Cision
Peach State Health Plan (PSHP) a care management organization that serves the needs of Georgians through a range of health insurance solutions and a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC), announced a new partnership with Georgia Southern University (GS) to provide education and training for healthcare professionals needed in underserved areas of rural Georgia. Centene Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Centene Corporation, and PSHP will invest $2.2 million to fund the expansion of a workforce development program designed to support rural healthcare through enhancement to GS’ existing nursing, physicians’ assistants and addiction recovery specialists programs.
Albany Herald
800-plus join ranks of Albany State University graduates
From staff reports
Albany State University held its 2023 fall commencement on Saturday at the Albany Civic Center. More than 800 students graduated. Solidifying the time that each graduate has spent at the university, ASU President Marion Ross Fedrick said, “Today, we recognize you for your discipline, perseverance and commitment to achieving your goals. You have created a legacy.”
Tifton CEO
ABAC to Graduate 267 in Dec. 14 Commencement Ceremonies
Two hundred and sixty-seven new graduates of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will receive their diplomas in two ceremonies during the school’s commencement exercises on Dec. 14. Campus Communications Coordinator Jordan Beard, who coordinates the ceremonies, said the 10 a.m. event will include graduates from the School of Nursing and Health Sciences and the School of Arts and Sciences. The 3 p.m. event includes graduates from the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Stafford School of Business. The School of Nursing and Health Sciences will hold its pinning ceremony at noon. All commencement exercises and ceremonies will be held in Gressette Gymnasium.
Americus Times-Recorder
GSW student travel donor visits Perry Brothers Oil
By Ken Gustafson
Georgia Southwestern State University and Perry Brothers Oil Company had the opportunity to meet with Charles Eames recently, a philanthropist from Waycross. Eames provides funding for gas cards for GSW students and other schools in South Georgia, including South Georgia Technical College.
Americus Times-Recorder
GSW Announces 2024 Outstanding Alumni Award winners
By Ken Gustafson
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) has announced its most outstanding alumni for their professional and personal achievements as well as their contributions to the University. These individuals will be recognized Saturday, Jan. 27 during the second annual Gold Force Gala in the GSW Storm Dome.
The Augusta Chronicle
Erica Van Buren
The recent release of data from a Georgia environmental group dedicated to lowering carbon use in the state helped show the scale of the problem in the Augusta area. Drawdown Georgia, a statewide initiative that issues quarterly greenhouse emissions data per county, has some experts saying that Richmond County’s numbers show some cause for concern, but it’s not out of step with similar metropolitan areas. “I don’t think the Richmond County numbers are particularly worse or better compared to counties with similar middle-tier cities like Augusta,” said William Drummond, an associate professor specializing in climate change planning and geographic information systems with the Georgia Institute of Technology. “But I do think that everyone should be concerned since we need to take action now to do our best to protect our children and grandchildren from the worst effects of climate change.”
Morning AgClips
UGA Leads Effort to Tackle Threat to Cucurbits Production
Growers face numerous challenges in production, leading to decreased profitability
Seven East Coast states harvested nearly 102,000 acres of watermelon and cucumber in 2019 and 2020, representing more than 62% ($410 million) and 45% ($180 million) of the U.S. production of the two crops, respectively. Growers of cucurbits — which include melons, pumpkin, squash and cucumbers — face numerous challenges in production, leading to decreased profitability and less produce on grocery shelves. Weeds, insect pests and plant diseases are prominent biotic threats. Among the plant diseases, one fungus — Colletotrichum spp., which causes anthracnose — is an emerging threat to watermelon and cucumber production in the east coast. “There is a huge threat from this particular disease,” said Bhabesh Dutta, associate professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and a UGA Cooperative Extension vegetable disease specialist. “Growers traditionally have been using Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC) 11 group of fungicides to manage this disease, but due to fungal populations insensitive to this fungicide, management has been difficult.”
Michigan Farm News
Researchers make ‘game-changing’ discovery in SCN resistance
Dennis Rudat, Farm News Media
A research team from USDA, University of Georgia and the University of Missouri have made a “game-changing” discovery following a four-year effort to develop new Soybean Cyst Nematode-resistant cultivars. Considered one of the most serious and costly pests, SCN is estimated to cost U.S. soybean producers $1.5 billion annually in reduced yields, according to USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, making it “the number one biotic constraint on soybean production.” SCN attacks the root of soybean plants, leading to stunted plants, poorly developed root systems and decreased yields for producers. The severity of those losses has grown in recent years due to the overuse of known resistance genes.
Atlanta Business Daily
Mondays with Rick: Yearly planning promotes proactivity instead of reactivity
Gary Kauffman
Dr. Rick Franza, Professor of Management at the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he gives tips on planning for a new year in your business. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact.
ABD: In just a few weeks, we’ll be starting a new year, likely to be filled with a variety of challenges for businesses. How important is it to plan ahead in your business when the future is unknown?
Rick: You need to plan a year ahead, even if you know things are going to change. The longer you plan, the more unpredictable things get. But the key is proactivity rather than reactivity. At least by planning, you set some guardrails. You can be specific in wanting to grow but still be flexible with your plans and goals.
