WRDW
One on One with Richard Rogers | Augusta University’s president
This is a live recording of WRDW News 12 at 7 a.m. Dr. Brooks Keel will be retiring next summer. Dr. Keel has seen tremendous growth and even a name change over his years at AU.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Gwinnett faculty senate weighs no-confidence vote in leaders
By Vanessa McCray
Georgia Gwinnett College’s faculty senate could pursue a rare vote of no confidence in the school’s leadership, according to a campuswide employee message sent Thursday. In the statement obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, President Jann Joseph and 10 top administrators responded to issues raised by faculty related to shared governance, communication and transparency in budget decisions. …“The president and the cabinet have been actively engaged in a sincere, good-faith effort to address concerns that have been raised by the faculty. We recognize and hear the voice of the faculty and want you to know that we value your contributions and ideas,” the letter states. …College spokeswoman Jacqueline Todd said the faculty senate has considered a couple of versions of the pending resolution. “We have clearly been trying to work with the faculty senate to address the issues that they’re bringing up. Some of the statements that they are making are clearly inaccurate,” she said.
WGAU Radio
UGA student strikes a deal on Shark Tank
By Merritt Melancon, UGA Today
When Kristen Dunning, a Georgia Full-Time MBA student and founder of Gently Soap, launched her sensitive skincare brand in 2021, she made a goal to appear on Shark Tank in 2025. She got to mark that goal off her bucket list two years early. Dunning appeared this weekend on the Season 15 premiere of the popular business pitch show, landing a deal with Candace Nelson, founder of the Sprinkles Cupcakes bakery chain.
Grice Connect
GS team awarded $465k to address critical environmental issues in Gulf of Mexico
An interdisciplinary team from Georgia Southern University was awarded more than $465,000 from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to foster the development of scientific and environmental skills that are critical to solving complex issues in the Gulf of Mexico region now and into the future. The award is part of an initiative with the Gulf Research Program (GRP) that awarded $2 million to eight projects that engage children and youth in place-based educational activities. The funded project, “Suwannee Watershed: Assessment and Monitoring of Place to Gain Understanding of Local Flow (SWAMP to GULF),” is led by principal investor (PI) Lacey Huffling, Ph.D., associate professor of science education, and co-PIs Heather Scott, Ed.D., and Regina McCurdy, Ph.D., both assistant professors of science education.
The Red & Black
UGAHEROs nonprofit provides quality of life care to children with HIV or AIDs
Jisu Stanfield
Hearts Everywhere Reaching Out, is the mission behind the acronym UGA HEROs. The University of Georgia’s UGA HEROs is a student-led organization that aims to use programs, experiences and connections with student mentors to enhance the quality of life of children impacted by or infected with HIV or AIDS. Although UGA HEROs is derived from the Atlanta-based organization: HERO for Children, UGA HEROs is completely student-led. Every level of leadership at UGA HEROs is run by student volunteers, from team members to the co-executive directors: Claire Sheppard and Amisha Chaudhary.
Athens CEO
Students Develop Leadership Skills, Future Plans at UGA Programs
Charlie Bauder
The University of Georgia provides opportunities for young people to develop leadership skills and plan for the future through pre-collegiate programs. For one young person, attending the Embark Summer Precollegiate Program at the University of Georgia completely changed how they view their future. “(The program) helped me see what I wanted in life with what I want to do,” said the youth, who is currently in foster care and attended the UGA program in June. The Embark Summer Precollegiate Program, which provides leadership skills development and information about postsecondary education to youth in foster care, is one of a host of summer leadership programs facilitated by the UGA J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development.
Augusta CEO
Miguelangelo Hernandez
Ron Sanders Jr. believes exposure in any field is important, which is one reason he cherishes any opportunity to come back to Augusta University and share encouraging words to future physician assistant students in the College of Allied Health Sciences. Sanders graduated from Augusta State University and received a Master of Science of Physician Assistant from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. He is passionate about medical education, process improvement and mentorship, which was one of the reasons he visited Aug. 17 to talk to the PA Class of 2025.
WJBF
Don’t be alarmed, it’s only a test
by: Renetta DuBose
In order to prepare the public for any future national emergencies, all TVs and cell phones will get a nationwide alert this Wednesday. “Updating our people is critically important. Especially when there is a disaster situation,” said Joe Webber with Augusta University. When trouble comes, Augusta University sends a JagAlert to its students, staff, patients and people in the surrounding neighborhood. Joe Webber, Director of the Critical Event Preparedness and Response Office, said he knows what it means to get people ready to survive.
