VOLUME LIII ISSUE 13 November 13, 2017

Donna Webb, Director of Enrollment Management at ABAC, received the Joe F. Head Professional Development Award at the recent Georgia Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (GACRAO) Conference in Athens.

Created in 2010, the award is named for Head, the former associate vice president for

enrollment services and dean of university admissions at Kennesaw State University. The award is presented

in recognition of individuals who demonstrate exceptional effort in fostering professional

development and make outstanding accomplishments in the professional development field.

“While I never had the honor or pleasure of working directly with Donna Webb, I always admired her ‘cheerleading spirit’ for others who were rising in the field,” Head said.

Webb Receives Top Professional Development Award

Bridges’ Host Holiday Open House December 5President and Mrs. David Bridges send you best wishes for the Season

and cordially invite you to attend the Holiday Open House. The event will take place on Tuesday, December 5 from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. in Tift Hall. Save the date and plan to attend.

The ABAC Music Program’s annual Christmas concert has changed times and location. This year the concert, titled A Christmas to Remember, will take place downtown in the Tift Theatre at 7 p.m. The President’s Open House will end in time for you to attend this concert, which promises to light up your

holidays. ABAC music ensembles will gather to give the Tifton Community a special night filled with the sounds of the Season. Free to the public, you can consider the concert as our ABAC gift to you.

Pictured: Dr. David Bridges and his wife, Kim, join several of the students who will be featured in the concert.

Webb (l) receiving the Joe F. Head Professional Development Award. Presenting the award was Selena Magnusson, President of GACRAO and Executive Director of Student Affairs & Registrar at Georgia Northwestern Technical College.

Continued on page 3

Thanks to the generosity of donors from across the nation, the cotton gin at the ABAC Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village is scheduled to be back in action on Saturday.

Museum Director Garrett Boone and Director of Advancement Deidre Martin said the revitalization of the gin has been a long but worthwhile process.

“The successful completion of

this project allowed us to bring an integral part of the Historic Village back into operational status and further our educational and historic preservation missions,” Boone said. “The gin provides an opportunity for kindergarten through 12th grade students, our ABAC students, and the public to learn more about a vital part of the agricultural and textile heritage of this region of

the South.”“It’s more important than

ever before that we educate folks, especially our young people, about the important role of the cotton industry in our daily lives,” Martin said.

Boone said the gin building was constructed at the Museum site in 1977 from blue prints of several different late 1800’s cotton gins. Lummus Industries from Columbus

Cotton Gin Scheduled to Run Saturday at Museum of Agriculture

Continued on page 2

Traditional culture and dances of the Creek Indians will be performed from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday at ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village.

The Eastern Mvskoke Demonstrators, a Native American tour company, travels across the Southeastern United States conducting reenactments and providing demonstrations. The educational program includes stomp dancing demonstrations and discovering the Creek Indian

language. Visitors can explore

historic Southeastern Native American culture at the Eastern Mvskoke Demonstrators fishing encampment where they will see Muscogee culture as well as demonstrations in bow making, basket weaving, twining, blow gun making, candle dipping,

and pottery making. Visitors can also visit the

Wiregrass Farmers Market annual Holiday Market near the Country Store on Saturday from 2-6 p.m.

Shoppers can get a jump start on their Christmas list at the Holiday Market or get stocking stuffers from local vendors selling a variety of home-grown and homemade gifts including handcrafted soaps, scrubs, and bath soaks, handcrafted cards, jewelry, aprons, woodcrafts, herbal remedies, potted plants, and more.

Live holiday music will be provided for the enjoyment of all shoppers by Dr. Jeff Newberry, a professor and published author in the ABAC School of Arts and Sciences. To delight the youngest visitors, the Market’s baby farm animal pen will feature some furry friends.

Creek Indian Experience, Wiregrass Farmers Market at Museum on Sat.

