University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
University System of Georgia will not use furloughs to fill budget gap
By Eric Stirgus
University System of Georgia employees won’t have to take furlough days as part of a state-ordered budget reduction plan, Chancellor Steve Wrigley said. …Wrigley told the state’s Board of Regents in a meeting Friday the cuts are “still significant, but an important decline from the 14% we looked at.” Wrigley said the changes “eliminate the need to have furloughs and try to and reduce the impact programmatically across the system.” The University System and its 26 colleges and universities will still need to make serious budget cuts. Some schools have proposed layoffs and not filling vacant positions to fill the remaining budget gap.
Albany Herald
Georgia Southwestern sets summer enrollment record
From staff reports
Georgia Southwestern State University’s summer 2020 enrollment was the largest summer enrollment in the university’s history. Despite the country facing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the number of students was up more than 6% compared to last summer. These are the highest summer numbers ever recorded in the school’s 114-year existence, and administrators say they expect enrollment to continue to trend upward into the fall. From graduating high school seniors to executives at high-level organizations, individuals were flocking to online classes this summer. GSW officials said that almost every academic area was up with the largest gains in graduate enrollment, specifically the university’s MBA program, the M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education and the addition of the new Ed.S. in Teacher Leadership.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kennesaw State summer enrollment reaches 20,000 students
By Kristal Dixon
More Kennesaw State University students are using the summer months to enroll in courses they need to graduate. The university said its summer enrollment for 2020 has swelled to more than 20,000 students. That’s a 14% increase from the summer 2019 enrollment and a 20% jump from summer 2018, the school said. The university attributes this spike to an increase in summer course offerings and students continuing to use the remote learning option KSU unveiled in the spring amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Savannah CEO
Georgia Southern Receives Largest Commitment to Date to Ensure Eagles Finish Strong
Staff Report
The Georgia Southern University Foundation, Inc. has received a commitment of $125,000, the largest gift yet toward the “Ensure Our Eagles Finish Strong” scholarship initiative to help students facing financial hardships during these unprecedented times. The campaign will help up to 250 students on a need-based priority and up to 14 returning spring sport seniors who saw their 2019-20 collegiate seasons cut short. Alumni RT (‘12) and Brianna (‘12) Evans together with Richard T. (Tim) and EJ Evans are supporting Georgia Southern students in need. Tim and RT are executive team members of Evans General Contractors, a leading design and build, general contracting and construction management firm that specializes in facilities across the United States. The company is headquartered in Atlanta with a local office in Savannah.
Metro Atlanta CEO
Georgia State University, Augusta University Partner to Support Health Research in Georgia
Staff Report
Georgia State University and Augusta University will provide one-year grants totaling nearly $200,000 to support four research collaborations among faculty from both institutions with a focus on health and healthcare delivery in Georgia. “This work is very relevant to a number of significant concerns in Georgia, including the COVID-19 pandemic and rural healthcare delivery,” said Michael Eriksen, interim vice president for research and economic development at Georgia State. “By combining our faculty’s expertise in infectious and chronic diseases, public health and health information systems, we hope to make progress in better serving all Georgians.” “We’re excited to expand our partnership with Georgia State University for research that works to improve the health of Georgians,” said Michael Diamond, senior vice president for research at Augusta University. “The combined expertise of two of Georgia’s most preeminent research universities provides a lot of natural synergies for tackling health care and public health concerns disproportionally impacting our state.”
Vet Candy
UGA vet student, Kristen Peagler, is heading to NASA
My Vet Candy
Kristen Peagler, a third-year DVM student at the University of Georgia, recently completed an internship with NASA at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Next, Peagler be participating in a clerkship with the agency next year. She is the first veterinary student and the youngest participant to be accepted into the program.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia State University to start African studies center
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia State University, which has the largest enrollment of any school in the state, announced Thursday it is creating a center for students to learn about the African diaspora and its people. The announcement of the Center for Studies on Africa and its Diaspora comes about two weeks after more than 200 Georgia State faculty members signed a petition asking for such a center, more Black faculty in leadership positions and other demands. A center was among the June 2019 recommendations by a faculty commission. “The center will support research and academic initiatives, artistic efforts and public programming, including exhibitions, lectures and conferences, and advance policy proposals that target issues of concern to the African diaspora across the university and the broader community,” the university’s College of Arts & Sciences said in a statement.
