University System News:
Inside Higher Ed
An Alternate View of High Case Counts
Over 10 percent of on-campus students at Georgia College and State University have had COVID-19. Epidemiologists and university officials say it’s not as bad as it sounds.
By Lilah Burke
At Georgia College and State University, more than 10 percent of the on-campus student population has been infected with COVID-19 this semester. Roughly 700 students have tested positive at an institution with fewer than 7,000 students. The college only last month started offering testing for students, so many of those cases were self-reported from students who were tested elsewhere. But now, after an intense and alarming spike in late August, cases have declined sharply at the college. Though at its height the administration was reporting over 60 student cases per day, now the average of student cases over the past seven days yields a result of less than one.
WSB Radio
UGA testing numbers flat from last week
UGA had three straight weeks of declines
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia reports 66 positive tests for coronavirus at UGA in the week ending October 4. The number was 63 last week. Of this week’s positive tests, 52 were students, 12 were staff and two were faculty members. The positivity rate at UGA’s surveillance testing site, where 1,365 tests were administered, dropped to 1.17%.
MSN
‘The sky’s the limit’: Augusta’s Cyber Center celebrates nearly 200 new jobs
Brady Trapnell
After Rep. Rick Allen’s trip to the schools, he and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp visited the Georgia Cyber Center. They welcomed 178 new jobs to the CSRA and a new addition to the Cyber Center. The Cyber Center says its facility is almost full. In fact, new buildings may be coming here, but officials say this is the economic engine pushing our area through this pandemic.
13WMAZ
Georgia College and Baldwin Schools expand Montessori Academy education (Video)
Georgia College partnered with Baldwin Schools to start the Montessori Academy four years ago for daycare services. Now it’s expanded to their primary schools.
The Red & Black
OPINION: UGA needs to move away from online testing
Raveena Chaudhari | Contributor
The American education system is infatuated with testing. From elementary school through college, students are taught material to prepare for exams. Rather than exploring interests and learning from curiosity, our society obsesses over test scores as indicators of success, and our devotion to testing has carried over into the online world. Online exams are taking root in our virtual world, but with heavy consequences. Timed testing creates an unnecessary high-stress environment that doesn’t truly measure the educational capacity of a student. Online testing comes with a plethora of other issues. Students who are new to digital learning are already having to adapt to a new online educational platform. They are already under heavy stress trying to cope with online learning, self-discipline, social isolation and potentially unstable home environments. What’s the point of increasing their stress even more with timed online tests? With online testing, there’s also the factor of technological constraints such as Wi-Fi cutting out, lack of technological access and program outages.
Gwinnett Daily Post
Lawrenceville’s ‘red carpet’ to Georgia Gwinnett College on track to open in early 2021
By Curt Yeomans
Lawrenceville City Manager Chuck Warbington envisions the city’s College Corridor as being something akin to what people would expect to see at a Hollywood film premiere once it is finished. The College Corridor project is a new roadway that will connect downtown Lawrenceville, starting just north of the old train depot and connecting to Collins Hill Road right by state Route 316. The goal is to serve as a direct connection between Georgia Gwinnett College and downtown Lawrenceville. “This is really considered to be a red carpet to the college,” Warbington said. “We want the students, we want the administration, we want the professors to be invited into our downtown so, from the very beginning, this project has been considered to be a red carpet to the college.
Southeast Farm Press
Winners announced for 2020 Cotton Industry Advancement Scholarship
All applicants were nominated by a practicing cotton consultant and worked for a cotton consultant between 2018 and 2020.
AMVAC announced the winners of the second annual Cotton Industry Advancement Scholarship. A total of seven students were selected from 26 qualified applicants. Each scholarship recipient was awarded $2,000. “Now in our second year, we’re thrilled to see new participants and excited to support these dedicated students as they pursue a career in agriculture and the cotton industry,” said Paul Vaculin, cotton marketing manager at AMVAC. “Cultivating the next generation of agricultural professionals is vital to the future of agriculture.” The 2020 Cotton Industry Advancement Scholarship Winners include: John Lee – from Jesup, Ga. Senior attending Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Ga. Majoring in agribusiness. …Caitlyn Lawton – from Leesburg, Ga. Senior attending Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Ga. Majoring in crop and soil science. …Winners were selected by a panel of judges and awarded based on the merits of their application.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp says ‘Georgians have stepped up to the plate’ to fight coronavirus
By Alexis Stevens and J. Scott Trubey
Many Georgians have done their part to help fight the coronavirus, Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday. But with the flu season approaching, it’s not the time to back off safety measures to help fight the virus, he said. “Georgians have stepped up to the plate,” Kemp said. “The key is for us to keep doing this. We cannot take our foot off the gas.” The number of covid cases and hospitalizations have dropped statewide since the peak earlier this summer, Kemp said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Oct. 6)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 7,229 | 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: 324,650 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
The Georgia Sun
Study shows Georgians favor more public health and education
Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
Georgians overwhelmingly support increased state funding of education and health care, according to a new poll. The survey of 1,071 registered voters in Georgia conducted Aug. 26-31 found strong backing for “people-first” public policies advocated by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI), which commissioned the poll, Caitlin Highland, the Atlanta non-profit’s communications director, said Tuesday. “Our economy is not inclusive of every person in our state,” she said. “We need to invest in every person and make sure no one is left out.” The poll, conducted by the School of Public and International Affairs Survey Research Center at the University of Georgia, found the highest support – 86.8% – was for more funding for Georgia’s pre-kindergarten program to increase the number of available slots.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Pandemic Has Pushed Hundreds of Thousands of Workers Out of Higher Education
By Dan Bauman
The work-force that serves much of higher education in America has shrunk by at least 7 percent since Covid-19 arrived on American shores — a staggering, unprecedented contraction, according to federal data. And like the national economic downturn that is running parallel to this unprecedented viral outbreak, much also remains uncertain about what a “recovery” will actually look like for higher education. An estimated 337,000 fewer workers were employed by America’s private (not-for-profit and for-profit) and state-controlled institutions of higher education in August compared to February, according to a release by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which calculates industry-specific employee estimates each month. At no point since the bureau began keeping industry tallies in the late 1950s have colleges and universities ever shed so many employees at such an incredible rate.