The Center Square
Audit reveals options for modernizing Georgia Military College governance
By T.A. DeFeo
The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts has identified five “options” to modernize the governance and oversight of the Georgia Military College. Two of the five options included in the audit, performed at the request of the Georgia House Appropriations Committee, would expand the state’s representation on the GMC board, with either some or all voting members appointed by state leaders. Currently, Milledgeville residents elect GMC Board of Trustee members. GMC, founded in 1879, has a K-12 preparatory school with roughly 850 students and a junior college with roughly 12,000 students enrolled at the main Milledgeville campus, 11 satellite locations and online. The state could move the junior college’s operations to the University System of Georgia or the Technical College System of Georgia.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
How to achieve HSI status: intentionality
By Lois Elfman
For a college or university to be designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), at least 25% of full-time equivalent students enrolled must be Hispanic. … Dr. Justin Jernigan, dean of student success at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), said the plan to pursue HSI status, announced in 2022, was intentional. One of only two schools in the University System of Georgia with HSI status, GGC has consistently developed programming for Hispanic students over the past decade.
WGAU
Parents Leadership Council raises $1 million for student programs at UGA
The University of Georgia Parents Leadership Council surpassed its 2022-2023 fundraising goal by raising over $1 million, a record for the group. The PLC is a service-oriented group of highly engaged parents of UGA students who provide funding to the university through their annual gifts. Once a year, the council awards grants to campus organizations that have a commitment to enhancing undergraduate student life.
The Baldwin Bulletin
GCSU signs pharmacology articulation agreement with Mercer University
Georgia College & State University (GCSU) and Mercer University’s College of Pharmacy are partnering for a healthier Georgia. President Cathy Cox and Mercer University President William D. Underwood signed an articulation agreement May 10, at Georgia College. The three-year agreement will give GCSU pre-pharmacy graduates priority application status into Mercer’s PharmD program.
The Brunswick NewsChurches support college’s African-American Male Initiative (AAMI)
Episcopal churches in the Brunswick and the Golden Isles have come together to show their support for College of Coastal Georgia’s African-American Male Initiative (AAMI). Representatives from the different churches recently presented college president Dr. Michelle Johnston with a check to support the efforts of the program. AAMI is an initiative of the University System of Georgia and can be found at its many institutions.
The Oconee Enterprise
Show co-hosted by local photographer is Emmy nominated
By Caitlin Farmer
The first season of the Georgia Public Broadcasting television show “View Finders,” co-hosted by Oconee photographer and Georgia College & State University professor of instructional technology Chris Greer, has been nominated for a 2023 Emmy Award. The award is for the Southeast Emmy region, and “View Finders” was selected from regional television shows across the Southeast. According to gpb.org, the show follows two photographers to locations across Georgia to meet with experts about the locations’ ecological and historical significance and the importance of their preservation.
The Tifton Gazette
Athletic director Wimberly talks what’s ahead for ABAC athletics
By Becky Taylor
A four-year athletic program is on the horizon for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. ABAC announced the change May 16, with a further detail that men’s and women’s basketball would be returning to campus next year for the first time since shuttering in 2008. How will all of this work? Athletic director Chuck Wimberly recently shared details in an interview about what is next for the Stallions and Fillies. The switch is a year away, but Wimberly is already in constant motion. “There is no grass growing beneath my feet,” he joked. Wimberly, named AD in November 2022, will be the initial women’s basketball coach.
WALB
Dougherty County Public Library to offer free summer reading program
The Dougherty County Public Library’s Summer Reading Program will run from June 3 through July 29. According to the release, the summer reading programs offer creative, fun and free ways to build a love for reading for all ages and abilities. This year’s theme is “All Together Now.”
“Each of our public libraries offers a robust and community-focused summer reading program in every county,” Vice Chancellor for Libraries & Archives and State Librarian Julie Walker said.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Diversity ought to be celebrated, not circumvented in Georgia
By Maureen Downey
At Morehouse College’s commencement earlier this month, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore told the graduates, “Our history is our power.” Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor, advised graduates to dismiss politicians who claim that book bans and limits on classroom discussions of America’s history of race are needed to protect students from feeling “discomfort and guilt.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Georgia Tech official pleads guilty to fraud
The former chief scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud Georgia Tech and the CIA, federal prosecutors announced late Friday. From early 2007 through late 2013, James G. Maloney, 57, of Marietta, and others engaged in a scheme to defraud Georgia Tech and the CIA. They used a procurement card that was supposed to be used for official business to purchase approximately $200,000 on four-wheelers, televisions, iPads, digital cameras, sunglasses, solar panels for a private hunting club and other personal expenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said in a news release.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
Inside the effort to improve transfers between community colleges and top-ranked schools
By Lilah Burke
After Samer Hassan graduated with honors from a Chicago community college, he enrolled at Columbia University to put himself on a better economic path. But he initially found life at the top-ranked university difficult. As someone who describes himself as having grown up undocumented, he felt alienated by a culture of economic privilege. And he struggled to pay for meals and housing, even though he received a full-tuition scholarship. Hassan also didn’t think his community college curriculum prepared him for Columbia’s academic rigor.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Survey: 30% of college students used ChatGPT for schoolwork this past academic year
Almost a third of college students (30%) have used free artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT for schoolwork this past academic year, according to a survey by Intelligent.com and SurveyMonkey. As AI has its recent surge in prominence in the mainstream — from art to tech — Intelligent.com surveyed 1,223 current undergraduate and graduate students — age 18-30 — about their views on one of the more well-known tools, ChatGPT, which was launched in November 2022.
Inside Higher Ed
The new Florida presidential profile
By Josh Moody
A new presidential profile is emerging in Florida, where those hired or considered for top executive positions are increasingly conservative politicians—often with ties to Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor who has sought to reshape higher education in the Sunshine State. And in a state where DeSantis and the Republican-led Florida Board of Governors appoint trustees to oversee state institutions, board members also play a key role in shaping the state’s new presidential profile—and many seem eager to please the governor by hiring candidates that align with his political priorities.