University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia university system leader says layoffs may be necessary
By Eric Stirgus
Layoffs and furloughs may be necessary to meet the state’s new budget requirements, the University System of Georgia Chancellor wrote in a letter Friday to faculty and staff. Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget office and state legislative leaders told state agencies, which includes the University System, they should plan on cutting about $3.5 billion from their budgets in the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1. Each agency should expect to cut 14% from their already tight spending plans. Wrigley said in his letter that “among actions that may be taken include furloughs and layoffs. Additionally, we are placing a hold on all vacant positions not deemed essential, and remain committed to a critical hire process for the few that are. We will be faced with some uncertainty until the FY21 budget is adopted and approved.”
The Augusta Chronicle
State agencies facing steep budget cuts in Georgia amid COVID-19
By Beau Evans, Capitol Beat News Service
State agencies in Georgia are being asked to cut up to $3.8 billion from their budgets to absorb the economic downturn caused by coronavirus. The deep cuts to Georgia’s budget come as tax revenues are expected to plummet after weeks of statewide business closures and stay-at-home orders prompted by the virus. In a memo penned Friday, budget leaders in the General Assembly and Gov. Brian Kemp’s office directed state agencies to propose how they will cut their budgets by 14%. Those proposals are due May 20, around the time lawmakers are set to resume in-person committee meetings. “While the Great Recession of 2008 was considered then to be a ‘once in a lifetime’ event, our current situation will certainly overshadow it,” the memo says. “That is why this request is being made to ALL areas of the state budget with no exceptions.”
See also:
WGAU
USG, UGA facing sweeping budget cuts because of coronavirus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech holds ‘atypical’ virtual commencement celebration
By Eric Stirgus
There was pomp. There were speeches. There were a few technical glitches. That was how what Georgia Tech called its “atypical” virtual commencement celebration went Friday afternoon. The Midtown Atlanta institution held a nearly two-hour celebration after postponing its in-person ceremony because of the novel coronavirus pandemic that forced all schools to close their campuses. It’s perhaps the first Georgia college or university to hold an online commencement. A few others are planning virtual ceremonies in coming weeks. Several schools are planning in-person ceremonies this fall. Some students have organized small graduation celebrations themselves. …Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera spoke from an empty McCamish Pavilion, where the commencement was previously scheduled. Cabrera, like other faculty members, praised the 3,800 graduates for their perseverance. He encouraged students to continue to rise through this challenge.
Politico
College choice: Reopen and risk virus spread or face financial ruin
Financial woes in the billions loom if campuses stay shut, especially at small, historically black colleges.
By Bianca Quilantan and Juan Perez Jr.
Public colleges and universities face intense pressure to throw open classroom doors even as health officials warn of potential spikes in coronavirus cases come the fall. College presidents and their boards have a seemingly impossible task: Protect school finances without putting student and faculty lives in danger. Colleges could be sued if schools reopen dorms and dining halls as a second wave of infections strikes. But financial woes in the billions loom if campuses stay shut, especially at small, historically black colleges. …Flagship universities in GOP-led states like Texas and Georgia say they plan to welcome students back this fall as well as Purdue University in Vice President Mike Pence’s home state of Indiana. …The University System of Georgia is facing the potential loss of up to $350 million in revenue through the summer, Chancellor Steve Wrigley told regents this month, and the system has looked to embattled Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and a state task force for guidance on reopening nearly 30 campuses that enroll upwards of 300,000 students.
WABE
Social Distancing Reduced Virus Spread By 50% In Georgia, Study Finds
Emily Green
As the statewide shelter-in-place order ended, a new Georgia Institute of Technology study projects how many lives have been saved due to strict social distancing measures and projects the fatality rate going forward. The study estimates that the state has reduced transmission rates by 50%. But it offers a grim analysis if the state opens too quickly, projecting tens of thousands of deaths if Georgians return to “business as usual.” “We find that social distancing interventions are working, but relaxing them may lead to further increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” the study’s authors wrote. The sobering projections come as Georgia’s shelter-in-place expired late Thursday and people begin returning to work. Gov. Brian Kemp allowed some businesses, including restaurants, nail salons and bowling alleys, to reopen last week and Monday. “Today we are taking another measured step to protect the lives – and livelihoods – of all Georgians. We will continue to work around the clock to follow the data, heed the advice of public health officials, and keep Georgia families safe,” Kemp said in a tweet on Thursday. The study was led by Joshua Weitz and Dr. Stephen Beckett, both professors of biological sciences at Georgia Tech. Among their findings:
Patch
Kennesaw State University Opens Coronavirus Testing Site In Cobb County
Testing will be done Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.- 12 p.m.
