University System News:

WGAU

UGA student wins prestigious scholarship

University of Georgia Foundation Fellow Ashni Patel has been selected for the Schwarzman Scholarship, becoming the eighth UGA student to receive this prestigious award. She will join students from around the world as they pursue a one-year master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, starting next fall. Schwarzman Scholars are taught by leading international faculty and study a core curriculum focused on leadership, global affairs and China, learning to navigate the complexities of an evolving global landscape. Patel plans to continue her undergraduate focus on connecting people, strengthening communities and protecting the vulnerable through advocacy, diplomacy and policymaking.

See also: Forbes: The 2024-25 class of Schwarzman Scholars is announced

 

Albany CEO

VIDEO: Dr. Sarah Brinson on the nursing program at Albany State University

Dean of the Darton College of Health Professions at Albany State University Dr. Sarah Brinson, EdD, PTA talks about some exciting things happening in the nursing program, including the new Simulation Center for Nursing and Allied Health that is currently being built.

11 Alive

VIDEO: Nursing program at Georgia Gwinnett College reaccredited

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing at Georgia Gwinnett College has been reaccredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

Dawson County News

UNG adds new track for students to receive degree in addiction counseling

University of North Georgia (UNG) students now have the option to participate in the only accredited addiction counseling track in the state of Georgia, thanks to the new option added recently by the university.

 

Marietta Daily Journal

KSU schedules fall commencement

Kennesaw State University will host its Fall 2023 commencement ceremonies from Dec. 12-14 to recognize more than 3,000 graduates from its 11 academic colleges. The graduating class includes students ranging from ages 18 to 70, first-generation graduates, military veterans and honor graduates. Norman Radow, a KSU foundation trustee and university benefactor, will be the guest commencement speaker. Radow will also receive an honorary degree during the 3 p.m. ceremony on Dec. 12.

Americus Times-Recorder

GSW commencement ceremony to be held December 14; Richard Woods to deliver keynote

Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) will hold its Fall 2023 Commencement ceremony at 1 p.m. on Thursday, December 14 in the Convocation Hall of the Student Success Center, also known as the Storm Dome. Approximately 475 students are graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Computing, College of Education and College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The commencement speaker will be Georgia’s State School Superintendent Richard Woods.

Athens CEO

Experiential learning program at State Botanical Garden at UGA prepares students for the workforce

Since the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia piloted the Learning by Leading™ program in 2018, 171 UGA students have gained skills preparing them to enter the workforce after college. Learning by Leading at the University of Georgia is a hands-on program developed for the botanical garden to increase leadership skills through a comprehensive experiential learning program. Students progress through a leadership ladder, gaining technical, human and conceptual skills while working alongside staff mentors at the State Botanical Garden. “A goal of the University of Georgia is to help prepare the next generation’s workforce,” said Cora Keber, director of education at the State Botanical Garden. “Learning by Leading helps fulfill that university mission in a meaningful experiential capacity. We’re aligning ourselves with the outcomes of the university and supporting the green industry by preparing students to enter that workforce.”

WSAV

16-year-old graduating with over $3 million in scholarship offers

What were you doing at 16? Many of us were learning to drive or attending Friday Night Lights with friends, but one Savannah high schooler is graduating and starting his life. “I give people something to look up to. I give them hope,” said local 16-year-old student, Darrell Bryant. From the outside looking in he’s your average teenager but, in a few months, he will be graduating from St. John Academy with over $3 million in scholarship offers from universities all over the country. … Darrell wants to attend Georgia Southern in the fall and his mom told News 3 that the school reached out to them last night inviting them for a special tour of the campus. In the meantime, he will be attending Savannah Tech’s Aircraft Assembly Program until graduation.

Rome News-Tribune

United Community Bank donates to Georgia Highlands College Foundation

United Community Bank recently donated $2,500 to the Georgia Highlands College Foundation. The foundation has supported the college and students in Northwest Georgia since 1973 and contributes over half a million dollars to scholarships and programs each year. Every gift to the foundation helps students overcome obstacles to achieve their dreams of earning a college degree.

Grist

How much carbon can oysters store? Scientists are trying to find out.

On a sunny day this fall, two Georgia Southern University grad students stood waist-deep in the North Newport River near St. Catherine’s Island on Georgia’s coast, while their professor and a team from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources used a winch to lower pallets full of oyster shells into the water. The students guided the pallets into place on the muddy river bank. Those pallets, piled with shells, will provide a hard surface for baby oysters to latch onto. “We are creating a foundation which wild oysters can populate and grow into a independent reef,” said Cameron Brinton, a marine biologist with DNR.

