University System News:
Valdosta Today
VSU supports Board of Regents resolution, plans more traditional class sessions
With Spring Semester 2021 registration opening on Monday, Oct. 26, Valdosta State University is committed to ensuring students have access to more traditional, face-to-face instructional hours while still following public health guidelines for wearing masks and social distancing. “…we have the advantage of building these schedules before the registration period begins, rather than retrofitting schedules for social distancing after everyone has already registered,” Dr. Robert T. Smith, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, noted in an email to the university community. “This will result in schedules that are more spread out through the day, in order to take full advantage of our largest spaces.” Spring Semester 2021, Smith shared, will feature more classes that will meet in a traditional, fully face-to-face format.
Savannah CEO
Waters College of Health Professions Students Make More than 350 Masks for Fellow Eagles
Staff Report
Sewing isn’t a skill that radiation therapy student Daniel Clark expected to learn during his time as a student at Georgia Southern University, much less in his academic program. But when the COVID-19 pandemic altered the 2020 academic landscape, he and six classmates had to pivot to fulfill the community service component of their management and leadership course in the Waters College of Health Professions Radiation Therapy program. The class decided to sew masks and create a video on the importance of wearing a mask and how to make one. Together, the group made more than 350 masks during the summer semester to donate to their fellow students.
The Red & Black
GUEST COLUMN: UGA Study Abroad is proof of adaptability
Elizabeth Jurado | Guest Columnist
While COVID-19 has redefined so many student experiences, it has also showcased our ability to adapt and thrive in new and challenging circumstances. As a part of the University of Georgia’s Washington Semester Program, every year students with dreams of Capitol Hill pack up their things and move into UGA’s state-of-the-art Washington, D.C. residence building, Delta Hall. It’s one of a select few UGA programs that facilitate a domestic study away experience and the only one with professionalism as its focus. Coming from majors and programs throughout the campus, WSP students have internships with lobbyists, federal agencies and even elected officials. This semester there are students from 11 different majors, ranging from ecology to international affairs.
MSN
East Georgia State College to hold virtual graduation for fall
East Georgia State College is planning to hold its fall 2020 commencement ceremony virtually on Dec. 12. The college said in an announcement that the decision to hold a virtual ceremony was made “after much consideration and out of respect for everyone’s health,” in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The traditional graduation ceremony would be held in the gym on the Swainsboro campus, but with social distancing rules and restrictions, the event is better suited to be held virtually, the college announced.
Statesboro Herald
Georgia Southern sets December graduation
University to hold five separate in-person ceremonies
From staff reports
After consultation with local and state health officials, Georgia Southern University is planning to hold in-person graduation ceremonies at the end of the fall 2020 semester. Georgia Southern cancelled its spring 2020 in-person graduation ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic and held online ceremonies for graduates in May. In order to implement social distancing guidelines for the safety of everyone in attendance at the upcoming December graduation, Georgia Southern will host multiple ceremonies. Additionally, since COVID-19 has caused the rescheduling of several football games this year, Paulson Stadium is no longer available on the first three weekends in December, which was when the fall 2020 commencement ceremonies were originally scheduled. Georgia Southern is now planning five separate ceremonies, spaced out over three days:
Metro Atlanta CEO
Clayton State University Generates $302M Economic Impact in South Metro Atlanta
Staff Report
Clayton State University’s presence continues to make a huge impact on the economic viability of communities south of Atlanta’s airport. The university generated $302.5 million economic impact for fiscal year 2019, according to a recent report released by the University System of Georgia. The university topped its previous fiscal year economic impact of $283.2 million, an increase of 6.8%. Among institutions classified by the USG as state universities, Clayton State had the largest year-over-year percentage rise in its economic impact. It also ranks second among those schools for highest overall economic impact for FY 2019.
Union Recorder
GC professor’s website tracks candidates’ music choices on campaign trail
Gil Pound
From creating original works to setting new lyrics to popular tunes, to simply employing popular songs of today and yesteryear, music on the presidential campaign trail has undergone many changes throughout history. Tracking those choices is a website founded locally by Georgia College assistant professor of music Dr. Dana Gorzelany-Mostak. Trax on the Trail (www.traxonthetrail.com) got off the ground in December 2015, just in time to follow then-candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in their quests to become America’s leader. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic drastically changing the campaign landscape, Trax on the Trail is once again seeing an increase in online traffic in the lead-up to the 2020 election. “Basically the goal of Trax on the Trail is to build more critical awareness about how sound and music communicate during campaign season,” Gorzelany-Mostak said. “The project started at Georgia College, but we actually have collaborators all over the U.S. and Canada. Of course here at Georgia College, student research assistants play an integral role in collecting and analyzing the data that we track. We scour the internet and social media to look for instances where music is heard on the trail, then we catalog them in a database that we developed as part of our website.”
Stock Day Media
Sunshine Biopharma And University Of Georgia Team Up To Develop A New Anti-Coronavirus Drug
Sunshine Biopharma Inc. (OTC PINK:SBFM), a pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of oncology and antiviral drugs today announced that it has entered into an Agreement with the University of Georgia for the purposes of working together to advance the development of Sunshine Biopharma’s recently announced Anti-Coronavirus lead compound, SBFM-PL4. The goal of this cutting-edge collaboration is to develop SBFM-PL4, a protease inhibitor, as a treatment for Coronavirus infections. This new treatment is based on the technology described in Sunshine Biopharma’s recently filed patent application covering small molecules which can be used to treat Coronavirus infections.
