Gwinnett Daily Post
Forbes designates UGA a top university for value, career success
By Jayne Roberts
The University of Georgia was recently highlighted as one of the top public universities in the country, earning a No. 21 ranking by Forbes. The rankings compiled by the international media company seek to highlight schools that offer “an excellent education at a great price, graduate high-earners and propel students to become successful entrepreneurs and influential leaders in their fields.” In compiling the rankings, Forbes considered factors such as alumni salary, debt, graduation rate, leadership and entrepreneurial success of graduates, return on investment, retention rate and academic success. “I am pleased to see Forbes recognize the tremendous value of a University of Georgia degree,” UGA President Jere W. Morehead said. “At UGA, we take great pride in our world-class learning environment and distinctive undergraduate experience that prepare our graduates to flourish in their careers.”
The Brunswick News
By Lauren McDonald
College of Coastal Georgia saw a more than a 30% increase in freshman enrollment this fall. And for the first time in the college’s history, more than half of the freshman class hails from outside the area.
Above the Law
This Law School Is Trying To Keep Its Graduates Out Of Student Loan Debt
If only more law school models were like this.
By Staci Zaretsky
Law School loan debt We believe that the reduction of student debt is a moral imperative for all leaders in higher education. A high-quality affordable education is essentially the greatest driver in the economic and social mobility of our society.
— Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge of the University of Georgia School of Law, in comments given to Law.com in a recent interview concerning his thoughts on debt relief for law students. Rutledge said that since he became dean of the law school in 2015, he hasn’t asked for a single tuition increase.
Times-Georgian
Bridging Environmental Science learning between high school and college
By Special To The Times-Georgian
The University of West Georgia’s College of Arts, Culture and Scientific Inquiry recently hosted students and teachers from Carrollton High School for Earth Observation Day with Geoscientists, an event aimed at promoting environmental science and earth observation using various sensor devices and geospatial technologies. Dr. Brad Deline, chair of the Department of Natural Sciences, welcomed the students with an emphasis on bridging high school learning and college lab experiments.
The Georgia Virtue
Statesboro Native Receives Award For Work In Disability Advocacy
In just one year, Jill King went from a student who was forced to rethink her entire future to being a leader in her community and receiving the 2022 National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Georgia Young Leader Award. In August 2020, King, who is from Statesboro, was away at college when she became ill and began enduring chronic pain. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a condition which can cause immense pain throughout the body, and render a person disabled. Just two months after starting her college journey, King returned home to be with her parents, both of whom are Eagle alumni. In January 2021, she enrolled at Georgia Southern University as a student with a disability. That’s when she and her friends began building the foundation for an advocacy group for students with disabilities.
Rome News-Tribune
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College students place in national agricultural competition
The Albany Herald
Two Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College students recently earned Top 10 finishes in a national Agricultural Communication competition. Bryce Roland, a senior from Perry, and Emma Richwine, a junior from Bishop, received recognition in the critique and contest event held by the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. The contest featured 528 entries representing 17 schools and included competitions in writing, photography, advertising, broadcasting, and publication skills areas. … The National ACT is dedicated to “developing and strengthening agricultural communication students through professional growth opportunities and educational programs.”
WGAU Radio
Local briefs: UGA study assesses economic impact of ports, Baldwin gets new police chief
By Tim Bryant
(WSBTV.com News Staff)
Dr. Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, says ports on the Georgia cost had an annual economic impact of more than $140 billion, about twelve percent of the state’s economy. The UGA report says the ports in Savannah and Brunswick are responsible for well more than one-half million jobs across Georgia. There is an afternoon meeting of the University of Georgia’s Staff Council: the University says it is a virtual session that starts at 2:30.
WTOC
New Covid-19 testing kiosks open at Georgia Southern University
By Shea Schrader
COVID-19 numbers in Chatham County are on the decline. For the first time in months, the county is considered medium risk instead of high-risk for COVID-19. Still, health officials are remaining vigilant- and are still encouraging you to get tested if needed. A new testing option opened today at Georgia Southern, at both the Statesboro and Savannah campuses. The Georgia Department of Public Health just installed a COVID-19 testing kiosk outside the Student Union and it’s pretty easy. All you have to do is grab a test kit from the slot, fill out some information on your phone, place it in the slot and wait two days for your results. It’s a pretty simple process and some students say very convenient with their busy schedules.
Gwinnett Daily Post
Georgia Gwinnett College goalkeeper Ron Boaz earns Continental Athletic Conference award
From Staff Reports
Posting the Georgia Gwinnett College men’s soccer team’s first shutout of the 2022 season has earned sophomore goalkeeper Ron Boaz to the Continental Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week award. He stopped all three shots on goal during last Saturday’s home victory against Point University as part of the Grizzly Labor Day Classic. Boaz has made six saves across three matches this fall. He stands 3-0 on the season with wins against Reinhardt University, Point and LSU Shreveport.
