University System News:
WSAV
University System of Georgia upgrades access to online degree programs
The University System of Georgia (USG) has launched a newly redesigned Georgia On My Line website that makes it easier for Georgians to explore online degree programs. The new site, www.georgiaonmyline.org, includes a searchable catalog of 585 online programs from 26 universities and colleges and has everything from certificates to doctoral degrees. “This website now provides a convenient single portal to explore, view and compare online degree opportunities from all our institutions,” USG Chief Academic Officer Tristan Denley said. “We believe it will be especially helpful to those thinking about furthering their education during the current COVID-19 pandemic.” Georgia On My Line is supported by USG’s eCampus, an enterprise-level distance learning unit of the university system. The site features many online degree programs in high-demand careers such as cybersecurity, nursing, financial technology, teacher education and criminal justice.
WJBF
Gov. Brian Kemp announces AU COVID-19 app available to all Georgians
by: Ashley Osborne
This week, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp gave Augusta University a shoutout for their work with telehealth to screen patients for COVID-19. After Governor Kemp announced the service is now available to all Georgians, people across the state started to use the app. “Augusta University, the state’s only public academic medical center launched a web-based app that provides telemedicine screening of patients,” Governor Kemp said in his Monday press briefing. “With an app available on apple and android smart phones, this tool allows healthcare providers to interact with patients without risk of exposure. It’s called the AU Health Expresscare.” After the Governor announced the service is now available to all Georgians, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Phillip Coule says they saw a spike in users.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
GSU analysis: Georgia governments could see $1 billion hit in sales tax revenue from coronavirus
By James Salzer
Georgia State University fiscal researchers say the state and local governments could see up to a $1.27 billion loss in sales tax revenue from key sectors of the economy this year because of the coronavirus shutdown and its aftermath. That’s not good news for local governments and the state, which will have to figure out how to provide services, educate the state’s public school students and pay hundreds of thousands of employees with less money because of the shutdown and expected recession brought on by the pandemic. State officials say it’s still too early to say how bad the economic fallout will be for state finances, although House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, said lawmakers are likely to approve an austere budget for the upcoming fiscal year when they return to the Capitol later this spring.
The Union-Recorder
Georgia College costume supervisor sews face masks for Eatonton nursing home
Doing her part by staying home didn’t seem like enough. Cathleen O’Neal wanted to do more to help her neighbors and the world get through the COVID-19 crisis. As Georgia College’s Costume Supervisor — charged with making costumes for productions performed by the department of theatre — O’Neal put her sewing skills to good use. In two weeks, she has constructed 140 masks — donating 110 surgical and N-95 face covers for Atlanta area hospitals and, just recently, 30 N-95 face masks to meet a critical need at Eatonton Health & Rehabilitation nursing home. “Just sitting around the house, watching the news, it gets very daunting,” O’Neal said, “especially if you’re helping by staying at home, but you want to do something more. It’s all about being resourceful and trying to help out in ways that you can.” She found out about the nursing home shortage from Shannon Blair, a 2018 graduate of Georgia College, who’ll receive her master’s in criminal justice in May. As social service director, Blair is charged with the “mental wellness” of 78 residents. Since COVID-19, the nursing home is experiencing a shortage of protective masks for its nurses and staff. Blair had worn the same mask all week. When she saw an article about O’Neal’s masks on Georgia College’s website, she reached out for help.
Web MD
Ventilator Made From Ambulance Resuscitation Bags
By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
With a sudden need for more ventilators due to the coronavirus pandemic, researchers have been busy trying to come up with alternatives to a standard ventilator. Engineers from Georgia Tech and Emory University in Atlanta think they may have developed such a device. They’ve created a simple, low-cost ventilator that builds on the widely used resuscitation bags found in ambulances and emergency departments everywhere. “The COVID-19 infection has an alarmingly high rate of respiratory distress associated with it, especially in certain vulnerable populations. The need for critical care beds, which are beds with ventilators, is acute, and health systems are not scaled up for the number of patients that will need mechanical ventilation support in this country and globally,” explained Susan Margulies, chair of biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
Athens CEO
Board of Regents Approves Isakson Chair for Parkinson’s Research at UGA
Greg Trevor
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia on Tuesday approved the establishment of the John H. “Johnny” Isakson Chair for Parkinson’s Research at the University of Georgia. The chair honors the former U.S. senator by emphasizing research that analyzes and develops treatments for Parkinson’s, the disease with which Isakson was diagnosed in 2015. The university has raised $1.6 million so far to establish the chair, which will “attract an exceptional faculty member who will engage in teaching, research and public service, or a combination of such duties, related to the study of Parkinson’s disease and other related brain disorders,” according to a March 31 letter written by University of Georgia President Jere W. Morehead to the Regents.
