University System News
FOX 31
ABAC now offers new Criminal Justice degree program
by Ty’Tierra Grant
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has now introduced a new Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice degree program and is allowing current students as well as professionals working in the law enforcement field to enroll. Classes in the new four-year degree program will begin during the spring semester, and school officials believe it will be an asset to current students as well as those already employed in law enforcement. The degree is offered online as part of the eMajor initiative from the University System of Georgia.
AllOnGeorgia
Ogeechee Technical College Offering Georgia Film Academy Courses in Spring, Registration Open
By AllOnGeorgia
Registration for spring sections of Georgia Film Academy’s (GFA) Introduction to Film & Television Post-Production (GFA 1040/FILM 1045) is now open at Ogeechee Technical College. The new career path being offered by the College is a cooperative academic arrangement with the Georgia Film Consortium (GFC). […] Ogeechee Technical College is a member of the consortium, which is supported by GFA as a part of a unique-in-the-nation, statewide collaboration involving the University System of Georgia, Technical College System of Georgia and independent higher education institutions offering professional courses in film, television, digital entertainment, esports and game development.
41 NBC
Georgia College named ‘Most Engaged Campus’ for student voting
By Lizbeth Gutierrez
The recognition comes from the national organization “All in Campus Democracy Challenge.” Georgia College was recognized for being a “most engaged campus” for college student voting. According to Rhetoric Professor Jan Hoffmann, the project has helped them get their voting percentage up over the years. Hoffmann says the number of student voters has continued to increase throughout the years and that their goal is to reach 100% of registered student voters. “13% of Georgia College students voted in the 2012 presidential election,” Hoffman said. “In the 2020 presidential election, 77% of students voted.”
WALB
Construction of new nursing, health simulation facility begins at ASU
By WALB News Team
Construction of a new facility at Albany State University (ASU) begins Monday, according to the university. The new Nursing and Health Sciences Simulation Facility is being built on ASU’s west campus. University officials said the facility will “create opportunities to support and enable collaboration with other programs in the region and will include space for simulation labs with low, medium and high-fidelity manikins, control rooms, observation spaces, related hospital simulation spaces, work areas, and more.”
Grice Connect
By Grice Connect
Georgia Southern University’s Institute for Health Logistics and Analytics has garnered a $15.7 million contract with the Georgia Department of Public Health to manage COVID-19 mitigation efforts in Georgia’s K-12 schools to help keep schools operating safely. Through this contract, IHLA staff will support the implementation of COVID-19 mitigation strategies in K-12 schools by coordinating resource acquisition and delivery.
Marietta Daily Journal
New initiative seeks to increase the diversity of companies that contract with the state
By Rebecca Grapevine Capitol Beat News Service
State and local government contracts with businesses to provide goods and services amount to about $4.5 billion each year. A report the Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) issued last month outlines steps the state could take to ensure small and minority-owned businesses have a shot at winning those lucrative pieces of the state business pie. The report stems from an executive order Gov. Brian Kemp signed last July requiring the DOAS to explore ways to increase the amount of state business conducted by small businesses and businesses owned by minorities, women and veterans. […] The new report recommends appointing a small business liaison at each state agency and University System of Georgia institutions to help facilitate business owners’ access to the bidding process. The liaison would conduct outreach and training and help identify bid opportunities.
The Mirror
Student on first ever flight alone kicked off by crew for having nut allergy
By Kelly-Ann Mills
Marissa Williamson, a business major at Georgia Highlands College in the US, had travelled to Malaysia to visit family with her mother AikWah Leow. But as Marissa boarded her return flight with Turkish Airlines alone so she could get back to her studies she was soon terrified she wouldn’t make it home. She told the Mirror: “I had been to the flight desk before I checked in and informed them about my allergy so they could let the crew know, we had done this on the way out too. Marissa was checked in and sat in her seat in row 16 when the head flight attendant and airline manager approached her to talk about her condition.
