The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp names new member to Georgia Board of Regents
By Vanessa McCray
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed a retired Columbus real estate developer to the Georgia Board of Regents, which oversees the 26 public schools within the University System of Georgia. Mat Swift, 76, will represent the 3rd Congressional District for a term that ends Jan. 1, 2031, according to a Jan. 5 executive order signed by the governor.
Athens Banner-Herald
UGA, Augusta University presidents support new UGA medical school
Wayne Ford
In the wake of Gov. Brian’s Kemp’s announcement on last week to spend $50 million to create a separate medical school at the University of Georgia, top officials connected to both medical schools in the state issued statements supporting the measure. Currently, the UGA medical school located on Prince Avenue is in a working partnership with the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. UGA President Jere Morehead on Thursday issued a statement that the two universities have “successfully worked together for nearly 15 years.” “The governor’s proposal is a natural evolution of this fruitful partnership, one that will produce even more doctors for our state,” he said. “We appreciate the governor’s announcement of his support for a new medical school” at UGA.
James Magazine Online
by JMO Staff | Floating Boats
Tucked away in Gov. Brian Kemp’s proposed budget this week was $50 million for a new medical school at the University of Georgia. The school would become just the second public medical school in Georgia, which like many states is facing a need for more physicians and other medical personnel. The proposal would need legislative approval as well as a thumbs up from the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents, but plans for a new official medical school in Athens are RISING…
WGAU Radio
UNG team is runner-up in NSA Codebreaker challenge
By Clark Leonard, UNG
The University of North Georgia finished second out of 447 colleges and universities in the 2023 National Security Agency Codebreaker Challenge, which ran from Sept. 28 through Jan. 11. It also was the top senior military college in the competition, and Texas A&M’s ninth-place finish made it the only other SMC in the top 25. A total of 241 UNG students tallied 90,342 points. Georgia Tech won the event with 176,787 points. SANS Technology Institute took third, and University of California, Santa Cruz, and Dakota State University rounded out the top five.
Times-Georgian
UWG Cheer wins 30th national title
By UWG Athletics Special To The Times-Georgian
Saturday evening at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, the West Georgia Wolves put on a clinic in the Coed Division I Cheer Finals, blasting to the top of the standings to bring home the 30th Title at UCA Nationals in the history of the program. The Wolves last won a championship in the coed competition in 2021 when UWG took both the coed and all-girl competitions. In 2022, All-Girl took home the hardware, then in 2023 the Wolves picked up championship number 29 with an All-Girl Partner stunt championship.
Statesboro Herald
Young speakers highlight of 2024 Bulloch County MLK observance
GS student President Robinson exhorts ‘fixing what is broken’; Screven’s Thomas James speaks after parade
AL HACKLE
Young leaders delivered keynote calls to action during 2024’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday observance in Statesboro, from Georgia Southern University SGA President Blake Robinson at the prayer breakfast Saturday to Screven County NAACP Youth Council President Thomas L. James during the Bulloch County NAACP’s service Monday after the parade. About 200 people attended the prayer breakfast hosted jointly by the Bulloch County NAACP Youth Council and Georgia Southern’s NAACP College Chapter, Jan. 13 in the Williams Center on the GS campus.
The Brunswick News
By Lauren McDonald
College of Coastal Georgia helped kick off Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend with its fourth annual commemorative walk Friday. Although the walking portion of the event was canceled due to the threat of foul weather, students and faculty heard from speakers who reflected on the impact of King’s legacy and the way it can shape change today.
Albany Herald
Albany State, Albany Area Chamber host 31st annual MLK Dinner
By Lucille Lannigan
Albany’s 2024 MLK Dinner Thursday night instilled a sense of unity among attendees, who represented a diverse array of ages, races and backgrounds. The event, presented by Colony Bank, was co-hosted by the Albany Area Chamber Foundation and Albany State University in collaboration with the King Day Celebration Committee. It celebrated the ideals of Martin Luther King Jr. and how they can be applied to the Albany area.
The Augusta Chronicle
Augusta mayor, Golden Harvest, MCG partner with community for annual MLK Day of Service
Katie Goodale
The Augusta Mayor’s office held the second annual MLK Day of Service at The Master’s Table soup kitchen in downtown Augusta on Monday. Mayor Garnett Johnson, along with volunteers, partnered with Golden Harvest Food Bank, The Medical College of Georgia, Project Refresh, and more to offer meals, free medical screenings, showers, and clothes to Augusta’s homeless population.
