Fox 5 Atlanta
At 72, Georgia man graduates college with 99-year-old mom in attendance
By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Sam Kaplan, a 72-year-old man from Lawrenceville, is proving that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. Kaplan recently graduated from Georgia Gwinnett College with a degree in cinema and media arts, four years after enrolling in college for the first time. Kaplan’s journey to graduation was not a typical one. After graduating from high school in 1969, he never considered going to college. However, four years ago, Kaplan had a chance encounter on the road that would change the course of his future.
Grice Connect
Chasing the hoodie: How a joke led a Richmond Hill mom to academic stardom
Georgia Southern is sharing stories of remarkable graduates this week. This is the first in the series. As a mother of six, business owner and Navy veteran, April Trepagnier balanced her responsibilities while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
April Trepagnier had no idea that her fascination with a graduation hood would lead her to pursue her first college degree at 43 years old. A resident of Richmond Hill, Georgia, Trepagnier attended a graduation ceremony at Georgia Southern in 2019 and found herself inspired by the sight of a doctoral graduate’s hooded regalia. …Most recently, she was the Georgia Southern representative at Academic Recognition Day at the University System of Georgia (USG) in Atlanta, where she met Sonny Perdue, former Georgia governor and current chancellor for the USG. According to Steven Engel, Ph.D., dean of the Honors College, Trepagnier is the model for what a student can be.
The Elberton Star
Kubas named prestigious Fulbright Scholar
By Rose Scoggins
Elbert County native and recent University of North Georgia (UNG) graduate Anna Kubas was recently named a prestigious Fulbright Scholar through the Fulbright Specialist Program.
Savannah Business Journal
EXCLUSIVE: New Four-Year Medical College Set for GSU’s Armstrong Campus in Savannah
By Lou Phelps, SBJ Staff
Walk across the Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern University on Abercorn Street in Savannah on a weekday and the hustle and bustle of past university life is greatly diminished from its former self as an independent university, prior to the decision by the Board of Regents of the Georgia University System to merge ASU with Georgia Southern. But all of that is about to change.
Athens CEO
UGA Creates Workforce Planning Guide
Staff Report
Experts at the University of Georgia’s Vinson Institute of Government have partnered with Georgia Power to provide communities across the state with a comprehensive and accessible resource to address the growth opportunities provided by new industries. In fiscal year 2022, Georgia’s economy gained 51,138 jobs and $21.2 billion in investment, according to state data. With new industries flocking to Georgia in record numbers, communities need workforce and economic development resources now more than ever. The newly updated Workforce Planning Guide employs a data-driven process that is designed to be led by the community members and focused on finding attainable solutions.
Albany Herald
Scott Steiner keynote speaker at Georgia Southwestern commencement
From staff reports
Georgia Southwestern State University will hold its Spring 2023 Commencement ceremonies on Friday in the university’s Convocation Hall of the Student Success Center, also known as the Storm Dome. Graduates from the College of Education and College of Nursing and Health Sciences will be recognized in the 10 a.m. ceremony, while graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Business and Computing will be recognized in the 2 p.m. ceremony. More than 260 students are graduating with approximately 230 graduates walking.
WGAU Radio
Former Gym Dog to address UGA Class of ‘23
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia’s Class of 2023 is in Sanford Stadium tonight, with spring semester graduation exercises set for 7:30 in Sanford Stadium. Dr. Leah Brown, a national champion as a UGA Gym Dog, a military veteran, and now the owner of an orthopedic clinic, is this evening’s commencement speaker.
WRDW
VIDEO
Augusta University commencement ceremony
WGAU Radio
UNG Cadet takes top spot in Army shooting event
By Clark Leonard, UNG
University of North Georgia cadet Anthony Linatoc took first place in his division of 40 cadets in the U.S. Army Small Arms Championships at Fort Benning, Georgia. He placed in the top 75 of the 260 competitors from all Army components in the overall event. Linatoc competed with fellow UNG combat action shooting team members and cadets from Texas A&M University and Michigan State University. It was his second time in the competition, the other coming in his sophomore year, and he made strong improvement this time around. …Linatoc, a Rome, Georgia, resident pursuing a degree in criminal justice, is scheduled to graduate in May and commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.