Valdosta Daily Times
Getting in Shapes: Artist begins new mural downtown
By Desiree Carver
A new mural is in the works in Bennie’s Alley downtown. The City of Valdosta Public Art Advisory Committee, Valdosta Main Street and the City Center Arts District released an all-call to artists earlier in the year asking for mural submissions for the space. Natalie Milko, a Valdosta State University alumni and former Valdosta resident, was the lucky artist chosen to bring her idea to life on the alley walls. While she currently resides in Tallahassee, Fla., Milko lived in Valdosta for several years and works remotely for Valdosta’s Gladwin Vaughn Architecture. Milko’s abstract mural theme pulls in concepts involving both Valdosta and the state of Georgia, such as peaches and azaleas.
WSBTV
Georgia’s Senate races could have big impacts on any possible shift of power in Washington
By: Matt Johnson
As we get closer to the Election Day, the focus on Georgia becomes greater and greater. Not just because of how close the race for president is across the state, but also because of how close the races for U.S. Senate are. “There’s certainly a lot of attention on Georgia’s election cycle,” said University of Georgia political science professor Trey Hood. Georgia not only is leaning more and more to being a swing state, but both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs on Nov. 3. “I think the fact that there’s two Senate races boosts that intensity in Georgia,” said University of North Georgia professor Glen Smith. The two Senate races here are expected to be tight and they could shift the balance of power in Washington.
The Atlantic
America Will Sacrifice Anything for the College Experience
The pandemic has revealed that higher education was never about education.
Story Ian Bogost
American colleges botched the pandemic from the very start. Caught off guard in the spring, most of them sent everyone home in a panic, in some cases evicting students who had nowhere else to go. School leaders hemmed and hawed all summer about what to do next and how to do it. In the end, most schools reopened their campuses for the fall, and when students returned, they brought the coronavirus along with them. Come Labor Day, 19 of the nation’s 25 worst outbreaks were in college towns, including the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Iowa State in Ames, and the University of Georgia in Athens. By early October, the White House Coronavirus Task Force estimated that as many as 20 percent of all Georgia college students might have become infected. Who’s to blame for the turmoil? College leaders desperate to enroll students or risk financial collapse; students, feeling young and invincible, who were bound to be dumb and throw parties; red-state governments and boards that pressured universities to reopen.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Oct. 19)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 7,657 | 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: 341,310 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
27 Campuses, 15,000 Miles, and a Relentlessly Upbeat Message
Deborah L. Birx, coronavirus-response coordinator for the White House, thinks a vaccine may reach colleges before the end of January.
By Tom Bartlett
During an appearance at Plymouth State University last week, Deborah Birx heaped praise on students. “We’re winning right now on these university campuses because of the students,” a masked Birx told a socially distanced crowd. “The students have altered their behavior, and that gives me tremendous hope. These students can show us the way because they have been very cautious.” That’s the kind of backslapping message that Birx, the coronavirus-response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, has been delivering on campuses all over the country since late June. As of last week, Birx had visited 27 colleges and traveled more than 15,000 miles in rental cars (she reportedly shares driving duties with a colleague). She has inspected numerous laboratories, fielded questions from anxious professors, quizzed administrators about their pandemic plans, and recited the same advice about the importance of masks, distancing, and regular testing.
Inside Higher Ed
Admissions Officials Fear Loss of Data for Recruitment
By Scott Jaschik
Nearly 53 percent of respondents to a survey from the National Association for College Admission Counseling said that COVID-19 will have a substantial or profound impact on student recruitment for fall 2021 and beyond. Among the developments that have blocked traditional methods for obtaining potential student names: campus tours have gone online and fewer students are taking standardized tests.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Pandemic and Racial Turmoil Are Changing Curricula. Here’s How.
By Alexander C. Kafka
Colleges are wrestling with the financial havoc and technological logistics of a hellish year. But 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic and increased racial strife are also prompting revisions in college curricula. The nation is traumatized, and the content of academic programs, not just how they are delivered, must reflect that reality, said college leaders, students, faculty members, and higher-education experts who spoke with The Chronicle.
Inside Higher Ed
Large-scale study backs up other research showing relative declines in women’s research productivity during COVID-19.
By Colleen Flaherty
A new study of enormous scale supports what numerous smaller studies have demonstrated throughout the pandemic: female academics are taking extended lockdowns on the chin, in terms of their comparative scholarly productivity. Yes, comparative productivity. While other studies using different metrics show that women are publishing much less now than they were before the pandemic, this new paper finds something different: at least in terms of submissions to academic journals from the mega-publisher Elsevier, both men and women’s productivity actually increased during the first few months of the pandemic, relative to the same period of time in 2018 and 2019. But women’s productivity didn’t increase as much as men’s, meaning that women are still trailing behind male peers as a result of pandemic-era increased caregiving responsibilities.
Inside Higher Ed
What Happens Before College Matters
Experts agree higher education needs to do more to create equity for Black students. But more attention needs to be paid to barriers Black students face before they step foot on campus.
By Madeline St. Amour
Higher education is not the root of all equity gaps. But it can be a vehicle to lessen those gaps. Historically, it has not been. Equity gaps between students based on their race, ethnicity and income persist and thrive at most institutions. For Black students, simply accessing higher education remains difficult, particularly at four-year colleges. At some institutions, including public flagship and research universities, access has worsened for Black students in recent years. Until real progress is made on this issue, among others, higher ed leaders’ calls for diversity and inclusion, public statements on societal racism, and decisions to change building names or remove statues with racist legacies will continue to ring hollow. One of the first steps in closing these gaps is to realize where they begin and why.