The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Public hearing set for proposed Wellstar, Augusta University Health merger
By Vanessa McCray
The public will get its chance next week to weigh in on the pending merger between Wellstar Health System and Augusta University’s hospitals. The Georgia attorney general’s office will hold a public hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Lee Auditorium, 1459 Laney Walker Blvd. in Augusta. Georgia law requires a hearing to ensure the public’s interest is protected in such deals involving nonprofit hospitals. Wellstar said its president and CEO Candice Saunders and general counsel Leo Reichert will provide testimony at the hearing. In late March, the Georgia Board of Regents agreed to let Marietta-based Wellstar take over management and funding of the Augusta University Health System, which includes the flagship Augusta University Medical Center.
Grice Connect
GS President Marrero joins Sun Belt Executive Committee
Georgia Southern University President Dr. Kyle Marrero was named Vice President of the Sun Belt Conference, placing him in rotation to be President of the conference.
Appalachian State University Chancellor Dr. Sheri Everts was named President of the Sun Belt Conference at the close of the league’s spring CEO meeting in Atlanta. Effective July 1, Everts’ duties during her two-year team as the Sun Belt Conference President also include serving as the chair of the conference’s Executive Committee. Joining Everts on the Executive Committee—and in the Sun Belt presidential rotation—are Georgia Southern University President Dr. Kyle Marrero as Vice President and The University of Southern Mississippi President Dr. Joseph S. Paul as Treasurer.
Augusta CEO
Augusta University Communication Major Wins State Press Award
Kevin Faigle
It’s always nice to be recognized for your work, no matter what field you are in. For Augusta University student Liz Wright, she’s been honored with the Georgia Press Association’s Emerging Journalist Award for the work she’s done at The Augusta Press. Wright will be a senior in the fall and has had a busy go of it, as of late. Not only has she been working at The Augusta Press, but she also served as the Bell Ringer’s news editor this past year.
Athens CEO
Mandela Washington Fellowship Returns to UGA in Summer 2023
Staff Report
The University of Georgia is proud to announce its selection as an Institute Partner for the 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. Beginning in mid-June, UGA will host 25 of Africa’s bright, emerging Civic Engagement leaders for a six-week Leadership Institute, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), empowers young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, networking, professional opportunities, and local community engagement.
Inside Higher Ed
Success Program Launch: Growing Peer Mentorship
Augusta University will increase its mentorship offerings for incoming students this fall with the help of several hundred undergraduate and graduate student mentors.
By Ashley Mowreader
Mentorship in higher education has long been a high-impact practice in retention and producing student success, but formal programs are lacking. A 2021 Student Voice survey from Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse found that only one in five students who have a mentor were paired through a formal mentorship program. Among students who did participate in formal mentorship programs, 86 percent were satisfied with their experience. Starting this fall, incoming students at Augusta University in Georgia can be connected with a peer mentor as part of the Jags4Jags Mentoring Program, the university’s first formal mentorship program.
WGAU Radio
UNG trains teachers in cybersecurity
By Clark Leonard, UNG
The University of North Georgia hosted its third annual Advancing GenCyber Education for North Georgia Teachers Initiative from June 5-9 to help 25 middle and high school teachers and administrators learn how to teach cybersecurity to students. They will also have the chance to gain further training through the rest of the year. Five UNG faculty and staff in the Mike Cottrell College of Business and College of Education and three teachers who have previously completed the AGENT program served as instructors in the academy held at the Cottrell Center for Business, Technology & Innovation at UNG’s Dahlonega Campus. A National Security Agency (NSA) grant of more than $144,000 funded the Initiative.
Now Hambersham
Senator calls Russian cyber attack “wake-up call” for Georgians
By Staff Report
The top state Senate Republican reviewing cybersecurity is calling on House lawmakers to immediately pass legislation creating a Georgia Cyber Command. Senator Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas) says the new agency is needed to guard against vulnerabilities in state government computer networks. He points to last week’s cyber attack on the University System of Georgia (USG) as evidence of the need for such a Command. On Friday, June 16, USG and several federal agencies were the victims of a massive cyber attack. Russian hackers have claimed responsibility for the attack, which exploited a vulnerability in a program called “MOVEit,” a popular tool for securely transferring data.
