University System News:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AJC College COVID Tracker: UGA reports another drop in new cases
By Eric Stirgus
The University of Georgia released data on its website Wednesday showing 163 new positive COVID-19 cases last week, its lowest total since before the start of the fall semester. The total is a major decline from recent weeks. The university reported 1,500 positive cases between Aug. 31 to Sept. 6. UGA reported 446 positive cases between Sept. 7 to 13. The last week UGA reported weekly numbers this low was from Aug. 10 to 16, when it had 64 positive cases. The university’s fall semester began Aug. 20. Nearly 2,000 tests were conducted last week on campus at its facility for asymptomatic testing. The positive test rate was 3.55%, UGA reported. The positive test result rate was 9% two weeks ago.
Campus Reform
Colleges nationwide enforce strict COVID policies, except during Black Lives Matter protests
By Robert Schmad
Despite imposing bans on almost all other forms of large gatherings, and applying harsh punishments to those who disobey such bans, colleges and universities appear reluctant to call out student protesters for violating their COVID-19 safety policies. Common trends among university coronavirus guidelines include mandates to remain at least six feet away from others whenever possible and restrictions on the number of people who can be in a given space at a given time. But recent Black Lives Matter protests on college campuses, inspired by a larger national movement aimed at combating perceived racial injustices, seldom comply with these requirements… A spokesperson for Georgia Southern University told Campus Reform that the student-athletes involved in the protest on its campus “are tested regularly and monitored closely” and explained that “the event was outside, attendees wore face coverings and were reminded about public health guidelines.”
New York Times
Fraternity at University of Georgia Is Suspended After Racist Messages Are Exposed
By Bryan Pietsch
As the coronavirus spread around the University of Georgia and her fellow students partied, Arianna Mbunwe, a junior, took to Twitter to call them out. “GETTING COVID-19 w the GIRLYS,” she said in one post, mocking sorority sisters who were posing for photos, without masks, in a bar. She had been tipped off to the pictures as her account became an impromptu source for critiques on other students’ coronavirus practices. (Later, one of the women in Ms. Mbunwe’s post messaged her threatening to sue.)
Dalton Daily Citizen
Dalton State College honored as ‘Great College to Work For’
By Staff Reports
Dalton State College has been recognized as one of 79 colleges that are a “Great College to Work For.” The college excels in the areas of “Professional/Career Development Programs” and “Supervisor/Department Chair Relationship.” The recognition is given by MindThink, a “strategic organizational development and management consulting firm that focuses on workplace excellence,” according to the organization’s website. It is based on employee surveys. “Especially during these challenging times, it is gratifying to be reminded that we work at a great college alongside dedicated professionals,” said Margaret Venable, president of Dalton State. “It is so much easier to come to work when we know our colleagues care about our personal and professional welfare and development.”
The McDuffie Progress
Ag grant awarded to help researchers control destructive pest
By Emily Cabrera
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has been awarded a $5.4 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop long-term, sustainable methods for controlling the spotted wing drosophila (SWD). Native to Asia, SWD is a tiny fly that was first detected in California in 2008 and has since emerged as a devastating pest of small and stone fruits throughout the U.S., valued at $5.8 billion in damage annually. It affects soft-skinned fruits such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries and others.
Columbus CEO
CSU Recognized Among Most Affordable Online Nursing Programs
By Staff Report
Columbus State University’s online nursing program was recently recognized for its affordability by two ranking websites. Education Reference Desk ranked CSU’s online nursing degrees as No. 9 nation-wide, and Value Colleges ranked CSU’s online RN to BSN program as No. 11 in the country. CSU was one of only three universities in Georgia ranked by Education Reference Desk and four in Georgia ranked by Value Colleges. Both rankings rated schools based on tuition cost, featuring only those universities that are both accredited and offer fully online programs. CSU offers several nursing degrees completely online, including an RN to BSN, MSN Family Nurse Practitioner, and MSN with tracks in informatics, leadership, or nurse educator. For more information on CSU’s online degree options, visit https://academics.columbusstate.edu/online/degrees.php.
Tifton CEO
ABAC Collaboration with VSU Opens Door to Public Service Careers
By Staff Report
A new collaboration between Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) and Valdosta State University (VSU) provides a gateway for students who seek careers in public service. And Dr. Matthew Anderson would love to see those graduates stay in South Georgia. “This collaboration will help open the door for ABAC History and Government students seeking graduate training in preparation for a public service career,” Anderson, Dean of the ABAC School of Arts and Sciences, said. “We hope that by keeping our students in the region for their graduate education they will be more likely to stick around thereafter, utilizing their training and talents to help build our local communities.” ABAC graduates with a Bachelor of Science degree in History and Government who meet the criteria will be granted fast-track consideration for entry into the Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree program at VSU, according to the terms of the recently signed articulation agreement between the two institutions.
WLTZ
Isaacs Featured in ITA Masterclass Series
By Scott Carpenter
Columbus State University head tennis coach Evan Isaacs was one of only five NCAA coaches across the nation highlighted in the ongoing Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Coach Masterclass series. Turning CSU into a national powerhouse, Isaacs was among the speakers in the Marketing and Community Engagement chapter. Throughout his tenure as head coach of the Cougars, Isaacs has been entrenched in the tennis community in Columbus and the surrounding area making community engagement a pillar of his program. He is currently heavily involved with the Columbus Regional Tennis Association (CORTA) and helped create the CSU Tennis Classic, a fundraising event that brings together the Cougars and the Columbus community for clinics, pro demonstrations and exhibition matches. Isaacs was the only NCAA Division II coach in the nation to participate in the Masterclass series.
