The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Four Georgia students receive prestigious scholarship
By Eric Stirgus
Four students with Georgia ties have received the distinguished Marshall Scholarship. The scholarships offer talented young Americans the chance to study any academic subject at universities in the United Kingdom of their choice for up to 3 years. The recipients with Georgia ties are:
University of Georgia student Natalie Moss, who is majoring in human osteology and funerary archaeology. University of Georgia student Lauren Wilkes, who studies machine learning and has been interning with groups at MIT.
Named after former U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the Marshall Scholarship Program began in 1953 as a gesture of gratitude to the United States for the assistance that the United Kingdom received after World War II under the Marshall Plan. Since that time, the British government has provided scholarships for over 2,200 Americans. University of Georgia leaders said this is the first time the school had two scholars in the same year.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Jenny Pruitt announces Georgia State scholarship to share ‘what she loves’ with future generations
By Crystal Edmonson – Broadcast Editor
Georgia State University students pursuing a degree in real estate will get a little help from one of Atlanta’s biggest names in the industry. Jenny Pruitt, co-founder and executive chairman of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, has established an endowed scholarship at Georgia State. The Jenny Pruitt Excellence in Real Estate Endowment will provide financial assistance to underrepresented students who have their sights set on the real estate sector. …Pruitt, a third-generation Atlantan, said she did not have a lot growing up. She attended Georgia State University and understands the challenges that come with being “underrepresented,” whether that is as a woman in business or in some other capacity, Boehmig said. …The first three recipients are senior year students from metro Atlanta, Jennifer Cruz, Sara Kabani and Rashanda Virgil.
Marietta Daily Journal
Beloved KSU dining hall employee retires after years of serving kindness
By Brian McKeithan
At 64 years old, James Hughes, more commonly known as “Mr. James,” is retiring from his job as a dining room attendant after working in Kennesaw State University dining halls for nine years. KSU last week held a retirement celebration for Mr. James at The Commons, the campus dining hall where he worked. Students and staff waited to shake hands, hug, and say their goodbyes to him. The overwhelming sentiment in all of these interactions: we will miss you, Mr. James. Mr. James is known for providing full service at what would normally be considered a self-serve buffet. But in addition to refilling drinks, folding napkins and serving food, Mr. James would talk with students, giving out advice and listening to them as a friend.
Times-Georgian
UWG graduates record number for fall commencement
By Julie Lineback
Nearly 1,100 journeys into higher education culminated on Saturday, as the University of West Georgia graduated a record number of students during Fall Commencement ceremonies. It is each student’s journey of becoming that President Dr. Brendan Kelly called the central focus of the institution. …Of the 1,090 degrees conferred, 541 were at the graduate level, with the remaining 549 degrees being earned at the undergraduate level. All three ceremonies were live-streamed.
Albany Herald
PHOTOS: Albany State University hosts fall commencement ceremony for graduating students
Photos by Reginald Christian
Albany State University honored over 760 graduates at their fall commencement ceremony which took place on Saturday, December 10, at the Albany Civic Center. The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Dr. Walter Kimbrough, interim executive director of the Morehouse College Black Men’s Research Institute (BMRI). Dr. Walter Kimbrough is a renowned HBCU administrator.
WJCL
Video
Georgia Southern university Fall College Graduation
Albany Herald
PHOTOS: Albany State University nursing pinning ceremony
Photos by Reginald Christian
Photos from the Albany State University nursing program pinning ceremony held on Thursday, December 8.
Marietta Daily Journal
GHC and UWG establish transfer agreements for English and Spanish degrees
Staff reports
Georgia Highlands College and the University of West Georgia recently established two new articulation agreements for students seeking a bachelor’s degree. The agreements allow GHC graduates with an associate degree in English or Spanish to seamlessly transition into earning either a Bachelor of Arts in English or a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages and Literatures at UWG.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech’s Lunar Flashlight spacecraft team reaches liftoff
By Vanessa McCray
Georgia Tech students and researchers are playing a big role as mission control for an accompanying spacecraft after the launch of a SpaceX rocket. The team from Georgia Tech is operating the Lunar Flashlight, a 30-pound spacecraft that soared into space with the Falcon 9 rocket when it launched at 2:38 am. Sunday. “Lunar Flashlight made contact about an hour later (around 3:47 a.m.) after it was deployed. The satellite is healthy in space and on its way to the moon,” a Georgia Tech spokesman said in an email.
