University System News:
Statesboro Herald
East Georgia State College to hold virtual spring commencement May 7
Special to the Herald
After much consideration and out of respect for everyone’s health, East Georgia State College is hosting its spring commencement ceremony virtually. The ceremony will be presented May 7 at 6 p.m. on EGSC’s YouTube and Facebook page.
The Red & Black
UGA spring 2021 commencement to allow unlimited guests
Shelby Israel | Campus News Editor
On Friday, the University of Georgia updated its commencement website to announce spring undergraduates will be able to sit on Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium and invite an unlimited number of guests to the stands. According to the announcement, the decision follows changing public health guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Public Health and an updated executive order from the Office of the Governor. Eligible spring 2021 graduates will receive a ticket to sit on the field, and while there is no limit on guests allowed, all levels of the stadium will be open to “promote social distancing,” according to the announcement. The announcement also states that masks are encouraged.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Working mom earns a college degree with a little help from friends
By Ty Tagami
Generosity of Uber passenger at crucial stage put her and donor in spotlight
Students across the globe are nearing the end of a school year complicated by a global pandemic, but one mother in college didn’t let that hardship get in her way. Latonya Young will graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University this month, despite COVID-19 and other obstacles that might have stopped other students. Young, 44, was twice hospitalized for various conditions as the world reeled from the pandemic, and she totaled her car when a deer jumped in front of it. And her landlord raised her rent. She considered taking a break from school but felt she couldn’t with the world watching: Her story had gone viral before the pandemic started last year after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an article about her fortuitous encounter with Kevin Esch.
The Telegraph
Could the government or employers require the COVID vaccine? Georgia experts say yes
By Justin Baxley
More than 100 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and several states, including Georgia, are relaxing restrictions issued during the height of the pandemic to reduce virus transmission. About a quarter of Georgians have received the vaccine, but demand seems to be diminishing and the state is preparing to close its eight mass vaccination sites. While Gov. Brian Kemp has been vocal in his opposition to any vaccine requirements for state employees, Georgia health experts say private companies could require employees to show proof of vaccination before returning to the workplace. …Harry Heiman, a professor in the department of health policy and behavioral sciences at Georgia State, said “vaccine passport” refers to the underlying idea of restricting access to certain activities based on whether someone has been vaccinated. …Over the next few months, more private companies, government organizations and universities could require some sort of vaccination proof. But are they legally allowed to do so? Heiman said a precedent for the federal government requiring proof of vaccination stems from “Jacobson v. Massachusetts,” a 1905 Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to require residents to be vaccinated against smallpox or pay a fine.
The Brunswick News
College launches Black Scholars program
By Lauren McDonald
College of Coastal Georgia launched a new program this year to honor the area’s highest achieving Black students annually. CCGA recently hosted its inaugural Black Scholars Program, during which the college honored 76 students from 18 high school in the 12-county region.
InsiderAdvantage
Interim University Heads Named & the Chancellor Pause
by Cindy Morley
As the University System of Georgia searches for several new presidents for universities and colleges, it has just picked two. Dr. Kathy “Kat” Schwaig, chief academic officer and provost, has been named interim president of Kennesaw State University. Dr. Dana Nichols, chief academic officer and provost, will serve as interim president of Georgia Highlands College. Both appointments were made by the System’s Chancellor Steve Wrigley, who is retiring on July 1.
Patch
Assistant Professor Of Spanish Elected As GAWHE President, N. Georgia
by J.K. Devine
In March 2015, Dr. Rosaria Meek was introduced to the Georgia Association for Women in Higher Education (GAWHE) and joined. Six years later, Meek has been elected as its president for the 2021-22 academic year. Meek, assistant professor of Spanish at the University of North Georgia (UNG), has served as a vice president for the past two years. She said the request to serve, though, came as a surprise.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5 Georgia online nursing programs on Princeton Review’s list of best in U.S.
By Nancy Clanton
For nurses wanting to continue their education, an online master’s program might be the best option. Although these programs have become as rigorous as their on-campus counterparts, they offer flexibility, affordability, access to innovative technologies, students from a diversity of career backgrounds and global opportunities, according to the Princeton Review. The Princeton Review recently announced its list of the best online nursing school master’s programs, and Georgia has five on the list. The list is alphabetical, so there isn’t a numerical ranking. Clayton State University …Georgia College & State University …Kennesaw State University …University of North Georgia …University of West Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mental health a challenge for Georgia college students, providers
By Eric Stirgus, Savannah Sicurella
As a DJ played music outside Clayton State University’s student center on a recent Friday, assistant nursing professor Tamara Thompson-Jackson stood at a table talking to students about their mental health. One frequently asked question by students who stopped at the booth, part of a university health fair, was what are the signs and symptoms of depression? They also wanted to know about services available to them. Thompson-Jackson asked students what were they doing for their self-care. A few, unfamiliar with the term, couldn’t answer.
