University System News:
WGAU
UGA Medical Oversight Task Force updates campus COVID status
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia’s Medical Oversight Task Force says it is “encouraged” at the results of the most recent round of coronavirus testing at UGA. The panel released the following statement… As members of the University of Georgia’s Medical Oversight Task Force, we are encouraged by the recent results that we are seeing from UGA’s testing efforts. Last week’s report of positive cases was particularly encouraging, with a 70% drop in cases from the previous week (and with daily participation in our surveillance testing program steadily increasing). We are optimistic that we will see further progress when the weekly report of our testing data is provided to the campus community tomorrow. If so, our pattern would follow that exhibited by other institutions in the University System—two to three weeks of rising numbers followed by a plateau and decline.
AJC
College and the coronavirus: Georgia professor balances cancer treatment while teaching online
By Eric Stirgus
Debbie van Tuyll’s sister-in-law and friend’s daughter were diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, so when her doctor said in May they needed to do a biopsy after her mammogram, she anticipated a similar diagnosis. The doctors found a spot the size of what van Tuyll described as a green pea that was cancerous. She has Stage 2 breast cancer, but describes it as Stage 1.75 because of the size of the spot. Van Tuyll, 64, began chemotherapy in July. A month later, amid the treatment, she returned to work. Van Tuyll, a communications professor at Augusta University for nearly 30 years, said she felt a duty to continue teaching because her department is shorthanded.
The New Brunswick News
Coastal Georgia named Champions on Character Five-Star Institution
By Derrick Davis
College of Coastal Georgia has demonstrated exceptional commitment to character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. That commitment earned the college recognition as a 2019-20 Champions of Character Five-Star Gold Level Institution by the NAIA. Points on the Champions of Character scorecard are based on student-athlete grade point averages and minimal to no ejections during competition throughout the course of the academic year, and Coastal Georgia earned a perfect 100 to earn its first placement in the gold level. Only 68 of more than 250 NAIA member schools received a score of 100 — something Coastal Georgia has been slowly building towards for the last several years.
WRBL(CBS)
Columbus State University’s Oxbow Meadows to Receive Grant from Wells Fargo Foundation
By Blake Eason
Columbus State University’s Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center was awarded a grant by The Wells Fargo Foundation to support STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning at Title I schools and will benefit several schools located close to the Learning Center. The $4,000 grant will give students access to experiences that will make up for the inability to travel on field trips due to the coronavirus pandemic. The activities will include video elements that support the Georgia Standards of Excellence in this regard. In addition, this new project will help K-12 educators continue to engage students amid the coronavirus pandemic.
All on Georgia
Georgia Southern launches partnership with Matthew Reardon Center for Autism Early Learning Academy
By staff report
The Georgia Southern University College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (CBSS) is teaming up with the Matthew Reardon Center for Autism’s (MRCA) Early Learning Academy (ELA) in Savannah to provide preschool students the best education possible. “Responding to community demand, the ELA and Georgia Southern University’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences have partnered to create an excellent, evidence-based preschool that engages every child at his or her level of development upon enrollment and builds individual educational plans to ensure that every child ascends to the height of their abilities,” said Patti Victor, CEO of the Matthew Reardon Center for Autism.
Metro Atlanta CEO
Clayton State University Named a Top Social Mobility Performer by U.S. News & World Report
Staff Report
Clayton State University has been named one of the top 40 universities in the south for moving students up the socioeconomic ladder. The university is ranked no. 36 on the “Top Performers on Social Mobility” list for the U.S. News and World Report 2021 Best College rankings. Clayton State held the same spot for the previous year. Researchers looked at the six-year graduation rate among Pell grant recipients, as well as the graduation rate of those recipients against non-Pell grant students.
11 Alive
Attorneys file opening brief before US Supreme Court in Gwinnett County free speech case
By Michael King
Attorneys for two former Georgia Gwinnett College students filed their opening brief before the US Supreme Court on Tuesday. The brief is tied to a case the attorneys said involves the denial of the students’ freedom to express their religion by the Lawrenceville-based school. The case was filed by attorneys for Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF), after they said that speech policies at Georgia Gwinnett College forbade any form of expression “which disturbs the peace and/or comfort of person(s).” According to ADF, the school’s policies limited free speech on the Georgia Gwinnett campus to two tiny speech zones that comprised less than 0.0015 percent of the total campus area and were only open for 18 hours per week.
Albany CEO
Georgia Southwestern Names 20 Freshmen to the President Jimmy Carter Leadership Program
Staff Report
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) has named twenty freshmen to the President Jimmy Carter Leadership Program, established to honor the legacy of GSW alumnus and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. These students from Georgia, Alabama and Florida are the second group to enter the program since its creation in 2019. The program consists of two pathways, an Undergraduate Research Track and a Service Track, that exemplify Carter’s lifetime of leadership in education, politics and community service. Guided by the evidence-based “The Social Change Model of Leadership Development,” the four-year Carter Leadership Program allows students to develop their leadership skills both individually and within a group. Students who score a minimum 1100 on the SAT or an ACT composite score of 22, hold a high school curriculum grade point average of 3.0 or greater and have been admitted to GSW are eligible to apply for the program. Additionally, students who hold a leadership role in high school, whether on a sports team, a student club, or community organization, also qualify.