Albany Herald
Albany State Athletics Hall of Fame welcomes eight new members
By Joe Whitfield Staff Correspondent
Albany State University added eight new members to the university’s athletics hall of fame Friday night in the arena on the Albany State West Campus. It was a black tie affair that was so well-attended that officials moved the event to the arena to be able to accommodate those who purchased tickets. The Meritorious Inductees were Andy Christo and Jesse Massey.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
What ‘Back to School’ Looks Like This Fall
By Audrey Williams June
The fall semester is underway at most colleges, with campuses seeking a return to normal as institutions operate with fewer pandemic restrictions in place. But what does “normal” look like this fall? On some campuses, in-person activities are the star of this year’s welcome-to-college season, such as the University of Rhode Island’s day trip to the beach or Marymount University’s new-student outing to a professional soccer match. Even as many colleges try to recreate some version of a pre-pandemic environment on campus, they’re also navigating issues that have arisen more recently. This fall they’re grappling with student-housing shortages, facing questions about abortion rights, and struggling to support students who can’t afford their basic needs.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
7 Hard-Earned Lessons From a Curriculum Makeover
How we (eventually) overhauled our core requirements, and how you can, too.
By Andrew Aylesworth, Chris Beneke, Robyn M. Betts, Nathan C. Carter, Suzanne Dove, and Jeffrey Moriarty
Five years ago, a group of us at Bentley University came to a sobering realization: Our core curriculum was older than most of our students. We had made incremental changes but had not attempted a major reform since the late 1990s. It was clear — particularly in light of increased regional competition for a shrinking number of high-school graduates — that we had to get moving. The job proved much more challenging, and took much longer, than anyone anticipated. It spanned five task forces, two college presidents, two provosts, a racial reckoning, and a global pandemic. And it forced us to think seriously about the kind of institution we were and the kind we wanted to be. In the end, we succeeded, and the experience proved immensely gratifying. But that outcome was never assured and — on more than one occasion — the whole enterprise almost came to an abrupt halt. Our story is essentially about change amid disruption. And it has implications — well beyond the type of courses that students should be required to take — that will be familiar to anyone who has mulled the fate of higher education lately. Beset by rising costs, public distrust, and demographic declines in many areas, our industry is likely to remain in this precarious state for the foreseeable future. Curriculum reform will be a key tool for ensuring every institution’s long-term relevance and success.
Inside Higher Ed
Opposing Views on the Role of Calculus
High school counselors’ views differ from those of admissions officers, who are more flexible about the mathematics courses students take.
By Scott Jaschik
When two groups, Just Equations and the National Association for College Admission Counseling, released a report in February calling on colleges to rethink the role of calculus in admissions, it provoked some controversy. In reality, calculus is rarely required for admission. But many high school and college admissions counselors consider passing calculus (preferably with a 5 on the Advanced Placement exam) as a sign of a student who is worthy of attending a top college. Just Equations and NACAC said this attitude discourages students from taking advanced mathematics courses that they may find interesting and that teach math that they will use later in life, such as statistics. To be sure, there are students who should take calculus, such as those who are preparing to study engineering or physics. But they are a distinct minority. The report wasn’t antimathematics or anticalculus. In fact, it was praised by mathematics leaders. So why do so many high school students who aren’t in that minority of students take calculus?
Inside Higher Ed
Should Professors Still Record Lectures? Maybe. Maybe Not.
The pandemic may be fading, but some students still need accommodations and flexibility, proponents say. Others argue that recorded lectures inhibit class discussion, compromise privacy and threaten faculty intellectual property rights.
By Susan D’Agostino
When Martha Alibali, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, first used lecture-capture technology last spring, she worried that her efforts might suppress in-person attendance. Many students still participated in the live class, and they shared thoughts about the policy in conversation and end-of-semester course evaluations. Those who appreciated the recordings included: students with COVID-19, long COVID, or other health struggles; athletes who traveled for competitions; those who needed to travel for important family events or emergencies; those fasting for Ramadan; one seeking to avoid encountering someone in the building who had harassed her in the past; students for whom English was their second language who wanted to relisten to the lectures; and students reviewing material before exams. Alibali had 109 students; the most watched lecture video was viewed 84 times, and the least watched lecture video was viewed 34 times. “I was astonished how many times the videos were viewed,” Alibali wrote. “And I did not receive a single email asking me if we ‘did anything important’ in lecture.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Inside the Academic-Freedom Crisis That Roiled Florida’s Flagship
A ‘Chronicle’ investigation tracks how a decision to silence professors emerged from the depths of bureaucracy.
