Latest news with #USG
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
College staff threaten to quit after administration orders them to return to office 5 days a week
Georgia's public universities are now requiring staff to return to the office five days a week, causing backlash from employees who claim the mandate will cause additional problems. The University System of Georgia, which governs public university institutions in the state, announced at the start of the year that faculty must be present on campus during core business hours. Last month, USG's chancellor Dr. Sonny Perdue told presidents and administrators at a Board of Regents meeting, 'If that's not what y'all want, you let me know, because that's where we're going,' the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Ron Johnson at Georgia Institute of Technology, which is a USG institution, said at a town hall, 'We don't want to lose anybody, but there's a chance we will.' 'That's the risk that the institute has to take.' 'The University System of Georgia (USG) values all our employees and the work they do to support our students. We want to emphasize the importance of working on-site to best serve our top priority — our students,' USG said in a statement to 'Being present on campus allows employees to focus on several key areas: enhanced collaboration, timely support and student engagement, accountability and institutional reputation. 'We have received numerous concerns and complaints directly from students and parents regarding their inability to connect with staff or faculty on important matters.' Chancellor Sunny Perdue told presidents and administrators at a recent Board of Regents meeting, 'If that's not what y'all want, you let me know, because that's where we're going,' when discussing the new in-person mandate Employees have questioned the motivation behind the new mandate, with some pointing out the flaws in having faculty on campus from Monday to Friday. Jill Penn, an associate biology professor at Georgia Gwinnett College, rejected the notion that complaints regarding a lack of connection between students and parents with faculty members were a result of remote work. 'I know at Georgia Gwinnett College we're severely understaffed. When somebody leaves, retires or finds another job, they're not replaced. So that's a much more likely explanation,' she told the Atlanta Journal. Penn also noted that the school doesn't hold classes on Fridays, and argued that the mandate didn't make sense with the school's schedule. She told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she believes each university should have the freedom to create its own guidelines. Employees also noted that Georgia Tech is in the middle of downtown Atlanta, and the limited parking is already an issue without the in-person mandate. Kim Toatley, the chief business officer for the university, spoke at a Georgia Tech town hall, noting the space problem. 'We're in downtown Atlanta. It's not like we can just take over a building or throw up a new building. So it's going to take time,' she said. Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Ron Johnson at Georgia Institute of Technology (pictured) said at a town hall, 'We don't want to lose anybody, but there's a chance we will,' regarding the new in-person mandate Perdue has defended the mandate, writing in an email to administrators, 'Having the ability to telework is not a right — it's an arrangement reserved for limited circumstances,' according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He told attendees at the April meeting that he expects employees to answer calls from prospective students, parents, or grandparents on a Friday afternoon. 'While we recognize that many employees and businesses around the country transitioned to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, it's crucial that students have access to in-person services while on campus,' USG said in a statement. 'Although institutions may permit telework under limited circumstances, we continue to prioritize in-person work to ensure the highest level of service and support for our students.' Universities across the state have begun implementing the new policy, with the University of Georgia announcing that telework would be limited in the upcoming school year. 'All offices must be fully staffed during core business hours (Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Telework should be limited,' the university's website states. The website echoes Perdue's statements about working remotely, reading, 'It is critical to note that telework is not a right: it is an arrangement that is approved voluntarily by the dean or vice president and Chief Human Resources Officer (or designee) only when it supports the mission and needs of the institution.' Georgia Tech implemented a similar approval process, writing on their website that employees received a 'high-level email' on March 31 informing them that fully in-person work would be the standard by August 1. 'Telework will be available for limited, specific circumstances and only approved when there is alignment with Institute business needs and assigned job duties,' Georgia Tech said. Employees at the university who want to continue working remotely were instructed to complete a telework request form by August 1.
