University System News:
11 Alive
Long before she reached the White House, Rosalynn Carter ventured into politics on the Georgia Southwestern State University campus. Vice President of her class, founding member of the Young Democrats Club, Campus Marshal and Tumbling Club participant, Rosalynn Smith was an active student until she graduated with a junior college diploma in 1946. Now, two buildings on campus bear her name, together called the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex. The first building houses the university’s nursing school. The second is home to the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers and the Psychology Department. … As the campus prepares to lay wreaths at her feet, Mrs. Carter’s legacy lives beyond the name and building to something more.
See also: WJCL: (Video) Wreath laying in honor of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Savannah Morning News: Rosalynn Carter memorial service live updates: Family motorcade en route to Atlanta, WSB-TV: Here is today’s schedule of events remembering the former first lady
Atlanta Business ChronicleUniversity of Georgia, Chick-fil-A, The Same House launch statewide youth leadership program
Thirty teenagers from across the state will participate in the inaugural class of Youth Lead Georgia, a new partnership between the University of Georgia’s J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, nonprofit The Same House and Chick-fil-A Inc. The fast-food giant provided a $1.5 million grant to support the program’s weekend retreats, bus tours and an annual youth leadership summit. Participants will not have to pay to be involved. Youth Lead Georgia announced the student participants Nov. 15. The year-long program kicks off in January.
See also: WGAU: Local students selected for inaugural LEAD program
Albany HeraldAbraham Baldwin Agricultural College Office of College Advancement honored with institutional excellence award
The Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Office of College Advancement was honored with the Overall Institutional Excellence in Advancement Award at the recent Georgia Education Advancement Council annual conference. This award is the highest award presented by GEAC to an entire staff at an institution that demonstrates outstanding achievement and commitment to the field of higher education advancement. The ABAC Office of College Advancement includes the ABAC Foundation, development, alumni, advancement services, and advancement communications offices.
Douglas Now
SGSC, Wiregrass, and Coastal Pines sign agreements expanding core curriculum opportunities
Collaboration between South Georgia State College (SGSC), Wiregrass Technical College (WGTC), and Coastal Pines Technical College (CPTC) was strengthened recently with the signing of new articulation agreements that provide additional educational opportunities for students. The agreements signify a commitment among the three institutions to expand upon the transfer of core curriculum courses between the Technical College System of Georgia and the University System of Georgia. A WGTC or CPTC student who completes coursework towards a diploma or associate degree, is in good standing at the respective institution, and meets the appropriate SGSC admissions requirements will be ensured that courses included in the agreement will transfer into SGSC.
The Augusta Chronicle
Esports powered up through investments in Georgia’s high school, college programs
Whether it’s Mario Kart or Mortal Kombat, video games have been a popular pastime for decades, but in recent years, gaming has leveled up into a mega-popular sports division — and even career opportunity. … Once off to college, young players will likely want to stay in the game. Isaiah Masiello of Harlem said he is seeking an esports scholarship, while Victor Wickham and Ellie Hudgins of Atlanta are interested in making their own games. Several postsecondary schools have picked up on these desires and their professional applications. The Georgia Esports League consists of more than a dozen schools — including major universities like Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia — and, as of 2019, had awarded nearly $20,000 in scholarships, according to Animation Career Review.
WGAU
UNG faculty work with refugee and migrant students
Two faculty members in the University of North Georgia College of Education have created a professional development learning community focused on the needs of refugee and migrant students. The purpose of this PDLC is to inform UNG faculty and students of the increasing refugee and migrant resettlement in north Georgia. The PDLC will provide strategies and resources for faculty and pre-service teachers to meet the needs of refugee and migrant students in the classroom. Students and faculty will meet three times this semester and three in the spring for purposes of review. “We felt that our pre-service teachers who serve the growing refugees and migrant population require certain strategies that aren’t necessarily provided in the program currently,” Dr. Annmarie Jackson, associate professor, said. “We are finding ways to provide strategies for them so that they can better serve this community.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Family opens The Brain Station in memory and honor of daughter who died
If she were still here, Emily Clark would be 29 years old. Her parents imagine she’d be living a beautiful life in Savannah. They picture her married to her longtime boyfriend, working as a nurse, and running a boutique out of a pharmacy, just like she’d talked about. But when Emily tragically died in 2015, the future she dreamed of went with her. Now, nearly nine years later, her parents are doing what they can to ensure one of their daughter’s dreams still comes true. Emily was a happy young lady who loved life. In 2015, she was a junior at Georgia Southern University, a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, in a serious relationship with her boyfriend, and thriving in nursing school.