By Press Release Desk, News Partner
Kennesaw State University (KSU) is now a COVID-19 testing site. Under the direction of Governor Brian Kemp, the Georgia National Guard has selected KSU to host a new, drive-thru site to test Georgians for COVID-19. The testing site, located on the university’s Kennesaw campus, will be commanded by the Georgia National Guard, with testing performed by medical personnel from Augusta University. Testing will be by appointment only. No walk-up testing will be allowed in order to protect workers. The testing facility at Kennesaw State will operate daily, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and will be able to facilitate 240 tests each day. This location will be operated as a controlled environment with personnel following the strictest health and safety protocols.
Albany Herald
10 percent of people infected with COVID-19 are health care workers
By Andy Miller
Ten percent of the people known to have been infected with COVID-19 in Georgia are health care workers, state figures show. The Public Health data show that of the 2,600 infected health care personnel in the state, 81 percent are female. Half are African-American. Workplace exposure to COVID-19 patients is a major cause. A recent CDC report found that infected health care workers reported contact with COVID-19 patients in health care, household and community settings. But the majority said the exposure occurred in health care settings. …“We have been very concerned that no one in Georgia is tracking morbidity and mortality among nurses related to the COVID-19 pandemic,’’ said Lisa Eichelberger, an RN and dean of the College of Health at Clayton State University,
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Eric Stirgus
Universities across Georgia research ways to prevent, treat COVID-19
…One therapeutic study involving Emory sparked enough hope last week when federal health officials said the research of an experimental drug called remdesivir showed enough promise that they authorized it as emergency treatment. Emory has 103 patients in the 1,063-patient study, more it says, than any of the 68 sites involved in the research. Georgia State’s use of auranofin, an arthritis drug, as a COVID-19 treatment has also piqued the curiosity of fellow researchers. Georgia State University postdoctoral researcher Hussin Rothan participates in a project to determine the potential use of the arthritis drug auranofin as a COVID-19 treatment. Therapeutic research is ongoing at both state universities and other institutions, including Georgia State, Mercer University, the Medical College of Georgia and Morehouse School of Medicine. Shows and others say the research is the largest collaborative effort she’s ever seen by Georgia’s universities to combat one disease.
Georgia Trend
Educators and businesses team up to address the state’s shortage of cybersecurity workers.
Mary Ann DeMuth
Cybersecurity is top of mind these days as breaches of credit card information and malicious software attacks occur with alarming frequency. Also looming are questions about the security of the upcoming presidential primaries and general election. And the coronavirus pandemic is having a significant impact on cybersecurity due to the increased vulnerability of workers’ home computers and security teams that are short-staffed due to quarantines. The world has changed to the point that cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue, it affects everyone. “Not a single person is out of the scope of cybersecurity,” says Ash Mady, head of the University of North Georgia (UNG) Computer Science and Information Systems Department. He cites digital health records, students’ enrollment information and direct deposit banking as a few of the ways cybersecurity touches everyone. “People are looking at vulnerabilities [in these records],” he says. “They don’t know who you are, and they don’t care. They’re roaming around trying to find a way in.” Dealing with the fallout from a cyberattack is costly.
Savannah CEO
Staff Report
The past two months haven’t exactly been business as usual for Georgia Southern University alumnus and small business owner Garrett Clark. As the owner of Rolling Monkey Ice Cream in Statesboro, Georgia, Clark has had to make several shifts in his business due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused restaurants and eateries to discontinue dine-in services for an extended time. Thanks to guidance and interactions with fellow business owners through the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Georgia Southern’s Business Innovation Group (BIG) in downtown Statesboro, he was able to pivot a little more quickly. “We transitioned to a curbside approach, which currently is 50 percent of our revenue,” Clark said. “Conversations within the Business Innovation Group led us to the curbside idea, and due to implementing this pivot in a timely manner, we haven’t had to lay off any employees.”
