Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who’s who of Georgia politics in audience as Kemp is sworn in for second term
By Maya T. Prabhu
The crowd at the Georgia State Convocation Center was filled with a who’s who of Georgia politics, including former Govs. Nathan Deal and Sonny Perdue seated on the front row of Gov. Brian Kemp’s second inauguration. Legislators from both sides of the aisle, former politicians, political appointees, staff and Kemp supporters filled the new Georgia State University building, which just opened in September. Among the attendees is Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is up for another term in 2026 and is working to put his bipartisanship on display. He sat next to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who has forged a strong relationship with Kemp.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Brian Kemp inauguration 2023
Kemp announces raises for teachers and state employees
James Salzer
Teachers and state employees would get $2,000 raises under the budget plan Gov. Brian Kemp will lay out for lawmakers. Kemp made the announcement Thursday in his inaugural address at the Georgia State University Convocation Center.
Forsyth County News
‘Build on our legacies:’ UNG looks back to school’s history on 150th anniversary
FCN staff
University of North Georgia and community leaders gathered at the Dahlonega campus on Friday, Jan. 6, to look back to when the school first started classes on the same day 150 years ago in 1873.
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WGAU Radio
The Dahlonega Nugget
UNG forms committee to find next college president
By News Staff
The search for the University of North Georgia’s next president has officially begun. Recently, the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents selected a search committee to find the successor for UNG’s current President, Dr. Bonita Jacobs, who plans to resign following the end of the Spring 2023 semester after 12 years on the job. It’s a decision Jacobs made back in August.
WRDW
Augusta University sees growing interest in animation program
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WJBF
Doctors at MCG fight against a disease that disproportionately affects older Black adults
by: Tiffany Hobbs
Peripheral arterial disease is a common disease causing reduced blood flow to legs. Doctors in the area are looking into why the disease occurs more often in certain populations. Peripheral arterial disease- or PAD- occurs when vessels are blocked and can’t carry blood from the heart to the legs. “It makes it difficult to walk,” says Dr. Monique Bethel, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. “And, in the most extreme cases, because of the lack of blood flow, legs sometimes have to get amputated.” Doctors say, poor social determinants of health- like food and housing insecurity, or inability to access education- and PAD both disproportionately affect older Black adults.
The Christian Index
Campus missionary Penny Chesnut looks back on 40 years with BCM
By Henry Durand
Penny Chesnut has seen some unusual sights during her four decades serving in Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. She recalled the day she walked into the BCM building on the Tifton campus and saw a young man bathing his chicken in the kitchen sink to get it ready for a class project. Then there was the time a student thought the BCM a good place to bleach a deer’s head, again for a class project. Penny has stories aplenty to tell of the years she spent at the agricultural college. …Penny has been at Abraham Baldwin since 1978, starting as a co-advisor before being hired by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board in 1988.
Morning AgClips
Cold protection options for growing fruit and vegetables throughout the winter
UGA Extension agents answer some of the most common questions regarding cold weather
Whether you’re a home gardener or a production farmer, Georgia’s mild climate allows for a variety of fruits and vegetables to be grown throughout the entire year. However, with erratic weather events and broad temperature swings during the winter and early spring months, having a few cold protection resources on hand can help you weather the unpredictability. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) agents Jeff Cook and Laura Neyanswer some of the most common questions regarding cold weather and provide cold protection strategies that can be implemented in the garden or on the farm.
WXYZ
Could boosters for mumps be in our future?
By: Dr. Partha Nandi
Despite many people being immunized in childhood, outbreaks of mumps still occur. Since 2006, annual case numbers have varied, ranging from a few thousand cases to six thousand cases. Those numbers may sound high, but they’re still much lower than the 100,000+ cases the US dealt with back before the mumps vaccine was developed in the 1960s. Now, this new study by University of Georgia scientists analyzed decades’ worth of mumps data from the CDC and other sources. And what the researchers found was that waning immunity not only appeared to be behind the resurgence of mump cases. But they estimated that roughly one-third – 32.8% – who were vaccinated as children started to lose immunity around the age of 18. So that could explain why we often see more outbreaks among vaccinated college-age students.
