University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kennesaw State breaks ground on $37 million student dorm
By Kristal Dixon
Kennesaw State University is moving ahead with its plan to provide more housing for its growing student population. The university has broken ground on a $37 million residence hall on its Kennesaw campus. KSU hopes construction on the 109,000-square-foot building will be done in time to open for the fall semester of 2022. The new dorm will have 508 beds and will be located on the southside of the campus next to the Austin Residence Complex. Students will have their choice of two- or four-bedroom suites, and access to study spaces, lounge areas and a grab-and-go market.
WRDW
Augusta mayor, AU president make list of influential Georgians
By Staff
Georgia Trend’s list of the “100 most influential Georgians” is out. On it are Augusta’s own Mayor Hardie Davis and Augusta University President Brooks Keel. Each year, the magazine recognizes individuals who demonstrate leadership, power and influence in the state. In a statement, Keel said he’s honored to receive the recognition during such an unprecedented year in health care and academics.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OPINION: Open door to higher education for immigrants
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Bill introduced by Republican legislator would restore in-state tuition for young immigrants
State Rep. Kasey Carpenter reintroduced legislation this session that would allow young immigrants who have been granted a reprieve from deportation to pay in-state tuition at Georgia colleges and universities. The Dalton Republican introduced a similar bill last year, but House Bill 997 stalled in the House Higher Education Committee. He is hoping for better luck with his new bill, House Bill 120, the Georgia Resident In-State Tuition Act. In a guest column, Munir Meghjani, a civic entrepreneur and a community activist, and Sofia Bork, a second-generation Latina civic leader and advocate, explain why HB 120 is important. Bork received a 2020 Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 50 Most Influential Latino Leaders award, while Meghjani was a recipient of 40 Under 40 awards from Emory and from the Islamic Speakers Bureau.
By Sofia Bork and Munir Meghjani
Southeast AG NET
Georgia Bermuda Grown for Super Bowl LV
The grass that will be used as the playing field for Super Bowl LV in Florida was actually grown in Georgia. Turfgrass varieties such as the game’s Bermuda are developed by the University of Georgia and have been used for many events including the World Cup and Super Bowl.
Tifton CEO
ABAC, Murray State Partner for Graduate Program in Agriculture
A new agreement between the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College School of Agriculture and Natural Resources (SANR) and Murray State University’s Hutson School of Agriculture (HSOA) will afford ABAC graduates the opportunity to further their education in a graduate level program. SANR graduates from ABAC who meet the given criteria will be accepted for admission to MSU’s Master of Science in Agriculture online degree program. If students wish to seek admission for the face-to-face option, they will be given full consideration. ABAC’s SANR graduates have the potential to secure nine hours of graduate credit through the new Accelerated Stallion-Racer Agreement.
The Gainesville Times
This UNG student developed an app to help Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s water protection efforts
Kelsey Podo
Assessing and improving the quality of Hall County’s water resource, the Chattahoochee River, just became a little easier thanks to an app developed by a University of North Georgia student. Catlin “Cat” Corrales created an app that can be used by Chattahoochee Riverkeeper to plot sites for its Neighborhood Water Watch program and classify the location’s safety.
Morning AgClips
UGA CAES reports results from survey on COVID-19 impact on ag
A survey by the UGA Center for Agribusiness & Economic Development revealed farmers’ concerns about the health impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, UGA researchers revealed during the annual Ag Forecast, held virtually on Jan. 29. Dr. Sharon Kane, a senior public service associate with the CAES Center for Agribusiness & Economic Development, encouraged Georgia farmers to participate in the Year-End COVID-19 Impact Study she is conducting. The participation deadline has been extended to Feb. 15. It initially ran from Dec. to Jan. 15. …Current survey responses show that most farmers who responded to the survey estimate about 20% of their losses [due to COVID] have been or will be covered by relief programs. The Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) was the top relief program reported in both the May and initial year-end surveys. A number of respondents said that they were not participating in any program. “The more information we can gather, the more we feel we can understand what’s going on [regarding COVID’s impact on agriculture],” Kane added.
The Augusta Chronicle
NASA grant aids AU professor’s research on bone loss, potential repair
Tom Corwin
As the NASA Rover Perseverance approaches Mars for a touchdown later this month, Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence of Augusta University is studying ways to make the same flight easier for humans one day. But her research might also apply to aging and perhaps even make exercise more productive. McGee-Lawrence has a $750,000 grant from NASA to study a basic problem that would plague astronauts during such a long mission: the lack of gravity would lead to bone loss.