Statesboro Herald
Over 4,000 Georgia Southern students set to graduate ‘virtually’ next weekend
University still plans in-person ceremony ASAP, offers December walk to spring grads as well
AL HACKLE/Staff
More than 4,300 students completing their degrees at Georgia Southern University after the unexpected shift to online-only courses this spring will have their names called in a series of eight “virtual commencement” ceremonies Friday and Saturday, May 8-9. Georgia Southern officials still plan to hold an in-person spring or summer ceremony at a later, so far undetermined date once COVID-19 social distancing advisories are lifted. They have also invited these graduates, if they prefer, to take part in the fall commencement in December. The separate online ceremonies for Georgia Southern’s eight subject-area colleges will be streamed at specific times over the course of the two days at www.GeorgiaSouthern.edu/Commencement and also on the university’s Facebook page. The commencement page includes a schedule.
The Post Searchlight
ABAC-Bainbridge Virtual Commencement Ceremony on May 7
By Staff Reports
All graduates of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College including those at ABAC Bainbridge will hear their names called on their cell phones, iPads, and computers on May 7 when ABAC presents its first ever virtual commencement ceremony. “Thanks to the hard work of our media team, we have put together a program that will recognize all graduates individually, calling their names, and allowing their friends and family to celebrate their achievements at ABAC,” ABAC President David Bridges said. “We would love to be able to celebrate with our graduates in person but that’s not possible this year.”
Valdosta Today
VSU to celebrate commencement virtually May 9
Valdosta State University will celebrate its 229th commencement with a virtual Graduate School Ceremony and a virtual Undergraduate Ceremony, both at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, at valdosta.edu/commencement. “We were all heartbroken when the global health crisis forced us to cancel our traditional spring commencement activities,” said Dr. Richard A. Carvajal, president of VSU. “While this commencement will be a virtual one, it will be no less momentous than previous occasions. “Our graduates have overcome countless obstacles, including this ongoing pandemic, to do the hard work necessary to earn a college degree. I am so proud of their tireless commitment, and I am inspired by the dedicated faculty and staff who supported these students on their journey to this day. “While we wait for the moment when Blazer Nation can once again come together, we invite every member of our university community, near and far, to gather around their televisions, computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones and help us celebrate the exceptional achievements of our Spring 2020 graduates. We encourage our graduates to wear their VSU regalia with pride, mark the occasion with celebratory photographs, and never forget how much they have overcome to accomplish this goal.”
WGAU
UGA names student commencement speaker
By: Sara Freeland
Jack Bush wanted to leave his mark at the University of Georgia. Not content to just be a College of Engineering ambassador and member of the 2018 Homecoming court, Bush had more in mind. In fall 2019, Bush, who will be a spring Commencement speaker, gave out the first Bush Engineering Scholarship for minorities interested in engineering. “I really wanted to make an impact,” he said. “I want to help future students who are really interested in engineering and may not have the financial means to do it.” He started this with his own hard-earned money—earned from engineering internships, an engineering co-op and part-time jobs in retail. He has pledged to endow his scholarship after he graduates. Bush, the son of a truck driver and a nurse, has put himself through school, working more than 20 hours per week while carrying a full course load. He had no other scholarships besides the HOPE Scholarship. …He had the idea in the fall and saved his money and turned in the paperwork in the spring of his fourth year at UGA.
Middle Georgia CEO
MGA’s New School of Arts & Letters Focuses on Program Innovation, Marketplace Value
As the first dean of Middle Georgia State University’s new School of Arts & Letters, Dr. Mary Wearn is committed to countering the “false narrative” that liberal arts programs are great at producing creative thinkers, less so at preparing graduates to navigate the contemporary career world. “Part of our mission is to create an environment that fosters students’ personal growth and development and also prepare them for the work world,” said Wearn, who joined MGA in 2004 as an assistant professor of English. “We believe our approach will help students appreciate and reflect on the human experience while providing them the credentials to land their first jobs and evolve within our rapidly changing economy.” To that end, the school is rolling out new “work-ready” concentrations in various degree programs to help students chart specific paths into careers. They include sports communication, public relations, pre-law, teacher certification, and professional writing, among others.
