University System News:
Gwinnett Daily Post
Mountain View High School alum becomes first-generation college graduate
It’s a long way from the coastal savannahs and tropical rainforests of West Africa to the manicured lawns of the Georgia Gwinnett College campus. Still, it’s a journey that Diana Bamfo was determined to take. Bamfo’s family immigrated from Ghana to the U.S. when she was 12. Her father, Evans Kwakye, a truck driver, and her adopted mother, Lulu Pearl, a nurse, taught her to be self-sufficient and resilient. After graduating from Mountain View High School in 2015, Bamfo worked as a grocery store cashier for a year to save enough money to put herself through college.
Monroe Local
Seidel, of Loganville, named a Distinguished Military Graduate
Seventeen University of North Georgia (UNG) cadets have been named Distinguished Military Graduates (DMGs) for the 2023-24 academic year, which is six more than a year ago. Five of UNG’s DMGs are among the top 10% nationally of graduating active-duty-eligible cadets. UNG’s DMGs include: Mark Alexander, Laurana Bradley, Brandon Dubois, James Fister, Thomas Frazier, Nicholas Haley, Nicholas Hammesfahr, Zoe Kinzie, Benjamin McKey, Thomas Parsons, Nathaniel Poteat, Maximilian Proels, Jack Rainbow, Maddox Rose, Austin Seidel, Adam Sisson, and Daniel Traylor. Alexander, Frazier, Poteat, Proels, and Sisson are the cadets who rank in the top 10% nationally.
Columbus CEO
Fall commencement ceremonies to celebrate 734 Columbus State graduates
Four graduation-related events on Dec. 7 and 8 will celebrate the 734 Columbus State University students who comprise its Fall 2023 graduating class. The festivities will include three ceremonies throughout the day on Friday that mark the university’s 126th commencement exercises. … During these ceremonies, Columbus State anticipates conferring 749 degrees and certificates, representing opportunities for students to earn dual degrees and certificates along with their degrees. These include seven doctoral degrees, nine education specialist degrees, 205 master’s degrees, two graduate certificates, 411 bachelor’s degrees, 15 associate degrees, 15 nexus degrees, and 85 undergraduate certificates. Each of Friday’s ceremonies will feature Bárbara Rivera Holmes as the university’s commencement speaker. Holmes is one of the 19 regents who volunteer their service to govern the University System of Georgia’s 26 public colleges and universities.
Savannah Tribune
Savannah State University to hold commencement and joint commissioning ceremonies this week
Savannah State University will hold its 203rd Commencement Ceremony on Friday, December 8th at 9 AM in T. A. Wright Stadium (4437 Skidaway Rd, Savannah, GA 31404) for the Fall Class of 2023. Approximately 230 students will be in attendance to receive master’s, bachelor’s or associate degrees. This will be the first commencement ceremony for Interim President Cynthia Robinson Alexander. Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Mayor of Atlanta, will serve as the commencement speaker. Savannah State will also hold its Army/Navy Commissioning Ceremony on December 8th. The ceremony will begin at 3 PM in The King Frazier Ballroom on the Savannah State University campus (3219 College Street, Savannah, GA 31404).
Emanuel County Live
East Georgia State College to celebrate Fall Commencement
East Georgia State College (EGSC) will hold its Fall Commencement Ceremony Friday, December 8, at 3 p.m. The ceremony will be held in the Luck F. Gambrell Building Auditorium on the EGSC Swainsboro campus. Family and friends of the graduates and community members are invited to attend the special event. Salma Cueva, who will graduate during the ceremony, will present the Reflection during the event. Desmal Purcell, professor at EGSC, will deliver the commencement address. Salma Cueva moved to the United States at the age of five when her mother, Johanna, married her stepfather, Ashley Gay. She attended Emanuel County Institute before enrolling at EGSC. Cueva will graduate during the ceremony with her liberal arts degree. She plans to attend the University of Georgia in the Spring and major in Biology. Cueva’s goal is to become a physician’s assistant or a doctor.
Yahoo!
World Soil Day: Georgia College & State University spotlights unknown underworld of millipedes
It’s World Soil day and, at Georgia College & State University, Dr. Bruce Snyder and his students are busy researching millipedes—thought to be Earth’s first creature to leave water and breathe on land. The creeping, burrowing arthropods are essential for healthy soil and forests. Yet, despite this critical contribution to the environment, only a handful of scientists in the world study the multi-segmented invertebrate. Snyder’s lab at Georgia College is one of only two labs in the United States, where millipedes are studied.
