USG e-clips for January 19, 2021

University System News:

Associated Press

Kemp to use $5M in virus aid to help students finish college

By Jeff Amy

Some juniors and seniors at Georgia’s public universities and colleges are in line for a little financial boost to help them reach their degree. Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday in his State of the State speech that he would use $5 million in federal coronavirus relief that he controls to provide small grants to help students with unmet financial need pay their college bills. …Because it’s federal money, the Republican governor won’t need legislative approval to spend the money. Other details remain fuzzy. Kemp’s office didn’t answer questions on Friday about who exactly would be eligible, or for how much money. Completion grants have gotten a lot of attention in academic circles in recent years, with Atlanta’s Georgia State University a notable pioneer. Getting more students to finish college has also been a major push by outgoing University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley. Georgia State started issuing Panther Retention Grants in 2011, after noting that many students dropped out of school just short of their degree after running out of financial aid and loans.

See also:

U.S. News & World Report

Kemp Proposes $900M Borrowing Plan as Part of Georgia Budget

Gov. Brian Kemp is proposing that Georgia borrow $883 million for construction projects and equipment next year, an amount likely to rise before lawmakers get done with the state budget.

Statesboro Herald

New COVID cases drop 20% at GS

Bulloch also sees decline, but 41st death

Jim Healy/staff

After recording its most weekly COVID-19 cases since September, Georgia Southern saw a 20% drop this past week, but still had more than 100 new cases. On Monday, the university reported it had 108 cases for the week of Jan. 11-17 – 84 self-reported and 24 university confirmed cases. GS had 133 positive cases the previous week. “After completing one full week of classes in the Spring semester, the report indicates a reduction of cases from the previous week while continuing to reflect the overall increased number of COVID-19 cases in Georgia and throughout our region,” Georgia Southern said in a release about Monday’s new numbers.

The Gainesville Times

UNG gets first doses of COVID-19 vaccine; appointments fill up in 15 minutes

Nick Watson

Within 15 minutes of an email going out to University of North Georgia students, faculty and staff, all of the appointments for the school’s first 100 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were filled.

Continue reading this story.

13 WMAZ

Why is Georgia slower than others in administering vaccines? Will pharmacies help with rollout?

Georgia has administered less than 23% of available vaccines, compared to West Virginia, which has administered about 65%, according to CDC data tracker.

Author: Paola Suro (WXIA)

Georgia still stands as one of the slowest states in the U.S. when it comes to the administering of the COVID-19 vaccine. Health experts hope that making them available via pharmacies will change that statistic. COVID-19 expert and Augusta University professor Dr. David Blake said the pharmacies should speed up the process.

WGAU

UGA creates saliva test for coronavirus

Developed in University’s Vet College

By Leigh Beeson

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the U.S., the most common way to test for the virus was using nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs—which pass through the nostril to the very back of the nasal cavity, where they pick up mucosal secretions. But thanks to a team of researchers from UGA’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories, getting tested for the coronavirus is much less obtrusive. As of Jan. 4, UGA began offering a saliva-based COVID-19 test, developed by the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Diagnostic Laboratories, and is transitioning to primarily using the saliva test as the semester continues.

Valdosta Daily Times

Comfort before the Storm

Nursing students get a helping paw

By Desiree Carver

Nurses have played a pivotal role during the pandemic, making nursing students more determined, and more stressed. Dr. Lois Bellflowers, Valdosta State University assistant professor of nursing, noticed the stressors her students encounter, even prior to COVID-19, and thought her 4-year-old Goldendoodle, Minnie, might be able to help. Bellflowers’ daughter has a service dog, and when Minnie was about 2, Bellflowers noticed she’d been picking up on training from her daughter’s dog. Calling her a dog that “loved to be loved,” Bellflowers’ initial plan was to bring Minnie to K-12 education, but then thought “What would she do for our higher ed students?” “Who doesn’t relax when they rub on a fluffy puppy?” Bellflowers said. Turns out, Minnie does wonders for the college seniors and the other classes she visits just by simply being present and allowing them time to interact with her, Bellflowers said. Senior Isabelle Ekstam is one of Minnie’s many fans in the classroom.

WALB

VSU students march to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

By Jennifer Morejon

Hundreds of Valdosta State University students gathered Monday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Students said that years later, they’re still fighting for his dream. “He fought for equality, he fought for the equality of all persons of all colors. So, we want to remember that his purpose is still alive today due to the racial injustices that we have seen over the years,” said Ahre Matchett, one of the organizers of Monday’s march. VSU students Marched down Oak Street to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Matchett said that every year they gather and use his legacy as an example to lead them into continuing the fight for equality.

Albany Herald

Four ASU faculty members named USG Leadership Fellows

From staff reports

The University System of Georgia has named Albany State University biology professor and premedical adviser Ashok Jain; sociology program department coordinator Cassandra Jordan; English professor and director of International Education Nneka Nora Osakwe; and associate professor of psychology and director of the Center for Undergraduate Research Mark Thomas, 2020-2021 USG Leadership Fellows. As subject matter experts, the four will provide meaningful support to colleagues systemwide.

Patch

KSU Faculty Members Named 2020-2021 USG Leadership Fellows

The University System of Georgia (USG) has named Kennesaw State University’s Esther Jordan director of faculty success.

