University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In hard-hit Georgia, virus expected to linger
By Alan Judd
Confirmed cases up 472% in one week; deaths stand at 56. Georgia is under a particularly brutal siege from the novel coronavirus, a situation unlikely to end for weeks, or even longer. Only five states have reported more deaths than Georgia from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to the latest available data. And even though the state has tested only the sickest patients, excluding those who exhibit no severe symptoms of the disease, Georgia still ranks 10th nationally in confirmed cases… “Our population in general is sicker,” said Dr. Harry J. Heiman, a clinical associate professor at Georgia State University’s School of Public Health. The risk of serious illness or death from the coronavirus is greater in Georgia, he said, “just because our population is less healthy to start with.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia college students, faculty adjust to remote learning
By Eric Stirgus
Kennesaw State University math professor Babak Moazzez asked his calculus class a question about 15 minutes into his lecture Thursday morning. “Good, Daniel,” the professor said after the student correctly typed his response. A few minutes later, four students wrote answers to another question. Until last week, Moazzez’s class met on campus, and students asked and answered questions face-to-face. Now, like all KSU courses, it’s being done remotely. Students log in to watch the professor teach. Moazzez writes formulas and text that appear in the middle of the screen. Students type answers to his questions that appear in the top right corner.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATE: Two more Georgia Tech students test positive for COVID-19
By Eric Stirgus
UPDATE: Georgia Tech said Thursday two students have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to three students from the school with the disease. One of the students who tested positive was last on campus on March 12 and the other was last on campus on March 13, Georgia Tech said on its website. Both reported their symptoms started several days after leaving campus while on Spring Break. The conditions of these two students was not immediately available Thursday, a spokesman said. On Monday, Georgia Tech reported an unidentified male student traveled out of state with friends the first weekend of Spring Break tested positive. The student was last actively on campus on March 11, officials said.
The Wall Street Journal
Can You Socialize While Social Distancing? Sort Of.
By Katherine Bindley
At 3:01 p.m. on March 19, Andy Hammond sent a note to his neighborhood’s email list. The Montclair, N.J., 49-year-old had learned through a local news outlet that some residents in the area were gathering outside for a nightly toast, and he wanted his block to do the same. At 3:03 p.m., one of his neighbors emailed the group with the exact same idea… Emma Barhoumi, a junior at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, says she thought she had a reliable coronavirus buddy: She and a friend had already been hanging out regularly when officials started recommending social distancing, so she thought it would be safe to keep hanging out with that friend and her roommate—but only those two people, plus her mother.
Albany Herald
ABAC begins four-day work week April 6
By Staff Reports
TIFTON — Because of the changes brought about by coronavirus, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will begin a four-day work week beginning April 6 and continuing through July 24. ABAC Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Paul Willis said ABAC will be open from 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The college will be completely closed on Friday. “With no students on campus during the remainder of the spring semester, this gives us a chance to be as energy-efficient as possible,” Willis said. “Employees will be able to spend a three-day weekend with their families throughout this time frame.”
WRDW
Augusta University students return to U.S. after being trapped in Peru by coronavirus
By Steve Byerly
Seven Augusta University students are back in the United States after being stuck in Peru during the coronavirus pandemic. After traveling to Cusco, Peru, they ended up being trapped there when coronavirus cases there started to spike and airlines started canceling flights. They had no luck, then things got worse after Peru closed its borders early last week. But they’re back on U.S. soil now. “We are officially back in the US, Miami to be exact!” student Erin Hill posted on Facebook early Thursday.