Fox 26 News
Lawmakers call for action to save Monarch butterfly population
by FOX26 News Staff
Lawmakers are now calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife department to dedicate resources to help save monarch butterflies. The butterflies are an annual draw for many to the Central Coast, as Pismo State Beach is home to a monarch butterfly grove. …Andy Davis, a research scientist at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, found the largest cause of monarch deaths is roadways. According to a study he authored for the journal Biological Letters, 25 million butterflies due each year, often run over or caught in windshields.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp says Atlanta’s teachers can’t move up the vaccine line
By Vanessa McCray
Gov. Brian Kemp denied a request from the Atlanta Board of Education to move teachers higher up in the line for vaccines, saying the state doesn’t have enough supply and that schools are safe to reopen. On Monday, the school board unanimously approved a resolution urging the state to begin vaccinating teachers. Teachers are currently scheduled to receive vaccines as part of the state’s second wave, and may not get vaccinated until April at the earliest, the district said. Currently, health care workers, nursing home residents and staff, law enforcement and people age 65 and older are eligible for vaccines. Kemp said the state doesn’t have enough of the vaccine to expand the program.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new weapon against COVID-19 barks and works for kibble
By Adrianne Murchison
A business that trains service dogs to help people with medical needs is now teaching them to detect the coronavirus inside senior living communities. Canine Assistants in Milton taught Marshall, a two-year-old Golden Retriever mix, to spot the disease by sniffing body scent. The facility is training four more dogs that will soon join him in coronavirus detection work. The dogs don’t actually smell the virus itself, but the scent generated by humans as their bodies try to fight it off. The dogs demonstrate their ability to recognize it when presented with a swab taken from a person with the virus.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Feb. 4)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 13,048 | 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: 763,077 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
College Board Details AP Testing This Year
By Scott Jaschik
The College Board has announced plans for Advanced Placement testing this year. Between early May and mid-June, each exam will be given three times. The first test will be in school, with paper and pencil. The second and third exams will feature “many subjects’ exams” on computers.
Inside Higher Ed
A Spike in Cheating Since the Move to Remote?
New research finds jump in number of questions submitted to “homework help” website Chegg after start of pandemic, an increase the authors say is very likely linked to rise in cheating.
By Elizabeth Redden
The number of questions asked and answered on the “homework help” website Chegg has skyrocketed since classes migrated online due to the pandemic, an increase that authors of a new study published in the International Journal for Educational Integrity link to a likely increase in cheating. Chegg, which has an honor code prohibiting cheating and which promotes itself as a site where students can get help on their homework, allows users to post a question to the site and receive an answer from a Chegg-identified expert “in as little as 30 minutes.” (The site’s posted average response time is 46 minutes.) The authors of the new study found that the number of questions posted on the site in five different science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines increased by 196.25 percent in April to August of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
Inside Higher Ed
The pandemic could spell fewer snow days as colleges use their recent remote learning experience to keep classes going online, even when winter weather hits.
By Lindsay McKenzie
In the fall, Assumption University in Worcester, Mass., reviewed its inclement weather policy and decided it would no longer cancel classes during heavy snow. Instead, all classes would be held remotely. The nor’easter that hit Worcester and the Northeast this week gave Assumption the opportunity to test out its new policy. The university moved to remote-only classes beginning at 1 p.m. Monday through the end of Tuesday. In previous years, before the pandemic, Tuesday would have been a traditional snow day with no classes for any students. This year, class schedules weren’t disrupted. In many cases, a COVID-19-induced pivot to online learning last spring paved the way for colleges and universities large and small to eliminate or curtail snow days.
yahoo!finance
KnowBe4 to Offer $10,000 Scholarship for Black Americans in Cybersecurity
KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, today announced it has partnered with the Center for Cyber Safety and Education to launch the KnowBe4 Scholarship for Black Americans. The recipient of this award will receive a $10,000 scholarship on behalf of KnowBe4 as well as an (ISC)2 certification education package. This is a one-time award and students may reapply each year in the future to be considered for another scholarship. Applicants will be scored in three categories: passion, merit and financial need. “This year, we’re excited to continue our efforts to create a more diverse cybersecurity workforce with the 2021 Black Americans in Cybersecurity Scholarship,” said Erika Lance, SVP people operations, KnowBe4. “Recognized in February, Black History Month is the perfect time to kick off the call for a new pool of scholarship applicants. We look forward to our partnership with the Center for Cyber Safety and Education as well as getting to know all of the amazing scholarship candidates.”
Inside Higher Ed
Return to In-Person Instruction Influenced by Politics
State sociopolitical factors strongly influenced four-year public colleges in their reopening decisions, new working paper finds. County sociopolitical factors played into decision making at private four-year colleges and two-year public colleges.
By Emma Whitford
In fall reopening announcements, colleges and universities emphasized student and employee safety as important in their decision making. But a new working paper finds state and county sociopolitical features had a stronger influence on whether colleges held in-person instruction than did the severity of the pandemic. Among several factors considered, county sociopolitical features had the strongest influence on colleges’ decisions to reopen with in-person instruction this fall, followed by pandemic severity and state sociopolitical features, according to the working paper. Public four-year colleges were most strongly influenced by state socioeconomic features, and private colleges more seriously considered pandemic severity in their decision making than public institutions.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s technical colleges grapple with pandemic, enrollment drop
By Eric Stirgus
…Georgia’s 22 technical colleges — the schools state officials rely on to provide training for working adults and younger students pursuing careers in high-demand industries like nursing, trucking and film production — are looking for new ways to adapt to the needs of students. Its fall total credit enrollment dropped by 8.5%, to 94,556 students compared to last fall, system officials recently told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Dual enrollment — which allows high school students to take state-funded college courses — declined by 19%, their numbers show. Nearly one-quarter of its students are dual-enrolled. The enrollment decline reflects national statistics showing significant drops in the number of students in community colleges. Georgia officials attribute the fall decline largely to the difficulty school districts are having with in-person learning and their ability to conduct dual enrollment. Many education experts say the decline nationwide is a sign these types of colleges are in trouble. The pandemic has created unique challenges for the technical colleges.