University System News:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rosalynn Carter’s influence is deeply felt at her college alma mater
You don’t have to walk far on Georgia Southwestern State University’s campus to see and feel Rosalynn Carter’s impact. A set of buildings in the middle of campus is named the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences complex. That’s where you’ll find the caregivers institute she founded. And a campus club she founded, the Young Democrats, is still up and running.
See also: Savannah Morning News: Public pays respects as former first lady lies in repose
Middle Georgia CEO
Building on its longstanding partnership with the U.S. Army’s Maneuver Captains Career Course, Columbus State University is expanding its online master’s degree opportunities for graduates of all of the Army’s active-duty Captains Career Courses. Since 2012, soldiers participating in the Fort Moore-based Maneuver Captains Career Course in Columbus, Georgia, have received pre-approved academic transfer credit toward specific Columbus State master’s degrees. Today, those opportunities include a master of science in organizational leadership, master of public administration and master of strategic communication management. This opportunity is now expanded to every soldier graduating from any of the Army’s Captains Career Courses.
WSAV
Georgia Southern awarded $1.5 million from Department of Defense
The Department of Defense is giving Georgia Southern $1.5 million to continue a physical therapy program that’s helping our troops to be stronger and healthier. Lower back pain, knee sprains and ankle twists are common injuries for soldiers in training. GSU’s SPAR program is trying to change that. “Not only getting the soldier fit and physically ready but also making sure that we keep them injury-free,” said Dr. Nancy Henderson, a licensed physical therapist leading the program. The Soldier Performance and Readiness Program (SPAR) trains military personnel to develop efficient physical training exercises that are easier on the muscles and bones.
Gwinnett Daily Post
Georgia Gwinnett College men’s soccer sets program record for NAIA Scholar Athletes
A program-record six Georgia Gwinnett College men’s soccer players were named Daktronics NAIA Scholar Athletes for their academic successes during the 2023 season. Recognized were Aidan Colquitt, Sebastian Farias, Sam Povolotsky, Khaled Qasum, Aleksandar Rajkovic, and Emanuele Sordi. Eighteen different players have now been honored for a total of 28 Daktronics NAIA Scholar Athletes in the program’s 12 seasons.
Athens CEO
UGA ranks top 10 in nation for study abroad participation
The 2023 Open Doors report ranked UGA No. 6 overall in student study abroad participation and No. 3 for short-term study abroad program participation among doctoral institutions in the U.S. This report, compiled by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and the Institute of International Education, details study abroad data for 2021-2022, the first full post-pandemic academic year. According to the Open Doors report, 2,324 UGA students studied abroad for class credit, with 2,175 students studying on short-term programs. During this period, students studied in 72 countries, and over $580,000 in scholarships were awarded by the Office of Global Engagement to students for their experiences abroad, including the Passport Initiative Scholarship.
The Tifton Gazette
Seventeen ABAC students selected for Ambassadors’ program
Seventeen Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College students have been selected to participate in one of the most active organizations on the college’s campus — the ABAC Ambassadors. This year’s Ambassadors include Abby Kennedy from Meigs, Lily Harbuck from Americus; Colton Peacock from Ludowici; Jenna Williams from Douglas; Daniel Durrence from Moultrie; Lesly Meza from Wray; Mia McGurl from Jacksonville, Fla.; Abigail Lampp from Rochelle; Oscar Martinez from Pearson; Gracie Bananto from Warner Robins; Laurie Jo Burt from Moultrie; Karoline Wilson from Ringgold; Reanna Brown from Lake Wales; Blake Nicholson from Mineral Bluff; Austin Collins from Statesboro; Isabella Patillo from Tifton; and Maddie Jones from Bonaire. To be selected, students were interviewed and had letters of recommendation before the selection committee made the selections.
The Brunswick News
College to host food drive for student pantry
College of Coastal Georgia invites the community to participate in Giving Tuesday by supporting the college’s campus pantry, known as The Deck. The College will host an all-day food drive for The Deck today to support students facing food insecurity or financial hardships. The Deck was established in 2019 as a response to the growing concern of food insecurity on college campuses across the nation. Led by the Student Government Association (SGA), The Deck became one of the first food pantries established on a University System of Georgia campus. Over the years, the SGA has worked to expand the offerings provided by The Deck, collaborating with community partners to ensure the sustainability of the pantry.