Albany Herald
Fort Valley partners with USDA for ag scholarships
From staff reports
Fort Valley State University’s College of Agriculture, Family Sciences and Technology (CAFST) 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.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech warns physics students who cheated: Admit it or risk failing
By Maureen Downey
Colleges struggle to keep students honest after classes and exams went online due to pandemic
The Georgia Tech campus is buzzing about the allegation that students in a physics class posted questions from their final exam to the online tutoring service Chegg where tutors provided answers. “We are aware of the situation and are, of course, disappointed that students were involved with cheating through a digital homework site,” said Renee Kopkowski , Tech’s vice president of institute communications Thursday evening. “We are addressing it in conjunction with the Office of Student Integrity. At this point, we have offered students a chance to come forward admitting their misconduct on this exam, and we are working to determine if others are involved.” In a letter from Tech, physics students were told: “It has come to our attention that a small fraction of students cheated by using solutions posted on Chegg. We take the honor code seriously here at Georgia Tech where we aim to develop not only the next generation of scholars and engineers, but future leaders of good character. We are incredibly disappointed; and at the same time we are trying not to become too cynical. “
Athens Banner-Herald
No pass-fail option for Georgia public college students, say Regents
By Lee Shearer
College students and parents across Georgia are asking the University System of Georgia Board of Regents to allow them to opt in to a pass-fail grading system this spring semester. But the university system has refused, saying students should rise to the challenges they face after campuses shut down because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Colleges hastily devised a patchwork of distance learning methods that students say often just don’t measure up. At the University of Georgia, the deadline for faculty to turn in grades is Monday, May 11.
MSN
Augusta University gains $100,000 for its COVID-19 war chest
Staff
Augusta University has gained $100,000 to help its battle against COVID-19 with a donation by online tax-filing company TaxSlayer to the university’s emergency response fund. “Our thanks go out to TaxSlayer and the TaxSlayer Foundation, as their $100,000 donation is helping Augusta University mount an extraordinary response during an extraordinary time,” university President Brooks A. Keel said in a news release. “Augusta University serves the entire state in our role as Georgia’s only public academic medical center, and as Gov. Brian Kemp recently announced, our expanded partnerships will offer more testing opportunities for all Georgians,” Keel said. “While we rise to the challenge and help lead the fight against this pandemic, our community supporters are more vital than ever.” While TaxSlayer serves customers across the nation, the company is committed to supporting the local communities where its staff lives and works.
Economic Times
Racing against the clock at a time when some projects have already started clinical trials has its own risks.
By G Seetharaman, ET Bureau
Ted M Ross, director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology at the University of Georgia, US, heads two Covid-19 vaccine development projects. His life, he says, is now “one long Zoom call”, as he is in constant communication with his peers around the world on the advances in their research. Ross is working on a universal respiratory vaccine that offers protection against the flu and illnesses caused by different strains of coronavirus. In a Zoom interview with G Seetharaman, Ross discusses the challenges in developing a Covid-19 vaccine and the potential risks in racing against the clock at a time when some vaccine projects have already started clinical trials, and one of them, at the University of Oxford, is hopeful of having a vaccine as early as September. Edited excerpts:
The Augusta Chronicle
North Augusta manufacturer starts making hospital gowns
By Damon Cline
A North Augusta manufacturer is helping offset the shortage of disposable isolation gowns. Carolina CoverTech makes 12,000 products that – as the company slogan says – “cover, protect, contain and enclose.” But it wasn’t until this month that the third-generation manufacturer made a product to cover and protect health care workers. The North Augusta-based custom fabricator – best known for producing commercial awnings, golf car fabrics and spill-control guards for the oil industry – is making disposable isolation gowns for University Hospital.