WGAU
UGA gets CDC grant to study obesity
The University of Georgia has been awarded $804,000 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve access to healthy foods and physical activity in Georgia counties with high rates of obesity. Two decades after being named an epidemic, high rates of obesity persist nationwide. In Georgia, one-third of adults are obese, and therefore, are at higher risk for a number of negative health outcomes – heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, chronic pain and more. Eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise, along with sleep and other health promoting behaviors, is the best way to prevent these chronic diseases, but that’s not always easy to do.
WGAU
UNG gets grant from Governor’s Office of Highway Safety
The University of North Georgia gets a grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety: UNG says it will use the $24,000 on strategies to address car crashes involving young adults. It’s part of the Georgia Young Adult Program. From the UNG website… The University of North Georgia has received a $24,312 grant to participate in the Georgia Young Adult Program of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The program addresses young adult driver crashes, injuries and fatalities and partners with colleges and universities throughout the state to implement the GYAP. “We are excited to continue our partnership with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to offer our UNG community continued education surrounding the dangers of driving under the influence and distracted driving,” Meri-Leigh Smith, interim director of Campus Recreation and Wellness, said.
Albany Herald
ABAC receives Office of Highway Safety grant
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College was recently awarded an $11,760 grant to fund several safety programs throughout the year. The grant was awarded by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety with federal funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be used by Sept. 30. ABAC Police Security Specialist M.Sgt. Todd Daunhauer said that the grant monies will be used to bring several safety events to students, such as a DUI simulator and ThinkFast Interactive program. The ThinkFast program is an interactive educational program that uses a game show setting to tackle important topics such as underage drinking, drug use, bullying, traffic safety and distracted driving.
Savannah CEO
David Weindorf, Ph.D., has been selected to become the new Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Georgia Southern University. Weindorf comes to Georgia Southern from Central Michigan University (CMU), where he has served since 2020 as the Vice President for Research and Innovation. He has led CMU to a 32% increase in external grantsmanship, a 39% increase in scholarly output, and an 85% increase in research impact. “I am very excited to welcome David to Georgia Southern,” said Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Carl Reiber, Ph.D. “He has a proven record that demonstrates his ability to move our office forward and is the perfect person to build on the legacy that has already been established.” Weindorf also helped CMU become an officially designated Space Grant institution. A soil conservationist by trade, he holds several patents, was a Fulbright Scholar in 2011 and a Fulbright Specialist in 2018, and won the Presidential Award in 2017 from the Soil Science Society of America. Weindorf and his research team provided emergency response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as well as the Gold King Mine spill.
Albany Herald
UGA research points to greater soybean profitability, productivity
Plant-parasitic nematodes cause billions of dollars in annual yield losses and represent a major impediment to meeting the challenge of feeding an ever-growing global population. One plant-parasitic nematode, the soybean cyst nematode (SCN), has been a long-standing focus of research and innovation in the Melissa G. Mitchum Lab at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. SCN, a microscopic roundworm that attacks the root of soybean crops, leads to stunted plants, poorly developed root systems and decreased yields for producers. Recently, these losses have been exacerbated by a shift in the severity of this pathogen due to the overuse of known resistance genes. In addition, farmers have limited options available to control these losses with improved cultivars or new management strategies beyond using seed treatments for early season protection.
Energy.gov
Research at Savannah River Site illuminates nighttime wildlife encounters
A recent study conducted at the Savannah River Site (SRS) by scientists and students from the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) sheds light on the ability of drivers to observe animals and avoid dangerous wildlife-vehicle collisions at night safely. “It’s the first study of its kind to use wild animals instead of decoys,” said Carson Pakula, SREL graduate student and lead author of the study. “This allows for a more realistic evaluation of a driver’s ability to discern wildlife. The implications from this study are significant because it demonstrates the importance of high-beam headlight usage, driving at safe speeds and limiting the amount of time driving at night.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bus workers at Georgia Tech ratify contract with university
A group of bus workers at Georgia Tech has voted overwhelmingly to ratify its first collective bargaining agreement, a three-year contract with wage hikes, more time off and increased employer contributions to worker health care, according to the union representing them. The 36 bus operators and mechanics, who are provided to the university by national transportation company First Transit, are represented by Local 728 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. They operate Georgia Tech transportation for its students.
