COSM Weekly Issue 89

THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

COSM WEEKLY

What’s Inside: Stay up to date with COSM’s strategic priorities, leadership insights, faculty and staff accomplishments, opportunities for collaboration, operational updates, upcoming events, and the latest news from the COSM Faculty Governance Committee.

ASSOCIATE DEAN’S CORNER But I need this ‘B’ (or ‘A’) in your class for my HOPE scholarship...”

Hi COSM Faculty, I know we’ve likely all heard statements similar to the above in our academic careers. I wanted to share something that I realized not all faculty knew (and I find even most students do not know) that is perhaps encouraging for our HOPE scholarship STEM majors, particularly if they struggle a bit their first semester adjusting to college courses.

The HOPE GPA Bonus!

The HOPE Scholarship program calculates eligibility based on its own “HOPE GPA,” separate from GSU’s “institutional gpa.” A number of years ago the Georgia Legislature approved a +0.5 gpa bonus to the grades in certain foundational science and engineering-related courses (still 4.0 max) for HOPE scholarship eligibility. So that “B” is a 3.5 instead of a 3.0, that “C” is a 2.5, etc. This gives STEM majors a little more support and grace in their early science classes as they transition from high school to college course expectations (ie, get through the shock). This bonus only applies to certain early courses as they expect students who remain STEM majors to master themselves and have things figured out by their upper-level major coursework. In COSM the courses we teach that receive this +0.5 bonus are: STEM-related MATH courses (MATH 1113, 1401, 1501,2130, 2160, 2242, 2243, 3230) All of our “Principles” courses (BIOL 1107/1108, CHEM 1211K/1212K, PHYS 2211K/2212K) and GEOL 1121K Intro to the Earth CHEM 1151K/1152K, BIOL 2260K, and PHYS 1111K/1112K (they also support Allied Health) BIOL 3220 Genetics CHEM 3401/3402 Organic Chemistry I/II BCHM 3200 Principles of Biochemistry So perhaps when that panicked HOPE student comes to you at the end of a semester, it may not be as bad as they think, and you can mention this bonus in case (likely) they were not aware. As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Brian Koehler Associate Dean for Curriculum and Instruction bkoehler@georgiasouthern.edu

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UNIVERSITY FACULTY GOV. Dear Colleagues, I hope everyone is having a great start of the semester. Currently, there are two vacant Faculty Senate seats and several committee vacancies representing our college.

Nominations are open through midnight, Thursday, September 10.

Please submit your nominations by clicking here: https://forms.gle/tSZ7MJ9DWFdegwdUA The vacancies for COSM are: 2 Senators Position ending in 2029 5 Senate Alternates Seats ending in 2027 1 Graduate Committee Alternate 1 position 1 General Education and Core Curriculum Committee SEC Appointed Thank you everyone for your attention to this matter.

If you have any questions, please send an email to mdurach@georgiasouthern.edu Have a great week!

Maxim Durach Senate Elections Committee Member from COSM

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COUR 2026-2027 Call For Faculty Mentors For COUR Emerging Researchers Program The College of Science and Mathematics Office of Undergraduate Research (COUR) is looking for researchactive faculty to serve as mentors for undergraduate research students as part of our Emerging Researchers Program, which aims to offer up to 13 hours per week of paid research experience to COSM students eligible for federal work-study. The Emerging Researchers Program has funding for 13 student positions for Fall 2026.

To serve as a research mentor for a student as part of the COUR Emerging Researchers Program, faculty should provide the following information through the COUR Emerging Researchers Program Mentor Google Form: An abstract (no more than ½ page) for each project available to students; and 2-3 sentences describing the work students would be doing as part of that project To have a student begin in your lab in the Fall semester, please complete and submit the form

by September 4. Faculty may submit multiple projects, if applicable. For any questions, please email Heather Joesting (hjoesting@georgiasouthern.edu).

FACULTY RESPONDER LINK

Call For Proposals For 2026-2027 COUR Research Grant The COSM College Office of Undergraduate Research (COUR) invites proposals for the 2026-2027 COUR Research Awards. These awards are designed to support undergraduate research in COSM by enhancing experiential learning for students. Awards up to $3000 will be made to the best submitted proposals to cover the following: Up to $1000 for supplies/equipment and travel associated with the research project (with the exception of conference travel); Up to $2000 for an undergraduate student stipend; and To qualify, faculty must include plans to mentor a student enrolled as an undergraduate major or minor in one of the departments under COSM. For more information and to view application instructions, visit the website, https://www.georgiasouthern.edu/cosm/cour or email Dr. Heather Joesting at hjoesting@georgiasouthern.edu.

Applications are due September 15, 2026.

LINK TO 2026-2027 APPLICATION FORM 3

SCU WEBINAR SERIES AI, Statistics, Data Science & Computational Mathematics Webinar Series (Fall 2026) Hosted by the Statistical Consulting Unit (SCU) at Georgia Southern University, this bi-weekly series brings together leading experts from industry and academia to explore modern data science, AI, and mathematical modeling applications in the biological, epidemiological, and environmental sciences.

Key Focus Areas: Biomathematical and computational modeling Epidemiological and public health modeling AI and data science for biological and biomedical applications Environmental and ecological data science Fall 2026 Schedule Highlights (Fridays, Sept – Nov): Sept 18 (3:00 PM EST): Dr. Chadi M. Saad-Roy (Univ. of British Columbia) – Using Simple Mathematical Models to Untangle Infectious Dynamics Across Scales Sept 25 (2:00 PM EST): Prof. Benjamin Levy (Babson College) – Fisheries Modeling Oct 9 (2:00 PM EST): Dr. Alida Dipo (University of Indonesia) – TBD Oct 16 (4:00 PM EST): Prof. Folashade Agusto (Univ. of Kansas) – Human Behavior in Motion: From Cultural Practices and Risk-Taking to Disease Transmission (In-Person MP 3314 & Zoom) Oct 23 (2:00 PM EST): Prof. Necibe Tuncer (Florida Atlantic Univ.) – Data-Driven Multiscale Analysis of the HIV Epidemic in the USA Oct 30 (2:00 PM EST): Dr. Navid Mohammad Mirzaei (Old Dominion Univ.) – TBD Nov 6 (2:00 PM EST): Dr. Eduard Campillo-Funollet (Lancaster Univ.) – Bias-Corrected Integration of Abundance and Occupancy Data Webinar Access: Zoom Direct Link: Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 827 8344 9025 Passcode: xbk&iGJE6f For full abstracts, speaker biographies, and session details, please refer to the attached event booklet.

Direct questions to Dr. C. Williams Chukwu (cchukwu@georgiasouthern.edu) or Dr. Divine Wanduku (dwanduku@georgiasouthern.edu).

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