WABE
Georgia officials, honeybee experts working to take sting out of hornet invasion
Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder
A tiny menace has been buzzing around Georgia’s coastal region and is trying to snatch up the state’s honeybees, but a team of scientists and state and federal employees are working to prevent the dangerous and disrespectful yellow-legged hornet from gaining a foothold in the Peach State. The hornet, which can grow to about an inch long, was previously known as the Asian hornet, but two nests have so far been discovered near Savannah and destroyed by Georgia agriculture department staff and pest management professionals. …“Both the yellow-legged hornet and the giant hornet are somewhat unusual in that unlike most other wasps and hornets, which are kind of solitary hunters but all from one nest, the yellow-legged hornet and the northern giant hornet will both recruit their sisters once they’ve found the honeybee colony to go as a group and attack it, essentially,” said Lewis J. Bartlett, a professor at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Entomology Department. A hibernating queen hornet likely inadvertently hitched a ride on a boat that passed through the Savannah port. Scientists will work with the hornets’ DNA to determine how many generations have been born in Georgia, Bartlett said, but signs seem to point toward a recent arrival, which is good news for the effort to eradicate them.
The Red & Black
UGA lab grows world’s only Black fly research colony
Kelsey Dupuy
Over 2.1 million black flies are growing in the University of Georgia Riverbend Research Laboratory North. Elmer Gray, the project’s director, currently oversees and operates the Black Fly Research and Resource Center with help from UGA students and two lab technicians. The team sees through the process from larva to fly. The colony was created at Cornell University, and Gray became involved with the fly colony in 1991 once it moved to Clemson University. Gray and his colleague Dr. Ray Noblet moved the colony to UGA in 1999. Currently, it is the only black fly colony in the world.
The Tallassee Tribune
THIS IS EPIC Facility dog starts his first month at Reeltown schools
By Abigail Murphy Multimedia Reporter
A new staff member is now at Reeltown and he has four paws and a wagging tail. Epic, the labradoodle, is Reeltown school’s new facility dog. Special education teacher and Epic’s handler Kelli Poole said a facility dog differs from a service dog because the dog assists the entire school with a variety of needs. Meanwhile, a service dog is for one specific person for a specific purpose. …Reeltown was able to bring Epic aboard after receiving a grant through the U.S. Department of Education. He originally came from Service Dogs of Alabama, which is a nonprofit organization that is making efforts for school systems to have facility dogs available. Poole said she offered to be Epic’s handler because she has seen the studies that show the benefits of having facility dogs in schools. According to a study from Georgia Southern University, facility dogs can increase student’s confidence, reading skills and provide emotional and social benefits for students. Poole said it’s amazing how Epic is able to pick up on emotions and the environment. When a student is in crisis Epic provides a sense of comfort. Sometimes he lays down with the student, putting his head on their lap.
WJBF
Hidden in Plain Sight | Protecting local students from becoming sex trafficked
by: Barclay Bishop
“The secretive nature of trafficking makes it hard,” said Dr. Aronica Gloster, Director of Student Services, Richmond County School System. Hard to identify a student who is a victim. It’s a challenge many school systems face, especially in Richmond County where Dr. Aronica Gloster is the Director of Student Services. That county has the highest number of possible child trafficking victims in all of Georgia. So I went looking to see what’s being done to help these kids. “What we have done in recent years is really try to bolster awareness,” said Dr. Gloster. She says they do this several ways. Richmond County investigators will talk to staff members about what to look for in a victim and they teach a mandated state program so staff members know how to teach students, to make everybody aware. …How are area school systems training staff/faculty to identify possible child trafficking victims?
Richmond County School System: We offer a number of opportunities for our staff to train on child sex trafficking. Our school resources officers attend meetings with Child Advocacy Centers of Georgia Commercial Sex Exploitation of Children and the Augusta University’s Sexual Assault and Response Team. Our school and mental health counselors, nurses, psychologists, social workers and multi-tiered systems of support facilitators will participate in a training on October 5 led by Child Enrichment. In the past, Darkness to Light has conducted training sessions for school counselors, nurses, social workers and psychologists.
WRDW
Here’s what latest crime data shows for Augusta University
By Staff
Every year, Augusta University releases a yearly report detailing security and fire safety. We now have our hands on data for 2022. In the report, data is compared to the previous two years for context. For things like murder and manslaughter, there have been no cases all three years.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
California Community College Professors Sue Over DEI Rules
Several California Community College system professors are challenging new rules requiring employees be evaluated on their adoption of diversity, equity and inclusion principles.
