University System News
Capitol Beat News Service
University System of Georgia sets record for degrees awarded despite COVID-19
By Dave Williams
The University System of Georgia (USG) awarded a record 72,929 degrees during the last fiscal year despite the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. That’s 2,050 degrees more than the system awarded in fiscal 2020, representing a 3% increase.
Story also appeared in The Atlanta Journal Constitution and All on Georgia.
Albany CEO
Record-breaking enrollment growth continues at GSW with state’s highest growth in summer semester
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) made significant gains in enrollment for Summer 2021, recording the highest growth by percentage in the University System of Georgia (USG) with a notable 10.3 percent increase. GSW’s enrollment was up by nearly 200 students over the previous year, with 1,968 students taking one or more classes this summer. This summer growth continues a trend of increasing enrollment for Georgia Southwestern. In Fall 2020, GSW saw the highest total enrollment since the institution’s founding in 1906. Similarly, in Spring 2021, GSW recorded a 5.6 percent increase from the previous year with a total of 2,871 students.
Capitol Beat News Service
Board of Regents OKs University System of Georgia budget request
By Dave Williams
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved a $2.57 billion fiscal 2023 budget request Tuesday. Although Gov. Brian Kemp has asked state agencies not to ask for more money next year, the system’s budget represents a $108.1 million increase over the current $2.46 billion spending plan. The additional spending covers items that were exempted from the governor’s order, Tracey Cook, the system’s executive vice chancellor for strategy & fiscal affairs, told the regents Tuesday.
WGAU
As the community and economic development manager for Georgia Power, Rope Roberts knows the labor shortages businesses are experiencing and the job growth opportunities available to the workforce.
According to the Georgia Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for the Georgia Mountains Area is 3.2% while the state is 4.4%. … “We don’t have enough people to fill the empty positions,” he said. “We need people in the hospitality services, manufacturing and business sectors. I need every single student at the University of North Georgia to finish their degrees and enter the workforce.” With that awareness, Roberts commends UNG’s investment in linking employers and job seekers through the Regional Education and Economic Development (REED) Summit.
Gwinnett Magazine
Experience the many faces of ABAC
A cloudless blue sky painted a gorgeous canvas backdrop above the lake as the coed guided her horse carefully through the green grass on a perfect springtime day. Members of the jazz band grinned in unison as they realized the magical sound of their instruments meshed in perfect harmony in the gigantic new practice room in the just-opened fine arts building. The camera never blinked as the student reporter recited his lines with the practiced authority of a veteran newscaster in the upscale television production facility which shined with polished newness on the top floor of the Carlton Center. These views represent just a snapshot of the appeal of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia, a community of 18,000 once named one of the “100 best small towns in America.”
yahoo!Finance
Georgia State’s MIB among nation’s top five programs
The Master of International Business (MIB) offered by Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business is 5th in the U.S., according to 2021 rankings from Best Value Schools. The organization ranked the nation’s top 20 programs based on affordability and enrollment. Robinson’s MIB, the only program of its kind in Georgia, prepares students for success in the global business landscape. The curriculum includes working with executives on real issues facing their companies, such as going global or expanding an existing international footprint.
Patch
Seasoned leader hired to direct Savannah Logistics Technology Innovation
Georgia Southern University and the Savannah Economic Development Authority have made a major step forward in a partnership that will leverage academic researchers, instructors, government, companies, and financial investors to foster new and commercially viable logistics technologies. Platform Strategies, headed by Bart Gobeil, has been hired to establish the strategic vision and goals for the Logistics Technology Innovation Corporation and lead the execution and implementation of its strategic plan. The Logistics Technology Innovation Corporation (LTIC) is a new nonprofit corporation that combines the brain power of Georgia Southern University, Savannah State University and Plug and Play, a leading West Coast venture firm, to spur scientific research, education, innovation, commercialization, academic and workforce opportunities and economic development along the Savannah Logistics Technology Corridor, created by the state of Georgia in 2019.
yahoo!Finance
Harvard and 9 other colleges that are raising tuition this fall
By Andrew Lisa
In April, right around the time America’s colleges and universities usually announce next year’s tuition increases, a strange thing happened. Forbes reported that the UMass network had joined a growing list of major universities that were freezing their rates, avoiding price increases and holding the line on tuition for at least the next academic year. The 26 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia (USG) network weren’t far behind, nor were the University of North Carolina system, the University of Virginia, Arizona State University, Purdue University and many, many other big-brand institutions.
PR Newswire
Museum, The Home Depot Foundation partner to launch curriculum focused on Dr. C.T. Vivian
The Home Depot Foundation and The C.T. and Octavia Vivian Museum and Archives, Inc. (CTOVMA) are partnering to introduce a new, 16-week collegiate curriculum based on the life and teachings of distinguished civil rights leader, Dr. C.T. Vivian. This fall, Emory University, University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University, Morehouse College, University of West Georgia, Clayton State University and Louisiana State University will begin to offer the educational course, It’s In The Action. Additional colleges and universities nationwide are expected to begin to implement the course in 2022.
Albany Herald
UGA department head to share knowledge with University College of Dublin, Ireland
By Maria M. Lameiras
Francis Fluharty, head of the Department of Animal and Dairy Science at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has been appointed to serve as a subject extern examiner for the University College of Dublin’s School of Agriculture and Food Science. The three-year commitment involves the remote review of student examination papers in the production and nutrition curriculum modules, plus the opportunity to visit UCD to meet with members of the academic staff. The position serves as an important academic consulting role for UCD.
