The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia State gives degrees to trailblazers who won desegregation case
By Vanessa McCray
1959 victory didn’t secure trio’s entry but did usher in changes at universities in South
Myra Elliott waved a lace-gloved hand, a graduation cap topping her silver curls as the audience stood to applaud her. Three times, the crowd at Georgia State University’s new Convocation Center rose from their seats — three standing ovations to thank the 90-year-old who stood up for them before most of them were born. It was a moment more than 60 years in the making for Elliott and the families of the late Barbara Pace Hunt and Iris Mae Welch. In 1956, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to segregate public schools by race, Georgia State denied admission to the three Black women. The women later won a precedent-setting federal lawsuit but never attended the school. On Wednesday, the university awarded honorary bachelor’s degrees to all three.
WGAU Radio
By Erica Techo, UGA Today
University of Georgia alumna Kirsten Allen was named a 2023 Quad Fellow, making her one of 100 international applicants in the fellowship’s inaugural cohort. The Quad Fellowship is a scholarship supporting interdisciplinary innovation in science and technology by connecting graduate students from the four Quad countries: Australia, India, Japan and the United States. More than 3,000 students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics applied for the fellowship, and the 2023 fellows were selected based on written applications and multiple rounds of academic interviews. Only 25 students from each country were selected to receive the $50,000 scholarship. Allen earned her bachelor’s in pharmaceutical sciences, a minor in plant biology and a certificate in international agriculture from the University of Georgia.
Albany Herald
Albany State President Marion Fedrick included on Influential Georgians list
From staff reports
Albany State University President Marion Ross Fedrick has been named one of the Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend Magazine. The list, comprising 500 Georgia leaders driving the state’s economy, was released in October. “It is an honor to be included in the inaugural list of Georgia Trend’s 500 influential leaders,” Fedrick said. “This recognition highlights the collective achievements of the faculty, staff and students at Albany State University and the significance of our mission to develop the next generation of leaders.
Barnesville Dispatch
On Wednesday, December 7th, at the Piedmont Henry Hospital North Tower Building, Gordon State College signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Henry County Schools and Piedmont Henry Hospital to form the Community Innovation Partnership regarding a nursing pathway program for Henry County dual-enrollment students.
AllOnGeorgia
Over 2,000 Degrees Conferred During Georgia Southern’s 2022 Fall Commencement Ceremonies
This week, approximately 2,100 undergraduate and graduate students from Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro, Armstrong and Liberty campuses received associate, baccalaureate, master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees in two Fall 2022 Commencement ceremonies. Georgia Southern President Kyle Marrero welcomed the graduates and their guests to the ceremonies, held at the Enmarket Arena in Savannah on Dec. 10 and the Allen E. Paulson Stadium in Statesboro on Dec. 13.
Athens Banner-Herald
Paradise PD comes to an end Friday with party dudes clashing with big corporation
Wayne Ford
“Paradise PD,” an edgy adult comedy sitcom created by two University of Georgia graduates, enters its fourth and final season on Netflix this Friday. The comedic story, set in the town of Paradise, concludes with 10 episodes. The California creators, Roger Black, originally from Toccoa, and Waco O’Guin, who hails from Lakeland, both said viewers will see a new look to the crew who once provided police protection for the town of Paradise.
WGAU Radio
University of Georgia ramps up data science and AI hiring initiative
By Mike Wooten, UGA Media Relations
The University of Georgia is expanding a strategic faculty hiring initiative aimed at attracting leading scholars in the fields of data science and artificial intelligence. UGA initially planned to recruit 50 faculty members when it launched the Presidential Interdisciplinary Faculty Hiring Initiative in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in 2021. Now the university is expanding the initiative to include an additional 20 faculty positions in two interdisciplinary areas: (1) computational social sciences and (2) data science, AI and virtual reality in teaching and learning.
WALB
Economist: South Ga. in good position economy-wise amid talks of recession
By Alicia Lewis
The pandemic caused major economic impacts on several industries in Georgia to suffer and decline. Now, there are talks of a recession. Experts say Georgia’s economy should be on the road to recovery by the end of 2023. Renata Elad is the dean of business at ABAC. She has years of experience analyzing the economic impact across South Georgia. Elad said despite a predicted global recession, leading industries like real estate, information and agriculture are growing in Georgia.
Forbes
Georgia Is Becoming An EV Leader -That’s Good For Our Climate
Marshall Shepherd Senior Contributor (Director of the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Atmospheric Sciences Program)
As a climate scientist and native son of Georgia, I could not be more excited about what is unfolding in my home state. Georgia is rapidly becoming a major player in the Electric Vehicle (EV) production and related infrastructure space. While this is certainly good for the Georgia economy, it is also a win for every inhabitant of Earth. …Georgia’s Governor announced this week that Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) and SK On will build a new EV battery manufacturing facility in Bartow County. Touted as one of the largest economic develop projects in Georgia history, it comes on the heels of other recent major EV-related investments within the state. According to the press release issued by the Governor’s office, investments in EV-related projects since 2020 are around $17 billion and could lead to nearly 23,000 jobs. …The Ray C. Andersen Foundation, in recent years, funded the Drawdown Georgia effort to quantify ways to reduce carbon emissions by 2030. Led by Professor Marilyn Brown at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the project also included scholars from the University of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Emory University. In 2020, the team released initial findings identifying 20 high-impact climate solutions that are optimal for the state of Georgia.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
Colleges seek growth from grad programs. Will that market ever run dry?
