University System News:
Emanual County Live
EGSC Foundation Casino Night fundraising event was a huge success
The East Georgia State College (EGSC) Foundation hosted its first Casino Night fundraising event on Thursday, November 9. The event was held at the Swainsboro Country Club and featured casino games that guests played for a chance to win various prizes. A silent auction was also held during the event to raise funds for the EGSC Foundation. “We are so thankful to all the community members who came out to support our first Casino Night fundraiser and to help celebrate EGSC’s 50th anniversary! This event was a huge success thanks to the many people who attended and the wonderful sponsors of the event,” said Harley Smith, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at EGSC. “The event would have not been possible without the community members and businesses that stepped up to be sponsors and support this event.”
Grice Connect
Georgia Southern students score big in AI sales challenge
Georgia Southern University students recently scored big in a virtual sales competition. In the RNMKRS sales role-play challenge, students lead a mock sales meeting where they represent Dell Technologies and try to sell a laptop computer line to a police or fire department representative, played by Alex, the AI bot. The virtual meeting with Alex through the RNMKRS app allows them to go through all the steps of a typical sales call, then RNMKRS scores the student and gives them feedback.
Valdosta Today
PSST, VSU Theatre and Dance earns 43 Broadway World Award nominations
Peach State Summer Theatre and Valdosta State University Theatre and Dance have earned a total of 43 nominations across 15 categories of the 2023 Broadway World Tallahassee Awards. Now it’s up to fans, friends, and family to decide who will win. Voting continues through Dec. 31 at Broadway World. Winners will be announced January 2024.
Coastal Courier
Business Incubator getting ready for business
The Hinesville Business Incubator is almost ready for business. Catherine Blake, the business incubator manager for Georgia Southern University, said they are looking to opening before the end of the year. An official ribbon cutting was scheduled for late Wednesday afternoon. The program was made possible through an Economic Development Administration grant. “They are proud of our progress so far, and we haven’t even opened the doors,” said Blake. The Hinesville Business Incubator for Entrepreneurship already has its first client, Blake told Hinesville City Council members recently — a retired Air Force colonel who is also a patent holder.
Dalton Daily Citizen
Dalton State College to showcase pair of filmmakers as independent film series concludes
During the next week-and-a-half Dalton State College will wrap up its 2023 independent film series with two screenings of feature films. The series includes four showings that have been slated for the college’s Goodroe Auditorium at 656 College Drive during four months. The college hosted Chattanooga filmmaker Sarah Wood and her comedy-drama “Amazing Gracie” in September and followed with a screening of Cleveland, Tennessee, resident Matthew Fisher’s feature film “The Good People of Orphan Ridge,” about a rock band that sneaks into a haunted house to record its last album, in October.
Albany CEO
VIDEO: Thelma Johnson on partnering with Albany State University
Thelma Johnson of Albany Community Together talks about helping students get real-world experience through their new partnership with Albany State University.
DVIDS
Campbell, JMC’s aide-de-camp, talks to Georgia ROTC Cadets about mentors
First Lt. Jeffrey Campbell Jr. recently tapped into his roots. The aide-de-camp to Ronnie Anderson Jr., the Joint Munitions Command’s commander, talked to Army ROTC Cadets about selecting a mentor during an Alumni Officer Forum at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia, at the end of October. Campbell enlisted in the Army in 2015, and he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant from Fort Valley’s ROTC program in 2020. Selecting a mentor is a crucial step in personal and professional development. They offer a myriad of benefits that can significantly impact one’s journey toward success. A mentor is typically an individual who advises, guides, and shares insights with a mentee.
WGAU
UNG begins work on Drill Field
Work is underway on the University of North Georgia campus in Dahlonega, where Drill Field is getting a facelift. The field that bears the name of General William Livsey is undergoing enhancements that are expected to be completed by April of next year. From the UNG website… The Gen. William “Lipp” Livsey Drill Field is one of the most revered locations at the University of North Georgia’s Dahlonega Campus, and work has begun on enhancements to the Drill Field that will celebrate UNG’s history and preeminent legacy of its Corps of Cadets to the nation since 1873.
WTOC
Georgia Southern lights Armstrong Campus for the holidays
Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus is completely in the holiday spirit with the holiday lighting of Burnett Lawn. For the “Celebrate Together” spirit week, junior and senior class royalty helped the university president with the ceremony. Students also crafted played some games. “It’s nice to have the students out here. They’re preparing for finals; getting ready for commencement here in a couple of weeks, so it’s an exciting time of the year where family and friends come together and us as community,” said President Kyle Marrero. President Marrero says that they’re expecting record graduations with 2100 degrees conferred for winter graduation.
