Metro Atlanta CEO
Investiture ceremony for UNG President Shannon Planned for Friday
The University of North Georgia will celebrate the investiture of Michael P. “Mike” Shannon as the university’s 21st president on Friday, Nov. 10, at 9 a.m. in the Convocation Center at UNG’s Dahlonega Campus. An investiture ceremony is a long-standing academic tradition that is typically held during a president’s first year of office to signify a new chapter of leadership for the university. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia named Shannon as UNG’s president on June 1, and he took office July 1. A retired U.S. Army officer, Shannon most recently served as interim executive vice president for Administration and Finance and interim chief business officer at Georgia Institute of Technology. The investiture ceremony provides an opportunity for the new president to share his vision for the university, and it allows guests and community leaders to participate in the formal installation of the president. Shannon’s investiture ceremony will feature performances by university musicians and remarks by the president and special guests, including University System of Georgia Board of Regents Chairman Harold Reynolds, Chancellor Sonny Perdue, and Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. … The investiture is scheduled in the same week as Veterans Day commemorations to highlight UNG’s designations as a one of six senior military colleges in the nation and as The Military College of Georgia. Shannon will serve as the grand marshal of the Veterans Day Parade on Saturday, Nov. 11, in downtown Dahlonega.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia State University’s $3 million safety plan: Lights, cameras, paths
By Vanessa McCray
Georgia State University’s safety plan includes more lights with artificial intelligence capabilities, cameras and a 1.5-mile designated route for students to securely walk through the downtown Atlanta campus. Officials said they’ve been working on security updates since the spring, when a weekend of stunt driving and shootings rattled students and parents. The university detailed some of the planned measures in recent days after four people, including two students, were shot in the early morning of Oct. 29 at the intersection of John Wesley Dobbs Avenue and Courtland Street. …The university plans to add “smart lighting” fixtures with artificial intelligence capabilities. The lights use video surveillance and AI technology.
Americus Times-Recorder
GSW waives application fee and test scores during Apply to College Month in November
By Ken Gustafson
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) is waiving its undergraduate application fee throughout the month of November during Georgia’s Apply to College Month and continues to waive the test score requirements for SAT/ACT for students with a 3.0 or higher high school GPA. “GSW is the fastest growing university in the University System of Georgia, and Apply to College Month is a fantastic chance for high school seniors to learn why,” said Jonathan Scott, director of GSW’s Office of Recruitment and Admissions. “This month, applying to GSW is free, and all we need is a high school transcript to complete the application process and for a student to receive an admissions decision. We even have an access program for students with GPAs below 3.0, so every interested student is encouraged to apply so we can determine if they qualify.” The application fee for undergraduate students is being waived as part of the Georgia Student Finance Commission’s (GSFC) Apply to College Initiative.
The Georgia Virtue
Georgia Southern’s ongoing commitment to military and military-connected students is recognized once again – this time by Military Times Best for Vets: Colleges. The University’s success is reflected in its top 10% ranking in the comprehensive annual ranking of schools for military service members and veterans. “To be included in the list is an incredible achievement for Georgia Southern,” said President Kyle Marrero. “It is a testament to the supportive campus and academic environment we have created for military-affiliated students to meet their unique needs. With the availability of courses on post at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield’s Education Center, we are able to provide even more access to graduate degree programs and certificates that will help these students unlock their full potential.” Veterans, service members and military-connected students make up nearly 14% of the University’s student population.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Metro Atlanta districts to work with GSU to train school psychologists
There’s a national shortage of school psychologists
By Josh Reyes
Two metro Atlanta school districts and Georgia State University received a federal grant to recruit, support and train aspiring school psychologists, helping to address the shortage of those professionals. The grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education totals $3.5 million and will benefit Gwinnett County Public Schools and the Paulding County School District, according to a news release Tuesday from Gwinnett. …The grant will help the districts and Georgia State draw diverse, local candidates into the school psychology training program. …The grant will help the districts and Georgia State draw diverse, local candidates into the school psychology training program.
WALB
Empty Bowls event helps support Harvest Hope Food Pantry, fight food insecurity
By Fallon Howard
Harvest of Hope Food Pantry in Americus is celebrating its 10th anniversary of helping families fight food insecurity. Georgia Southwestern State University’s Visual Arts Department makes ceramic bowls, and sales go towards the food pantry. The Empty Bowls partnership with Harvest of Hope Food Pantry is more than just a decade anniversary. It’s about the 750-1,000 families they serve a month. “Groceries stores here in Americus give us everyday produce, baked goods and other items. So we certainly wouldn’t have been able to do that without everyone’s help,” said Cindy Williams, vice chair of the board for the Harvest of Hope food Pantry. Georgia Southwestern State University ceramic students Noah Miller and Lexi Glass want the community to feel the same connection they do as each bowl is handcrafted.
