University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia surpasses 3K cases of coronavirus, reaches 102 deaths
By Chelsea Prince and Zachary Hansen
[8:07 p.m.]: The Georgia Department of Public Health tweaked the number of coronavirus cases and deaths reported from the 7 p.m. update to add two more deaths and four more confirmed cases.
In total, 102 people have died due to the virus. There have been 3,032 cases of COVID-19, which has hospitalized 773 people (about 25.5%).
Marietta Daily Journal
University System of Georgia collecting ‘critical’ medical supplies for healthcare workers
By Thomas Hartwell
The University System of Georgia is working with state government and emergency response teams to redirect critical medical supplies, including masks and gloves, from universities to hospitals, according to a news release. Public safety and emergency management personnel at all 26 USG institutions are coordinating with departments on each campus to inventory and collect the supplies, which are typically used for research, campus maintenance, nursing programs and on-campus health clinics, among other jobs, the release says. The collection of the supplies is part of a partnership between the USG, the office of Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State universities to provide ventilators, masks in coronavirus fight
By Scott Trubey
The University System of Georgia is providing dozens of ventilators and hundreds of thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment from its 26 colleges and universities to help health workers fighting the coronavirus outbreak. The state’s public colleges and universities announced Monday that they will work with Gov. Brian Kemp’s office, the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) and the state’s emergency management agency to distribute the supplies. The equipment includes 38 ventilators, nearly 20,000 surgical and N95 respirator masks and more than 375,000 gloves.
Gainesville Times
What federal declaration of major disaster for Georgia means for state
Jeff Gill
A major disaster for Georgia has been declared by President Donald Trump due to the impacts from the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Brian Kemp said Sunday, March 29. “Georgia is grateful for this designation, as it will enable the state to continue partnering with federal agencies in a coordinated fight against this pandemic,” Kemp said. “The presidential declaration is a critical step in providing additional assistance to our state and local governments as they continue to respond to COVID-19.”
WABE
Georgia’s Economist Discusses The Pandemic’s Impact On State Budget
EMMA HURT
Jeffrey Dorfman, the state’s fiscal economist, is tasked with forecasting Georgia’s revenue collections, which form the basis for the state’s budget. That job, he said, has become “pretty much impossible,” given the current economic uncertainty.
WABE’s Emma Hurt spoke with Dorfman about that task and how the coronavirus could impact the state’s budget. He said federal relief very well might mitigate the necessity of budget cuts, and cautioned Georgia will likely have a much clearer picture of the impact of the pandemic on revenues in the next few weeks.
Find the full audio of the interview attached and an excerpted transcript below.
Emma Hurt: Tell me about the work of the economic impact subcommittee you serve on, on Gov. Brian Kemp’s Coronavirus Task Force. What are you all talking about as we speak?
Jeffrey Dorfman: We’ve been working on what industries should be on the list of essential industries in Georgia that we need to keep open, trying to come up with ideas for how to help all Georgia businesses and citizens keep our economy going as best we can and how to implement policies in a way that doesn’t have negative unforeseen consequences.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ga. university system creates free learning tools for all
By Eric Stirgus
The University System of Georgia is offering new tools for all residents to take various courses, ways to help parents homeschooling and access textbooks for free, an effort officials say they fast-tracked because of the coronavirus pandemic. “The intention is to try to help people learn in different ways for different periods of their lives,” Tristan Denley, the system’s chief academic officer, said in an interview. “What we want to do is give easy access to learners throughout the state.” Denley said system leaders decided to speed up this effort, called “USG Learning Everywhere,” as the system closed campuses to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and moved to virtual learning for the rest of the spring semester.
The Augusta Chronicle
Augusta National’s $2 million donation will increase testing, assist nonprofits
By Susan McCord
“Many, many lives will be saved” by the $2 million donation that Augusta National Golf Club and the Community Foundation for the CSRA made to the area’s coronavirus relief effort, Augusta University President Brooks Keel said Monday. At an afternoon news conference, Keel and Mayor Hardie Davis expressed their gratitude to the golf club for the donation of $1 million to the university health system and $1 million to help charitable organizations help others and stay afloat. “By taking this sort of leadership role, using their precious resources and the resources of their members to support the community of Augusta, there is no question that through the generosity of Augusta National Golf Club in collaboration with the community foundation that many, many lives will be saved,” Keel said. Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said the club has a responsibility to the local community to help out during a trying time.
