents, drowning, or alcohol or drug overdoses. This data would help campuses make informed decisions on policies and procedures needed to improve campus safety.
Inside Higher Ed
Emporia State will close its campus child care center next year. Parents are pushing back, highlighting the nationwide shortage of affordable options in higher education and beyond.
By Josh Moody
Emporia State University plans to close its campus child care facility at the end of next August, and already parents are stressed. The announcement was made in May, but even 15 months feels like short notice given the limited options for child care in rural Kansas. The move has become a source of friction on campus. “Many, like myself, thought surely ESU wouldn’t just not provide childcare!” biological sciences professor Erika Martin said by email. “My initial reaction was outrage and disbelief—but now I would describe my feelings more as disappointed but not surprised.” But the drama playing out over one child care center in Kansas is a microcosm of the struggles felt across higher education and the broader business world as workers struggle to find coverage for their kids. Experts note that while jobs are plentiful, many eligible candidates are frozen out of the workforce by their inability to secure affordable child care. Adding to workforce concerns, a recent report from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that a lack of childcare subsidies or discounts was one the highest areas of dissatisfaction for employee in higher education, many of whom are considering leaving their jobs.
USA TODAY
Steve Berkowitz
Five U.S. senators joined in reintroducing legislation Thursday that would dramatically alter the compensation and treatment of athletes in major-college sports programs. It also would place new annual reporting requirements on schools regarding their compliance with Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs. The bill, again being named the “College Athletes Bill of Rights,” is similar to a measure that Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced in late December 2020. At that time, a Congressional session was coming to a close amid the need to pass year-end spending bills and COVID-19 relief measures, so it was understood the measure would need to be brought up again. This time, Booker and Blumenthal are being joined by three other Democrats: Brian Schatz, Hawaii; Ron Wyden, Ore., and Alex Padilla, Calif. However, throughout Congressional conversations about college sports that have occurred since states began passing laws that allow athletes to make money from the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL), Republicans have been interested in legislation that is limited almost exclusively to standardizing issues connected to NIL.
Higher Ed Dive
$6B borrower defense settlement gets tentative OK, but colleges can intervene
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
A federal judge Thursday tentatively approved a $6 billion class-action settlement between the U.S. Department of Education and student loan borrowers who say their colleges misled them — while also ruling those institutions can weigh in on the case. The proposed settlement is “fair, reasonable, and adequate” to borrowers to be covered by the class action, U.S. District Judge William Alsup wrote. Four colleges have moved to intervene in the case, Alsup wrote in a separate order. Alsup set an Aug. 25 deadline by which other interested parties must file motions to intervene. If those motions are approved, the colleges will become legal parties in a suit that was originally just between the students and the Education Department. The court will determine if the settlement is fair at a final hearing set for Nov. 3.
EdSurge
What a New Strategy at 2U Means for the Future of Online Higher Education
By Phil Hill
The fortunes of Online Program Management companies, or OPMs, are falling fast these days. These companies, which help colleges set up online programs and often help finance them as well in exchange for a cut of revenues, have lately seen a barrage of bad news. Wiley posted an 8 percent drop in university partner enrollment for its OPM segment, Pearson lost its biggest OPM customer (Arizona State University) and reported falling enrollments (1 percent) and revenue (2 percent), Coursera saw a 4 percent drop in revenue and lowered full-year guidance, 2U dropped its full-year revenue guidance by 10 percent and began an across-the-board 20 percent set of layoffs, and FutureLearn reported that it may not survive another year without new investment. What happened to this market that many analysts consistently describe as profitable and growing, and that many critics fret would take over and privatize much of higher education?
Higher Ed Dive
President Speaks: What Agnes Scott College learned about recreating in-person experiences online
The private women’s college prides itself on offering in-person experiences, but it had to switch gears during the early days of the pandemic.
By Leocadia I. Zak
Leocadia I. Zak is the president of Agnes Scott College, an independent nonprofit institution in Georgia.
How do you provide students with an array of enriching experiences when the world is shutting down? That’s the question my Agnes Scott College colleagues and I had to answer as the COVID-19 pandemic began to make its way across the world in 2020. For our campus, in particular, it was a question that posed an enormous challenge. Agnes Scott’s education is distinguished by an innovative global learning curriculum called SUMMIT. Each step of a student’s degree is enriched by added coursework and experiences that prepare women to lead in the world. Through our Global Journeys program, for instance, every first-year student spends a week in one of a number of destinations, most of which are abroad. They study the destination for an entire semester before they experience it. In another program — the Sophomore Class Atlanta Leadership Experience, or SCALE — second-year students spend a week in an Atlanta workplace, shadowing a business or nonprofit leader. Both of these in-person experiences add resonance to the global exploration taking place in the classroom.
Higher Ed Dive
Meet 2 professors studying the faculty who teach critical race theory where it’s under fire
Kaleb Briscoe and Veronica Jones Baldwin are also examining legislation targeting the academic construct that’s become a political flashpoint.
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Kaleb Briscoe’s and Veronica Jones Baldwin’s introduction to critical race theory came years ago when they were in graduate school. Briscoe, now an educational leadership professor at Mississippi State University, and Jones Baldwin, a counseling and higher education professor at University of North Texas, both anchor their scholarship in diversity and institutionalized racism. They found critical race theory — a decades-old academic framework that examines racism’s structural nature — matched their interests. They said it still guides their teaching practices today. … Briscoe and Jones Baldwin want to know more about how these limitations trickle down into the K-12 and college classrooms. They are in the early phases of research, supported by a $50,000 Spencer Foundation grant, to study legislation nationwide, how lawmakers publicly present critical race theory, and their core arguments against it. The professors’ respective institutions also chipped in funding.