See also:
The Creative Coast
Plug and Play’s Batch Two Expo Day Highlights Supply Chain Innovation in Savannah
By Chester Thorson
Plug and Play’s Savannah Batch Two Expo Day was successfully hosted on Wednesday, June 14th, creating an exciting follow-up to the initial Selection Day showcase event. The event took place in downtown Savannah at SoHo South, providing a vibrant backdrop for 13 innovative startups to present their advancements within the supply chain and logistics industry. These startups showcased solutions related to warehousing, renewable energy, trucking, and workforce/staffing development, highlighting the ongoing innovations in these areas. The expo commenced with opening remarks from Dr. Chris Curtis, Vice Provost for Research at Georgia Southern University, emphasizing the significance of the Savannah Logistics Innovation Corridor and the university’s collaboration with Plug and Play. Dr. Curtis expressed their shared goal of establishing Savannah as a renowned center for logistics innovation.
WRWH
EVAN THOMPSON NAMED PING ALL-AMERICAN
Posted by Dean Dyer
The 2023 Division II PING All-America Teams have been announced by the GCAA. University of North Georgia men’s golfer Evan Thompson has been selected as a second-team All-American honoree this season.
CBS News
40 Acres and a Mule | CBS Reports
Dr. Veronica Womack, Executive Director, Rural Studies Institute, Georgia College & State University
Today, the phrase “40 acres and a mule” represents the broken promises the U.S. government has made to Black American farmers, contributing to a vast racial wealth gap. CBS Reports explores the ways in which Black Americans are trying to reclaim their land, connect to their ancestry, and generate wealth that can be passed on for generations to come.
WTOC
‘Let Freedom Ring’ Patriotic Concert happening this Sunday
By WTOC Staff
A Savannah July 4th tradition is making a comeback this year. The Savannah Wind Symphony has been treating audiences with a Patriotic Concert for three decades, but hasn’t performed the Fourth of July show since 2019. It’s coming up on Sunday, July 2, on Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus.
WRDW
Local nutritionist shares how to start healthy habits
By Jada Walker
According to Wallet Hub’s research, Augusta has the third highest obesity rate out of all cities in the country, which means staying healthy and fit is more important than ever. We talked to a nutritionist at Augusta University about how to start healthy habits early.
Tuscaloosa News
Can a turtle bite off a person’s finger? | ECOVIEWS
Whit Gibbons
Q. I try to move turtles off the road so they won’t get run over. Box turtles never try to bite me. Snapping turtles always try to bite me. And they never appreciate my help. How aggressive are different kinds of turtles toward humans? A. Any turtle is capable of biting a person, but some are almost never inclined to do so whereas others never miss an opportunity to latch on if they feel threatened. As with many animal traits, variability exists in how likely a turtle is to take issue with being handled by a human. …Tracey Tuberville (University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory) has conducted research on hundreds of southeastern gopher tortoises as well as desert tortoises. The only bite she has ever seen was when a gopher tortoise bit someone who was sticking it with a hypodermic needle to extract blood. Can’t blame the tortoise for that.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: UGA writing community changes how teachers see classroom, world
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
University of Georgia professors Stephanie Jones and Hilary Hughes are co-directors of the Red Clay Writing Project, which is housed at UGA and seeks to create powerful writing communities for teachers. Dylan Brody is a Red Clay Scholar and doctoral student in educational theory and practice. The three write today about the importance of writing and the impact of the Red Clay project in Georgia over two decades.
By Stephanie Jones, Hilary Hughes and Dylan Brody
The Red Clay Writing Project began in 2003 as a local site of the National Writing Project under the leadership of retired UGA professor JoBeth Allen and Bob Fecho, a retired UGA professor and current professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. The National Writing Project has been thriving for 50 years, providing the most powerful, transformative, and sustained professional education network for pre-K-12 and university teachers, youth workers and community educators in the United States.
41NBC
Finalist named for Washington County Schools Superintendent
By Haley Janes
Vickie Harden has been unanimously voted in as the finalist for Superintendent of the Washington County School District. Harden is a graduate of Washington County High School, and received her Bachelor’s degree in Latin from the University of Georgia and her Master’s and Specialist’s degrees from Georgia College and State University.
Savannah CEO
Goodwill Southeast Georgia Introduces New Board Members
Staff Report
The Goodwill Southeast Georgia Board of Directors met on May 19th for their annual meeting. During that meeting, they elected their new slate of officers for a two-year term starting at the end. …The Board also elected the following individuals to their first three-year term as Board members: Kendria Lee, Member. Ms. Lee is Deputy Chief of Staff for Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
International Graduate Applications and New Enrollments Rose in Fall 2022
By Scott Jaschik
International graduate applications and new enrollments grew in 2022, according to a new report from the Council of Graduate Schools. U.S. colleges and universities saw 468,336 applications from outside the U.S. for master’s programs or graduate certificates in 2022, up from 369,829 the year before. The colleges received 221,659 international applications for doctoral programs, up from 203,448 the year before. In terms of enrollments, master’s and certificate programs enrolled 50,514 non-U.S. students in the fall of 2022, up from 47,255 the year before. New enrollment in doctoral programs grew modestly, from 13,417 to 13,515 during that time.