Albany Herald
ABAC professor receives statewide James T. LaPlant Award
Hans Schmeisser, a professor of political science at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, has been awarded the statewide James T. LaPlant Award for Exemplary Student Mentorship from the Georgia Political Science Association. One of the four top awards presented at the recent GPSA conference, the GPSA said the LaPlant Award “recognizes exemplary student mentors at either the undergraduate or graduate level.” The award provides recognition to a faculty member for outstanding service to students by sponsoring undergraduate student papers, student panels and/or co-authoring faculty/student collaborative papers.
Albany Herald
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College official named to University System Leadership Institute
Jodie Snow, the chief operating officer of the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Foundation Inc., has been selected to participate in the University System of Georgia Executive Leadership Institute. The ELI Class of 2022-23 includes 35 faculty and staff members from USG institutions and the University System office. For More than a decade, USG has hosted ELI for faculty and staff to develop new leaders within the system and offer professional development opportunities to help them grow their careers in Georgia.
WGAU Radio
UGA lays out plans for renovation of Holmes-Hunter Academic Building
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia sets January 9 as the date for the start of work on the renovation of UGA’s Holmes-Hunter Academic Building, the facility named in honor of the first two black students to attend the state’s flagship university. The Holmes-Hunter Academic Building is scheduled to reopen in the fall of 2024.
From the University of Georgia…
The Holmes-Hunter Academic Building Renovation project is scheduled to begin on January 9, 2023. While no immediate disruptions to pedestrian traffic are anticipated, we would like to provide the University community with an overview of what to expect in this prominent location adjacent to the Arch. The contractor will mobilize on site on January 9, 2023. Activity for January 9-13 includes installation of perimeter construction fence, tree save protection measures around adjacent canopy trees that line Herty Drive, and the placement of construction dumpsters on the southwest corner of the building.
The Georgia Virtue
The Case of the Felonious Fire Extinguisher Blasts Toward Bench Trial
By Jessica Szilagyi
Two young men charged with felony offenses for their alleged roles in the theft of a fire extinguisher are on track for a criminal bench trial in Bulloch County the week leading up to Christmas. Christian Armistead and Zachary Schiffman were charged in September 2020 with one count of Interference with Government Property. According to warrants signed by the Georgia Southern Police Department, the two allegedly committed the felonious act when they ‘participated in the theft of a fire extinguisher, property of Georgia Southern University, located on the first floor of the Southern Courtyard Building #2 and did intentionally damage said extinguisher beyond repair.”
AgFax
Field to Jar: Breeding the Best Peanut
By Maria M. Lameiras, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Whether they show up whole in a candy bar, are transformed into a sandwich spread or lend earthy notes to a spicy curry, peanuts are an important part of foodways in the U.S. and of cuisines from around the world. Georgia is the No. 1 peanut-producing state in the U.S., growing approximately 52% of the peanuts produced in the country in 2021, mostly in the state’s sandy Coastal Plain region. In 2021, Georgia producers harvested more than 3.3 billion pounds of peanuts from 750,000 acres planted. Combined with the states stretching due east from eastern New Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean — plus Missouri — and up the coast from Florida to Virginia, the peanut-producing states of the Southern U.S. grow more than 98% of the nation’s peanut crop. Consumer interest in the path of our food from “farm to fork” has increased over time, and the annual Georgia Peanut Tour — coordinated by the Georgia Peanut Commission, the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service — is one way the state’s peanut industry is demystifying the peanut production process.
