University System News:
Gwinnett Daily Post
Georgia shows high COVID case totals at colleges, but UGA reports improvement
By Andy Miller, Georgia Health News
Georgia has seen several positive trends recently on COVID-19. New infections reported daily have come way down. Georgia health officials reported just over 600 new cases Monday — one of the lowest increases since early June. About 1,000 were reported Tuesday, well below peak levels. The state is no longer in the COVID-19 “red zone.’’ The latest report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force found Georgia at 23rd in the country for new cases, a nine-spot improvement from the previous week, WABE reported. And COVID hospitalizations have declined significantly as well. But there’s a nagging measure that puts Georgia high on an undesirable list. …And the University of Georgia appears to lead the nation in the Times listing of total coronavirus cases, at 3,532, also a cumulative total since the pandemic began. But the Athens university has reported sharp declines in the number of cases reported by faculty, staff and students for two consecutive weeks. The virus positivity rate at UGA’s surveillance testing site, where 1,974 tests were administered, has dropped to 3.55 percent, UGA officials said last week.
WGAU
Grants to help first-generation and low income students at UGA
Money from US Dept of Education
By Tim Bryant
From Rachel Pharr, UGA Today…
The University of Georgia was recently awarded $2.6 million to help support first-generation and low-income students as well as students with disabilities. These Student Support Services grants – which are funded by the Department of Education and have been renewed for five years – have already helped nearly 500 students at UGA. This year, the university was also awarded a TRIO grant aimed at students pursuing degrees in STEM and health majors. This new funding will serve 260 students annually. …TRIO programs at UGA have successfully supported first-generation, low-income, and minoritized students at the university and across northeast Georgia. I am delighted to see the renewal of TRIO SSS and the new TRIO SSS-STEM-H as part of access programs in the Division of Academic Enhancement,” said Thomas Chase Hagood, director of the DAE. The grants provide academic tutoring, financial aid advice, career and college mentoring, help in choosing courses, and other forms of assistance. Such services enhance academic success and make it more likely that students will graduate with the lowest possible debt.
WTOC
$2 million grant to support minority students given to GSU
By Dal Cannady
A Georgia Southern University professor hopes to help disadvantaged students not only get a degree, but also find a career. This grant doesn’t simply recruit minority and first generation students to the university, it creates a support system to help them while they’re here and after graduation. Dr. Checo Colongaud led the effort to get Georgia Southern’s share of the $2 million grant. It helps students who choose to study fresh water science or other science fields. The goal is to bring more diversity and give students a better shot at success in the lab and beyond.
WSB-TV
Georgia Tech cancels spring break, changes spring 2021 academic calendar
By: WSBTV.com News Staff
Georgia Tech has updated its academic calendar for spring 2021, which includes canceling Spring Break. “To minimize the health risk to our community due to travel-related transmission, there will not be a weeklong Spring Break, and the first day of classes has been delayed to Thursday, Jan. 14,” the college posted on its website. Here are the key dates of the Spring 2021 academic calendar:
Albany Herald
Albany State focuses on student success
By Alan Mauldin
With online enrollment growing by 500 students in recent years, and a 6 percent overall increase of fall 2020 compared to last year, Albany State University attributes its success to offering online courses students need and focusing on student success. The fall 2020 enrollment, estimated at 6,753, represents the highest number in the past three years. Programs in health science, nursing and business programs have seen increased interest by students.
Gwinnett Daily Post
Georgia Gwinnett College earns sixth straight College Team Academic Award
From Staff Reports
For the sixth consecutive season, the Georgia Gwinnett College women’s soccer program has earned the College Team Academic Award from the United Soccer Coaches organization. GGC compiled a 3.36 team GPA for the 2019-20 academic year, surpassing the 3.0 or better GPA requirement — an award achieved by 556 women’s soccer programs nationally. The program has been recognized by the United Soccer Coaches organizations in all three seasons under Head Coach Dr. Mike Giuliano, and every year since 2015.