U.S. News & World Report
The Latest: US Open Tennis Site to House Temporary Hospital
The site of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York is going to be used for 350 temporary hospital beds and to prepare food packages during the coronavirus pandemic.
By Associated Press, Wire Service Content
… Augusta National is donating $2 million, split evenly to Augusta University to expand testing for the new coronavirus and to a local relief agency to help those affected financially by the pandemic. The gift is in partnership with the Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), the longtime charitable arm for the home of the Masters. Chairman Fred Ridley says the $1 million to Augusta University will help with telemedicine pre-screening, triple the number of drive-through testing lanes on campus and allow for more supplies and personnel to increase testing from 100 to 1,000 or more tests daily.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First day of online learning brings change to Georgia’s largest colleges
By Eric Stirgus
Students at many of Georgia’s largest public universities on Monday made the switch to virtual learning and while officials braced for glitches, they believe it went relatively well. Three of the state’s four largest institutions — Georgia State, the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech — began virtual learning Monday. The fourth, Kennesaw State, began remote learning earlier this month. Administrators and faculty spent the last two weeks preparing for the transition after campuses were closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The transition to online learning, officials said, is a major shift. As Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera said in a video “in our almost 136-year history, for the first time we will not be hosting face-to-face classes.” Some classes were taught live while others contained video posted by professors. Many students said they preferred the former in order to ask questions and get immediate feedback.
Savannah CEO
Staff Report
As Georgia Southern University moved more than 5,000 classes online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the students who started back to classes today discovered professors who are engaging students with creative solutions for remote learning during unprecedented times. “These are units that don’t traditionally go online,” stated Dustin Anderson, Ph.D., associate professor of literature, provost faculty fellow and appointed online transition coordinator for the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs. “This is where we are being most creative moving remotely.” Janel Smith, Ed.D., director of the B.S.Ed. and MAT Middle Grades and Secondary Education programs, is using the current news and media coverage to help students learn about media literacy as well as mathematical education. In her math methods course, Smith’s students report on statistics and numerical data they see on their social media and news platforms to discuss perceptions and misperceptions of how data can be used.
The Red & Black
UGA classes resume online Monday
Jacqueline GaNun | City News Editor
Classes resume Monday at the University of Georgia following the two-week suspension of instruction mandated by the University System of Georgia on March 12. USG announced on March 16 all USG institutions would move to online instruction for the rest of the spring semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most professors will use digital methods to teach and keep in contact with students, including through eLearning Commons, Zoom and email. Students can receive free internet access for 60 days from Spectrum, and Comcast is offering internet to students as well, according to a Facebook post from the Franklin College Office of Academic Advising.
The Tifton Gazette
ABAC begins four day work week April 6
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. until 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.” Willis said ABAC will return to its regular hours on July 27. The fall semester begins on Aug. 12.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite student pleas, University System of Georgia won’t change grading to pass/fail
Even amid pandemic, system says it’s critical to maintain high academic standards
Despite the adoption of pass/fail grades by many colleges across the country, the University System of Georgia plans to maintain regular letter grades. A spokesman for the University System of Georgia — which oversees the state’s 26 public colleges and universities — said Monday: The University System of Georgia is aware some institutions around the nation have decided to shift to pass/fail grading after transitioning to remote education. We are confident our students will rise to the challenge, and the USG will do everything in its power to help them do so. We trust our faculty to teach and grade students effectively. In times of adversity, we should reach higher, not lower. Maintaining high academic standards is critical to the success of USG students now and in the future. Continuing letter grading for the final few weeks of the semester will allow faculty to assess the performance of students in the same manner as they always have. The USG is confident that faculty and students will rely on the resilience they have shown thus far and continue to meet our high standards.
