Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When HOPE and Zell scholarships pay same for tuition, what sets them apart?
By Vanessa McCray
Caroline Godwin wants to finish college without any student loans, a goal that became easier to attain when she learned the HOPE Scholarship would fully cover her tuition next school year. The 21-year-old rising senior works at a restaurant to put herself through Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus and to pay for other expenses, like new car tires. She expects to save hundreds of dollars for each of her two remaining semesters because of an increase in HOPE funding in the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AJC On Campus: Medical college expands to Savannah, schools hire leaders
By Vanessa McCray
A roundup of news and happenings from Georgia colleges and universities
Georgia’s only public medical college is expanding to Savannah. In this edition of AJC On Campus, we tell you about the new four-year medical campus. Plus, three universities are getting federal funding for mental health. And Clark Atlanta and Emory universities made key hires. New medical college campus The Medical College of Georgia, part of Augusta University, will launch a site in Savannah. … Guns on campus A national advocacy group opposed to allowing guns on college campuses is asking the Georgia Board of Regents to take action following the dismissal of lawsuit brought by professors. … University System employee health care A University System of Georgia task force will evaluate if employee health care plans should cover weight-loss drugs. … Mental health grants Three Georgia universities will get a share of federal funding to boost access to school-based mental health services. … Georgia Tech’s Survivor A few months ago, we told you about Carson Garrett, a Georgia Tech aerospace engineering student from Rome, Georgia, who was competing in season 44 of the TV show “Survivor” set on the islands of Fiji. Well, last week Garrett’s torch was snuffed out. He finished fourth after he was unable to start a fire quite as quickly as a castmate who managed to light up some twigs in record-setting time.
Discovering Bulloch
Hodges is working to make a difference on campus, in the community
By Angye Morrison
Twenty-five-year-old Kate Hodges is following in the footsteps of her father and has become a local hero in a very short amount of time. Hodges grew up in Ludowici, Georgia, and attended Georgia Southern University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology. After graduating in 2020, she attended the Savannah Technical College Peace Officer Academy, and she earned her Georgia POST certification. She then began working at the Georgia Southern University Police Department. She will graduate in December with her Master of Science in Criminology.
Athens CEO
MBA students contribute to local nonprofit boards
By Kristen Linthicum
Each fall, a new class of University of Georgia MBA students arrives on campus with energy, curiosity and a desire to sharpen their executive skills. At the same time, many of Athens’ nonprofit organizations are looking for board members to apply various skills in service of the local community. Andrew Salinas, UGA’s manager of the MBA Career Management Center, realized the two groups—MBA students and local nonprofits—could make a good pair. In 2017, he created the UGA MBA Nonprofit Board Fellows program, which helps local organizations interview and select MBA students to serve on two-year board terms.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
New KSU President Kathy Schwaig set records in research funding
By Rebecca Grapevine
Kathy Schwaig was named president of Kennesaw State University last year. Under her leadership, the university has set a record in research funding, developed new degree programs, and focused on improving student experiences. “We are attuned to the needs of business and industry and ensure that existing and new programs are addressing high-demand areas,” such as technology, Schwaig said. “The Atlanta business community is vibrant and very important to KSU.”
The Georgia Virtue
NASPA recognizes President Kyle Marrero, Jodi Kennedy in latest round of awards
The NASPA (Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education) Region III has selected Georgia Southern University President Kyle Marrero and Leadership and Community Engagement Director Jodi Kennedy for two of its organizational awards. Marrero was selected for the NASPA Region III President’s Award. … Kennedy received the James E. Scott Mid-Level Student Affairs Professional Award.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Timothy Renick spearheaded national institute to help students through college
By Melanie Lasoff Levs
Timothy Renick, who chaired Georgia State’s religious studies department, has always been interested in data and analytics. About 15 years ago, he decided to apply those skills to determine why some of the students in his department went on to graduate and some he never saw after a few semesters. “The dividing lines often had nothing to do with the students,” he said. “Often it was the complexities of life and, in too many cases, the bureaucracy of [the university] that was getting in the way.”
