University System News:
The Augusta Chronicle
Augusta ERs see drop in serious illness, poll finds COVID-19 fear keeps patients away
By Tom Corwin
Augusta Emergency Departments are seeing a drop in patients who would normally show up with heart attacks or other serious illnesses. A new national poll confirms what Augusta doctors suspected that people are scared to go to the ERs because of COVID-19 but are at risk of greater harm if they don’t. As he noticed a drop in seriously ill patients coming to the Emergency Department at University Hospital, medical director Steve Currier suspected what a new national poll Tuesday confirmed: Patients are afraid to seek emergency treatment for fear of contracting COVID-19. That could have serious long-term health consequences for them later on, and Augusta emergency physicians said there has never been a safer time to seek care at an ER with all of the new precautions. The national poll by the American College of Emergency Physicians found an overwhelming majority — 80% — of those polled feared going to an ER because of fear of COVID-19. Nearly a third, 29%, said they had already put off or avoided seeking care because of those fears. University has seen about a 40% drop in its normal emergency volume since the outbreak began, and that includes serious illnesses such as heart attacks, Currier said.
WGAU
With campus closed, UGA works with community during COVID outbreak
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect lives in ways big and small, the members of the UGA community have persisted in working together to make things better. UGA faculty, staff and students have joined efforts to provide solutions for health care workers, small business owners, families and vulnerable populations. Here are some of the ways UGA is fighting back against the virus and offering resources to people in Georgia and beyond during this crisis.
Growing America
Georgia 4-H’er uses Project Achievement Skills to Sew Masks for Children
With the current shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, children visiting the hospital for emergency needs do not have proper protection from COVID-19. Emma Wilson, a 10-year-old from Hancock County, is using her 4-H Project Achievement skills to help by sewing masks specifically for children. “I have several family members who work in the medical field,” said Wilson. “My uncle, who is an ER nurse, told me about all the children coming into the ER with injuries because they are out of school and playing more. They were coming to the ER without masks and being exposed to COVID patients in the hospital.” In response, Wilson began her Keep Kids Safe project. Using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and surgical mask patterns, Wilson created CDC-approved cotton masks made specifically to fit children. The masks are washable which, allows the masks to be worn multiple times. Wilson enjoys creating masks with fun and colorful fabrics for children to enjoy. She feels this eases the tension and anxiety of having to wear a mask.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UGA hopes to reopen campuses for fall 2020 semester
By Eric Stirgus
University of Georgia President Jere Morehead said Tuesday he anticipates reopening its campuses, along with other schools in the University System of Georgia, for in-person instruction in August for the fall semester. “We are anticipating a resumption of in-person instruction for the Fall Semester beginning in August 2020 for all USG institutions,” Morehead wrote in a message Wednesday morning to students, faculty and staff. “However, I would emphasize that this situation remains a fluid one, as the USG monitors developments related to COVID-19 and receives counsel from state public health officials. Guidance could be subject to change, even after our plans are put in place. We will need to remain flexible and patient as we move forward.”
AllOnGeorgia
Ga Colleges, Universities Won’t Raise Tuition for 2020-21 School Year
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) voted earlier in April to approve a recommendation of no tuition increase for the 2020-2021 academic year. The Regents’ action means there will be no increase for any USG student. Students will pay the same tuition rates at all 26 USG institutions for the 2020-2021 academic year as they do now for the current 2019-2020 academic year. …The University System limited tuition increases among USG institutions to an average 0.9% annually for the past five years, well below the rate of inflation. This is the third time in five years there has been no tuition increase across the University System.