CStoreDecisions
Parker’s Donates $27,000 to Support Local Students and Teachers
Launched in 2011 with a mission to give back to every community where Parker’s does business, the Parker’s Fueling the Community charitable initiative distributes more than $200,000 annually to public and private schools throughout Georgia and South Carolina.
By Isabelle Gustafson
Savannah, Ga.-based Parker’s recently donated $27,000 to the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) as part of the company’s Fueling the Community program, which donates one cent of every gallon of gas sold on the first Wednesday of each month to local schools. The check presentation took place at the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System headquarters on Sept. 28 and is part of nearly $150,000 the company is donating to schools in Georgia and South Carolina this fall. …Deeply engaged with the communities it serves, Parker’s donated a record $5 million to create the Parker College of Business at Georgia Southern University, endowed the Parker’s Emergency and Trauma Center at Memorial Hospital in Savannah and spearheads the Keep Savannah Clean anti-litter campaign.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Metro Atlanta students can attend virtual college fair next week
By Vanessa McCray
Students from metro Atlanta can attend a free, online college access conference next week to learn more about their options after they graduate from high school. The Metro Atlanta College Access Conference will be held virtually at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The event, which is hosted by the local nonprofit College AIM and the DeKalb Human Services Department’s Office of Youth Services, is intended to provide resources for students of color, low-income students and those who would be the first in their family to go to college. The free conference includes workshops on college admissions practices and financial aid.
eCampus News
‘Collision of crises’ make change inevitable for higher ed
By Dave Teske
University presidents spoke at a virtual conference and agreed that change is on the horizon for higher-ed institutions
Change has come swiftly for higher education, and it looks like change is here to stay, acknowledged university presidents from Texas and Georgia in addressing the impacts of the pandemic and growing racial unrest on the higher education landscape. Speaking at the annual conference of the Network for Change and Continuous Innovation (NCCI), the presidents of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, and Texas A&M University—San Antonio agreed that the ongoing “collision of crises” marks a defining moment for how universities and colleges will conduct business in the future.
Patch
The Psychology Clinic on the Georgia Southern University Statesboro Campus will provide free dementia screenings and psychotherapy.
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Dean Ryan Schroeder, Ph.D., receives a check from Darron Burnette of Rockin’ Out Alzheimer’s Disease. The donation will be used to provide free psychotherapy and dementia screenings. The Psychology Clinic on the Georgia Southern University Statesboro Campus will provide free dementia screenings and psychotherapy for caregivers thanks to a $10,000 donation from Rockin’ Out Alzheimer’s Disease (ROAD). The services will be provided in person and virtually.
Forbes
Minimalist, Low Cost Hearing Aid Could Help Address Treatment Gap In Seniors
Helen Albert, Contributor
Healthcare
An ultra-low-cost hearing aid that can be self-assembled could provide an accessible option for seniors with age-related hearing loss who might otherwise go untreated. Most of us know an older person who needs a hearing aid. Age-related hearing loss is one of the most common chronic health conditions in the world, impacting more than 226 million individuals over the age of 65 globally. …“While the costs of the electronic components have reduced substantially, the cost of a hearing aid has risen steadily to the point that it has become unaffordable for the majority of the population,” said Soham Sinha, a Bioengineering Graduate Student at Stanford who worked on the device with Saad Bhamla, a researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp unlikely to overhaul Georgia coronavirus restrictions
By Greg Bluestein
‘Kids need to be back in the classroom,’ he adds
Gov. Brian Kemp indicated Tuesday he wouldn’t make significant changes to the slate of coronavirus restrictions that are set to expire this week, though he vented his frustration at Georgia school systems that have yet to return to face-to-face learning. At a stop in Dawsonville, the Republican repeated his assertion that “kids need to be back in the classroom” and pointed to his administration’s efforts to prepare school systems to reopen their doors. But he said he wouldn’t take executive action to force them to do so. “I’ve been a local control governor. I’ve been consistent on that,” he said, adding: “That is a local decision. I know that parents are frustrated. It’s pandemic politics in a lot of cases. There’s a lot of school systems going back, and they’re making it work. And I applaud them for that.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Sept. 29)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 6,994 | 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: 316,306 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
CDC Cites Rise in Young Adults With COVID-19
By Doug Lederman
The number of young adults with COVID-19 rose by 55 percent from early August to early September, as most colleges were bringing students back to their campuses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new report published Tuesday. The federal agency’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” found that the incidence of COVID cases among people aged 18 to 22 years increased by nearly 63 percent from Aug. 2 to Aug. 29, then dropped off slightly through Sept. 5, accounting for the 55 percent rise. The increases were greatest in the Northeast (144 percent) and Midwest (123 percent). The increases were particularly sharp among white young adults, as seen below.
