Georgia Highlands College Assistant Professor of History David Hensley has been selected to join the University System of Georgia’s European Council Summer Study Abroad Program in Berlin for 2018.

Hensley will be teaching a Western Civilization course called “History in the Heart of Europe.”

This class will be an overview of the history of Europe from the 1500s to the present, expanding on many developments, including the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment, the Revolutionary Era, the World Wars and the Cold War.

Although the class can be taken in a traditional setting, Hensley says bringing students to Berlin is a “natural choice for looking at the developments in early modern and modern European history.”

“Germany has served as a crossroads for European History from the Reformation, through the Napoleonic Wars, the wars of national unification, and the tumultuous twentieth century. Berlin itself was a microcosm of the Cold War, as a city divided between the Eastern and Western blocs,” Hensley said. “Berlin’s current status as an international, multicultural city with a large immigrant population will also expose students to the realities of today’s rapidly globalizing world.”

Hensley stated he will also lead several possible field trips to locations in and around the city, including the German Historical Museum, Stasi Museum (or Allied Museum), Sans Souci Palace, Jewish Museum, Berlin Luther House Museum and more.

In addition, Hensley may also be teaching an upper-level course called “History of Nazi Germany,” a class focusing on the history of Nazi Germany in Berlin, which had been the capital of the Nazi state, as well as the lasting marks that the experience of Nazism has left on German society.

“I really look forward to showing students the actual spaces and places where a lot of the key events in European and German history took place – the good, the bad, and the ugly,” Hensley said. “I think that even the best book or documentary film cannot replace the feeling and personal connection of actually inhabiting and moving around the same places – the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag building, Frederick the Great’s Palace at Sans Souci – where major figures of history once moved around.”

Hensley said he is particularly interested in helping first-generation college students (like himself) experience the “transformative effect” a study abroad trip like this can have on their lives.

But he also cannot wait to experience Berlin firsthand and bring that experience back to the classroom with him at GHC.

“I hope that a lot of the personal touches and subtle things about the way that people live in different parts of the world – and thus have an impact on the course of history – will become a bit more apparent to me when I am over there. I’d like to think that it would inform my teaching and help me to help students relate to how people in a different place and time lived.”

Hensley teaches classes at GHC’s Floyd and Paulding locations. He is originally from Detroit and went to graduate school at Penn State University. He has been working at GHC since August 2016.

Georgia Highlands College Vice President for Academic Affairs Renva Watterson has been selected to take part in a nationwide program. She will join a total of 32 provosts and chief academic officers (CAOs) to participate in the Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO) Digital Fellows Program.

The goal of this project is to explore ways to use digital technology to increase the retention and persistence to graduation among undergraduates, especially those who are first generation, low income, or students of color.

Additionally, the ACAO Fellowship Program will curate a rich, public archive of resources on digital learning and related issues to serve the community of CAOs who want to leverage digital curricular materials to foster student engagement and enhance student learning at their institutions.

Watterson explained she applied to the program by submitting responses about GHC, the academic philosophy regarding teaching and learning, professional development, distant learning, and digital resources for instruction.

The year-long fellowship opportunity includes four meetings of the Fellowship recipients for workshops on digital learning at different locations across the U.S. The Gates Foundation grant also includes support for individual campus projects focused on digital learning.

Supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ACAO Digital Fellows Program is designed to provide provosts and chief academic officers (CAOs) with critical information, effective resources, and tested strategies to help CAOs and their faculty understand and adopt high quality digital courseware.

Construction has started on Georgia Highlands College’s new academic building in Cartersville.

GHC has installed progress cameras giving viewers a chance to watch the construction live. The link to those channels can be found here: http://bit.ly/2vnSHK3

GHC has also asked students, employees, and visitors to use caution and avoid the construction zone. Currently, the Cline Smith Road entrance to the Cartersville location is closed until construction is completed. Drivers should use the Highway 20 entrance instead.

The new academic building will be focused on STEAM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) areas of study. GHC pursued funding for the building and was approved under the fiscal year 2017 state budget which was approved by Legislature and signed by Governor Deal.

GHC received a total $22.5 million in state funding to advance the project: $2.2 for design, $17.7 for construction and $2.6 for equipment.

A groundbreaking event in April recognized the start of the 52,000-square foot building. GHC is planning to get a certificate of occupancy in Fall 2018 to be able to teach a full slate of classes in Spring 2019. It has been designed by the Stanley Beaman & Sears architecture firm and will be constructed by Juneau.