The George-Anne
Georgia Southern’s COVID-19 dorm move-out praised by the University System of Georgia
By Andy Cole
Traditionally, “Operation Move-Out” would’ve taken place in the coming weeks. This year, because of the outbreak of COVID-19, Georgia Southern University housing was forced to improvise and move thousands of students out quickly and safely nearly three months early. …University housing designed a plan that ensured the fewest amount of people, whether they be students, family members, volunteers or staff, cross paths. …“The way we structured the move outs would’ve allowed us to move out about 500 people per time block,” said Heins. “But again, spread all across campus over the course of four hours.” Each public institution in Georgia had to submit their move out plans to the University System of Georgia for approval. According to Melanie Miller, Ph.D, interim vice president of student affairs, the USG used GS’ plan as a model for other USG institutions.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
College professor: Many of us are trying to address student stress
By Maureen Downey
Professor adjusted assignments, demands in recognition of challenges
I wrote this week about complaints from some college students that professors were piling on the assignments and work in these last days before finals. Debbie Palmer, associate professor of psychology at Georgia Southwestern State University, reached out about that comment. She said many professors recognized the burden on students when college campuses closed due to the pandemic and all their classes shifted online. Instructors modified their instruction and their demands to address the challenges their students faced, she said. I asked her to share her efforts to adjust to the struggles of her students during the coronavirus pandemic. (For instance, a major problem today and yesterday has been widespread internet outages in north Georgia, including Woodstock and Canton.) Palmer is writing as an individual and not as a representative of the university.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Poll: Georgians back shelter-in-place, oppose rollback of restrictions
By Greg Bluestein
A broad majority of Georgia voters support a statewide shelter-in-place to combat the spread of the coronavirus, according to a University of Georgia survey released as Gov. Brian Kemp debates whether to extend stay-at-home orders set to expire Thursday night. The survey found about one-half of registered Georgia voters support the mandate that took effect April 3, and an additional one-quarter of voters “somewhat back it.” Only about 10% of Georgians oppose the idea; the rest are neutral or undecided.
Athens Banner-Herald
State shelter-in-place order expires after Thursday, but could continue in Athens
By Lee Shearer
Gov. Brian Kemp’s statewide shelter-in-place order expires after Thursday, but it may or may not continue in Athens —depending on what the governor’s next order is. Kemp’s separate state-of-emergency declaration will continue through May 13. Kemp could extend his order, extend it with modifications or simply let it expire. But sheltering in place will continue in Athens-Clarke County if the governor allows it, said Mayor Kelly Girtz.
WHSV
SURVEY: Researchers study impact of COVID-19 on exposure to tick-borne illnesses
Two Hollins University professors are collaborating with scientists from four other universities to determine if the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the time people spend outdoors, and if that change could result in increased exposure to ticks or tick-borne diseases. Elizabeth Gleim, assistant professor of biology and environmental studies, and Meg du Bray, a visiting assistant professor in environmental studies at Augustana College who will be joining the Hollins faculty this fall as an assistant professor of environmental studies, are working with researchers from the University of Georgia, Duke University, Clemson University, and the University of Rhode Island on a new study entitled “Investigating COVID-19 Impacts on the Epidemiology of Tick-Borne Diseases in People and Pets.”
The Sentinel
University waives tuition differentials, certain fees for summer courses
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved a Kennesaw State decision Tuesday, April 14, to waive tuition differentials and certain mandatory fees for summer courses due to the coronavirus. Students were first informed on Monday, April 20. Tuition differential fees are additional charges per credit hour for online courses that have historically been applied to students, Assistant Vice President of Strategic Communication Tammy Demel said. “However, KSU had been in the process of eliminating this additional charge and, with the impacts of COVID-19, the university has accelerated the timeframe and the fee will no longer be assessed,” Demel said. Certain mandatory fees will also be waived for summer courses. These include the activity fee, athletic fee, health fee, international fee, parking fee, Recreation Center fee, Sports and Recreation Parks fee, transportation fee and wellness fee, Demel said. These mandatory fees will resume for online courses in the Fall 2020 semester.
11Alive
UGA planning ‘gradual’ and ‘staggered’ reopening of campus
Officials anticipate a resumption of in-person instruction for the fall semester beginning in August for all USG institutions.