Grice Connect
GSU examines the manufacturing industry’s pandemic recovery
A new research study looks to understand key economic trends in the manufacturing industry between late 2019 and early 2022
A new research study from Georgia Southern University (GSU) suggests the manufacturing industry is starting to rebound from the pandemic. “Our report illustrates that the manufacturing industry is one of the most important sectors in the coastal region’s economy,” said assistant director of GSU’s Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research (CBAER), Ben McKay. (CBAER is part of the Georgia Southern Business Innovation Group.) “Coastal manufacturers service clients across the U.S., and that range shields our region from some of the fluctuations of local business cycles, which trail a quarter behind state and national trends,” McKay continued. The research study began in January. The Coastal Regional Commission of Georgia requested the study. The commission provides planning services for 10 counties and 35 cities.
Phys Org
Molecules found in mucus could prevent cholera infection
MIT researchers have identified molecules found in mucus that can block cholera infection by interfering with the genes that cause the microbe to switch into a harmful state. These protective molecules, known as glycans, are a major constituent of mucins, the gel-forming polymers that make up mucus. The MIT team identified a specific type of glycan that can prevent Vibrio cholerae from producing the toxin that usually leads to severe diarrhea. …Julie Takagi Ph.D. ’22 is also a lead author of the paper. Katharina Ribbeck, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT, is the senior author of the study, which appears today in the EMBO Journal. Other key members of the research team are Rachel Hevey, a research associate at the University of Basel; Micheal Tiemeyer, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Georgia;
Watt Poultry
By Elizabeth Doughman
Can nanoparticles help poultry’s fight against Salmonella?
The vaccine technology could also be effective against other gut pathogens.
A biodegradable nanoparticle vaccine designed to be given orally could lead to improved Salmonella control in poultry. While poultry vaccines for Salmonella do exist, this is the first oral-killed vaccine designed to be given in ovo or by spray against the pathogen. Live-attenuated vaccines elicit mucosal immunity, but bacterial strains can regain virulence. On the other hand, killed vaccines cannot regain virulence, however multiple doses are typically required. In addition, both types have a withdrawal period. “At a certain time, this magical vaccine should not only induce an immune response, but should disappear out of the system. That’s the problem. How are you going to design a vaccine that can induce an immune response and then disappear out of the system?” Ramesh Selvaraj, Ph.D., associate professor, University of Georgia, asked at the 2022 Poultry Tech Summit.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech hires Appalachian State offensive line coach Geep Wade
By Ken Sugiura
Georgia Tech has hired Appalachian State offensive line coach Geep Wade to take the same position coaching the Yellow Jackets, a person familiar with the situation confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday night. Wade was apparently already at work Sunday evening, as Tech offensive line commit Benjamin Galloway posted a photo on his Twitter account of Wade and graduate assistant Nathan Brock visiting Galloway’s home. The hire was first reported earlier Sunday by Rivals. Wade fills the spot that was vacated by coach Brent Key when he was promoted to interim coach in late September after the dismissal of coach Geoff Collins. Brock led the offensive line for the remainder of the season with Key’s assistance.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: The college essay is not dead
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
In a guest column today, Matthew Boedy, an associate professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia, discusses the development of artificial intelligence programs that can spit out accurate and fluid essays in response to any prompt. Boedy is responding to a column in the Atlantic by English teacher Daniel Herman who writes of the new OpenAI’s ChatGPT program that “may signal the end of writing assignments altogether — and maybe even the end of writing as a gatekeeper, a metric for intelligence, a teachable skill…But most jaw-dropping of all, on a personal level: It made quick work out of an assignment I’ve always considered absolutely ‘unhackable.’ ” …Here is Boedy’s take on whether AI programs endanger writing and writing instruction.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
High-scoring students applying to selective colleges drive up applications
Most students still submit fewer than five applications, the Common App finds. But a growing handful submits as many as 20.
Rick Seltzer, Senior Editor
Students send in more college applications today than they did eight years ago, according to a Common Application analysis released Monday. And the students driving up the average are overwhelmingly applying to selective private institutions. Those facts aren’t surprising on their face. Admissions officers have long discussed a trend of students applying to more colleges, fueled in part by the growth of the Common App, which now counts more than 1,000 member colleges and handled submissions from over 1.2 million unique applicants in 2021-22. But the new analysis adds important details about how high-volume application behavior is changing, which students are sending in a large number of applications, and which colleges are seeing their application totals rise.