WGAU Radio
UGA’s MLK Freedom Breakfast today at Tate Center
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia’s annual MLK Freedom Breakfast takes place this morning in the Grand Hall at UGA’s Tate Center. The featured speaker is Atlanta entrepreneur and state Board of Regents member T. Dallas Smith.
From UGA Today…
Dallas Smith, founder and CEO at T. Dallas Smith & Company and member of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, will deliver the keynote address at the 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Breakfast. The event will be held at 8 a.m. on January 16 in the Tate Grand Hall.
The Red & Black
Allison Mawn
When Caroline Young left her career in television advertising, she couldn’t have predicted that her new path would lead her to teaching inmates. Young is a lecturer in the University of Georgia English department. But she also teaches in another, less traditional setting: Whitworth Women’s Facility, a prison in Hartwell, Georgia. The spark for prison education lit while Young was getting a post doctorate in multimodal experimental pedagogy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. There she encountered one of the founders of Common Good Atlanta, an organization that brings higher education to Georgia’s incarcerated populations, and found out that a mutual friend was the cofounder. Young’s first work with incarcerated students was at Georgia Tech, where she had her students turn incarcerated students’ poetry into multimodal art.
Farm Monitor
Peanut Breeders Using Robot to Develop New Varieties
At the heart of the peanut industry’s growth and success in Georgia lies the dedicated work of peanut breeders at the University of Georgia, who work tirelessly to develop new varieties of peanuts that will benefit the industry as a whole by focusing on specific traits that work well in other varieties and trying to combine them all into one. “Our goal as plant breeders is to combine different varieties to make better varieties. So, we do that by crossing high-yielding peanut varieties with those that may have better disease resistance, better shelling characteristics, better flavor qualities. Basically trying to combine a whole lot of traits into one single package so that we can send those out to growers, and they can grow those and sell it to the shellers and the manufacturers,” says Nino Brown, Peanut Breeder at the University of Georgia.
Vegetable Growers News
UGA leads research into silverleaf whiteflies with USDA
In 2017, an outbreak of a small, white bug — about a millimeter in size — swept through south Georgia, causing widespread damage totaling more than $150 million to the vegetable industry that year. Now fully established throughout the state, silverleaf whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) have proven to be a persistent threat to numerous economically important crops, causing direct damage through feeding, and transmitting more than 100 plant viruses. These insects are “true bugs,” as entomologists call them, more related to aphids than to flies. …New research on a persistent pest A multidisciplinary team of researchers in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) recently renewed a $4 million contract with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to build upon their previous work. The team aims to better understand this emerging pest and develop targeted interventions to mitigate the impact of whiteflies on vegetable production in the Southeast.
WTOC
INTERVIEW: Dr. Michael Toma forecasts Savannah’s 2024 economy
By Tim Guidera
Is a strong finish to 2023 an indication that Savannah’s local economy will be strengthening in 2024? Dr. Michael Toma is a professor of Economics at Georgia Southern University, which released its 2023 Economic Monitor last week. He broke that down and also looked toward the year ahead.
The City Menus
The University of West Georgia recently named Raja Bhattacharya, who brings years of higher education and leadership experience, as the inaugural director of the Stone Center for Family Business, Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The Stone Center for Family Business, Entrepreneurship and Innovation serves as a crucial resource for family businesses in the West Georgia region. With a mission to address family enterprises’ unique opportunities and challenges, the center’s impact is positioned to expand under Bhattacharya’s leadership. “I am truly excited about the initiatives that UWG leadership has taken in bringing entrepreneurship education and experience at its core,” said Bhattacharya, who began his appointment at UWG on Jan. 2.
The Montgomery Independent
Saint James School Welcomes Columbus State’s Schwob Singers
On January 11, the Saint James Performing Arts Department welcomed Columbus State University’s Schwob Singers to campus. The Schwob Singers are directed by Dr. David Hahn, and they are CSU’s flagship choral ensemble. The group spoke to the Saint James high school choir class and the Arts Leadership Council about auditions, scholarships, studying music, and how to get involved with the arts at the collegiate level.
The Bleckley Progress
Brown discusses MGA move from NAIA to NCAA.
