Augusta CEO
Portrait Unveiled to Honor Speaker Ralston
Staff Report From Georgia CEO
The Georgia House of Representatives on March 14 unveiled a portrait of the late House Speaker David Ralston, a University of North Georgia (UNG) alumnus, honoring his life of service to the state. Commissioned by the UNG Foundation in July, the portrait will be placed just outside the House chamber. …”Thank you to this body for having our family here today with you. Thank you to Gov. Perdue, Gov. Deal and Gov. Kemp for your kind words…,” Sheree Ralston said. “But most of all, thank you to the University of North Georgia, who stays faithful to David Ralston. And he was faithful to you.” … Ralston was instrumental in securing funding for the original Blue Ridge Campus location that opened in 2015, the current stand-alone campus and the expansion opening later this year. …”David Ralston was a kid from a small town in north Georgia who became one of Georgia’s most distinguished public servants, someone who could bring people together no matter their differences and find a civil and respectful way to the best solution for Georgia,” Perdue said.
Fox28 Savannah
Board of Regents to launch national search for new Savannah State University president
by Emma Charles
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has announced that it will be conducting a search for the next president of Savannah State. Cynthia Robinson Alexander has served as the interim president since July 2023 after the previous president resigned. The board says their next step will be to form a committee to search for the next president.
Savannah CEO
National Presidential Searches Announced for Albany State University & Savannah State University
Staff Report From Georgia CEO
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) has announced it will conduct national searches to find the next presidents of Albany State University (ASU) and Savannah State University (SSU). ASU President Marion Ross Fedrick announced last month her plan to accept a new role at Georgia State University as executive vice president and chief of staff, effective July 1, 2024. Fedrick will additionally serve as a senior advisor to Chancellor Sonny Perdue for initiatives related to the system’s three public historically Black colleges and universities, which include ASU, SSU and Fort Valley State University. Cynthia Robinson Alexander, previously USG’s associate vice chancellor for finance, has served as interim president of SSU since July 2023 after the departure of President Kimberly Ballard-Washington. She will continue to serve as interim president during this time.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia colleges extend enrollment deadlines after financial aid delays
By Vanessa McCray
Several Georgia colleges are pushing back enrollment deadlines to give high school seniors more time to decide where they want to go to school. Many schools require incoming first-year students to make an enrollment deposit and secure their spot for the fall on or around May 1. But this year, some are pushing back the traditional deadline because of delays with the federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
Gwinnett Daily Post
‘I’m Not Giving Up’ — Georgia Gwinnett College Student Battling Rare Neurological Disease
By Chris Starrs Staff Correspondent
Diagnosed with Duchene muscular dystrophy at the age of 6, Grayson resident Alejandro Hernandez has been dealt a tough hand, but he’s not feeling sorry for himself as he embraces each day with hope. “From my perspective, having Duchene muscular dystrophy isn’t something you can control, it’s something you’re born with,” said the 20-year-old Georgia Gwinnett College sophomore. “I think I shouldn’t worry about things that I can’t change. But going forward, I’m not giving up.”
Georgia Entertainment
The Essentiality of Creativity: Organizing, Funding and Measuring Georgia’s Creative Economy
By Staff
By David Sutherland, Senior Lecturer for University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.
For the past six years I have immersed myself in the dynamics of what has become known as the “Creative Economy.” I have come to understand that globally the Creative Economy generates over $2 trillion annually, while in the U.S., it is just over $1 trillion annually. In Georgia, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that our Creative Economy contributes $23.8 billion to Georgia’s economy annually, representing 4.0% of the state’s GDP, and 134,217 jobs. In comparison, Georgia’s Agricultural Industry is 4.1% and Construction is 4.3% of the state’s GDP. But the impact of the Creative Economy is not just financial.
Middle Georgia CEO
MGA Math Departments Hosts 42nd Annual Math Olympics
Staff Report From Georgia CEO
The 42nd annual Math Olympics was held by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Middle Georgia State University on Friday, March 8. More than 160 high school students from 16 high schools in Georgia competed in the all-day event, and teams from Rockdale Magnet School captured first-place honors at both the varsity and junior varsity levels. …The varsity competition consists of a challenging 50-question individual exam, followed in the afternoon by ciphering, a fast-paced group event. The ciphering contest pits four-person teams from each school, who must work together to answer a complex math question within two minutes. The JV competition features a written exam with problems designed for students who have not yet taken trigonometry or calculus.
