University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
University System of Georgia to require masks in classrooms after all
By Eric Stirgus
The University System of Georgia announced late Monday it will require students and faculty to wear face coverings in classrooms and other campus facilities if social distancing can’t be done, a reversal of its prior position that faced widespread criticism. More than 8,700 people signed a Change.org petition demanding the system require face coverings in classrooms as part of its guidelines to protect students and faculty from the spread of COVID-19, which has spiked among young people in recent weeks. More than 800 Georgia Tech faculty members signed a similar petition. University System officials said they made the change in response to updated federal health guidelines. The revised University System policy takes effect July 15.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
By David Allison – Editor
The University System of Georgia will require “all faculty, staff, students and visitors” to wear face coverings while inside campus facilities and buildings where six feet social distancing may not always be possible. According to a new policy posted Monday, face covering use will be mandatory beginning July 15 and will be in addition to, and not a substitute for, social distancing. “Face coverings are not required in one’s own dorm room or suite, when alone in an enclosed office or study room, or in campus outdoor settings where social distancing requirements are met,” the new policy states. “Anyone not using a face covering when required will be asked to wear one or must leave the area. Repeated refusal to comply with the requirement may result in discipline through the applicable conduct code for faculty, staff or students,” it adds.
See also:
WSB-TV
University System of Georgia now requiring masks inside campus buildings
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Georgia Backs Down. Masks Will Be Mandatory at Its Colleges This Fall.
accessWDUN
In reversal, Georgia universities to now mandate masks
WRDW
Augusta University now will require face coverings
Augusta University, in accordance with updated U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidelines, has adjusted previous guidelines for faculty and students returning to campus. Just last week, some faculty members were concerned over the campus not requiring masks as a precaution.
Use of face coverings
Effective July 15, all University System of Georgia institutions will require all faculty, staff, students, and visitors to wear an appropriate face covering while inside campus facilities/buildings where 6 feet social distancing may not always be possible. Face covering use is not a substitute for social distancing. Face coverings are not required in one’s own dorm room or suite, when alone in an enclosed office or study room, or in campus outdoor settings where social distancing requirements are met.
…Alternate work arrangements
Among the changes are to definitions for people who will need extra precaution due to age and underlying medical conditions. The university system is providing updated guidance on the wearing of face coverings and for who is eligible to seek alternate work arrangements due to falling into one of these categories.
The Brunswick News
College creates commission to promote diversity, inclusion
By Lauren McDonald
College of Coastal Georgia recently announced plans to establish a Commission on Diversity and Inclusion that will develop actions and strategies to drive deep and meaningful change, opposing racism and discrimination. The commission will advise the college president on issues regarding the creation of policies, practices and outreach that promote a more diverse and inclusive campus community.
Moultrie Observer
Archway Project helps Southwest Georgia doctors fight COVID-19
Staff Reports
Health care professionals in Colquitt County have been better able to plan for their providers’ and patients’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to a customized report from the University of Georgia. Produced by the College of Public Health in coordination with the Archway Partnership, a UGA Public Service and Outreach unit, the report outlined the number of weekly, confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations expected for Georgia’s 14-county Southwest Public Health District — a region that stretches from Lee County to Decatur County and includes more than 340,000 people. The information included in the report provides regional hospitals with more accurate estimations than the national or state-wide reports and can help administrators prepare for their specific needs, said Grace Bagwell Adams, an associate professor in the College of Public Health.
Savannah Morning News
City Talk: Economy will suffer if schools, colleges can’t reopen as planned
By Bill Dawers
It’s crunch time. The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System is scheduled to begin classes Aug. 5. Area colleges and universities are planning to begin their fall terms later in August and in September. (For the record, I am a lecturer on the Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern University.) As COVID-19 infections spike along the coast and across the state, these plans are looking shakier by the day. The stakes are high. Our first concerns need to be about public health. We need to protect vulnerable populations and ensure that our health care systems are not strained too much. Both of those goals will become increasingly difficult to achieve at the current pace of community spread. We will feel economic impacts, too. Fewer tourists will be traveling to Georgia, residents will be more cautious about their spending and businesses will be less likely to make major investments. And if schools can’t hold face-to-face classes as scheduled, then we will be facing a plethora of other economic challenges.
