University System News:
NPR
Move In, Move Out: For In-Person College, Everything Rests On The First Few Weeks
By Elissa Nadworny
The excitement in the air at the University of Georgia is palpable, with move-in days for the fall semester finally here. There are packed cars, overstuffed suitcases, a white shag rug, an old grey futon and a potted succulent named Susie. But nestled between the familiar college accessories were stark reminders of the coronavirus pandemic: Boxes of cleaning supplies. Masks. Hand sanitizer. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of college students are making their way to campus to begin the fall semester. At the University of Georgia in Athens about 8,000 students are moving into the dorms this week, beginning an unusual on-campus experience, with a global pandemic as the backdrop.
Law.com
Appeals Court Nixes Valdosta State Student’s Suit Over Fall from Dorm Bed
By Greg Land
The Georgia Court of Appeals declared that a Valdosta State University student who suffered brain damage and other injuries when she fell from a loft bed in her dorm room cannot sue the school because of the “open and obvious” condition of the bed. The ruling came despite evidence that freshman Elizabeth Davis had asked that the bed be lowered because there was no ladder, and she had to stand on a desk to get into it. The opinion, written by Presiding Judge Stephen Dillard with the concurrence of Vice Chief Judge Brian Rickman and Judge E. Trenton Brown III, noted that Davis went to a party the night before and had “a couple” of beers.
Athens CEO
UGA Commits New Leadership Development Program to Support Underserved Populations across Georgia
By Charlie Bauder
A new University of Georgia leadership initiative will partner with eight organizations across the state to build stronger communities by developing leaders within underserved populations. The J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach, developed the Innovations in Community Leadership Initiative (ICLI) with private funding donated by members of the Fanning Institute Advisory Board, most notably a lead gift from the James L. Allgood Family. The program specifically targets organizations or communities that do not have the resources or technical expertise to sustain effective leadership programming, said Matt Bishop, director of the Fanning Institute.
Tifton CEO
Regents Approve $11.8M for ABAC Agricultural Facilities Project
By Staff
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) agreed at its August meeting to include $11.8 million in funding for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College as a part of the USG Capital Outlay Construction request to the General Assembly when legislators convene in 2021. ABAC President David Bridges said the agricultural facilities enhancement project includes funds for renovation to existing facilities, primarily the Chambliss Building, and new construction to support ABAC’s fast-growing agriculture and natural resource programs.
11 Alive
Georgia colleges get ‘incomplete’ on tracking COVID-19 cases
Bernie O’Donnell
Punts and passes, tackles and touchdowns — in a normal fall football season, Georgia colleges can track Saturday stats for hundreds of student athletes in real time. But don’t ask Georgia’s public-college system for a count of COVID-19 cases. As thousands of students returned to campuses this month, the University System of Georgia said it had no statewide system for tracking and reporting cases on its campuses.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Class of 2024 is starting college where the class of 2020 left off – disappointed
By Maureen Downey
For some members of the class of 2024, the start of college may be as disappointing as the end of college was for the class of 2020. The danger of contracting COVID-19 is even higher now, making the decision by the University System of Georgia to bring students back to campus fraught with risks. That is why students, including the nearly 30,000 undergraduates starting classes Thursday at the University of Georgia, are facing new restrictions and restraints.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UGA reports 47 new COVID-19 cases in last week
By Eric Stirgus
The University of Georgia reported Wednesday 47 confirmed COVID-19 cases in a recent seven-day stretch as its fall semester begins Thursday. University officials said Wednesday they conducted nearly 800 surveillance tests to identify asymptomatic carriers during that time frame and reported three positive results for a rate of 0.38%, according to its website.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AJC College COVID Tracker: Georgia College reports highest case total
By Eric Stirgus
Here are the latest developments of COVID-19 cases on metro Atlanta’s college campuses and in other parts of Georgia:
Georgia College
Fifty-four students tested positive for the virus on Aug. 18 and 19, according to its website, a significant increase in recent days. The school, which had about 7,000 students last year, had 28 confirmed cases the prior seven days.
Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College President Leocadia “Lee” Zak returned home Monday, Aug. 17 and is resting comfortably after being hospitalized late last month with COVID-19, the college said in a statement.
Georgia Military College
An unspecified number of students in its Prep School and select college campuses have been diagnosed, the college said on Aug. 13. “All GMC and GMC Prep School facilities have undergone a deep cleaning and disinfecting.
University of North Georgia
UNG officials said Aug. 12 they are continuing to emphasize health and safety precautions after a cadet there tested positive for COVID-19 and three others experienced disease symptoms.
Global Atlanta
By Trevor Williams
Two more Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes in Georgia are set to shutter amid increasing U.S. government scrutiny of the language education centers that have been criticized as propaganda arms of the Chinese Communist Party. Emory University announced Aug. 18 that it would not renew its relationship with Hanban, or the Confucius Institute Headquarters, after the current memorandum of understanding expires in November 2021. Georgia State University, meanwhile, is ending its Confucius Institute but maintaining its relationship with the Beijing Language and Culture University, which has hosted multiple delegations of Georgia students and even professionals in recent years.
Savannah Now
Graduate student joins Georgia Audubon
By Mary Landers
Georgia Audubon has hired Georgia Southern University graduate student and Black Birders Week co-organizer Corina Newsome as their community engagement manager. In this newly created position, Newsome will work to engage diverse communities across Georgia in the enjoyment and conservation of birds.
Griffin Daily News
UGA’s Ellen Bauske receives national horticulture outreach honor
By Josh Paine
Ellen Bauske is a boundary spanner — she’s known as a person who brings people and organizations together on national, regional and local levels. It’s one of the many reasons she received the American Society of Horticultural Science’s 2020 Extension Educator of the Year Award, which recognizes an educator who has made an outstanding contribution to extension education in horticulture for more than 10 years.
Other News:
AccessWDUN
GDOL: No change in Georgia jobless rate for July
By Staff
Georgia’s unemployment rate for July remained unchanged from June, according to a Thursday report from the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL). State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the jobless rate held steady at 7.6%; this time last year, the rate was 3.4%. Even with that news, Butler said there were some positive signs in the monthly report.
AP News
Trump: Closing colleges amid outbreaks ‘could cost lives’
By Colin Binkley
President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted universities that have canceled in-person classes amid coronavirus outbreaks, saying the move could ultimately cost lives rather than saving them. Raising the issue at a White House press briefing, Trump said the virus is akin to the seasonal flu for college students and that students pose a greater safety threat at home with older family members than on college campuses. He cited no evidence to support either contention, and the White House did not respond to a request for information on what Trump based his remarks.
Daily Journal – Kankakee, Illinois
Higher Education Market Analysis Highlights the Impact of COVID-19 (2020-2024) | Emergence of Transitional Education to Boost the Market Growth | Technavio
LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)
Technavio has been monitoring the higher education market and it is poised to grow by USD 37.82 billion during 2020-2024, decelerating at a CAGR of over 12% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Higher Education Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire). Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to transform the growth of various industries, the immediate impact of the outbreak is varied.
Savannah Now
Creative Coast director: Georgia aiming to be East Coast’s innovation center
By Staff
What would you say if I told you Georgia was the most innovative state on the East Coast? Would you believe me? Would you argue for Boston, New York, The Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle, or the Washington, D.C. area? Last February, Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan launched a task force to do just that – make Georgia the Innovation Capital of the East Coast. In his own words, “I have asked this group of leaders to come up with big ideas to put Georgia on the map when it comes to technology and make our state as important as Silicon Valley. I want Georgia to be a national leader in technology research, development and implementation, and allow for growth and evolution across all parts of Georgia.”
Higher Education News:
Business Insider
By Meghan Morris
Real estate company Corvias is back in the congressional spotlight. The privately-held company’s executives were summoned to Congress last year to answer for shoddy work at military housing across the country. A 2018 Reuters investigation found that untreated mold and other issues caused children and their parents to develop long-term health problems, and at least one soldier sought a medical discharge after he and his kids developed breathing problems that his doctors attributed to unmitigated mold in their home.
