The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wellstar testifies why it should get Augusta hospitals; public responds
By Ariel Hart, Vanessa McCray
Hospital leaders with Wellstar Health System on Tuesday promised they will not close down the core services of the state-owned Augusta University Medical Center, such as its 24/7 emergency room, if they are allowed to take it over. More than 100 people came to an auditorium at Augusta University Tuesday to hear officials and members of the public speak out on the proposed takeover of the state-owned Augusta University Health system by Marietta-based Wellstar Health System. Officials for both Wellstar and AU implied that fears Wellstar might close down the Augusta hospital in the future were unfounded. Wellstar CEO Candice Saunders and other officials said the contract with AU includes guarantees that would last for the first 10 years of the deal. …An Augusta legislator, state Sen. Harold Jones, a Democrat, told the panel at the hearing that he favored the deal. That show of support prompted University System Chancellor Sonny Perdue to walk up the aisle after Jones’ testimony and give him a fist bump.
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[The%20Augusta%20Chronicle]The Augusta Chronicle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia State University to convert to electric buses with $22 million grant
By Vanessa McCray
Georgia State University’s Panther Express buses will switch from growling diesel to an electric purr. The university on Monday announced it received a $22.29 million federal grant that will pay for all 18 of the diesel vehicles in its fleet to be replaced with electric buses. University spokeswoman Andrea Jones said the buses are expected to be in operation in fall 2025. In the meantime, a bus depot will be designed and built. Georgia State said the conversion will make it the first university in the Southeast to have a fully electric bus fleet.
WGAU Radio
Two UNG faculty members win Fulbright Scholarships
By Tim Bryant
They teach English at the University of North Georgia: Mina Kwon and Melissa Schindler are UNG’s latest Fulbright Scholars.
From Denise Ray, UNG…
University of North Georgia faculty members Dr. Mina Kyounghye Kwon and Dr. Melissa Schindler were named Fulbright scholars for the 2023-24 academic year. Kwon, an associate professor of English, will travel to Chuncheon, South Korea, to spend a year teaching and working on her research-based translation book project. … Schindler, an assistant professor of English, will travel to Sri Lanka, where she will teach teachers of English how to teach English at the Open University, and work on her project about the history of the discipline of English.
Athens CEO
UGA Program Helps Improve Downtown Thomaston
The second project for the City of Thomaston in the University of Georgia’s Connected Resilient Communities (CRC) program brought UGA students and faculty to town to develop strategies for making the square and Thomaston Downtown Entertainment District more pedestrian and retail friendly. “There’s tremendous opportunity here. With our location and bringing vibrancy and life back to downtown Thomaston, we are excited to be a part of the CRC program and work with UGA students and faculty to continue the revitalization of downtown Thomaston,” said Taylor Smith, Thomaston economic development coordinator and chair of the CRC steering committee. Thanks to Thomaston’s geography being directly between Atlanta, Columbus and Macon, the economy of the small Central Georgia town is growing. The city is working to make downtown a hub for that growth and has turned to UGA—through the CRC program—to address two specific challenges: pedestrian safety and façade improvements.
KPVI
UGA entomologist delves into secret lives of city bees
By Kris Braman UGA/CAES
Kris Braman joined the University of Georgia in 1989, researching ways to improve the sustainability and profitability of urban plant production and landscape pest management. The work she’s done through the years has not only advanced our scientific understanding of insects, it has informed public policy on issues like pesticide use and environmental protection. Now leading the Department of Entomology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Braman explains that her research takes place at the intersection of pollinator health, ecology and habitat conservation.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
People are catching malaria in Florida. What Georgians should know
By Helena Oliviero
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health alert after five acquired cases of malaria have been detected in the U.S. in the last two months — including four cases in the neighboring state of Florida. This marks the first time in 20 years malaria infections have been confirmed in people who have not traveled outside the U.S. Health officials are warning doctors and the public to be aware of the possibility of infection. Experts say Georgia residents should take precautions against mosquito bites, but that it’s unlikely for malaria to begin spreading in our state. “I don’t want you to be overly concerned about it,” said Elmer Gray, an entomologist with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service about the threat of malaria in Georgia. “But I want you to be aware.”
SeedQuest
Finger millet genome breakthrough to help safeguard food security
ICRISAT, in collaboration with a team of researchers led by the University of Georgia, USA, has published a pioneering study on the finger millet genome offering new insights for breeders and hope for millions in the drylands. The study opens exciting possibilities for developing new finger millet varieties through targeted breeding techniques to enhance nutritional value, yield, and resilience to various challenges. The breakthrough provides a detailed understanding of finger millet’s genetic structure, specifically at the chromosome level (a structure found within the cells of living organisms that carries genetic information).
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: ChatGPT can’t replace authentic student voice in college essays
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
The advent of artificial intelligence software such as ChatGPT has led to discussions about whether colleges will drop or amend their admissions essay requirements. I asked Atlanta college essay coach Patti Ghezzi for her thoughts on the question. A former journalist who also worked at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ghezzi now works in nonprofit communications. She also advises high school students on their college essays.
By Patti Ghezzi
I hope AI doesn’t drive colleges to get rid of the admissions essay, as some experts, including Rick Clark, director of admissions at Georgia Tech, have predicted.
