University System News:
13WMAZ
Middle Georgia State’s move-in day plans for students returning in person
Students will move into the brand new Lakeview Pointe residence hall Aug. 7 with safety guidelines in place.
Author: Pepper Baker
Alexandria Walker will be moving into the new Lakeview Pointe residential hall on Middle Georgia State’s Macon campus. “Oh I was all for it. I was like, ‘Oh we’re going to have a new building?’ I want to see it. I want to look at it. I want to touch stuff. The flooring is gorgeous. There’s like beautiful counter spaces. The rooms are very spacious, so basically the bedrooms and everything are gorgeous,” she said. Moving in will be a bit different this year because of COVID-19. Residence Life Coordinator Brandon Wright and Vice President of Student Affairs Jennifer Brannon break down how they’re handling the process with safety guidelines in place. …The move-in runs Aug. 7 through the 12. Students will get instructions by e-mail on how to set up a move-in appointment by the end of the week.
WSB Radio
UGA top brass hosts Zoom call to update plans for fall semester
University plans to spend millions to combat COVID
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia, still aiming for an August 24 start for fall semester classes, goes virtual this afternoon, with a Zoom call that will be open to as many as 5,000 University faculty, staff, and students.
The Augusta Chronicle
Pooling samples for COVID-19 testing could stretch resources, aid school monitoring
By Tom Corwin
Pooling samples for testing for the virus that causes COVID-19 could allow a greater number of people to be tested reliably but with potentially fewer resources, and allow for greater monitoring of schools. Pooling of samples for COVID-19 testing found it can reliably find positive samples with fewer tests, less resources, and open the way for better monitoring at schools, an expert at Augusta University said. Some Georgia universities, such as the University of Georgia, are already looking at this approach. A problem from the beginning has been the scarcity of testing materials and kits, said Ravindra Kolhe, the director of the Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory at the Medical College of Georgia at AU. “The biggest challenge is the supply chain,” he said. “Even at this moment, we don’t have enough supplies to cover a majority of the population. We’re only testing a selected few. That doesn’t give us the entire picture of the pandemic.”
Moultrie Observer
ABAC program plans for elementary school ag teachers
Staff Reports
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission has approved a plan that will allow Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College to become the first program in the nation to offer instruction to prepare graduates to teach agriculture classes at the pre-kindergarten through fifth grade level, adding to its agriculture teacher certification program for grades 6 through 12. Associate Professor Andrew Thoron, Department Head for Agricultural Education and Communication, said ABAC courses for the P-5 Agricultural Endorsement could begin in the summer of 2021.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Virus risk will rise if students return to dorms, dining halls and classrooms
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Georgia Tech scientist says University System of Georgia should change course now
Joshua S. Weitz is a professor of biological sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology and founding director of the Quantitative Biosciences Ph.D. program at Georgia Tech. In this guest column, Weitz says Georgia colleges are not ready to open under current infection levels. Once infections decline, Weitz says a key factor in reopening for hybrid or face-to-face learning at the state’s campuses will be testing and rapid isolation of infected students. Weitz co-wrote a column for AJC Get Schooled in March that used a mathematical model to illustrate why banning large events helps reduce spread in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic.
Athens Banner-Herald
UGA reopening plans ‘clearly inadequate’ — even life-threatening — faculty declare
By Lee Shearer
University of Georgia faculty appear to be on a collision course with UGA and University System of Georgia administrators over the university system’s plans for reopening campuses for fall semester. UGA classes are scheduled to begin Aug. 20, just over two weeks from now. UGA measures to contain COVID-19 when students come back are vague and in some cases life-threatening to students, faculty and other workers, according to a resolution unanimously adopted by the elected faculty senate of Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the university’s largest academic unit, and overwhelmingly endorsed by the faculty senate of the Mary Frances Early College of Education. The groups sent their resolution to UGA President Jere Morehead and USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley, asking for a response by Tuesday. The Franklin College Senate is scheduled to meet again Aug. 11, possibly to vote on a no-confidence resolution depending on administrators’ response to the faculty resolution. The faculty representatives commended the university system for its July 7 decision to require masks on campus, but that’s not enough to ensure people’s safety, they said.
Savannah Morning News
By Katie Nussbaum
As students return to Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro campus in a few weeks they’ll notice a little extra activity as construction crews work to expand and renovate a section of on-campus housing. Closed in January 2019 after mold was discovered in some areas as crews were assessing the building’s HVAC system, the University System of Georgia recently approved a $16.4 million bond package to renovate Joseph E. Kennedy Hall, which first opened in 1998. The project is scheduled for completion in July 2021 with Kennedy reopening for occupancy in August 2021.
Statesboro Herald
Georgia Southern to fill Boro dorms; no reduction in students per suite
Staggered move-in slated to begin Monday; university launches COVID-19 support center
Al Hackle/Staff
Georgia Southern University is moving forward with plans to relaunch in-person classes Aug. 17, with social distancing in classrooms augmented by Zoom-based distance learning and with masks required almost everywhere. But no special limits have been placed on the capacity of residence halls. Indeed, after a staggered, week-long Operation Move-In set to begin Monday, the residence halls on the Statesboro campus should be full, said Shay Little, Ph.D., Georgia Southern’s new vice president for student affairs. On the job since June 1, she has responsibilities over campus housing, student activities, recreation, counseling and health services and was interviewed last week about how student life aspects of the university experience have been modified because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
Douglas Now
SGSC OFFERS NEW CERTIFICATE AT VSU ENTRY PROGRAM
South Georgia State College not only offers 23 academic pathways at the associate degree level and seven bachelor degrees on the Douglas and Waycross campuses, but SGSC also provides another option for students who are beginning their college academic journeys. South Georgia State College’s Entry Program is designed for a student to complete 30 credit hours in the University System of Georgia core curriculum at SGSC while preparing them for sophomore-level courses at Valdosta State University. Now, SGSC Entry Program students can earn a certificate of completion to add to their higher education credentials. The core curriculum courses are planned to fit most programs of study, and the core curriculum credits transfer to any institution in the University System of Georgia, including VSU. Entry program students benefit from small class numbers that afford one-on-one attention from faculty and staff. The entrance requirements are the same as other SGSC locations and affordable at only $95 per credit hour for in-state tuition.
