University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia schools top categories in U.S. News college rankings list
By Eric Stirgus
Five Georgia colleges and universities were at the top of the class in several categories in the closely-watched U.S. News & World Report higher education rankings list released Monday. Georgia Tech was first in the nation in three educational programs: doctorate civil engineering, doctorate industrial/manufacturing and tied for first in undergraduate cybersecurity. Agnes Scott College ranked first in two categories: first-year experience and the most innovative liberal arts college. U.S. News & World listed the University of Georgia’s undergraduate insurance/risk management program as the nation’s best.
U.S. News & World Report
Top Public Schools National Universities
Public colleges and universities typically operate under the supervision of state governments and are funded, in part, by tax dollars and subsidies from the state. As a result, these universities often offer discounted tuition to residents of their states. Public schools run the gamut from small liberal arts colleges to large research institutions. These are the highest-ranked public colleges and universities in the 2021 Best Colleges rankings, listed according to their ranking category. … Georgia Institute of Technology
#8 in Top Public Schools (tie); #35 in National Universities (tie)
Athens CEO
UGA Rises to #15 among Nation’s Best Public Universities Ranked by U.S. News & World Report
Greg Trevor
The University of Georgia has advanced to No. 15 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 ranking of the best public universities in the nation. This marks the fifth consecutive year that UGA has placed in the Top 20, climbing from the No. 16 position last year. “This outstanding news is yet another clear sign that the University of Georgia is strengthening its position among the very best public research universities in America,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “The consistency of our national ranking is a testament to the commitment of our talented faculty, staff and students; to the generosity and support of our loyal alumni and friends; and to the effectiveness of our vision and strategy to reach new heights of academic excellence.” UGA is one of two institutions—along with the Georgia Institute of Technology—to make the top 20 from the state of Georgia. Georgia is one of only three states (including California and Virginia) to have more than one institution in the top 20. In addition, UGA and the University of Florida remain the only two institutions from the Southeastern Conference to be in the top 20.
KPVI
CAES ranked No. 2 college for agricultural sciences in U.S.
By Maria M. Lameiras CAES News
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has ranked second on the 2021 list of Best Colleges for Agricultural Sciences in America, up one spot from the 2020 ranking. Released this month, Niche’s ranking is based on data from the U.S. Department of Education. According to the platform, the ranking “compares the top agricultural science degree programs including animal sciences, horticulture, aquaculture, agronomy, crop science and turf management.” Other factors include test scores, the percentage of college majors, program demand, student and alumni surveys, expenditures per student, research expenditures and the percentage of total annual agricultural sciences graduates nationally that come from each program.
The Augusta Chronicle
AU president says COVID cases on ‘down hill slide’ at college
By Amanda King
When in-person classes resumed at Augusta University in early August, positive COVID cases had hit a peak in Georgia and the Augusta area. Now, AU President Brooks Keel says those numbers are on “a down hill slide.” In a virtual town hall meeting Friday afternoon, Keel reviewed safety precautions the university is taking to ensure students and employees remain safe during the pandemic. Each group has what he referred to as “decision trees” that give directions on what to do if the person has COVID symptoms or has been in contact with someone who tests positive. The virus has prompted the university to think about things differently and adapt to the “now normal,” Keel said. At the end of the fifth week of classes, 115 students and staff have tested positive and numbers are decreasing each week.
MSN
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases at Augusta University, other schools
Over the past two weeks, Augusta University has been tracking 19 coronavirus cases among students and four cases among employees. In total, the university has seen 89 students cases and 49 employee cases. Other state universities are announcing new COVID-19 numbers, as well: The University of Georgia reported more than 1,400 cases last week, almost all of them among students.
Albany Herald
Albany State sees 6% increase in fall 2020 enrollment
By Carlton Fletcher
Despite the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Albany State University officials announced this week a 6% enrollment increase for the fall 2020 semester. Enrollment figures are the highest at the university in the past three years. Officials at the university said ASU’s ability to “pivot” in its recruitment efforts was key to the uptick in student enrollment. “We made the shift from in-person to virtual instruction immediately back in March,” ASU Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Success Kenyatta Johnson said Friday afternoon. “President (Marion) Fedrick was instrumental in securing the technology our students needed to continue instruction.