Savannah Tribune
No Tuition Increase For Savannah State
By Savannah Tribune
By Aurelle Ross, SSU Student Intern
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) met Tuesday to approve the recommendation of no tuition increase for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year. There will be no increase in tuition for any USG school, which includes Savannah State University. Students will pay the same tuition rates for the 2020- 2021 academic year as they do now for the current 2019-2020 academic year. SSU undergraduate tuition per credit hour is at the rate of $165.20 for in-state and $601.07 for out-of-state. While their graduate tuition sits at $196.00/$726.00.
Albany Herald
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College president: Students get more for their money
From Staff Reports
ABAC President David Bridges says he believes students “get more for their money” when they attend Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. “From adding four-year degrees 12 years ago to the merger with Bainbridge, ABAC has transformed itself into a one-of-a-kind baccalaureate degree-granting institution that has a worldwide reputation for excellence,” Bridges said. “At ABAC, students get more for their money.” Bridges’ remarks come on the heels of an announcement by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia that there will be no tuition increase for USG students enrolled for the 2020-21 academic year. ABAC is one of the 26 colleges and universities in the USG.
Marietta Daily Journal
Kennesaw State adds new degree focused on health care education
By Eric Mandel – Digital Producer , Atlanta Business Chronicle
2 hours ago
Kennesaw State University is adding a timely new degree to its offerings starting in the 2020-21 school year. The University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents approved Kennesaw State offering a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Health Science. The degree will take a “multidisciplinary approach to healthcare education,” according to the school. The program will use existing coursework from the college, as well as four other KSU units. It will fall under the purview of the university’s Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education. “In a world changed by the health pandemic, health professionals must address the chronic issues facing their communities today,” said Kennesaw State President Pamela Whitten in a news release. “As a leader in health care education, Kennesaw State is prepared to teach and develop this next generation of health professionals to fulfill the critical hire needs in the state of Georgia and the region.”
Guidon
Fort Leonard Wood Soldier enjoying her Green-to-Gold challenge
by Brian Hill
Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Cadet Jazmine Murphy, a history major at Georgia Southern University and former Military Police Corps staff sergeant, enjoys a challenge. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Murphy’s current challenge is attending classes remotely from her mother’s home in Columbia, South Carolina. “Most students are uncomfortable with (remote learning) because they feel that they will not learn as much as they would in the classroom,” she said. “The advantage a student has by raising their hand and immediately getting a question answered, gives a sense of security.” Murphy, who spent nearly nine years as an enlisted Soldier, prepared for three years to earn acceptance last August into the Green to Gold program – designed to offer enlisted Soldiers the opportunity to earn a baccalaureate or graduate degree and commission as an Army officer.
WTOC
Georgia Southern’s Business Innovation Group gathering input from small businesses
By Dal Cannady
The pandemic has touched the region financially as well as medically. Analysts from Georgia Southern University’s Business Innovation Group hope input from small businesses across the region can help them identify how the pandemic impacts the economy. Some businesses have closed their doors while others open theirs in hopes of drawing customers. With many people now unemployed or underemployed, many are spending less, and businesses offer sales and discounts. The university group hopes they can study all the different ways COVID-19 has touched the economy.
Gainesville Times
Some UNG nursing students getting to work early following March nursing board decision
Nathan Berg
Georgia health care providers will soon be receiving an influx of new nurses, many of whom will be coming straight from the University of North Georgia’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. A March decision from the Georgia Board of Nursing allows all nursing students in Georgia who graduated in December of 2019 or who will graduate in May of 2020 to go immediately into the workplace before passing their Nation Council Licensure Exam. Now, roughly 200 UNG nursing students who either graduated last December or will be graduating in a few weeks can begin working as nurses before getting officially registered — an opportunity that UNG Nursing Department Head Sharon Chalmers said will be a welcome relief for the medical community.