WBEZ
Student mental health emerges as key issue as UIC faculty strike date looms
Strike threats aren’t uncommon at Illinois universities. What’s unusual is the focus on student mental health and how it impacts faculty workloads.
By Lisa Philip
The ballooning mental health crisis affecting college students across the country has become a focal point of stalled faculty contract negotiations at the University of Illinois Chicago. Faculty union members who are threatening to strike on Tuesday are asking for increased pay in part to compensate for larger workloads they say have resulted from their students’ heightened mental health needs. They are also asking the university to provide free psychological and neuropsychological testing for struggling students. …The UIC faculty union’s push for mental health support for students reflects a rise in social movement unionism on campuses across the United States and Canada, according to Tim Cain, an associate professor of higher education at the University of Georgia. “There’s a broader push to improve conditions not just of union members, but the conditions of the larger institutions and society,” he said. If student conditions affect faculty work conditions, Cain said, then the case can be made that they should be part of contract negotiations.
Statesboro Herald
Former GS coach Paul Johnson named to College Football Hall of Fame
Josh Aubrey
Former Georgia Southern head coach Paul Johnson will join his former players Tracy Ham and Adrian Peterson in the College Football Hall of Fame. Johnson was just one of two coaches in the 2023 class, announced Monday by the National Football Foundation.
Athens Banner-Herald
Georgia sets sights on three-peat as its budding dynasty shows no signs of slowing down
Marc Weiszer
In the city where Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal completed an NBA three-peat with the Lakers from 2000-02, Georgia’s quest to turn the trick began soon after its 65-7 destruction of TCU Monday night. “We’re going to go for it,” offensive guard Tate Ratledge said. Georgia just shook off losing 15 NFL draft picks and went 15-0 by beating opponents by nearly 27 points per game. Rinse. Reload. Repeat. “I think we can do a three-peat,” freshman defensive lineman Bear Alexander said. “Man, we’ll see. That’s the next goal. Go undefeated again. Win it again.” …No college football team has won three national titles in a row since Minnesota from 1934-36.
Sports Illustrated
Relentless: What I’ve Learned About Kirby Smart
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has just finished winning his second consecutive national title. After four years covering the sport’s greatest head coach and CEO, here’s what I’ve learned.
Brooks Austin
Kirby Paul Smart was born the son of a high school football coach Sonny Smart and his wife Sharon Smart. A product of Bainbridge, Georgia deep down in Southwest, Georgia, Smart’s story arch was always going to yield the results of a football coach. Though success wasn’t always a given, at least not at this rate. So, how did we get here? How did Kirby Smart go from Saban’s apprentice to another one of Saban’s assistants that can’t beat him, to arguably the greatest active coach in college football on top of the sport for two consecutive seasons for the first time in the college football playoff era? Well, they say success leaves clues, and after four years of observations on Kirby Smart, I think I’ve learned a few things about the man.
Athens Banner-Herald
Public art, trees, vehicles damaged during revelry in downtown Athens after Bulldogs win
Wayne Ford
The revelry in downtown Athens late Monday following the University of Georgia’s National Championship win included damage to property along the recently completed Clayton Street improvements and public art. “I know some of the planted trees were damaged and some signs. All of our information is being funneled over to the SPLOST office,” Athens-Clarke Leisure Services Assistant Director Alex Bond said Tuesday. Bond said damage is still being assessed, but a large piece of blue pipe art near the Georgia Theater was removed during the celebration. Scenes showing the piece of art being carried over a mass of people was posted on some Facebook sites.
Dalton Daily Citizen
Dalton native, Georgia Southern baseball coach Rodney Hennon to speak at local FCA banquet
By Daniel Mayes
He may not coach in his hometown any more, but Dalton native Rodney Hennon is returning home for the Northwest Georgia Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s Home Team Banquet. The longtime Georgia Southern University baseball coach is this year’s featured speaker for the local FCA’s annual fundraising banquet, which is Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Dalton Convention Center. …A Dalton High School graduate, Hennon has coached at Georgia Southern for 23 years.
Statesboro Herald
Georgia Southern police seek help in identifying men for ongoing investigation
Georgia Southern University Public Safety is attempting to identify the men in the photos above in reference to an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information on the subjects’ identity should contact University Police at (912) 478-5234 and ask for Investigator Trevor Williams.
