Albany Herald
Americus mayor signs GSW Day of Giving proclamation
From staff reports
Americus Mayor Lee Kinnamon signed a proclamation declaring Sept. 21 the fifth annual Day of Giving for Georgia Southwestern State University. GSW faculty, staff, and students turned out on Gold Force Thursday to witness Kinnamon signing the proclamation for the upcoming Day of Giving alongside GSW Foundation Executive Director Stephen Snyder. Kinnamon also presented his own personal contribution and expressed his gratitude for GSW and the education it has provided his family for multiple generations.
Albany Herald
South Carolina co-ed named Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College SGA president
From staff reports
Brooke Patry, a senior business major from Greensboro, S.C., was recently elected president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Student Government Association. Patry has been involved with SGA for two years.
Athens CEO
UGA Names Graves as Director of Undergraduate Admissions
Wes Mayer
The University of Georgia has named David Graves its director of undergraduate admissions, effective Sept. 1, 2023. In his role as director, Graves will oversee student recruitment and application review for first-year and transfer applicants to the University of Georgia. He will also oversee the awards process for the majority of UGA’s merit-based scholarships and new student orientation.
WRDW
MCG professor honored with American Heart Association award
by Taylor Martin
Jessica Faulkner is a physiologist and professor at the Medical College of Georgia. After 14 years of focused research on sex differences in cardiovascular diseases, she can add the Harry Goldblatt Award for New Investigators from the American Heart Association’s 2023 Hypertension Council to her list of accomplishments. …The award is named for the pathologist who established the first animal model of hypertension in 1934 and is awarded to an independent investigator early in their career working in hypertension or cardiovascular research who has significantly helped others understand the causes of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
WGAU Radio
UNG faculty producing documentary film
By Denise Ray, UNG
University of North Georgia faculty members are creating a documentary film and are bringing its subject to the Gainesville Campus to provide students with real-life experience. Robyn Hicks, assistant professor of film and digital media will direct “Sybil,” a documentary about award-winning author/actress/playwright Sybil Rosen. The film is co-directed by Natalie De Diego, and James Mackenzie, associate director of film and digital media in UNG’s School of Communication, Film & Theatre, serves as producer. …Rosen will have a micro-residency that will include visiting classrooms and sharing her experience, knowledge and expertise with our students and faculty, Hicks said.
The Red & Black
How will UGA celebrate Constitution Day?
Allison Mawn
This Sunday marks Constitution Day, also known as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, a commemoration of the Sept. 17, 1787, signing of the U.S. Constitution. According to the U.S. Department of Education, every educational institution that receives federal funding is required to hold an educational program for students about the Constitution. Since Sept. 17 falls on a Sunday this year, such events are held the prior or following week. The University of Georgia will hold their program on Friday Sept. 15. The American Founding Group and the School of Public and International Affairs will host a celebration, featuring a lecture by Mary Sarah Bilder, Founders Professor of Law at Boston College Law School, entitled “The Framing Generation and Female Genius.”
Atlanta Jewish Times
Hillel Dedicates New Center at UGA
New $6 million facility will serve more than 1,100 Jewish students, which have doubled over the last decade.
By Bob Bahr
The Hillel program at the University of Georgia dedicated a new $6 million building on the Athens campus on Aug. 25. The 10,000-square-foot facility, which was formerly the university’s Baxter Street bookstore, triples the space of the building it replaces, a much older structure that had served for more than 60 years as the Hillel center. The new building is the culmination of an effort that dates back over a half-dozen years.
Metro Atlanta CEO
Hartwell, a UGA Archway Partnership Community, Selected as Georgia’s Downtown of the Year
University of Georgia Public Service and Outreach congratulates the city of Hartwell for winning Outstanding Community Transformation/Downtown of the Year at this year’s Georgia Downtown Association conference. The award is the result of the efforts of multiple partners and community leaders who have worked for years to improve the area. …UGA’s Archway Partnership is proud to be one of these partners. Archway has worked on a number of downtown projects identified as critical to revitalization efforts by the community. Hart County has been an Archway community since 2008 and, through Archway, University of Georgia students and faculty have worked on more than 50 projects that have had a significant impact on downtown, from workforce development efforts to park designs. Last fiscal year, the Hart County Archway Partnership had a return on investment of more than $4.8 million, with $4.4 million worth of community improvement grants in partnership with Archway.