The University System of Georgia (USG) has named Kennesaw State University’s Esther

Jordan, director of faculty success – Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), and Traci Stromie, faculty developer – (CETL) for faculty success, 2020-2021 USG Leadership Fellows. As subject matter experts, Jordan and Stromie will provide meaningful support to colleagues systemwide.

What Now Atlanta

University of Georgia’s New $4.4 Million Innovation Hub Opens on Spring Street

Part of the Innovation District, the Innovation Hub will support the university’s continued efforts of fostering innovation and aiding startups as well as hosting events for local organizations

The University of Georgia this month opened its Innovation Hub. Under renovation since February 2020, the Innovation Hub is housed within a 1940s masonry warehouse — formerly referred to as the Spring Street Building — within steps of The Arch and Downtown Athens, at 210 Spring St. The facility offers over 10,000 square feet of flexible space for faculty, students, businesses, and local organizations to continually support the University of Georgia’s innovators and leaders. It is another step towards the University of Georgia’s master plan for its Innovation District (shown below) which is planned to comprise over ten buildings across campus and the south end of Downtown Athens.

WGAU

UGA plans legal aid clinics for veterans

Virtual clinic Saturday

By Heidi Murphy

A free virtual legal clinic for Georgia veterans will be held Saturday, Jan. 23, from 9 to 11 a.m. Veterans in the Columbus and Macon areas will be able to access the clinic through physical locations in each city, while veterans from across the state can connect for services via webcam or telephone. The Georgia Veterans Outreach Project provides quick advice and brief service on issues with special relevance to former military members, including veterans and military benefits and other civil legal matters, such as consumer, family, housing, shelter and other civil issues, but not criminal legal issues. Co-organizer Alexander W. Scherr, who directs the University of Georgia School of Law’s Veterans Legal Clinic, said the project seeks to reach veterans in smaller communities and rural areas around the state, where lawyers are not always easily available.

News Medical

New method could provide additional insight into brain tumors

A look at RNA tells us what our genes are telling our cells to do, and scientists say looking directly at the RNA of brain tumor cells appears to provide objective, efficient evidence to better classify a tumor and the most effective treatments. Gliomas are the most common brain tumor type in adults, they have a wide range of possible outcomes and three subtypes, from the generally more treatable astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas to the typically more lethal glioblastomas. Medical College of Georgia scientists report in the journal Scientific Reports that their method, which produces what is termed a transcriptomic profile of the tumor is particularly adept at recognizing some of the most serious of these tumors, says Paul M.H. Tran, MD/PhD student.

Other News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Jan. 18)

An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state

CONFIRMED DEATHS: 11,095 | 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: 684,763 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

U.S. nears 400K COVID deaths only hours before Biden takes office

By Tim Darnell

The U.S. is approaching 400,000 coronavirus deaths only hours before President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office. According to Tuesday morning’s latest numbers from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. has recorded more than 399,000 deaths since the pandemic began, far outpacing the rest of the world. Brazil is second in coronavirus deaths. India is second in overall cases to the U.S.’ 24 million confirmed cases. Globally, more than 95 million coronavirus cases have been reported, and last week, the worldwide death toll surpassed 2 million.

WSB-TV

State using 25-year-old system to handle COVID-19 vaccine tracking, investigation finds

By: Justin Gray

The state of Georgia is relying on a decades-old computer system, to handle tracking of the COVID-19 vaccine. And it’s finding it not up to the task. State officials say data glitches and lags are part of the reason the CDC ranks the state at the bottom for distributing the vaccine. That critical data lag is due in large part to the 25-year-old computer system the state is using to track vaccine distribution called GRITS.

Higher Education News:

The Chronicle of Higher Education

How to Survive the Enrollment Bust

Colleges face looming demographic challenges. The pandemic offers clues for overcoming them.

By Nathan D. Grawe

As Covid-19 vaccines slowly trickle out, and with them the promise of a return to normal, higher education is taking stock of what just happened. Before the pandemic struck, colleges were already dreading a “great enrollment crash.” Then came the pandemic, breaking short-term projections and yield models. If only the past year looked more like 2013! The pandemic-induced 13-percent decline in first-time undergraduate enrollments, seen in the fall of 2020, lies outside any projection model. What can we take away from all this? …The pandemic experience also gave many of us a deeper understanding of our students. As online office hours opened virtual windows into students’ homes, faculty members saw firsthand the myriad hurdles that impede progress toward a degree. Seeing our students crammed into corners of shared bedrooms or struggling with resource deficits such as slow Wi-Fi, we were reminded that determinants of success extend deep into students’ lives. These experiences should draw us into renewed commitments to holistic approaches to retention.

Inside Higher Ed

Caltech Removes Names of 6 Eugenics Supporters From Buildings

By Scott Jaschik

The California Institute of Technology on Friday announced that it has removed the names of six proponents of eugenics from buildings and other honors. The action follows petitions from alumni and a study by a university committee. The names include that of Robert A. Millikan, Caltech’s first president and first Nobel laureate.

GHC Inform

GHC EMAIL DIGEST (FACULTY & STAFF)

USG e-clips for January 19, 2021