University System News
Capitol Beat News Service
WellStar, Augusta University unveil planned partnership
By Dave Williams
Marietta-based WellStar Health System and Augusta University Health System (AUHS) have signed a letter of intent to form a partnership, the two systems announced Tuesday. The proposed partnership, subject to a final agreement and regulatory approval, would let WellStar create a broader affiliation with Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia (MCG) as AUHS joins the WellStar system.
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WJBF
AU Health, Atlanta-based Wellstar Health announce intent for merger and partnership
By Joey Gill
WSB-TV
Wellstar announces new partnership with Augusta University Health System
By WSBTV.com News Staff
WRDW
AU Health, MCG plan to join Wellstar Health System
By Staff
FOX 5
Wellstar, Augusta University Health System to form partnership
By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wellstar, Augusta University Health developing plan for a partnership
By Ariel Hart
The Valdosta Daily Times
$56K starting police salary recommended
By Asia Ashley
A Georgia study committee is recommending that starting law enforcement salaries in the state start at the national average, which could mean a significant pay increase for many officers. The recommendation is among several by the State and Local Law Enforcement Salaries Study Committee to help recruit and retain workers in the grueling profession. Butch Ayers, executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, told the committee of the national average of $56,000 at a previous meeting. Other recommendations from the committee include: Encouraging the University System of Georgia to work with the Georgia Public Safety Training Center to create a law enforcement degree and encouraging the University System of Georgia to expand the number of universities that accept Georgia Public Safety Training Center coursework toward degree credits.
Other News
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Playbook for 2023: How to avoid leaving talent on the sidelines
By Marq Burnett
Even during a competitive job market, experts say employers are leaving a significant amount of talent on the sidelines.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Everything you need to know about Georgia’s congressional delegation, 2023-2024
By Tia Mitchell
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock will be sworn in for his first full six-year term in the Senate, and two new Republicans will join the state’s U.S. House delegation. Meanwhile, 12 incumbents from Georgia will be returning to their seats in the House.
Harvard Business Review
7 Principles to Attract and Retain Older Frontline Workers
By Paul Irving, Bob Kramer, Jacquelyn Kung, and Ed Frauenheim
Facing high inflation, jittery markets, and retirement accounts at risk, many older adults want and need to work longer. Employers, confronting skills deficits and workforce shortages, are desperate to hire, especially for frontline roles. An emerging body of research also confirms that older employees bring a collaborative spirit to the workplace and enable organizations to benefit from the diversity of intergenerational teams — blending the energy of youth and the experience of age. To explore how companies can best tap this labor pool, we conducted a study that includes both interviews and survey data of 35,000 older, experienced employees in the United States.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Atlanta’s lack of retail space expected to cause wave of revitalization projects
By Tyler Wilkins
Despite predictions of an apocalypse for brick-and-mortar retail, Atlanta businesses are competing for a limited amount of available storefronts. There are challenges to building new space.
Atlanta Inno
Five Atlanta startups raised more than $100M each in 2022
By Zach Armstrong
It’s time to look back on the biggest venture capital raises for Atlanta startups in 2022. These companies were able to achieve sizable raises just before an investor pullback led to a shrinking of venture capital. That shift in the market caused companies to cut costs rather than continue expanding. Oftentimes, that also meant layoffs.
Capitol Beat News Service
How Georgia’s new Medicaid work requirement program will work
By Rebecca Grapevine
After years of legal wrangling, the countdown to the July 1, 2023, launch date of Georgia’s Medicaid work requirements program is underway. The new plan – officially called Pathways to Coverage – will require enrollees to complete 80 hours of work, education, job training, or community service per month to get Medicaid health insurance. Many will also have to pay a monthly premium. Once the program begins, Georgia will be the sole state with work requirements for Medicaid.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘My entire apartment was raining’: Frozen pipes to sully Atlanta for weeks
By Zachary Hansen
Instead of jingle bells or the crackle of a warm fire, Monica Lee was abruptly awoken Christmas Eve morning by a blaring alarm system and rushing water. The pipes in her southwest Atlanta apartment had burst during the weekend’s winter freeze. “My entire apartment was raining,” Lee said, saying the deluge displaced her and her 6-year-old son. Lee isn’t alone, and the prolonged arctic blast froze pipes throughout metro Atlanta, prompting viral videos of water pouring into Atlanta landmarks like Lenox Square Mall and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The freeze forced many families to leave their homes, restaurants to shut their doors, government buildings to close and MARTA to alter train service.
Higher Education News
Forbes
Some Day In Higher Education: Predictions And Possibilities For A Jolly Academic New Year
By Ann Kirschner
As we come around the corner of 2023, here are ten predictions for higher education. Maybe these are really more like possibilities, or wishes, or something akin to New Year’s Resolutions.
Forbes
Higher Education Sees Significant Increases In New Federal Funding Bill
By Michael T. Nietzel
Congress is trying to pass a roughly $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill this week that will keep the federal government open through next September. Lawmakers have been hammering out an agreement that includes funding for policies authorized previously by Congress as well as several new priorities. It provides $858 billion for defense funding and $772.5 billion for non-defense discretionary items.
The Brunswick News
The student debt crisis has one solution — public funding
By Melissa Trussell
Economics is often defined as the study of the allocation of limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants. In other words, it’s the study of how to slice the pie. Modern economic theory focuses less on who gets how much pie and more on making sure that the pie is large and that the entire pie is enjoyed. This is the economist’s definition of efficiency — no pie is left on the table. In our current education market, pie is being left on the table due to inefficiencies in the way education is financed.
The Denver Post
Colorado colleges rethink how to address increasing student hunger: “Can’t afford to eat”
By Elizabeth Hernandez
Metropolitan State University of Denver’s newest strategy to address student hunger is Rowdy’s Corner — a 1,000-square-foot former campus convenience store turned free-food-and-supplies stop for students. The Auraria Campus institution is intentionally avoiding calling the location a “food pantry” in an attempt to shed the stigma students may have around the term and encourage them to use the offerings shame-free.
Inside Higher Ed
How Might Elite Institutions Better Meet the Needs of Underserved Student Populations?
By Steven Mintz
You may have read that Georgetown University is launching an online part-time bachelor’s degree completion program in liberal studies in partnership with Coursera. The online program will be offered worldwide for $400 a credit hour, which would add up to $48,000 for a complete 120 credits – but which could be as “little” as $22,400 if transfer credits and military training were applied. That figure is much cheaper than average list price of $1,586 for an in-person education at a private institution. But it’s substantially more expensive than the cost of face-to-face, interactive learning at a community college or at many broad access regional or urban publics. So what, I asked myself and some colleagues, is the value of undergraduate extension programs?
CPR News
By Stina Sieg
The federal government is in the middle of an investigation into the more than 400 Native American boarding schools that operated in the U.S. for a century and a half. Many students were sent to them against the will of their families as part of the government’s policy of assimilating Native people into white culture. Unmarked graves have been found at more than 50 schools. Historians have called it “cultural genocide.” Now, at some institutions like Fort Lewis College, there’s a push to confront this violent past — and take back education for Native people.
Greeley Tribune
Colorado colleges and universities see 2% increase during free application days
By Anne Delaney
Colorado students saved more than $2.7 million in fees and submitted nearly 64,00 applications to participating colleges and universities this fall during the fifth annual Colorado free application days. The state’s free application days were held Oct. 18-20, meaning all 32 public colleges and universities in Colorado — and several private institutions — allowed students to apply to the schools on those days at no cost. The days are held to inspire more Coloradans to continue their education, according to the Colorado Department of Higher Education. Participating schools received 63,976 applications, a 2% increase from 2021.