Forbes
Leah Rosenbaum
In the beginning of April, Dr. C. Nataraj, an engineering professor at Villanova University, gathered a team of 20 faculty and students, as well as experts from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Geisinger Health System. Their goal? To create a low-cost, emergency ventilator. Within three weeks, they made their first prototype of the NovaVent, a machine that automatically compresses an airbag (called an Ambu bag) and links to a ventilator circuit that includes a component for intubation. Nataraj and his team are partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to get the ventilator manufactured by local idle businesses for a price under $1,000. …Nataraj, 60, and his colleagues are among several teams across the country at universities such as Georgia Tech, UC Davis and the University of Minnesota that are scrambling to design low-cost ventilators for the coronavirus pandemic.
Northside Woman
Hospital pharmacists grapple with Albany coronavirus crisis
By Leigh Beeson Special to the Herald
…At first, the hospital just opened one COVID ICU. A couple of days later, it was two. Then three. Then four, plus a regular ICU for non-COVID patients, pushing them to almost double the normal number of beds. “It unfortunately doesn’t appear as if it’s slowing down,” said Daniel Chastain, clinical assistant professor and pharmacy infectious disease specialist at the UGA College of Pharmacy’s Albany campus. Roughly a month and a half after the first person tested positive, Phoebe reported 1,963 positive test results. That’s about one out of every 50 people in the county. The numbers are likely even higher. “It’s mind-blowing and terrifying when you put it all together.” For Waldee, every new COVID patient Phoebe admits means figuring out how to make the most of the medications the hospital has. Before the novel coronavirus, maybe one out of three patients in the 12-bed ICU would need ventilators. Now it’s every patient in the four units. And they’re so critical that they require more sedation than your typical pre-COVID ICU patient. So far, Phoebe has managed to snag the drugs needed, but it’s been close a couple of times.
The Christian Index
Georgia Southwestern BCM ministers to international students
Adam Wynn
Students at the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Georgia Southwestern State University, like most at various BCM campuses across the state, were looking forward to a spring break mission trip. And, like most students at BCM campuses across the state, they had their trip to Clarkston cancelled in the wake of COVID-19. “I thought the trip could be cancelled since February, so it didn’t hit me that strongly,” said Joseph Park, one of the two Georgia Southwestern students helping coordinate a special on-campus ministry. “I missed the spring break trip last year. But, this time of being alone is one of the chances God is giving me to be refreshed and more intimate with Him.” Their trip to Clarkston temporarily shuttered, the students found another way to minister through gift bags for international students still in the dorms, said campus minister Brian Puckett.
Access NEPA
Abingtons woman launches campaign to share words of encouragement
Staff
By Julie Jeffery Manwarren
One woman’s idea to tangibly encourage and care for others has become a campaign that launched in the middle of a pandemic. Seeking to make a difference, Rachel Klien-Hart channeled her love for people and words to start a letter-writing campaign. It was born out of something she did while at Abington Heights High School. During her time there, she started “Appreciation-Grams,” a campaign created to promote sharing words of encouragement in notes and messages. “It’s one thing to tell someone something you appreciate about them. But it’s another thing to write it down. When you can also encourage others to do the same, it’s pretty powerful,” Klien-Hart said. “It was so cool and so energizing to see people love and affirm others.” Klien-Hart said she believes everyone wants to care for others, but don’t always know how. She came up with Appreciation-Grams as a way to encourage students at Abington Heights think of people around them positively. Klien-Hart said a comment from a friend about getting to graduation and not knowing the person you’re sitting next to, inspired her to intentionally get to know every one of her classmates. Klien-Hart was determined to notice them and affirm that they matter. At graduation, she wrote each of her fellow seniors a letter. The cards were handmade and included a stamped message on the front that read “You matter.” Spreading positivity, joy and thankfulness for others made a difference Klien-Hart hopes will continue at the school. The 19-year-old graduated in 2019 and is currently a freshman at Georgia Southern University, studying Spanish, nonprofit management and public relations. Klien-Hart saw a need with the recent pandemic and decided to take the letter-writing she did in high school to a new level and reach more people.