Inside Higher Ed
Test-Optional M.B.A. Admissions
By Scott Jaschik
Most business schools have adopted a test-optional policy for admission to their degree-granting programs, according to a survey and report from the MBA Roundtable, a global association of business schools, and Wiley. While most survey respondents show no change in most skills when considering how test-optional policies impact the student body, a number—close to two in 10—saw positive impact in the areas of leadership and social influence and creativity, originality and initiative. In contrast, skills often measured on standardized exams, such as complex problem-solving, are seen as being more negatively impacted by the test-optional policy. Application volume and the diversity of students at many business schools have increased as a result of the test-optional policy.
Inside Higher Ed
Report: Completion Rates Improve; Equity Gaps Persist
By Sara Weissman
Students are completing college on time at higher rates nationally at both four-year and two-year institutions, according to a new report by Complete College America, an organization dedicated to increasing college attainment rates. The report also found, however, that stubborn equity gaps persist. The report, released today, notes that on-time completion rates at four-year universities rose 6 percent, as did on-time completion rates at two-year colleges, from 2016 to 2021. The vast majority of members of the CCA Alliance—which includes state higher education commissions, higher ed systems and organizations focused on graduating higher numbers of students—improved their on-time completion rates, and seven members more than doubled their on-time completion rates for two-year students in the last five years.
Inside Higher Ed
Teaching Faculty to Support Student Mental Health
New resources and guidance are available for instructors keen to help students with mental health issues. Some say it’s too much to ask, others that it’s not enough to help.
By Susan H. Greenberg
…Faculty members—as well as staffers—are on the front lines of higher education’s battle to arrest declining student mental health, ravaged by nearly three years of the COVID-19 pandemic combined with such stressors as climate disasters, racial unrest, political incivility and culture wars. “Faculty are really well positioned to be part of the solution,” said Erica Riba, director of school engagement for the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to promoting emotional health and preventing suicide in young people.
…JED put out a free “Faculty Guide to Supporting Student Mental Health,” which includes a list of warning signs that a student may be seriously struggling—repeated absences, poor personal hygiene and “alarming or worrisome content in assignments” among them. It also offers some straightforward dos and don’ts. (Do: “Find a way to speak privately to the student,” for instance, and “Ask open-ended questions about how they are doing.” Don’t: “Underestimate the student’s struggles” or “Promise confidentiality—school guidelines might require you to report a student who is at immediate risk of harming themselves,” among other things.)
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Education Department Launches STEM Education Initiative
Arrman Kyaw
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has launched an initiative to bolster science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education nationally. This new Raise the Bar: STEM Excellence for All Students initiative aims to help implement equitable, high-quality STEM education for students from Pre-K to higher ed in order to ensure career readiness and global competitiveness. …As part of the initiative, ED has published a Dear Colleague Letter to state and district leaders on potential federal education fund uses to improve STEM education and partnered with Beyond100K to identify challenges to fully staffing schools with diverse, quality STEM teachers.
Inside Higher Ed
Students develop preferences and learn skills when they play online games. A new study suggests that information could help them chart their career trajectories.
By Susan D’Agostino
…Students, especially those with scant work experience, have long been coached to list in-person extracurricular and work pursuits such as athletics and internships. Now, a study in the peer-reviewed journal Simulation and Gaming indicates that online gaming could also enhance students’ career prospects. Professors and career counselors who help students think about their career trajectories might encourage them to consider their online gaming preferences and abilities. Also, students who are asked by employers to participate in online game assessments as part of a job application process might use their interest or ability in the game to infer whether they are a good fit. Finally, some researchers suggest that students’ employability could be enhanced with online gaming.
Inside Higher Ed
A College Briefly Restores Its Mask Mandate
By Scott Jaschik
Nassau Community College briefly restored its mask mandate on Friday, but it lasted only a few hours, NBC New York reported. Nassau restored the mandate, for everyone, for entering any campus building. The college said it was following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, based on an uptick in cases. But the college changed the requirement to a recommendation after a meeting with Nassau county executive Bruce Blakeman.