Douglas Now
DR. GREG TANNER NAMED INTERIM PRESIDENT OF SOUTH GEORGIA STATE COLLEGE
University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue today named Dr. Gregory M. Tanner interim president of South Georgia State College (SGSC), effective Feb. 1, 2023. Tanner currently serves as SGSC’s vice president for advancement, government relations and athletics, and first came to what was then South Georgia College in 2012 as dean of students. The college consolidated with Waycross College in 2013 to form the institution it is today.
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The Georgia Sun
Meet the new presidents of Clayton State University and Atlanta Metropolitan State College
Thom Chandler
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia recently announced the appointment of Dr. Georj Lewis as president of Clayton State University and Dr. Ingrid Thompson-Sellers as president of Atlanta Metropolitan State College, effective Feb. 1. Lewis, who has been president of Atlanta Metropolitan since November 2019, is a seasoned leader with over 28 years of experience in higher education and nearly 20 years of service within the University System of Georgia. …Thompson-Sellers is currently the president of South Georgia State College where she established new initiatives to increase enrollment, reduce expenditures and increase investment in the college’s technology infrastructure to aid in financial aid and recruiting. A Georgia State alumna, she has more than 30 years of experience in higher education and has spent almost her entire career in service with the University System of Georgia.
WJBF
AU’s online Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program is ranked number one in the country
by: Bria Smith
Students part of AU’s online Pediatric Nursing program can call themselves number one after being ranked the top program by Nurse Practitioner Online. Five institutions from across the country are being recognized for their online Pediatric Nurse Practitioner programs. On top of all of them, is Augusta University. …The selection was made based on a series of requirements like the size of the university’s nursing program, graduation and completion rate, and more.
EurekAlert!
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards over $4.3M to top young scientists
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has announced its newest class of Damon Runyon Fellows… The prestigious, four-year Fellowship encourages the nation’s most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($260,000 total) to investigate cancer causes, mechanisms, therapies, and prevention. …The Foundation has also named seven new recipients of the Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists. This award recognizes Damon Runyon Fellows who have exceeded the Foundation’s highest expectations and are most likely to make paradigm-shifting breakthroughs that transform the way we prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer. …Damon Runyon makes an additional investment of $100,000 in these exceptional individuals. …Courtney Ellison, PhD, University of Georgia, Athens … Dr. Ellison is investigating how single bacterial cells join together to form complex, multicellular structures called biofilms. … Some biofilm-forming species may cause certain cancers, and biofilms of infectious bacteria threaten immunocompromised patients such as those undergoing chemotherapy.
AllOnGeorgia
Hyundai Motor America announced its partnership with Georgia Southern University and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Coastal Empire, donating $15,000 to each organization. The support highlights Hyundai’s strong commitment to the state of Georgia, where the new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America is currently being built in Bryan County. Ceremonial checks were presented to the two organizations in Georgia. …The donation to Georgia Southern University will help provide scholarships to undergraduate students in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, as these areas of study are particularly important to innovation.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta leads state with robust addition of 126,400 jobs for the year
By Michael E. Kanell
Factors: Region is an innovation and tech hub with access to skilled labor and strong population growth
Metro Atlanta last year added 126,400 jobs, accounting for most of the new jobs in Georgia, as the unemployment rate dipped to a historic low, the state’s Department of Labor reported Thursday. The region finished the year with an above-average December, adding 5,400 jobs, nudging the unemployment rate down from 2.7% in December to 2.6% for the year — equaling the lowest rate of the late 1990s boom. While the national economy has been solid, the picture here is even brighter, said Bruce Thompson, the state’s labor commissioner. “We are well-positioned to help businesses remain competitive and find top-tier talent.” Access to skilled labor has been a key to Atlanta’s expansion and will continue to be crucial to economic growth, said economist Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.
WRBL
2023 Georgia Economy Outlook: experts predict ‘mild, short recession’
by: Cristina Feliciano
Economic experts from the University of Georgia were in Columbus Wednesday hosting their 40th annual Georgia Economic Outlook at the Trade Center. The Economic Outlook is a chance to learn which sectors of Georgia’s economy will rise above the turbulence in 2023. According to Ben Ayers, the Dean of Terry College of Business at UGA, there is a 75% chance of a recession on the horizon in the peach state. He predicts it will be mild and last about 6 months. Ayers adds that Georgia’s economy is set to be much better than the rest of the country.
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WGAU Radio
By Tim Bryant
Today is Founders Day at UGA: activities at the University of Georgia’s Tate Student Center mark the 238th anniversary of the charter for the country’s oldest land grant university. Festivities get underway at 11 o’clock this morning.
From the UGA website…
Join the Student Alumni Council in Tate Plaza on Friday, January 27, 2023 to celebrate UGA’s 238th birthday!
Athens Banner-Herald
Georgia athletics plans new recognition for legendary football coach Vince Dooley
Marc Weiszer
Two upgrades at Georgia athletic facilities are being made with a nod to Bulldogs legends Vince Dooley and Charley Trippi. Plans call for the second-floor museum at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall to get a fresh look with the rotunda being called for now at least as the “Circle of Champions.” That area will be where Dooley, the former Georgia football coach and athletic director who passed away in October, will be recognized. The rotunda would get a modernized look.
Athens Banner-Herald
Here’s the latest on how plans for upgrades to UGA baseball’s Foley Field are changing
Marc Weiszer
Costs for major upgrades to Georgia baseball’s Foley Field are rising due to inflation and the timeline for completion is being pushed back. Instead of asking to fund the project at the next athletic board of directors meeting next month, athletic director Josh Brooks told the facilities and development committee in a Thursday morning meeting that request will now come in the spring. …Georgia is also making enhancements to the Jack Turner Softball Complex with similar timelines.
