The spring semester has ended, but there’s still plenty happening at Georgia’s colleges and universities. Here’s a look at some things that have taken place in recent days in this edition of AJC On Campus.
Biden budget: More money for Pell grants
President Joe Biden submitted his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year that starts in October and it includes some funding increases that could impact Georgia students. Biden wants to increase the maximum Pell grant from $6,495 by an additional $400. The budget includes $6 million to create or expand health care graduate programs at schools that primarily educate Black or Hispanic students, such as Morehouse School of Medicine. Biden also wants to include funding that would pay for two years of tuition at community colleges.
Vaccine petition
About 2,000 faculty members, students and others have signed a petition asking the University System of Georgia to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for everyone that will be on campus for the fall semester. You can see the petition here.
The petitioners may face an uphill battle. University System administrators have thus far recommended, but are not requiring, vaccinations. Gov. Brian Kemp last week signed an executive order Tuesday that bans the state government from requiring proof of vaccination against the coronavirus, which his office said means that no local school board or public university can require vaccinations for students or staffers.
Several of Georgia’s largest private colleges and universities are mandating vaccinations for the fall semester.
Chancellor suggestion
The state’s Board of Regents recently paused its search to replace University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley, who is retiring at the end of June, amid what we’ve heard was an impasse over some board support to put former Gov. Sonny Perdue in the job.
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
One name we learned last week was suggested is former state senator Cecil Staton. State Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, recommended Staton for the board. Staton has served as a vice-chancellor for the system and was interim president of Valdosta State University. Here’s a little more about it in Friday’s AJC Political Insider blog.
Dan Levy to SCAD grads: “Always follow through”
Actor, director, producer and writer Dan Levy, best known for his work on the hit television sitcom “Schitt’s Creek,” offered some advice Friday for Savannah College of Art & Design graduates during its commencement ceremony.
Work hard, use your success to help others and “always follow through.”
“That’s the greatest advice I could give because so few people actually do it. So if you have an idea for something, in whatever form of the arts it is, if you have that painting that you have in mind, and it gets tricky and you are given that crossroads ‘Do I give up on it or do I keep going?’ Always keep going,” Levy said via a virtual chat. “If you are a writer and want to write a book or a book of poetry, or a television show or a movie, and it gets a little bit daunting or intimidating, and you get that writer’s block, don’t give up on it because you will have something. And even if that something is not the greatest thing in your life, you have gone through the experience of knowing what it is to make something from beginning to end, and that is such a useful thing to take with you.”
TCSG student and instructor of the year
The Technical College System of Georgia last week named its student and instructor of the year.
The student is Elizabeth Rodriguez, a Registered Nursing student from West Georgia Technical College. The instructor is Casey Corbett, a Fish and Wildlife Management instructor from Ogeechee Technical College.
Rodriguez received a new, made-in-Georgia, 2021 KIA K5, delivered by Ed Voyles KIA of Chamblee. Elizabeth is the first West Georgia Technical College student to win the statewide GOAL award.
Racial and gender diversity slightly up among Georgia faculty
There’s been a lot of talk in recent days about the push and pushback on making Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones a tenured faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A subplot of the debate is whether Black people and women are getting a fair shake in the faculty hiring process on campuses nationwide. Last year, we reported on the low percentage of Black administrators at some of Georgia’s top research universities.
We took a look at University System of Georgia data online detailing racial and gender demographics of its faculty. The faculty is not as diverse as its students, but the numbers have improved slightly in recent years.
The percentage of Asian faculty members has risen from 12% in 2015 to 14% last fall. The percentage of Black faculty members is up from 9.3% in 2015 to 9.8% last fall. In 2015, 3% of faculty were Hispanic. Last fall, it was 3.6%. Whites make up nearly 69% of University System faculty, about four percentage points lower than in 2015.
The University System numbers also show the percentage of women faculty members has increased from 45.4% in 2015 to 46.5% last fall. The percentage of women at the four research institutions (Augusta University, Georgia State, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia) is lower, about 41%
About 53% of the system’s students are non-white and 57% are women, the data show.
Lowery collection comes to Morehouse
Credit: CHARLOTTE B. TEAGLE
Credit: CHARLOTTE B. TEAGLE
Morehouse College announced Wednesday that the family of Rev. Joseph and Evelyn Lowery has donated their official and personal papers, photographs, documents, writings, speeches, notes, travel diaries and other mementos there. The Lowerys, who were married for 63 years, started several civil and human rights organizations and were each instrumental in several major initiatives. Read more here.
Morehouse scores with Michael Jordan
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Sports legend Michael Jordan announced Friday that he’s providing a $1 million grant to Morehouse for its Sports Journalism and Marketing academic program. Here’s more on why he’s making the contribution.
New digs for UNG faculty
University of North Georgia faculty last week began moving in the renovated and repurposed Health Sciences Building on its Gainesville campus. The move is part of UNG’s project to relocate a handful of departments this summer into the buildings that formerly housed Lanier Technical College. The moves were meant to address the growing needs of the Gainesville Campus. The property’s seven buildings total 165,000 square feet of instruction and institutional space, university officials said on its website. The renovated spaces also feature a food court, outdoor seating and more study and lounge spaces.
Remembering Pete Correll
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
The University of Georgia lost one of its most prominent boosters last week when A.D. “Pete” Correll died at the age of 80.
Correll and his wife, Ada Lee, gave the university $5 million in 2018 for a program to help pay tuition for students struggling financially. The couple attended UGA.
Here’s more about Correll and his impact throughout Georgia.
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