Other News:
The Augusta Chronicle
Column: AU is crucial to successful COVID-19 testing
By Gov. Brian P. Kemp
For weeks, testing was our Achilles’ heel as we fought COVID-19 in Georgia. The status quo was unacceptable and undermined our efforts to keep Georgians safe, so we launched countless initiatives to enhance capacity, improve accessibility, and ultimately set testing records. As you know, COVID-19 testing allows healthcare providers and state officials to quickly identify cases, target hotspots with more resources, protect our communities, and provide timely information to the public. These tests are vital for our frontline workers – first responders, doctors, nurses, and support staff – and medically fragile populations, especially those living in long-term care facilities. In this war against Coronavirus, adequate testing allows state officials to define the battlefield and develop a comprehensive strategy to emerge victoriously. In March, we were proud to announce a robust plan to boost laboratory surge capacity to quickly increase the availability of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for COVID-19 in Georgia.
Albany CEO
Georgia Sees Banner Week for COVID-19 Testing
Staff Report
Governor Brian P. Kemp applauded the many public health officials, frontline healthcare workers, private sector and university partners who are working around the clock to ramp up COVID-19 testing in Georgia. Between Monday, April 26 and Thursday, April 30, Georgia more than doubled the number of tests reported in the previous week. “I want to thank our many partners in this fight for their incredible work to increase access to COVID-19 testing across the state,” said Governor Kemp. “Thanks to Georgia’s partnership with our university system, the private sector, and local public health officials, we ended April by setting a single day testing record, reporting over 20,000 tests on April 30 alone. This is great progress for our state, but we refuse to rest on our laurels. In the days ahead, we will continue to increase access to coronavirus testing across Georgia.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Plasma therapy could be ‘liquid gold’ for COVID-19 treatment
By Eric Stirgus
Domenico Piccininni is alive. It shouldn’t be taken lightly. The 50-year-old DeKalb County resident’s health was in question several weeks ago. He had COVID-19.About two weeks ago, Piccininni walked into Northside Hospital to give some of his blood plasma for researchers to use as potential treatment for COVID-19 patients. The donation is his opportunity to help. “We’re constantly told to wash our hands. We need to wash our hearts,” Piccininni said in a telephone interview. “This is an opportunity for me to wash my heart.” Blood plasma donations are being increasingly used by researchers to treat those with the disease. The idea is the injected plasma has antibodies that attack and destroy the infection in current COVID-19 patients. Liquid gold, some call the plasma because of its color and value. Actor Tom Hanks, who recovered from COVID-19, posted a photo on Twitter last week of him giving blood plasma.
MSN
Georgia deploys 3D printers, Guard units in testing scramble
By Jeffrey Collins and Russ Bynum, Associated Press
Seeing a chance to help amid a shortage of kits to test people for the coronavirus, Dr. Jeffrey James dedicated a 3D printer at the dental college where he teaches to churning out nasal swabs at a rate of 300 per day. Then Georgia officials working with Gov. Brian Kemp heard about the project. They asked James if he could crank up swab production even more — to 5,000 daily. “I said yes,” James recalled, “then I left the meeting and had a panic attack.” Now seven printers with names like Mighty Mouse and Sonic 1 and 2 hum constantly in a room on the third floor of Augusta University’s dental school. Volunteering dental residents, endodontists, orthodontists and oral surgeons rotate between two daily 12-hour shifts, even on weekends, to meet the demand.