Savannah CEO
UGA Institute of Government Offers New Certificate Program in Downtown Development
Rhiannon Eades
The University of Georgia Institute of Government has partnered with the Georgia Downtown Association (GDA) and Georgia Power to launch the Certified Downtown Professional Certificate Program. This new training series helps downtown professionals gain the skills and knowledge to boost community and economic development in downtown districts. “Downtowns are destinations and business centers. They’re great for small businesses, and they attract a variety of people. A city’s downtown is really important both as the heart and identity of a community and economically,” said Chrissy Marlowe, faculty at the UGA Institute of Government. The UGA Institute of Government designed the new program based on its experience with Georgia’s downtowns and the people working to make them prosper.
Clayton News-Daily
UGA equine experts inspire fascination through hands-on learning experiences
By Becky Mills UGA/CAES
If you’re a horse person, you get it. Just watching, touching — heck, even smelling — horses is a feeling like no other. Little wonder the students in the equine science program at the University of Georgia rank the hands-on experience as one of the biggest draws. “I’m fascinated with horses,” junior Kayla Costin said. “My favorite part of the program has been working with them and observing and learning more about them.” Costin echoes the sentiments of many students who gravitate toward the equine program, offered by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, said Associate Professor Kylee Jo Duberstein. …The hands-on emphasis in the Department of Animal and Dairy Science feels natural to Duberstein, who grew up tagging along with her father, Ed Johnson, former head of the University of Florida’s equine program. …As a result of her work in gait analysis, Duberstein was invited to collaborate on stroke and traumatic brain injury research using pigs at UGA’s Regenerative Bioscience Center.
The Union-Recorder
CGTC director of nursing named to Georgia Board of Nursing
Special to The U-R
Gov. Brian Kemp recently appointed Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC), director of nursing Jessica Lupo Willcox to the Georgia Board of Nursing (GBON). By way of an executive order signed on Oct. 26, Willcox will now serve on the board for a three-year term, and until a successor is duly appointed and qualified, up to two consecutive terms. The GBON members develop rules and regulations that set the standards for nursing practice and education, provide the minimum qualifications for licensure, and ensure that disciplinary process is implemented in a fashion that guarantees due process and public protection. …Willcox holds an associate of science in nursing degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Albany State University in nursing and nursing education, respectively and is pursuing her Doctor of Education in higher education administration from the University of West Georgia.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rick Ross talks to Georgia State students about how to be a boss
By Christopher A. Daniel – For the AJC
Being a successful boss in both music and business takes sacrifices. Keeping a small but loyal team, putting the art first and knowing your value when it’s time to negotiate is just as important. It’s the blueprint Rick Ross told a class of Georgia State students has made him who he is today. The Grammy-nominated rapper and businessman visited the students for a conversation with Professor Moraima “Mo” Ivory Tuesday evening at Rialto Center for the Arts for the final day of The Legal Life of Rick Ross course offered by Georgia State University’s College of Law.
WGXA
More charter schools are planned in Georgia. What will it mean for students outside Atlanta?
by The Macon Newsroom / Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
The number of Georgia charter schools has more than doubled since 2016 and more are planned in areas outside Atlanta including Macon. The push to expand comes despite a lack of concrete evidence that charter schools consistently offer a better or even comparable choice for public education. It also comes as traditional public schools nationwide grapple with a teacher shortage and a yearslong trend of declining student enrollment. …Jeffrey Schiman, associate economics professor at Georgia Southern University, was contracted by the State Charter Schools Commission to calculate the value added measurement for each of the 37 state charter schools that operated in 2021-22. “What value added is, it’s a measure of a school’s effect on their students’ achievement,” Schiman said. “We predict how a student would perform this year, based on how they performed last year, and their characteristics. Then that predicted performance is compared against how they actually performed.” The difference between what students scored and what they were predicted to score is called the “value added measure,” Schiman said.
WRBL
Congratulations Kinetic Credit Union’s Golden Apple Award Winner: Lyndsey Graddick
This week’s Kinetic Credit Union Golden Apple Award winner is Lyndsey Graddick. A graduate of Columbus State University, Graddick has been teaching for six years. She currently teaches third grade at Dawson Elementary School. Dawson is also her childhood school. The person who nominated Graddick wrote, “Ms. Graddick has provided loving support to all the students. The students show some of the highest improvement in the State during the last testing period. She volunteers to assist the students in any way possible. This year, she even volunteered to be the basketball coach, she has never played basketball, but will do anything for the kids. She is truly deserving to be a Golden Apple Teacher.”