Other News
Wired
This Copyright Lawsuit Could Shape the Future of Generative AI
By Will Knight
THE TECH INDUSTRY might be reeling from a wave of layoffs, a dramatic crypto-crash, and ongoing turmoil at Twitter, but despite those clouds some investors and entrepreneurs are already eyeing a new boom—built on artificial intelligence that can generate coherent text, captivating images, and functional computer code. But that new frontier has a looming cloud of its own. A class-action lawsuit filed in a federal court in California this month takes aim at GitHub Copilot, a powerful tool that automatically writes working code when a programmer starts typing.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As rising temps reshape Georgia’s fruit industry, citrus takes root
By Drew Kann
Citrus farmers and experts say several variables are driving the increase, but among the biggest factors is that Georgia is getting hotter. Average temperatures in the state have risen by roughly 1.44 degrees since the start of the 20th century. Growing citrus in South Georgia can still be a risky proposition, as hard freezes can wipe out entire groves…“I’m sure folks are looking south into Florida and seeing, ‘Well, what do they grow?’” said Pam Knox, an agricultural climatologist at the University of Georgia…The Starretts harvested their first berry crop in 2019 and joined a blueberry industry that represents one of the state’s most valuable commodities, worth an estimated $304 million annually according to the most recent estimates from UGA. Zilfina Rubio Ames, an assistant professor and small fruit specialist at UGA based in Tifton, said the blueberry growers she works with are concerned about the shifting climate. On top of that, they are facing other threats to their economic viability.
Higher Education News
Inside Higher Ed
A Step Toward Outcomes-Based Funding for Texas 2-Year Colleges
By Sara Weissman
State funding for Texas community colleges, long distributed based mostly on student credit hours, would reward institutions for helping students transfer, graduate and move into high-demand fields under a new model proposed by a state commission. The recommendations, in a report released Thursday by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, would, if approved by state legislators, create a much more outcomes-focused approach that is expected to result in more funding, especially for small and rural community colleges.
Inside Higher Ed
N.C. A&T Fined $2M for Admitting Too Many Out-of-Staters
By Scott Jaschik
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors has fined North Carolina A&T State University $2 million for admitting too many out-of-state residents, WFMY News reported.
Inside Higher Ed
When a College President Decides to Leave
By Roger Martin
Why do presidents decide to leave their institutions? Age is often the reason, of course. Having finished the job is another reason. Other presidents decide to leave out of sheer exhaustion, which is happening more often these days in the wake of the pandemic. What are some of the right and wrong ways for a president to step down?
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Colleges Brace for More Pregnant and Parenting Students
By Kelly Field
Pregnant and parenting students have been protected under Title IX, which bans gender discrimination in schools and colleges, since it was signed into law in 1972. Yet 50 years after the passage of Title IX, some faculty members and administrators still aren’t sure what the law says about pregnant and parenting students, advocates and lawyers said. That could soon change. As part of the update proposed to Title IX rules this past summer, the Biden administration made explicit its expectations of colleges — including careful record-keeping about pregnant students — and affirmed that the law covers lactation.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A Week After U. of Idaho Students Were Killed, a Lack of Information Sows Fear and Confusion
By Marcela Rodrigues-Sherley
It has been a week since the police found four University of Idaho students dead at a house just steps from the campus, but no arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified, fueling fear and uncertainty among students and faculty.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Channeling Orwell, Judge Blasts Florida’s ‘Dystopian’ Ban on ‘Woke’ Instruction
By Jack Stripling
After his decisive victory in the Florida governor’s race last week, Ron DeSantis dubbed the Sunshine State as the place “where ‘woke’ goes to die.” But a federal judge on Thursday pushed back against that notion, blocking the State University System of Florida from enforcing through regulation a new law that puts strict limits on what professors can teach or say about race in the classroom.
Higher Ed Dive
What changed in 2 years since Grinnell said it would try no-loan financial aid
By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
In November 2020, colleges and their millions of students were smarting from the economic sting of the coronavirus pandemic. The budget crunches often meant it was time for austerity. But that month, Grinnell College, a private liberal arts institution in central Iowa, bucked trends. It announced it would devote $5 million a year to excise loans from attendees’ financial aid packages, enabling them to rely solely on grants, scholarships and money earned from student employment. It set the changes to take effect fall 2021 for all applicants who qualify for need-based aid.