The Red & Black
July 6: What does UGA’s virtual new student orientation look like?
Kyra Posey | Senior Digital Producer and Denali Lerch | News Assistant
…For most UGA students, attending orientation is their first step on campus as a college student. A night of summer camp away from home. It’s their first taste of dining hall food and their first chance to take part in UGA’s traditions. But due to COVID-19, this program had to move entirely online. We talked to an orientation leader and an incoming freshman about their online orientation experience.
The Red & Black
UGA buses to block seats off for distancing and implement other COVID-19 procedures
Jacqueline GaNun | News Editor
The University of Georgia’s campus buses are crowded during the semester. Particularly during class changes, students are packed into a small, unventilated space in which it’s hard to practice social distancing. Because the coronavirus spreads through respiratory droplets, the virus could spread under these conditions. UGA buses will follow new safety guidelines this fall to mitigate the spread of the virus, outlined in UGA’s current 200-plus page reopening report. The university is planning on returning to in-person classes on Aug. 20 and will move to online learning after Thanksgiving. Campus transit will run through Dec. 17, the regular end of the semester.
Athens CEO
UGA Partnership Helps Communities Manage Infrastructure
Aaron Cox
Angela Nguyen has been sheltering at home since March, but the University of Georgia College of Engineering graduate student is still hard at work researching how to help Georgia communities — specifically smaller communities — better care for their bridges. Nguyen is the second graduate assistant from the University of Georgia to work with the American Public Works Association Georgia chapter in as many years, thanks to a partnership with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government and the UGA College of Engineering. The program, developed by Walt McBride, a senior public service associate at the Vinson Institute, partners an engineering graduate student with the APWA Georgia chapter to help Georgia communities address infrastructure challenges they may not be able to handle on their own.
Albany Herald
UGA professor John Bernard wins dairy nutrition award
By Maria M. Lameiras CAES News
University of Georgia animal and dairy science Professor John Bernard has been named the winner of the 2020 Nutrition Professionals Inc. Applied Dairy Nutrition Award from the American Dairy Science Association. Bernard, who joined the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department of Animal and Dairy Science on the UGA Tifton campus in 1998, is an expert in the nutrition and management of dairy cattle. His work focuses on improving nutritive efficiency, profitability and cow comfort.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Watch Georgia Tech’s SlothBot join the fight to save endangered species
By Kiersten Willis
The robot, which mimics a sloth, is at Atlanta Botanical Garden
When you visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden this summer, you may notice a special guest slowly making its way near the Canopy Walk. Georgia Tech has been testing a SlothBot, new a slow-moving and energy-efficient robot that can stay in the trees. While dawdling, it monitors plants, animals and the environment below, the school announced in a press release. Taking advantage of the low-energy lifestyle of real sloths, Georgia Institute of Technology engineering students built SlothBot to show how certain applications are ideal for a slow pace.
Other News:
Savannah Morning News
Doctors and nurses to Kemp: Act now on COVID-19 mandates
By Mary Landers
More than 1,400 Georgia healthcare workers sent a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp Thursday asking him to step up the state’s pandemic response. The doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers make three specific requests:
‒ Close bars and clubs, prohibit gatherings of more than 25 people, including houses of worship.
‒ Mandate masks in public.
‒ Empower mayors and county elected officials to manage their own epidemics.
“We were motivated because we have closely watched the escalating numbers of cases and hospitalizations over the past week without any change in approach to the pandemic by the Governor or the Department of Public Health,” said Dr. Melanie Thompson, principal investigator of the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta and one of four main authors of the letter.