By Emma Pettit and Jack Stripling
Last September, a professor at the University of Florida wanted to sign a scientific consensus letter about kratom, a tropical tree with pain-relieving properties. The faculty member’s proposal was forwarded to Gary Wimsett Jr., the university’s assistant vice president for conflicts of interest, who had a question: What did Ron DeSantis, the state’s Republican governor, think about kratom? Kratom has been the subject of controversy, as scientists and policy makers weigh its potential benefits against the possibility of addiction and abuse. Oliver Grundmann, the UF professor, had concluded that kratom, at least for the time being, should not be reviewed for global classification as a controlled substance; he sought approval to sign a letter in his role as a faculty member stating as much. But Wimsett wasn’t sure it was a good idea.
Inside Higher Ed
An HBCU’s Football Woes Spotlight Lack of Resources
Florida A&M’s football team called out administrators after 26 players were declared ineligible for the season opener. Now the university is facing calls for accountability.
By Josh Moody
Florida A&M University leadership is facing demands for accountability after 26 football players were declared ineligible for their season opener, which the players blamed on inadequate academic advising in a scathing letter to administrators. The letter, signed by nearly 90 players, caught the attention of national media and prompted an emergency Board of Trustees meeting in which members called on administrators to redress the many grievances listed by the football team and vowed to hold them more accountable. In addition to a lack of academic advising, the team complained about delays in financial aid disbursement, scholarship packages that don’t cover summer classes, a lack of athlete representation on the search committee for a new athletic director and a decrease in tickets allotted to players. Players say the root cause of ineligibility comes down to insufficient academic advising resulting in NCAA compliance issues, with only two staff members serving the entire athletic department in those areas.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Colleges Must Stop Trying to Appease the Right
Republicans say professors are the enemy. They’re right — we are.
By Silke-Maria Weineck
Someone must have slandered K., because without having done anything wrong, he one morning received an email from the associate dean. K. (not his real name) had indeed been denounced. A retweet of his had, so the email said, “prompted” a student’s mother to write to Mary Sue Coleman, the interim president of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, who in turn handed the matter over to the dean of the School of Literature, Science, and the Arts, who was to communicate with the parent. The task of “touching base” with my colleague was delegated to the associate dean of the humanities, who was on her way out at the time. Thus, three highly accomplished women (respective base salaries: $927,000, $483,000, $176,000) spent at least some amount of their time engaging a parent who had convinced herself that my colleague’s retweet had revealed that he was unfit to teach students of conservative persuasion such as her daughter. The letter was, he learned, quite intemperate, which I take to be Dean for unhinged. It took several days for K. to learn what his precise offense had been: endorsing, by retweet, the suggestion that the Republican Party engage in an auto-erotic act. The meeting was friendly: He was assured that the principles of free speech protected him, that this had been conveyed to the parent as well, that the dean’s office did not doubt his professionalism, and that he should feel free to do as he pleased. The school had simply wanted to inform him of the complaint. Possibly to the parent’s disappointment, he was not to be strangled at dusk, a knife twisted in his heart, his shame to outlive him. What to make of this odd and anti-climactic episode? First, we are staring at an almost comically ill-considered allocation of resources.
Higher Ed Dive
Where is the Education Department’s proposed religious liberty and free inquiry rule?
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
The U.S. Department of Education has yet to issue its regulatory proposal that would govern religious liberties and free inquiry on college campuses, despite announcing more than a year ago it planned to do so. The proposal, expected to roll back elements of a Trump-era rule, has been pending for several months with the federal Office of Management and Budget, which reviews draft regulations before they’re released for public feedback. A proposed publishing date for the regulation is listed as June this year. An Education Department spokesperson said it cannot comment on the timing of a rule’s release if it is still under interagency review. The spokesperson said officials “look forward to publishing the rule and receiving public comment.”
Higher Ed Dive
ACICS will shut down by early 2024
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
Dive Brief:
The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools is planning to shut down operations by March 2024, it said Tuesday, shortly after the U.S. Department of Education revoked recognition of the accreditor. ACICS, whose future has been in question for years, said it will not appeal the Education Department’s decision last month to pull its recognition. The department revoked recognition after determining that the accreditor continually failed to come into compliance with federal standards, sending the institutions under its purview scrambling to avoid losing access to federal financial aid. In a statement, ACICS maintained that it has been in “substantial compliance with any objective, consistent, and reasonable interpretation” of Education Department criteria. It plans to work with the 44 institutions under its purview to prepare for its dissolution.