University System News:
Becker’s Hospital Review
Georgia systems combine into 12-hospital entity
Marietta-based Wellstar Health System and Augusta University Health System are officially one, effective Aug. 30. AU Health’s three hospitals have joined Wellstar’s nine to create a unified entity. Moving forward, AU Health will be known locally as Wellstar MCG Health — “MCG” coming from Augusta University’s “Medical College of Georgia,” according to a joint news release from the health systems and the University System of Georgia.
See also: WRDW: Wellstar-Augusta University Health merger is now official
The Post-Searchlight
ABAC president addresses Rotary Club, new Rotary members receive pins
By Ethan ReddishThe Bainbridge Rotary Club met for their weekly meeting at the Kirbo Center on Tuesday. Before the day’s guest speaker took to the stand to speak, there was a pinning ceremony for five new rotary members. … Following this ceremony, the guest speaker of the day was ABAC president Dr. Tracy Brundage, with Dr. Michael Kirkland also speaking. Dr. Brundage began by discussing ABAC’s operations and changes since she spoke to Rotary last year. … Brundage also mentioned several significant events ABAC has hosted recently, including Governor Brian Kemp’s visit to the Bainbridge campus to sign farm legislation, as well as a visit by Chancellor Sonny Perdue.
Upmatters
1890 Universities Foundation launches a new online giving initiative
Today, on the 133rd anniversary of the Morrill Act, the 1890 Universities Foundation announced its launch of a new online giving initiative to raise funds to support the 1890 Foundation’s mission on behalf of the 19 Strong Historically Black Land Grant Universities. … “Given the challenges we have faced as a community, it is vitally important that the HBCU community take a significant step forward,” added Dr. Paul Jones, President of Fort Valley State University, a Black Land-Grant University, and Chairman of the 1890 Universities Foundation Board.
Albany HeraldUniversity of West Georgia graduates inaugural class of police cadets
The University of West Georgia, in partnership with the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, recently graduated its first class of law enforcement cadets. The 13 graduates of the first-of-its-kind police academy were honored during a ceremony at UWG’s Townsend Center of the Performing Arts. Members of the inaugural Academic Law Enforcement Training Exchange (ALETE) class included UWG students and cadets from the Villa Rica Police Department, the Carrollton Police Department and the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office.
Columbus CEO
Columbus State unveils new headquarters, upgraded services for military-connected students
As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance services for its current and future military-connected students, Columbus State University has unveiled the new headquarters — and a new name — for its Military-Connected Student Services programs. Now located in the university’s Schuster Student Success Center on its Main Campus, the recently relocated office is just part of Columbus State’s programs designed to serve active-duty and transitioning soldiers, veterans and their families. Collectively, those programs recently garnered the university a spot on MilitaryFriendly.com’s top-10 military-friendly schools list.
See also: WRBL: Fort Moore and CSU enhance Military-Connected Student Services
WGAUNorth Ga Health Systems renews athletic support partnership with UNG
Northeast Georgia Health System has renewed its support of University of North Georgia Athletics for another five years. NGHS initially became the official healthcare partner of UNG Athletics in February 2020. … In addition to the athletic partnership agreement, NGHS and UNG will continue to collaborate on UNG health initiatives and wellness expos, as well as with Student Counseling and Student Health Services on UNG’s Gainesville Campus. UNG’s College of Health Sciences and Professions will also benefit from the partnership with resources for its professional excellence and student engagement programs.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Grants help UGA, GSU conserve, digitize millions of photos, newspapers
By Bo Emerson
Here’s the problem with microfilm: Everybody hates it. It is cumbersome to use. You must physically load a reel onto a balky machine and laboriously search for the information you desire. Machines break, with few technicians to fix them. Housed at the University of Georgia, the Digital Library of Georgia has, over the last 70 years, committed 20 million newspaper pages to plastic reels, from publications as old as the Revolutionary War. But that will end next year.
WGAU
UGA camp reimagines learning for young students in Athens
Since 2001, the Summer Academy at the University of Georgia (SAUGA) has focused on introducing 14- to 17-year-olds to potential careers and creative pursuits. This year, thanks to generous grant funding from the Bobbi Meeler Sahm Service and Outreach Award, SAUGA Jr., a STEAM-focused summer camp for elementary and early middle-schoolers, was added to the offerings. Fourteen students from Alps Road Elementary and Clarke County Middle schools participated in the week-long camp filled with STEAM activities at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel from July 10-14.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Gwinnett College seeking volunteers for exercise program
The Department of Exercise Science and Physical Education at Georgia Gwinnett College is seeking volunteers to participate in a 10-week exercise program. Volunteers will have a pre-training and post-training fitness assessment that includes blood pressure, body composition, cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, balance and flexibility.
Law & Crime
By Colin Kalmbacher
“Y’all really took my baby away,” a heartbroken mother wrote in a social media post after her teenage daughter, a college sophomore in the prime of her life, was shot and killed at home while sleeping. Shareka Pitts bookended her terse sentence of grief with two emojis expressing heartbreak — having little else to post on the day she learned about the sudden death of her daughter, 19-year-old Khia Shields. The slain girl studied at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro — a small college town roughly an hour west of Savannah — where less than two weeks ago, she started her second fall semester.