SaportaReport
As science is under assault, Georgia Tech president affirms people-centered research, teaching
David Pendered
At a time science and its practitioners are under assault, Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera spoke of the role of research institutions and their mission to provide, “hope to find solutions to the most important problems of our time.” Cabrera’s remarks affirm Tech’s continuing commitment to address the thorniest issues of the era, even two that are draped in political discord: The coronavirus, and social equity. These two challenges, and their related components, represent the new mission of the institute Cabrera intends to lead as its 12th president. “I’m proud of the science and innovation here,” Cabrera continued. “But, ultimately, it’s not technology for technology’s sake, but to improve the human condition.”
Columbus CEO
Chris Markwood on Servant Leadership at Columbus State
Columbus State University’s President Dr. Chris Markwood discusses the focus on servant leadership at CSU and the impact it has had on the community during COVID-19.
The Augusta Chronicle
Sept. 13, 1989: Georgia Southern becomes state’s first regional university
By Bill Kirby
Georgia’s Board of Regents voted to create the state’s first regional university at Statesboro’s Georgia Southern College, designating two Savannah-area schools as its affiliates. Statesboro Mayor Thurman Lanier called it “the greatest thing that ever happened since they invented black-eyed peas and the cotton gin.” After lengthy discussion before a packed house of educators and South Georgia lawmakers, the regents voted 11-2 to create their first regional university in southeast Georgia. Under the plan long discussed, Georgia Southern would become a regional university in July 1990.
accessWDUN
New “Profs for FoCo” program matches UNG Professors with Forsyth County businesses
By Kimberly Sizemore Anchor/Reporter
The Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the University of North Georgia with a new initiative to support small businesses. The program, called Profs for FoCo, matches North Georgia professors with small business owners to provide free consulting. “The Forsyth County Chamber and UNG have had a partnership for some time. They have always been a great partnership to us,” says Laura Stewart, the Forsyth County Chamber’s Vice President of Community Engagement. She says that it was the perfect match as the chamber began to really see the impacts of COVID-19 on the small business community. “We knew that we really needed to focus, especially in 2020, on the economic impacts,” she added. The solution came in the form of UNG professors, many of whom have had previous businesses experience and want to give back to the community. As of now, over 20 professors have agreed to provide free consultation services on topics such as marketing, economics, technology, manufacturing processes and more.
Inside Higher Ed
Facebook Launches Student-Only Networking Site
By Lindsay McKenzie
Social media giant Facebook, which started as a networking site for college students, has come full circle, announcing the launch of a platform exclusively for students. Facebook Campus is described as a “dedicated section of the Facebook app designed for students,” where shared content can only be seen by other people attending the same institution. Facebook Campus will have its own chat rooms and a News Feed where students can see updates from classmates and find information about upcoming events. There will also be a campus directory where students can find other students by class, major, year and more — a callback to the “early days when Facebook was a college-only network,” the company said in a press release. Facebook described Facebook Campus as an “opt-in” experience, suggesting the directory will not be automatically populated with student profiles. …Facebook Campus is currently available at the following colleges in the U.S.: Benedict College, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, College of William & Mary, Duke University, Florida International University, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University,
Athens Banner-Herald
SAT score waived for UGA, other Georgia college admissions, but still required for scholarships
By Lee Shearer
SAT and ACT scores are optional next year for admission to the University of Georgia and other state public colleges and universities. Private schools including Emory University also won’t require test scores. In fact, 1,508 U.S. colleges and universities — two-thirds of the nation’s four-year colleges — won’t require test scores for fall 2021 admission, according to the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest). For UGA and other Georgia public colleges, waiving the test score requirement is temporary, caused by the pandemic. But other schools have made the change permanent. But there are other reasons than admission for Georgia students to take one of the tests. A standardized test score is still a requirement to get some so-called “merit” scholarships, including Georgia’s prestigious Zell Miller scholarship, and similar scholarship programs modeled after Georgia’s lottery-funded HOPE scholarship, like Louisiana’s TOPS and Florida’s Bright Futures.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Learning alongside former prisoners, college students find ‘challenge, passion, mutual support’
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Common Good Atlanta program gives people released from prison access to top metro professors and humanities classes
Kathryn Higinbotham is a fourth-year student at Georgia Tech and Avery Hill is a junior at Oxford College of Emory University. Last year, they worked with Atlanta-based nonprofit Common Good Atlanta as teaching assistants for a class of people who were previously imprisoned. In this piece, the two students reflect on their inspiring experiences with the class.
