University System News:
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
Albany State University Launches the Undergraduate Health Science Academy
Historically Black Albany State University in Georgia has created the Undergraduate Health Science Academy to better prepare students for careers in medical and healthcare fields. The first cohort of 20 students in the program was established this fall. The university aims to increase the number of students participating in the academy in the future. The academy is designed to prepare students for medical school while providing additional support during their undergraduate years.
Savannah Business Journal
U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $2 Million to Expand Business Incubator in Statesboro
Staff Report
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $2 million grant to the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority, Statesboro, Georgia, to boost business growth and resiliency efforts by expanding the City Center Business Incubator. The EDA grant, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $500,000 in local funds, is expected to create 300 jobs, and generate $40 million in private investment. “Hurricane Irma severely impacted Statesboro and Bulloch County by in 2017,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “This project will strengthen the partnership between the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority and Georgia Southern University’s Business Innovation Group and aid in their efforts to rebuild and reinforce the region’s economy. The Opportunity Zone designation will further transform the local economy.”
Patch
Questioning Perspectives Allows Georgia Gwinnett College Student To Find Her Path
Muminah Chaudhry came to Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) expecting to earn a degree in biochemistry. Instead, she discovered an entirely new direction in life, and a newfound understanding of herself.
GPB
Augusta University Set To Vaccinate Employees Next Week If Pzifer Wins FDA Approval
Augusta University Health System is making distribution plans for two COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the FDA’s approval for emergency use authorization. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday will consider the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer. The United States on Wednesday recorded its highest number of daily deaths — 3,140 — since the pandemic began. In Georgia, 9,073 people have died of COVID-19. …Approval for emergency use authorization is expected, and officials with Augusta University have a plan to start vaccinating employees before the end of the month.
The Red & Black
UGA COVID-19 plans include saliva testing, vaccine distribution for spring semester
Stroud Payne | Data Reporter
In a Thursday ArchNews email, University of Georgia President Jere Morehead and Provost Jack Hu updated the university community on plans for the spring 2021 semester regarding COVID-19. Morehead and Hu emphasized that they would continue following guidance from the Medical Oversight Task Force on testing. UGA has been designated as a dispensing point for the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the email. The university will work with the federal and state government to administer doses of vaccine when they are available. The university does not expect to have large volumes of the vaccines until later in the spring semester, and the University Health Center staff and the Office of Emergency Preparedness will give further updates once they have more information.
WSAV
Savannah State University prepares celebration for spring 2020 graduates
Jon Dowding
Savannah State University is preparing to hold an in-person graduation ceremony this weekend for spring 2020 graduates. The Saturday ceremony is a promise, made by the university’s interim-president to the class, that the students would still get to walk the stage for graduation. After almost six months since their virtual graduation, students will now safely take part in the traditional graduation ceremony they lost out on earlier this year because of the pandemic.
Albany CEO
Georgia Southwestern to Hold four in-person Commencement Ceremonies on December 12
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) will hold four in-person Commencement Ceremonies on Saturday, December 12 in the Convocation Hall of the Student Success Center, also known as the Storm Dome. Approximately 350 graduating Hurricanes will be recognized for their academic achievements throughout the day at the four smaller, socially-distanced ceremonies. Many Spring and Summer 2020 graduates who were recognized in GSW’s first-ever virtual graduation ceremony in May will return to walk across the stage with Fall 2020 graduates.
Athens CEO
CAES Students Chosen for Georgia Agribusiness Council Internships
Two students from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have been chosen for Georgia Agribusiness Council Legislative Internships for the spring 2021 Georgia General Assembly legislative session. Katelyn Bickett, a senior agricultural communications major from Chickamauga, Georgia, and Brooke Raniere, a junior environmental economics major from Peachtree City, Georgia, will spend 12 weeks in the state Capitol during the legislative session that begins in January 2021.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech grads create app to help people quit drinking
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
With guidance of medical community, pair took idea from drawing board to app store
Under the premise that technology can enable people to break free from a negative habit loop and cultivate healthier behaviors on demand, two Georgia Tech grads created Reframe, a new app that uses neuroscience to help users quit alcohol. In going from the drawing board to the app store, Ziyi Gao and Vedant Pradeep relied on support from Georgia Tech’s CREATE-X startup launch program for student inventors and entrepreneurs. The sobriety app has drawn 1,550 subscribers in four months. “We surmise that the quick growth, unfortunately, is due to the sharp rise in alcohol addiction due to the pandemic,” said Michael Polak, a Georgia Tech adjunct professor who mentored the pair through CREATE-X. “And Ziyi and Vedant work hard — these kids don’t sleep.”
11Alive
UGA journalism students found themselves covering COVID-19 as they live through pandemic
(Video) The pandemic has taught some of them tough lessons.
University Business
How 3 big universities stifled COVID on campus
Increases in testing allowed schools to respond to positive cases and combat outbreaks
By: Matt Zalaznick
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign took on the even bigger task of using self-administered, saliva-based kits to test 50,000 students twice a week. It paired that with an app the university developed an app, Safer Illinois, to notify students of test results quickly, said Martin Burke, associate dean of research at the university’s Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Students also needed the app to get into campus buildings and local restaurants and bars. To gain entry, they had to show the app to confirm they were up-to-date on COVID testing and had not tested positive. …
When students get complacent …
The Georgia Institute of Technology launched a MyTest website where students received results of own their tests and could monitor the campus positivity rate. Students got results back in 24 to 48 hours, said Greg Gibson, director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Integrative Genomics. Each time cases ticked up, administrators intensified testing to stifle the spread.