“The addition of this new academic building will include spaces for laboratories, classrooms, a lecture hall, study rooms and more,” President Don Green said. “This increases GHC’s ability to directly impact and support the community workforce through STEAM-based degrees, and it allows GHC to better serve as the University System of Georgia’s primary access institution in the region.”

Green added that the building will also contribute to raising GHC’s current $132 million economic impact in Northwest Georgia. GHC has five locations across Northwest Georgia in Rome, Cartersville, Marietta, Dallas and Douglasville. He stated that the building also strengthens and broadens GHC’s ability to maintain a strong relationship with K-12 school systems across Northwest Georgia.

The school garden and greenhouse at Georgia Highlands College’s Cartersville campus is killing two birds with one stone.

Since early 2016, the two gardening projects have been offering educational opportunities at GHC while also providing produce for students who are food-insecure.

“Educational gardens can serve as a focal point for active learning in the classroom across disciplines and opportunities for research amongst students and faculty,” said Dr. Gregory Ford, academic dean of natural sciences and physical education. “But beyond the classroom, school gardens can promote community within the college, address food insecurities for our students, build ties to the local community and foster relationships with local school systems.”

Ford defined food insecurity as a “state in which people are struggling to not starve.”

“Between 20 and 25 percent of all college students experience food insecurities, and the numbers are higher in this region of the country,” he said. “Also, many of the students I have encountered over my career have never grown anything in the ground and have never eaten anything they themselves have grown. My hope is that this garden will address both of these issues.”

The 16-by-16 greenhouse contains a tiered growing bed and a 4-by-8 raised bed and features an aquaponics system that has a 300-gallon structural-foam fish tank and two 4-by-4 growing beds made from an intermediate bulk container cut in half, Ford said.

“The tank features native fish and plants that we can source for our biology labs, including elodea aquatics plants,” he said.

Outside the greenhouse is an 8-by-16 area with a raised-bed garden and a 16-by-16 area with additional raised beds, potted plants and trees, he said.

In March, the biology faculty and staff and members of the Green Highlands student organization planted cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, okra, green beans, snap peas, watermelon, carrots, peppers and potatoes as well as ornamental flowers to attract pollinators to the area, Ford said.

“We try to select produce people are familiar with from the grocery store that will also provide a good value,” he said. “For example, most people enjoy fresh green beans, but the average price, according to the USDA economic research service, is $2.14 per pound. We also want to inspire people to start their own gardens, so we try to pick vegetables that are relatively low maintenance and will produce a high yield in our students’ own backyards.”

In June alone, the garden generated 73 pounds of fresh produce for the college’s food bank, with the crookneck squash being the highest producer, he added.

Ford said building a school garden and greenhouse with an aquaponics system was one of the “strategic goals” he had when he interviewed for the dean’s position at the college.

“Coming from a farming family, I understand the benefits of this project for the college and the community,” he said. “After starting in the position, I met with local leaders in agriculture and food security, including Keep Bartow Beautiful, Bartow County Extension Agency and Greater Atlanta Pollinator Project, to develop partnerships to confirm we were addressing a need for the region. I also established a relationship with Green Highlands to make sure that they had a hand in this project. From the beginning, the vision was that this project would bridge college and community.”

Last year, the planning team found an ideal spot behind the academic building to plant the garden and build the greenhouse, according to Ford.

“This was a perfect location because it was a flat peninsula with no underground utilities, access to water, full sun, power and proper drainage,” he said. “Also, unfortunately, it is well-known that many school gardens fail within the first three years and become a bit of an eyesore. This location is isolated and not visible from Highway 41 or the building entrances, and therefore, I could ensure the administration that this would not become a blemish to our beautiful campus.”

Using Ford’s original design, a team led by assistant professor of biology Jason Christian built the greenhouse, and associate professor of biology Dr. Jackie Belwood, who established the college’s pollinator garden, planned the raised beds outside the greenhouse.

Laboratory Coordinator Joseph Collins manages the greenhouse and handles the planting strategy, maintenance and harvesting.

“We originally planted the garden last March [2016] during construction to test soil quality and determine what would grow best in the space to have a significant yield,” Ford said. “We also needed to determine how to make sure pollinators could access the greenhouse and if they would, if the plants inside could thrive. Finally, we needed to establish a solid management plan and sustainability plan.”

