USG e-clips for March 13, 2023

University System News:

yahoo!news

Dancing to Greensboro: KSU draws Xavier in NCAA Tournament

John Bednarowski, Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.

Now, it seems real. It had been a full week since Kennesaw State defeated Liberty to win the ASUN Conference tournament title and earned a spot in this year’s NCAA Tournament On Sunday, the wait came to an end. The Owls (26-8) earned the No. 14 seed of the Midwest Region and will face third-seeded Xavier on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina. Tip-off is set for 12:40 p.m. on TruTV. The winner will advance to play either sixth-seeded Iowa State or the No. 11 seed — the winner of a First Four game between Mississippi State and Pittsburgh. “It hasn’t felt real until now,” said Kennesaw State point guard Terrell Burden, a former Campbell High School star, “but being here, watching our name up on the board made it real.”

See also:

ESPN

Houston Public Media

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

How ‘bout them Owls!

By Jeremy Redmon

Madgie Robinson and Monaé Templier – Fresh Take Georgia

Kennesaw State bursting with pride after going from nearly worst to the Big Dance

Bethany Fortson was still hoarse days after joining a sea of fellow students chanting inside Kennesaw State University’s packed Convocation Center last weekend: “You don’t want to go to war with the Owls! With the Owls!” Fortson watched as the men’s basketball team made history with its thrilling 67-66 victory over Liberty University in the Atlantic Sun Conference championship. The win earned KSU its first NCAA Tournament berth and so much more. The suburban research university is now enjoying the national spotlight, extensive news media attention and a big boost in school pride among its more than 40,000 students.

WGAU Radio

UGA celebrates Staff Appreciation Day

By UGA Today

The University of Georgia has much to celebrate this year, from its ranking as the No. 16 best public university in America to winning its second straight college football National Championship. In appreciation for their contributions to the university, UGA staff were invited to have their photo taken with the back-to-back National Championship trophies on March 9 at the Tate Student Center. …As another token of appreciation, staff also were treated to a specially made National Championship chocolate.

The Baldwin Bulletin

GCSU professor awarded 2023 Hall of Fame Faculty Award

By Bailey Ballard

Professor of Marketing Dr. Joanna Schwartz at Georgia College & State University (GCSU) has been awarded the 2023 Felton Jenkins, Jr. Hall of Fame Faculty Award by the University System of Georgia (USG).

41NBC

Georgia College and State University hosts K-5 Science and Engineering Fair

Georgia College and State University held its annual State K-5 Science and Engineering Fair Thursday, which brought together more than 400 students ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.

Brick Nelson

Georgia College and State University held its annual State K-5 Science and Engineering Fair Thursday, which brought together more than 400 students ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. Students from 49 school districts across Georgia showcased their experiments and let their imaginations run wild. …Dr. Catrena Lisse, the Director of the Science Education Center for Georgia College, said the fair also showcases problem-solving skills as well as communication skills.

GPB

Political Rewind: In conversation with UGA’s Dr. Charles Bullock, the state’s top political expert

By: Bill Nigut, Natalie Mendenhall, and Chase McGee

Dr. Charles Bullock is the University of Georgia’s Richard B. Russell Chair of Political Science, with over fifty years of experience.

The panel

Dr. Charles Bullock, Richard B. Russell Chair of Political Science, University of Georgia

Jim Galloway, @JimJournalist, former columnist, The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Diverse Issues in Higher Education

Dr. Stuart Rayfield Appointed President of Columbus State University

Arrman Kyaw

Dr. Stuart Rayfield will become president of Columbus State University, effective Jul. 1.Rayfield is currently vice chancellor for leadership and institutional development of the broader University System of Georgia (USG). “I’m thrilled to return to Columbus State University as its next president,” Rayfield said. “With its deep ties to the Chattahoochee Valley community, including Fort Benning, Columbus State is the driver of the region’s workforce and is poised to lead and partner with other entities to meet the demands of an ever-changing economy.”

