The Athens Banner-Herald
The new UGA School of Medicine now has its first dean. Find out who it is.
Wayne Ford, Athens Banner-Herald
The University of Georgia announced Monday that Dr. Shelley Nuss will become the first dean of the UGA School of Medicine. Nuss is currently campus dean for the Augusta University/UGA Medical Partnership, a role she has had since 2016. She will now lead the establishment of the new medical school at its site off Prince Avenue. “There is no one better equipped to lead this important initiative than Dr. Shelly Nuss, with her exemplary, widely recognized leadership in medical education,” UGA President Jere Morehead said in a statement released by UGA Today, an online media out for the university.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education
The U. of Texas at Austin Is the Latest to Bring Back the SAT Requirement
By Francie Diep
The University of Texas at Austin is once again requiring applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores, the university announced Monday. When the pandemic closed testing centers in 2020, hundreds of colleges went test-optional or test-free. UT-Austin chose test-optional. Now, several institutions are announcing permanent decisions about their SAT policies. In recent weeks, Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale announced they were returning to requiring the tests. The University of Michigan declared it would stay test-optional. And boards for the University of North Carolina system and University System of Georgia aim to make final decisions later this spring, their spokespeople say.
Albany Herald
ABAC-Bainbridge to offer evening nursing program
From staff reports
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Bainbridge campus will begin offering a Nursing at Night program in the spring semester of 2025. School officials say they hope to attract students interested in pursuing an Associate of Science in Nursing degree, but who may have conflicts with a more traditional schedule. “ABAC-Bainbridge decided to offer this program to not only meet the needs of our health care partners, but also to offer an alternative to students who want to be a nurse but cannot attend the program during the day because of work, child care responsibilities, or other obstacles,” Jeffrey Ross, dean of the School of Nursing at ABAC, said. “Taking advantage of the Nursing at Night program allows students to continue to work during the day or utilize other forms of child care, providing the opportunity to pursue a new career or advance their current career.”
Braselton News Today
Burgess and UNG peers earn wins at Geomatics Bowl
Three University of North Georgia (UNG) students competed in the Geomatics Bowl at the Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia’s Annual Technical Seminar, where they won two of their rounds. The Geomatics Bowl is a Jeopardy-style game with prompts from surveying, geospatial and related categories. Joshua Burgess, Sammy Hand and Jacob Jordan competed in four rounds of the bowl.
WALB
ABAC’s student newspaper takes 20 top awards
By WALB News Team
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s (ABAC) student newspaper has taken home 20 awards in the last few weeks. The Stallion submitted pieces to the Georgia College Press Association and Savannah State University’s Southern Regional Press Institute in hopes of being recognized. The awards were presented to staff teams and individuals for their profound efforts in student journalism. In the competitions, ABAC competed against schools like the University of Georgia, Augusta University and Valdosta State University to take home these awards.
13WMAZ
State senator wants to bring an innovative farm with robots, drones, and AI to Perry
The Grand Farm will be coming soon near the Georgia National Fairground in Perry.
Author: Cecily Stoute
250 acres in Perry will be the home of a new farm complete with robots and artificial intelligence. State Sen. Larry Walker said it’s the perfect spot for Perry’s new high-tech farm. “We want to be the number one spot for integrative, precision ag right in middle Georgia,” Walker said. Right off Elko Road and next to the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter will be the innovative project known as the Grand Farm. …Ramana Gosukonda is an agriculture science professor at Fort Valley State University. He said artificial intelligence is everywhere in agriculture. …Gosukonda said AI can help keep predict what’s happening on a farm to better protect produce. …Gosukonda said people should get used to AI being around in agriculture. …Walker said the final details to get the land turned over to their partner, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) at the University of Georgia, are in progress.
Cherokee Tribune & Ledger-News
Community clean-ups an important part of mosquito management
By Elmer Gray UGA/CAES
As spring approaches, now is a great time to schedule a community clean-up event. These events can be organized by citizens, civic groups or local governments and often have a theme or targeted area in a town or community. Clean-up events provide many benefits to a community including raising the awareness of litter prevention, developing pride in our communities and restoring the natural environment. A seldom recognized and underappreciated benefit of these programs is the permanent elimination of larval mosquito habitats. Some of the most common mosquito pests around the world develop in the containers, litter, debris and used tires that are commonly collected during a clean-up event. …Learn more about how to control mosquitos from the University of Georgia Department of Entomology at ent.uga.edu. Residents of the Southeast should also check out UGA Cooperative Extension Circular 1266, “Mosquito Control Around the Home.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘Anti-immigrant’: Latino advocates slam bill passed by Georgia House after UGA killing
New bill would require local law enforcement to identify and hold immigrants living in the state illegally. Immigrant groups say it won’t make communities safer.