By Sara Weissman
Two lawsuits filed by California community college professors take aim at rules recently instituted by the state’s community college system intended to ensure employees uphold diversity, equity, inclusion and access principles. The professors say the rules infringe on their First Amendment rights and require them to incorporate ideologies they don’t support in their work or risk losing their jobs. District and system leaders argue the regulations don’t curtail professors’ free speech and are a valid expression of the system’s values as it tries to better serve a diverse student body. The rules, which were proposed by the chancellor’s office and took effect in the spring, set “a DEIA competency and criteria framework that can serve as a minimum standard for evaluating all California Community College employees,” according to a May 2023 memorandum from system leaders offering guidance on the rules. Districts have until Oct. 13 to incorporate the rules into their own employee review policies.
Inside Higher Ed
Campus Free Speech Survey Rife With Contradictions
The public doesn’t want administrators interfering with campus speech. But they also think professors should be prevented from saying offensive things or inviting controversial speakers.
By Johanna Alonso
A new survey on the public’s views of free expression on college campuses emphasizes the complexity of the issue, experts say. Respondents gave seemingly contradictory answers to survey questions regarding how and when speech should be restricted on campus. For example, while 61 percent said college officials should not be able to fire a tenured professor for using speech that some people find offensive, more than 80 percent said professors should not be allowed to express racist views. About the same share of respondents also said that professors should not be allowed to express sexism, while a slightly smaller majority—about seven in 10 people—said professors should not promote political or religious beliefs.
Higher Ed Dive
Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to visa program for foreign graduates
A tech worker union wanted the high court to strike down the Optional Practical Training initiative, which last year benefited more than 117,000 students.
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up a legal challenge against a visa program that allows foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges to work in the country for up to three years. The high court, in an order Monday, indicated it will not hear a union’s lawsuit against the Optional Practical Training program, which last year benefited more than 117,000 students with F-1 visas. Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, or WashTech, had in part argued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn’t have the authority to create the program without express congressional approval. The union also said the program creates unfair competition among workers.
See also:
Inside Higher Ed
Biden Administration Puts Grad Schools in the Hot Seat
The Education Department’s new transparency measures will tell prospective students if a graduate program will leave them with debt they can’t afford to pay back. But the agency nixed its original plan to include nonprofit undergraduate programs.
By Katherine Knott
As graduate students make up an increasingly larger share of the federal student loan portfolio, the U.S. Education Department is looking to gather more information about the programs receiving federal dollars and how students fare in them—a step that could lead to greater federal and public scrutiny of graduate education. The department is adding new requirements on graduate and other programs that leave students with debt they can’t pay off as part of a new financial value transparency framework and gainful-employment rule released last week. The department and advocates say the new rule will help protect students from programs that leave them with debt they can’t afford, or that leave them worse off. Colleges and universities are concerned about unintended consequences and the costs to comply with the new framework. The department’s transparency measures will apply to all programs in all sectors—a shift from previous accountability efforts, which largely focused on for-profit colleges.
Inside Higher Ed
National Cohort Default Rate Hits 0%
By Katherine Knott
The national cohort default rate has dropped to 0 percent, according to federal data released last week that shows how the pandemic pause on student loan payments affected one of the Education Department’s few accountability measures. The rate, which measures the percentage of borrowers at an institution who have defaulted on their loans over a three-year period, can lead to institutions losing access to federal financial aid. Currently, an institution risks losing access to federal financial aid if its rate hits 30 percent for three consecutive years or 40 percent in one year. However, the pause on payments has rendered the cohort default rate meaningless.
Higher Ed Dive
How one college is locking in financial aid early to offset FAFSA delay
Assumption University, in Massachusetts, said it’s found a temporary solution for helping students and families navigate the confusion.
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
The already dizzyingly confusing process of applying for financial aid was further complicated this year when the federal government postponed the release of the updated FAFSA from October to December. Theoretically, the new FAFSA, which stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid, would be a boon to students and families. The delay is to ensure a simplified version of the form is ready. It’s expected to feature fewer questions and contain data automatically supplied by the Internal Revenue Service, which would spare college applicants and families from parsing old tax documents. However, the change also throws typical timelines for financial assistance into disarray. State and institutional financial aid, for instance, is often based on applicants’ FAFSA information, meaning students likely will have much less time to lock down those awards — which in turn could influence where they decide to attend college. One college has developed a solution, just for this year, that it said will help students and families circumvent some of the uncertainty. Assumption University, a Roman Catholic institution in Massachusetts, will lock in applicants’ need- and merit-based financial aid awards immediately when they’re accepted, as early as October.
Inside Higher Ed
ChatGPT Curates Duke Art Exhibit
By Lauren Coffey
What do you get when you ask an artificial intelligence to curate a museum art exhibit? The answer isn’t a punch line but can be found at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art, which allowed ChatGPT to curate the exhibit “Act as if You Are a Curator: an AI-Generated Exhibition.” Short on staff and intrigued by the intersection of art curation and technology, the museum staff wanted to see if ChatGPT could do in months what can take human curators years.