InsiderAdvantage
Board of Regents Approves Statement of Principles Regarding Freedom of Expression
by Cindy Morley
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) has adopted a new statement of principles that they say asserts a commitment to academic freedom. The statement of principles is also intended to affirm that USG values the “diversity of intellectual thought and expression among students, faculty and staff, as well as the need for faculty to be unburdened by ideological tests, affirmations and oaths,” according to an announcement made late last week. “College campuses are meant to be places where students, faculty and staff learn and grow and one of the very important ways that they can do that is by sharing ideas, theories and opinions with each other even if it means also hearing things they might disagree with,” said Board Chairman Harold Reynolds. “Students especially should never feel they may suffer any repercussions for speaking out as part of the civil discourse on campus, no matter what side of an issue they may take.” The board has also directed USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue to conduct a review of board and university system policies regarding academic freedom and freedom of expression and to make recommendations for improvements.
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AP News
Perdue: Georgia universities might recoup $66M budget cut
By Jeff Amy
As Georgia’s public universities mull whether to raise tuition, Chancellor Sonny Perdue says he hopes state lawmakers will restore the $66 million they cut from the system’s teaching budget when they return next year. “I’m encouraged by the fact that we think that will be restored as we come into the amended budget,” Perdue told regents Wednesday during a meeting at the University of North Georgia in Daholnega. The remarks came as the Board of Regents delayed setting tuition for the 2023-2024 school year until May, saying they needed more time to decide how to handle the cuts.
EE Online
Georgia Power commits $5M to e-mobility at UGA
The field of electric mobility, or e-mobility, is an area of tremendous growth in the state of Georgia. Thanks to a $5 million gift from Georgia Power Company to the UGA College of Engineering, the University of Georgia is aiming to be a leader in e-mobility for years to come. UGA and Georgia Power officials gathered Friday for the announcement of the Georgia Power gift to the university at the Electric Mobility Summit at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel.
accessWDUN
UNG alumna makes history at Army Ranger school
By Lawson Smith Reporter
A University of North Georgia alumna recently became the first woman commissioned as an officer from UNG to graduate from Ranger School. 2nd Lt. Hayley Farmer, class of 2022, graduated from Ranger School on April 7. According to a press release from the university, Farmer’s class started with 380 students, and she was one of 147 to graduate. This is not the first time Farmer has made history. In May 2022, she was the first woman to commission into the Army infantry branch as her first choice from UNG, and only the second woman overall to commission into the infantry from UNG.
Albany Herald
Georgia Southwestern hosts first-ever Hurricane Pitch competition for student entrepreneurs
From staff reports
Georgia Southwestern State University hosted its first-ever Hurricane Pitch competition recently for entrepreneurial students with dreams of starting their own small businesses in the communities they call home. Kameisha Smith of Albany, a sophomore online pre-marketing major with an entrepreneurship certificate, took home the grand prize of $7,500, which she will use to get her small business off the ground. The Vessel, a comprehensive “one-stop shop” for marketing, will guide clients from start to finish with custom branding, web design, photography and other services to help create a cohesive brand for their business.
Middle Georgia CEO
Staff Report
Tavius Clark, a senior finishing his Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education, and George Gordon, a senior completing his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, are Middle Georgia State University’s President’s Scholars for the spring Class of 2023. The two received the awards at MGA Honors Convocation, held each spring to recognize outstanding students for academic achievements. Every year, MGA’s Student Honors, Awards, and Graduation Committee, with the approval of the University president, designates at least one graduating senior as the President’s Scholar. The student or students chosen must have an outstanding academic record, have been involved in campus and/or community service activities, and demonstrate characteristics indicating the promise of a successful future.
Georgia Trend
MBAs help prepare graduates for success at technology companies.