The Optimist Daily
New glaucoma treatment doesn’t require surgery or daily drops
Glaucoma, the buildup of pressure in the eye, is a serious disease that can lead to irreversible blindness. Currently, treatment options include daily eye drops and even surgery, but soon, hydrogel technology could significantly improve the ease of treatment for patients. Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology have come up with a polymer that can be injected non-invasively into the eye. The polymer reacts to form a hydrogel which effectively holds open a channel in the suprachoroidal space of the eye which allows pressure to drain from the eye.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta region cementing reputation as tech hub
By Christopher Quinn
Metro area’s fast-growing startups climb industry rankings
Atlanta is climbing tech hub rankings in the U.S., building on its strength of payments and logistics technology. OneTrust, a local software company that provides privacy security for businesses, and CharterUP, a high-tech transportation firm, landed at 4th and 8th, respectively, in the 2020 Deloitte North American Technology Fast 500. Auto-problem diagnosis firm FIXD placed 11th on the list. A total of 24 metro Atlanta companies last month made Deloitte’s list of the fastest-growing public and private tech companies, measured by revenue growth in percentage terms. Ten years ago, Atlanta had nine startups on the annual list. OneTrust also landed in August at No. 1 in the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. in 2020, with a revenue growth over three years of 48,377%. The four-year-old company was started by Kabir Barday, who graduated from Georgia Tech in 2009 with plans to buy a pizza franchise. OneTrust has an estimated valuation of $2.7 billion.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Dec. 10)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
DEATHS: 9,123 | 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: 462,175 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
FDA granting emergency use authorization for Pfizer COVID vaccine, Azar says
By Tim Darnell
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is granting an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday morning. Azar confirmed the news on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The FDA itself has not officially made the announcement, but has issued the following statement:
11Alive
New single day record in Georgia with more than 6K new COVID-19 cases reported
Here’s the latest COVID-19 case, death and hospitalization data from the state.
We’re breaking down the trends and relaying information from across the state of Georgia as it comes in, bringing perspective to the data and context to the trends.
THE LATEST DATA:
As of 3 p.m., there have been 9,123 deaths in Georgia, an increase of 50 since the previous day. Over the last 14 days (11/27-12/10), the average daily increase in newly reported deaths was 29.07 deaths each day. Over the previous 14-day period (11/13-11/26), the average daily increase in newly reported deaths was 22.36.
There have been 462,175 cases confirmed in Georgia, an increase of 6,062 since the previous day. Over the last 14 days, the average daily increase in newly confirmed cases was 3447.57 new cases a day. Over the previous 14-day period, the average daily increase in newly confirmed cases was 2,409.
This is a new single-day record of new cases reported in Georgia.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Reimagining State Funding for Higher Education
By Paul Fain
Many public colleges and universities face serious financial challenges, due in part to declining state tax revenue, changing enrollment patterns and rising unemployment. And state budget cuts are most likely to impact lower-income students and students of color. Two new briefs from Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit research group, give an overview of state funding approaches and suggest recommendations for how states should approach support for higher education to make the funding more equitable and cost-effective. The briefs grew out of a meeting of state administrators, researchers and other experts that Ithaka S+R and the Joyce Foundation brought together a year ago.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Colleges Are Canceling Spring Break. In Its Place: ‘Wellness Days’
By Beckie Supiano
As colleges announce their spring-semester plans, a pattern has emerged: Spring break is out, and “wellness days” are in. From a public-health standpoint, canceling spring break makes sense. The prospect that millions of young people will leave college towns and fan out across the globe — some of them meeting elsewhere to party in large groups — is clearly at odds with efforts to contain Covid-19. But asking students — and their instructors — to slog through another pandemic semester with no break at all could be detrimental to mental health, not to mention learning. Enter the “wellness day.” A growing number of colleges have announced plans to cancel class on a handful of days sprinkled throughout the spring semester. The trend seems to be putting wellness days in midweek, perhaps with the thought that creating a long weekend could encourage travel or drinking. Some colleges plan to offer wellness programming on the selected days; others will just give students a day off.
Inside Higher Ed
Survey Finds Range of COVID Testing Strategies
By Elizabeth Redden
Survey results released Thursday from the American College Health Association show that 83.9 percent of responding colleges are conducting on-campus COVID-19 testing this fall, and just 37.2 percent tested students upon their arrival on campus. “In the absence of a national strategy or clear guidance, schools implemented a variety of mitigation strategies based on individual institutional needs and resource availability,” a report on the survey concludes. “This was most evident in the range of testing strategies deployed.” Of those institutions conducting testing, 93.3 percent reported testing symptomatic students, 83.8 percent reported testing exposed students and 70.4 percent reported testing at least some asymptomatic students.
Inside Higher Ed
Gender Equity Groups Urge Biden to Rescind DeVos Title IX Rules
By Greta Anderson
More than 100 gender equity and civil rights advocacy organizations signed a letter to the incoming Biden administration’s transition team recommending that President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris stop enforcement of and move to rescind new regulations that reshaped how colleges respond to reports of sexual misconduct on campus. The new rules were put in place by the U.S. Department of Education in May and have since come under fire from higher education associations, advocates for survivors of sexual assault and women’s rights organizations. The letter, signed by the National Women’s Law Center, the American Federation of Teachers, Know Your IX and 100 other groups, offered several steps the new administration should take to “reverse the damage caused by the Trump administration” and strengthen Title IX, the law that prohibits discrimination based on sex at federally funded institutions