By Dave Whitaker
This past fall, Middle Georgia State University announced their intention to transfer from NAIA and the Southern States Athletic Conference to NCAA Division II and the Peach Belt Conference. This week, the PBC Board of Directors unanimously voted to extend an invitation for MGA to join. Recently hired Middle Georgia State athletic director Michael Brown has experience in helping schools transition from NAIA to NCAA. He oversaw the move of Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida from NAIA to NCAA D-II during his time there from 2007-21. Brown spoke about MGA’s move in an email interview. Middle Georgia State won’t make their official membership request to the NCAA until February 2025.
BVM Sports
Women’s Basketball Hosts Free Kids Clinic January 27
Head women’s basketball coach Anita Howard and the Georgia Southern women’s basketball staff will be hosting a free kids basketball clinic on Saturday, January 27, following the Eagles’ Sun Belt contest against Marshall. The clinic will take place 30 minutes following the end of the game on the Hanner Fieldhouse court.
Grice Connect
Try your aim with the Beginner Archery Course at the GS Shooting Sports Education Center
Ainslie Smith
Georgia Southern University is inviting you to, “Try Archery,” at the Shooting Sports Education Center (SSEC) from 6:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, January 17. Anyone, ages 7 and up, can learn the basics of recurve bow safety and technique through the course, taught by certified coaches.
Athens Banner-Herald
‘We need to do better’: Georgia football ranks last in FBS in latest NCAA graduation rates
Marc Weiszer
The University of Georgia proclaims it is a powerhouse in academics and athletics. The Georgia football team is certainly a perennial championship contender with back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022 and ranking as high as No. 3 after this season. The program, though, is at the bottom of more than 130 FBS programs when it comes to the latest NCAA graduation rate metric. Why is that?
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
5 higher education lawsuits to keep an eye on in 2024
Courts are considering challenges to race-conscious admissions at military academies, key higher education regulations and the DACA program.
Natalie Schwartz, Senior Editor
The higher education world was rocked by court decisions last year, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling against race-conscious admissions. This year looks to be no different, with courts poised to make similar waves. Colleges are facing a flurry of lawsuits, including another challenge to race-conscious admissions. Higher education groups have also sued the Biden administration over controversial new regulations intended to protect borrowers. And the Supreme Court could soon weigh in again on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects undocumented immigrants from deportation and authorizes them to study and work. Below, we’re rounding up five lawsuits that could further change the higher education landscape.
Inside Higher Ed
Higher Education in Political Crosshairs as 2024 Election Heats Up
With higher education becoming more politicized, it’s poised to play a more prominent role than usual in this year’s presidential and congressional elections. The outcomes will carry huge policy implications.
By Katherine Knott
The fight for control of the White House and Congress in 2024 has already seen calls from candidates to fire “radical left” accreditors, end the tax-exempt status of elite universities and defund some colleges. It’s one sign among many that higher education policy, typically a back-burner issue in federal campaigns, could play an unusual role in this year’s elections. Higher education has found itself increasingly in the headlines—and the political crosshairs—in recent years, as public confidence in the value of colleges and universities has plummeted.
Higher Ed Dive
Republican bill would cap student borrowing, make colleges liable for unpaid loans
Rep. Virginia Foxx said her proposal would cut down on the “astronomical” levels of student debt in the country.
Laura Spitalniak, Staff Reporter
Dive Brief:
Rep. Virginia Foxx, chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, introduced a wide-ranging legislative package Thursday meant to reshape the student loan system and reduce college costs. Known as the College Cost Reduction Act, the proposal would put colleges on the hook for loans their former students don’t pay off, place caps on how much students could borrow for their education, and pare down federal student loan repayment options. The act would also limit the U.S. Department of Education’s power to implement new student loan forgiveness programs and roll back several of the agency’s recent regulatory changes, including the gainful employment and 90/10 rules. Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, has strongly opposed the Biden Administration’s attempts to forgive mass amounts of student debt.
See also:
Inside Higher Ed
State Spending for Higher Education and Cuts: Academic Minute
By Doug Lederman
Today on the Academic Minute: Jennifer A. Delaney, professor of higher education in the department of education policy, organization and leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, explores how long it has historically taken to restore state spending on higher education.
Inside Higher Ed
On many campuses, resident assistants handle everything from fire safety to mental health counseling. Now some institutions are breaking up the job to make it more manageable. …The challenge for college officials is to alleviate stress and pressure on the RAs—who are, after all, students themselves—without taking away resources that other students have come to depend on in the dorms. For many campuses, the answer often involves handing over some of the most challenging elements of the RA’s job—usually crisis-response or mental health services—to another employee.