41NBC
GEORGIA COLLEGE DONATES 100 GOWNS, 2 UV-C LAMPS TO NAVICENT HEALTH BALDWIN
By Tanya Modersitzki
As Governor Kemp predicts a surge in COVID-19 patients, Georgia College State University is helping Navicent Health Baldwin get the supplies it needs. Georgia College donated 100 medical gowns and two UV-C lamps to the hospital. Sheri Noviello with the college says hospital staff advised her of a gown shortage. Noviello, who also works as a nurse, thought how can the hospital save some gowns? Noviello says the school had a few UV-C lamps which disinfect gowns. This makes the gowns reusable, as the hospital faces shortages. Noviello hopes the donations can ease some of the medical workers’ stress.
Medical Xpress
Digital tool helps hospital make important coronavirus retest decisions
by Ben Brumfield,
What-if questions can torment a doctor making coronavirus retest decisions: What if a patient’s initial negative test was a false negative, and he or she needs a second test? What if they don’t need it, and a retest would use up a scarce test kit and treatments that other patients need? Such challenges led Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta to establish a paper-based decision tree for ordering COVID-19 retests, and researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology turned it into an automated digital tool. Piedmont further developed the tool and has now built it into the hospital’s electronic medical record, where it influences the ordering of retests. A user can answer their “ifs” by clicking through questions, and the “if-this-then-do-that” algorithm makes recommendations for best courses of action, ranging from immediately treating a patient for COVID-19 to retesting to consulting a specialist. The final decision remains with the physician. The questions are deceptively simple, but the recommendations are not always obvious. That reflects the algorithm’s usefulness to fill gaps in thinking about the new sickness, which can confront clinicians with surprises. “If a patient has not had close contact with positive patients and the first test came back negative, a physician may think the patient does not need to be retested. But actually, the patient may need a second test because they are in intensive care and also have suspicious chest X-rays,” said Georgia Tech graduate research assistant April Yu, who converted the decision tree into a digital tool.
Oconee Enterprise
University student takes graduation photos from home
by Julia Fechter
Graduating University of Georgia master’s student and Oconee resident Stephanie Rehberg didn’t want to end her last semester without graduation pictures. To make lemonade out of lemons, Rehberg used Zoom’s interactive background feature to place her in front UGA’s arch, even though she was really inside her apartment. “Alot of my friends and other Dawgs that were graduating were upset that they wouldn’t get the typical graduation experience,” Rehberg said. “So I just took screenshots at my apartment and posted it to social media.” Many other students soon caught wind of Rehberg’s idea when some of her pictures were posted to the Facebook group “Overheard at UGA.”
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
But more colleges are going test optional.
By Scott Jaschik
The College Board and ACT said Wednesday that their admissions tests will soon be back. But with more colleges going test optional on admissions, the testing organizations clearly wanted it known that they will return. The College Board canceled the SAT for June 6 because “it wouldn’t be safe,” CEO David Coleman said at a press briefing. But he said if public health officials permit, the SAT will be back in August and a September date will be added. That means, he said, that the SAT will be offered every month (it already had testing dates in October, November and December) through end of 2020. If the schools where the SAT is taken are not open in the fall, he said, an at-home version of the test would be offered. He said it would be secure and safe but that his preference is for in-school testing.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This year, students can take the ACT college-entrance test at home
By Vanessa McCray
College-bound students who need to take the ACT will have more options amid the coronavirus shutdown. The ACT, one of the nation’s most-used college entrance exams, will offer what it calls a “flexible schedule” for this summer’s test-takers as well as “test-at-home options” starting in the late fall or early winter. The move was announced Wednesday by the nonprofit organization that organizes and produces the exam. The ACT will allow students to reschedule test dates in June and July without charging fees.