SMA News
Dr. Christopher D. Jackson Installed as the 118th President of the Southern Medical Association
The Southern Medical Association (SMA) is pleased to announce the installation of Christopher D. Jackson, MD, FACP, FSSCI, as the Association’s 118th President. Dr. Jackson was installed October 28, 2023 during SMA’s Annual Scientific Assembly in Greensboro, North Carolina. With his installation, Dr. Jackson becomes the first Black President of SMA and will serve for the year 2023-2024. “With his innovation and passion, Dr. Jackson is poised to lead SMA in a promising and exciting direction,” said Randy Glick, SMA Executive Director. “He believes strongly in education and lifelong learning, both of which are foundational pillars of the Association.” Dr. Jackson serves as Associate Professor of Medicine, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, and Associate Program Director for Curriculum at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) Internal Medicine Residency in Memphis. A native of Augusta, GA, he graduated from Emory University with a degree in Biology and Sociology. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree at the Medical College of Georgia.
The Tifton Gazette
Cane grinding, syrup making on November 18 at ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture
From Staff Reports
The annual cane grinding and syrup-making event at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture is scheduled for Nov 18. “For many Southerners, cane grinding and syrup cooking are family traditions that have been passed down through generations,” said GMA Director Garrett Boone. “The Museum’s Historic Village is one of the few places where visitors can step back in time to see a mule-powered mill grinding sugar cane.” Costumed interpreters will explain the cane grinding process and the intricacies of producing a delicious bottle of cane syrup, demonstrating every step from the grinding at the mill to cooking down in a cast iron kettle in the syrup shed, resulting in cane syrup, according to Boone.
Savannah CEO
Cecilia Russo Turner to Offer Keynote Address at Georgia Southern University BIG Café
The Business Innovation Group (BIG) at Georgia Southern University is pleased to announce that Cecilia Russo Turner will be the keynote speaker for the upcoming BIG Café event on Wednesday, November 15 at 8:30 a.m. coffee and networking followed by a program from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. at Georgia Southern University’s Liberty Campus, 175 West Memorial Drive, Hinesville, Ga. 31313. The BIG Café is a monthly event that brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders, and community members to learn, network, and collaborate. The keynote speaker for each event is a successful entrepreneur or business leader who shares their insights and advice with the audience
WDTN
Bionano Reports Third Quarter 2023 Results and Highlights Recent Business Progress
…Q3 2023 Highlights
Participated at the Cancer Genomics Consortium (CGC) 2023 Annual Meeting with a broad range of content covering the utility of OGM for solid tumor and hematological malignancy cancer research, including 13 scientific platform and poster presentations from Bionano, a panel discussion on the integration of OGM for clinical research in cancer, featuring cancer genomics experts Dr. Ravindra Kolhe, Augusta University,
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Education
Study Uses AI to Review Admissions Essays
By Lauren Coffey
A team of researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Pennsylvania have created AI tools to help admissions officers by analyzing students’ application essays. The tools help admissions officers identify seven key traits in essays, including teamwork, perseverance, intrinsic motivation and willingness to help others. The researchers published their study in October and included cautionary notes about the new technology.
Inside Higher Education
5.5M Borrowers Enroll in New U.S. Loan Repayment Plan
By Katherine Knott
Nearly 5.5 million borrowers have signed up for the Biden administration’s new income-driven repayment program, and about half of those individuals are paying $0 a month, according to new data released Wednesday. About 1.8 million of those borrowers weren’t previously enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan, and about 364,000 switched from other repayment plans since September, according to a news release. The administration finalized the new income-driven repayment plan, known as Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, at the end of June. The new plan could transform how students pay for college, depending on how many take advantage of it.
Inside Higher Education
House Democrats, Republicans Spar Over Antisemitism on Campus
In a wide-ranging discussion, lawmakers questioned witnesses about the source of antisemitism and the best way to support students facing hate on campus.