Athens Banner-Herald
Food, hotels and yes, the Kirby Copter. Here’s how UGA football spent $3.7 million on recruiting
By Marc Weiszer
Arcade games at a cost of $8,880. Aerial cinematography from Helivision, a film company whose projects included The Hunger Games and Homeland, for $14,717. Food. Lots and lots of food.
These are some of the ways UGA spent nearly $3.7 million on football recruiting, tops in the nation for fiscal year 2019 which ran from July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019. Georgia coach Kirby Smart and staff landed the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation that cycle with players from 10 different states including Texas, Rhode Island and Michigan and laid the ground work for the No. 1 ranked class in 2020.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Sept. 23)
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: 6,773 | 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: 309,678 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
The New York Times
Johnson & Johnson’s Vaccine Advances, Sparking Optimism in Race
By Carl Zimmer and Katie Thomas
The feverish race for a coronavirus vaccine got an infusion of energy on Wednesday as Johnson & Johnson announced that it has begun the final stage of its clinical trials, the fourth company to do so in the United States as the country hits a grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from the pandemic. Johnson & Johnson is a couple of months behind the leaders, but its advanced vaccine trial will be by far the largest, enrolling 60,000 participants. The company said it could know by the end of this year if its vaccine works. And its vaccine has potentially consequential advantages over some competitors. It uses a technology that has a long safety record in vaccines for other diseases. Its vaccine could require just one shot instead of two — important considering that the entire population of the world needs vaccination. And it does not have to be kept frozen as it is delivered to hospitals and other places where it will be given to patients, simplifying the logistics of hundreds of millions of doses.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Power play behind removal of nursing board director
By Carrie Teegardin
When Jim Cleghorn was fired as executive director of the state Board of Nursing this month, the Secretary of State’s office first said the 10-year veteran director left while an ethics investigation was underway. It was improper, Brad Raffensperger’s office said, for Cleghorn to serve as a state employee and executive director of the Georgia board while volunteering as president of the board of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, which paid for his travel to its meetings. Nurses were stunned. Cleghorn was widely credited with improving the operations of the Georgia board. And an investigation of the matter had not even been completed. Now, an AJC examination points to another possible reason for Cleghorn’s removal: the Secretary of State’s desire to maintain control of the state’s nurses and the fees the Board of Nursing can generate.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
By Marjorie Valbrun
University and college administrators are clearly having a tough time monitoring the daily activities of students during the pandemic, much less controlling their risky behaviors on weekends. This was evident in the parties and other gatherings widely documented on social media during Labor Day weekend and the subsequent spikes in COVID-19 outbreaks on campuses across the country. This was not the case at North Carolina A&T State University, a historically Black institution where, in a first, classes were held on Labor Day. “We held classes to discourage our students from going anywhere,” Todd Simmons, associate vice chancellor for university relations, said matter-of-factly — and unapologetically.
Chronicle of Higher Education
A First Look at Fall Enrollment Shows a 2.5% Dip Among Undergraduates
By Audrey Williams June
How have college enrollments fared in the middle of a pandemic? A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, released on Thursday, provides an early look, with data showing a 2.5-percent dip in undergraduate attendance this fall. The preliminary data, which reflect enrollments as of September 10, reveal that undergraduate enrollments at all types of institutions have declined, compared with the same time last fall. Community colleges fared the worst, with a decline of 7.5 percent. The drop in undergraduate enrollment also played out across all demographic groups — and among international students in particular — and in some states more than others. The center’s enrollment results are based on 3.6 million students at 629 colleges, nearly 22 percent of the institutions that report to the organization. The data will be updated monthly throughout the fall as more colleges report their enrollments.
Inside Higher Ed
Colleges Can Help Resolve Our Racial Crisis
By Larry E. Davis
We must work to establish institutional cultures that look, feel and are as much as possible like the just world we profess to value, writes Larry E. Davis. Each year, colleges and universities send off more than 1.8 million students with the quintessential graduation message that they are to go out into the world and create a more just and equitable society. But most of our institutions of higher learning from which they graduate look and feel very much like the racially inequitable society we are asking them to change. It seems that we are too often saying to our students, “Do as we say, not as we do.” I firmly agree with former vice president Joe Biden’s comment several years ago at Syracuse University that we need a fundamental change in our culture — and the quickest way to change culture is to change it on American campuses.
Beyond Crisis Communications
Why colleges and universities must explain their purpose and value — even during a pandemic.
By Ethan Braden and Bill Faust
Back in March, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most colleges and universities abruptly went into crisis-management mode, evacuating their campuses and transitioning to online learning. At the same time, most of their marketing teams went into crisis-communications mode, trying to address the many issues and circumstances that arose. Soon schools were facing a myriad of questions: When would campuses reopen? How would virtual engagement work? Would students receive refunds for room and board? It quickly became clear that overcommunicating was the best way to stay ahead of these issues and maintain close ties with students, families, faculty, staff and many other audiences.
Focusing on Student Veterans’ Strengths
By Madeline St. Amour
A new research article identifies the strengths that students who are military veterans bring with them to higher education. Katie Sullivan and Kay Yoon, both associate professors of communication at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, surveyed and interviewed 115 total student veterans at a large public university in the Southwest for the article, published in The Journal of Continuing Higher Education. They wanted to explore a more balanced way to view the more than 3.5 million student veterans in the United States that looked at their strengths and not just the challenges facing the population, Sullivan said during a webinar on the study held Wednesday, which was sponsored by the Association for Continuing Higher Education and Endicott College’s Van Loan School of Professional Studies. “How we talk about certain populations makes a real and tangible difference in terms of our policies,” she said.