University System News:
University Business
See which state is bucking COVID enrollment trends
University System of Georgia reaches an all-time high of more than 340,000 students
By Matt Zalaznick
College enrollment is down nationally during COVID, but the same can’t be said for the fall 2020 semester at the University System of Georgia. Enrollment increased at 16 of the system’s 26 institutions, reaching an all-time high of 341,485 students, which is a 2.4% increase over fall 2019. Enrollment grew 2.8% at Georgia’s research universities, 6.2% at comprehensive universities, and 2.3% at state universities, but dropped 7% at its state colleges. Enrollment for Hispanic and Asian students rose by 7.2%, while African American enrollment increased by 3.9%.
Athens Banner Herald
UGA sees record enrollment, but drops to fourth-largest Georgia college
By Lee Shearer
Ten years ago, the University of Georgia was the largest university in the state with 34,677 students. But as of this year, UGA is the fourth largest despite a record enrollment of 39,147. Georgia State University has been the state’s largest for several years, after the Atlanta school’s merger with the state’s largest two-year college. Now, both Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State University have passed UGA in enrollment after a decade of explosive growth, according to figures released this week by the University System of Georgia, comprising the state’s 26 public colleges and universities.
Albany Herald
Georgia Southwestern records largest enrollment ever
By Staff Reports
Georgia Southwestern State University’s 2020 total fall enrollment is the highest since the institution’s founding in 1906 with 3,162 students. This is a 7.2 percent increase from fall 2019, as reported by the University System of Georgia. “GSW’s upward enrollment trend continued for fall 2020, bringing us to the highest ever enrollment in the school’s history,” GSW President Neal Weaver said in a news release “The entire campus is focused on ensuring student success, enhancing the overall campus experience, providing programs relevant to our economy, and graduating more students who will make a real impact in our region’s work force.”
All On Georgia
Staff Report
Official fall enrollment at Georgia Southern University rose by approximately 3.45% over 2019, thanks to a record-breaking class of first-year students. Also contributing is a post-consolidation record-high 79% retention rate from freshman to sophomore year.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. colleges see enrollment decline in international students
By Eric Stirgus
Fewer international students are taking college courses at American colleges and universities, according to a report released Monday. Enrollment declined by nearly 2%, to 1,075,496 international students, for the 2019-20 school year, the report by the Institute of International Education and U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs found… More than 24,000 international students took courses at various Georgia colleges and universities last school year, a 2.7% increase from the prior school year. Georgia’s total enrollment was 12th nationally, according to the report. The bulk of those students are taking courses at Georgia Tech, Savannah College of Art & Design, Emory University, Georgia State University and the University of Georgia.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dearth of diversity in leadership at Georgia’s top colleges
By Eric Stirgus
Georgia State University student Kenneth Lockett’s plans for an opinion article for the school newspaper changed with the big news on campus. The university’s president, Mark Becker, in mid-September announced plans to leave in June. Lockett and other students at the paper discussed potential candidates, and he had a thought that became the theme of his piece. Georgia State’s next president should be Black, preferably a woman.
AlbanyHearald.com
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College installs state-of-the-art media studio for students
Staff Report
The 1,100-square-foot studio in the recently renovated Carlton Center will be accompanied by an ultra-modern control room with stations for students to run lighting, audio and graphics. Students enrolled in journalism classes and members of the Stallion TV production team also can use the new equipment to practice switching and producing. Just down the hall from the studio is a new audio/podcast recording booth, ABAC radio station WPLH, Stallion student media, a print-layout/conference room, and a post-production editing suite.
The Griffin Daily News
Local student wins scholarship to study abroad
By Katheryne A. Fields
Growing up in Griffin, Hannah Norwood wanted to be the first in her family to graduate from high school and college — plus she had a dream to travel the world as well. Norwood, a junior history major at Gordon State College, was recently named the recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs highly-competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. She is Gordon’s first student on record to receive the $3,000 award.
Savannah Morning News
Local tech champion: Savannah must be ‘forward thinking’ to become an innovation hub
Staff Reports
The following is an excerpt from the latest “Difference Makers” podcast interview with Creative Coast Executive Director Jennifer Bonnett. “Difference Makers” is presented by the Savannah Economic Development Authority and features Q&As with Savannah community leaders. Full episodes are available at SavannahNow.com/podcasts or through mobile device podcast apps by searching “Difference Makers with @SavannahOpinion.”… Bonnett: Community building is vital to the success of a technology startup. I need a techie coder, I need a marketing/user-experience design person and I need a business person. Those three people — those three skill sets — are all you need to have to start a successful tech company. You need talent. We’ve got SCAD. We’ve got Georgia Southern University. We have a lot of executive talent. Those are must haves, and you have to be able to both attract talent and grow it out of those already in the mark.”