Business Wire
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
COPT Defense to Present at Nareit's REITweek: 2025 Investor Conference
COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--COPT Defense Properties (NYSE: CDP) ('COPT Defense' or the 'Company') announced that its President and CEO, Stephen E. Budorick, will provide an update on the Company and participate in a question and answer session at Nareit's REITweek: 2025 Investor Conference. The presentation will be held on June 3, 2025 at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York, NY. A live audio webcast of the presentation and accompanying materials will be available in the 'News & Events – IR Calendar' section of COPT's Investors website: About COPT Defense COPT Defense, an S&P MidCap 400 Company, is a self-managed REIT focused on owning, operating and developing properties in locations proximate to, or sometimes containing, key U.S. Government ('USG') defense installations and missions (referred to as its Defense/IT Portfolio). The Company's tenants include the USG and their defense contractors, who are primarily engaged in priority national security activities, and who generally require mission-critical and high security property enhancements. As of March 31, 2025, the Company's Defense/IT Portfolio of 198 properties, including 24 owned through unconsolidated joint ventures, encompassed 22.6 million square feet and was 96.6% leased. Forward-Looking Information This press release may contain 'forward-looking' statements, as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that are based on the Company's current expectations, estimates and projections about future events and financial trends affecting the Company. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as 'may,' 'will,' 'should,' 'could,' 'believe,' 'anticipate,' 'expect,' 'estimate,' 'plan' or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate. Although the Company believes that the expectations, estimates and projections reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions at the time made, the Company can give no assurance that these expectations, estimates and projections will be achieved. Future events and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements. The areas of risk that may affect these expectations, estimates and projections include, but are not limited to, those risks described in Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Finch AI Announces Two New Customer Wins
HERNDON, Va., May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Finch AI, developer of superpowered tools for analysts, today announced that it has secured two new multi-million dollar U.S. Government customer deals. Both customers will be using the company's Finch for Text® software to more rapidly and more effectively glean insights from massive volumes of unstructured text. "We are thrilled about these two wins and about the transformative potential of our software on these agencies' missions," Finch AI Chief Operating Officer Todd Lasseigne said. "We look forward to applying what we do to help analysts more quickly and more dynamically find insights in the huge volumes of data they're tasked with mining each day." Beginning immediately, Finch AI will help these two USG customers enrich terabytes of real-time and archival content, surfacing insights and relationships that enable faster decision making. Both customers will leverage Finch AI's neural relationship extraction model to discover actors, networks and the connectivity between them to accelerate time-to-intelligence. "Finch AI has supported national security customers and their missions for many years," Lasseigne continued. "That background gives us a unique window into how to support them and to give their analysts the tools they need to be effective and efficient – even amid a constant deluge of data and a complex threat environment." Finch for Text® is a novel product built for entity intelligence. It leverages a proprietary approach to semantic understanding and a retrieval augmented generation pipeline to provide a non-negotiable base layer for getting data ready for use in AI applications. For these reasons, customers are finding enormous value in its ability to help prepare large, complex and growing data sets for AI use. The company's other products leverage Finch for Text® to provide a modular exploration and discovery surface via Finch Analyst and to generate instantly sharable, AI-driven reports via Finch Insights. To learn more about Finch AI, please visit Contact: hello@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Finch AI Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Ya Biladi
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Ya Biladi
Soufiane Boufal shines as Union Saint-Gilloise wins first Belgian title in 90 years
The first trophy of Moroccan international Soufiane Boufal's career now bears the colors of Union Saint-Gilloise. On Sunday, the team clinched the Belgian championship by defeating La Gantoise 3-1 at Joseph Marien Stadium in Brussels. This victory marks the triumphant return of the Atlas Lion to Europe after his stint with Al-Rayyan. Under contract with USG until June 2026, the 2022 World Cup semi-finalist made 25 appearances, totaling 1,040 minutes of play and providing 4 assists. This triumph represents a historic comeback for USG, which hadn't won the title in 90 years, since 1935. With nine wins in their last ten matches, the club overcame earlier setbacks by establishing a strong lead early in the season. In an epic final, Franjo Ivanovic opened the scoring in the 11th minute for the home team, only for Gudjohnsen to equalize just before halftime (45'). In the second half, USG sealed their victory with a brace from Promise David (68', 75'). Sitting atop the championship, USG leads ahead of Club Bruges, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Royal Antwerp.
France 24
25-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Union Saint-Gilloise end 90-year Belgian title drought
They finished three points clear of defending champions Club Brugge, held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Antwerp, at the close of the the playoff between the six best teams from the regular season. USG qualify directly for the group stage of next season's Champions League when they will have to stage matches away from the Joseph Marien Stadium, their home since 1919. The 9,000-seat stadium's Art Deco-style facade may have earned it a place on the Brussels heritage list, but the ground perched on the wooded hills of Forest, one of the 19 municipalities of the Belgian capital, does not meet UEFA standards. "I know many who wondered if they would ever win a title again and who have since died. It's them I'm thinking of," said the 76-year-old former club president and former mayor of Saint-Gilles, Charles Picque. The club, founded in 1897, won the Belgian league 11 times between 1904 and 1935 but experienced a long period of decline, dropping to the fourth division in the late 1970s, and struggling to survive financially. One fan, Patrick, 57, on Sunday described the period as "the descent into hell." USG was bought in 2018 by Tony Bloom, who is also chairman of Premier League Brighton and fellow Englishman Alex Muzio, who has since become majority shareholder and chairman. The club returned to the top flight in 2021 after a 48-year absence. The "Old Lady" narrowly missed the title in each of the last three seasons. In 2023 they led the table until the 89th minute of the final matchday. They conceded three late goals to Club Brugge while Toby Alderweireld scored an injury-time equaliser to lift Antwerp to the title. Last season, they won the Belgian Cup for the first time since 1914 and reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League, where they were eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen, the eventual finalists, but they blew an eight-point lead in the league and finished second by one point. Sebastien Pocognoli, a 37-year-old Belgian who played a season on loan at Bloom's Brighton in 2016-17, took over as coach. "For me, Union represents the true spirit of football, just like in England. Win or lose, we support the club!" said Paty, a British expat who became a supporter "charmed by the friendly atmosphere."