The Union-Recorder
Former GCSU employee indicted on theft charges
A former employee at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville has been indicted by a Baldwin County grand jury in connection with multiple thefts of electronic devices. Irwin Rodregis Reese was indicted on 16 counts of theft by taking last week in Baldwin County Superior Court, according to court documents. Reese previously worked as a technical support specialist at GCSU, according to a source who provided that information to The Union-Recorder on Monday. The case was initially investigated by GCSU Department of Public Safety Capt. Joseph Grant. It will be prosecuted by an attorney in the office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
States draft plans to ‘shape the future’
The U.S. Department of Education recently issued a memo to state governors urging them to prepare statewide plans for advancing career and technical education and workforce development. The memo notes that the four-year strategic plans, due this spring, haven’t been updated since 2020 and need revamping to align with new federal investments in workforce development and state workforce needs that have dramatically changed since the pandemic. Department officials stressed the importance of these road maps for states’ economies and offered recommendations for making these plans more detailed and equity-driven and using policy levers underutilized by some states to bolster workforce education.
Higher Ed Dive
Key lawmakers unveil bipartisan proposal for short-term Pell
Dive Brief: A group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday that would allow Pell Grants to be used for short-term programs, signaling growing momentum for expanding federal financial aid to these types of offerings. Pell Grants can now only be used for academic programs lasting at least 15 weeks. However, the new bill would establish Workforce Pell Grants that could be used for programs as short as eight weeks, starting for the 2025-26 academic year. State workforce boards, accreditors and the U.S. Department of Education would determine whether programs would be eligible for Workforce Pell Grants, including by verifying whether they provide a return on investment for students.
Chronicle of Higher Education
In 5-hour hearing, Republican lawmakers chastise college leaders for campus antisemitism
Congressional leaders grilled the presidents of three elite colleges, and a Jewish-studies-program director, for close to five hours on Tuesday, asking about what they called a wave of antisemitic incidents on campuses since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce called for Elizabeth Magill, Sally Kornbluth, and Claudine Gay — the presidents of, respectively, the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University — to “answer for mishandling of antisemitic, violent protests” on their campuses, according to a committee press release. Some lawmakers accused the administrators of refusing to hire conservative professors; of wrongly classifying hate speech and harassment of Jewish students as free speech; and of allowing diversity, equity, and inclusion officers to protect some minority students but not Jewish students, all actions they say have resulted in growing antisemitism.
See also: Inside Higher Ed: 3 presidents on the hot seat, Higher Ed Dive: Harvard, MIT and Penn presidents land in congressional hot seat over antisemitism
Inside Higher Ed
Pro-Palestinian students demand divestment from Israel
As the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, many college students sympathetic to the Palestinian cause are focusing their protest efforts on a singular goal: getting their institutions to divest from companies with ties to Israel. The movement is not new. Pro-Palestinian student activists began pushing campuses to divest their endowments from companies with ties to Israel more than two decades ago. That push quickly evolved into the controversial boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) movement, which has thrived on college campuses.
Diverse Issues in Education
Trouble at Saint Augustine’s University
Saint Augustine’s University (SAU) President Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail has been fired from her position at the school’s helm, cutting her contract and term short. The move comes as the Southern Association of Colleges (SACSCOC) voted to strip the small Historically Black College and University of its accreditation. The university has vowed to appeal the decision and will remain an accredited institution on probation during the appeal process. Dr. Leslie Rodriguez-McClellon, who was vice president of community relations and government affairs but was named Acting President on Tuesday by the school’s board of trustees, has promised to push forward. “The work has already begun to appeal SACSCOC’s decision, and we will remain steadfast during this process,” said Rodriguez-McClellon. “While we are disappointed by SACSCOC’s decision, we are confident and unified in our commitment to fulfill and complete our mission.”
See also: Inside Higher Ed: Saint Augustine’s president fired, accreditation stripped
Higher Ed Dive
Employers, educators are filling in Gen Z’s etiquette gap
A firm grasp on tech skills has been key to the success of recent college graduates across industries since the 2010s. Understandably, artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is at the forefront of modern-day learning and development conversations. But for incoming workers, including the class of 2024, L&D may be more than a way to brush up “hard” skills. Employer-offered L&D can lay the foundation for workplace skills overall. A report from digital education platform edX suggested that 80% of workers see employers as post-secondary learning institutions. Looking at additional data, a picture of the current L&D begins to appear: Higher education administrators and educators fill in the gaps left by generational differences, and employers have the opportunity to build on that foundation.