By Patty Rasmussen
For years, firms in the technology sector scooped up MBA graduates like happy kids playing in the sand at the beach. Big-name companies like Amazon, Deloitte, Microsoft and Facebook [AKA Meta] heavily recruited MBAs fresh out of business school, typically offering hefty signing bonuses and six-figure salaries. One report in Clear Admit, an independent online newsletter and resource for MBA candidates, described 2021 as a “peak year for MBA job acceptance in the tech industry,” rather than consulting and finance. However, those heady days could be a thing of the past. “We’re not seeing the hiring of 400 MBAs at a time,” says David Deiters, associate dean of MBA programs at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business and executive director of the Jones MBA Career Center. “All the big names shut that type of hiring down last fall. While we hope that type of hiring bounces back, hope is not a strategy.” Since the start of 2022, more than 281,000 layoffs occurred at tech companies globally, most in the latter half of the year and continuing into 2023.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia’s future workforce: Rowen’s higher education partners weigh in
Georgia’s thriving economy is a testament to the state’s steadfast commitment to driving economic growth. As the “Best State to Do Business” in the country, Georgia’s leaders and businesses are continually seeking new opportunities to collaborate and innovate. Rowen, a 2,000-acre knowledge community located in Gwinnett County, has set out on a mission to bring together companies and higher education institutions to drive experiential learning, research and innovation. At full buildout, Rowen is estimated to create 80,000 jobs across various industries, including energy, agriculture, technology, pharmaceuticals, robotics, life sciences and AI. …As part of its commitment to cultivating partnerships, Rowen’s board members include leaders from five Georgia universities, including Emory University, Georgia Gwinnett College, Georgia Institute of Technology, Spelman College and the University of Georgia. These leaders recently weighed in on why they decided to partner with Rowen and its anticipated long-term impact on their respected institutions.
Savannah Business Journal
Savannah Business Journal Staff Report
The Savannah metro economy’s path of slowing growth continued for the fifth consecutive quarter, according to Georgia Southern University’s latest Economic Monitor, which reflects Q4 2022. Yet, the outlook for the region is optimal.
Military Times
What research shows about special education services for military kids
By Military Times staff
A new Partners in Promise survey of military families shows children who rely on special education services may not be getting adequate support in schools. Two moms of military kids who need those services share more on the data and their own experiences. About the guest: Destiny Huff is currently the proud wife of an Army armor officer and a former military brat of a retired command sergeant major who served 27 years in the Army. She is a licensed professional counselor, certified trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapist, and certified supervisor who has worked with military service members and their families as a mental health professional. Huff received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Georgia Southern University, a master’s in clinical-counseling psychology from Valdosta State University and is currently a doctoral candidate in the general psychology program at Walden University with a research focus on the use of bibliotherapy as a clinical strategy to address the unique challenges that military children face.
Island Packet
There are 340 North Atlantic right whales left. A small underwater robot could save them
By Sarah Haselhorst
Like a dance, a right whale calf twirls and loops around its mother, nearly touching her with every graceful glide as the two take on the sea as though they’re the only ones in it. “Frolicking, snuggling, swimming around,” said Catherine Edwards, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, professor as she plays the heartwarming video of the two. Continuing to flit by its mother, the calf flapped a fin against her and sprayed water everywhere as it exhaled. The young right whale, scientists named Smoke, has “no idea about what it’s about to get into,” Edwards continued.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
University of Georgia scientists aim to adapt pecan trees to survive climate change
by Devon Zwald and Sarah Kallis / Georgia Public Broadcasting
An international team of researchers, including four at the University of Georgia, are looking for ways to adapt one of Georgia’s top commodities: pecans. The adaptations aim to help the plant survive a changing climate. One practice the researchers are looking at would change the look of the tree. Growers in the Southeast often include drought, severe storms, and rainfall and humidity as a result of climate change. These challenges can create conditions for a disease called pecan scab, according to Lenny Wells, professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia.
WGXA News
On the Farm: Bird flu outbreak follows farmers, consumers into 2023
by Greg Loyd
Nearly 58 million: that’s how many farm birds 2022’s horrific bird flu outbreak claimed in America. The massive reduction in egg production, along with 40-year-high inflation, sent egg prices skyrocketing. The University of Georgia Extension Service predicts the coming months will bring a reduction in egg prices. But getting anywhere back to normal will take a great deal of time, both in the grocery store and on American poultry farms.
Statesboro Herald
Hundreds walk in downtown Statesboro
From staff reports
Hundreds of like-minded folks gathered in downtown Statesboro Friday evening for the 2023 Relay for Life of Bulloch County/Georgia Southern University. For years, the Relay for Life American Cancer Society fundraiser was held at Bulloch Academy and then the Kiwanis fairgrounds, with GSU holding its own event. Combining the efforts and connecting it to the downtown Statesboro area was started in 2019.
Albany Herald
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College faculty, staff present art exhibit
From staff reports
An eclectic collection of artwork, created by faculty and staff members at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, is on display through May 17 in an exhibition sponsored by the college’s Department of Fine Arts and the School of Arts & Sciences. The exhibition is located on the first floor of Edwards Hall, located on the campus’s front circle. The exhibit is free and open to the public from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. on Fridays.