Albany Herald
Experts warn of urgent need for Covid-19 mental health research
By Amy Woodyatt, CNN
Mental health and brain research must be a higher priority in the response to the coronavirus pandemic, scientists have said, warning that the crisis could have a “profound” and “pervasive impact” on global mental health now and in the future. In a paper published Wednesday in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, researchers called for better monitoring of mental health as part of the global response to the pandemic. The outbreak has infected more than 2 million people and killed over 128,000 worldwide, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. The paper, which draws on the work of 24 mental health experts, including neuroscientists, psychiatrists, psychologists and public health experts, also noted that little is known about the impact of Covid-19 itself on the human nervous system. Other coronaviruses, the paper said, have passed into the central nervous system. Experts warn that more research — as well as a database to monitor the psychological or brain effects of Covid-19 — is urgently needed to understand the potential impacts of Covid-19 on the human brain and nervous system.
Inside Higher Ed
College Credit in the Time of Coronavirus
Major higher education groups have come together to urge colleges to be flexible and transparent when accepting credits in light of the public health pandemic.
By Madeline St. Amour
Six major higher education groups issued a set of principles Thursday for accepting academic credit during this tumultuous time. The statement, drafted by the American Council on Education and signed by the leaders of groups representing public, private nonprofit and community colleges, highlights eight practices institutions should follow to best help students navigate the transfer of credit process — which is difficult to negotiate in the best of times — during the coronavirus pandemic. Students often find that some or many or their academic credits from one college aren’t accepted when they try to transfer to a different institution, especially if they are attempting to move from two-year to four-year colleges, or from nationally accredited colleges to those accredited by regional agencies. At the center of each principle is the acknowledgment that this is an unprecedented time that calls for institutions to respond in unprecedented, flexible ways, said Ted Mitchell, president and CEO of ACE. Institutions also need to put their students at the center of their decisions and remember that this situation is only exacerbating existing inequities in higher education.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Financial-Aid Appeals Are Mysterious. This Tool Was Built to Simplify Them.
By Eric Hoover
Financial-aid awards land with the thud of finality. Any student peering at a screen full of jargon and financial figures might wonder how to even go about asking a college to reconsider its offer. A new online tool called SwiftStudent was designed to help them do that. The free service, available to any student receiving federal aid, leads users through the ins and outs of requesting aid adjustments. The website provides appeal-letter templates for various situations. Say, a student loses housing. Or a medical crisis hits. Or a parent gets laid off. Many families are experiencing such hardships because of the Covid-19 crisis.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Counting on Employer-Paid Tuition Is Hardly a Safe Strategy Anymore. What Now?
By Goldie Blumenstyk
The limits of employer-paid tuition come starkly into relief. What’s next?
The number of people newly unemployed in the United States in the past three weeks is 17 million — and still climbing. That’s raising important questions about colleges’ and society’s reliance on employer-paid tuition programs as a way of serving working adults now that millions of them are suddenly cut off from their jobs. Losing an income and health-insurance benefits is certainly their more immediate worry, but the loss of a tuition benefit could derail many students’ educational plans. The staggering levels of unemployment have also heightened the need for additional policies aimed at helping students pay for postsecondary education, especially those who were already in the work force. Some interesting ideas are already emerging on that front, including a proposal from leaders at the Markle Foundation calling for unemployment insurance to include benefits specifically for education and training. I’m also hearing from college leaders who tell me that they expect far more people to be looking for shorter-term educational options if and when they decide to continue or start.
Inside Higher Ed
New computational analysis finds that underrepresented scholars outperform majority peers in terms of novel research, but they don’t reap the same rewards.
By Colleen Flaherty
Diverse voices and perspectives bring innovation to their organizations, but the people offering them don’t necessarily get credit or support for doing so. Business scholars have been studying this phenomenon for years and making the case that investing in diverse talent boosts an institution’s bottom line. A new study makes the same argument about academe: diversity is good for business. But instead of profit, the metric of choice here is research innovation. The findings are at once promising and sobering. Scholars from underrepresented groups, as a whole, achieve higher rates of scientific novelty, the study says. Yet novel contributions by gender and racial minorities are less likely to be taken up by their peers than are novel contributions by those in the majority.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
It’s Time for Radical Reorganization
Crises spur intense competition among colleges. There’s a better way.