WSAV
VIDEO: Take a walk on the wild side at GSU’s Wildlife Center
From ducks to snakes to Freedom the GSU mascot, there’s so much to see and do at Georgia Southern University’s Center for Wildlife Education. We were taken on a special tour by the founder and Executive Director of the center who is also the handler for Freedom, Steve Hein. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to dedicate an entire show to our visit. We hope you enjoy all five segments showcasing this oasis right in the middle of the Statesboro campus where the goal is to bring man and nature closer together.
Albany Herald
UGA Extension brings opioid education to rural communitiesAs drug overdoses linked to opioids continue to rise, rural communities in particular struggle to control the epidemic. More than 75% of the nearly 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021 involved an opioid, with higher rates of poverty and a lack of resources in rural areas being significant factors in the alarming trend. UGA Cooperative Extension is working with rural communities to address the issue, thanks in part to a three-year $350,000 Rural Health and Safety Education grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The three-year project builds on previously funded efforts to address opioid misuse in rural communities and centers on community-based outreach, education and support.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed DiveBasic needs funding can boost student persistence, report suggests
Dive Brief: Basic needs funding for students at one college increased their persistence rates by up to 15.5%, according to a recent report from the Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice. Students at Southern New Hampshire University received federal pandemic relief grants to help them cover day-to-day necessities like food and housing. Grant recipients were more likely to stay enrolled months later than students who didn’t receive basic needs support, CHEPP’s report said. “While there are a myriad of options and approaches for supporting learners’ basic needs, just-in-time grants appear to be one way to offer a flexible measure that can support a variety of learner needs,” the report said.
Higher Ed Dive
Kentucky is thinking about removing gen ed from 2-year colleges. Regulators don’t agree.
Earlier this year, Kentucky policymakers floated an idea — the state’s community and technical colleges could hand off all instruction of general education programs to four-year universities. In part, that was to help address accusations that the Kentucky Community and Technical College System has administrative and academic bloat. Concerns have also arisen that the two-year campuses duplicate services, haven’t made transfer pathways easy and allowed “short-term certificates of questionable value” to proliferate, leading some to question whether these institutions should focus solely on technical education. State regulators, however, did not endorse that idea in a series of recommendations released this month.
Higher Ed DiveWhat happened when UW-Madison lifted its out-of-state enrollment cap?
Dive Brief: Out-of-state enrollment at the University of Wisconsin at Madison jumped by 29% from fall 2016 to fall 2019 after officials removed a cap on out-of-state students, according to a working paper from American and Canadian researchers. Tuition revenue rose 47% over that time frame. Researchers found the new revenue was used to fund an increase in financial aid for lower-income students, particularly those whose families earned less than $30,000 a year. Some researchers believe that increasing out-of-state enrollment will harm an institution’s academic quality, according to the paper. But the study, which has not been peer reviewed, showed lifting the out-of-state cap didn’t significantly affect measures of academic quality.
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Report provides frank data on Black PhD holders in STEM fields
Over the past year, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and RTI International have engaged in a study of Black and Hispanic individuals who have achieved PhD degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. Only 3.8% of people who earned these doctoral degrees from 2010–20 were Black Americans. The debt load of those who did is disproportionately high. Throughout the report, “Exploring the Educational Experiences of Black and Hispanic PhDs in STEM,” it is clear that Black, and to some extent Hispanic, students have very different experiences than their white and Asian counterparts. The differences begin with the types of institutions they attend for their undergraduate educations and continue with the institutions at which they do their doctoral studies.
Inside Higher Ed
Professor says Spelman raised students’ grades, fired him
A former assistant professor of economics at Spelman College says the institution bumped up the grades he gave students without informing him beforehand and, after he complained, fired him without giving him the right to appeal. Kendrick Morales said he worked at the college for two years, in a tenure-track position, before it ousted him this summer. “I was planning to teach in the fall, which was like a couple weeks later,” Morales told Inside Higher Ed. “They didn’t give me any kind of warning.”
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Morehouse School of Medicine looks to disrupt health inequities
At Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), disrupting and erasing health disparities is more than just part of their mission statement. Health equity is something MSM leaders, faculty members, and students work toward every day. “As a medical school, our first priority is to train physicians, researchers, and other healthcare professionals. However, as an historically Black medical school (HBMS), we have a larger mission,” says Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president and CEO of MSM. “African Americans and people of color continue to face challenging health disparities when compared to whites. For example, Blacks suffer higher incidences of diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.” That’s why Montgomery Rice and other experts are excited about the $2 million donation they received in September from the Croel Family Foundation for the development of the David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute at MSM.