ABAC Observes Thanksgiving HolidayABAC will be closed for business in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday Nov. 23 and 24 and reopen for normal business hours on Monday, Nov. 27. Students are out of classes Nov. 22 - 24. There will not be another edition of the FOCUS until Nov. 27.

originally restored the gin stand. All equipment was painted in original colors including the gin stand and boiler. At its peak, a gin of this size could produce six to eight bales of ginned cotton a day.

The renovation project, helped along by gifts of $10,000 or more from Bayer and the Montgomery Family Foundation, Inc., involved the replacement of wood siding and beams throughout the structure and replacement of belts and piping for the ginning process. The cotton gin boiler was also replaced with an historically accurate representation with an engine size of 90 horsepower.

“Bayer and the Montgomery Family Foundation went a long way toward making this restoration possible, but we had some other folks who really went the extra mile for this project,” Martin said.

The Georgia

Cotton Commission and Monsanto were in the Circle of Excellence giving level with gifts of $5,000 to $9,999, and the Georgia Agribusiness Council, the Georgia Farm Bureau, and Staplcotn were in the Producer’s Club giving level with gifts of $2,500 to $4,999.

The Ginners Club level of giving with gifts of $1,000 to $2,499 included Clover Leaf Gin, Inc., Lummus Corporation, PhytoGen Cottonseed, Southeastern Gin and Peanut Company/Kent Fountain, and Southeastern Cotton Ginners Association, Inc./Dusty Findley.

The Friends of Cotton giving level with gifts up to $1,000 included The Cotton Gin, Inc./

Fred Powell, Dixon Gin Company, Inc./Jaclyn Ford, Eidson Gin Co-op, Inc., Herzog Family in honor of Dr. Gary Herzog, the Knowlton Family, Robert McLendon Farms, Miller County Gin Company, Pineywood Farms/Louie Perry, Keith and Julie Rucker, and the South Central Georgia Gin Company/Darvin Eason.

“The Cotton Gin, like many sites within the Historic Village, is mainly volunteer run,” Boone said. “We would enjoy talking with anyone interested in assisting with Gin operations.”

The Museum is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, interested persons can call (229) 391-5205.

Cotton from page 1

Supporters of the Museum Cotton Gin Renovation Project included (l-r): Dusty Findley, Rhonda Shannon, Bryan Tolar, Fred Powell, Keith Rucker, Larry Montgomery, Taylor Sills, Ann Knowlton, Andy Knowlton and Ray Knowlton

The Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Choir at ABAC will present an evening of jazz music on Thurs. at 7 p.m. in Howard Auditorium on the ABAC campus.

Sponsored by the ABAC Music Program in the School of Liberal Arts, this concert is open to the public at no charge. Dr. Thomas Heflin, Assistant Professor of Jazz, serves as director of the Jazz Ensemble.

The Jazz Ensemble’s performance will feature “One

O’Clock Jump,” by the Count Basie Orchestra; “The Rotten Kid,” by Buddy Greco; “The Star-Crossed Lovers,” by Duke Ellington; “Sun Goddess,” arranged by Mike Tomaro and written by Jon Lind and Maurice White of Earth, Wind, and Fire; “A Night in Tunisia,” by Dizzy Gillespie arranged by Michael Philip Mossman; and “I Love Being Here with You,” originally a vocal for Peggy Lee. ABAC vocalists Asia Bryant, a music-

vocal major from Albany, and Shana Morman, a music–vocal major from Valdosta, will perform the piece.

The ABAC Jazz Choir under the direction of Dr. Susan Roe will perform with the Jazz Ensemble on “You’re the Top” and “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” by Cole Porter and “How Deep is the Ocean” by Irving Berlin. The ABAC Latin Jazz Combo will join the Jazz Ensemble for Poncho Sanchez’s “Yumbambe.”

For more information, contact Heflin at (229) 391-5253.

ABAC Jazz Band Concert Free to Public on Thursday

Student Veterans Collecting Toys for TotsThe Student Veterans Organization (SVO) at ABAC will assist the U.S. Marine Corps

Reserve with the Toys for Tots Program this holiday season by collecting new, unwrapped toys through Dec. 5 for the charitable organization.