Other News:
Gainesville Times
The Northeast Georgia Health System is treating 157 COVID-19 patients as of Aug. 3, a decrease of nine from the day before and 11 from the week before. Aug. 3’s numbers represent the third straight day of decreases after six days of increases. The health system’s COVID-19 patient peak reached 176 on July 31. More detailed and historic information is available from NGHS. The hospital has Hall County locations in Gainesville and Braselton and treats patients from across Northeast Georgia.
Newsweek
Trump Says Virus ‘Receding,’ as Fauci Warns U.S. Still in midst of First Wave
By Kashmira Gander
President Donald Trump has said the coronavirus is “receding” in the U.S., in remarks at odds with comments made by White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci, who says the country is still in the middle of its first wave. The U.S. has over 4.7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, more than any other country in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. It also has the biggest death toll, at more than 155,000 of the global total of almost 700,000. Trump told a press conference at the White House on Monday: “We are beginning to see evidence of significant progress nationwide. An encouraging sign, very encouraging, I have to add, that the virus is receding.” … In an interview with the editor of the JAMA medical journal on Monday, Fauci said the U.S. is “right in the middle of the first wave” and that cases are surging. According to The New York Times coronavirus tracker, there has been an average of 60,188 new coronavirus cases reported per day over the past week, down from 9 percent from two weeks prior. However, it notes that case numbers are rising in most states. On Monday, the virus was confirmed to have killed 602 people, with 47,792 new cases reported.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Aug. 3, 3 p.m.)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 3,842 | Deaths have been confirmed in 153 counties. County is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated.
CONFIRMED CASES: 195,435 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
ACT Registrations Resume, Slowly
By Scott Jaschik
ACT shut down its registration for new tests last week amid problems with the registration system and a high demand to sign up. Registration was reopened Monday morning, but many students reported long delays. Our spot check of the registration system noted delays of five to 50 minutes.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Fall’s Looming Child-Care Crisis
With reopening plans in constant flux, academic parents fear for their careers
By Katherine Mangan
…Welcome to the fall of 2020, a semester that will test the endurance, flexibility, and finances of parents everywhere. Both K-12 and college schedules are expected to keep shifting to reflect the changing risks posed by Covid-19. Children who start out in classrooms may end up studying from home for longer than their exhausted parents had counted on. That could cause a child-care dilemma for parents whose own schedules and workplaces are in flux. As the clock ticks toward the start of the semester, dozens of faculty and staff members who responded to inquiries from The Chronicle wrote that they worry about how they’ll teach their kindergartners to read, keep their teenagers from ditching their textbooks for video games, and meet the needs of college students who may be emotionally fragile this fall. The vast majority of the responses came from women.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
As Safety Concerns Mount, Many Colleges Hold Fast to Reopening Plans
By Michael Vasquez
…That tug-of-war, between financial concerns and public health, is the tense backdrop of the looming fall semester across American higher education. And some faculty members and students are pushing back — organizing protests and petitions against what they describe as reckless and dangerous reopening plans. The annual lead-up to fall, normally brimming with optimism and possibility, is now filled with dire warnings — warnings that are often ignored.
Inside Higher Ed
The most tumultuous spring in generations has exacerbated the challenges these already vulnerable groups face in succeeding in higher education, writes Jack Markell.
By Jack Markell
As colleges and universities across the country rethink lecture halls, dining halls and dormitories in the COVID-19 environment, it’s vital that they also focus on the needs of rising college freshmen, especially low-income and first-generation students and students of color. The most tumultuous spring in generations, including protests roiling the country, has exacerbated the challenges these already vulnerable groups face in succeeding in higher education. Every summer, 10 to 20 percent of students nationally who plan to enroll in college never make it to their first day. In some areas, and among some populations, the drop-off is far steeper. In 2010, for instance, 48 percent of graduates from the Fort Worth Independent School District in Texas did not enroll in college as they had planned. Only 19 percent of white graduates did not enroll, compared to 41 percent of African American graduates and 59 percent of Latino graduates. In other words, many aspiring college students fall off the path before they get started, and that’s when we are not in the midst of a national economic and health crisis.
The Atlantic
Colleges Are Deeply Unequal Workplaces
As universities plan to reopen, they continue to overlook the concerns of campus staff.
Jeffrey Selingo
As colleges unveil their reopening plans for the fall, concerns about the safety of faculty teaching in classrooms populated with young adults have taken center stage. But largely left out of the conversation have been the people actually getting campuses up and running: the staff. Over the past few months, the pandemic has exposed long-standing fissures in the campus workplace. Faculty and staff occupy two very different worlds—a chasm like few others in the American economy. Though they work for the same employer, faculty, by definition, enjoy more job security and power to shape how the university runs, while campus staff continue to be far more vulnerable.