Roll Call
Public health experts worry CDC is being stifled on COVID-19
Agency has been unusually quiet about coronavirus guidance, compared with previous outbreaks
By Emily Kopp
Gregory A. Poland, an internist at the Mayo Clinic and spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said he was walking with his wife on a Florida beach three weekends ago when they were confronted because of the masks they were wearing. “Somebody about 50 yards away started yelling obscenities at us. ‘Don’t you know masks don’t help? The virus can’t be caught that way.’ And I thought, ‘This is interesting,” Poland said. Poland did not reply. But he said the interaction points to a troubling skepticism about science among many U.S. residents. An ABC News/Ipsos poll published June 26 found that 89 percent of people said they had worn masks in public the week before, as cases climbed. But photos on social media from all corners of the country suggest mask wearing and social distancing can be sporadic.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated July 6, 3 p.m.)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 2,878 | County is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated. CONFIRMED CASES: 97,064 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
The Atlantic
Reopening Schools Was Just an Afterthought
Americans found out the hard way that education is essential infrastructure.
Juliette Kayyem
Former Department of Homeland Security official and author of Security Mom
If American society is going to take one major risk in the name of reopening, ideally it should be to send children back to school. …In the past week or so, more and more Americans have suddenly remembered that fall comes after summer. Recent headlines have heaped scorn upon the values of a society that seemingly prioritized inessential businesses over schools. “We Have to Focus on Opening Schools, Not Bars,” The New York Times declared. “Close the Bars. Reopen the Schools,” a piece in Vox implored. The hashtag #schoolsbeforebars is trending. Reopening indoor bars—closed spaces where wearing masks and maintaining social distancing are difficult—was clearly a mistake. Yet approximately zero public officials believe that letting adults drink is more important than educating kids, and any implication that reopening bars and reopening schools are roughly equivalent tasks badly understates the enormous barriers to the latter. From the government’s perspective, the only thing bars need is permission to reopen. Once they get it, owners and employees can go back to work, and the money starts flowing.
AP News
Why Missing College This Fall Is a Bad Idea
By CECILIA CLARK of NerdWallet
As colleges figure out how to structure classes this fall, many students are questioning whether to enroll at all. The idea of taking a gap year might sound enticing, but returning students should think twice. Many colleges have official gap year or deferred enrollment policies for incoming freshmen. But returning students who choose to take time off and re-enroll once the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic have passed aren’t “gappers.” They’re “stopouts,” and they face risks that don’t come with a traditional gap year. The president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, Betsy Mayotte, explains that colleges have individual leave of absence and withdrawal policies for students who want to take time off. Students who don’t follow those rules might end up with unexpected debt and be blocked from accessing their academic transcripts.
Wired
Colleges Gear Up for an Uncertain Fall Semester Online
Many schools are preparing for some form of virtual instruction in the autumn. For faculty and students, it won’t be perfect, and it certainly won’t be “back to normal.”
…Colleges and universities across the country made the hasty transition to distance learning this spring. And as the fall approaches, with Covid-19 cases spiking in some areas and no certainty of a vaccine on the horizon, schools must confront the question of how to resume classes safely. Since physical distancing guidelines limit the number of students that can occupy one classroom, the question for many colleges and universities across the country isn’t whether to implement some form of online learning, but how. In April, Cal State Fullerton became one of the first campuses in the country to announce plans to offer the majority of classes online in the fall. The rest of the schools in the California State University system, whose 23 campuses serve nearly 500,000 students, soon followed suit. Zarate, a premed student, says he understands the precautions his school is taking for his upcoming senior year, but he still worries about his grades and whether he’ll be able to learn online material effectively. “It makes me a little bit nervous,” he says. “How am I going to do this semester?” Elsewhere, as the summer progresses, colleges are concretizing their plans for the fall semester. Some are enacting models that combine in-person and online instruction.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Students of Color Are Not OK. Here’s How Colleges Can Support Them.