WGAUDangerous strain of avian influenza confirmed by UGA lab
The Georgia Department of Agriculture says it has found what it is calling a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza in a commercial duck flock in Sumter County in southwest Georgia. The disease was confirmed in the University of Georgia’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Tifton. From the Ga Department of Agriculture … The Georgia Department of Agriculture and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced a commercial Duck breeding operation located in Sumter County, Georgia, has tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). This is the first confirmation of HPAI in a commercial waterfowl flock in Georgia. Avian influenza does not pose a risk to the food supply, and no affected animals entered the food chain. The risk of human infection with avian influenza during poultry outbreaks is very low.
Albany HeraldUGA horticulture students join green industry business
Like proud parents at a recital, undergraduate students in the upper-level University of Georgia “Greenhouse Management” class fussed around the hundreds of daisies, chrysanthemums, Gasteria succulents, snapdragons, dianthus and echinacea they had cultivated for their inaugural plant sale. The October sale, like the rearing of the plants from seedling plugs donated by green industry partners, was entirely student-planned and implemented. This is a revamped approach to the long-standing course, now taught by Department of Horticulture Associate Professor Rhuanito Ferrarezi, who specializes in controlled environment agriculture. “The HORT 4050/6050 students cultivated various ornamental plants and organized a plant sale as an integral component of their active and experiential learning curriculum,” Ferrarezi said. Proceeds from the sale will be used to host a luncheon with members of the ornamental industry for students to network and gain perspectives on career opportunities in the green industry.
The Newnan Times-Herald
Naturalization ceremony held in Newnan for 48 new citizens
A naturalization ceremony was held at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia on Nov. 17 for 48 of Coweta’s newest citizens. U.S. District Judge Honorable Timothy C. Batten Sr. presided. Zachary Howard, assistant U.S. attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, read each person’s name and the 23 countries of origin, which included Sweden, China, Brazil, Turkey, Peru, Vietnam and Spain. The Oath of Allegiance was administered. Until the oath is taken, an individual cannot become a U.S. citizen. The guest speaker was University of West Georgia President Brendan Kelly, who spoke of the “privilege of optimism that comes from being a citizen of this country.”
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed‘Good but slow start’ for a new pathway to student loan discharges
The Biden administration’s effort to make it easier to discharge federal student loans in bankruptcy hasn’t made the process as accessible as some borrower advocates and attorneys had hoped. “It’s a good but slow start; the Department of Justice needs to do a better job,” said Ed Boltz, managing partner at the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, P.C, and board member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. Justice Department data released earlier this month shows that 632 cases were filed in the first 10 months. Of the cases resolved, 99 percent have ended in either a full or partial discharge.
Inside Higher Ed
A ‘game changer’ for research, reputations of ‘emerging’ Texas universities
Harrison Keller, the commissioner of higher education in Texas, was “thrilled” when voters approved a state proposal earlier this month to establish a $3.9 billion endowment to support the state’s “emerging” research institutions. “The proposition was a strong endorsement of the vision that the board has laid out in our state’s strategic plan for higher education,” Keller said. The initiative, Building a Talent-Strong Texas, is focused on supporting academic research and innovation, increasing degree attainment, and keeping graduates working in the state.
Inside Higher Ed
Affirmative Action is dead. How about reparations?
As the Supreme Court debated whether to strike down affirmative action last spring, Justice Brett Kavanaugh posed a surprising question to an expert witness: Should a benefit given to descendants of slaves—whether a cash payment or something less concrete, like preferential treatment in college admissions—be considered race-based? Kavanaugh concluded that it should not. Though most, if not all, of the descendants of enslaved people in the U.S. are Black, having a personal connection to historical wrongdoing would technically be a race-neutral factor, Kavanaugh reasoned, and thus fair game for consideration in admissions. Legal experts and higher education scholars are now weighing the same question in their search for strategies to fill the hole left by the Students for Fair Admissions decision.
Higher Ed Dive
‘Affirmative action for well-off students’: Why early decision is under fire
When choosing how to fill their incoming classes, highly selective colleges have several tools at their disposal. But many of those admissions practices are facing accusations that they perpetuate unequal access to higher education. Advocates for low-income students have called for an end to early decision admissions policies, along with practices that favor the children of alumni and donors. Early decision requires students to attend an institution if they are accepted, meaning they must pledge to enroll before seeing their financial aid packages. “It’s really a form of affirmative action for well-off students,” said Marcella Bombardieri, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank. “You have to be comfortable that you’re going to be able to afford that college.”