Statesboro Herald
Police: GS student shot during incident at Statesboro apartment complex
From staff reports
A Georgia Southern University student is recovering Thursday after he was shot during an incident late Wednesday night at a Statesboro apartment complex. According to a release from Capt. Jared Akins, SPD Patrol officers were called to 111 South Apartments on Rucker Lane about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday for a man shot at that location. …Akins said the victim is listed as a student at Georgia Southern and remains at Memorial under medical care as of Thursday afternoon.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Let AI teach class, bots write essays and computers grade them
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
With a bit of satire, retired University of Georgia education professor Peter Smagorinsky takes aim at the panic over ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence program that can generate readable essays in response to any prompt. You can read other takes on ChatGPT here and here.
By Peter Smagorinsky
The artificial intelligence community’s development of technologies like ChatGPT has created a firestorm of concern over the future of schools and society. Inquiring minds want to know: If a chatbot can write a decent paper, how are teachers supposed to know if the person submitting it has mastered the curriculum? Or can write a syntactically acceptable sentence? Or knows which end of the pen to use when writing, if people still do such a thing?
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
What helps students receiving counseling stay in college?
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
First-year students who have a history of psychiatric hospitalization and reported high levels of academic distress are 48% more likely than others to withdraw from college while receiving counseling services, according to a report from Penn State University’s Center for Collegiate Mental Health. But several factors are associated with students staying in college. Students were 51% less likely to withdraw from college if they participated in an extracurricular activity and experienced decreasing academic distress during counseling. “Our data shows there are a wide range of factors — both mental health and non-mental health related — that impact the risk of dropping out of school while receiving counseling services,” Brett Scofield, executive director of the Center for Collegiate Mental Health, said in a statement. “Therefore, it is essential for institutions to assess and strengthen their local offerings of mental health, academic, social and cultural support services that ultimately support the academic mission.”
Inside Higher Ed
Report: White House Considering Debt-Relief Contingency Plans
By Katherine Knott
Lawmakers and student debt advocacy groups are pushing the Biden administration to develop backup plans in case the U.S. Supreme Court rules against the administration’s one-time student loan forgiveness plan, Bloomberg reported. The report was based on two sources familiar with the informal discussions. One possible option is for the administration to change the legal justification for the plan. The administration is currently relying on the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student loans for eligible Americans. Some legal experts have argued that it can instead forgive loans under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
Higher Ed Dive
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
An auditor for the U.S. Department of Education declined this week to offer an opinion on the agency’s fiscal 2022 finances, raising concerns with how the Biden administration calculated its student loan debt forgiveness program last year. KPMG in a report said Education Department officials did not “provide adequate evidential matter to support certain key assumptions” related to the cost of the debt cancellation plan, which is stalled in court. The plan calls for wiping away up to $20,000 in debt for borrowers earning up to $125,000 a year. The Education Department partially concurred with KPMG’s findings but maintained that it figured out the program’s cost and how many people would take advantage of it using “relevant research literature” and take-up rates from other federal benefits programs.
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Inside Higher Ed
Auditor: Unable to Verify Education Dept.’s Debt-Relief Estimate
Inside Higher Ed
Unveiling a New AP African American Studies Framework
By Josh Moody
Facing pressure from the governors of Florida and Illinois, the College Board is preparing to unveil a new framework Wednesday for its Advanced Placement African American Studies course. “To develop this official course framework, the AP Program consulted with more than 300 professors of African American Studies from more than 200 colleges nationwide, including dozens of Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” read a letter from the College Board to its members and obtained by Inside Higher Ed Thursday. “The course focuses on the topics where professors shared a strong consensus on the essential shared events, experiences, and individuals crucial to a study of African American history and culture. This process was completed in December 2022. To be clear, no states or districts have seen the official framework that will be released on February 1, much less provided feedback on it.”
Inside Higher Ed
UAW Accuses UCSD Professors of Giving TAs Poor Grades for Striking
By Ryan Quinn
Union members are accusing three University of California, San Diego, professors of giving “unsatisfactory” grades to 21 teaching assistants and a graduate student researcher for participating in the recent strike. In a Wednesday news release, the United Auto Workers said it violates California’s Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act to “retaliate against people on strike in any way, including by docking their grades.” The UAW represents UC system graduate students.
Inside Higher Ed
Teachers Strike at UCLA Lab School
By Scott Jaschik
Teachers went on strike for two days, starting Wednesday, at the University of California Lab School, which the Los Angeles Times described as “an elite pre-K-through-sixth-grade school nestled in a quiet corner of the UCLA campus,” which “has offered a nurturing environment for students whose parents won a coveted spot for their child.” The school is run by UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. Students are selected for admission, and tuition is up to $25,000, with about a third of students on financial aid. The strike is over working conditions.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Feds charge 25 in nursing diploma scam
By Nancy Clanton
Florida scheme results in 7,600 fraudulent nursing degrees
Twenty-five defendants face up to 20 years in prison after being charged in a scheme to sell more than 7,600 fake nursing degrees. Federal authorities said the fraudulent diplomas came from three Florida-based nursing schools: Siena College, Palm Beach School of Nursing and Sacred Heart International Institute. All three are now closed. In addition to diplomas, the Associated Press reported, the scheme included selling transcripts to people seeking a license or job as a registered nurse or licensed practical/vocational nurse.