Marietta Daily Journal
Kennesaw State Graduate Continues to Climb Mountains
By Joe Adgie
A Kennesaw State University student walked across the aisle and received a degree in management this month, one of many mountains the graduate climbed over the years. Mary Tankersley, 22, has overcome a number of difficulties in life, including osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer and losing part of their right leg. But in the process, Tankersley has become one of the leading paraclimbers in the U.S., joining the U.S. National Paraclimbing team following great performances at national events. Tankersley’s exploits in paraclimbing has allowed the KSU graduate to compete against climbers across the world. …Proud of a strong academic performance this semester, Tankersley looks forward to pursuing rock climbing after graduation.
Augusta CEO
In Photos: Augusta University Celebrates Fall 2023 Graduates
Haley Crain
More than 900 students participated in ceremonies honoring undergraduate and graduate students for Augusta University’s fall 2023 hooding and commencement ceremonies, which took place Dec. 13-14 at the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center. Graduates heard encouraging messages and different advice the keynote speakers have received. Stephanie Stuckey, chair of Stuckey’s Corporation, spoke at the Graduate Hooding and Commencement Ceremony, sharing lessons she’s learned since taking over her family’s business, such as embracing change and making others feel valued and special. Rodney Bullard, CEO of The Same House, spoke at the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony, sharing the importance of bringing courage, conviction and compassion to the headwinds that life will bring. …View photos at Jagwire.
The Times
Ivesters establish $200K UGA scholarship in honor of poultry industry legend Abit Massey
Ben Anderson
Hall County students enrolled in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will soon be eligible for scholarship support thanks to a donation from Gainesville natives Doug and Kay Ivester.
Albany Herald
UGA brings poultry science to public K-12 classrooms
By Maria M. Lameiras UGA/CAES
Poultry has grown to become the top commodity in Georgia’s No. 1 industry, agriculture. Acquainting school-aged students with potential career paths in avian science is critical to staffing the state’s poultry sector. Building on the foundation set by Avian Academy, the popular continuing education course for teachers offered annually by the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the Georgia Department of Education worked with CAES to create middle and high school poultry science curricula. Now in its third year of use in Georgia public schools, the courses have been adopted by schools across the country.
WGAU Radio
UGA Bot Garden program prepares students for leadership
By Laurel Clark, UGA Today
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.
Healio
Better communication, shared decision-making can improve outcomes
By Richard Gawel
Improvements in communication including shared decision-making can improve outcomes for patients with asthma, according to a presentation at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting. “We’re not understanding their needs. We’re not understanding their preferences. And we need to be able to do that,” Michael S. Blaiss, MD, clinical professor of pediatrics at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, said during his presentation. …Blaiss defined shared decision-making as the involvement of patients with their providers in making health care decisions that consider patient preferences and that are informed by the best available evidence about options and potential benefits and harms.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Legislature ‘24: Make schools safer, healthier for kids, teachers
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
In the third piece in a series about the upcoming 2024 General Assembly session, Peter Smagorinsky presents a wish list of practical and overdue fixes for Georgia’s public schools that he wants lawmakers to address. The session opens Jan. 8. Smagorinsky is an emeritus professor in the University of Georgia’s College of Education. He is the 2023 recipient of the American Educational Research Association Lifetime Contribution to Cultural-Historical Research Award.
Gwinnett Daily Post
Grayson Grad Ola Orelesi earns All-American Honors for Georgia Gwinnett College
From Staff Reports
Georgia Gwinnett College junior women’s soccer player Ola Orelesi has supplemented NAIA All-American playing honors with recognition off the pitch as an Academic All-American by the College Sports Communications Organization.
BVM Sports
Sade Heinrichs Named CSC Women’s Soccer Academic All-American
Georgia Southern senior defender [Sade Heinrichs] has been named to the Collegiate Sports Communicators Women’s Soccer Academic All-American Team, announced today by the organization. Heinrichs becomes only the second Academic All-American in program history as awarded by the CSC. The 5-10 native of Moenchengladbach, Germany, earns a spot on the third team and joins Rachel Tolliver, who was also third team Academic All-American honoree in 1996. A three-time All-Sun Belt Conference honoree and the 2022 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, Heinrichs carries a perfect 4.0 GPA in criminal justice and criminology.
Times-Georgian
Mike Adams named UWG defensive coordinator
By Jared Boggus
Head football coach Joel Taylor has made his first hire towards his 2024 coaching staff, naming veteran coach Mike Adams as the Wolves’ defensive coordinator. Adams, who is no stranger to West Georgia, comes to UWG after a five-year stint at Mercer where he most recently was the Pass Game Coordinator and safeties coach. Fans may remember Adams who was at UWG as defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator from 2001-2005.
