University System News:
Albany Herald
Georgia Tech named tops in value among state universities
By Dave Williams, Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia Tech provides the best value among the Peach State’s public and private universities, according to a new study by a New York-based financial technology company.
WGAU Radio
UGA pilot program to focus on diversity
Work to be done virtually
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia says a pilot program launching this month will further the University’s efforts at diversity. Based on recommendations issued by the Taskforce on Race, Ethnicity, and Community, a committee established last year by UGA President Jere Morehead UGA is implementing Reflective Structured Dialogue training, beginning this year with two groups of faculty and staff.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ex-Georgia Regent Dean Alford ordered to pay $10.8 million in fraud case
By Eric Stirgus
Former state lawmaker and Georgia Board of Regents member Dean Alford has been ordered to pay nearly $10.8 million after about 100 investors say he ran a Ponzi scheme that defrauded them. Alford resolved the matter through a negotiated settlement, one of his attorneys, Walter Jospin, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Thrash signed the order last week.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2 accused of attempted cover-up in UGA student’s hit-and-run death
By Henri Hollis
Suspect’s mother, stepfather also facing charges of tampering, arson
After arresting a driver accused in a hit-and-run crash that killed a University of Georgia student, Athens-Clarke County police have now charged the woman’s mother and stepfather with trying to cover it up. Sophia Harris Steward, 57, and Roderick Dejuan Marble, 47, both of Athens, were arrested and each charged with felony tampering with evidence and second-degree arson, police announced Thursday. Steward was also charged with false report of a crime. The couple are accused of attempting to hide the actions of their daughter, 28-year-old Vikerria Steward, who was previously arrested in the hit-and-run death of UGA student Knox Whiten on March 21, the announcement said.
Albany Herald
Homeowners’ lawns could help save bees, according to UGA researchers
By Maggie Narvil CAES News
Over the past few decades, pollinators have been in decline worldwide, which is concerning because 70% of crops used for human food depend on pollinators. Turfgrasses — used for most residential lawns — often take some of the blame for pollinator decline as they are known to be wind-pollinated and were thought not to serve as a pollinator food source, until now. University of Georgia and U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers identified bees that were collecting pollen from the flowers of a turfgrass called centipedegrass. The researchers have been looking for ways to reverse the decline of pollinator populations by examining centipedegrass as a food source for pollinators, with hopes of normalizing low-maintenance, bee-friendly lawns. Their findings have been published in the Journal of Entomological Science and Insects.
WTOC11
Savannah State needs volunteers to bag oyster shells for research reef
By Kyle Jordan
Oysters are a vital part of the aquatic ecosystem, from providing habitat for marine life to filtering pollutants from water. The Savannah State University Marine Science Research Center is launching a project to create oyster reefs off Skidaway Island and needs your help. A giant pile of oyster shells outside the Marine Science Research Center on Livingston Ave. is being bagged to be used to create a reef off Skidaway Island.
Albany CEO
Georgia Southwestern Employees and Students Receive First Vaccine Doses at Campus Clinics
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) hosted its first two COVID-19 vaccine clinics in late March, vaccinating 300 members of the campus community, and plans to hold another clinic this week. Staff from the Student Health Center coordinated each clinic, with faculty and students from the School of Nursing also volunteering to help administer the vaccines. “This is how we return to normal,” stated GSW President Neal Weaver, Ph.D. “This is the next step in creating a safe campus environment. We hope faculty, staff and students will take advantage of this opportunity and participate in receiving their vaccine.”
Gwinnett Daily Post
Carl Vinson VA Medical Center to administer 25,000th vaccine
From staff reports
Officials with the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center here have announced that Dublin VA will provide its 25,000th COVID-19 vaccination this weekend. “Providing 25,000 vaccinations is a phenomenal milestone we need to celebrate due to the outstanding teamwork of our staff,” VA center director David. L. Whitmer said in a news release. “Now that President Biden signed the SAVE LIVES Act into law, we began vaccinating all veterans, their spouses, and caregivers over age 18 immediately, which helps improve the safety for families and their communities from COVID-19.” CVVAMC started its COVID-19 vaccination clinic in late December, first providing vaccines to veterans in the Community Living Center and the staff who care for them. As vaccine quantities became more available, new clinics opened in the population center of the center’s 49-county catchment along the I-75 corridor.
Gwinnett Daily Post
WATCH: UGA holds COVID-19 vaccine panel discussion
UGA News Service
Four University of Georgia experts answered some of the most frequently asked questions about COVID-19 vaccines in a recent virtual panel discussion held on campus. Moderated by Dr. Shelley Nuss, dean of the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, the panelists discussed a variety of topics related to vaccine safety and efficacy. And they shared their thoughts on why it is so important for everyone who is eligible and medically able to get vaccinated as part of the worldwide effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated April 8)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 16,886 | Deaths have been confirmed in every county. 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: 859,388 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
J&J vaccine deliveries reportedly to drop significantly next week
By Rich Barak, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Deliveries of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine doses are expected to drop by more than 80% next week, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing state officials and federal data. About 700,000 doses of J&J’s vaccine have been allocated to states, territories and certain cities and federal agencies next week, according to the Journal. About 4.9 million doses were allocated for this week, according to information posted online by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Higher Education News:
Business Report
‘Business Report’ Publisher: Google will disrupt higher education
By Daily Report Staff
Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister used to joke that if Google ever started giving diplomas, colleges were in trouble. But now with Google parent company Alphabet’s latest announcements, it’s really happening. A March 11 report from Inc. features an interview with Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who details Google’s plans to launch a series of certificate programs aimed at helping people bridge skills gaps and get jobs in high-growth fields without a college degree. As McCollister writes in his new opinion piece, the article goes on to say that most enrollees will finish in six months or less, and pay less than $300 for their certification. That is tough competition for colleges when tuition continues to rise and college debt is at an all-time high, McCollister writes.
Albany Herald
A growing number of US colleges and universities are requiring students to get Covid-19 vaccinations
By Elizabeth Stuart, CNN
As colleges and universities nationwide make plans to welcome back students in the fall, a growing number have announced they will require all students to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before returning to campus. A freshman is shown getting vaccinated at Stony Brook University.
Newsday LLC
As colleges and universities nationwide make plans to welcome back students in the fall, a growing number have announced they will require all students to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before returning to campus. So far, at least 14 colleges have said vaccinations will be required, according to a CNN tally — and that number is expected to grow. Universities have been implementing vaccination policies since late March, when Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, became one of the first to say that having all students vaccinated will allow for an “expedited return to pre-pandemic normal,” making more in-person classes possible, as well as more on-campus events that will be allowed.
Inside Higher Ed
Just 49% of Colleges Testing Asymptomatic Students
By Elizabeth Redden
Slightly less than half (49 percent) of public and private, nonprofit four-year colleges provided some type of COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic students this spring, according to new data from Davidson College’s College Crisis Initiative published Thursday in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. A total of 899 of 1,849 total institutions required some testing of asymptomatic students as of March 17, when the data were collected. Among the 1,098 institutions that primarily conducted classes in an in-person or hybrid format this spring, 548 — again, just under half — provided some level of asymptomatic testing.