See also:

Columbus CEO

The Current

Kemp urges more workforce housing in Georgia amid explosive growth in economic development

GDOT says population of Savannah area will grow by 34%

by Benjamin Payne/GPB News

Business leaders from across Georgia met Wednesday in Savannah for the annual Georgia Logistics Summit, where Gov. Brian Kemp called for more housing to accommodate the influx of workers filling jobs at new manufacturing and warehouse facilities. “[The people] that are working at our ports and in our factories should be able to live in our communities as well,” Kemp told a sold-out crowd at the Savannah Convention Center. The greater Savannah area is projected to see explosive growth in the near future, as the largest economic development project in Georgia history — the Hyundai electric vehicle plant in Bryan County — is slated to become fully operational in 2025, and as the already-bustling Port of Savannah undergoes expansion. By 2045, the population of a four-county region in and around Savannah — comprised of Chatham, Bryan, Effingham and Bulloch counties — is projected to grow by 34%, according to a study by the Georgia Department of Transportation. Georgia Southern University economics professor Michael Toma also spoke at the event, and called the Savannah area “the hottest market in the logistics industry right now.”

WGAU Radio

State Botanical Garden: use these plants as pollinators

By Laurel Clark, UGA Media Relations

With so many options available, it can be challenging to know what plants to add to your home garden that will look beautiful and help the environment. The State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia is helping gardeners by selecting four Georgia Pollinator Plants of the Year. The program, a collaboration between the State Botanical Garden, UGA Extension and green industry partners, began in 2020. The program annually promotes four top-performing landscape plants that support pollinators. Plants are chosen for the following categories: spring bloomer, summer bloomer, fall bloomer and Georgia native. The pollinator plant of the year program was designed to encourage the use of high-impact plants that support pollinators in private and commercial gardens. It is funded in part by the Vaughn-Jordan Foundation.

Rome News-Tribune

Georgia Highlands adding competitive league sports

Georgia Highlands College is adding four new sports to a growing list of competitive league sports now available to new and current students. Forming teams include men’s soccer, women’s volleyball, cross country and cheerleading. Basketball and eSports were also recently added.

See also:

WLAQ

Polk Sportswire

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Get to know Kennesaw State University

By Jeremy Redmon

Kennesaw State University’s men’s basketball team has earned its first NCAA tournament berth. Here are some facts and figures about the suburban research university, which is now enjoying the national spotlight.

Victory Sports Network

Georgia Gwinnett’s Devin Warner Named NAIA National Baseball Player of the Week

Junior Devin Warner earned the NAIA Baseball National Player of the Week for his strong performances across five games for the Grizzlies. After a monumental week with five home runs and a .474 batting average, Georgia Gwinnett College junior infielder Devin Warner has been selected as the NAIA National Baseball Player of the Week, announced by the national office on Tuesday, March 7.

WTVM

Columbus native Ben Carr set to make Masters Tournament debut

By Jonathon Hoppe

Columbus native Ben Carr will fulfill a lifelong dream next month at the 87th Masters Tournament. Carr, a Columbus High School graduate, will compete at Augusta National as an amateur. He qualified for the event by finishing as a finalist at the U.S. Amateur in August. Carr is currently finishing up his final season as a collegiate golfer at Georgia Southern. In 2019, Carr won the Southeastern Amateur Championship at his home course: the Country Club of Columbus. He won the event for the second time two years later.

Athens Banner-Herald

The patience of Georgia football’s Carson Beck, an outlier these days for college QBs

Marc Weiszer

Carson Beck was home in Jacksonville last week during UGA’s spring break, getting in work with his trainer for what will be important weeks ahead for the redshirt junior and two others competing for the starting quarterback job. Beck is an outlier for these times in college football. A four-star quarterback who waited for his time. It just may come in his fourth season with the Bulldogs.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Josh Pastner out at Georgia Tech after seven seasons

By Ken Sugiura

He led Georgia Tech to its highest height in more than 15 years, but was unable to sustain that success. After two seasons in which the Jackets ranked among the least successful teams among the power conferences, coach Josh Pastner was dismissed Friday at the end of his seventh season by athletic director J Batt, Tech announced Friday afternoon. The announcement came after reports, including by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that Pastner had been fired. Team members were informed of the decision Friday at the team’s practice facility. Batt further announced that associate head coach Anthony Wilkins, who has been on the staff since 2018, will be the interim head coach during the search process.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Six coaching candidates Georgia Tech could consider