Morning AgClips
Georgia Ag Week Chance to Celebrate Farmers
Georgia Ag Week March 18-23, National Ag Day on March 19
Georgia Ag Week March 18-23, National Ag Day on March 19
Spring is coming, which means Georgia farmers are gearing up to harvest strawberries, Vidalia onions, blueberries and wheat. In May and June, they will plant their summer crops of peanuts, cotton and soybeans. That’s why Georgia Farm Bureau and other ag organizations across the state will observe Georgia Ag Week March 18-23 and celebrate National Ag Day on March 19. National Ag Day, which has been celebrated for 51 years, is traditionally celebrated on the first day of spring. … Not only does Georgia agriculture feed and clothe us, but it also benefits our state economy. Agriculture and related industries contributed $83.6 billion to Georgia’s economy in 2022, according to the University of Georgia’s Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development (CAED).
Savannah Morning News
Friends of African American Arts exhibition at Savannah State shows art as metaphor
Rob Hessler
It’s about that fire within you, that stirring within you to get up and get things done and make things happen, said Calvin Woodum of his ‘Uprising’ paintings in this year’s Friends of African American Arts (FAAA) exhibition at Savannah State University’s Fine Arts Gallery. “And, of course, these are Savannah State University colors.” … AAA’s annual exhibition at Savannah State University runs through March 29th. Open daily. Free to attend. The Fine Arts Gallery is located in the Kennedy Fine Arts building on the first floor.
The Tifton Gazette
Georgia Museum of Agriculture to host Folklife Festival April 6
Visitors can enjoy a celebration of the rich, rural heritage of South Georgia during the annual Folklife Festival on April 6 at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture. Showcasing South Georgia’s history and culture, the event runs from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. with interactive activities for both children and adults. …The Folklife Festival highlights interactive activities including livestock and wildlife encounters, cornbread samples, sawmill demonstrations and mule plowing. There will also be pine needle basket making demonstrations, tatting demonstrations, hay rides and live music.
Lanier County News
ABAC’s Baldwin Players present Shakespeare adaptation for spring production
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Baldwin Players will present “Never Runs Smooth… Shakespeare on Love,” an original play written by ABAC professor Dr. Brian Ray, on March 28-30. Ray said he originally wrote the play in 2006, but has since updated, added, and adapted his original work for the spring production. The play looks at the many ways that love is shown in the plays of William Shakespeare through the eyes of four couples as they explore scenes and discuss what they reveal about love. It’s a play filled with corny humor mixed with sappy relationship stories. In the end, Ray believes the audience will agree with Shakespeare’s notion that the course of true love never runs smoothly.
The Georgia Virtue
GALLERY: Southeast Bulloch High Hosts 41st Annual Penny Sikes Math Competition for 5th & 6th Grades
Each spring Math takes center court in Brooklet as fifth and sixth-grade mathletes from Bulloch County’s public, private, and home schools face off and make mathematics a spectator sport. Organized and hosted annually by faculty from the Southeast Bulloch High School Math Department and sponsored by Morris Bank, the competition includes both an individual and ciphering round for each grade level. …Penny Sikes is a former Bulloch County Schools math teacher and administrator, who began the tournament in 1983, with an innovation grant from the school system. The tournament is one of three local math competitions held annually which include Georgia Southern University’s Invitational Math Tournament for middle and high school students, and the Reggie Dawson Memorial Math Tournament for third and fourth graders.
Statesboro Herald
United States welcomes 41 new citizens with Statesboro ceremony
Born in 20+ different countries, they proved commitment to make the USA their home through test, interview and years
Al Hackle/Staff
Having passed a test and met other requirements, 41 people, born in approximately 26 different nations ranging alphabetically from A to Z, stood in the main federal courtroom in Statesboro, raised their right hands, repeated an oath and became citizens of the United States of America the afternoon of Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Local new citizens Weikang “Ken” Wang, originally from China, was the one confirmed Statesboro resident among the newly naturalized citizens. Now in his second year as a lecturer on management in the Parker College of Business at Georgia Southern University, he previously taught for 14 years at Northwood University in Michigan.
USA Today
Which Georgia Division I school has the highest tuition?