Business Insider
By Kelly McLaughlin
Colleges across the country are suspending in-person classes because of COVID-19 outbreaks weeks after opening their doors to students. As the novel coronavirus pandemic spread across the US through spring and summer, several universities spent months contemplating if they should open to students in the fall.
Diverse Education
Georgia Military College Has Invested Over $400,000 in COVID-19 Prevention and Detection Equipment
by Jessica Ruf
Georgia Military College (GMC) has invested over $400,000 in COVID-19 detection and prevention equipment, including temperature screening devises and ionization units in ventilation systems, reports 13WMAZ. The ionization units, which cost around $6,000 for larger buildings, work by putting ions into the air stream. “The ions then attach to the virus and break the virus down back into hydrogen and oxygen and carbon just simple elements, so the virus is not effective once it’s broken down,” explained GMC’s vice president of engineering Jeff Gray to WMAZ. According to the school, the ionization units can reduce nearly 95% of COVID-19 in the air stream after 30 minutes.
Diverse Education
Morehouse Takes Center Stage in Response to COVID-19’s Impact on Minority Communities
by B. Denise Hawkins
Heading into fall, scientists estimate that COVID-19 has been with us for more than half a year. It’s still unclear, they say, when the virus began to infect people in the United States. But this is certain: the coronavirus has harmed Black and Latinx people at higher rates than other groups, according to emerging data. In communities across the country, Black and Latinx people have been three times as likely to become infected and nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as White people. In response, the federal government, in June, appointed the historically Black Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) in Atlanta to get at the root of this uneven toll. With a $40 million grant, it asked leaders at the medical school to mount a widespread, comprehensive fight against COVID-19 in communities that have been hardest hit.
Diverse Education
Colleges Ramp Up Advertising During COVID-19, Especially For-Profits
by Sara Weissman
Strayer University began running new ads in April, promoting their online courses. The message: “Stay safe. Stay home.” The problem is, Strayer University campuses have graduation rates that range from 27% to 3%, according the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard. Students’ median total debt comes to tens of thousands of dollars. Whether the school is a “safe” choice is debatable at best. Colleges and universities are spending a lot of money on advertising during the pandemic, particularly for-profit colleges, according to a new study by the Century Foundation.
Inside Higher Ed
Job Security, Health Fears Make for Uneasy Mix
By Greta Anderson
“Front line” student affairs professionals — including residence life and student activities staff, student conduct officials, and academic advisers — are often the first people at colleges and universities to communicate with and support families and campuses when there’s an emergency involving a student, such as a health crisis or death. As campuses reopen during the coronavirus pandemic, these employees are often responsible for coordinating quarantine housing and mask distribution and managing conduct hearings for students who break social distancing and other public health rules.
Inside Higher Ed
Live Updates: Latest News on Coronavirus and Higher Education
Staff Report
The University of Connecticut has evicted students who held a packed party in a residence hall — without social distancing or face masks, The Hartford Courant reported. The students became known because video of the party was widely circulated. The university said the students were “endangering not only their own health and well being, but that of others.”
Times Higher Education
A practical guide to digital teaching and learning
By Benjamin Tak Yuen Chan
With the Covid-19 pandemic likely to prolong the need for mass online learning for some time, we seek the experts’ advice on how to do it well – from designing courses and maintaining engagement to choosing applications and carrying out experiments remotely.
U.S. News & World Report
Universities Wave the White Flag in the Face of Campus Coronavirus Outbreaks
By Lauren Camera
The number of colleges and universities reversing course and returning to remote learning is growing as clusters of students contracting the coronavirus – largely through off-campus social activities – overwhelm school safety plans just days after they return to campuses. Notre Dame University, Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill all walked back or delayed reopening plans this week after infection rates spiked.
The Washington Post
Freshmen waited for their schools to share reopening plans. Then things got complicated
By Lauren Lumpkin
They’d be in remote classes for only about two weeks. Soon, they’d be back to cheer on friends playing spring sports, plan graduation parties and shop for prom dresses. Or so they thought. Those milestones, of course, never came for high school seniors. But for many who had college plans, the fall offered a second chance — an opportunity to make things right after a botched senior year.