WALB
Sen. Raphael Warnock visits Lee Co. farm damaged by Hurricane Michael
By Lenah Allen
Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock plans to bring suggestions from local farmers back to the Senate for the new farm bill. This comes after he visited a Lee Couty farm Friday that still had damage from Hurricane Michael. “We are seeing climate change. The farmers know it. We’re seeing stronger storms, they’re coming more often,” he said. Those storms wiped out important crops like pecans and peaches, leaving farmers to start their growing processes over. …Due to the Senate and members of Congress still debating on updates for this year’s Farm Bill, a one-year extension was added to the past farm bill. “Issues around crop insurance, strengthening our federal nutrition programs, and supporting our universities like the University of Georgia and Fort Valley State University all of which are so important to the work that farmers do. These are some of the things I’ll be focused on as hopefully we move the farm bill forward,” Warnock said. But farmers also want to see changes in some policies within the ag industry to help with further recovery efforts.
Athens Banner-Herald
Georgia football tight end Brock Bowers, wide receiver Ladd McConkey win national awards
Marc Weiszer
Brock Bowers’ college career includes two national championships and now two times winning the Mackey Award. The Georgia football junior from Napa, Calif., won the award for nation’s top tight end for the second year in a row. He’s the first two-time Mackey winner, which started in 2000. …Another Georgia player won an individual award Friday night. Wide receiver Ladd McConkey is the Wuerffel Trophy winner for community service. The Chatsworth, Ga., native is Georgia’s first winner of the award that started in 2005.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
S&P Global Projects Mixed Outlook for Higher Ed in 2024
By Josh Moody
S&P Global Ratings is projecting a “bifurcated” outlook for higher education next year, with strong institutions faring well and less selective colleges expected to face challenges. The report released by S&P Global, which only considers not-for-profit institutions, projects that “operating pressures will increase in 2024” due to a mix of enrollment challenges and wage and expense growth. Operating margins are expected to “be weaker” than in fiscal year 2023. Enrollment and financial pressures are expected to continue for less selective institutions. Well-off institutions—those with high credit ratings and enrollment—however, will be fine, according to S&P Global, which noted that such colleges have financial flexibility and revenue diversity to help them even as demographics issues are expected to slow enrollment nationally.
Inside Higher Ed
Did the Top Campus for Student Free Speech Punish Faculty Speech?
A Michigan Tech professor allegedly called Young Americans for Freedom members “idiots” in class—and was then removed from the class.
By Ryan Quinn
A free expression group is criticizing the university it ranked No. 1 nationally for student free speech after that same university allegedly punished a professor for using his own speech to criticize a student demonstration. Carl Blair, a teaching professor in Michigan Technological University’s social sciences department, says Michigan Tech removed him from teaching one of his classes and barred him from contacting students enrolled in it. The public university allegedly did this last month after a national conservative group with campus chapters posted online an audio clip of him during a class, purportedly calling members of that group homophobic, dumb and racist. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which gave Michigan Tech the top spot on its latest College Free Speech Rankings in September, sent a letter last week to the university advocating for Blair and the free speech rights of his colleagues.
Inside Higher Ed
No End to Wisconsin’s Higher Ed Budget Standoff
The UW system and Republican legislators have been at a budget impasse over DEI for six months. Leaders reached a deal to free up funding, but the Board of Regents voted it down, putting negotiations back at square one.
By Liam Knox
A nearly six-month standoff between the Universities of Wisconsin and the Republican-led state Legislature over diversity, equity and inclusion spending seemed poised to end Saturday morning. The Board of Regents had agreed to vote on a deal between system leaders and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos that would freeze and cap DEI hiring in exchange for funding held up by the Legislature. But in a shocking turn of events, the board rejected the proposal 9 to 8 , leaving over $800 million on the table and the future of the system’s DEI offices in limbo. The board also voted not to table the vote for further discussion, effectively killing the deal. On Friday, UW system president Jay Rothman and UW Madison chancellor Jennifer Mnookin announced they’d reached a deal with Vos after weeks of secret negotiations. The system would make significant concessions on DEI initiatives and staffing in exchange for a release on much-needed funding for pay raises, utilities and construction projects—including a new engineering building at UW Madison—which the Legislature rejected last month.
Inside Higher Ed
‘Merit Scholarship’ or Enrollment Incentive?
Non-need-based merit aid has surged in the past decade, especially at struggling public institutions looking to boost enrollment. Some say it’s an unacknowledged equity issue.
By Liam Knox
Merit scholarships are widely seen as exactly what their name suggests: financial awards institutions dole out to deserving students based on proven academic achievement. But a growing chorus of scholars and higher ed experts believes that deepening enrollment challenges have turned those scholarships into something else entirely: tuition discounts colleges use to lure students away from the competition.
Inside Higher Ed
Penn President Resigns After Missteps on Antisemitism
Liz Magill stepped down after her remarks at a congressional hearing sparked outrage. Her resignation followed months of tension on campus.
By Josh Moody
After less than two years on the job, University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill resigned Saturday. The move came just days after her widely criticized comments about antisemitism at a congressional hearing, though Magill had faced months of mounting pressures over her response to the Israel-Hamas war. Magill resigned voluntarily, according to a statement from Penn’s Board of Trustees, which made no mention of the controversies that ultimately upended her presidency.