Higher Ed Dive
Gainful Employment Proves Contentious, Again
Higher education groups sharply criticized the Education Department’s sweeping set of regulations that would define gainful employment and make other changes.
By Katherine Knott
Higher education groups representing a range of colleges and universities told the Education Department this week that the agency has a lot of work to do over the next four months to fix its proposed gainful-employment rule. They want some areas of the more than 1,000-page regulation clarified and others thrown out completely. Meanwhile, think tank analysts and consumer protection advocates applauded the department’s proposed rule, which they said would strengthen the higher education system. The Education Department received more than 7,400 comments on a sweeping set of regulations that would once again define what it means to prepare graduates for gainful employment, require institutions to meet new conditions to access federal financial aid and make it easy for the agency to take action against institutions. The deadline to submit comments was Tuesday.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Report: More Than 2,000 Schools Typically Deliver Minimum Economic Return to Students
Arrman Kyaw
At least 2,414 institutions, enrolling 18.3 million undergraduates, typically deliver the minimum economic return to students, according to a recent report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP). “Rising Above the Threshold: How Expansions in Financial Aid Can Increase the Equitable Delivery of Postsecondary Value for More Students,” estimates how many colleges provide a minimum economic return for their typical student – labeled Threshold 0 – and highlights what can be done to improve affordability.
Cybersecurity Dive
Progress Software faces federal class action lawsuits as MOVEit breach exposure widens
Louisiana residents allege their personal financial information was put at risk after the state’s motor vehicles department had data exposed in the MOVEit data breach.
David Jones, Reporter
Progress Software is facing two separate potential class action lawsuits in connection with a SQL injection vulnerability in MOVEit file transfer software. The lawsuits allege the company’s negligence led to the breach, which puts their personal financial data at risk. A suit filed June 15 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana alleges the vulnerability led to the breach of the state Office of Motor Vehicles. State officials announced the breach that same day, warning Louisiana drivers that their names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, social security numbers, vehicle registrations and other information was likely stolen.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
The University of Texas System to Launch Free, Virtual Mental Health Support Program for UT Students
Arrman Kyaw
The University of Texas (UT) System is partnering with virtual health company TimelyCare to launch a free, virtual mental health support program for students at all 14 UT institutions. The program is set to begin Fall 2023. The program will offer 24/7 access to services such as on-demand mental health and emotional support; scheduled mental health counseling; psychiatry; health coaching; peer support; and digital self-care content.
Higher Ed Dive
Cal State workgroup unveils plan to close Black students’ achievement gaps
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
The California State University system needs to “reimagine long‐held assumptions around student success” to close college achievement gaps for its Black students, according to a report this week from a Cal State workgroup. Each of Cal State’s 23 institutions should develop a data-driven retention plan for Black students and other groups facing similar persistence gaps, the report said. They should also create an inclusive and culturally relevant curriculum to engage students, as well as provide the employee training needed to teach such subject matter. Black faculty and staff are crucial to these goals, according to the report. The workgroup recommends that Cal State prioritize recruiting faculty members with a record of teaching and conducting research with diverse students. It should also invest in supporting Black employees.
Higher Ed Dive
University of Rochester sues Rochester University over recent name change
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
Dive Brief:
University of Rochester, a private research university in New York, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit last week against Rochester University, a Christian college in Michigan, over its recent name change. The New York university is asking the judge to block Rochester University from using its name, which it adopted in 2019. It previously was known as Rochester College, and it was originally opened in 1959 under the name North Central Christian College. The University of Rochester, which was founded in 1850, says the similar names will likely lead to the two institutions being confused with one another. The university said it cannot tolerate people mistakenly believing “they are affiliated, connected, associated, sponsored, or approved by one another.”
Inside Higher Ed
Developing Students’ Critical Thinking Skills: Academic Minute
By Doug Lederman
Today on the Academic Minute: Erica Kosal, director of the life sciences first-year program and associate teaching professor of biological sciences at North Carolina State University, explains how important it is for students to learn how to think creatively.