University System News
WRDW
How local universities are planning for COVID-19 as students head home for holidays
By Kennedi Harris
It’s a tale of two universities. While the University of South Carolina Aiken opts to continue learning virtually after Thanksgiving, Augusta University says is not changing its learning schedule. There’s been a big concern surrounding students and COVID-19 safety as the holiday weekend continues to approach us. With Thanksgiving just two days away, college campuses are starting to empty once again. “Well, it certainly has been a semester for the history books,” said Daren Timmons, UofSC Aiken provost and vice chancellor. Some students will return to campus after the break, but others will stay at home due to COVID-19 concerns. “The anticipation was students traveled far and wide, and mixed with different parts of the population, and then came back to campus, then the likelihood of bringing the coronavirus back to campus was quite high,” Timmons said. And research shows that may be true. During the weeks between Aug. 2 and Sept. 5, as colleges welcomed students back on campus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 55 percent increase in COVID-19 cases for ages 18 to 22. There’s also a risk that students could be taking the virus home. In Georgia, 18- to 29-year-olds still have the highest number of cases for any age group.
The Albany Herald
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Student Veterans Organization collecting Toys for Tots
Staff Reports
The Student Veterans Organization at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will assist the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve with the Toys for Tots program this holiday season by collecting new, unwrapped toys through Dec. 11 for the charitable organization. Donations can be dropped off in boxes located in the Agricultural Sciences Building, Bowen Hall, Branch Hall, the Donaldson Dining Hall, the Health Sciences Building, Conger Hall, the Carlton Center, and Town Hall on the ABAC campus. Boxes also are located in Tifton at Roberts and Co. Jewelers and Tractor Supply.
The Daily Tribune News
GHC sees rise in economic impact & graduates but dip in fall enrollment
By Donna Harris
Georgia Highlands College received a mixed bag of results from three reports recently released by the University System of Georgia. The five-campus college saw increases in the economic impact it has on the state and in the number of students earning their degrees over the previous graduation but had a decrease in fall enrollment over last year’s enrollment figures. USG reported that GHC had an increase of more than $4 million – $177,046,638 in fiscal year 2018 to $181,400,770 in FY19 – in total economic impact on the state. GHC has seen steady economic impact growth for the last five years and has the second-highest economic impact among state colleges in Georgia, behind Georgia Gwinnett College’s impact of $519.5 million, President Dr. Don Green said.
Times-Georgian
UWG welcomes new director of Center for Student Involvement
By Julie Lineback
The University of West Georgia recently named Dr. Lakiesa Rawlinson as its new director of the Center for Student Involvement. Rawlinson has worked in the University System of Georgia for more than a decade, serving as program coordinator for Kennesaw State University, associate director of campus life at Clayton State University, and director of student involvement at Georgia Gwinnett College. “I felt UWG would be a good fit for me as a progressive thinker who values the importance of students’ feelings,” she shared. “I see myself as a bridge-builder between academics and student affairs to create co-curricular opportunities for our students that will allow them to grow professionally as well as personally.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Early action applications to University of Georgia set record
By Maureen Downey
With children at the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, I belong to three Facebook groups related to parenting a college student. So, I’ve been seeing elated emails from parents whose high school seniors found out they were admitted to UGA under early action this weekend. (Georgia Tech releases its early action admits for Georgia students Dec. 4.) I’ve also read disappointed posts from parents and friends whose children were either deferred to the regular spring admissions pool or rejected. My twins are in the final stretches of college, but I am reliving the admissions journey with my Georgia Tech senior applying to doctoral programs in organic chemistry. While I’m not involved in the application process at all, I still find it nerve-racking to hear him talk about waiting on recommendations from a professor or staying up to midnight to finish a required essay.
The Red & Black
Individual UGA schools, colleges announce fall 2020 commencement plans
By Shelby Israel
With the fall 2020 commencement ceremony moving to a virtual platform, University of Georgia colleges and schools are finding ways to celebrate their graduates. The undergraduate, master’s and doctoral commencement ceremonies were shifted from a traditional in-person format to completely online, according to an Oct. 22 announcement. The combined virtual ceremony will be held on Dec. 18. No further details have been released, but the decision allowed individual schools to consider hosting events to celebrate their graduates.