Times-Georgian
UWG cheer, family day set for Jan. 7
The University of West Georgia Cheerleading program will host its annual Friends and Family Day on Sunday, January 7 at The Coliseum. This will be a great opportunity for fans may attend in the lead up to 2024 UCA Nationals. Following a long practice season and a local tour to show off the routines, the UWG Coed and All-Girl squads will perform their final championship routines in front of friends and family with a 5:00 p.m. start at The Coliseum before heading to Orlando to compete at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on January 12-14.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
U of Oklahoma said it’s being forced to eliminate its DEI offices. The ACLU disagrees.
An executive order mandated that public colleges review DEI roles and potentially eliminate those unnecessary for compliance and accreditation.
Laura Spitalniak, Staff Reporter
The University of Oklahoma is getting pushback from civil rights groups over its interpretation of a recent executive order affecting the state’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Last week, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt ordered public colleges to review all of their diversity, equity and inclusion-related programs and jobs. If needed, colleges must eliminate ones that are “not necessary for compliance, accreditation, or student and employee support services intended to support success broadly.” Later that day, the University of Oklahoma said that the order will force the university to eliminate all of its diversity offices. Now, civil rights organizations are calling into question the university’s “apparent leap to eliminate all DEI offices.” “As dangerous as this Executive Order is, only a handful of sentences apply to universities, and they do not require that universities eliminate DEI programs,” the American Civil Liberties Union contended in a statement Tuesday.
Higher Ed Dive
House Republicans urge Cardona to implement Trump executive order on antisemitism
The Education Department plans to propose amended regulations next year in response to the 2019 executive action.
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
Republicans on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce this week urged U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to implement a Trump-era executive order intended to combat antisemitism. Every year since the executive order was signed, the Education Department has indicated it would develop regulations to comply with it, according to the letter. “It never has,” the letter stated. This inaction has left colleges “unprepared for and unwilling to address the fires of antisemitism that have swept campuses this fall,” the lawmakers argued. An Education Department spokesperson confirmed via email Wednesday that the agency has received the letter. …The Republicans’ letter comes amid spiking antisemitism and Islamophobic acts across U.S. colleges in the wake of the latest Israel-Hamas war.
Higher Ed Dive
Over 70 University of Utah employees express support for student protestors facing charges
A petition demands the administration to stop its “pattern of intimidation” after it pulled sponsorship of the campus group that organized the protest.
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
Dive Brief:
Dozens of faculty and staff members at the University of Utah have signed onto a petition demanding that the administration stop its “pattern of intimidation” after university police brought charges against students protesting a campus event. The petition follows campus police charging nine students — including six members of MEChA de U of U, a socialist student group — with misdemeanors after they protested a November film screening hosted by a conservative student group, according to a university notice. The petition also takes issue with the administration’s recent desponsoring of MEChA — a decision it informed the group’s members of the same day they conducted a separate protest to show solidarity with Palestinians. The student group’s “recent protests should be viewed as a valuable opportunity for education and dialogue rather than punitive measures,” states the petition.
Inside Higher Ed
California State Union Threatens 1-Week Systemwide Strike
By Ryan Quinn
The California Faculty Association says its members will strike from Jan. 22 to 26 across the California State University system. The union says it represents over 29,000 tenure-line instructional faculty members, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches across the 23-campus system. A CSU System spokeswoman said the union had 15,820 dues-paying members as of September, and the total represented employees in its bargaining unit was 27,796. The union announced in October that its members had voted to grant its Board of Directors the authority to call a strike. This month, it held one-day strikes on four campuses. In a Wednesday news release, it announced the dates for the weeklong systemwide strike, which it said the Teamsters Local 2010 union, representing other CSU employees, would join.
Inside Higher Ed
House Education Panel Probes Harvard’s Handling of Plagiarism Allegations
By Katherine Knott
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce wants more information from Harvard University about how officials responded to allegations that its president, Claudine Gay, plagiarized parts of four academic papers, including her dissertation. The Harvard Corporation, which first received word about the allegations in October, independently reviewed the president’s work and found that there was no violation of Harvard’s standards. Gay did submit corrections for two previously published articles, and Wednesday night the university acknowledged that it had found three additional “examples of duplicative language without appropriate attribution” in the president’s 1997 dissertation, The Boston Globe reported. Representative Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the committee, requested numerous documents and emails concerning the allegations in a letter sent Wednesday to the Harvard Corporation, the board that oversees the university. She questioned whether the university was applying its policies consistently.