James Morgan
Attending college is a dream for many across Georgia. Overall, there are over 344,000 students in the University System of Georgia, so this dream becomes a reality for a significant portion of the population every year. The University System of Georgia does not include private schools, but it does factor in both graduate and undergraduate students. The Peach State has one of the best and oldest University Systems in country…There are six Division I schools in Georgia. Four schools (Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern) are members of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and two are members of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Kennesaw State is joining the FBS in 2024-2025. Here is the annual tuition for every Division I school in the Peach State in 2024. These numbers do not factor in any financial aid or additional cost of living expenses like housing or books…
The Gainesville Times
College basketball: UNG men hope for another signature win in Tuesday’s regional finals
Clark Leonard
After winning their first Peach Belt Conference tournament title earlier this month, the Nighthawks are one win away from advancing to next week’s NCAA Division II championship in Evansville, Ind.
WSB-TV
Spalding football coach indicted on murder charge for woman’s strangulation
By WSBTV.com News Staff
A grand jury has indicted a Georgia high school football coach accused in a woman’s murder in another state. Prince George Maryland court records confirm that Carl Kearney Jr. was indicted on March 12 on murder and unauthorized removal of a motor vehicle charges. Police say Kearney, 43, confessed to strangling Patrina Best, who he said was his girlfriend, during an argument at her Maryland home on Feb. 17. Best’s obituary described her as “standout swimmer” at Camden County High School and Georgia Southern University.
Athens Banner-Herald
Former UGA football player Crumpton gets maximum in Oconee County RaceTrac slaying case
Wayne Ford
U.S. District Judge Tilman Self imposed a maximum sentence on Monday in Athens on the man convicted of federal charges in the 2021 attempted robbery and shooting death of RaceTrac clerk Elijah Wood in Oconee County. “This is not a difficult decision,” the judge said moments before he sentenced former University of Georgia football player Ahkil Nasir Crumpton to 30 years in prison. There is no parole in federal prison.
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Higher Education News:
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
HEER Funding Kept Community Colleges Open and Students Enrolled
Liann Herder
Community colleges were able to persevere through the pandemic thanks to the emergency relief funding passed through Congress. That’s the conclusion of the latest research from the Accelerating Recovery in Community Colleges Network at the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Columbia University. Without Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) funding, experts say many community college programs would have closed, faculty and staff laid off, and more students forced to stop out on their pathways towards accreditation. Some colleges might have even shut their doors permanently.
Higher Ed Dive
Some HBCUs are seeing enrollment surge. Here’s why.
Leaders experiencing head count increases attribute them to a racial awakening, student success efforts and new funding.
By Danielle McLean
Interest in attending Morgan State University, a historically Black college in Baltimore, has reached historic highs over the past few years. Since 2018, the public university saw its enrollment surge 27%, with 9,808 students attending the institution this past fall. The university has set its sights on reaching 10,000 students by 2030, said Khala Granville, Morgan State’s director of undergraduate admission and recruitment. Granville credited the university’s growth to its recent move to the Common Application, which houses a single online form used to apply to over 1,000 member institutions. …But other HBCUs are seeing similar growth, bucking the enrollment decreases experienced at colleges and universities throughout the country in recent years. HBCUs nationwide saw enrollment growth in fall 2021 and fall 2022 — even as student headcounts sank across the country, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Overall, enrollment dipped at HBCUs in fall 2023, though the research center’s executive director noted that fewer of them provided data in time to be reflected in the final count.
Higher Ed Dive
Title IX rules are still behind. When will they be finalized?
Time is winding down before there’s a possibility that the rules could be blocked by a new Congress or presidential administration.
Naaz Modan, Senior Reporter
The U.S. Department of Education continues to lag on finalizing two key Title IX proposals anxiously awaited by district leaders for over three years — and now policy experts say it’s likely the department will finalize both this spring, after the department’s latest self-imposed deadline of March. The broader Title IX proposal released in June 2022 would protect LGBTQ+ students under the federal anti-discrimination law for the first time. It would also change Title IX implementation in a way that public education experts say make it more practical for schools, including shortening investigation and resolution timelines. The second proposal, released nearly a year later in April 2023, would create a framework for transgender students’ participation on sports teams aligning with their gender identities.
Higher Ed Dive
Kentucky’s higher ed funding scheme is unconstitutional, state attorney general says
Russell Coleman argued the state’s outcomes-based formula relies on race, running afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious admissions.