Rick Seltzer, Senior Editor
Dive Brief:
Many colleges are seeking growth from graduate and adult education in the face of a shrinking number of undergraduate students, but those are competitive markets facing their own projected enrollment decreases, according to a new report from consultancy EAB. Almost all presidents, cabinet members, provosts and enrollment management vice presidents who took part in a small survey said increasing graduate and adult enrollment is a priority at their institutions. Every president and provost ranked it as a moderate or significant priority, as did 91% of the enrollment management leaders. Just over half of those surveyed said the enrollment goals for their graduate and adult programs are higher now than they were at the beginning of the pandemic. A similar share, 56%, said they’ve increased the number of programs they offer in adult and graduate education since the spring 2020 term.
Higher Ed Dive
Deep disparities spoil uptick in on-time completion rates
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
Dive Brief:
On-time completion rates for college students ticked up across most U.S. states from 2016 to 2021, according to a new report from Complete College America, a nonprofit aiming to improve postsecondary attainment. Improvements varied considerably. On-time completion rates for four-year college students in Hawaii rose from 18% to 30% over the period. Meanwhile, rates for four-year college students in Virginia grew by a smaller amount, rising from 52% to 57%. The report also unearthed widespread disparities between student groups. Part-time students at both four-year and community colleges are much less likely to graduate within six years than full-time students, signaling a need for colleges to better support this group, according to Complete College America.
CNN
91% of colleges don’t provide students with the accurate cost, federal agency says
Katie Lobosco
By Katie Lobosco
An independent federal agency is calling on Congress to help prevent college students from taking on an unaffordable amount of student debt. Congress should require colleges to give students an accurate price for the cost of attendance, the Government Accountability Office said in a recent report that found that most colleges fail to provide all the financial information students need. The report comes as President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, which would deliver up to $20,000 in debt cancellation for millions of borrowers, remains blocked by federal courts.
Higher Ed Dive
Completion higher for alternative teacher prep programs affiliated with higher ed
Anna Merod, Reporter
Dive Brief:
University-based alternative teacher preparation programs are producing more graduates than non-higher education institutions over time, according to an analysis released this month by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. In 2019-20, the percentage of university-based enrollees completing their programs was 34%, compared to 14% of enrollees in programs not affiliated with colleges. While enrollment shot up 141% in alternative programs unaffiliated with higher education institutions between 2010-11 and 2019-20, completion rates of these programs have dropped 12% in that same time. In comparison, university-based alternative programs saw a 10% increase in completion rates despite enrollment declining 8% in the same nine-year period. As states look for solutions to varying district teacher shortages, the analysis recommends education leaders look to higher education-backed alternative programs to take on workforce challenges.
Higher Ed Dive
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
Specialized informational materials and offers of one-on-one advising did not affect veterans’ decisions about whether and where to enroll in college, persist while there or use GI Bill education benefits, according to a new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The results indicate low-intensity recruitment strategies are unlikely to work on nontraditional students with similar characteristics to veterans. Researchers also found that a lack of information is not what drives veterans to disproportionately enroll at colleges with poor student outcomes.
Diverse Issues In Higher Education
University of Florida Faculty Voice Concerns About Potential Five-Year Tenure Faculty Review
Arrman Kyaw
University of Florida (UF) faculty have expressed worry about a new regulation that would allow college deans to review employment of tenured faculty every five years instead of seven, The Gainesville Sun reported. University Of Florida UF faculty already have a tenured review process that takes place every seven years. The Florida Board of Governors will meet in January to discuss the new policy. The regulation’s review requirements outline the Florida Educational Equity Act, which bars teaching of themes of critical race theory at universities.
Higher Ed Dive
Academics’ fossil fuel complaint against TIAA dismissed
By Lilah Burke, Contributor
Dive Brief:
The Principles for Responsible Investment, a United Nations-sponsored group, has dismissed a complaint from hundreds of academics, teachers and scientists regarding the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association’s connections to the fossil fuel industry. PRI told complainants that allegations they made about TIAA’s investments in coal and other fossil fuel sectors do not constitute a breach of policy. The retirement giant has a subsidiary that is a PRI signatory, which means it is required to incorporate environmental, social and governance factors into investment analysis and decision-making. Nearly 800 people who have accounts with TIAA, which serves nonprofit and education workers, have signed on to the complaint.