The Augusta Chronicle
[Augusta%20entrepreneurs%20build%20a%20better%20protective%20mask%20for%20health%20care,%20first%20responders]Augusta entrepreneurs build a better protective mask for health care, first responders
By Tom Corwin
Trying to help local health care workers with a shortage of protective equipment, enterprising minds at the Clubhou.se used feedback to construct a better mask that they are now seeking to get approved by the FDA. The plastic mask that Eric Parker held in his hands is a combination of ingenuity and a little desperation. “To me this is the best demonstration of how entrepreneurship is supposed to work,” Parker, the president of the Clubhou.se technology incubator, said as he stood in its office inside the Georgia Cyber Center. The new kind of protective mask “started with customer discovery,” he said. “We had doctors reaching out to us wanting us to help fix this and willing to give us all the feedback about what works and what doesn’t work. This was entirely done with the end user working with us in the process.” The Augusta mask began with the Montana Mask, a 3D-printed reusable plastic mask first conceived of by Montana doctors looking to address the crucial shortage of protective masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Augusta design is so different and more refined that the Clubhou.se has submitted it to the Food and Drug Administration for approval. In the meantime, health care workers and first responders can use it under an emergency use authorization the FDA issued last month.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATE: 28,671 COVID-19 cases in Georgia; death toll rises to 1,179
By Asia Simone Burns
UPDATE [7 p.m.] Since Sunday morning, state health officials have reported five more COVID-19 related deaths and 69 new cases across Georgia. The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the state reached 28,671 on Sunday, and the number of people who have died of complications from the disease increased to 1,179, according to the latest data from the Georgia Department of Public Health. The DPH reported 5,405 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized in Georgia so far. As of 7 p.m., a total of 183,002 people have been tested for COVID-19.
WSBRadio
Investigation finds computer program issues causing backlog of coronavirus testing results
By: Nicole Carr Atlanta WSBTV
Channel 2 Action News has learned that results from hundreds of coronavirus tests administered at recently opened testing sites in metro Atlanta have been delayed beyond the promised 72-hour turnaround. The Georgia National Guard and Augusta University Health System began testing in the metro area April 24. Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr said the delay stems from an overwhelmed lab and specifically the computer system used to access the test results and notify patients. Carr began looking into the delays after hearing from Atlanta residents who had yet to receive their results.
Albany Herald
COVID-19 impacts Georgia’s poultry industry
By J. Faith Peppers CAES News
While many were watching the price of poultry plummet, workers in processing plants began testing positive for COVID-19, causing temporary shutdowns at more than 30 meat processing facilities across the nation, according to the MEAT+POULTRY’s website, which has been mapping the cases at meatpoultry.com/articles/22993-covid-19-meat-plant-map. Together, that caused a complex problem for the poultry industry and for consumers.
Albany Herald
Phoebe hospital in Albany to phase in delayed outpatient procedures, surgeries, services
From staff reports
Beginning Monday on its main campus in Albany, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital will begin phasing in services for medically necessary outpatient procedures, surgeries and diagnostic services that have been delayed during the COVID-19 response. Phoebe will also open all of its Phoebe Physicians offices, and outpatient services at Phoebe Sumter will come back online soon.
Higher Education News:
WSBTV
Georgia board extends SAT/ACT test score deadline to get key scholarship
The Georgia Student Finance Commission on Friday approved a plan that extends the timeline for aspiring college students to take an exam required to get the prestigious Zell Miller Scholarship. Georgia high school students, among other academic requirements, must have a minimum ACT score of 26 or 1200 on the SAT exam before graduation to be eligible for the scholarship, which can cover all tuition costs at state colleges and universities. ACT and SAT tests were halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
How to Address the Elephant in the Room: Academic Costs
Current spending is unsustainable. It’s time to address that fact, even if it’s uncomfortable.
By Paul N. Friga
“Over the next year, we very well may see 40 years’ worth of long-needed changes to our academic model.” – Helen Drinan, president of Simmons University American higher education is widely regarded as the best in the world. At the same time, critics have suggested that it is slow to change, unresponsive to student demands, bloated, and expensive. With Covid-19, higher education is now facing its most significant challenge. We have an opportunity to do everything we can to make strategic shifts not only to survive but also to thrive through this crisis. It won’t be easy. Academic leaders have been hard at work developing scenarios for students’ return to campus and for the magnitude of negative financial impact. General agreement exists that next year is going to be dramatically different from past years, operationally and financially. While the Great Recession hit higher education hard and led to some changes in our operating models, such as expanded online education, growth in for-profit educational entities, and an increase in non-tenure-track faculty, much of our academic delivery remains the same.
Inside Higher Ed
As more students ask about deferring admission, admissions officers try to determine what it might mean for their institutions — and for students.