Everything that was planted was either purchased by the division of natural science and physical education or donated by faculty and staff, including President Dr. Don Green, who donated two lemon trees, he added.

The garden will be a year-round project, according to Ford.

“We will grow seasonal vegetables and focus on soil quality, which is sometimes neglected in gardening,” he said. “We will do soil-quality testing and supplement with composted materials and natural amenities. Composting is another aspect of the garden experience. The aquaponics will serve as a year-round research project focusing on sustainability with local fish.”

In the fall, gardeners will plant broccoli, carrots, winter squash, lettuce, spinach and kale and “continue to grow some of our warm-weather crops inside the greenhouse into the winter,” he added.

Ford said there has been “a lot of buzz around the campus from students, faculty and staff since we began construction a year and a half ago.”

“Green Highlands is excited to begin working with us once we officially open the greenhouse,” he said. “This interview actually serves as the introduction of our greenhouse and gardening program to the community. We plan to have an official launch at the beginning of the fall semester.”

So far, the project is “going very well,” in Ford’s opinion.

“It is important to take your time and get all the infrastructure in place when establishing an educational greenhouse to ensure its success,” he said. “You must have a support system and a long-term sustainability plan in place as well. We have established our leadership team and management plan under Mr. Collins, and we have gone through a full-year growing cycle. We have had failures and successes and learned from each. We are confident that our fall 2017 launch is on schedule.”

Ford already has a list of future goals for the project, including expanding to the Floyd campus, offering workshops to the community and collaborating with local school systems that have or are interested in establishing school gardens.

“Ultimately, I envision securing grant funding and private-sector funding to construct a state-of-the-art educational greenhouse with zoned climate control so that we can conduct research on plant production and plant yield on a year-round basis,” he said. “We would also study pollinations and relationships between native fish and native plants. This will be a focal point for education, community outreach and establishing learning communities with our local school systems.”

AS SEEN IN THE DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS

Georgia Highlands College was recognized by Great Value Colleges as one of the “Top 10 Colleges for an Associate Degree in Business Administration Online.”

“Georgia Highlands College offers great tuition value and a gateway to an online bachelor’s from the University of Georgia,” said Jennifer Eisenberg, Editor of Great Value Colleges. “They go the extra mile in student services for online learners.”

Great Value Colleges looked at a pool of approximately 35 colleges across the country and selected the “Top Ten” with an “excellent value in the field of online associate degrees in business administration that can be earned 100 percent remotely.”

Colleges were ranked using a point system on the basis of tuition value (ten points possible), student-to-faculty ratio (ten points possible), flexibility in online degree track (six points possible), online student advisement (four points possible), job placement (three points possible), and curriculum relevancy (eight points possible) in the current job market.

Additional points were awarded for schools receiving recognition in the field of online education, being exceptionally military friendly, and the opportunity to receive course credit for life experience.

GHC received 26 points in Great Value College’s review, just under the highest score of 32 that was given to Thomas Edison State University.

In its description of GHC, Great Value Colleges said: GHC’s online associate in business administration has a track tailored specifically to feed into the online bachelor’s of business administration from the University of Georgia; this 60-62 credit hour program includes coursework in high demand skills... GHC offers personalized advising through email, phone or web-meeting, to accommodate the distance learner. Georgia Highlands also offers a broad spectrum of departmental exams to allow students to test their skill set and make certain they are on the right track toward their career goals.

In 2015, Great Value Colleges also ranked GHC second on a list of the 30 most affordable online RN-BSN degree programs in the nation.

GHC was also recently touted by GeriatricNursing.org for being one of the top three most affordable nursing schools in the country in an article called “30 Most Affordable Nursing Degree Programs.”

GHC will be launching two new bachelor’s degrees in healthcare management and logistics and supply chain management for fall 2017.

To see Great Value Colleges’ full report, please visit: http://www.greatvaluecolleges.net/rankings/online-associates-business-administration-degree/

To learn more about degree options at GHC, please visit: https://www.highlands.edu/areas-of-study/

Georgia Highlands College’s student-run newspaper the Six Mile Post has been quite comfortable going head-to-head against larger schools in the state, bringing home several awards this past year, including first place in General Excellence and first place for Online Newspaper.

The student paper started competing against four-year colleges for the first time in 2015. But despite moving from competing in the two-year division to the four-year division, the Six Mile Post (SMP) hasn’t slowed down.

