Forsyth County News
University of North Georgia names new president
Erica Jones
FCN regional staff
The University of North Georgia (UNG) has a new president, Dr. Michael P. “Mike” Shannon. According to a press release by the University System of Georgia (USG), on June 1 the system’s Board of Regents named Shannon as the new president of UNG, effective July 1. Shannon will take over the role from Bonita Jacobs, who has led UNG since 2011 and will retire this month.
The Griffin Daily News
Moving forward with new Gordon State College interim president
By GDN STAFF
Dr. Donald J. Green, the new interim president of Gordon State College, said he will move forward by focusing on three key areas, including strategic recruitment efforts, retention and increasing graduation rates. Green was appointed to the post by University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue after Dr. Kirk Nooks announced he would be leaving his position as GSC president to become president and CEO of the Atlanta-based Council on Occupational Education. As part of these key-focused efforts in enhancing the tapestry of GSC’s culture, GSC Marketing Manager Karolina Philmon said Green will work with faculty to identify high demand degree programs that best serve the economy of central Georgia. He will also assist families in identifying strategies to reduce or eliminate debt in the pursuit of a college degree and promote GSC as a high-quality and affordable producer of professionals serving the local and statewide labor market. Green, who Philmon describes as a student-focused leader, will put special emphasis on those first three weeks of arrival for the incoming new Highlanders.
Albany Herald
UGA-Griffin celebrates Class of 2023
By Ashley N. Biles UGA/CAES
The University of Georgia-Griffin campus held its Spring Graduation Celebration and Brick Ceremony for 21 members of the Class of 2023 recently, representing four of the colleges that offer degrees at UGA-Griffin. Each graduating student at UGA-Griffin is honored with a lasting mark on campus, a brick featuring their name and class year installed in the walkways around the Student Learning Center. In previous years, graduates’ bricks were placed at the Naomi Chapman Woodroof Pavilion on campus.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Profiles in perseverance: What makes these Georgia 2023 graduates special
By Cassidy Alexander, Martha Dalton, Vanessa McCray
From rough starts to derailed plans, nothing kept them from getting degrees
Thousands of Georgia students celebrated their graduation from high school or college over the past few weeks. Many began their most recent educational journey at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Others earned their degrees amid financial hardships. Some overcame learning challenges. Here are a few tales of some students with unique graduation stories. …Alexis McMillian entered foster care as a baby, was adopted as a toddler and finished high school online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, McMillian, 20, was Georgia Gwinnett College’s student speaker for the Class of 2023. …Emilie Tate was in labor with her second child in October 2020 when a Kennesaw State University student helped changed her life in another way.
WGAU Radio
UNG gets state funding for Military Science Center
By Clark Leonard, UNG
The Georgia General Assembly included $7 million in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget for construction of the University of North Georgia’s Military Science Center, adding to $1.3 million in the Amended Fiscal Year 2023 Budget for design. State Sen. Steve Gooch presented the UNG Foundation with a ceremonial $8.3 million check for the state funds, which supplement $5 million in private donations for the project, at the June 1 UNG Foundation Board of Trustees meeting. Gooch praised Gov. Brian Kemp, University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue and his legislative colleagues for supporting the state funding.
Douglas County Sentinel
UWG’s children’s book continues to delight thousands
By Julie Lineback Special to the Sentinel
Today’s mascots are more than just a person inside a costume. Take the University of West Georgia’s Wolfie for example. Since his introduction in 2006, he has evolved into an identity for the institution and a positive means to promote community and celebrate the joy of the college experience. And in 2021, Wolfie got the opportunity to tell his origin story when he — along with help from some of his closest friends — wrote a popular children’s book, “Wolfie Finds His Howl,” and hit the road on a highly anticipated book tour to schools, libraries and other special locations.
WALB
Could self-driving vehicles be a part of Valdosta’s future public transit?
By Mackenzie Petrie
One South Georgia university is doing research that could potentially benefit the city and its residents. Valdosta launched its Valdosta On-Demand public transit ride-share service in April 2021. Every year since then, demand has increased. An increase so big, that Valdosta State University (VSU) and the city studied the future use of self-driving vehicles in public transit. “In order to increase a capacity of service but not increase the budget cost, this is a project trying to address that issue. To use autonomous vehicles to provide a safer transportation, without increasing the budget,” Jia Lu, a geology professor at Valdosta State University who led the study, said. 13 Urban Community Planning students at VSU made a 30-question survey asking people how they felt about these vehicles being used for public transit.
See also:
Albany Herald
ABAC student from Albany inducted into Phi Kappa Phi honor society
From staff reports
Delaney Garcia of Albany was recently initiated into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Garcia was initiated at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Garcia is among approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the Top 10% of seniors and 7.5% of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10% of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.
Athens Banner-Herald
Athens police report missing UGA student found safe
Wayne Ford
Athens-Clarke police said Friday that a University of Georgia student who was reported missing Wednesday from his parents’ home in Athens has been found safe. Charlie Chisolm, 20, was reported missing by his father early Wednesday at their home on Woodward Way in a subdivision located off South Lumpkin Street, according to police. Police said Chisolm was seen coming out of some woods late Thursday along Hamilton Road, which is in close proximity to his home.