The Citizens
Newton County joins UGA’s Archway Partnership
From staff reports
Newton County has been selected to participate in the University of Georgia’s Archway Partnership program to help identify and address critical community and economic development issues. The partnership, which was attained through the initiative of Newton County Tomorrow, was announced Wednesday at the Newton County Chamber of Commerce State of the Community meeting. The Archway Partnership is part of UGA’s school of Public Service and Outreach. “Today I am here to officially and enthusiastically welcome Newton County and its five cities into the University of Georgia’s prestigious Archway Partnership Program,” said Jennifer Frum, vice president for Public Service and Outreach.
Fox Weather
Torpedo-shaped robots now scanning waters under hurricanes to help improve forecasts
The gliders are torpedo-shaped watercraft developed by the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.
By Angeli Gabriel
To better understand the world’s largest storms, submersibles known as “gliders” are being deployed underneath hurricanes to monitor and collect data that help create more accurate forecasts. The gliders are torpedo-shaped watercraft developed by the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. According to UGA associate professor Catherine Edwards, the gliders move underwater by changing their buoyancy and center of gravity, allowing them to move both in a zig-zag path and up and down. As they move, they can collect data about the temperature and salinity of the water.
Connect Savannah
TEN QUESTIONS WITH THE GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIV. MASCOT
Football season is squarely underway, and we recently caught up with Gus, the fun, friendly mascot for Georgia Southern Athletics to get a better read on who he is and how his gamedays usually go. Enjoy!
Hey, Gus! Can you tell the fans a little about your back story?
I hatched out of a massive egg in Hanner Fieldhouse January 30,1982. Originally a gift to the university from Delta Chi, I was born/given to the community officially. Now yes I looked a little different… We all have our glow ups. I feel as if my name speaks for itself. GUS…GSU… yeah we’re on the same page.
Do you have a pre-game ritual? If so, what is it? …Do you have a nemesis in the mascot world? Or another mascot you consider to be a friendly foe? …Finally, what is the best thing about being the Georgia Southern Eagles’ mascot?
Griffin Daily News
Highlanders defend championship title with season opener win
By Karolina Philmon GSC Marketing Manager
The Gordon State College Club Football Highlanders defended their NCFA National Championship title by defeating the Florida State Coastal College 37-0 in the season opener. Defensively, the Highlanders were impressive, limiting Florida State Coastal College to only 43 yards of total offense and 0 points. Offensively, the Highlanders scored on their first drive with 20-yard touchdown connection from Dekale Fluellen to Brian Bacon. At the end of the first quarter, freshman Javon Brookins ran in a 1-yard touchdown to push the score to 14-0. The 2022 National Championship team and former dean of students Matthew Robinson were honored at half time for their title win.
BVM Sports
Georgia Southern Eagles’ defensive duo, Megan Prsybysz and Sade Heinrichs, are helping the women’s soccer team reach new heights of success. The pair has started 56 straight matches together, only missing a total of 147 minutes of play. Their strong bond and communication have been key in the team’s defensive success, including six straight shutouts and an impressive 0.71 goals against average. With their final collegiate season approaching, Prsybysz and Heinrichs are focused on finishing strong and making it the team’s best season yet.
Times-Georgian
Wolves Soccer ends non-conference slate with draw at GCSU
By Jared Boggus UWG Sports
It was a 1-1 draw between the West Georgia Wolves women’s soccer team and the Georgia College Bobcats on Tuesday night in what was the final tune-up before conference play begins for UWG. West Georgia (0-1-2) got on the board for the first time this season as Judith Leon-Juarez found the back of the net on a rebound opportunity in the 37th minute, giving the Wolves a 1-0 lead.
Morning AgClips
Extension Advances Reach in Southern Region
Fall is the time of year when Cooperative Extension professionals across the Southern region gather to network, share resources, build partnerships and address emerging issues affecting our communities as a collective unit. Members of the Southern Region Program Leadership Network (SR-PLN), Association of Extension Administrators, and the Association of Southern Region Extension Directors, including those from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, convened from Aug. 21-24 in Orlando, Florida, for the annual conference. …This year’s theme for the conference was Next Generation: Evolving the Extension Enterprise. Attendees heard from keynote speaker Mansfield (Pete) Key III, a leading growth development strategist and international motivational speaker. Also, Tom Davidson of Leadership Nature presented a two-part virtual session, “Treating Your Employees Like Volunteers (and Your Volunteers Like Employees)” for pre- and post-conferences. This year, Laura Perry Johnson, associate dean for UGA Cooperative Extension, received the Association of Southern Region Extension Directors’ Award for Excellence in Leadership, a career-long service award for those who lead or make a significant contribution to Extension programs across the Southeast.