Albany Herald
Social distancing leads to loneliness in seniors
By Naomi Thomas
Social distancing is a vital tool to help seniors avoid COVID-19. But it may be exacerbating a longtime problem for older people: social isolation, which can lead to loneliness. “We’ve already been worried about loneliness as an epidemic before all of this hit, and that’s because older adults, and not just because they’re older, become lonely,” Kerstin Emerson, a clinical associate professor in the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Georgia College of Public Health, said. Though every person’s situation is different, Emerson noted that older people are more likely than others to be chronically ill, stuck at home, widowed or living far from relatives.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia expecting historic surge in jobless claims
By Michael E. Kanell
Georgia officials are expected Thursday to announce a historic surge in unemployment claims, with massive numbers of workers laid off from restaurants, stores and other businesses as the coronavirus crisis deepens. Meanwhile, Congress and the White House were wrestling over a massive deal that is expected to extend the length of time a person can collect unemployment benefits, offer small companies emergency loans, bail out some big firms and send checks to most American households… “The jobs that are most at risk are the ones that require interpersonal behavior,” said economist Jason Delaney, an assistant dean at Georgia Gwinnett College. “You can’t order a haircut on Amazon.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Annual Peabody Ceremony postponed due to coronavirus
By Courtney Kueppers
The annual Peabody Ceremony was slated to make its Los Angeles debut on June 18, but it will have to wait for the time being. Peabody announced earlier this year that the event, which has traditionally been held in New York, would make the move to Hollywood for the first time. While the show will eventually go on, the ceremony has been postponed due to coronavirus concerns… The Peabody program is based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. The awards recognize excellence in TV, radio and journalism, among other categories.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
If the Coronavirus Collapses State Budgets, What Will Happen to Public Colleges?
By Francie Diep
Harvey Kesselman, president of Stockton University, got the bad news in a text from New Jersey’s secretary of higher education: Half of Stockton’s state operating aid would be held back for the rest of the fiscal year. On Monday, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, New Jersey announced a spending freeze of $920 million that had already been allocated by the Legislature, including half of all funds headed to public colleges like Stockton. (New Jersey had more than 6,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus as of Thursday.) The move was one of the first big signs of the troubled waters ahead for state support for higher education. It won’t be the last. Skyrocketing unemployment claims portend deep declines in tax revenue for states, many of which have in the past responded to economic downturns by cutting funds for public colleges. If history repeats itself, those institutions could be left scrambling to make up the budgetary gaps.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
For Many Graduate Students, Covid-19 Pandemic Highlights Inequities
By Megan Zahneis
As higher education reels from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, graduate students say they face a unique set of challenges, including difficulty getting access to research materials, concern about finishing their degrees on time, and pressing financial troubles. Administrators are focusing attention on faculty members and undergraduates, some grad students complain, reinforcing the feeling that they are second-class citizens. Anna Meier, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said her peers are preoccupied with paying their rent and the fees graduate students pay each semester for the use of campus facilities. The supports her department has announced thus far — doubling conference-travel funding for 2021, extending deadlines on papers — are, she said, “missing the point.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education
How to Help Struggling Students Succeed Online
By Beth McMurtrie
As instructors across the country move to remote teaching, many are worried about students who are already at a disadvantage. How can professors support them during this challenging time? Maybe these students come from underresourced high schools or are the first in their family to attend college. Maybe they need additional academic support as they struggle to manage their time, devise good study habits, and engage in class. Connecting with students — all students — becomes that much more difficult remotely. On top of that, students may now be spread across different time zones or lack access to Wi-Fi and laptops.
Inside Higher Ed
Presidents Fear Financial, and Human, Toll of Coronavirus
By Doug Lederman
College and university presidents are deeply worried that the coronavirus crisis could wreak havoc on their institutions’ finances in the near term and, especially, beyond. But right now, they say they’re most concerned about the toll the crisis could take on the mental health of their students and employees. Those are among the key findings of a survey of 172 campus leaders Inside Higher Ed conducted with Hanover Research last week, as the sweeping scope of the COVID-19 situation came into clearer focus in the United States.
Florida Trend
Florida universities expand pass/fail grading due to the coronavirus
By Staff Reports
Three of Florida’s largest universities announced Tuesday the expansion of pass/fail grading due to the coronavirus, following petitions signed by tens of thousands of students urging officials to do so. Pass/fail grading, also known as S/U grading, allows a student to take a course and receive one of two grades: satisfactory, which means passing, or unsatisfactory, which means failing. The measure is usually used only for select classes but will now be available at the University of South Florida, Florida State University and the University of Central Florida to most students who apply.
Insider Higher Ed
By Colleen Flaherty
“Can you move the computer closer?” asks a disembodied voice. “Because we see a lot of roof.” “Ah, I think it looks much better,” another invisible person says a few minutes later, following adjustments to the setup for Kaitlin Rasmussen’s virtual doctoral thesis defense. Rasmussen, looking into her computer screen, half smiles and says, “I’m so excited for this to be over.” She cheers up when sees and hears that many of her friends — including one from Australia, where it’s 1 a.m. — are tuned in to her defense via Zoom.