In a letter to faculty, staff and students, University of Georgia president Jere Morehead admits it’s not going to be easy to reopen the campus when the time comes, but said he anticipates in-person instruction for the fall semester. “All of us want to get back to an open and vibrant campus and resume normal operations, but that path will not be easy,” he said. “There are many questions to be answered.” While UGA plans to continue its May and summer semester courses online, he said planning is underway to consider how reopening the campus might look over the summer. Morehead, along with four other presidents in the University System of Georgia (USG), have been working together to determine the best approach.
11Alive
College students, worried about their future and scholarships, push for Pass/Fail option
Students across the state say they’re worried they might lose their scholarships due to challenges they face with remote learning.
Author: Ryan Kruger
College students across Georgia say they’re at risk of losing their scholarships unless drastic action is taken. On a Zoom conference call held Tuesday night, dozens of students – from every public college in the state – urged the University System of Georgia to institute a Pass/Fail grading system, instead of the traditional letter grade.
WABE
‘Appreciating The Rhythm Of The Natural World’: Studying Nature During The Pandemic
Molly Samuel
Human life feels disrupted in just about every way by the coronavirus, but outside, it’s spring. Flowers are blooming, baby animals are being born, and some people are still able to do their work, studying those things. Earlier this year, Corina Newsome, a grad student studying avian conservation at Georgia Southern University, set up nest boxes around campus with her students to monitor the birds that moved in. A pair of Carolina chickadees took up residence in one of the boxes and laid eggs in early April. Meanwhile, also in early April, the human residents of Georgia began sheltering in place. Newsome continued checking on the birds a couple times a week, even though her students weren’t on campus anymore.
Athens CEO
UGA Extension and Georgia Department of Agriculture Seek to Help Farmers Get Produce to Public
Maria M. Lameiras
Georgia farmers and agricultural producers eager to sell abundant supplies of fresh produce and other products are being connected with consumers and other buyers who need their products through a new partnership between University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Georgia Grown program. Because of disruptions to the industry triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, many agricultural producers in Georgia — particularly smaller growers and producers — are experiencing difficulties getting their products out to those who can use them. Through its Georgia Grown Ag-products Industry Promotion and E-commerce Promotion programs, Georgia Grown — a state membership program designed to help agribusinesses thrive by bringing producers, processors, suppliers, distributors, retailers, agritourism and consumers together — will waive all membership fees for the service until July to help producers affected by the crisis.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Latest Atlanta coronavirus news: COVID-19 cases in Georgia near 25K
Georgia confirms 24,844 coronavirus cases, 1,036 deaths
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is committed to providing our readers with the most comprehensive coverage of the deadly coronavirus. This blog will be updated throughout Wednesday, April 29, with news and details of COVID-19 in Georgia.
Albany Herald
Gov. Brian Kemp says COVID tests available, maintains there’s no rift with Trump
By Andy Miller Georgia Health News
Any Georgian with COVID-19 symptoms can now get tested, Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday. “We have the tests, we have the physicians, we have the sites, and we have the bandwidth. What we need now is more Georgians to participate,’’ Kemp told reporters at a press briefing at the state Capitol. The governor also defended his decision to reopen certain businesses Friday, and restaurants and movie theaters Monday. Georgia’s reopening plan is considered the most aggressive of any state during the pandemic.
Georgia Recorder
Georgians line up for COVID-19 testing as statewide availability grows
By Ross Williams
Last week, Geannine Mauldin of Cartersville came down with the symptoms everyone dreads these days – fever combined with an occasional cough, muscle aches, exhaustion and loss of taste and appetite. Mauldin looked online for a state COVID-19 testing location near her and found the Clarence Brown Conference Center in Cartersville. Driving in and getting her test went off without a hitch. “(There was) no problem at all,” she said. “I commented on a post, and a person who was helping do the testing told me they test anyone … I filled out a generic form … and drove to the front door. They came to my car and did the swab.” Expanding access to testing is now a top priority for Gov. Brian Kemp, who detailed the state’s progress in a press conference Monday.