The Brunswick News
College hosts 9/11 remembrance ceremony
By Lauren McDonald
Throughout American history, tragedy has served as a unifying force. This year, despite social distancing precautions in place because of the pandemic, communities across the nation found ways to collectively remember the tragic events that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. A ceremony on the campus of College of Coastal Georgia Friday brought people together at the same time the second plane had torn into the Twin Towers in New York City 19 years earlier.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Faster, cheaper virus tests needed heading into fall
By J. Scott Trubey
The summer surge in new coronavirus cases exposed the shortcomings in the nation’s infrastructure to detect active cases of COVID-19 and quickly isolate the infected from the well. Testing centers and labs were swamped. It took days for many in Georgia and other states to get tested and sometimes a week or two — or even longer — to get results, by which time an infected person could have sickened many others. …“We need to have more testing capability — both the PCR test and antigen testing,” said Dr. Patrick Godbey, president of the College of American Pathologists. “We need to be able to do more locally; we need to have access to different types of tests and we need to be able to report data without difficulty.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Sept. 13, 3 p.m.)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 6,333 | Deaths have been confirmed in all counties but one (Taliaferro). County is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated.
CONFIRMED CASES: 294,314 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Fox 28 Media
Experts say the pandemic has taken a serious toll on people’s mental health
by Jamie Burton
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and experts are saying the pandemic has really taken a toll on people’s mental health. Since the start of the pandemic, Prevent Suicide Today Program Director Vira Salzburn says the pandemic has been negatively impacting communities, individuals, and families. She has gotten more calls asking for help. “Personally, I’ve been receiving a lot of calls on my work phone from individuals just seeking help and looking up our information or just looking up suicide prevention information locally,” she said. These phone calls are more than all of 2019. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention recently did a survey about mental health and specifically suicide during the pandemic. 80% of people out of that survey agreed that suicide prevention needs to be a priority nationally.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Spring Planning Has Begun. Here’s What Colleges Are Thinking So Far.
By Eric Kelderman
The fall semester is barely underway, but several colleges are already announcing their instruction plans for the spring. The bottom line, so far, is that few institutions will change their approaches — whether face to face, remote, or a mix of the two. The California State University system is the most recent institution to do so, announcing on Thursday that all 23 of the campuses would continue to provide instruction virtually. “This decision is the only responsible one available to us at this time,” Chancellor Timothy P. White said in a news release. “And it is the only one that supports our twin North Stars of safeguarding the health, safety, and well-being of our faculty, staff, students, and communities, as well as enabling degree progression for the largest number of students,” he said. …For colleges that allowed students back on campus, maintaining the status quo might seem like a shaky decision. Several major universities have already experienced widespread outbreaks of coronavirus — sometimes just days into the fall term — and shifted from in-person to online learning. While administrators are genuinely concerned about students and faculty members, there are still other factors that relate to colleges’ decisions for the fall, said Barnshaw at Ad Astra.
Inside Higher Ed
Professors say faculty burnout is always a real threat, but especially now, and that institutions should act before it’s too late.
By Colleen Flaherty
As a frequent commentator on all things higher ed, Kevin McClure likes his predictions to be right. But in the case of a recent article he wrote about the growing threat of faculty burnout, he wanted to be wrong. “Basically what I heard over and over again was people saying, ‘That’s me. This is how I feel. This gives words to the way that I’m feeling walking into fall semester,’” McClure, an associate professor of higher education at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, said about feedback he received. “So it’s a situation where many people confirmed my argument that there will be a wave of burnout — but it does increase my level of concern.” Others are sounding the alarm about faculty burnout, too. It’s always a risk in academe, they say, but now more than ever.