The Red & Black
UGA slavery symposium unites historians, performers for racial justice discussion
Janelle Ward | Race Reporter
The University of Georgia hosted its first Symposium on Recognition, Reconciliation and Redress on Friday and Saturday, a series of presentations and performances dedicated to discussing the historical and contemporary impacts of slavery on the university and the city of Athens. The event brought together more than 50 speakers and participants from all over the country, particularly the Athens area. This year’s symposium was organized by its eight-member planning committee, many of whom are educators and researchers connected to the university.
Patch
Presidential Award, Grant Help Expand Oconee Campus Garden As Teaching Tool
by Clark Leonard
What started as a garden to provide fresh produce for the University of North Georgia (UNG) Food Pantry on the Oconee Campus continues to add new features, even as it retains its original mission, as the Adcox-Brantley Pollinator Research Garden. The space now serves as a pollinator garden and outdoor lab with Susan Brantley2, senior lecturer of biology, and Dr. Gary Adcox3, director of campus success and strategic initiatives, leading the way. …The garden is also now a certified Monarch Garden through the North American Butterfly Association. A UNG Presidential Incentive Award for Innovation6 earned this spring will aid Brantley and Adcox in developing the garden as a teaching tool. UNG President Bonita Jacobs funded 27 research-related projects this academic year with a total of $192,000. Adcox and Brantley envision using the garden to teach courses in biology, social sciences and mathematics.
The Gainesville Times
How UNG Ranger Challenge team fared at Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at West Point
Kelsey Podo
Standing among 43 other teams before the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition, Hayley Farmer, University of North Georgia junior, said she could sense the anticipation in the air. Cadets Michael Laun, Hayley Farmer and Shane Henderson were part of UNG’s Ranger Challenge team that won the ROTC title and finished fourth out of 44 teams overall at the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition.
Albany Herald
10 ways UGA is helping honeybees
By Sara Freeland For CAES News
University of Georgia faculty and students are working to better understand pollinators and the threats they face. Pollinating bees are vital to healthy crops and a thriving ecosystem but are under threat of extinction from disease, pollution and other factors. Here are 10 ways UGA is working to help pollinators.
The Red & Black
UGA academics fight climate change through Drawdown Georgia
Ben Lacina | Contributor
Academics at UGA have joined the fight against climate change and are finding ways to solve climate problems in their own backyard. Drawdown Georgia is an organization dedicated to combating climate change and significantly reducing Georgia’s carbon footprint by the year 2030 based on solutions tailored to Georgia’s unique social, economic and natural resources. Founded by the Ray C. Anderson Foundation in 2019, Drawdown Georgia combines the efforts of academics statewide, including UGA’s Marshall Shepherd, Jacqueline Mohan, Puneet Dwivedi, Sudhagar Mani and Jeff Mullin.
Forbes
The Risk Of Covid-19 Is Greater Than Blood Clots From The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
John Drake, Contributor
Science, I’m a professor at the University of Georgia.
Last week, the CDC and FDA recommended Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 to be again used, ending a ten-day pause to investigate its association with potentially lethal blood clots. Two reports released today contain more information. First, an article in JAMA Network reports on the initial twelve cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), a rare kind of blood clot that can occur in the brain. Three of the patients died. A second report in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) contains more information about other adverse events associated with the vaccine. Data about adverse events were collected through two systems: the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) and a new, active-surveillance system called v-safe. The ten-day pause allowed the CDC to review the data collected by these systems. No deaths were associated with the v-safe data. The VAERS data contained reports of 88 deaths among 7.98 million administered doses. As far as we can tell, the large majority of the 88 deaths have nothing to do with the vaccine.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Students chose a college. Now, how do they pay for it?
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Lack of financial aid undercuts college dreams for Georgia’s low-income high school graduates
As founder and executive director of the nonprofit Scholarship Academy, Jessica Johnson helps low-income families create four-year college funding strategies. Johnson, who serves on the Georgia GEAR UP Leadership Team and the Atlanta Public School’s Equity Taskforce, began her organization to make the financial aid process less intimidating and help families understand the costs of college and how to access scholarship information. A Howard University graduate, Johnson herself was a recipient of more than $200,000 in scholarships. By Jessica Johnson, Decision Day this year feels…uncertain for many families. As many college hopefuls eagerly accept the admissions to their top school choices, for some, the “decision” is far from the final say. …Before the pandemic, the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute reported only 30% of low-income students in University System of Georgia institutions received the HOPE or Zell Miller scholarships. Local and statewide initiatives such as REACH Georgia, the state’s first need-based mentorship and college scholarship program, and the Achieve Atlanta Scholarship, a four-year need-based scholarship for Atlanta Public School students, are making great strides in tackling financial aid barriers for low-income students.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp expected to back paid parental leave for state employees
By Tamar Hallerman
After two years of legislative wrangling, Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday is expected to sign a bill that would give a quarter-million state employees paid parental leave benefits for the first time. House Bill 146 grants three weeks of paid time off to workers following the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child. The legislation, which passed the General Assembly in March with minimal dissent, is a milestone for Georgia, which has long ranked among the bottom of states in terms of providing family benefits. Until four years ago, many Georgia workers couldn’t use earned sick leave to care for an immediate family member. “I think it’s an important step that’s going to help a lot of young families across our state,” said state Rep. Houston Gaines, the Athens Republican who sponsored the parental leave bill. His district includes portions of the University of Georgia, home to many professors and state employees who’d benefit from the measure. But critics say the bill does not go far enough, especially after the pandemic illuminated discrepancies in the country’s child care system.