The Red & Black
UGA students call for pass/fail grading system for online classes
Samantha Perez | Contributor
University of Georgia students are petitioning for the university to adopt a pass/fail grading system for spring semester as classes shift to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One petition asks for the pass/fail system to be opt-in only and has garnered over 4,400 signatures as of Sunday. Olivia Richardson, a sophomore cognitive science and psychology double major, said she started the petition after she realized the scope of people affected by the coronavirus and the transition to online classes. Richardson said this situation will likely affect the mental and physical health of faculty members and students. Additionally, she said students will not be afforded the in-person resources while learning outside of UGA’s campus, such as physical library textbooks, free tutoring and one-on-one meetings with professors.
Athens Banner-Herald
Georgia university students asking for pass-fail grades in COVID-19 digital shift
By Lee Shearer
Thousands of University System of Georgia students have signed a petition calling for pass-fail grading as classes resume online after a two-week hiatus. However, university system officials so far are saying they’ll keep traditional grading in place to maintain high academic standards. The University System of Georgia is the state’s network of public colleges and universities, which includes the University of Georgia, the University of North Georgia and 24 other schools. …As of early Monday afternoon, more than 5,000 students had signed a petition asking the system to allow opt-in pass-fail grading. Another 500 law students from the system’s two law schools, at UGA and Georgia State University, have filed a similar petition.
Albany Herald
UGA experts offer advice on how to stay healthy in the house
By Govindaraj Dev Kumar and Laurel L. Dunn CAES News
As messages about COVID-19 come in from all angles, consumers need clear, direct information on how to keep themselves and their families safe from potential infection. To assist in providing this information, and to address concerns, University of Georgia scientists Laurel L. Dunn and Govind Dev Kumar, assistant professors in the department of food science and technology at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, have answered some common questions individuals may have.
Is COVID-19 likely to be transferred from food, including fresh produce, or water?
The Covington News
UGA food safety expert: Takeout is a low-risk option
Special to The Covington News
As restaurant owners have moved to food delivery and curbside takeout services in response to coronavirus concerns, many customers have wondered how safe the practice is. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, foodborne exposure to the virus is not known to be a route of transmission, and there have been no reports of transmission via food or food packaging. Takeout is a good choice to lower risk of exposure because it reduces the number of touch points relative to eating in a restaurant, said Elizabeth Andress, a UGA Extension food safety specialist in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
WGAU
UGA 4H designs on-line learning programs for pandemic home schoolers
By: Sharon Dowdy
Public schools across Georgia are closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and many parents are scrambling to help with schoolwork. To help parents and to continue providing youth development resources to children across the state, the Georgia 4-H program is delivering daily online 4-H activities. Beginning Wednesday, March 18, lessons on a host of topics are being emailed daily, including agriculture, health and wellness, snack ideas and community service projects. Wednesdays will be dedicated to healthy living topics prepared by Burke County UGA Extension Family and Consumer Science Agent Terri Black. The daily activities can be completed at home with common household items. The free lessons are geared for youth ages five to 18 and 4-H membership is not required. The UGA Extension agents plan to send out the lessons at least through April 30.
Albany Herald
Fort Valley program offers ag scholarships
Fort Valley State University’s College of Agriculture, Family Sciences and Technology has partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a scholarship program seeking to increase the number of students studying agriculture, food, natural resource sciences and other agriculture-related disciplines. The USDA awarded FVSU $2.25 million. The FVSU 1890 Scholarship Program will provide financial assistance to freshmen and transfer students of up to $8,120 per academic year (up to $32,480 for four years). Ralph Noble, dean of FVSU’s CAFST, said the college is excited for this opportunity to recruit, retain and mentor students majoring in FVSU’s agricultural programs.