Douglas Now
A fresh brew: SGSC welcomes Starbucks to campus
On the crisp morning of Monday, November 27, the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce brought together community leaders, board members, students, and cherished partners to celebrate the grand opening of South Georgia State College’s new dining hall addition — Starbucks Coffee. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, held on the college’s thriving Douglas campus, was a joyous event that marked a significant milestone for the longstanding community partner. … Matt Seale, CEO of the Chamber and Economic Development Authority, emphasized the vital role SGSC plays in local workforce development. He praised Dr. Greg Tanner, Interim President of South Georgia State College, for his outstanding leadership and the institution’s positive impact on the community, as well as his significant contributions to the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Savannah Morning News
Savannah State students say dorms lacked hot water for weeks. SSU says it’s now ‘restored’
Students at Savannah State University (SSU) living in University Village have been without consistent hot water for at least three weeks. The first week of November is when lack of hot water became an issue according to three students who spoke with Savannah Morning News on Wednesday morning. SSU Dean of Students Bonita Bradley has been quoted in other media outlets as saying the university was working “tirelessly on the problem.” Around 10 a.m. Wednesday, Francisco Duque, SSU’s marketing manager, responded to an inquiry about the situation. He wrote that “hot water was restored overnight.”
Yahoo!
Federal agents join search for man wanted in UGA student’s death
The search for a man wanted in connection with a fatal wreck in Winder nine months ago that claimed the life of a University of Georgia doctoral student has been turned over to the U.S. Marshal’s Office in Macon. The suspect, Cesar L. Raudales Macias, was last seen at the home of his parents in Athens, according to a news release from the student’s parents, Tim and Julie Buchanan of Fresno, Calif. Macias, 26, is wanted on warrants charging him with vehicular homicide, drunk driving and driving on the wrong side of the road. The Feb. 13 crash killed Beth Elaine Buchanan, 23, who was a doctoral student at UGA in psychology.
Higher Education News:
Diverse Issues in Education
Report: National six-year college completion rates stalling
The U.S.’s national college completion rate has remained stagnant, with rates even falling for some populations, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC). The Completing College 2023 report — the 12th report in the series — tracked and illustrates trends in six-year college completion rates, both on a national and state-by-state basis. This year’s edition examined enrollment and completion for college students who started in Fall 2017 through June 2023, a cohort of approximately 2.4 million students. NSC’s researchers found that, on a national level, the six-year completion rate for students who began college in Fall 2017 was 62.2%, the same as those who began in Fall 2015. … States that had rates rise from the previous year include Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, and Virginia. Georgia, Florida, New York, and Massachusetts were some of the states that instead saw declining six-year completion rates.
See also: Inside Higher Ed: College completion rates remain stagnant, Higher Ed Dive: National college completion rate stagnates at 62.2%, new data finds
Higher Ed Dive
Employers value a college degree but think students lack some skills, survey says
Dive Brief: More than 80% of employers in a new Association of American Colleges and Universities survey said they believe higher education prepares college graduates for workforce success — though some executives find students lack certain skills. Only 49% of employers reported thinking, for instance, that graduates are very prepared in oral communication, according to AAC&U’s report published Thursday. But about 80% said they agreed graduates overall are ready for the workplace. The survey also found strong employer support for microcredentials and student and faculty freedom to discuss any topic on a campus.
See also: Inside Higher Ed: Survey finds employer confidence in college grads
Inside Higher Ed
Who’s the boss of Virginia’s public university boards?
A recent opinion submitted by Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares to Governor Glenn Youngkin is raising questions about the future of governing boards at the state’s public institutions. The opinion, issued last month, responds to inquiries from Youngkin, a Republican, about whether the boards of the state’s public universities are required by law to serve the institutions they represent or state lawmakers and the governor. Miyares determined that the governing bodies of the universities, known in Virginia as Boards of Visitors, have a “primary duty” to the commonwealth.
Florida TrendFlorida university leaders bash plan to downgrade sociology
Department leaders at 10 of Florida’s public universities say they “strongly object” to a plan that would remove sociology as an option for courses students must take as part of their college studies. The plan was proposed Nov. 9 by state Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and advanced by the Board of Governors, which oversees Florida’s university system. Introductory sociology courses have been “an integral part of higher education for nearly two centuries,” and thousands of Florida students take them each year, the department heads wrote in a follow-up letter to the Board of Governors.
Inside Higher Ed
Columbia Chicago faculty strike hits one-month mark
Part-time faculty members at Columbia College Chicago have been striking since Oct. 30, a highly unusual, perhaps unprecedented, duration for a contingent faculty walkout. The Columbia College Faculty Union, which represents these part-timers but not the full-time faculty, has described it as history’s longest adjunct strike. Some other media reported that part-timers at the New School in New York City set the previous record a year ago. William A. Herbert, executive director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College, part of the City University of New York, said his center’s data show that the Columbia College Chicago strike is the longest among contingent faculty members for at least the past decade.
Higher Ed DiveWomen’s college Saint Mary’s now accepts transgender applicants
Dive Brief: Saint Mary’s College, a historically women’s Roman Catholic institution in Indiana, will consider transgender women for admission into its undergraduate programs, beginning in fall 2024. College spokesperson Lisa Knox confirmed the new practice in an email Tuesday. The change came about after Saint Mary’s governing board in June amended its nondiscrimination policy to reflect that the institution will review all undergraduate applicants “whose sex is female or who consistently live and identify as women.” Anyone can apply to its graduate programs. The move drew backlash from Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, in Indiana. Rhoades said in a public statement Monday that Saint Mary’s should reverse its rules.