University System News:
Athens CEO
UGA Plays Pivotal Role in Food Safety
Jennifer Reynolds
World Food Safety Day is celebrated annually on June 7. Established in 2018 through a U.N. General Assembly resolution, the day seeks to bring awareness to foodborne risks and “to celebrate the myriad benefits of safe food,” according to the U.N. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually in the U.S. That means that roughly 1 in 6 Americans will contract a foodborne illness this year, and these illnesses are spread through common foods such as produce, meat, fish, dairy and poultry.
Savannah CEO
Jenkins High Team Earns Top Honors in Georgia Southern’s Engineering Design Challenge
Georgia Southern’s Engineering Design Challenge (EDC), a program sponsored by NASA’s Georgia Space Grant Consortium and Gulfstream Aerospace, ended last month. In its seventh year, the annual program took place over several weeks and offered area high school students the opportunity to learn from their STEM teachers, Georgia Southern engineering students, and practicing engineers who mentored the student teams through the planning of their project using fundamental mathematics, physics, and design engineering. The 2021 theme was Eagle-ROAR2 (Remotely Operated Aerial Recovery), and teams were required to design a 3D printed tool that could attach to a flying drone and simulate that excavation and delivering of lunar soil.
WSAV
Alzheimer’s and Brain awareness month underway
by: Chase Justice
Over six million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. With June being Alzheimer’s and Brain awareness month, medical professionals want those at home to continue to monitor the health of your brain and memory. Alzheimer’s is one of the many types of Dementia, a brain disorder that causes the brain to create gaps, initially effecting the short-term memory. “It can have several stages,” said Dr. Adrienne Cohen, Associate Professor at Georgia Southern. “It can effect your memory, it can effect your mood, it can effect the way you interact with other people. It’s a slow progression, initially people might just be confused or can’t remember things and sadly that happens to all of us.” …Both Patel and Cohen recommend to not continuously correct a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Instead, bring yourself to their level and try to understand and comfort them.
Inside Higher Ed
Georgia Chancellor Search Slowed by Confusion, Friction
By Emma Whitford
As the University System of Georgia Board of Regents reboots its search for a new chancellor, confusion and friction among board members have plagued the process, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The board paused its search in late April after members disagreed on the candidacy of former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue. The first search firm retained by the board quit amid the Perdue controversy, and the board later hired WittKieffer to conduct the search. “Several Regents seemed to be concerned that we had not clearly articulated a job description for the Chancellor, or the Board’s expectations for a new Chancellor, and that this has led to confusion during the search process,” Regent Don Waters wrote in an April email to board members. Waters suggested former chancellor Stephen Portch serve as an adviser to the search.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated June 7)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 18,190 | 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: 897,864 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Come Back, Face-to-Face Faculty Meetings: All Is Forgiven!
A year of remote interactions has forced two professors to admit they actually miss in-person faculty meetings.
By Dana S. Dunn and Jane S. Halonen
Before the pandemic, we used to laugh at the old saw that academic politics were so petty, and occasionally vicious, because comparatively little was at stake. Now we are not so sure. During the past year, some aspects of faculty life have been lost that — despite their admittedly comedic potential — are actually important. One of those things: the oft-maligned, face-to-face faculty meeting.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
‘Everybody Is Floundering’: Colleges Scramble to Adapt to a World Where Their Athletes Can Cash In
By Eric Kelderman
In less than a month, new laws in seven states will effectively pierce the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s ban on paying student-athletes — one of the starkest shifts in big-time college sports in a century. Starting in July, colleges in those states will be barred from prohibiting their athletes from earning money based on their affiliation with sports. The new laws, which fly in the face of the NCAA’s longtime ban on compensation for athletes outside scholarships, is meant to allow the players to profit in a system where colleges, coaches, and corporations have been cashing in for decades. The change will permit college athletes to have professional agents and get paid for things like endorsing products on social-media posts, signing autographs, having their likeness used in video games, and starting a new company or even a nonprofit organization. But the shift to allow students to monetize their names, images, or likenesses (or NIL) has not come easily and will likely not proceed without some uncertainty and confusion.
Inside Higher Ed
Historically Black colleges and universities are forgiving students’ debts with the hopes of alleviating some of the financial strains of the pandemic and possibly providing them more financial freedom in the future.
By Sara Weissman
Historically Black colleges and universities across the country are making efforts to lighten the debt loads of their recent graduates after a tumultuous and financially difficult academic year. To the surprise of many graduating seniors, some HBCUs announced that they would clear part or all of the balances owed in tuition, fees and fines. These moves came as a relief to the mostly Black students who attend HBCUs, who on average bear significantly heavier student loan debt burdens than their white classmates and whose communities suffered from high rates of infection and financial loss during the pandemic. HBCU leaders are hoping the debt forgiveness will reduce financial strain on their students, many of whom are very likely to still have federal and personal student loans to pay back after graduation.
Inside Higher Ed
Thoughts From the Public on Title IX
On the first of five days of comment hearings, speakers advocated for and against changes to the Title IX regulations made by former secretary of education Betsy DeVos.
By Alexis Gravely
The Department of Education began five days of public hearings Monday, during which it expects to hear from 600 individuals about how it can improve Title IX enforcement, following a directive from President Biden to re-examine the controversial regulations put in place by the Trump administration. As of last Friday, over 700 people had registered to comment for 600 confirmed slots in virtual hearings, during which the department will not respond to what is said. The department had also received 15,000 written comments, which will continue to be accepted throughout the duration of the hearings. Commenters covered a range of issues related to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 — from the need for Title IX to address sexual violence prevention to the debate over transgender athletes competing on sports teams — on the first day, with both supporters and opposers of the regulations released last May under former secretary Betsy DeVos represented among the speakers.