The Herald-Gazette
UPDATED: How long will Gordon be Gordon?
Posted by Walter Geiger in Top Stories
The administration at Gordon State College and alumni of Gordon Military College and its high school arm are bracing for controversy after the University System of Georgia appointed a committee to evaluate the names of colleges, buildings and other facilities on its campuses last week
The Red & Black
Kyra Posey | Senior Digital Producer
The University of Georgia considers naming a building or college in someone’s honor “one of the highest and most distinct honors that it can bestow,” according to UGA’s finance and administration website. Many of UGA’s buildings are named for racist figures — people who owned slaves or espoused white supremacy. Students and faculty are calling for their renaming as protests against racial inequality continue across the nation and in Athens. On June 17, the University System of Georgia announced an advisory group that will review the names of buildings and colleges at all 26 USG universities, which includes UGA. The advisory group’s recommendations will be publicly announced once they finish the review. There are no students on the board. No other information about the review process has been released. Aaron Diamant, USG spokesperson, did not respond for a request for comment by press time.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pressure on Georgia university system to require masks in classrooms
By Eric Stirgus
When University of Georgia student Avery Warner heard about the University System of Georgia’s plans encouraging everyone to wear masks in classrooms when the fall semester begins in early August, she thought it just didn’t go far enough. Her grandfather died earlier this month from COVID-19. Her father is a public health expert and her mother is a faculty member at the university. So Warner wrote a letter Wednesday to USG leaders and its Board of Regents urging them to require face coverings in classrooms. The letter included links to research showing masks can effectively control the spread of the novel coronavirus. …Faculty members at several public colleges and universities and students like Warner are pressuring the system to require masks or facial coverings be worn by anyone in a classroom and some additional locations.
C&EN
Pandemic strands graduate students and postdocs
Hundreds of young scientists are stuck in their home countries because of canceled flights or closed embassies. The delays will affect the trainees, their labs, and chemistry departments worldwide
by Andrea Widener
When he left Canada for India in February, Varoon Singh thought he was just heading home for a brief visit before starting a postdoctoral position at Ghent University in Belgium.
Singh had just finished a postdoc at the University of Waterloo. He’d struggled in Canada to get a medical checkup required by Belgium, so he thought he would visit family in India and get his visa straightened out at the same time before moving to Belgium in March. Then the COVID-19 pandemic halted travel worldwide. Now Singh and his wife have been stuck in Mumbai, where they’re staying with family, for almost 4 months. He has had his visa since early March, but he can’t get a flight. …In contrast to Singh, Eivgi, and García Rivas, Khaled Al Kurdi isn’t waiting to start a position—he already has one, as a third-year graduate student working on the material applications of polymers at Georgia Institute of Technology. A trip home to Lebanon in March, however, left him trying to continue his studies remotely from a busy multifamily home with children running around. “It’s been slightly chaotic,” he says. “But I’ve been able to find some quiet corners and go and focus for few hours or just shift my work hours to awkward times so that they don’t coincide with family functions or dinner.”
The Augusta Chronicle
AU Health looking to use COVID-19 statewide response to reach new patients
By Tom Corwin
AU Health System is recovering from the COVID-19 onslaught and hoping its statewide response and platform helps it reach more patients, officials said. When Georgia was facing a growing crisis from COVID-19, state officials asked AU Health System to step up, and it did, CEO Katrina Keefer said. Now she hopes that will help the health system recover and reach new patients through its widely used virtual platforms. At its board meeting Thursday, Keefer outlined some of the health system’s response to COVID-19 and its statewide role in testing and screening. Through its ExpressCare app, AU Health helped screen more than 23,000 people for symptoms and the drive-through sites it operated or helped set up across Georgia tested more than 41,000, she said. Its labs have also processed nearly 60,000 tests so far, Keefer said.