Athens Banner-Herald
‘A love for learning’: Little Library dedicated for slain UGA student
Wayne Ford
Benjamin Lloyd Cloer was a 26-year-old University of Georgia student working on a master’s degree when he was shot to death at his rental home in Athens in November 2019. The suspect, an off-duty deputy, pleaded guilty in March 2022 to felony murder and was sentenced to life in prison. The defendant is now living in a Georgia prison. Benjamin Cloer lives in the memories of his family and those who knew him.
WGAU Radio
UGA preps for new season of intramural sports
By Ireland Hayes, Rachel Cooper UGA Today
As one of the most popular programs on campus, IM gives literally everyone the opportunity to play–even faculty, staff, and their spouses. Participants can form their own team and play with friends or sign up as a free agent and make some new ones. A history professor tennis league? College dean flag football tournament? Husbands versus wives pickleball? Creswell 4th floor against 5th floor ultimate frisbee? The possibilities are endless. Dozens of sports are offered each semester, including ESports, which has spiked in popularity over the past several years. IM is housed within UGA’s Recreational Sports Department, but don’t let the recreational nature fool you, the games get competitive. Stakes are high when championship games are held on legendary UGA stages like Sanford Stadium and Stegeman Coliseum. But win or lose, the goal of the program is safe, inclusive fun.
Athens Banner-Herald
How Georgia and the SEC are addressing sports betting across college landscape
Marc Weiszer
There were no head coach firings or major headlines when UGA learned about a violation of NCAA sports gambling rules last year. It was considered a minor violation — Level III in NCAA parlance — when a Bulldog athlete placed a bet on a fantasy sports app. Betting on any sport that is sponsored by the NCAA is a violation for athletes or coaches even if in a pro league or international competition.
Morning AgClips
CAES Researchers Find Simple Solution to Keep Produce Fresh, Fight Food Waste
Consumers hold high standards for fresh food, which farmers aim to meet
In grocery stores brimming with brightly colored fruits and vegetables, it may not occur to many shoppers the complexity farmers navigate to consistently deliver high-quality produce each week. Consumers hold high standards for fresh food, which farmers aim to meet, but hot summer temperatures and long-haul deliveries can degrade quality even before produce makes it into stores. Shipment rejection is a familiar reality in the horticultural industry.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
These 5 charts break down spring enrollment trends
Although the newest figures suggest enrollment losses are stabilizing, a deeper look reveals a more complicated picture.
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
The most recent enrollment figures from the spring 2023 term have brought colleges and universities good news — the steep losses seen throughout the coronavirus pandemic show signs of stabilizing. But a deeper look at the data reveals complicated trends at play. Part of that stabilization has been fueled by an influx of dual-enrollment students, who take community college classes while in high school. Meanwhile, sectors that have withstood the worst effects of the pandemic are now reeling from losses. Graduate enrollment has slipped, erasing some of the gains it made only two years ago. Below, we’re breaking down five enrollment trends from the latest data provided by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Higher Ed Dive
SUNY automatically admits 125K graduating high school students to local community colleges
Natalie Schwartz, Editor
Dive Brief:
The State University of New York system will send letters to about 125,000 graduating high school students in the state to inform them that they’ve been automatically accepted at their local community colleges for this fall, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday. SUNY Chancellor John King Jr. cast the initiative as a way to “make college an easy decision” by telling students about their options. The letters, which will be sent in the coming days, come as SUNY grapples with decade-long enrollment declines. Last month, the state’s other public college network, the City University of New York system, said it planned to send personalized letters to public high school seniors who are on track to graduate between January and August 2024. Those will direct students to CUNY’s online application and financial aid information.
Inside Higher Ed
20% of California Community College Applicants Are Scams
By Scott Jaschik
About 20 percent of applicants to California community colleges are scams, just designed to obtain student aid without enrolling, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The scams grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. California community colleges are particularly vulnerable to the scams because they are required to accept any student in the state with a high school diploma, and a Social Security number is not required to apply.
Higher Ed Dive
Education spared from severe cuts in Senate approval of debt ceiling deal
Nondefense programs would see flat funding in FY 2024, and the legislation would rescind unspent COVID-19 emergency relief funds.
Kara Arundel, Senior Reporter
Days before the U.S. was poised to default on its debts, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation that raises the debt ceiling limit — and flat-funds federal education spending for fiscal 2024. The agreement also limits nondefense spending, including education, to a 1% increase in fiscal 2025. Many Republican and Democrat members of Congress, as well as several education organizations, praised the efforts to find a compromise that avoids severe cuts to education and social services but still guarantees the country will pay its bills. The default deadline was considered to be Monday.
Inside Higher Ed
Waiting and Planning for a Supreme Court Defeat
Some colleges are quietly talking about how they will respond if the justices, as expected, reject affirmative action—especially if the ruling applies beyond admissions.
By Scott Jaschik
On Thursday, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings in three cases, colleges were watching for two cases, one on President Biden’s loan-forgiveness plan and one on affirmative action. Neither decision has landed yet. The case that is drawing the most attention from college leaders is the one on affirmative action, and they fear that the Supreme Court could abolish the practice. In terms of admissions, the decision would likely affect the top 100 or so colleges, which are very competitive in admissions and hard to get into. But if the court rules broadly, it may affect financial aid programs offered by thousands of colleges, and special recruitment programs (such as programs for Latina women in science) that many campuses offer. So what are colleges to do?