24/7 Wall St
25 College Towns Emerging as COVID Hotspots
John Harrington
Few places are more effective transmitters for spreading the coronavirus than colleges and universities. …As students begin their fall semester, some college towns are already showing a significant uptick in new weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations and total weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations. …To compile a list of 25 college towns emerging as COVID-19 hotspots, 24/7 Tempo reviewed county-level data on new weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cities, towns, villages, and Census-designated places were ranked based on the number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations in their surrounding county in the week Aug. 27-Sep. 2, 2023 per 100,000 residents in the hospital service area.
1. Statesboro, Georgia (Bulloch County); Estimated new weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations: 22.8 per 100,000 residents in hospital service area; Total new weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations: 29 in hospital service area; College town population enrolled in college or graduate school: 40.1%; Total college town population: 32,400; Largest university: Georgia Southern University
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Tuition Resets Continue Amid Public Skepticism of College’s Value
Bridgewater College in Virginia and Wartburg College in Iowa are two of the latest institutions to announce drastic cuts to their tuition sticker prices.
By Kathryn Palmer
Two small, private colleges, Bridgewater College in Virginia and Wartburg College in Iowa, recently announced drastic reductions in tuition prices—by 62 percent and 48 percent, respectively—starting next fall. The majority of their students won’t see much of a change in their actual bills, however. That’s because relatively few students at the two institutions, as is true at many colleges and universities, were paying the advertised sticker price. Many were already benefiting from generous scholarships and financial aid packages that made their net tuition costs far less. While some critics have characterized tuition resets as pricing gimmicks, they’ve become more common in the last decade, and especially since the pandemic. And as an expected enrollment cliff looms large, more colleges may look to this increased cost transparency as a strategy for attracting more students.
Higher Ed Dive
UNC system officials suggest more robust post-tenure reviews are needed
Less than 3% of roughly 8,300 tenured faculty evaluated over the last decade were underperforming.
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
Fewer than 3% of tenured faculty members who the University of North Carolina System evaluated in the past decade did not meet job expectations, according to a newly published report. The 240,000-student system released the information ahead of a meeting of its governing board Wednesday and Thursday. The board heard about the system’s post-tenure review process, a tool some critics say undermines tenure-afforded workplace protections. Of the 8,350 faculty who went through post-tenure reviews in 10 years, 244 were underachieving. Some of UNC’s 16 universities had more poorly performing professors than others, which system leaders said implied the need for more consistent and rigorous procedures, NC Newsline reported. This suggests more turmoil around tenure, which has emerged as a politically fraught issue in the past couple of years.
Inside Higher Ed
Colorado College Welcomes Transfers From Anti-DEI States
By Susan H. Greenberg
Colorado College will welcome any college student seeking to transfer from an “anti-DEI state,” the college announced Thursday. The new program, known as the Healing and Affirming Village and Empowerment Network (HAVEN), will grant admission for the next two academic years specifically to students from states that have passed anti-DEI laws, including Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee and North Dakota. “HAVEN is a response to an immediate need for those in harm’s way, and I am proud that CC is acting out our commitment to antiracism in such a meaningful manner,” said Rosalie Rodriguez, associate vice president of institutional equity and belonging. “For colleges that value educating the whole student, now is the time to live out your value system and push back against these repressive laws.”
Higher Ed Dive
Gen Z values college, but affordability concerns remain
Only about half of K-12 students who want to pursue higher education believe they can pay for it, a Gallup and Walton Family Foundation poll found.
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
Dive Brief:
Over 4 in 5 of members of Gen Z say a college education is fairly or very important, according to a new poll from Gallup and Walton Family Foundation. However, while the survey found that 85% of Gen Z students in K-12 schools view college as important, only 62% plan to pursue higher education after they earn their high school diploma. Only about half of college-bound Gen Z students, 53%, believe they will be able to afford a postsecondary education. Black students are particularly concerned about higher education costs, with only 39% saying they believed they could pay for college.