Albany Herald
Georgia sets daily coronavirus testing record
By Dave Williams Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service
The state’s effort to increase testing for COVID-19 is starting to pay off. Nearly 13,000 new tests were reported to the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website Tuesday, the most in a single day since the coronavirus pandemic began. Initially, the state was testing only elderly Georgians and those with chronic illnesses, considered the most vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, as well as health-care workers and first responders likely to be exposed to the virus.
Albany Herald
New survey of nurses finds lingering supply problems and stress
By Andy Miller Georgia Health News
A new survey of Georgia nurses has found that four in 10 don’t feel safe or equipped to perform their duties amid the pandemic. The percentage of nurses feeling unsafe is lower than the roughly 70 percent who felt that way in a previous Georgia Nurses Association survey, taken in March. Still, it’s a disturbing percentage of the 200 respondents who feel uneasy. And as the first such survey by GNA revealed, personal protective equipment was cited by many as a source of their safety concerns. Masks, gloves, gowns, face shields and goggles — items known as personal protective equipment (PPE) — have been in short supply since the pandemic began.
Albany Herald
By Jacqueline Howard, CNN
As some Southeastern US states start to reopen, Georgia is projected to see its number of daily Covid-19 deaths nearly double by early August, according to a model shared by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and created by independent researcher Youyang Gu. The epidemiological model, which provides projections for 40 countries and every US state, has been included among the seven models CDC highlights on its website for Covid-19 forecasting. Gu said Tuesday that his model is based on an epidemiological methodology called SEIS, which stands for susceptible, exposed, infectious, susceptible modeling.
The Brunswick News
EPA, CDC release new cleaning, disinfecting guidelines
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidance today to help facility operators and families properly clean and disinfect spaces. Developed in concert with the White House, the guidance provides step-by-step instructions for public spaces, workplaces, businesses, schools, and homes, and falls in line with the Opening Up America Again guidelines. “These guidelines will provide all Americans with information they need to help the country reopen as safely as possible,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “These cleaning and disinfecting protocols will help ensure the health and safety of everyone in our homes, schools, offices and businesses.”
Savannah Morning News
Opinion
Editorial: What America can learn from other nations in the war on COVID-19
This editorial appeared in USA Today on Monday.
People in the United States like to believe in “American exceptionalism,” the notion that the nation’s military, economic and moral superiority make it an exception among the countries of the world. With nearly 55,000 confirmed lives lost in the United States so far and widespread economic disruption from the coronavirus, it is increasing apparent that America could learn a thing or two from how other democracies are managing the pandemic. Taiwan, for example, never ordered a lockdown. Its baseball season is in full swing, if without crowds, and the country is so flush with pandemic supplies that it is exporting 10 million masks to America and elsewhere. Under Iceland’s “lockdown lite,” kindergartens and elementary schools are on limited operations, allowing parents to work. South Korea’s malls and restaurants are bustling. Constraints are being eased in New Zealand and in Germany, which sits at the center of a European continent stricken with COVID-19.
USA 7th in pandemic death rates
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Colleges Could Lose 20% of Students
Projection comes from the latest survey of college students and would-be college students and does not consider community colleges or foreign students. Figures are particularly bleak for minority students.
By Scott Jaschik
Four-year colleges may face a loss of up to 20 percent in fall enrollment, SimpsonScarborough, a higher education research and marketing company, has predicted on the basis of multiple student surveys it has conducted. The findings are based on surveys of more than 2,000 college-bound high school seniors and current college students in March, just after the coronavirus began spreading in the United States, and in April, after three weeks of record unemployment claims. The finding are based on several surveys, one of which was released previously.
Inside Higher Ed
An Argument for ‘Remote’ Rather Than ‘Online’ Instruction
Might high-touch, residential colleges be better off tweaking the synchronous instruction they’ve done this spring rather than making a bigger shift if campuses are still closed to students in the fall? One campus official makes that case.