11 Alive
Georgia Tech’s testing program proof we can cut COVID-19 cases if we try
By Rebecca Lindstrom
In August, as COVID-19 cases started to drop and plateau, people just didn’t seem as concerned they might spread the virus asymptomatically. But even in the lull, Georgia met its monthly testing goal, submitted to the federal government in the early days of the pandemic. That goal was testing 4% of the state’s population each month. But now, cases are back on the rise, raising questions about whether the state – and our community – should set the bar higher. 11Alive’s investigative team, The Reveal, looked at one slice of our community that has done just that. Instead of setting a population goal, they looked at testing frequency: once a week, every week. That’s the push at Georgia Tech. “It’s important because, ethically speaking, this only works if everyone does it,” explained Alex, a student 11Alive spoke to as he left campus library after getting a COVID-19 test.
Other News
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Nov. 24)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 8,648 | 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: 408,644 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
WABE
Despite CDC Guidance, Will Georgians Travel This Holiday Season?
By Rose Scott
Also, deputy of Commissioner of Explore Georgia, the state’s tourism department, Mark Jaronski shares how the state’s tourism industry has been affected by the pandemic. Plus, a conversation with Emory epidemiologist Jodie Guest discusses celebrating Thanksgiving safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Higher Education News
Education Dive
Several large universities plan to increase coronavirus testing in the spring
By Natalie Schwartz
Several large universities are planning to increase coronavirus testing in the spring after seeing outbreaks in the fall. The University of Florida, the University of South Carolina and the University of North Carolina are among the institutions ramping up or mandating testing after having laxer policies this fall. The announcements come as the U.S. clocks more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases each day and hospitals in some regions near capacity.
Inside Higher Ed
What Would a $435B Loss Mean for Federal Student Loan Portfolio?
By Rick Seltzer
It is an eye-popping number: $435 billion. That is the amount of money the federal government can expect to lose on its $1.37 trillion student loan portfolio, according to an analysis consultants performed for the Department of Education. That analysis anticipates borrowers paying back $935 billion in principal and interest on their student loans, leaving $435 billion for taxpayers to absorb. So what, exactly, does $435 billion represent? The Wall Street Journal, which recently uncovered and reported on the student loan analysis, compared it to the $535 billion private lenders lost on subprime mortgages in the 2008 financial crisis.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Colleges and Universities Plan for Fall Commencement Amid COVID-19
By Sarah Wood
As the semester winds down, colleges and universities across the country are making plans for fall commencement ceremonies. However, as new COVID-19 cases reach over 200,000 a day in the United States, many institutions are choosing to either cancel their ceremonies or host them remotely. At Chicago State University (CSU), the virtual commencement in December will celebrate spring, summer and fall graduates. “We actually cancelled the ceremony last spring,” said Dr. William Raynovich, associate professor in CSU’s music department. “The pandemic shutdown was severe in Chicago making the ceremony impossible to do. The College of Pharmacy did have a hooding ceremony of sorts, and in watching that ceremony, we have been improving the commencement ceremony for this celebration.”
Inside Higher Ed
Fighting for Conservatives Under Attack in Academe
By Richard E. Vatz
I am a conservative in the social sciences and humanities at Towson University. I would say “the” conservative, but I have one good right-of-center colleague who teaches there, as well. The university has upwards of 1,000 full-time faculty and 25,000 students. One day last spring, I was gobsmacked by my beloved university — one I have cherished and about which I have bragged for more than 45 years, despite its periodic shortcomings in living up to its academic freedom pretensions. I was in a meeting of the Academic Senate, of which I had been an elected member for over four decades. I proposed that the words “ideological perspectives” be added to the long list of identity categories and religion protected in hiring and treatment of Towson employees. I pointed out that conservatism was under attack at public colleges and universities throughout the country. I noted that statistic after statistic of the ratio of liberals to conservatives corroborated this fact, often 12 to one and worse.
The Washington Post
By Lauren Lumpkin
Nyla Harris, 19, like other college students, just wants a break. The sophomore picked up a job this semester to help pay bills at home. She’s struggling to balance her mental health with the demands of schoolwork, while spending most of her day in front of a computer screen. “I love it,” Harris said about Howard University, where she is studying biology and Chinese. “But at the same time it’s really difficult to rationalize to my mom, who’s going tens of thousands of dollars in debt for a university that clearly does not care about her child.” Harris and other Howard students are asking the school to expand pass-fail grading for fall courses, an option they say will alleviate stress as they near the end of another semester of remote learning.
Education Dive
The Ed Dept’s new Clery Act guide raises new questions
By Melissa Carleton
While it might appear otherwise based on its new, 554-page Title IX regulations, the current administration has attempted to reduce the regulatory burden on colleges and universities. One of the most recent examples of this is the rescission of the 265-page “Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting.” The latest version of the handbook was released in 2016. It assisted institutions in complying with the Clery Act, a federal law that, among other things, requires campuses to collect information about crime statistics and provide it to students, faculty, staff and the public.