The paper had a huge outing at the annual Georgia College Press Association (GCPA) award ceremony held in Macon at Mercer University, bringing home 17 awards.

The SMP took first place in General Excellence. This was the second consecutive year the paper found success in this category.

The SMP also took first place for Best Campus Community Service in the area of Sports.

The staff swept the Best Editorial or Feature Photograph category this year, taking the first, second and third place slots.

Overall, the SMP won 17 awards, with three first place awards and 14 second or third place awards.

The GCPA also held elections for student office. Outgoing GCPA President Holley Chaney (Douglasville) was presented a plaque for her service and Stephanie Corona (Cartersville) was elected as the new GCPA vice president.

The student paper also made a splash at the annual Southern Regional Press Institute held in Savannah at Savannah State University. There, the team picked up first place in Online Newspaper, second place in General Newspaper Competition, second place in feature writing and second place in photography.

On the national level, Josh Jones (Douglasville) received an Honorable Mention from the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) in Cartooning and was one of ten finalists nationwide. The award was presented in Washington D.C. during the ACP National College Media Convention.

And on top of an already busy year, the SMP also sponsored First Amendment Awareness Week and Ping Pong tournaments at Floyd and Cartersville.

Copies of the award-winning publication can be found at each GHC location, or you may visit the SMP site at: http://sixmilepost.com/

Georgia Highlands College was named among the top in the nation in the 2016 Collegiate Advertising Awards program. The Collegiate Advertising Awards (CAA) is an elite program recognizing higher education organizations for excellence in communications, marketing, advertising and promotions of their schools.

The 2016 CAA program had more than 900 entries from the United States and Canada representing small community colleges to very large schools & universities.

Submissions were reviewed by a national panel of industry experts, with a possibility of 100 total points. Participant’s entries competed against similar-sized organizations in their specific groups and categories.

Awards were issued for entries that received top marks from judges placing them in the top 16% of the nation for advertising excellence. Judging criteria included creativity, layout and design, functionality, message effectiveness, production quality and overall appeal.

Representing all areas of communications, medias, marketing, advertising and promotions, the 2016 Collegiate Advertising Awards program contained some of the best advertising projects arguably in the world.

GHC took home the Gold Award (the top 5 percent in the nation) for College Website Design, a combined effort between GHC’s Advancement division and GHC’s IT department, Folder Design, and Promotional items, which were foam cell phones to promote GHC’s new website’s mobile friendly features.

GHC also took home the Silver Award (the top 12 percent in the nation) for Magazine Advertisement and Billboard Design.

Additionally, GHC saw success at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District Three Awards with a Special Merit for Photography Series for the GHC “Share Your Story” Diversity Series, which captures students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds.

The Georgia Highlands College Advancement team consists of:

Mary Transue – Vice President of Advancement

Sheila Jones and Nick Godfrey – Marketing & Communications

Jeff Brown and Justin Sucre – Digital Media

Ken Davis – Print & Design Services

Alison Lampkin – Alumni & Special Events

Cindy Gomez and Liz Jones – Executive Assistant & Foundation Accountant

Georgia Highlands College student Rena Couzzart has a few extra skills to help her navigate her college courses. She holds a black belt in two Korean martial arts: Taekwondo and Hapkido.

Rena says the journey to completing anything in life, including college, is fueled by dedication and passion.

“Getting a black belt is all about dedication. You can’t get it without putting in the effort,” she said. “Every black belt was once a white belt who had no idea what they were doing. If you don’t have the passion and dedication to keep going, then you can’t be a black belt.”

Rena earned her black belt in 2014. She has competed in over 35 tournaments over the years. She has travelled and competed in North and South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, Nevada, Michigan, and in a couple state, national, and international events.

“Most of the tournaments we attend consist of sparring (fighting), and poomsae (forms or patterns),” she said. “I compete in poomsae most of the time.”

Rena is a three-time state champion of Georgia. She holds a silver medal in team poomsae from the 2015 nationals, and also placed 10^th out of 40 competitors in individual poomsae that same year. Overall, she holds over 50 medals with 33 being gold.

Rena is currently pursuing a degree in early childhood education at GHC. She notes GHC has been a great first choice for her because it is “close to home and affordable” with “something for everyone.”

Teaching in a classroom is an easy transition for her. She currently teaches martial arts at Roman Martial Arts in Rome.