The Union-Recorder

Inaugural Jingle Jam set for Saturday

Dr. Kelley Ditzel’s nonprofit management class at Georgia College & State University was a flurry of activity Tuesday. There are sponsors to be thanked, decorations to be hung, and other details that need to be worked out ahead of Saturday’s inaugural Jingle Jam, a collaboration among the Baldwin County Life Enrichment Center, Ditzel’s class, and other community partners. Jingle Jam is a free outdoor festival featuring an artisan market, kids zone with inflatables, ornament decorating, food vendors, face painting, a live DJ, and more fun seasonal activities. Of course, no holiday time event is complete without Santa Claus. He’ll be on hand and available for free photos as well for part of the event. It’s all taking place from noon to 6 p.m. (Santa from 3-5) Saturday at New City Church at The Mill where the Life Enrichment Center (LEC) has in the last year created a grant-funded urban arts village as a community event hosting space.

Middle Georgia CEO

FVSU announces new chief of staff

Fort Valley State University (FVSU) has named Emma Bennett-Williams, Esq., as the new chief of staff. Bennett-Williams, who previously served as the interim chief of staff and chief legal officer, began her new role on December 1. Having joined Fort Valley State University’s Office of Legal and Government Affairs in 2019, Bennett-Williams has been instrumental in overseeing the University’s legal affairs. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, she has advised senior administrators and academic leaders on legal and compliance issues. “Emma Bennett-Williams has proven herself to be an exceptional leader during her time as interim chief of staff. Her legal knowledge, strategic vision, and commitment to our university’s values make her the ideal choice for this critical position,” said President Paul Jones, Ph.D. “We look forward to her continued contributions to the success and growth of Fort Valley State University.” The chief of staff is a key member of the President’s Cabinet and provides leadership and operational oversight to the Office of the President in fulfilling the University’s mission and strategic priorities.

Chronicle of Higher Education

3 people are dead in shooting at U. of Nevada at Las Vegas. Here’s what we know.

A gunman at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas shot and killed at least three people on Wednesday before being killed by campus police officers. Media reports have identified the suspect as a former professor at East Carolina University who had applied for a job at UNLV. Here’s what we know as of early Thursday. … The suspect has not been named by authorities, but ABC News identified him early Thursday as 67-year-old Anthony Polito, citing multiple law-enforcement sources. Polito spent more than 15 years as an associate professor at East Carolina, according to a LinkedIn profile of a person with the same name. An ECU newsletter from the fall of 2011 said Polito worked in the North Carolina institution’s department of marketing and supply-chain management. A CV on a website bearing Polito’s name says that he earned a Ph.D. in operations management from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and an M.B.A. from Duke University.

See also: WSB-TV: Man identified by ABC News sources as UNLV shooting suspect earned Ph.D. from UGA, AJC: Reported Las Vegas shooting suspect received PhD from UGA

 

 

Higher Education News:

 

Inside Higher Ed

The fallout: What the antisemitism hearing could mean for higher education

The failure of three college presidents to clearly say Tuesday that calling for the genocide of Jewish people violated their campus policies quickly went viral on social media—galling alumni, free speech experts and advocates in the Jewish community alike. Even the White House chimed in, one day after the contentious four-hour hearing before the House Education and Workforce Committee. “It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: Calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country,” Andrew Bates, deputy press secretary for the White House, said in a statement. … As the metaphorical smoke cleared, we wanted to know what the remarkable hearing—which has already spurred more calls for the three presidents to resign—could mean for higher education writ large. … Inside Higher Ed asked more than a dozen leaders, advocates and scholars the same question: What impact will the hearing have on public opinion and the politics of higher education going forward?

 

Diverse Issues in Education

College Board updates AP African American Studies course

The College Board has released a revised framework of its African American studies Advanced Placement (AP) course, a course that has received plenty of criticism from both advocates and critics this year. With this Dec. 6 release, the testing company almost bookends 2023 with its AP African American studies framework releases. The previous version was released in early February 2023 after building on a pilot program the College Board had implemented in select U.S. public high schools last year. The Feb. 1 version of the framework — a 234-page document with input from high school teachers and African American studies professors — received backlash from advocates, who criticized how the framework downplayed topics such as Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations, intersectionality, and queer life. The College Board also faced pushback from conservatives, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who in January, blocked initial plans to pilot AP African American studies in the state’s high schools.

 

Inside Higher Ed

Documentary fuels academic freedom debates

A documentary about two young Jewish Americans who question their loyalty to Israel after traveling to the country and the West Bank has become a flash point in the academic freedom debates consuming some college campuses amid the Israel-Hamas war. The award-winning film, Israelism, debuted at a film festival earlier this year and more than 60 screenings of it were planned—many on college campuses—across the country this fall and winter. Most of the screenings so far have happened without incident, but at Hunter College in New York and the University of Pennsylvania, the documentary has been the source of controversy over the past month. Students at Penn are now facing possible disciplinary action after screening the film last week despite university administrators reportedly telling them to postpone the event.