WGAU Radio
Gift from Aetna will support mental health work at UNG
By Clark Leonard, UNG
Aetna has awarded the University of North Georgia a $100,000 community investment to expand Mental Health First Aid within UNG and the greater north Georgia region. The funding will allow UNG to expand instructor certification to more faculty, staff and community members as well as offer more courses to provide certification in Mental Health First Aid to 600 students, with a focus on those in the health care programs. It will increase UNG’s total number of certified instructors to 18. Additionally, UNG is partnering with community health providers and organizations to train 10 community-based partners as Mental Health First Aid instructors to increase the carryover of skills into the greater communities that UNG serves, as well as provide 600 certifications to community-based health care providers’ professionals and volunteers who care for patients within UNG’s communities.
Gainesville Times
‘I hope it brings them joy and peace.’ UNG visual arts students unveil murals at Avita
Donnell Suggs
Recently, a team of University of North Georgia art students and Avita Community Partners came together to create a change of scenery inside the Avita Behavioral Health Crisis Center in Gainesville. Two murals, painted by students in the University of North Georgia visual arts department, are unveiled Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at Avita Behavioral Health Crisis Center in Gainesville, in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month.
WJBF
Augusta Legislative Delegation host post 2023 legislative town hall session for community
by: Nikita Dennis
Georgia state representatives are talking about the issues they are pushing in Atlanta to benefit people here in the Garden City. “The secretary of state’s office all the way down to the department of revenue. Those are the funds we need to look at,” said Rep. Brian Prince, District 132. The Augusta Legislative Delegation is giving the community an opportunity to hear what Georgia state representatives talked about during the 2023 legislative session…..during a town hall meeting at Augusta University.
KPVI
Fort Frederica National Monument celebrates Archaeology Month
By Carlton Fletcher
This May, Fort Frederica National Monument is joining the state of Georgia in celebrating Georgia Archaeology Month on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. The staff at Fort Frederica invites the local community to interact with professionals in the fields of archeology and historical preservation. Guest speakers and exhibitors will be on site to showcase archeological sites in Georgia, as well as conduct children’s activities and display rarely seen artifacts. Guest speakers include Myrna Crook, Dan Eliott and Laura Seifert. Exhibitors will include Georgia Southern University, Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation, Cumberland Island National Seashore and many others.
Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
A Change in Leadership at Savannah State University in Georgia
Kimberly Ballard-Washington has resigned as president of Savannah State University in Georgia. In an email to the campus community. President Ballard-Washington stated “that it has been my goal to ensure we are preparing well-rounded citizens to send into the world, while also creating a good work-life balance for our employees. Recently, I have found it more challenging to reach the goals due to personal issues I have been experiencing.” Ballard Washington was named interim president of the university in 2019 and was made permanent president in 2021. She is a native of Montezuma, Georgia. She earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Georgia and a law degree at Texas Southern University in Houston. The University System of Georgia named Cynthia Robinson Alexander as interim president of Savannah State University. She has been serving as associate vice chancellor for finance at the University System of Georgia. She joined the university system in 2009.
The New York Times
An Experiment Repeated 600 Times Finds Hints to Evolution’s Secrets
Snowflakes of yeast in a lab offer insights into how life on Earth transitioned from single-celled into multicellular organisms.