By Elizabeth Redden
In normal years, most undergraduate admissions offices deal with relatively few requests from incoming students to defer admission. This is not a normal year. It’s too early to know if formal requests to defer admission will increase, but college admission officers and college counselors alike report many more inquiries about deferrals from students and parents who are unsure whether their chosen colleges will resume in-person classes and normal (or seminormal) campus operations this fall. High school seniors are “thrown off” by the idea of possibly having to start college online, said Ibrahim Firat, an independent college consultant.
Inside Higher Ed
Pandemic Hits Academic Hospitals Hard
Like the universities they’re partnered with, academic medical centers are bleeding cash as they weather the pandemic, prepare for and in some cases treat COVID-19 patients.
By Emma Whitford
The pandemic — and the financial ruin it brought — has left no industry or institution unharmed, including the institutions playing a key role in ending it: hospitals connected to colleges and universities. Many states in March halted elective surgeries in order to clear out hospital beds and make room for potential COVID-19 patients. Restrictions on elective surgeries — surgeries that can be scheduled in advance — have led to a drop in patient visits and torpedoed a significant revenue stream for hospitals. “Many of our member institutions are experiencing a 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent drop in the number of patients who are in the hospital,” said Janice Orlowski, chief health care officer at the American Association of Medical Colleges. Moody’s Investors Service in March changed the outlook for nonprofit hospitals from stable to negative, citing declining revenues due to the loss of elective procedures and increased costs to prepare for COVID-19 patients.
Inside Higher Ed
Students say they need rent relief from off-campus housing providers refusing to release them from leases during the coronavirus pandemic.
By Greta Anderson
After the University of California, Irvine, announced it would close because of the coronavirus pandemic, Summer Joy Pagaduan lost her campus job as a barista and decided to move out of her off-campus apartment and return home. She quickly learned it would cost her more than $1,000 — and a combined $8,000 for her and four roommates — to terminate the lease. “How am I going to possibly afford this,” Pagaduan, a fourth-year nursing student, said in a letter sent by student advocacy organizations to California governor Gavin Newsom, requesting an executive order to provide students living off-campus with relief from leases without financial penalty. “It’s unfair that students in UCI on-campus housing were able to cancel their housing plans with absolutely no financial penalties, but UCI students living in off-campus housing have to worry about these insanely high lease termination costs,” Pagaduan said in the letter. While Pagaduan said she reached an agreement with her landlord to terminate the lease, many students across the country remain stuck in rental leases with owners or managers of off-campus housing that the students no longer occupy.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
What Prospective Freshmen Think About the Fall
Their enrollment decisions and ability to pay have been upended. Their preference for being on campus, however, remains intact.
By Richard A. Hesel
In the past month, we have conducted two surveys to gauge the impact of the coronavirus on collegebound high-school seniors’ fall plans. Most students who want to attend a four-year college full time appear to be looking for a traditional college experience — living on campus, interacting with professors, studying and socializing with peers. But in our research, large majorities reject online degree programs as an alternative, and expect their preferred college to be open in the fall. Yet the dreams of many students have been radically disrupted by Covid-19. Half of the students we surveyed reported a parent or guardian had lost a job, been laid off, or been furloughed as a result of the pandemic. And most expect to pay much less in tuition and fees if campuses do not reopen and they end up studying online. Put another way, if students’ see their dreams of college diminished or deferred, many will not be willing to pay the full costs associated with an on-campus experience.
Inside Higher Ed
S&P Slashes Outlook for 127 Colleges
By Rick Seltzer
S&P Global Ratings dropped outlooks on more than a quarter of the colleges and universities it rates because of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on higher education. The ratings agency cut ratings on 117 colleges — 84 private institutions and 33 public institutions — from stable to negative. It changed outlooks for 10 more — seven private and three public — from positive to stable. And it left unchanged outlooks for 50 institutions that were already negative. Those actions mean the share of colleges and universities that S&P rates with negative outlooks has more than quadrupled in just a few months. At the end of 2019, just 9.2 percent of its rated higher ed universe had negative outlooks. After the actions announced today, 38 percent does. The agency maintains public ratings on 436 public and private colleges and universities. A negative outlook for a college or university means S&P sees at least a one-in-three chance operating and economic conditions will significantly affect the institution’s credit characteristics.