By Lilah Burke
Dive Brief:
Kentucky’s performance-based funding regulations are unconstitutional because of their reliance on race, Russell Coleman, the state’s attorney general, said in an opinion issued Thursday. Coleman, a Republican, said the state is using “race-exclusive terms” to set performance goals for public colleges that he believes run afoul of the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down race-conscious admissions policies. His opinion does not constitute an immediate order to end the formula, but college leaders in the state say they are reviewing it to see if it will affect their operations.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Arrman Kyaw
College students who graduate as English majors actually find jobs at about the same rate as those who major in other subjects, according to a recent report commissioned by the Modern Language Association (MLA). …According to the report, the unemployment rate for English majors, 2.3%, was not far off from that of all college graduates, 2.17%.
Higher Ed Dive
Cornell University employees ask SCOTUS to address retirement plan circuit split
The case concerns whether ERISA plaintiffs must “plead and prove additional elements and facts not contained” in the law’s text.
Ryan Golden, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
A group of current and former Cornell University employees asked the U.S. Supreme Court March 11 to clarify what plaintiffs must show to claim that a retirement plan fiduciary engaged in prohibited transactions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The case, Cunningham v. Cornell University, involves an alleged circuit split. The 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 10th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal have found that ERISA requires plaintiffs to “plead and prove additional elements and facts not contained” in the law’s text, according to the employees, who said that the 8th and 9th Circuits have not found that the law makes such requirements. The 2nd Circuit held that ERISA plaintiffs must show that an alleged prohibited transaction “was unnecessary or involved unreasonable compensation” and that the Cornell employees had not met this requirement in alleging that the university engaged in prohibited transactions. A response to the writ of certiorari from Cornell is due April 12.
Inside Higher Ed
Bates President Slams Anonymous BlindTiger App
By Lauren Coffey
BlindTiger, a lesser-known social media app with anonymous posting, is taking fire from a Maine college president after reports of anti-Semitism, misogyny and anti-Arab messages in the app. Garry Jenkins, president of Bates College, penned a letter to the college’s student newspaper calling for students to delete BlindTiger.
Higher Ed Dive
Connecticut lawmakers advance bill that would ban legacy and donor admissions
If passed, the state could become the first to prohibit these preferential policies at both its public and private colleges.
Laura Spitalniak, Staff Reporter
Dive Brief:
Connecticut lawmakers advanced a bill Thursday that would ban the state’s public and private colleges from using legacy admissions to give preferential treatment to applicants related to alumni. Lawmakers on the state’s higher education committee also added a ban on policies that give an admissions advantage to applicants related to college donors. If passed, Connecticut could become the first state to ban legacy preferences at both public and private higher education institutions.
Inside Higher Ed
UMBC Failed to Stop Alleged Harassment of Athletes, U.S. Finds
By Doug Lederman
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County failed to respond to allegations of a former coach’s sexual harassment of male swimmers and discrimination against female athletes, the U.S. Justice Department said in a letter informing the university about the results of an investigation Monday. The agency said in a news release that the university’s failure “violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and that UMBC’s failures allowed the former head coach to exploit his power over student-athletes, prey on student-athletes’ vulnerabilities and engage in egregious and ongoing abuse spanning many years.”
Higher Ed Dive
2U at risk of being removed from Nasdaq
The company, which helps colleges create and run online programs, could be delisted if its stock price doesn’t consistently close at $1 or more for 10 consecutive days.
Laura Spitalniak, Staff Reporter
Dive Brief:
2U is at risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market’s Global Select Market, according to a Thursday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s stock value has dropped below $1 per share for 30 straight business days, putting it out of compliance with Nasdaq’s Global Select Market’s requirements. As of Monday, the stock price closed at $0.32. To remain listed on Nasdaq, the company must boost its closing share price to $1 or more for 10 business days in a row. It has until Sept. 10 to comply.
Cybersecurity Dive
Opinion
Threat environment is changing for individuals and SMBs, White House order shows
An executive order is trying to prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans’ data, as countries seek troves of U.S. data for blackmail, AI training and analysis, among a multitude of other purposes.
By Michael Kosak
Editor’s note: The following is a guest article from Michael Kosak, senior principal intelligence analyst at LastPass.
The White House recently issued an executive order authorizing the attorney general to prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans’ sensitive personal data — such as health, geolocation and financial data, to countries of concern — including China and Russia. Based on my experience as a former Department of Defense counterterrorism intelligence officer, this order is a welcome one. It reflects the shifting value and appeal to nation states of individual data, including data from small and medium-sized businesses. The mere quantity of data has now taken on a quality all its own.