The Griffin Daily
UGA’s wheat breeding program releases three new wheat varieties for 2020
By Ashley Biles
Three new wheat varieties released this year by the University of Georgia’s wheat breeding program are the product of more than a dozen years of work by breeders on the UGA Griffin campus.
Marietta Daily Journal
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Valdosta State create bridge for social work careers
Staff Report
A new articulation agreement between Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Valdosta State University gives ABAC graduates who complete the bachelor’s degree in Rural Community Development fast-track consideration for VSU’s Master of Social Work program. Matthew Anderson, dean of the ABAC School of Arts and Sciences, said he recognizes the need for social workers in rural Georgia. “The U.S. is facing a shortage of social workers, particularly in rural areas,” Anderson said. “We are excited about this new agreement, which will help facilitate our students receiving the graduate training necessary to enter this growing profession.”
Cherokee Tribune & Ledger-News
Hospitality sector still hobbled by pandemic, but Savannah-area showing signs of recovery
By Katie Nussbaum
After months of record job loss and economic uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Savannah area began to show signs of stabilization and rebound during the third quarter, according to the Coastal Empire Economic Monitor. The Monitor is a quarterly publication that provides a snapshot of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area economy, including Bryan, Chatham and Effingham counties and is distributed by the Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research at Georgia Southern University. “In general, in the third quarter there are notable rebounds we are observing in the service sectors, but it still remains hobbled by the pandemic,” said Michael Toma, Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Economics at Georgia Southern’s Armstrong Campus
WMAZ
Cost of COVID: Central Georgia sees renewed sense of value in public libraries
By Amyre Makupson
We’ve all been affected by the cost of COVID in one way or another, and your local public library is no exception. The days of the Dewey Decimal System may be long gone, but right now, people are developing a renewed sense of value in local libraries. Amyre Makupson with Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism visited the Washington Memorial Library in Macon where she met 10-year-old Rom’aya… Jennifer Lautzenheiser, the director libraries for the Middle Georgia Regional Library System, says sometimes the kids just need something different than their own four walls. Like Rom’aya, many people now see new value in public libraries, and it’s not just students.
Associated Press
Augusta University to spend $7.4M to finish more of building
Staff Report
Augusta University will spend $7.4 million on labs, offices and study areas in a building on its downtown campus. The work will complete the fourth floor of the university’s College of Science and Math Building, which is under construction and set to be completed in May. The university had planned to leave the fourth floor unfinished because of budget constraints, but now wants to move ahead. The Board of Regents approved the university to spend up to $10 million on the project on Wednesday.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OPINION: Many clamoring for in-person classes never set foot on a campus
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
A Kennesaw State University professor says most faculty remain concerned with COVID-19 risks
A guest column earlier this week by a University of Georgia design professor on the benefits of in-person classes to his mental health and that of his students generated a lot of discussion. A professor in the UGA College of Environment+Design, Amitabh Verma said his studio class could accommodate social distancing. Not all university classes could, he said. Verma wrote: During a crisis (or any time, actually), social support is an invaluable coping mechanism, and that is what I hoped my classes would provide. I am pleased to say that they have. Several students have told me that they feel more motivated, more in control, and less stressed in in-person classes …In an essay today, a longtime Kennesaw State University professor explains his concerns. Timothy Hedeen, a professor of conflict management, says these views are his own, and not those of KSU. Across Georgia and beyond, every in-person class meeting increases the risk of COVID transmission. The risks aren’t contained to the classroom: students and faculty carry that risk into their dorms and homes, to their roommates, families, and communities. Consider, too, that custodial staff colleagues who maintain those classrooms, bus drivers who transport those students, dining facilities employees who serve those campuses—they are all exposed to additional risk because of in-person classes.
The Red & Black
UGA students produce satirical video promoting Grady college’s name change
By: Denali Lerch
The University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications has received pressure to rename the college, which has the namesake of Henry W. Grady, a well-known journalist from the 1800s who was also a white supremacist. To express the passion and desire for the college to be renamed, a group of Grady students took skills they gained from professors and classes to produce a satirical video on why it should be renamed. The video expresses how their values as Grady students don’t align with the name of the college, and they want to be from a school they are proud of, Sulli Giles, video director, writer and senior entertainment and media studies major, said.