By Veronique Greenwood
In a lab in Atlanta, thousands of yeast cells fight for their lives every day. The ones that live another day grow fastest, reproduce quickest and form the biggest clumps. For about a decade, the cells have evolved to hang onto one another, forming branching snowflake shapes. These strange snowflakes are at the heart of experiments exploring what might have happened millions of years ago when single-celled creatures first banded together to become multicellular. That process, however it went down, eventually resulted in unwieldy, fabulously weird organisms like octopuses and ostriches and hamsters and humans. …But, in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers reveal one clue to how cells could start building themselves into a body. …Will Ratcliff, a professor at Georgia Tech, began the yeast experiments when he was in graduate school. …Dr. Ratcliff wondered if an evolution study encouraging cells to stick together could shed light on the origins of multicellularity.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OPINION: UGA’s (non) White House visit is another sign of the times
By Bill Torpy
The reason the UGA Bulldogs are holding their noses at a White House invite is not hard to fathom: The repeating kings of college football no doubt feel offended by being tossed into a celebratory ceremony with a gaggle of “lesser” sports. Much has been made of the Dawgs declining an invitation by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden to visit the White House June 12. There’s speculation that it’s political — and, true, partisan politics have seeped into this mess. Some Dems believe the team is snubbing the president because they are, at heart, red-staters. And certain GOPers are celebrating that the team is doing this to own the libs. But I believe the two-time champs of the NCAA’s premier sport think the invite reduces them to bit players in a throng of athletes from other college sports.
Athens Banner-Herald
Pedestrian injured on UGA campus when tree falls during storm
Wayne Ford
A young woman was seriously injured when a tree was toppled on the University of Georgia campus during a late Tuesday rainstorm that was centered over the university and adjacent neighborhoods. The storm, which lasted several minutes, toppled the tree along East Campus Road, which runs through the campus. UGA spokesman Gregory Trevor said Thursday that during the storm winds reached 64 mph and uprooted the tree near Field Street. Corte remains hospitalized. UGA President Morehead and Dean of Students Eric Atkinson have visited Corte and her family in the hospital. Trevor said the Student Care and Outreach team has also offered support. The UGA student, Mia Wei Corte, was seriously injured when she was hit by the falling tree, according to the UGA statement.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: If tests crush curiosity in children, it’s hard to rekindle
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Peter Smagorinsky is Distinguished Research Professor, Emeritus, at the University of Georgia and a 2023 inductee in the National Academy of Education, which advances high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. In this guest column, Smagorinsky discusses how to nurture curiosity in children.
Black News
The truth about African-American resistance to slavery in the lowcountry
Maxine L. Bryant
This is an opinion column by arts and culture columnist Maxine L. Bryant.
Master Storyteller Lillian Grant Baptiste often includes a powerful rhyme in her motivational talks. Part of it says, “minute by minute, hour by hour – if truth is light, knowledge is power.” I would add to that the words of George Bernard Shaw, “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” Accurate knowledge matters and can change one’s thought trajectory. This was made apparent to me in a recent conversation I had with a friend who expressed aggravation that ancestral Africans didn’t put up a fight to resist being taken captive and brought to the what is now known as North America. I could not believe my ears. Of course, I had to pause to educate them – because that’s what I do. My goal then was to provide a general discourse about ways Black people have resisted oppression.
Maxine L. Bryant, Ph.D., is a contributing lifestyles columnist. She is an assistant professor, Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology; director, Center for Africana Studies, and director, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Center at Georgia Southern University, Armstrong Campus.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
A group of residents has waged a relentless legal battle against Rivian’s Georgia plant. The state sees the project as the “holy grail” of economic development.
By Erin Schilling – Digital Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Rivian Automotive Inc.’s planned 7,500-worker plant, one of Georgia’s biggest economic development projects, has run head-on into a group of residents near the project that continue an intense opposition campaign. The group, known as No2Rivian, has about a dozen members at its core who live in Morgan County, an area of horse and dairy farms, woods, and pastures about an hour east of Atlanta on Interstate 20. This is where Rivian plans to build the $5 billion plant on 2,000 acres. …Following a Georgia appellate court ruling in April that sided with local development authorities trying to start construction on the plant, members of the group filed a motion of intent to take the fight to the Georgia Supreme Court. …Another member of No2Rivian is the Jenkins family. The 82-year-old Julie Green Jenkins is the matriarch. She inherited land surrounding the proposed Rivian plant from her late husband, Felton Jenkins Jr., who died in 2011. He was well connected at the intersection of the state’s legal, academic and political circles, a former attorney with Atlanta’s second-largest law firm King & Spalding and vice chairman of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Opinion
College Going Is Changing; We Need Better Data
As demand for short-term credentials rises, we need better, more systematic data on the return on investment, Joe May and Mark Schneider write.