Donations can be dropped off in boxes located in the Ag Science Building, Bowen Hall, Branch Hall, the Donaldson Dining Hall, the Health Sciences Building, Conger Hall, the Carlton Center and Town Hall on the ABAC campus.

The Toys for Tots organization provides toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in communities across the United States.

Pictured: ABAC Veterans Affairs Certifying Official Jessica Swords, ABAC SVO member and United States Coast Guard veteran Jason Dasher, and ABAC SVO President and United States Air Force Reservist Luke Rabun with Toys for Tots Coordinator Shirene Daniell.

Honors Students Visit Andersonville Historic SiteOn Nov. 3 students in Dr. Jess Usher’s Honors History 2111 class took a day trip to Andersonville to tour the National Prisoner of War Museum and the site of the Andersonville Prisoner of War Camp from the Civil War. The park’s ranger (left) gave the group a lesson about life in the camp. This was as an engaged learning experience for the class that is currently learning about the Civil War.

“Years ago, I recall a shy young lady who stayed the course, blossomed in the trenches and rose in the industry to a senior position, but also took the time, from a distance, to encourage newbies entering the field.

“In casual conversation, I often heard others praise Donna for mentoring rookies and that she personally took several under her watchful eye, including my own daughter, Meredith. She is today’s poster child for cultivating young

professionals, and I am honored that she is receiving GACRAO’s Professional Development Award.”

Webb served on the GACRAO Executive Committee from 2009 to 2016. During that time, she made numerous presentations and was selected to present at state and national meetings. She serves as secretary for the national organization, the Southern Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (SACRAO).

Webb is also a member of the Georgia College Personnel Association, the Georgia Education Articulation Committee, and the Southern Association of Collegiate Admissions Counseling. She also served as chair of the Regents Administrative Committee on Records and Admissions in 2013-2014.

Webb joined the ABAC administration in 2008 as Director of Enrollment Services. Her husband, Garth, retired in 2002 after 27 years as the ABAC Director of Admissions.

Webb from page 1

AAC Tutors attend and Present at Regional Tutoring ConferenceIn October, several Level III ABAC Academic Achievement Center (AAC) tutors attended and presented at the Georgia Tutoring Association (GaTA) annual conference. The tutors presented three sessions on such topics as leadership in tutoring, ABAC’s embedded tutoring program, and learning styles when tutoring. The AAC uses conference participation as part of their required College Reading and Learning Association training hours. The AAC tutors were the only undergraduate peer tutors that presented at the regional conference.

Update From the Center for Teaching and Learning at ABACUpcoming Events:• Monday, November 13 at 12 p.m. in Carlton 217 - Ethics Awareness. Dr. Ryan Currie from the Stafford School of

Business talk about the importance of Ethics Awareness. Upcoming Opportunities:• The USG Teaching and Learning Conference (April 4 - 6, 2018) is now accepting proposals. For more information

about the conference visit http://www.usg.edu/facultydevelopment/teaching_learning_conference• Interested in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning?. Consider applying for the USG’s SoTL Teaching Fellows

program. Contact Dr. Jordan Cofer at jcofer@abac.edu for more information• Gordon State College’s is now accepting proposals for their 16th annual “Teaching Matters” conference (March 8-9,

2018). For more info or to apply visit http://www.gordonstate.edu/teachingmatters/homeFaculty News:• Dr. Marcus Johnson just published his essay, “The Function and Influence of the Emancipatory Binary and the

Progressive Triad in the Discourse on Citizenship in Social Studies Education” in the Journal of International Social Studies. Find the article at http://www.iajiss.org/index.php/iajiss/issue/view/18

