Savannah Morning News
USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue: Consolidation of Savannah State is ‘not on the table’
By Will Peebles
In an interview with Atlanta’s WABE public radio station, University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue said “unequivocally,” neither consolidation nor a merger are on the table for Savannah State University. Perdue’s answer comes weeks after the resignation of the school’s president and a staff layoff. Prior to those moves, Savannah Alderwoman Alicia Miller Blakely spoke of a rumored consolidation of Savannah State in her candidate profile interview with Savannah Morning News in late March.
CAES Newswire
Inaugural integrative precision agriculture conference aims to address industry needs
By Maria M. Lameiras
Spray drones with pinpoint accuracy, produce-picking robots, autonomous systems to monitor broiler chicken health, and artificial intelligence to predict yield before the buds have faded from the trees — these are some of the solutions integrative precision agriculture promises an industry that is embracing the power of technology to address both age-old and emerging challenges. …University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue spoke to attendees about the importance of the Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture and the potential solutions that will come from the collaborations it inspires. “In the United States we are blessed to be in a country where we have food independence. How will we continue to have that? It is going to take the technological advances, machine learning and robotic processing. Fewer people are working in agriculture in the fields today and it is going to be less in the future,” Perdue said. “Staying ahead of the curve for food production is vital for this nation. We look forward to the things you will discover and to the things we will discover together for humankind.”
Augusta Chronicle
What will change for charity healthcare with AU Health-Wellstar merger?
By Abraham Kenmore
Most of the changes coming when Wellstar takes over operations at AU Health will be on the backend, but once the deal is finalized the clock will start on one policy change that could impact several patients. For the first year, the new Wellstar MCG Health will continue the current AU Health indigent and charity care policies. After a year, the new organization will change over to Wellstar’s policies. Earlier this month, the documents outlining the process by which Wellstar will become the sole corporate member of AU Health were made public for the first time. The 89 documents filed for routine legal review with the Attorney General’s office outlines what will change and what will stay the same.
Albany HeraldUGA receives funding to study drug use risk in rural Georgia
By Leigh Beeson
The University of Georgia was recently awarded $3.2 million from the National Institutes of Health to study resilience in rural children using neuroimaging technologies. The BRANCH study, which stands for Building Resiliency and Nurturing Children’s Health, will investigate the development of resilience among low-income children living in rural Georgia areas over five years, starting at age 7. The overarching goal is to determine how children’s communities affect their neurocognitive development and risk for drug use as adolescents.
WALB
Southwest Georgia professor details his plans for his research of the farm of the future
By Jim Wallace
Farming practices have evolved over time in order to accommodate new technology and the world’s ever-growing population. But what are farms of the future going to look like in the Peach State and elsewhere? WALB’s Jim Wallace sat down with a Southwest Georgia professor to find out more about the project he’s working on. He is going to be building the farm of the future, doing research. To do that. Tell us about it, doctor. “So well, we applied for this grant with USDA and received it this past year,” Dr. Glen Rains, a professor with the University of Georgia Tifton Campus, said.
Valdosta Daily Times
VSU Spring Giving raises scholarship funds
Valdosta State University recently raised $99,667 during its 2023 Spring Giving Day, a 24-hour crowd funding-style campaign. Spring Giving Day was an opportunity for Blazer Nation family and friends to show their support of VSU’s tradition of academic, athletic, creative, leadership, research and service excellence on campus, in the community and around the world, university representatives said in a statement.
Other News:
Fox 28 Savannah
Sen. Ossoff announces LG and Hyundai to build $4.3B EV battery plant
By Ian Morris
U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff announced Thursday that manufacturing incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act have attracted another major industrial investment to Georgia. LG Energy Solutions and Hyundai will jointly build a $4.3 billion EV battery plant in the Peach State. Sen. Ossoff announced the news weeks after leading an April trade mission to South Korea, where he met with senior executives from both firms.
AccessWDUN
Jaemor and the giant peach: weathering the spring freeze
By Joy Holmes
Mild temperatures at the beginning of the year followed by unusual lows in March sparked concern across the southeast for peach lovers and growers; however, officials at Jaemor Farms in Alto believe its shelves will be stocked with big, juicy fruits all summer long. “It is very much a glass half full type situation,” General Manager Drew Echols with Jaemor Farms said. “It’s by no means the best crop of peaches we’ve ever had, or the largest, but it’s not the worst either.”
AccessWDUN
‘We’re talking millions of visitors’; water safety on Lake Lanier
By Christian Ashliman
Hall County and Georgia state officials share the best ways to stay safe and keep the good times rolling this Memorial Day weekend amid an influx of visitors to Lake Lanier. Georgia Game Wardens with the Department of Natural Resources have already investigated four boating fatalities, responded to 12 drownings and made 18 arrests for boating under the influence in 2023. In 2022, those numbers ended at 23 boating fatalities, 57 drownings and 287 BUI arrests, according to data provided by the DNR.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed DiveOver half of adults say the financial benefits of attending college outweigh its costs
By Natalie Schwartz
Just over half of adults who attended college said the lifetime financial benefits of their higher education outweigh the costs, according to an annual survey on U.S. financial well-being from the Federal Reserve. Around one-fifth of adults suggested higher education wasn’t worth the costs, while the remainder said the associated benefits and the expenses were about the same. These assessments depended on several factors, including where adults attended college, whether they completed their programs and whether they have outstanding student loans.
USA Today
Higher education fled this American small town. It left behind ‘a ghost town.’
By Nick Fouriezos
When West Virginia University took the local campus out of Montgomery five years ago, it took more from the rural town than just a college. Suddenly, 1,500 students were gone. More than 100 staff and faculty moved out. The bar and the car dealership closed. The grocery store, too. And it was only going to get worse, locals knew.
Diverse Issues in Education
‘Race-blind’ group claims victory over DEI at UNC, but the truth is more complex
By Jon Edelman
Color Us United, a nonprofit that advocates for a “race-blind” America, declared a “historic victory” over DEI efforts at the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine (UNC). In a press conference Thursday, the organization took credit for the university’s February decision that it would not require DEI statements from job and tenure candidates, as well as the school’s recent confirmation that a task force to integrate social justice into curricula had been disbanded and its recommendations not taken. However, a closer look reveals a more complicated picture: DEI may be far from dead at UNC.
Inside Higher Ed
Professors plan summer AI upskilling, with or without support
By Susan D’Agostino
Some faculty members recharge in summer; they exhale while tweaking assignments or course policies for the upcoming year. Other instructors face challenges that are unique to summer—they may struggle to find childcare while teaching multiple courses, sometimes on multiple campuses, during an accelerated term and often to students in need of remediation. But Microsoft and Google are moving forward with integrating artificial intelligence text-generation into the environments where modern humans write. As the pace of progress in AI writing tools accelerates, faculty members across the summer spectrum face a shared challenge: How can they upskill in AI for teaching and learning—fast?
Inside Higher Ed
A plan to counter antisemitism warns colleges, ‘OCR is watching’
By Katherine Knott
The Education Department is reminding colleges and universities about their responsibilities under federal civil rights law to protect students from antisemitic harassment. Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon wrote in a Dear Colleague letter released Thursday that a university violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “when it fails to take adequate steps to address discriminatory harassment, such as antisemitic harassment.” The office has already resolved one complaint against a university this year related to antisemitism.
See also: Higher Ed Dive: White House calls on colleges to act against antisemitism