By Johanna Alonso
At a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans agreed that antisemitism is a problem on college campuses—but that’s where the consensus ended. While questioning a panel of six witnesses—three antisemitism experts, a Jewish student at Cornell University and two leaders of conservative student organizations—the lawmakers sparred over what’s driving the current spike in antisemitism as well as what the federal government can do to ensure Jewish students feel safe on campus. Among Democrats, the proposed strategy for addressing the issue is to increase funding to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which fields complaints of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity and nationality, including against Jewish students. That would improve the office’s ability to handle what has become a significant influx of complaints about antisemitism since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Inside Higher Education
Republican Presidential Candidates Criticize Colleges’ Response to Israel-Hamas War
By Katherine Knott
Republican presidential candidates threatened Wednesday evening to cut federal funding from colleges and universities and deport international students who are encouraging “Jewish genocide.” “Any campus that allows for antisemitism and hate and to allow students to encourage terrorism, mass murder and genocide, you should lose your federal funding to date, period,” South Carolina senator Tim Scott said at the third Republican primary debate in response to a question about what the candidates on the stage would say to Jewish students and college leaders. The debate featured five candidates—all of whom are trailing former president Donald Trump in the polls. Trump wasn’t at the debate. Colleges have seen a rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia following the start of the Israel-Hamas war last month and mounting criticism of their response to those incidents. The candidates criticized the protests that have broken out on campuses in support of the Palestinian people. Scott and other candidates said they would cancel the visas of students who they say are supporting Hamas.
Higher Ed Dive
Make a plan ‘right now’ for $55K overtime rule, attorney says
HR pros should know whether they will reclassify workers or raise wages should DOL finalize its proposal, Cozen O’Connor’s Mariah Passarelli recommends.
Kate Tornone, Lead Editor
It’s time for human resources professionals to devise a plan for coping with a potentially drastic increase to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime threshold, a Cozen O’Connor attorney recently said last week. Employers should consider “right now” how they would tackle a change that could increase the FLSA’s regulatory salary threshold for overtime eligibility from about $35,000 to about $55,000, Mariah Passarelli, member of the firm, said during a virtual conference. The U.S. Department of Labor proposed that change in August and closed the public comment period on Tuesday. The American Council on Education, higher education’s top lobby, noted in September that the rule could impact college staff positions, such as information technology and admissions workers.
Higher Ed Dive
House committee advances bill to tighten colleges’ foreign gift reporting mandates
Democrats condemned the plan, which would require institutions to report foreign donations of $50,000 or more to the Education Department.
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
The House’s Republican-led education committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would dramatically widen the scope of foreign gifts and contracts that colleges would need to report to the federal government. During a meeting of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, GOP lawmakers accused colleges of failing to disclose the breadth of their foreign donations. Under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, they must report to the U.S. Department of Education any totaling $250,000 or more in a year. Republicans’ legislative proposal would drop that threshold to $50,000 or more. Committee Democrats condemned the plan as xenophobic and onerous to the colleges and Education Department, the latter of which wouldn’t receive any new funding to help track this data.
Inside Higher Education
Gag Orders Threaten Higher Ed, PEN America Report Finds
By Susan H. Greenberg
Educational gag orders—state legislation aimed at restricting the teaching of certain subjects—proliferated in both K-12 and higher education this year, according to a new PEN America report, “America’s Censored Classrooms 2023,” released today. While most of the 110 gag orders the organization tracked concerned limits to K-12 instruction, particularly regarding gender and sexuality, more than a quarter of the bills—29—focused on public higher education. Still, that’s a significant decline from last year, when 54 higher education gag orders were proposed. This is the third year in a row that PEN America has monitored educational gag orders.
Inside Higher Education
University of Austin Receives Degree-Granting Authority
By Josh Moody
The University of Austin, founded by and stocked with national conservative figures, has received approval from the state of Texas to grant degrees and will begin accepting applicants for fall 2024, according to an announcement Wednesday. “We’ll give you an intellectual environment focused on the free exploration of ideas, not self-censorship,” declared a video announcement posted to the social media platform X. Plans for the University of Austin were announced in fall 2021 in the Substack newsletter of conservative writer Bari Weiss, who is listed on the fledgling institution’s Board of Trustees. At the time, President Pano Kanelos declared that universities had failed in their mission and that UATX, as it is known, would be “dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth.”
Inside Higher Education
Reforming Higher Education, One Bill at a Time
House Republicans want a long-overdue update to the Higher Education Act, but they favor a piecemeal approach, starting with how colleges report foreign gifts and contracts.
By Katherine Knott
The U.S. House’s education committee is moving forward with a piecemeal approach to updating the Higher Education Act of 1965—a massive piece of legislation that governs federal financial aid programs and a range of other policies but hasn’t been reauthorized since 2008. The process kicked off in earnest Wednesday when the committee considered a bill that would require colleges and universities to report more foreign gifts or risk their access to federal financial aid. The bill, which advanced out of committee on a largely party-line vote, is the first in a series of bills that would, if actually enacted into law, amount to a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. North Carolina representative Virginia Foxx, the Republican chair of the committee, said in an interview that more legislation to reform higher education is coming soon, though she declined to give more information on what the different bills will entail.