By Lautaro Grinspan
An immigration bill passed in the Georgia House in the emotional aftermath of a nursing student’s violent death in Athens is causing consternation among the state’s Hispanic community, with advocacy groups warning of racial profiling and of potentially dangerous repercussions on Latino residents. Passed mostly along party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed, House Bill 1105 would permit police to arrest, with probable cause, anyone who is suspected of being in the country illegally and detain them for deportation. It’s a bill that seeks to target immigrants like Jose Antonio Ibarra, the suspect charged in the killing of student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus. Federal immigration authorities say Ibarra, a Venezuelan national, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization in 2022.
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The Tifton Gazette
ABAC hosts Southwest Georgia LSAMP summit
Staff Reports
Students from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College recently participated in the 2024 Southwest Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Annual Summit. This event was hosted at ABAC in late February. Supported by the National Science Foundation, LSAMP promotes historically underrepresented students in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The overall mission of the Southwest Georgia LSAMP is to increase the number of qualified underrepresented minorities receiving baccalaureate degrees in STEM and those entering graduate school and the workforce, according to a press release from ABAC. Students from around the region were able to attend professional development sessions, listen to a variety of speakers on wide-ranging topics, participate in a poster presentation and competition, and interact with other LSAMP scholars from across the state, ABAC said.
13WMAZ
Learning Leadership: Middle Georgia State hosts Youth Civic Summit
The program aims to educate high school students about local government and community issues.
Author: 13WMAZ Staff
A few high school students got the opportunity to learn leadership skills on Saturday morning at the Youth Civic Summit. It was held at Middle Georgia State’s Macon campus, by the University’s Department of Political Science. The program aimed to educate high school students about local government and community issues. …Many people who worked at Middle Georgia State that went on to hold government positions also showed up, so students had a chance to network and build relationships.
Grice Connect
Botanic Garden’s “Gather & Grow at the Garden” takes place Thursday March 28
Join Botanic Garden Director Todd Beasley for lunch and discussion on cultivating a passion for the botanical in a generation that may not even be familiar with the term. Have you heard? Lunch & Learn at the Botanic Garden at Georgia Southern is now Gather & Grow! The series will launch Thursday, March 28, 2024 at noon. …Plant lovers are an endangered species. How can we cultivate a passion for the botanical in a generation that may not even be familiar with the term?
Gwinnett Daily Post
Georgia Gwinnett College Men’s Tennis Defeats Fellow National Champion Emory
From Staff Reports
The NAIA’s top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College men’s tennis team swept all six singles matches to defeat NCAA Division III Emory University 6-1 Monday afternoon at the GGC Tennis Facility. The match featured this year’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association indoor national champions from NAIA and Division III collegiate ranks.
Times-Georgian
Wolves defeat chargers to secure GSC championship
By UWG ATHLETICS
For the first time since 2016, the West Georgia Wolves men’s basketball team are Gulf South Conference Tournament Champions, defeating Alabama Huntsville in Sunday’s title game by a 75-69 final. West Georgia (26-5) led for the final 22 minutes of the game, and led by as much as 14 over Alabama Huntsville (21-10) on their way to clinching a conference tournament and regular season title in the same season for the first time since the 1986-87 season. The GSC hasn’t had a team win the regular season and tournament title in the same season since UAH in 2015.
Americus Times-Recorder
Lady Hurricanes capture second straight Peach Belt Conference Tournament
By Ken Gustafson
Top-seeded Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) used a late 10-2 run to defeat third-seeded Columbus State University 57-52 in the championship game of the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) women’s basketball tournament on Sunday, March 10. With the win, the Hurricanes earn their second straight tournament title and the PBC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Albany Herald
Albany State Police captain seeks Dougherty Sheriff’s office
By Alan Mauldin
Albany State University Police Department Capt. Keithen Hall’s quest to become the top law enforcement agent in Dougherty County just got very real.