accessWDUN
State mass vaccination sites begin giving doses of J&J vaccine today
By AccessWDUN Staff
Starting today, all eight mass vaccination sites operated by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) will allow drive-ups with no appointment necessary for the COVID-19 Johnson and Johnson vaccine. The sites will administer the single-dose J&J vaccine – as available – to those who haven’t received the first dose of a different vaccine. Pfizer second doses will be available at the sites by appointment. GEMA ceased distribution of first doses of Pfizer on Friday, April 30.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated May 2)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 17,578 | 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: 881,498 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Shifting Focus From Access to Completion
President Biden’s proposal to invest $62 billion in student success represents a shift in federal higher education policy.
By Alexis Gravely
Details surrounding President Biden’s proposed investment of $62 billion to support student completion and retention in higher education are scarce, but experts say there’s potential for the program to be the most transformative of the administration’s postsecondary proposals. The grant program would offer funding to colleges and universities that serve high numbers of low-income students, particularly community colleges, to adopt success solutions that help students stay enrolled and earn a degree. “This, to me, seems like the most revolutionary and has the most potential to really address equity gaps and get resources to schools and students that need them the most and that haven’t gotten them historically,” said Amy Laitinen, director for higher education at New America.
Inside Higher Ed
Education Department Launches Reopening Resource Site
By Alexis Gravely
Higher education institutions can now look to a website created by the Department of Education to find resources on how to safely reopen their campuses. The Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse officially launched Friday to “collect and disseminate innovative, evidence-based, or solutions-oriented approaches to school reopening,” according to a release. The website covers all education levels, from early childhood to postsecondary.
Inside Higher Ed
Letter to Education Department on Student Loan Worth
By Alexis Gravely
The ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee is asking the Education Department to release a report that allegedly describes a gap of hundreds of billions of dollars between what the executive branch has said student loans are worth and what they’re actually worth.
The Wall Street Journal
Decision Day 2021: How Teens Are Sharing College Acceptances (and Rejections) After a Rough Year
College-decision posts surge on social media, but many teens post rejection videos to show the reality of college admissions
By Julie Jargon
As long as there’s been social media, there have been people sharing their accomplishments, to the delight or displeasure of their friends. But lately, perhaps no category of social-media brag has become more divisive than the college-acceptance post. Many people cheer such posts, arguing that after four years of hard work, high-school seniors and their parents should shout the news from the rooftops. But many others loathe them, saying the not-so-humble brags add to the pressure around college admissions and inevitably leave others feeling bad. After the unusual year students have had, many members of the last two high-school graduating classes have grown more reflective on how to share their news
GPB
Former Education Secretary On Biden’s Plan To Make College More Affordable
By: GPB Newsroom
NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings about President Biden’s plan for tuition-free community college.
Transcript
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Biden laid out an ambitious and expensive plan this past week that included a proposal to provide money for two years of free community college for anyone who wants it. He says this is part of his push to make America’s education system more competitive.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Research shows when a young child goes to school, not day care, they’re far more likely to graduate from high school and go to college or something after high school. When you add two years of free community college on top of that, you begin to change the dynamic.
MARTIN: The proposal, known as the American Families Plan, will also provide increased Pell Grants – that’s financial assistance for college students with lower incomes – and two years of assistance for students at historically Black colleges and universities. As you might imagine, many education leaders praised the president for a historic commitment to higher education in general and community colleges in particular, where enrollments last fall declined 10%. That’s according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. But others have doubts about whether this is the best approach, saying that community college is already affordable.
Inside Higher Ed
U.S. Restricts Travel From India; Students Eligible for Exemptions
By Elizabeth Redden
President Biden added India to the list of countries affected by coronavirus-related travel restrictions, but students and certain academics participating in exchange programs will be eligible for exemptions. “Students subject to these geographic COVID proclamations due to their presence in India, China, Iran, Brazil, or South Africa, may qualify for a National Interest Exception only if their academic program begins August 1, 2021 or later,” the State Department says on its website.