By Joe May and Mark Schneider
What it means to go to college is changing. The pandemic dealt a once-in-a-lifetime shock to the system and, even as it ebbs, students haven’t returned to degree programs in the same numbers as before. They won’t anytime soon, according to mounting evidence. …Understanding the ROI
Even as Americans are seeking out career-connected education paths, we don’t know enough about which options make good on that promise. The U.S. Department of Education doesn’t collect meaningful data on short-term programs, and that makes it difficult for both policy makers and the public to fully understand the return on investment produced by these credentials. To protect both students and taxpayers, it’s essential that the federal government and states gather and share data on the ROI of workforce programs in a systematic way.
Higher Ed Dive
Democrats again aim to expand SNAP for college students as end of COVID-era benefits nears
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
Dive Brief:
Congressional Democrats are once again attempting to expand the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, to low-income college students.
Federal lawmakers made it easier for college students to access the program during the coronavirus pandemic, but those emergency benefits are slated to expire in June. When that happens, college students will need to meet requirements beyond the standard income criteria to qualify for the SNAP program, including working an average of 20 hours per week. The newly proposed legislation would eliminate the work requirements for college students, allowing them to qualify for SNAP so long as they were enrolled at least half time in a higher education institution.
Higher Ed Dive
Ransomware threat against colleges grows, survey finds
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
Dive Brief:
Ransomware attacks targeted the education sector more than any other industry in the last year, with 79% of surveyed higher education institutions across the world reporting being hit, according to an annual report from Sophos, a U.K.-based cybersecurity firm. Of the higher ed institutions that reported ransomware attacks, 59% said it resulted in them losing “a lot of” business and revenue. Around one-fourth, 28%, reported smaller losses. Hackers exploited system vulnerabilities in 4 in 10 higher education ransomware attacks, making them the sector’s most common root issue. Compromised credentials caused another 37% of attacks, while malicious emails led to 12% of reported incidents.
Higher Ed Dive
California becomes battleground over bachelor’s degrees at community colleges
Two of the state’s higher ed systems are clashing over the right to offer students four-year degrees.
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
In mid-April, two powerful California lawmakers urged the state’s community college leaders in a letter to pause part of a pilot that allows these institutions to offer bachelor’s degrees. Fifteen California community colleges have offered four-year degrees under the pilot since at least 2017. In 2021, lawmakers greatly expanded the program, allowing the community college system to establish up to 30 new bachelor’s programs each year. The expansion comes with an important caveat — the state’s community colleges cannot offer a four-year program already provided by the California State University or the University of California systems.
Higher Ed Dive
U.S. News scales back reputation, selectivity metrics in law, medical school rankings
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
U.S. News & World Report put less emphasis on law and medical schools’ selectivity and reputations in its 2023-24 rankings released Thursday, changes that followed a contingent of colleges pulling out of the system over equity and other concerns. The publication reduced the weight of the reputation metric to 25% for law and medical school rankings. It determines a school’s reputation through surveys of peer institutions and professionals in the respective fields. Last year, the metric accounted for 30% of medical schools’ scores and 40% of law schools’ scores. For the selectivity metric, U.S. News reduced the weight of standardized test scores, dropping it from about 11% to 5% in law schools, and from 13% to 10% in research-oriented medical schools.
Higher Ed Dive
Education Department: Colleges should place more Federal Work-Study students in K-12 support roles
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
Colleges should use the Federal Work-Study program to place more of their students in K-12 school support roles, like tutoring, the U.S. Department of Education urged Wednesday. To accomplish this, institutions should work with K-12 school districts and the National Partnership for Student Success, a public-private project that helps build student support services, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote Wednesday in a Dear Colleague Letter shared with Higher Ed Dive. Cardona also encouraged colleges to use other programs, such as those centered around credit-bearing volunteer or civic engagement work, to help fill student support roles.
Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
How to Maintain Racial Diversity If the Supreme Court Prohibits Race-Sensitive Admissions
A new report from the Center on Education and the Workforce in the School of Public Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., examines the probable impact of the expected Supreme Court decision to prohibit the consideration of race in the college admissions process. The authors find that the racial and ethnic diversity of students at selective colleges will decrease significantly unless these colleges fundamentally alter their admissions practices. Researchers examined different admissions models and the impact they would likely have on racial/ethnic and socioeconomic diversity if used consistently across selective colleges. One model would consider academic merit only (grades and test scores). Another would consider only high school class rank. Two models specifically consider class-conscious admissions as alternatives to race-conscious admissions. The authors found that substituting class-conscious affirmative action for race-sensitive admissions could maintain a high level of racial diversity at the nation’s most selective colleges and universities. But they warn that this method would retain racial diversity “only if all selective colleges used class-conscious admissions practices and considered a much larger and more diverse pool of applicants for admission.
Inside Higher Ed
Medical School Cancels Forum Expected to Criticize Diversity Efforts
By Scott Jaschik
The Medical College of Wisconsin canceled a forum on the “uses and abuses” of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in medicine and science after students and faculty members complained that the forum was not based on science, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Education Leaders and Researchers Discuss Strategies to Better Recruit and Retain Educators of Color
Arrman Kyaw
Education leaders and researchers discussed the vast disparities in the number of educators of color and potential ways to help recruit them during a panel of the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) Equity Assistance Center-South’s (EAC-South) Educational Equity Indicators Professional Learning Series. This second session of the “How to Improve Educator Recruitment and Retention: Stories from the South” series took virtually on Tuesday. The U.S. is facing a severe shortage of teachers, and the need is particularly present for certain populations of color, said Dr. Donna Elam, senior adviser for EAC-S.
Inside Higher Ed
After Failed Presidential Search, South Florida State Names New Finalist
By Susan H. Greenberg
In the wake of a failed presidential search last week, South Florida State College has named a new sole finalist for the job: Republican state representative Fred Hawkins, a staunch ally of Governor Ron DeSantis, Fox News reported. Hawkins, who has no experience in higher ed, co-sponsored a bill that stripped the Walt Disney Company of its self-governing power and transferred oversight to a DeSantis-appointed board. The governor endorsed Hawkins for re-election last year.
Cybersecurity Dive
Dragos says it thwarted extortion bid by known ransomware threat group
The hackers accessed limited information by impersonating a new employee, and the cybersecurity firm warns some stolen data may be leaked.
David Jones, Reporter
Dragos was the target of an extortion attempt this week by a known threat actor, the company said Wednesday. The threat actor gained access by compromising the personal email of a new sales employee before they started working at the cybersecurity firm. The hackers impersonated the employee during the onboarding process and gained access to SharePoint and contract management resources. The company said the hackers accessed a report with IP addresses associated with one of its customers, and Dragos officials have reached out to that customer. The extortion attempt failed, Dragos said, and none of its systems were breached, including anything related to the Dragos platform.
Cybersecurity Dive
CISA director wary of technology industry repeating its mistakes with AI
Naomi Eide, Lead Editor
Dive Brief:
The multibillion-dollar cybersecurity industry is the result of misaligned incentives, where the technology industry prioritized speed to market over security, said Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, at a Hack the Capitol event Wednesday. Easterly’s comments build on the federal push to place the burden of security on technology providers rather than their customers, a core part of the recently released national cyber strategy. As artificial intelligence and generative AI solutions descend into the technology ecosystem, the same concerns of security falling to the wayside apply. “I think we need to be very, very mindful of making some of the mistakes with artificial intelligence that we’ve made with technology,” Easterly said.