University System News:
USA Today
COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness, longevity now part of Augusta University study
Tom Corwin
Augusta Chronicle
An ongoing study of health care and frontline workers in Augusta and across the country could not only reveal whether COVID-19 vaccines work better than antibodies from an infection but how long those antibodies last and whether one vaccine is better than another, an investigator said. The study at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University and four other sites around the country was already collecting samples and testing thousands of health care and frontline workers who might be regularly exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19, known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or SARS CoV-2. But now as those workers get vaccinated, it puts the study in a position to begin comparing antibodies and protection, said Dr. Ravindra Kolhe, principal investigator for the study at AU and director of the Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory at MCG.
13WMAZ
MGSU expands resources as mental health crisis worsens due to COVID-19
BeWell@MGA gives students 24/7 access to counselors and mental health resources.
Author: Katelyn Sabater
New studies show that COVID-19 is raising anxiety among college students. Middle Georgia State University is making sure their students stay on track with a new mental health program called, BeWell@MGA. “In the beginning, there definitely was an increased level of anxiety,” said senior Kamryn Toney. That last year of learning can be stressful for anyone. Add a pandemic into the mix and “stressful” doesn’t seem to cover it. “I’ve never experienced anything like this, so it was difficult to adjust,” said Toney, “And again, I was more focused on, ‘How do I stay safe? I don’t want to get this myself or bring it home to my parents who do have underlying conditions.’” Stories like Toney’s aren’t unique. According to Jennifer Brannon, Vice President of Student Affairs, mental health problems on campus have increased because of COVID-19.
Athens CEO
UGA Willson Center Receives $1M Mellon Foundation Grant
The University of Georgia’s Willson Center for Humanities and Arts has received a $1 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to partner with Penn Center, one of the nation’s most important institutions of African American culture. The partnership will support education and sharing among communities in the Sea Islands region of the Southeastern United States and students from UGA and its partner institutions.
WGAU
UGA adds new GRA Eminent Scholar
Buell will come to campus in the fall
By Michael Terrazas
Robin Buell, University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University and a renowned plant genomics expert, will join UGA in fall 2021 as its newest Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. GRA Eminent Scholars are acknowledged leaders in areas of science that are strategically important to the state of Georgia and its research universities. Buell, who will be appointed as a professor of crop and soil sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is the eighth GRA Eminent Scholar recruited to UGA since 2015 and the 20th overall. She will be UGA’s 19th currently serving Eminent Scholar.
The Citizens
Dr. Steve Whatley named Georgia’s Public Library Champion of the Year
From Staff Reports
Georgia’s Public Library Champion of the Year is Dr. Steve Whatley, former board chair and longtime trustee at the Newton County Library System. Whatley was an educator for more than 36 years, including serving as superintendent of Newton County School System prior to his retirement in 2010. Champion of the Year is presented to an outstanding advocate who is not employed by a public library, but whose support significantly raised the profile of libraries and improved services.
WABE
In-Person Classes Postponed, DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Discusses Why
Rose Scott
Plus, Dr. Lisa Eichelberger, the Dean of the College of Health at Clayton State University, talks with Rose about a new scholarship program created to address the shortage of Black registered nurses in Georgia.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘We’re not just spouses’: Stories of international spouses at Georgia Tech
By Liuyu Ivy Chen
Group that provides support system for them faces its own challenges to survive
For the graduate students and researchers coming to the United States from other countries, the opportunity to study at Georgia Tech is invaluable, but for the spouses who come along with them, it can be a lonely struggle. Many are in the U.S. without family, may face language barriers and because of visa restrictions, may not be able to work. Freelance reporter Liuyu Ivy Chen, who came to Atlanta as an international spouse, shares the stories of some of these spouses and the Georgia Tech organization that helps them.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OPINION: Refugee’s wildest dreams come true. College then dental school
By Gracie Bonds Staples
A few months from now, Niang Muang will head off to dental school at California’s Loma Linda University or here at Augusta University’s Dental College of Georgia. She isn’t sure yet which one she’ll choose, but as any aspiring doctor will tell you, it’s a good problem to have. That’s especially true for Niang, who just a decade ago couldn’t imagine college of any kind in her future. Miss Kelli, she said, changed that. Miss Kelli is Kelli Czaykowsky, founder of the nonprofit Friends of Refugees Providing Education and Empowerment, also known as F.R.E.E. … Last month, she learned she’d been accepted into Loma Linda and the Dental College of Georgia, her top two picks. Czaykowsky shared the good news with me.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Jan. 13)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 10,580 | Deaths have been confirmed in all counties but one (Taliaferro). This figure does not include additional cases that the DPH reports as suspected COVID-19-related deaths. County is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated.
CONFIRMED CASES: 654,356 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia climbs to 4th nationally in COVID-19 hospitalizations, White House says
By J. Scott Trubey
Rolling average of daily reported deaths reaches all-time high.
Georgia reported the fourth worst rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions in the country last week, a federal report said, and the worst is likely still ahead for hospitals already overburdened by the fall and winter surge. “Georgia is in full pandemic resurgence and will experience continued increases in new COVID (hospital) admissions and fatalities,” the White House Coronavirus Task Force said. The report, dated Sunday, was obtained Wednesday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The report comes as the number of people in Georgia currently hospitalized for the disease is at record highs, and as the feared but expected surge in deaths from the virus’s third wave appears to have arrived.
WJBF
B117 is the latest variant of the COVID-19 virus that’s been impacting people across the globe. While there is only one documented case of the variant in Georgia, local health professionals say it could already be here in Augusta. “What’s unique about this strain is it infects people a lot quicker,” said Dr. Vazquez Augusta University Chief of Infectious Diseases. SARS COV-2 what’s known to cause COVID-19 has mutated 17 times since last year. That brings us to this new strain of COVID known as B117. Doctors say the new mutation gets into our bodies and adheres quicker to our receptors.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The pandemic has piled new demands on student-affairs staffers. They’re burning out and see no end in sight.
By Emma Pettit
That the students in his book club wanted to meet over winter break took Ricardo Rico by surprise. He realized that their usual Thursday meeting would fall on Christmas Eve, so he had told the students he was canceling it. “And they were like, ‘Oh no, let’s just meet Wednesday instead!’” Rico said. “I didn’t know how to say, ‘I don’t want to meet.’” Rico is an educational-opportunity program counselor at California State University-Channel Islands who serves mostly first-generation students from low-income households and historically marginalized backgrounds. He’s one of thousands of student-affairs employees who’ve worked in overdrive since the pandemic began, scrambling to keep students physically and mentally safe, fed, housed, outfitted for virtual learning, and as engaged as possible in this Bizarro World version of college life. Rico loves his job. But by the end of the fall-2020 semester, he was exhausted, emotionally drained, and had a serious case of Zoom fatigue. …He’s not an outlier. Kevin Kruger, president of Naspa: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, has spent more than four decades in the field and said he’s never witnessed this level of exhaustion among student-affairs professionals.
Inside Higher Ed
Senators Ask GAO to Examine If Colleges Are Doing Enough for Disabled Students
By Kery Murakami
A bipartisan group of three senators on Wednesday asked the Government Accountability Office to examine whether colleges and universities are doing enough to make sure disabled students have the same access to learning during the coronavirus pandemic as others. “Under normal circumstances, accessing the appropriate accommodations can prove challenging for students in higher education,” wrote Senators Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire; Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania; and Dr. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, students face many of the same challenges in accessing appropriate accommodations as they did prior to the pandemic, but must now do so navigating remote and distanced learning.” In particular, the senators expressed concern about the ability of students with disabilities to use videoconferencing and other equipment in remote learning.