WJBF
by: Ty Grant
The Salvation Army of Augusta is proud to announce two impactful events and a community drive aimed at supporting individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The first event is called Connection to Community Event …Friday, July 7th, from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., The Salvation Army of Augusta will host a Community Health and Wellness Fair at the Center of Hope. In collaboration with community partners such as Augusta University School of Dentistry, Christ Community Care, the Veteran Affairs Office, and more, this event aims to provide free resources to individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Attendees will have access to a range of services including medical screenings, dental check-ups, mental health support, and other vital resources, all with the goal of promoting overall well-being and fostering a healthier community.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UGA football program rallies when players accused of abusing women
By Alan Judd
Athletes often remain on team despite sexual assault, domestic violence allegations
In a single weekend, a 16-year-old University of Georgia football recruit broke curfew, drank with potential teammates in an Athens bar and ended up in a police station, under investigation for sexual assault. Georgia signed him, anyway. The school’s response to Jamaal Jarrett’s misadventures during a campus visit last year illustrates how its national-champion football program rallies to support athletes accused of abusing women, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows. In case after case, the newspaper found, strong on-field performance appears to excuse bad off-field behavior.
Higher Education News:
Cybersecurity Dive
MOVEit vulnerability ensnares more victims
Some organizations have been impacted due to their direct use of MOVEit while others have been exposed by third-party vendors.
Matt Kapko, Reporter
Fallout from Clop’s mass exploit of a zero-day vulnerability in Progress Software’s MOVEit file transfer service continues to ensnare additional victims. The prolific ransomware actor is listing new compromised systems on its leak site daily and some organizations are still disclosing breaches. At least 108 organizations, including seven U.S. universities, have been listed by Clop or disclosed as having been impacted thus far, according to Brett Callow, threat analyst at Emsisoft. The University of California, Los Angeles, is the latest organization to disclose a breach of its MOVEit platform. The school’s IT security team discovered malicious activity on June 1, a spokesperson told Cybersecurity Dive.
Cybersecurity Dive
State and local governments grapple to mitigate cyber risks
David Jones, Reporter
Dive Brief:
State and local governments face increased challenges amid a rising threat landscape due to malicious ransomware attacks and sophisticated nation-state threat actors, according to a report released Monday from Moody’s Investors Service. More municipalities are buying cyber insurance to mitigate the financial risk of a major attack, however premiums for state and local governments have soared in recent years and insurers have imposed strict cyber hygiene requirements in order to get coverage. Municipal governments will benefit from federal funding through the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, which will provide about $1 billion over four years to help these entities harden their networks.
Inside Higher Ed
‘Fire the Accreditors’ Is a Bad—and Illegal—Idea
Federal law is clear—the government cannot dictate accreditation standards, Terry W. Hartle writes.
Opinions
By Terry W. Hartle, Terry W. Hartle is a senior fellow at the American Council on Education
Accreditation is at the heart of American higher education, but it’s rarely in the headlines, and it almost certainly has never been an issue in a presidential campaign. But we live in unpredictable times, when former president (and current presidential candidate) Donald Trump has already trained his fire on accreditation agencies, as has Trump’s most prominent challenger for the GOP nomination, Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Trump recently vowed that he will “fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominated by Marxists, maniacs and lunatics.” It’s not known what Trump would replace accreditors with. But it is clear that this attack on accreditors is part of a broader assault on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in an effort to appeal to the Republican Party’s populist base. It is just one more way that colleges and universities find themselves uncomfortably on the front lines of the culture wars.
Inside Higher Ed
Supreme Court to Hear GI Bill Case
The plaintiff in the case, a retired Army captain and Bronze Star recipient, wants the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that he said broke Congress’s promise to veterans.
By Katherine Knott
The Supreme Court will consider a long-running lawsuit over whether the Department of Veterans Affairs is shortchanging veterans on their education benefits. A decision in favor of James Rudisill, the plaintiff in the case and a retired U.S. Army captain, could affect more than 1.7 million people. Rudisill wants the Supreme Court to overturn a decision from the full bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in favor of the Biden administration. Other appeals courts have ruled in Rudisill’s favor since the legal challenge began in 2015. At issue is how the Department of Veterans Affairs calculates educational benefits for service members who earned benefits under two different versions of the GI Bill.
Higher Ed Dive
Johns Hopkins, Emeritus launch program to train healthcare leaders
By Brian T. Horowitz
Dive Brief:
On Monday, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and online education platform Emeritus announced a new program aimed at providing training in healthcare leadership. The four-month program will provide training to healthcare professionals in team management and decision-making, operations and supply chain management, and budgeting. It will also cover artificial intelligence and automation to allow healthcare leaders to address health equity in patient populations. The program announcement comes as hospitals emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic with thin margins, persistently high expenses and negative balance sheets. A report from consultancy firm Kaufman Hall found that U.S. hospitals had a median 0% operating margin in April following a year of negative margins.
Higher Ed Dive
NCAA demands colleges follow its name, image, likeness rules over state laws
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
The NCAA told its member colleges Tuesday that the association could punish them for violating its rules on athletes’ ability to profit off of their names, images or likeness, even if state laws are more flexible. The directive sets up battles with states that have passed legislation challenging the NCAA’s enforcement of NIL-related issues. Arkansas, for instance, approved a law in 2021 forbidding colleges from following sports association and conference policies if those rules interfere with athletes being compensated for publicity rights. Various state laws also allow for fundraising groups separate from colleges to pay athletes for NIL endorsements, but the NCAA stressed this too would infringe on its policy.
Inside Higher Ed
Education Dept. Investigates Baker College
By Josh Moody
The Department of Education has reportedly opened an investigation into Baker College’s marketing and recruiting practices following an article last year by The Detroit Free Press and ProPublica that revealed the college spent more on marketing and recruiting than on student financial aid. Facing a probe by the Department of Education, Baker College officials have pledged transparency while remaining tight-lipped about the investigation, The Detroit Free Press reported.