Savannah Morning News
Conservationists: Supreme Court decision leaves Georgia wetlands unprotected, at risk
By Marisa Mecke
The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided a case that dealt a blow to conservationists by rolling back federal wetlands protections and stands to exclude many Georgia lands from federal oversight. Growing development throughout the state, as well as the controversial proposed mining plan at the Okefenokee Swamp, has brought wetland protections to the forethought of Georgians’ minds. Sackett v. EPA’s decision may clarify what areas are and are not protected in Georgia and make development easier in wetlands. … According to Adam Orford, an assistant professor of environment, energy and natural resources law at the University of Georgia School of Law, the decision mirrors the conservative opinion of one of the last major U.S. Supreme Court decisions that attempted to clarify this question, Rapanos v. United States, in which Scalia wrote a similarly limited interpretation of the federal water jurisdiction.
The Current
University Terrace dorms on Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus listed for sale
The University Terrace units used to house Georgia Southern Armstrong students. Now the buildings are up for sale for $6.5 million. The listing of the property, which consists of 194 of the 1,413 dormitory units for the Savannah campus, comes amid a drop in enrollment at Georgia Southern University and budget cuts mandated by the Georgia General Assembly for the school of approximately $3.9 million. The university ended its lease with the owners of University Terrace, a private Savannah-based company, in 2021, a time when GSU was struggling to find students who wanted to live on the Armstrong campus on Savannah’s southside.
Inside Higher Ed
Georgia Supreme Court rules suit opposing guns on campus moot
By Ryan Quinn
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that five professors’ challenge to a law allowing guns on public college and university campuses is moot because the University System of Georgia Board of Regents passed a compliant policy. The ruling upheld a lower court’s dismissal of the professors’ lawsuit.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Stop the push to dismantle higher education in Georgia
In a guest column, college professor James Crabbe asks why higher education in Georgia is under siege at the same time it is critical to the economy and growth of the state. A professor at Georgia Gwinnett College since 2011, Crabbe teaches epidemiology, anatomy and physiology, exercise physiology, exercise psychology and motor learning.
By James Crabbe
With all due respect, I can’t for the life of me understand why, last year, the presidents of each of the 26 institutions in the University System of Georgia did not band together to display their dismay with, disappointment with, and outright rejection of the higher education budget at the time. It is clear the budget cuts to our public campuses were unnecessary. This is especially troubling because education is a major driver of a healthy economy. Why would anyone in Georgia want to cripple a major contributor to a healthy economy?
Other News:
Cybersecurity Dive
MOVEit zero-day vulnerability under active exploit, data already stolen
By Matt Kapko
A zero-day vulnerability in Progress Software’s MOVEit managed file transfer service is being actively exploited across multiple customer environments, threat intelligence firms warned Thursday. Progress disclosed the critical vulnerability in an advisory Wednesday, adding it could allow threat actors to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access to customer environments. It does not yet have an assigned CVE.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
A ‘bold’ approach to community college funding
By Sara Weissman
Texas is on the brink of instituting a new funding model for community colleges that would base most state funding on student outcomes. State lawmakers sent the bipartisan legislation, House Bill 8, to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk last week, where it awaits his signature. Advocates of the new model expect him to approve it in the coming weeks. Under the current model, most state funding allocated to Texas community colleges is based on the number of credit hours students take, a metric highly dependent on enrollment. Roughly 10 percent is based on student success metrics, including the number of students who earn a degree or certificate or successfully transfer to universities.
Inside Higher Ed
Senate OKs resolution to block loan forgiveness
By Katherine Knott
The Senate voted Thursday to block President Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans for eligible Americans. The resolution, proposed by Louisiana Republican senator Bill Cassidy, also would restart student loan payments. Biden has said he would veto the measure. The resolution didn’t pass either chamber with enough votes to override a presidential veto. Two Democratic senators joined with Republicans to support the resolution, which passed with 52 votes. Forty-six senators voted against it.
Higher Ed Dive
Anti-tenure bills stall in state legislatures
By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
Proposals to gut or ban college faculty tenure proved popular during several states’ legislative sessions this year, with Republican leaders in states like Texas and Florida backing them. Lawmakers such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued tenure — which almost guarantees lifetime job security — actually serves to insulate poorly performing faculty members from consequences.