By Ken Sugiura,

As he conducts his search for Georgia Tech’s next men’s basketball coach, athletic director J Batt may not stay inside the box. Prior to his hire at Tech, Batt was involved in coaching hires at Alabama as a membership of the executive leadership team, including the 2019 hire of Nate Oats to coach the Crimson Tide basketball team. At Alabama, Batt was the sport supervisor for men’s basketball. …Four people in the college basketball industry, all familiar with Tech, offered up six suggestions for the opening.

The Baldwin Bulletin

Inclusive programming earns GCSU national recognition

By News Staff

The efforts of Georgia College & State University’s J. Whitney Bunting College of Business & Technology (CoBT) to build a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion have earned national recognition. INSIGHT Into Diversity, the oldest and largest diversity focused publication in higher education, awarded CoBT its 2023 Inspiring Programs in Business Award.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia’s winter felt more like spring. Here’s why that’s concerning

By Drew Kann

February temperatures in Georgia were the second-hottest on record for the month

Azaleas are in full bloom, pollen counts are through the roof and the state’s most valuable fruit crops could be headed to harvest weeks ahead of normal — if farmers can dodge a late freeze. It’s all due to the exceptionally hot winter Georgia and much of the eastern U.S. just experienced, which new federal data shows was among the warmest for the state in 129 years of record-keeping. Georgia just recorded its second-hottest February on record, according to analysis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Temperatures last month averaged 58.2 degrees Fahrenheit, a whopping 9.6 degrees above what was considered “normal” in February during the 20th century. …In Georgia, several factors contributed to the heat. A persistent ridge of high pressure pushed temperatures up over the eastern half of the country, while a waning La Niña pattern — which typically brings hotter than normal conditions to the southern U.S. — also played a role, said Pam Knox, an agricultural climatologist at UGA. But the warmth is also a tell-tale sign of human-caused climate change, which is driving average temperatures up in Georgia and across the globe.

Higher Education News:

Diverse Issues in Higher Education

New Research Shows Benefits of Summer Pell

Jon Edelman

For most of its 50-year history, the Pell Grant has not covered summer classes, with two brief exceptions: 2009-2011 and 2017 to the present. Summer Pell, officially called year-round Pell, stands on uncertain ground, subject to the shifting priorities of Congress, which ended it originally due to its cost and a lack of evidence of its efficacy. Now, a new study from the Community College Research Center at Columbia University has shown that summer Pell has had meaningful benefits, improving retention, attainment, and even earnings up to nine years after college entry for students who received it.

Inside Higher Ed

Restructuring Counseling Centers—and Ousting Directors

Several institutions have replaced counseling center directors with new administrators as part of an effort to restructure health services and expand mental health care.

By Johanna Alonso

Like many institutions aiming to better serve student mental health needs, Wright State University in Ohio is redesigning its counseling center. The reimagined center will incorporate more wellness services and partner more closely with the university’s College of Health Education and Human Services, which university leaders hope will lead to shorter wait times for students seeking services, as well as to increased telehealth and after-hours capabilities. …With student mental health remaining a top concern for U.S. colleges and universities, institutions are looking for innovative ways to provide students with the care they need. Some have removed caps on how many counseling sessions students can attend; others have enlisted faculty to aid in the battle.

Inside Higher Ed

Saint John’s/Saint Benedict Will Phase Out 8 Majors

By Scott Jaschik

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, a women’s college and men’s college, respectively, in Minnesota, will phase out eight majors and nine minors over the next few years, The Star Tribune reported. The colleges have about 2,900 undergraduates enrolled this year, a number that’s fallen between 20 and 25 percent over the past 13 years.

Inside Higher Ed

A New Tentative Agreement to Resolve Temple Strike

By Scott Jaschik

Temple University and its striking graduate students have reached a tentative agreement to end a labor action that started Jan. 31, the Associated Press and NBC Philadelphia reported. Union members, who rejected a first tentative agreement, will finish voting on the measure today.