If you have any announcements, please email ctl@abac.edu

Show Your Student (or student workers) Some Love During Final Exam TimeThe Leaders in Tutoring Club (L.I.T.) is selling final exam survival kits for all current ABAC students. Survival kits are $10 each and can be ordered online through this link - https://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/Dec521e3w6sAvdb2y1actKits can be ordered up through November 29; pick up dates are in early December. Students will be emailed to pick up their kit in the tutoring center. Included in the kit is the chance to write a personalized note to your student during what can be a stressful time. These kits will include things such as; scantrons, pencils and pens, notebooks, caffeinated drink/water bottle, assorted candy, snack- chips, granola bars, Vitamin C drops, hand sanitizer, and more. All money raised will go towards travel expenses for the Tutors of the Academic Achievement Center. Questions can be emailed to Rebecca Cofer at rcofer@abac.edu or Nick Urquhart at nurquhart@abac.edu

ABAC Helping Professions Visits Jacob’s LadderDr. Jewrell Rivers and Suzanne Smith, faculty advisors for the ABAC Helping

Professions Association (HPA), accompanied club members on a tour of Jacob's Ladder. Jacob’s Ladder is an equine facilitated therapy center serving children and adults with special needs. While there, the ABAC students engaged with an equine specialist in learning about how therapeutic riding can be used a treatment modality along with traditional approaches to counseling or psychotherapy.

Choral students from area high schools enjoyed a day of tutelage with renowned publisher, arranger, and composer Earlene Rentz on Thursday at the 11th annual Choral Day at ABAC. Dr. Susan Roe, Head of the Department of Fine Arts and Professor of Voice, coordinated the event.

High schools and their choral directors that participated in this year’s event included Cairo High School with director Erikka Edwards, Cook High School with director Scarlett Eirish, Crisp

County High School with director Jenny Richmond, Fitzgerald High School with director Joanie Paulk, Lee County High School with director Brad Bunce, Thomas County High School with director Aston Bryant, Tift County High School with director Scott Rains, Tift County High School-Northeast Campus with director Sheri Wyles, Wilcox County High School with director Vickie G. Brown, and Worth County High School with director Lesli Holton.

The high school students

practiced with members of the ABAC Chamber Singers, and the ABAC voice majors’ group, “Canticum Novum,” before joining the ABAC students for an afternoon concert on the ABAC campus.

Rentz has conducted All-State choirs in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Kentucky and founded Earlene Rentz Online Publications, LLC in 2011 using current technology to provide quality, affordable choral literature and supplementary materials for schools and churches.

ABAC Choral Program Hosts High School Students

ABAC Students Present at National Honors ConferenceTwo ABAC honors students presented research at the National Collegiate Honors Conference held in Atlanta this weekend. Miranda Wilkinson (left) a junior, Wildlife major presented "Endangered Species Recovery" about her internship tracking Kit Foxes in Paso Robles, California this summer. Jana Register a senior, History and Government major presented "The Environmental Movement: Then and Now" about her research from a History class.

Fraud Awareness Week: Did you know that…• A typical organization loses 5% of revenues annually to fraud.• Asset misappropriation is the most common form of occupational fraud. Financial Statement fraud occurred in less

than 10% of the cases. • The most prominent organizational weakness that contributed to the frauds in the study was a lack of internal

controls.• Organizations of different sizes tend to have different fraud risks. Corruption was more prevalent in larger

organizations, while check tampering, skimming, payroll and cash larceny schemes were twice as common in small organizations.

• Most occupational fraudsters are first-time offenders. The most common concealment methods were creating and altering physical documents.

• Fraud perpetrators tend to display behavioral warning signs when they were engaged in their crimes. The most common red flags were living beyond means, financial difficulties, unusually close association with a vendor or customer, excessive control issues, and unwillingness to share duties.

• Whistleblowers were most likely to report fraud to their direct supervisors (20.6%) or company executives (18%).• The presence of anti-fraud controls was correlated with both lower fraud losses and quicker detection. • Common detection methods were TIPS (39.1%), Internal Audit (16.5%), Management Review (13.4%), By Accident

(5.6%) and Account Reconciliation (5.5%).Resources: 2016 ACFE Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, 2013 National Business Ethics Survey