Northwest Georgia News
Robinson’s continue tradition of hosting UGA students, cattlemen
Contributed Report
Glenn and Laura Robinson recently hosted University of Georgia Professor Dr Lee Jones, DVM and four future large animal veterinarian students at their Sleeping R Ranch. The students, all of whom graduate in May, practiced working in real-world conditions as they tested heifers at several different farms across Polk County to ensure they were ready to breed. Robinson has been coordinating twice-yearly visits by Dr. Jones’ students and other Polk cattlemen for the past six years. Dr. Jones noted “it is a great experience for the UGA Vet students to get hands-on practical experience on local farms.”
Medium.com
5 Ways To Develop Serenity During Anxious Times, With Dr. Bindiya Gandhi
Dr. William Seeds
Asa part of my series about the things we can do to develop serenity and support each other during anxious times, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Bindiya Gandhi.
Dr. Bindiya Gandhi of Revive Atlanta MD is double-boarded by the American Board of Family Medicine as well as the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Physicians. She completed her family medicine training from Georgia Regents University/Medical College of Georgia in June 2014. Her interests include integrative, holistic and functional medicine, women’s health, preventative medicine, international medicine, and health care reform. Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path? I am an integrative and functional medicine doctor. I have been practicing this way for the last six years. I got into Integrative/Functional medicine because I knew the current health care system was not working. I knew early on there was more to medicine than just medicine and prescriptions. It also took a personal health toll to validate why I needed to go down this route when I was suffering from a rash and conventional medicine wasn’t able to help.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Covid-19: The Crisis That Launched 1,000 Student Surveys
By Eric Hoover
Did you see that brand-new survey of prospective college students? No, the other one. Wait, sorry. Those came out last week. This one came out today. Oh, FYI, two more are coming out tomorrow. As Covid-19 spreads uncertainty throughout higher education, college officials are fretting about how the pandemic will affect their enrollments. Meanwhile, various companies are surveying — and surveying and surveying — prospective students as if the health of an entire industry hangs in the balance. Which, you know, it does. Now, as April nears, one set of findings after another seems to feed the flames of worry. It’s enough to overwhelm anyone whose job involves bringing in enough revenue. What, exactly, does all this surveying add up to? Sure, various data points offer snapshots of students’ in-the-moment thinking about how this unprecedented crisis could affect their college choices. But these surveys are also a means by which consulting firms and other companies in the higher-education realm can publicly assert their in-house expertise, thought leadership, and data-informed on-the-ball-ish-ness.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
10 Tips to Support Students in a Stressful Shift to Online Learning
By Kelly Field
When Hurricane Katrina struck the southeastern United States, in 2005, it forced widespread college closures and scattered an estimated 100,000 students across the country. In the chaotic days that followed, Andre Perry, then a professor at the University of New Orleans, lost touch with a number of his students. Many never returned to the campus. Now, as colleges nationwide have canceled classes, shifted online, and sent students away, that disconnection is happening on a much larger scale, with what Perry worries will be devastating results. He is urging faculty members whose institutions have closed to check in with their students often, even daily, during these critical first weeks. “As someone who has been through the tragedy of Katrina, I can tell you that faculty have an obligation to reach out and connect with students,” he says. In times of disruption, when people’s education and lives have been upended, he says, “relationships matter more than ever.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Why You Should Ignore All That Coronavirus-Inspired Productivity Pressure
By Aisha S. Ahmad
Among my academic colleagues and friends, I have observed a common response to the continuing Covid-19 crisis. They are fighting valiantly for a sense of normalcy — hustling to move courses online, maintaining strict writing schedules, creating Montessori schools at their kitchen tables. They hope to buckle down for a short stint until things get back to normal. I wish anyone who pursues that path the very best of luck and health. Yet as someone who has experience with crises around the world, what I see behind this scramble for productivity is a perilous assumption. The answer to the question everyone is asking — “When will this be over?” — is simple and obvious, yet terribly hard to accept. The answer is never. Global catastrophes change the world, and this pandemic is very much akin to a major war. Even if we contain the Covid-19 crisis within a few months, the legacy of this pandemic will live with us for years, perhaps decades to come. It will change the way we move, build, learn, and connect. There is simply no way that our lives will resume as if this had never happened. And so, while it may feel good in the moment, it is foolish to dive into a frenzy of activity or obsess about your scholarly productivity right now. That is denial and delusion. The emotionally and spiritually sane response is to prepare to be forever changed. The rest of this piece is an offering.