“I’ve always loved teaching,” she said. “The best part is when we go to tournaments, and my athlete uses what we’ve tried teaching them in class, and it works. There’s nothing better than seeing the happiness on an athlete’s face, and you know you were a part of getting them there.”

Rena stated that her martial arts training has helped her quite a bit in school.

“Martial arts are all about dedication to me. You can’t get a black belt without dedicating years to the art,” she said. “Martial arts have boosted my self-confidence tremendously. I used to be so nervous in front of people. Now, I can’t wait for the opportunity to step up and show what I can do.”

Georgia Highlands College was touted by GeriatricNursing.org for being one of the top three most affordable nursing schools in the country in an article called “30 Most Affordable Nursing Degree Programs.”

According to GeriatricNursing.org: The healthcare system in the U.S. is going through a rapid change. As more and more people require short and long-term care, the demand for nurses as well as nursing degrees grows… [but] the options for affordable nursing degrees are still somewhat limited.

In its research, GeriatricNursing.org found that GHC was one of the three most affordable nursing school options available, including State College of Florida and Broward College.

Currently, students can earn an associate degree at GHC for less than $8,000 and a bachelor’s for less than $16,000.

In its description of GHC, GeriatricNursing.org said: The Nursing Department of Georgia Highlands College offers an Associate of Science in Nursing degree as well as the RN to BSN degree program. The ASN or Associate of Science in Nursing opened in 1971 and graduates have consistently performed above the state and national average in the licensure examination for registered nurses. Changes in the curriculum are ongoing in order to cope with the current changes in the healthcare field.

In 2015, GHC also ranked second on a list of the 30 most affordable online RN-BSN degree programs in the nation put out by Great Value Colleges.

The ASN program has full approval by the Georgia Board of Nursing, Agency member of the NLN Council of Associate Degree Programs, and is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.

See the full list at: http://geriatricnursing.org/30-most-affordable-nursing-degree-programs/

For more information on GHC’s nursing program, please visit: https://sites.highlands.edu/nursing/

Wrayanne Glaze Parker’s story doesn’t start with much promise. She grew up in Polk County, Georgia, spending most of her childhood and young adult life struggling with drug and alcohol addictions. But she knew this was not the life she wanted. So she moved to a long-term treatment program in Rome to break her addictions. Little did she know, she would eventually help operate programs just like this one all across Georgia…

After graduating the program, she was ready to start a new life with kids and family. And she told herself she wanted to go to college.

“I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do at the time, but I knew I wanted to help people who live with some of the same issues I had,” she said.

Wrayanne immediately applied to Georgia Highlands College.

On her first day of class, Wrayanne told her professor she wanted to “save the world.”

Thinking back on it, she admits it sounds kind of silly, but that didn’t stop her from earning her associate degree in human services, and then moving on to complete a bachelor’s in psychology from Ashford University and a master’s in mental health counseling from Walden University.

Wrayanne now works as the women’s program coordinator for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

“I work in the division of Behavioral Health in the Office of Addictive Diseases (OAD),” she said. “We are tasked with developing, monitoring compliance, supporting financially with federal and state funding through block grants, and workforce development. My job is focused on women’s treatment programs for substance use disorders.”

Wrayanne said the office she works for has programs in regions all over the state, serving more than 1,200 women each year.

What she does is special to her for more than a few reasons.

“I am actually a graduate of one of the women’s programs that I now manage, which is such an amazing blessing,” she said.

Her drive to succeed has been fueled by the destructive addictions of her past.

“I knew from my own experiences that I was not alone and there were many, many other people out there struggling with an addiction they hated, but didn’t know how to escape from and that every time they got up the courage to ask for help, it was met with judgment from a society that doesn’t understand mental health challenges or addictive disease,” she said.

Wrayanne added that helping people with addictions is not as hard as it may seem and helping communities see that is one of her number one goals.

“My ultimate purpose is to help others and change social norms, fighting stigma and reducing the shame people feel when things get out of control,” she said. “Until each community learns to separate the person from the addiction and come together, then people will continue to be afraid to ask for help and addiction will continue to plague our communities.”

Wrayanne touts that she is the perfect example of someone who not only recovered, but has continued on to be successful.

“I want people to know recovery is real and people get well, regardless of what they have done or been through,” she said. “So honestly, I still feel that way and I still want to save the world. It’s just a bigger job… and it’s going to take everyone – not just me.”