WABE
Outdoor Air Quality Code Orange in Atlanta Sunday
Maria White Tillman
Atlanta saw a code orange air quality alert for parts of Sunday because of a Saharan dust cloud that’s moved over Georgia in recent days. Zachary Handlos with Georgia Tech says the dust clouds move across the Atlantic every year but generally they are not as big as this one. Handlos added, “Maybe Atlanta locally will have a little more issues just because of being a big city with the summer heat and the urban heat effect. I think most of this will disburse over the next 24 to 48 hours and we’ll go back to sort of normal air quality summer conditions for this part of the county.” Handlos said COVID-19 patients and people with enhanced preparatory issues are encouraged to remain inside and to take precautions by limiting outdoor activities.
11Alive
Water main break on Georgia Tech campus leads to boil advisory across Atlanta
The advisory is for most uses of water that may be consumed and particularly for babies, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.
Moultrie Observer
South GeorgiaLEADS opens recruitment for fifth year
Staff Reports
South GeorgiaLEADS has opened recruitment for the 2020-2021 cohort of its 21-county leadership development initiative. Dedicated to investing in the communities of South Georgia and strengthening the leadership capacity of the region, South GeorgiaLEADS seeks participants from diverse perspectives and backgrounds who share a common vision of improving the economic vitality of the region, according to a press release from the group, which also goes by the acronym SGL. Supported by strong corporate sponsors — Georgia Power Company as the sustaining sponsor and Electric Cities of Georgia as the presenting sponsor — South GeorgiaLEADS links business and civic leaders, educators, non-profit professionals, elected and public officials, and other interested participants to the region’s economic development agenda and efforts. Facilitated by faculty from the University of Georgia’s J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, the program ties the challenges and opportunities that are unique to South Georgia with leadership training, giving program participants greater insight on the skills needed to engage on issues and find meaningful solutions, the press release said. …As the largest regional leadership program in the state, SGL is an eight-month leadership experience for leaders throughout South Georgia, designed to facilitate awareness of issues that are essential to the future success of the region by giving participants the necessary skills and training needed to effectively lead South Georgia in the 21st Century economy, the press release said.
Albany CEO
Albany State University Returns to Face-to-Face Instruction on August 10th
Staff Report
Albany State University has received approval from the University System of Georgia (USG) to return to face-to-face classes for the fall 2020 semester. Classes will begin one week earlier than scheduled; the new start date is Monday, August 10. “I am impressed with how our students, faculty and staff have persevered and shown true excellence during online and remote instruction. As a campus community, we will continue this path during and after the transition back to face-to-face instruction,” said ASU President Marion Ross Fedrick. The ASU re-entry planning committee appointed by President Fedrick has developed a detailed plan to ensure the health and safety of students, faculty and staff. Based upon this planning, ASU has modified the fall 2020 academic calendar. With this earlier start date other relevant dates will be adjusted. Residence hall configurations and all campus events have been altered to accommodate for social distancing.
The Newnan Times-Herald
UWG announces modified fall 2020 academic calendar
The University of West Georgia has modified the fall 2020 academic calendar in preparation for the upcoming semester, prioritizing the health and safety of the campus community to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. UWG will begin the semester on Wednesday, Aug. 12, as scheduled, and end regular instruction on Wednesday, Nov. 25. Final exams will be administered remotely so that students do not have to return to campus after Thanksgiving break.
The Bell Ringer
AU to follow contingency plan No. 1 in fall reopening
By Jenna Ingalls
Staff writer
In the most recent town hall, Provost Gretchen Caughman announced that Augusta University will be following contingency plan No. 1 for the fall reopening. “Contingency plan one is that fall classes will begin with full social-distancing expectations,” said Caughman on Friday, July 26. There are also plans in place to start the semester fully online and to move courses online if needed. The Fall 2020 semester starts on Aug. 1.