See also: WAVE: ‘Everybody loved their Khia’: 19-year-old college student shot, killed while sleeping
Higher Ed Dive
Georgia public colleges put end to required DEI statements in hiring
By Laura Spitalniak
Georgia’s public colleges can no longer require diversity, equity and inclusion statements in their hiring or training processes, continuing a conservative-led, nationwide push against the practice. In an HR policy change in July, the University System of Georgia barred its 26 colleges from requiring applicants and employees to fill out “affirmations, ideological tests, and oaths,” which include diversity statements. Instead, hiring officials can ask questions about an applicant’s experience supporting different student populations.
Other News:
WSB-TV
Good Samaritan helping clean up Idalia debris dies after tree falls, crushes him in south Ga.
A Lowndes County man died on Wednesday while helping clean up debris that fell during Hurricane Idalia. Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk confirmed the man’s death to Channel 2’s Tom Jones. Paulk said two of his deputies were working to remove a tree from a road and two Good Samaritans came over to help. As the deputy removed a piece of the tree, a second tree came crashing down and fell on one of the Good Samaritans. The man died instantly. The deputy was taken to the hospital with injuries and a slight brain bleed.
See also: Savannah Morning News: Some trees, power lines downed during storm, Valdosta Daily Times: S.Ga. digs out of deadly hurricane
Associated Press
Georgia Power customers could see monthly bills rise $9 to pay for the Vogtle nuclear plant
Residential customers of Georgia’s largest electrical utility could see their bills rise $9 more a month to pay for a new nuclear power plant under a deal announced Wednesday. Georgia Power Co. said customers would pay $7.56 billion more for Plant Vogtle construction costs under the agreement with utility regulatory staff. The Georgia Public Service Commission’s five elected commissioners must approve any deal, but such agreements are typically persuasive.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Apprenticeships prove successful for 2-year degree seekers
By Ashley Mowreader
LaGuardia Community College trialed its first apprenticeship program with Mastercard this past year, providing 20 students with boot-camp preparation, 12 apprenticeships and 12 full-time jobs after graduation. The experiential learning opportunity provided students with paid relevant work experience for their future careers, social capital at a Fortune 500 company and newfound confidence in their own talents and abilities.
Inside Higher EdFlorida’s accreditation shuffle begins
The U.S. Department of Education has given Florida SouthWestern State College approval to seek a new accreditor, setting in motion a state plan that will require its 40 public institutions to move away from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges. Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, attributed the approval to a lawsuit the state brought in June challenging the Department of Education and the accrediting system. In his telling, the federal government blinked.
Higher Ed Dive
University of Arizona may be partly on the hook for $72M in discharged Ashford loans
By Natalie Schwartz
The U.S. Department of Education plans to discharge $72 million in student loans for borrowers who attended Ashford University — and the University of Arizona may end up on the hook for some of the cost. Education Department officials announced Wednesday they were clearing the debt of over 2,300 former Ashford students through the borrower defense to repayment regulation, which allows students to have their loans wiped away if their colleges misled them.
See also: Inside Higher Ed: U.S. discharges $72 Million in loans for Ashford students
AccessWDUN
Former Gov. Nathan Deal holds guest lecture at Brenau University
By Hamilton KeenerFormer Georgia Governor Nathan Deal held a guest lecture Tuesday evening at Brenau University to celebrate Brenau’s Learning and Leisure Institute’s 30 years of programming. Deal’s lecture, titled “The Keeping of Our Republic,” discussed the challenges of the past 250 years to our form of government at the state and federal levels. “It’s an honor to be invited, I get a lot of invitations to things. But I think it’s always important for us to be an educated population,” Deal said. … “The Keeping of Our Republic” will be expanded into an in-person six-week BULLI course taught by the former governor.
Associated Press
University of North Carolina students rally for gun safety after fatal shooting of faculty member
By Hannah Schoenbaum
A shooting that left a faculty member dead and frightened students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has galvanized gun safety advocates and local Democrats, who rallied the grieving campus community Wednesday to fight for stricter state gun laws. About 600 students held protest signs on a large lawn in the heart of campus and bowed their heads during a moment of silence as the iconic campus Bell Tower rang in honor of the deceased associate professor, Zijie Yan.
Associated PressAfter Jacksonville shootings, historically Black colleges address security concerns, remain vigilant
By Cheyanne Mumphrey
Before the fatal shootings of three Black residents in Jacksonville, Florida, over the weekend, the gunman, a young white man with swastikas painted on his rifle, pulled into a parking lot at Edward Waters University and began putting on tactical gear. … While the shootings took place at a Dollar General store in the predominantly Black community of New Town less than a mile away, the gunman’s earlier appearance at Edward Waters has prompted new fears about public safety for African Americans and the educational institutions that have long served them.
Inside Higher Ed
Most governing boards don’t reflect student diversity
By Kathryn Palmer
Governing boards of colleges and universities wield tremendous power, including the authority to appoint presidents, set tuition rates and vote on policy changes. But emerging research is questioning the relationship between the diversity of board members and student success. It comes at a time when the rising political influence of some governing boards is increasingly shaping student and faculty experiences.