11 Alive
Leaders remain vigilant ahead of holidays as COVID cases rise
By Brittany Kleinpeter
With the pandemic now in its ninth month, leaders are concerned that many will be tempted to relax important practices designed to keep the coronavirus in check over the holidays. But leaders are hoping – and urging – the public to remain vigilant. In his first public address since the election, President Donald Trump spoke from the White House Rose Garden on Friday asking the public to use caution during the holidays… Meanwhile, schools nationwide are taking precautions ahead of the holidays. In Georgia, the University of Georgia, Valdosta State University, and the University of West Georgia will all switch to online learning after Thanksgiving for the rest of the fall semester.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
How Higher Ed Helped Flip 5 States in the 2020 Election
By Audrey Williams June and Jacqueline Elias
Higher education has increasingly become a marker of partisan identification. Among white voters especially, a college degree has come to be seen as predictive of voting patterns. And counties with flagship institutions in them have increasingly swung toward Democrats in presidential elections.
What did the presence of a college in a county say about how that county voted in 2020?… Georgia had the three college counties with the largest increases in Democratic vote margins in 2020. Gwinnett County, home to campuses that include Georgia Gwinnett College, went up 12.4 percentage points. Cobb County, where Kennesaw State University and Life University are located, was up 12.2 percentage points. And Cherokee County, home of Reinhardt University, went up 10.2 percentage points.
Other News:
The Augusta Chronicle
Gov. Brian Kemp extends COVID-19 restrictions in Georgia
By Dave Williams
Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday he is extending coronavirus-driven social distancing and sanitization restrictions for businesses, gatherings and long-term elderly care facilities in Georgia. Kemp has signed an executive order, effective at midnight Nov. 16 and running through the end of the month, leaving the current set of restrictions in place. “As COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations rise across the country, [Georgia Commissioner of Public Health] Dr. [Kathleen] Toomey and I are asking Georgians to remain vigilant in our fight against COVID-19,” the governor said. “Continue to wash your hands, wear a mask, watch your distance, follow public health guidance, and get a flu shot. By taking these simple steps, we will protect lives – and livelihoods.” A statewide public heath emergency first declared in Georgia last March allows Kemp to continue issuing executive orders addressing COVID-19.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Nov. 15)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 8,462 | 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: 386,949 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Moderna: Coronavirus vaccine shows early success in U.S. tests
By Lauran Neergard
For the second time this month, there’s promising news from a COVID-19 vaccine candidate: Moderna said Monday its shots provide strong protection, a dash of hope against the grim backdrop of coronavirus surges in the U.S. and around the world. Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according to preliminary data from the company’s still ongoing study. A week ago, competitor Pfizer Inc. announced its own COVID-19 vaccine appeared similarly effective — news that puts both companies on track to seek permission within weeks for emergency use in the U.S.
Higher Education News
Insider Higher Ed
By Scott Jaschik
The Common Application received 8 percent fewer applications through Nov. 2 compared to last year, and 60 percent of its 921 members were reporting application declines. Applications from first-generation students and those eligible for application fee waivers were down 16 percent. Those figures are from an update that Jenny Rickard, president and CEO of the Common App, recently provided to members.
Inside Higher Ed
International Student Numbers Decline
By Elizabeth Redden
A survey found that new international enrollments dropped by 43 percent this fall. It also provides the first glimpse of the effects of the pandemic on international exchange and insight into pre-pandemic trends. The total number of international students studying at U.S. universities, whether from within the U.S. or online from abroad, decreased by 16 percent this fall, while enrollments of new international students decreased by 43 percent, according to a new survey of more than 700 colleges conducted by 10 major higher education organizations. The survey provides a first look at how hard international enrollments have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey found that one in five international students are studying online from outside the U.S. Ninety percent of responding institutions reported student deferrals, collectively reporting that nearly 40,000 international students have deferred their studies to a future term.
Inside Higher Ed
Blending Virtual Clinical Placements with Hands-On Learning Strategies
By Wiley Education Services
The continued shift toward online education has highlighted the need for virtual clinical placements. Discover how universities can deliver hands-on learning in remote formats that enable students to practice social distancing and stay on track to graduation and licensure.