11 Alive
Clayton State Univ. hosts virtual voter education event
By Michael King
Clayton State University hosted a virtual voter education event Tuesday as part of National Voter Registration Day. The event offered a self-guided tutorial for voters to walk through the registration process as well as providing an online meeting space where trained volunteers can answer any questions that voters had. Participants could to register to vote, learn how to verify and update their voter information, determine where and when to vote, and learn how to request and submit an absentee ballot.
Tifton CEO
Mike Chason of ABAC on the Fine Arts Building, Carlton Center
By Michael Chason
(VIDEO) Director of Public Relations Emeritus at ABAC Mike Chason gives an update on two campus projects – a new Fine Arts Building and the newly renovated Carlton Center.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Sept. 22)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is keeping track of reported coronavirus deaths and cases across Georgia according to the Department of Public Health. DEATHS: 6,677 | 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: 308,221 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Savannah Morning News
Georgia’s confirmed COVID case count tops 308,000; Chatham County cases reach 8,199
By Will Peebles
Georgia’s confirmed case count for COVID-19 rose by 1,017 since Monday to reach 308,221 on Tuesday, while the statewide death toll rose by 73 to reach 6,677, according to figures posted just before 3 p.m. on Tuesday by the Georgia Department of Public Health. Of Georgia’s 27,490 confirmed COVID-19 cases in patients who were hospitalized when the case was reported to DPH or when interviewed, 96 patients included in that total were added on Tuesday.
The Times
CDC backtracks on new guidance on how coronavirus spreads through air
From Associated Press
The top U.S. public health agency stirred confusion by posting — and then taking down — an apparent change in its position on how easily the coronavirus can spread from person to person through the air, and this week, local health officials weighed in. But officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say their position has not really changed and that the post last week on the agency’s website was an error that has been taken down.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
By Scott Jaschik
Of the 334,000 students registered to take the SAT on Sept. 26, 183,000 will not be able to take the test. And of the 363,000 registered to take the SAT or the SAT Subject Tests on Oct. 3, 154,000 will be unable to do so. The students were told that they couldn’t take the test because testing centers — most of them in high schools — were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic or had imposed new limits on students. The College Board, which run the exams, released information about the center closures and limited space Tuesday. Most students had already been notified but would not have known how many students were turned away.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Reopening for In-Person Classes May Have Caused Thousands of Covid-19 Cases a Day, Study Finds
By Katherine Mangan
Colleges that reopened for in-person instruction this fall probably contributed more than 3,000 Covid-19 cases a day in their counties that wouldn’t have emerged if they’d remained online, according to a report released on Tuesday. The report was based on a study conducted by researchers in epidemiology, health economics, and higher education at Davidson College, Indiana University at Bloomington, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of Washington. It found that reopening for face-to-face instruction, which prompted far more students to return to campuses, resulted in 1,000 to 5,000 additional cases per day, with the best estimate around 3,200.
Inside Higher Ed
Reimagining Service Learning in the Digital Age
By Laken Brooks
During COVID-19, many instructors are asking important questions about how to bring a sense of humanity into their hybrid or online classrooms. This discourse may rightly lead us to wonder how to teach when we can’t physically see a student’s face or hear their voice. We may ponder how we can make instructional technologies more accessible to students’ bodies and home spaces.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A College Says It’s Fighting Racism. Critics Say It’s Failing.
By Elin Johnson
Texas Christian University received a Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award from Insight Into Diversity magazine in 2018, 2019, and again in 2020. This year, TCU became the second university in Texas to join the Universities Studying Slavery consortium. Yet some students and alumni called these efforts too little too late and said their suggestions have been largely ignored. Faculty members, too, told The Chronicle that when they tried to raise concerns about a racist campus climate, they were brushed aside, not supported by the administration, or began to fear professional retaliation. The dissonance at Texas Christian — between an administration that says it’s committed to correcting racial inequality and a student body that says the college is unwilling to change — underscores tensions playing out on campuses across the country. As the national reckoning with racial injustice continues, colleges are under increasing pressure to take immediate action on demands for radical change.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Staff Get Little to No Say in Campus Governance. That Must Change.
By Lee Skallerup Bessette
“Staff” is a nebulous term in academe. It can encompass janitorial and cafeteria workers, groundskeepers, administrative assistants, IT experts, academic advisers, student-services staffers, faculty developers, HR specialists, and more. We are the most highly diverse labor sector of any college or university, both in terms of what we do and who we are. Ask yourself: Where are you most likely to see women and people of color employed on your campus? My goal in talking about “the staff” here is to be inclusive and all-encompassing. We are at our institutions to implement whatever programs, policies, or initiatives the administrators come up with, developed with varying levels of input from the faculty. Professors have systems of shared governance and tenure protections that — however weakened in recent years — allow them to express some degree of opposition. As the pandemic has shown, staff members are truly integral to the success of our students and of our institutions. We, as staff, are not “part of the problem.” If anything, given the chance, we can be a powerful part of the solution.