Inside Higher Ed
Displaced college students and faculty members look to each other for support and understanding at a time of anxiety and uncertainty.
By Greta Anderson
As college students and faculty members face an onslaught of stressors related to the disruptions in their lives caused by the coronavirus pandemic, they are relying on each other for connection and coping strategies to help ease the weight of the public health crisis on their mental health. While administrators and other employees are undoubtedly also affected by the dramatic departure of people from college and university campuses across the country, the upheaval has been most felt by students and faculty members who interacted more frequently and consistently — and had more symbiotic relationships — than others on campus. Many students and faculty now find themselves functioning in unfamiliar terrain — and struggling emotionally.
Inside Higher Education
A Double Whammy for Student Parents
Vulnerable students are being hit hard by the changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Student parents are affected two times over, as both they and their children scramble to start learning online.
By Madeline St. Amour
This has been a nerve-racking time for Chelsea Callender. The 22-year-old junior at Bowie State University in Maryland had to switch her 3-year-old daughter from a childcare center to an in-home daycare last week, after the childcare center closed down due to concerns around the coronavirus. She was in the process of moving from one job to another when her old job shut down and left her without her last week of pay. The job she was planning to move to — teaching children how to swim — is also now shut down due to the coronavirus. She’s now relying on a second, part-time job teaching children about art. Her job hasn’t yet been shut down but is giving out fewer hours because people are canceling appointments. Meanwhile, Callender had been planning to take classes in the summer after taking this semester off to work through financial aid issues and work extra hours. She needs to turn in a financial aid appeal in May and doesn’t know whether someone will be there to approve it. …About nine in 10 single mothers live in poverty or with low incomes, according to Reichlin Cruse. Not only are they possibly losing their jobs in the economic crisis, they’re also losing their childcare and community or college resources. And they’re being asked to suddenly take courses online while also helping their children learn online.
Inside Higher Education
The University of Washington was one of the first U.S. institutions to move online amid the pandemic. Here’s how faculty say the transition is going.
By Lilah Burke
The University of Washington was the first major U.S. college or university to announce, amid rising concerns about the coronavirus’s spread, that it would move instruction online. At that point Seattle was the epicenter of the disease in the United States. The UW campuses were kept open for students who had nowhere else to go, but many chose to leave. Preliminary data from the university showed occupancy on campus for this spring is about 22 to 24 percent of what it was in the fall. Though the university is enrolling more registered students this spring than last, it saw an increased number of student withdrawals after March 18, when it announced the move to remote instruction for the full spring quarter. From that day to March 29, there were 225 withdrawals, compared to 153 in the same period last year. We checked in with faculty members at the university to ask how the transition was going for them and their students.
Other News:
Albany Herald
MONTY VEAZEY: Community hospitals vital in times of crisis
By Monty Veazey
Our community hospitals are on the front line in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, working with the CDC, Gov. Brian Kemp and local officials to treat all patients, control the spread of the virus, and develop recovery and mitigation initiatives. Preparedness efforts began months ago, and our hospitals are collaborating with one another to share best practices. While each hospital’s response varies based on local community needs, our member hospitals are taking actions that include:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coronavirus is spreading in Georgia prisons
By Christian Boone
COVID-19 continues to spread in Georgia’s jails and prisons. The disease caused by the novel coronavirus is present in eight of the state’s prisons. Twenty-two people — split evenly among staff and offenders — have tested positive at 10 different facilities, most located in south Georgia. At Lee State Prison, 14 miles north of one of the state’s worst hot spots for the virus, five staff members and seven inmates have tested positive. At the Fulton County Jail, nine inmates tested positive over a 24-hour period starting Sunday. Fourteen prisoners, all men, have contracted the virus and all but one are being treated in isolation, inside the jail, officials said. Dr. Carlos del Rio, chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, predicts COVID-19 deaths won’t peak for another three weeks.