Albany Herald
Albany State University to resume on-campus classes fall semester
From staff reports
Albany State University has received approval from the University System of Georgia to return to face-to-face classes for the fall 2020 semester. Classes will begin one week earlier than scheduled; the new start date is Aug. 10. “I am impressed with how our students, faculty and staff have persevered and shown true excellence during online and remote instruction,” ASU President Marion Fedrick said in a news release. “As a campus community, we will continue this path during and after the transition back to face-to-face instruction.” The ASU re-entry planning committee appointed by Fedrick has developed a detailed plan to ensure the health and safety of students, faculty and staff. Based upon this planning, ASU has modified its fall 2020 academic calendar. With this earlier start date, other relevant dates will be adjusted. Residence hall configurations and all campus events have been altered to accommodate for social distancing.
WABE
Amid Budget Cuts, KSU Workers Petition School Not To Layoff Staff
Martha Dalton
A workers’ union at Kennesaw State University has petitioned the school not to layoff staff in the face of budget cuts caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Georgia’s entire university system will undergo a 10% budget reduction, due to lower tax revenues caused by the coronavirus pandemic. KSU’s chapter of the union United Campus Workers of Georgia wants President Pamela Whitten to pledge not to cut personnel. Pete Rorabaugh, a union member and assistant professor of English at KSU, says the university could implement furloughs and other cost-saving measures to avoid layoffs. “We’re not pretending that there’s some idealistic solution to this that is not complicated and does not put a lot of us in the state university system…stretched or thin,” Rorabaugh says. “But keeping workers on the job is a really important economic priority to have right now in this moment.” …When asked about the petition, KSU said no reductions will be final until Gov. Brian Kemp signs the state budget. He’s expected to do so this week.
Statesboro Herald
Former employee files lawsuit aimed at Eagle Football
Mark Anthony
A former employee with the Georgia Southern University athletic department has filed a lawsuit against the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia specifying actions taken by the Georgia Southern football program. On March 11, 2019, Video Coordinator Chris Ball was terminated from his employment with the team and is challenging the circumstances of his dismissal in a suit filed in January in the Atlanta Division of the Northern District Court of Georgia. In October 2018, Ball underwent surgery to amputate a foot, followed by a medical leave that lasted until Jan. 6, 2019. According to Ball’s attorney, Kirby Smith of The Kirby G. Smith Law Firm of Atlanta, Ball claims that the team changed demands of his job description following his return. ….In following with the process of an EEOC lawsuit, Ball and his attorney have received a response from Georgia Southern. However, the initial response by the university will remain sealed until the suit progresses further in the legal process. When reached for comment, representatives for both Georgia Southern football and Georgia Southern University acknowledged the existence of the lawsuit. The representatives declined to speak on the matter, citing that it is the university’s stance to decline comment on any ongoing legal matter.
The Bell Ringer
Former AUMC Doctor Sues for Violation of Due Process Rights, Hospital Bylaws and Defamation
By Emily Garcia
Staff writer
Augusta University Medical Center (AUMC) and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Philip Coule were named as defendants in a violation of due process rights, hospital bylaws and defamation lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Georgia on June 17. The lawsuit alleges that AUMC and Dr. Coule violated AUMC medical staff bylaws and due process rights of Dr. Linda Street. According to the complaint filed with the federal district court, the defendants also intentionally committed defamation and inflicted emotional distress of Dr. Street. Dr. Street is a licensed and board-certified Obstetrician Gynecologist with a specialization in Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) who was hired by AUMC in August 2016. On May 1, 2019, Dr. Street tendered her 60-day notice of resignation, with her last day of employment to be June 30, 2019. … The following week, just five days before Dr. Street’s last day of employment at AUMC, Dr. Street received a letter from Dr. Coule informing her that, “Information has recently come to our attention to cause concern for the safety of our patients under your care. As such, your privileges to practice medicine and surgery in Obstetrics and Gynecology (sic) is hereby suspended and access to AU Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Georgia, AU Medical Associates and its affiliated practice sites is hereby revoked.”
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated June 28, 3 p.m.)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 2,778 | Deaths confirmed in 140 counties. For 2 deaths, the county is unknown, and for 43 deaths, the residence was determined to be out-of-state.