WRGA News
Body of missing man recovered from Coosa River
The body of a man who went missing in the Coosa River has been recovered. According to Mark McKinnon, public information officer with the law enforcement division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources: Game Wardens and the Georgia State Patrol Dive Team resumed the search for 38-year-old John Wesley Perkins of Temple at 7:30 Sunday morning. …The Rome News-Tribune is reporting that Perkins was a standout football player at Rome High who later went on to play for the University of West Georgia.
WGAC
Augusta Business Legend And Controversial Figure Killed In Single-Car Accident
Austin Rhodes
Once regarded as one of the most successful and independently wealthy businessmen to ever hail from Augusta, the life of Timothy Shelnut came to an end last night in a single-car accident in McDuffie County. Details on the crash are being compiled at this time. Born into very humble beginnings, the Butler High School dropout rose to heights as the Chairman of the Georgia Board of Regents, and at one time was worth over 35 million dollars.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
Enrollment declines threaten the economic futures of college towns
For many U.S. communities, the long-term viability of colleges and universities is critical. Cities and towns can start preparing, experts say.
By Danielle McLean
The University of Arizona’s undergraduate enrollment has increased in recent years, bucking the declines experienced by many colleges throughout the U.S. For the Tucson region, the university’s home, that upward trend is key. …Enrollment at colleges and universities throughout the U.S. has dropped significantly in recent years, a trend worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. And enrollment could continue to drop 5% to 10% a year in the near future, according to Clive Belfield, a professor of education and labor economics at Queens College, part of the City University of New York. The U.S. is experiencing a declining college-aged population, while rising college costs, student loan debt and a reasonably attractive labor market have prompted some prospective students to avoid higher ed, Belfield said. College leaders have also grappled with stagnant state funding and pressures to lower tuition, along with stagnant state funding. As a result, since 2016, more than 90 colleges and universities in 34 states have announced or finalized mergers or closures.
Higher Ed Dive
Students consider abortion access when deciding whether to stay in college, poll finds
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
Almost three-quarters of college students say a state’s level of access to reproductive care is important to whether they stay enrolled, according to a new Lumina Foundation and Gallup poll. Meanwhile, 60% of those who aren’t enrolled in college and don’t have a degree say laws governing abortion access are at least somewhat important to where they would attend. Differences emerge across political lines: 80% of college-enrolled Democrats, versus 62% of enrolled Republicans, said reproductive health laws are at least somewhat important to whether they remain on their campuses.
Inside Higher Ed
How Well Do Career-Prep Offerings Serve Students?
Harvard researchers say colleges have all kinds of programs and supports designed to help students get well-paying jobs, but there’s little research on if they accomplish their goals.
By Sara Weissman
A white paper by researchers at Harvard University suggests that the programs colleges use to put students on paths to well-paying jobs—such as job shadowing or career mentorship programs—remain scattered, underinvested in and underresearched. The paper identifies 13 methods colleges and universities use to prepare students for careers and assesses how prevalent, well researched and easy to carry out each of them are. The paper was released last week by the Project on Workforce, a research effort at Harvard focused on helping higher ed systems create smoother transitions from college to careers and produce better economic outcomes for students, as a part of the project’s College-to-Jobs Initiative. Alongside the white paper, the team of researchers also put out a new interactive map that shows workforce and college graduation trends by region to help higher ed leaders, policy makers and employers identify and bridge disconnects between the training colleges are providing and their local workforce.
Inside Higher Ed
Views
Why Florida’s Public College Presidents Should Resign
The best strategy for countering Governor DeSantis’s attacks on higher ed could be for Florida’s public university presidents to threaten to resign en masse, Robert Birnbaum writes.
By Robert Birnbaum
College presidents can be influential voices in the public square when significant public policy issues are debated. However, they seldom speak out because their stated views could mistakenly be interpreted as the position of trustees or other college groups. This makes presidents quite cautious about taking public positions. I understand the dilemma, because I was once a university chancellor in a public system, and I learned to keep my extramural thoughts to myself. But there are two exceptions to the general rule. One is when public policy directly affects campus life, such as legislation changing the legal drinking age. The other is when state authorities try to become involved in academic matters traditionally left to educational professionals, such as who should teach, who should learn and what courses of study should be followed. That second exception is now playing out in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis is attempting to impose his will on public colleges and universities.