GCSU professor becomes national go-to for AI in higher ed
Pre-Med Mentoring Program helps transform GCSU students into
tomorrow’s physicians With 100% admission rate to medical school for 14 consecutive years, Georgia College & State University’s Pre-med students are one step closer to the dream of becoming a doctor. Dr. Ahmed Al-Bayati, ’12, went through the Pre-med Mentorship Program and is glad he did. Today, he’s a chief resident in plastic surgery and in mid-2024, will join a private practice as a physician. Dr. Kenneth Saladin, professor emeritus and founder of the Pre-Med Mentorship Program mentally prepared him for the challenges he’d face in becoming a doctor.
In May, Hall attended the Truman Scholars Leadership Week in Liberty, Missouri. The conference led the senior political science major to decide what his next steps will be after graduation, when he not only receives his degree, but becomes the first GCSU student to complete the Certificate in Election Administration.
Will this rapidly evolving technology take over, destroying jobs and shoving humans aside? How will it impact higher education?
“He instilled that a medical career is demanding, challenging and requires my dedication, time and attention,” Al-Bayati said. “When I’m at the hospital for 30 hours at a time, I think back to what he said, and it’s not different from what he predicted.”
First to Earn an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction
This mentorship came full circle as Al-Bayati walked across the stage at the University of Miami to receive his medical degree with Saladin and his wife, Diane, cheering him on. “I was grateful to have my professor there to personally invest in my success and wellbeing,” he said.
GCSU’s First-Ever Truman Scholar: Colin Hall Jones County native Colin Hall was awarded the prestigious Truman Scholarship in 2023, becoming GCSU’s first-ever Truman Scholar. The Truman Scholarship is awarded to aspiring leaders who are pursuing careers in public service.
These days, the subject of artificial intelligence is rife with questions.
Hall plans to participate in the Truman Summer Institute Program, followed by TrumanAlbright, a year-long internship. Both programs provide the opportunity to work in Washington, D.C. with a member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. “These friendships I made through Truman Scholars are lifelong and I can’t wait to cross paths with these distinguished people in the future,” Hall said.
Diane Saladin, Dr. Ahmed Al-Bayati and Dr. Ken Saladin
April Dockery and Daymond Ray are the first graduates of the GCSU Curriculum and Instruction Doctoral Program (C&I). Candidates in the Ed.D. C&I program acquire expertise in leading P12 curriculum design, development and evaluation in their fields of content specialization. The newly-minted Drs. Dockery and Ray were hooded by their dissertation chairs – Dr. Linda Bradley and Dr. Joe Peters, respectively – during the December 2023 Commencement ceremony.
2024 Truman Scholar Finalist: Axel Hawkins
Dr. Dockery is from Douglas, Georgia, and teaches in the Coffee County School System where she is a former Teacher of the Year. Dr. Ray serves as Principal at Hancock Central High School and is originally from Adel, Georgia.
GCSU junior Axel Hawkins, a history major from McDonough, Georgia, was recently named a finalist in the 2024 Truman Scholarship competition. Hawkins will interview with the regional review panel in Atlanta on March 15; the Truman Scholarship Foundation will announce the Truman Scholar winners on April 19.
$100,000 is on its way to support the creation of Georgia College & State University’s mobile health clinic, an initiative by the College of Health Sciences.
This year the Truman Foundation selected 191 applicants from a pool of 709. Only three schools from Georgia – Emory, the University of Georgia and GCSU – had students selected as finalists. Hawkins currently serves as Vice President of the GCSU Student Government Association and was elected by her peers to serve as SGA President for the 2024-2025 school year.
Universities nationwide turn to Georgia College & State University’s Professor of Secondary Education Dr. Cynthia Alby for answers. She started with a workshop on AI at Mercer University last January and has gone on to give more than 40 seminars throughout the United States. She was interviewed on “Teaching in Higher Ed,” a premier podcast, and is part of the University System of Georgia’s webinar series on AI. Her recommendation: Go with the flow. Writing will change, but everyone can benefit from the use of AI. “The message that I try to put out there every time I’m asked to talk to anyone is, ‘You need to know about AI, and the only way to know about AI is to play with it. Read about it, work with it, use the tools available,’” Alby said. “It’s the only way. You just got to use it, even if you don’t want to, you still have to.”.”
Aflac donation will help fund GCSU mobile health clinic The money was donated by Aflac’s CareGrant, and presented by the President of their U.S. operations, Virgil R. Miller ’92. This marks the first Aflac CareGrant given in the state of Georgia, but more than $2 million has been awarded nationally. Truist Bank has also donated $50,000 toward the cost of realizing the mobile clinic. The mobile health clinic is an initiative borne out of the Georgia College Center for Health and Social Issues, directed by Dr. Damian Francis. Once established, the mobile clinic will provide screenings, as well as primary, maternal and obstetrical care to Baldwin and surrounding counties. In addition, the College of Health Sciences will use the unit to extend its portfolio of experts into the community while providing field experiences and internship opportunities to Georgia College students.
Dr. Damian Francis, director of the center for health and social issues, Dr. Will Evans, dean of the college of health sciences, Provost Costas Spirou, President Cathy Cox, Virgil Miller
www.gcsu.edu
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