Higher Ed Dive
Federal judge rules DACA unlawful — again
Although the ruling does not call for an immediate end to the program, it leaves tens of thousands of college students covered by its protections in limbo.
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
A federal judge ruled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program unlawful Wednesday but did not call for an immediate end to the policy or its protections. Around 141,000 college students were eligible for or enrolled in DACA in 2021. DACA shields immigrants brought into the country illegally as children from deportation, and permits them to study and work. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling continues to bar the federal government from accepting new DACA applications but allows it to process renewals for current recipients. Hanen’s ruling will likely be appealed. If it does, DACA’s fate will once again be in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, which holds a strong conservative majority.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Survey: Voluntary Turnover in Higher Ed Workforce Increasing
Arrman Kyaw
Voluntary turnover in the higher education workforce continues to rise, according to findings from a recent College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) survey. Employee Retention Survey – which involved surveying more than 4,780 higher ed employees nationwide – 56% of respondents reported that they are at least somewhat likely to look for other jobs in the next 12 months. And one-third of respondents said they are likely or very likely to do so even.
Inside Higher Ed
Job Market for History Professors ‘Lethargic but Stable’
By Jessica Blake
Employment data for the 2022–23 academic year confirm that the hiring of college history professors since 2016 has been “lethargic but stable,” according to a recent report from the American Historical Association Career Center. With the notable exception of a “sizable dip” in job postings due to “pandemic-related austerity measures,” which was balanced out by increased hiring during the 2021–22 academic year, job availability for historians is steady, according to the report released Wednesday. However, the report highlights two “troubling” patterns: the “rapidly declining” number of jobs for “premodern” historians and a decrease in the number of tenure-track positions.
Inside Higher Ed
West Virginia Students, Faculty Cry Out on Final Day Before Vote on Deep Cuts
At a raucous public comment session Thursday, the WVU Board of Governors heard final pleas to reject university administrators’ proposed cuts. But state politicians and university leaders aren’t expected to heed the protests.
By Ryan Quinn
Christine Hoffman, as assistant chair of West Virginia University’s English department, had some sharp words Thursday for WVU’s Board of Governors. “It’s my understanding that you’ve already stated your support for the dismantling of WVU as a public institution, and there’s little anyone can write or say today to change your minds,” Hoffman told the board. The board was hearing public comments the day before it votes on proposed cuts to faculty members and academic programs. …The proposed cuts have captured academics’ attention nationwide, with some calling it a gutting of higher education that could serve as an inspiration for other universities to follow suit. The American Association of University Professors is among multiple organizations to have raised alarm. Hoffman, a tenured associate professor, told the board that she doesn’t know whether she’ll be among those laid off. But she said she did know something.
Inside Higher Ed
CFPB: Tuition Payment Plans Can Be Risky, Costly for Students
By Katherine Knott
Tuition payment plans offered by colleges and universities should be thought of as a type of loan even if they are marketed to students as a loan alternative, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a new report released Wednesday. The payment plans allow students to pay for the cost of tuition in several interest-free payments, which can be a good option for some students, the CFPB said. However, students can face an array of fees that can snowball as well as confusing repayment terms, according to the report. The agency reviewed tuition payment plans at nearly 450 institutions. An estimated 98 percent of public and private nonprofit colleges offered such plans in 2019, according to a National Association of College and University Business Officers report cited in a footnote of CFPB’s publication.
Inside Higher Ed
Cornell Cancer Researchers Fabricated Data
By Liam Knox
Two former scientists at Cornell University used made-up data in 12 different scientific papers published between 2008 and 2016, according to new reports by the federal Office of Research Integrity. The researchers—biochemistry professor Kotha Subbaramaiah and medical professor Dr. Andrew Dannenberg—taught at Cornell’s Weill School of Medicine, and much of their research focused on cancer. They were found to have engaged in misconduct in research conducted with federal grant money; specifically, they “recklessly reused Western blot images from the same source and falsely relabeled them to represent different proteins and/or experimental results,” according to the ORI report. According to Retraction Watch, Dr. Dannenberg had received nearly $8 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health since 1995, and Subbaramaiah received over $1 million between 2005 and 2009.