By Brendan Cantwell and Barrett J. Taylor
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic calamity will reshape higher education for decades — together they could land a devastating blow to the sector. Recessions are especially hard on public institutions because states have cut their education appropriations. Enrollments typically swell during recessions, but no one knows for sure how students will respond to the current threat. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, running the country’s public colleges and universities cost approximately $372 billion in the 2016-17 academic year. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found state spending on public colleges in 2017 was nearly $9 billion below its 2008 level, after adjusting for inflation. Enter the federal government’s Cares Act. About $14 billion is set aside for higher ed, with half going to students and about half going to institutions. Institutional aid in the Cares Act wisely targets minority-serving institutions and colleges and universities that enroll many Pell Grant-eligible students, but funds are well short of the $50 billion that the American Council on Education estimates is needed in the near future.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BREAKING: 15,669 confirmed coronavirus cases, 587 deaths reported in Georgia
By Chelsea Prince
The coronavirus crisis in Georgia deepened Thursday as the state confirmed hundreds of more infections and the death toll neared 600. The Georgia Department of Public Health has confirmed 15,669 coronavirus cases, according to the latest data released at 9 a.m. Thursday. With a projected peak in deaths still weeks away, officials have verified that the deaths of at least 587 Georgians were due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus. Thirty-five more deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, according to the health department.
WABE
Coronavirus Updates: Georgia Is Expanding Testing, But You Still Need A Referral
Coronavirus deaths have topped 500 in Georgia, and public health officials reported over 15,000 cumulative infections. Nearly 20% of people testing positive for the virus have been hospitalized. Meanwhile, the state is expanding testing capacity at the state’s drive-thru sites and eligibility requirements. Now, all those who are symptomatic can be tested, though a referral will still be needed, according to the Georgia Department of Health. Referrals can be secured not just through health care providers, but also from local health departments. Priority for testing will still go to health care workers, first responders and law enforcement officers as well as residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, whether they have symptoms or not, the department said in a news release.
accessWDUN
United Way collecting masks, supplies to reach kids, families in need
By Alyson Shields Reporter
The United Way of Hall County is asking residents to help out their neighbors who may not have access to hygienic supplies like masks and cleaning supplies. “We are working to partner with the Northeast Georgia Health System and the schools to get homemade masks and some cleaning supplies out to the community,” said Jessica Dudley, President and CPO of United Way of Hall County. “We’re working to have these masks and cleaning supplies distributed when they are taking out food during the week on their bus stops.” Dudley said they hope to have 3,000 masks to meet their immediate need, but also know that the number of needed masks could grow.
Savannah Morning News
Georgia airports land piece of coronavirus economic stimulus package
By Dave Williams/Capitol Beat News Service
The Federal Aviation Administration is awarding $410.8 million in economic stimulus funding to 97 airports across Georgia to help offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will get by far the largest share of the money. At $338.5 million, it’s the largest single allocation in the nation from the $10 billion airport package. Airports and airlines across the country have been hit with huge financial losses by the virtual shutdown of the U.S. economy to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., one of Georgia’s largest employers, reported last month that March revenues would decline by almost $2 billion from the same month last year. “This $10 billion in emergency resources will help fund the continued operations of our nation’s airports during this crisis and save workers’ jobs,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said Tuesday. …Four other airports – Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville, McCollum Field in Marietta, Peachtree-DeKalb Airport and Fulton County Airport at Brown Field – will each receive $157,000 from the feds.
accessWDUN
Trump says new guidelines aim to lift some restrictions
By The Associated Press
President Donald Trump said he’s prepared to announce new guidelines allowing some states to quickly ease up on social distancing even as business leaders told him they need more coronavirus testing and personal protective equipment before people can safely go back to work. The industry executives cautioned Trump that the return to normalcy will be anything but swift. The new guidelines, expected to be announced Thursday, are aimed at clearing the way for an easing of restrictions in areas with low transmission of the coronavirus, while keeping them in place in harder-hit places. The ultimate decisions will remain with governors. “We’ll be opening some states much sooner than others,” Trump said Wednesday.