CONFIRMED CASES: 77,210 | A case’s county is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated. Cases have been confirmed in every county. For 2,379 cases, the county is unknown. For 4,410 cases, the residence was determined to be out-of-state.
accessWDUN
Georgia reports its highest daily total of COVID-19 cases
By The Associated Press
Georgia reported more than 2,200 additional COVID-19 cases Sunday, a new high of daily reported cases as confirmed infections continue to rise. The number of reported cases on Sunday eclipsed the previous highest daily total of 1,990 reported on Saturday. Georgia health officials reported the new numbers in their daily afternoon update on Sunday. It brings Georgia’s total confirmed cases to more than 77,000. The number of infections is believed to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Debunking Bad COVID-19 Research
MIT Press and the University of California, Berkeley, are leading an effort to rapidly review research related to the pandemic and stop the spread of misinformation.
By Lindsay McKenzie
To understand and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are working at a rapid clip. As funders scale COVID-19 research grants and expedite application processes, publishers too are trying to move quickly to ensure that academics, policy makers and the public can access the latest research developments in a timely fashion. This rush to disseminate information is exposing cracks in the scholarly research system. Academic journals have not been fast-moving historically, and traditional peer review can take months. To make research findings available quickly, many researchers are publishing versions of papers that have not yet been peer reviewed on preprint servers such as arXiv, bioRxiv and SSRN.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
How Will Covid-19 Affect the Next Round of College Applicants? Here’s an Early Look.
By Eric Hoover
Most rising high-school seniors planning to attend college believe that campuses will be back to normal by fall 2021.But many are concerned about how the pandemic has affected their qualifications for admission. Amid continuing disruptions in the standardized-testing process, a sizable percentage of prospective students would welcome later application deadlines. And though Covid-19 has had a wide-ranging impact, it has hit low-income and underrepresented minority students especially hard, widening the disparities in the higher-education pipeline. Those findings come from a report on a national survey published on Monday by the Art & Science Group, a higher-education consulting firm. It, worked with the College Board to survey 1,975 collegebound high-school seniors in June. The results provide a snapshot of how Covid-19 has affected the next round of college applicants — and how it could influence their behavior during the uncertain months ahead.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
A New Guide Helps Faculty Plan Equitable Online Courses For Fall
by Sara Weissman
A new guide for faculty, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to help professors plan their online courses for fall as the coronavirus pandemic continues. The faculty playbook, called “Delivering High-Quality Instruction Online in Response to COVID-19,” came out of a collaboration between Every Learner Everywhere, a network of non-profits focused on student outcomes, and two of its member organizations, the Online Learning Consortium and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Their aim is to offer equity-minded online education strategies, especially for faculty who made their first foray into online education this year.
Inside Higher Ed
Presidents’ Growing Worry? Perceived Value of College
By Doug Lederman
As Inside Higher Ed has surveyed college and university presidents several times over the course of this COVID-19-dominated spring, some things have remained constant. The leaders’ sometimes conflicting concerns about student and employee health and institutional finances. Uncertainty about if and when they will reopen campuses and resume sports programs. Awareness that difficult financial decisions, driven by the recession, are ahead. But certain issues have taken on greater magnitude as a fall like no other nears. A new iteration of the survey of campus leaders by Inside Higher Ed and Hanover Research, published today, finds presidents likelier than they were two months ago to expect their institutions to reduce their portfolio of academic programs (55 percent versus 41 percent in April).
Inside Higher Ed
Campus Sexual Assault Policy Changes Not Widely Known
A survey found a general lack of public knowledge about new federal regulations on campus sexual assault policies.
By Greta Anderson
A majority of Americans surveyed have no knowledge of upcoming changes to how colleges must respond to sexual misconduct on campus, according to a new poll conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University and sponsored by a law firm known for representing students accused of sexual misconduct. Sixty percent of the survey’s 1,003 respondents, all of whom were over 18 years old, said they had heard or read “nothing at all” about new regulations issued by the United States Department of Education that will govern the policies and procedures used by colleges and universities for handling sexual misconduct complaints. The new procedures fall under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the law that prohibits sex discrimination at federally funded institutions, and they must be implemented by Aug. 14.