Capitol Beat News Service
Federal grants to fund studies of coronaviruses at Georgia State
By Dave Williams
A professor at Georgia State University has received federal grants to study two coronaviruses, the school announced Monday. Christopher Basler, director of Georgia State’s Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, will use a $387,534 grant to focus on Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and a $429,000 grant to study SARS-coV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Savannah Morning News
Augusta University president: Telemedicine, broadband saved lives during COVID-19
By Dr. Brooks Keel
During the coronavirus pandemic, families, businesses, and academic institutions were forced to adapt and innovate. In addition to the many health care needs created by the virus itself, the medical community was in desperate need of ways to provide care safely, effectively and efficiently to patients — especially the medically fragile. Many of these challenges were solved by doubling down on telemedicine efforts backed by robust broadband networks throughout the state.
WSAV-TV
With classes starting Wednesday, Georgia Southern addresses COVID protocols
By Chase Justice
With more than 27,000 Georgia Southern University students preparing for classes to begin Wednesday, health directors are saying it’s now more important than ever for students and faculty to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Brian DeLoach, medical director for Student Health Services at Georgia Southern, says if a student tests positive for the virus, they’ll have to quarantine until three things happen. “Number one, 10 days have gone since their symptoms first started, plus they’ve gone 24 hours without a fever, plus their symptoms have improved. Once those three criteria have all been met, then they can end their isolation period,” said Dr. DeLoach. “For people who test positive and don’t have symptoms, as long as they don’t develop any symptoms, then they should isolate 10 days from when they got tested.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Students, faculty urge Georgia university system to mandate masks, vaccinations
By Eric Stirgus
A number of students and faculty of Georgia’s public university system are urging leaders to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations, the wearing of masks or both measures to prevent the spread of the disease as classes began at some of its schools this week. Nearly 3,000 people have signed a petition started last week by the Regents Advisory Council for Biological Sciences supporting the additional safety protocols. The United Campus Workers of Georgia, Local 3265, said they have about 500 signatures on a petition calling for similar measures. A group of about 10 United Workers members demonstrated before Tuesday’s Board of Regents meeting.
11Alive News
In 1990, the University of Georgia required vaccines amid a measles outbreak
By Doug Richards
Despite calls to do so, the University System of Georgia isn’t budging from its unwillingness to order masks, vaccines or COVID testing when classes start next week. It’s in contrast to the approach taken by the University of Georgia 31 years ago. In 1990, the outbreak was measles. At the University of Georgia, enough cases had surfaced that the school, with the blessing of the state, required vaccinations for every student and faculty member under the age of 24. “As the (state) Department of Human Resources has indicated, we have a medical emergency here and we have to take it seriously,” Charles Knapp, the university president at the time, told 11Alive News in May 1990.
Other News
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Aug. 10)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 968,167
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 18,881 | 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.
Higher Education News
Diverse: Issues in Education
California community colleges partner with HBCUs, opening more higher learning options
By Liann Herder
When she was 18 years old, Ayeisha Gipson wasn’t sure college was the right move for her. She was apathetic about school, despite her mother’s passionate urging that she matriculate to a university. Gipson enrolled at San Diego City College to appease her mother, but she didn’t really know what she wanted to pursue. She thought becoming a radio DJ might be fun. So, in 2009, Gipson met with a counselor at San Diego City College — but it was an unfortunate encounter. Instead of receiving guidance, she received discouragement. The counselor told her a radio jockey job was unattainable for a Black woman. Gipson does not remember the name of the counselor whom she met with that day — and he no longer works at San Diego City College — but she does know that her relationship with higher education went downhill from there. It wasn’t until 2015 that she felt compelled to try school again.
Inside Higher Ed
Arkansas to expand online with Grantham acquisition
By Emma Whitford
The University of Arkansas system is poised to acquire the online, for-profit Grantham University if the system Board of Trustees approves the deal this morning, as expected. The 15-institution system has worked to build a robust online education presence for some time, and currently offers 24 undergraduate credentials through its in-house online program eVersity. Bringing Grantham into the Arkansas system as a stand-alone institution would up the number of available credentials to 60, introduce online graduate programs and expand its current virtual enrollment of about 800 students by approximately 4,000.
Inside Higher Ed
Coursera doubles down on degree programs
By Doug Lederman
The competition to help colleges and universities launch affordable online degrees and credentials heats up by the day — literally. A few weeks ago, the online program enabler 2U announced a plan to buy edX, the nonprofit online course platform founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for $800 million. Inside Higher Ed reported Monday that Noodle, another online program management company, would try to muscle its way in to the crowded market alongside 2U and the other dominant player in the space, Coursera, by creating a new platform for its university partners to market non-degree courses to its alumni and other learners.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Some universities have less space to isolate students this fall. Is that a problem?
By Nell Gluckman
Despite rising numbers of Covid-19 cases, many college campuses expect to be back at full capacity this fall. So do hotels. That’s left some institutions without the robust quarantine and isolation housing that had been critical to their reopening plans in 2020. The more-transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, once again raising the possibility that infected or exposed students might need to isolate — a difficult task in communal housing like dorms.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
At this West Virginia campus, there’s a $750 fee for unvaccinated students
By Oyin Adedoyin
Rather than offering a reward for students to get vaccinated, one college in West Virginia will charge a $750 fee to those who don’t. West Virginia Wesleyan College announced last week that students who do not submit proof of vaccination or are not vaccinated will be charged a nonrefundable $750 fee for the fall-2021 semester. Students have until September 7 to provide proof of full or partial vaccination. This is a sharp contrast to other methods that colleges have used to encourage students to get vaccinated. Some have offered monetary rewards and lifestyle-related incentives.