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InsiderAdvantage
Will lawmakers revisit state’s decades-old education funding formula?
by Cindy Morley
The year was 1985. Ronald Reagan was President. The average cost of a new house was $89,330. The popular film “The Color Purple” premiered. And Michael Jordan was named the NBA’s “Rookie of the Year.” Oh yeah, and Georgia adopted The Quality Basic Education Act (QBE) funding formula for public schools. Despite several failed attempts to change it, the 37-year-old QBE formula still dictates how much money schools receive from the state. Could 2023 be the year that changes? Some lawmakers hope so – many voicing this opinion as they kicked off the new session of the General Assembly this week. Among the lawmakers ready to take a deep dive into the current funding formula is Sen. Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton), who chaired the Senate Study Committee to Revise Education Funding Mechanisms this summer. The six-member committee spent the summer reviewing and evaluating the funding mechanisms related to QBE, capital outlay, equalization grants and virtual schools in order to best meet the needs of Georgia’s schools and students.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
Universities are failing to capture the value of their data, research finds
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
Universities underuse the data that is available to them, often because of poor communication among departments, according to new research published in the peer-reviewed journal Science. Research institutions have access to both academic administrative and research data sets but often lack a centralized repository for all that information, the research found. Investing in the systems and people required to derive the most value possible from data can support transparent governance, promote equal opportunity among employees and students, and save universities money in the long run, it said.
Inside Higher Ed
Texas Universities Offer to Freeze Tuition for $1 Billion
By Scott Jaschik
The leaders of the six largest university systems in Texas have agreed to freeze tuition for undergraduates for the next two years—if the state provides $1 billion in extra funds, The Texas Tribune reported. The system presidents said the university chancellors asked for more general-revenue funding as well as more funding for university employee health insurance and the program that gives free college tuition to military veterans and their children.
Higher Ed Dive
California budget proposal cuts 2% from higher ed on the backs of capital projects
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
Overall funding for California public higher education would drop by 2% to about $40 billion under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2023-24 budget released Tuesday. The Democratic governor fulfilled budgetary promises to the state’s four-year public systems, with 5% base funding increases adding $215.5 million and $227.3 million in ongoing funds for the University of California and California State University, respectively. California Community Colleges would also see some new money, like about $653 million in ongoing funding for a roughly 8% cost-of-living adjustment. But Newsom also proposed delaying some key capital projects, partially resulting in the topline funding drop. Those include pushing back $250 million to the 2024-25 fiscal year for construction and renovation of affordable student housing.
Higher Ed Dive
Terry Hartle’s replacement named at American Council on Education
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
The American Council on Education, higher education’s top lobby, named Wednesday a replacement for Terry Hartle, a prolific and well-known policy guru who led the organization’s government relations efforts for nearly three decades. Jonathan Fansmith, assistant vice president of government relations, will take over Hartle’s senior position Feb. 1. He currently heads ACE’s advocacy in areas such as congressional spending and reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the major federal vehicle for postsecondary ed policy. Notably, in recent years, Fansmith spearheaded efforts to secure around $78 billion in federal coronavirus relief funding, money widely considered to have insulated colleges from more egregious institutional budget cuts during the pandemic.
Inside Higher Ed
Survey Finds Recent Grads Emotionally Unprepared for Work
By Johanna Alonso
Nearly 40 percent of recent graduates believe their college or university did an inadequate job of preparing them for “the emotional or behavioral impact of the transition to the workplace,” according to a new survey released today by the Mary Christie Institute. An even greater portion of recent graduates with high financial stress—50 percent—reported feeling unprepared. The survey, which Mary Christie produced in partnership with the American Association of Colleges and Universities, Healthy Minds Network, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, and Morning Consult, asked 1,005 young professionals between the ages of 22 and 28 about their emotional well-being. More than half (51 percent) reported needing help for emotional or mental health problems in the past year, with 43 percent screening positive for anxiety and 31 percent for depression. The gender disparity was notable; 68 percent of men self-reported good or excellent mental health compared to 45 percent of women.