By Sarah Brown
Drop-in counseling for Black students. Therapy groups on coping with racism. Programs for white students on how to be anti-racist. As the pandemic and the racial-injustice crisis continue to take a toll on Black people and other marginalized groups, colleges face a newfound urgency to support the mental health of students of color. Just about every survey conducted since the beginning of March indicates that student distress is only going to get worse this fall. Those mental-health concerns will be exacerbated for Black and Hispanic students, whose populations are disproportionately harmed by Covid-19 and by the police violence gripping the nation’s consciousness. Asian American students, meanwhile, are dealing with racial slurs and jokes stemming from the pandemic’s origins in China. What’s more, students of color often don’t get the help they need. About 45 percent of white students with mental-health challenges seek treatment, according to a 2018 study, but only a third of Latinx students do so. For Black and Asian students, the proportion is even lower — about 25 and 22 percent, respectively.
Inside Higher Ed
International Students Banned From Online-Only Instruction
The new Department of Homeland Security rule prohibits international students from returning to or remaining in the United States if their colleges adopt an online-only instruction model for the fall.
By Emma Whitford
New guidance for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has stoked anger and confusion from students, faculty and immigration advocates. The new temporary final rule, issued Monday afternoon, prohibits international students from returning to or remaining in the United States this fall if the colleges they attend adopt online-only instruction models amid the pandemic. A growing number of colleges — including Harvard University — have announced that they will reopen their campuses in the fall but conduct classes online. Even with campuses open, international students will be prohibited from studying in the United States under the rule. “It’s just mean-spirited,” said Allen Orr, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He noted the myriad logistical issues it poses for international students. “You are discontinuing whatever you may have already been in. You might have already had a lease,” he said. “Even if these colleges have school online, some places may be in different hours and different time zones.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Ed Department Blames Accreditor for Dream Center’s Collapse
By Eric Kelderman
The world of higher education accreditation is arcane, obtuse, byzantine even. But it matters. For students, it means earning credits that can be transferred to another college and a credential that has value in the workplace. For colleges, it means eligibility for federal student aid — usually the difference between staying open or shutting down. In the case of the Dream Center Education Holdings, the loss of accreditation of just two, out of dozens, of colleges helped lead to the collapse of the entire company, causing tens of thousands of students to seek hundreds of millions of dollars of loan forgiveness from the U.S. Department of Education and the private company that took over the Dream Center’s assets. But the question of who is at fault for that disaster has become a complex political blame game between the Education Department and the accrediting agency that oversaw those two colleges, the Higher Learning Commission.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Report: Students Struggle to Find Accurate Estimates for Non-Tuition Costs
by Sara Weissman
…The study drew on 16 student focus groups, nine interviews with senior financial aid administrators, 11 interviews with higher education professionals and data sets from the National Center for Education Statistics. Authors also analyzed more than 800 university websites to assess how schools convey non-tuition expenses to students, focusing on institutions in California, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas. Among students surveyed, 51% paid more for indirect expenses than they expected, 53% changed their food shopping or eating habits and 42% were concerned they wouldn’t be able to stay enrolled as a result. The report found that information about indirect expenses is often hard for students to find and confusingly worded on college websites. Out of 820 universities, 39% provided no estimates about non-tuition costs on their websites, while 23% gave itemized lists of costs with no explanations and 7% had missing or outdated estimates.
Inside Higher Ed
Report: What States Need to Do for the Future Workforce
By Madeline St. Amour
A new report highlights ways governors and other state policy makers are working to improve workforces with lifelong learning. The National Governors Association spent two years examining 150 policies and programs across more than 40 states to create a guide for other policy makers. As more work becomes automated by technology, Americans will need to retrain to stay employed, according to the report. The COVID-19 pandemic has made this an even more timely project, a news release said, as it will likely accelerate disruptions to the American economy.