Hall, a former Albany Police Department investigator and current captain with ASUPD in charge of the university’s patrol division, officially qualified to run for Dougherty County Sheriff during last week’s qualifying period. Now he will face DSO Chief Deputy Terron Hayes to replace retiring Sheriff Kevin Sproul.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Education Department Begins Sending Financial Aid Data: Report
By Doug Lederman
The U.S. Education Department began sending financial aid data to a limited number of colleges over the weekend and expects to send the crucial information to more institutions soon, the Associated Press reported Monday. The report suggests that the department may finally be on track to give colleges the data they need to make financial aid offers to students seeking to enroll next fall, amid the agency’s botched roll-out of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid that has threatened to derail the college-going plans of many low- and middle-income learners.
Higher Ed Dive
Biden proposes free community college, Pell Grant increases in FY25 budget
The president’s funding proposal is likely dead on arrival in a divided Congress, but it shows his priorities for higher education.
Laura Spitalniak, Staff Reporter
Dive Brief:
The U.S. Department of Education would receive $82 billion in discretionary funding under President Joe Biden’s budget proposal for fiscal 2025, a 3.9% increase from fiscal 2023. The plan, released Monday, would also establish a federal-state partnership to make two years of community college tuition free, according to the Education Department. Additionally, the plan would subsidize two years of tuition for students from families who make less than $125,000 and who attend four-year historically Black colleges, minority-serving institutions or tribal colleges. It would also increase the maximum Pell Grant, from $7,395 to $8,145, and focus on funding efforts meant to reduce the cost of college and boost student success, including dual enrollment and open-source and free textbook programs.
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Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Biden Calls for Greater Support of HBCUs, HSIs, and MSIs
Liann Herder
When President Biden addressed over 32 million viewers for the annual State of the Union (SOTU) last week, he used the occasion to issue a full throttle support for higher education. While speaking on his administration’s accomplishments in his last four years of service, Biden also addressed what he called “the future of possibilities we can build together.” Biden has made access to affordable education a cornerstone of his presidential tenure, and he reinforced that position by calling for an increase in Pell Grants and a further increase in “our record investments in HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] and Hispanic and Minority Serving Institutions [HSIs and MSIs].” Scholars say that they were pleased by the president’s mention of these institutions and hope to see his call to action translate into increased funding for these under-resourced yet high-achieving institutions.
Inside Higher Ed
Columbia President to Testify at House Antisemitism Hearing
By Katherine Knott
The president of Columbia University and the co-chairs of its Board of Trustees will testify next month at a House hearing about antisemitism at the New York institution. This will be the House Education and Workforce Committee’s second hearing focused on how specific institutions responded to antisemitic incidents on campus in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war that began in October. Two of three presidents who testified at the first hearing in December have since resigned in part because of the fallout from their testimony. Columbia president Minouche Shafik was invited to testify at that December hearing, but was out of the country at the time.
Inside Higher Ed
New Initiative to Help Campus Leaders Improve Dialogue, Climate
By Marjorie Valbrun
The Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI), an organization that promotes dialogue and inclusive environments in higher education, has launched a Leadership Institute to help college presidents and senior administrators improve free expression, inclusion and belonging on their campuses. The initiative was created because “the need to improve discourse on campuses is more critical than ever,” at time when public trust in higher education institutions is “at an all-time low” and Americans are politically divided, according to an announcement about the new institute.
Higher Ed Dive
New Mexico to establish $959M higher ed fund supporting free tuition
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the trust will cement the state’s status as a leader in college equity and access.
Natalie Schwartz, Senior Editor
Dive Brief:
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill last week that establishes a $959 million fund to support free college tuition for state residents. The trust fund will be the largest dedicated to higher education by a state, the governor’s office said in a March 8 announcement. Just seven other states, including Tennessee, New Jersey and Alaska, have trust funds for higher education. New Mexico’s fund will support two programs: the Lottery Scholarship, which provides free tuition for recent high school graduates, and the Opportunity Scholarship, which covers students who attend New Mexico public colleges later in life. Nearly $48 million will be distributed from the fund in fiscal 2025.
Inside Higher Ed
Low Grade? Arizona Bill Would Let Students Allege ‘Political Bias’
Legislation that’s near passage in Arizona would create a “grade challenge department” for public universities. It could force professors to change students’ marks.
By Ryan Quinn
Republican lawmakers in Arizona have proposed creating a “grade challenge department,” to which public university students could complain that their professors gave them low grades because of political bias. Senate Bill 1477, which is only five paragraphs long, says that if this new department concluded there was political bias, it could “require any faculty member of a public university to regrade the student’s assignment or reevaluate the student’s overall class grade.” Students could only allege political bias, not racial, religious or other possible sources of bias. The bill doesn’t define what political bias means.