By Doug Lederman
In several recent columns and Inside Higher Ed webcasts about the COVID-19-driven emergency transition to virtual instruction, I’ve asserted that colleges and universities will have to raise their game if come fall they are still precluded from conducting in-person instruction. As I’ve described it, the brand of “remote” learning that most students have experienced this spring — lectures streamed synchronously via videoconferencing software, etc. — has been adequate for the moment, but it won’t meet what are likely to be students’ and parents’ heightened expectations if colleges have months more to prepare. Implicit in those statements has been my embrace of the idea that what we normally think of as online education — courses conceived and built with virtual delivery in mind, using consistent course design and deeply integrated student support, and delivered by instructors with meaningful training in online pedagogy — is better than the remote version institutions and instructors pulled together in a matter of days this spring when forced. And that that form of education is better enough than the Zoom-plus-chat room version that many students have encountered this spring that it’s a no-brainer to strive for that. But what if that’s not true — or at least doesn’t hold true for all colleges?
Inside Higher Ed
Several colleges announce intent to reopen campuses this fall, including Radford University, which said it will be “completely open,” including student housing and dining.
By Paul Fain
A growing number of colleges announced plans to reopen their campuses for the fall semester, in some cases using language that was more definitive than previously seen in higher education so far in the crisis. Radford University, for example, on Tuesday said it will resume full campus operations Aug. 3. Brian Hemphill, president of the public university in Virginia, in a message to faculty and staff members said the reopening would include campus housing and dining services. The university plans to resume in-person instruction on Aug. 24.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Here’s a List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall
By Chronicle Staff
(This article was last updated at 6:42 p.m. on April 28.)
The coronavirus pandemic has left higher-education leaders facing difficult decisions about when to reopen campuses and how to go about it. The Chronicle is tracking individual colleges’ plans. New additions to this list include American, Baylor, Elon, Furman, George Fox, Gonzaga, James Madison, Longwood, Midwestern State, New York, Radford, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Tulane, and Whitworth Universities; Dartmouth and Randolph Colleges; the Universities of California at Berkeley and San Diego; and the Universities of Chicago, Delaware, New Haven, and Pennsylvania. Use this form to tell us your college’s plans or if they are different than reported below. Please provide a link to relevant information on the college’s website or from a reputable news source.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Megan Zahneis
To account for the effects of the pandemic on scholars’ professional and personal lives, hundreds of institutions have extended their tenure clocks, giving junior faculty members extra time to prepare their dossiers. A similar courtesy ought to be afforded to their non-tenure-track and graduate-student colleagues, say a group of prominent academics. More than 70 scholars are among the initial signatories to an academic-solidarity statement that promises not to accept invitations — for speaking engagements, conferences, and workshops — at institutions that do not “include non-tenure-track faculty and graduate workers in extensions of fixed-term contracts.” “All academic workers deserve the relief of knowing that they have job security and the opportunity to complete their projects in more favorable conditions,” the statement reads. Joining the boycott, which will last at least through the 2020-21 academic year, are the novelist and creative-writing professor Zadie Smith, the philosophers Judith Butler and Seyla Benhabib, the race-studies scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, the cultural theorists Donna Haraway and Naomi Klein, the historians Nell Irvin Painter and Samuel Moyn, and the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Harold E. Varmus.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
How the Coronavirus Might — or Might Not — Slow Research Universities’ Ambitions
By Lindsay Ellis
The coronavirus’s financial toll may jeopardize colleges’ longstanding campaigns to bolster research, expand operations, and grow national prestige. The pursuit of that vision is a well-trodden path. Universities who set out to rise in Carnegie Foundation rankings, for example, attempt to add doctoral programs and invest internally in research in an effort to nab larger outside money later. The payoff can be big. Successful campuses could secure big grants, woo corporate partners, and recruit top faculty. Now, with the coronavirus disrupting all elements of campus life, money is tight everywhere. Small, private colleges face life-or-death decisions, and while research universities have larger cushions, they are announcing some of the biggest losses. How this sector fares during the pandemic may narrow striving research universities’ ambitious future plans.