Inside Higher Ed
Undergraduate Dies of COVID-19 Complications
The death of Appalachian State University sophomore Chad Dorrill is among the first reported since many colleges across the country resumed in-person instruction this fall.
By Rick Seltzer
A student at Appalachian State University, in Boone, N.C., died after experiencing complications related to a COVID-19 infection, the university confirmed Tuesday. Chad Dorrill was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month and later experienced complications, according to an announcement from the university’s chancellor, Sheri Everts. Dorrill was a 19-year-old sophomore majoring in exercise science, the High Country Press reported. He graduated from Ledford High School, in Davidson County, N.C., in 2019.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Will teacher concerns over COVID cause more of them to flee classroom?
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
In the past few days, readers have sent me emails calling teachers “lazy” for not wanting to juggle both online and in-person classes. They’re calling teachers “crybabies” for resigning rather than risk bringing COVID-19 home to their families and even “un-American” for insisting their students wear masks. At this rate, we’ll be calling for substitutes as teachers abandon the profession. When COVID-19 shut down classrooms in March and frazzled parents were suddenly teaching fractals, factoring and fractions, teachers saw their stature and their stock rise. Now that politicians and parents want students back in their classrooms to restore both the economy and their sanity, teachers are seeing public affection wane. …But Allegretto suggested change may be essential. “Yes, there are people for whom teaching is a calling, but how many people are going to go into a career that might bring them a lot of satisfaction but where they’ll never be able to pay off their college loans or own a house? Even before COVID, we were already seeing a teacher shortage. What happens to the pipeline now?”
Inside Higher Ed
New Push for a Shift in Promotion and Tenure
By Scott Jaschik
Academics from 67 universities nationally have unanimously voted to approve a set of recommendations for recognizing innovation and entrepreneurial achievements among the criteria for higher education faculty promotion and tenure. The proposal is not to add a fourth prong to the traditional three of teaching, research and service. Rather, it is to place innovation and entrepreneurship within the three prongs. In addition, the proposal aims to be noncontroversial by saying that colleges and universities could let faculty members decide whether to be evaluated on that basis. But judging from the reaction of the American Association of University Professors, which was not consulted on the proposal, there is a controversy.
Inside Higher Ed
House Democrats Drop Canceling Student Loans
By Kery Murakami
House Democratic leaders dropped the idea of canceling up to $10,000 in student debt for economically distressed borrowers in their scaled-down $2.2 trillion proposal for a new stimulus package. But confusing some higher education advocates, Democrats are proposing to cancel up to $10,000 in debt for economically distressed borrowers with private student loans. House Democrats in their prior $3.4 trillion HEROES Act proposal had included debt cancellation for economically distressed federal loan borrowers as well. A House education committee spokeswoman referred questions about why the plan was dropped in the new package, while private loan borrowers would have loans forgiven, to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A spokeswoman for Pelosi did not respond.
Inside Higher Ed
An Especially Stressful Time for Dreamers
Survey of undocumented college students finds high level of anxiety around finances and the students’ legal status.
By Elizabeth Redden
Undocumented immigrant college students, or Dreamers, are experiencing higher levels of anxiety about their legal status and increased financial and personal stresses due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey conducted by the scholarship-granting organization TheDream.US. A total of 2,681 of the approximately 3,850 undergraduate students supported with scholarships from the organization completed the survey, which was administered in May and early June at a time when Black Lives Matter protests were growing across the country and the Supreme Court was deciding the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.