University System News

WFXG
Augusta University sees record enrollment in Computer and Cyber Sciences
By Abby Bradshaw
The demand for cyber security jobs is high and so is the demand for cyber education. Both of these things are felt locally, especially at Augusta University. Augusta University is experiencing record student enrollment in the School of Computer and Cyber Sciences. The Dean tells FOX54 the growth also puts a spotlight on other needs in the career field. When it comes to fall enrollment, the Dean says the numbers speak for themselves. “About 640 students altogether. That’s about double from when the school was established in 2017,” said Alexander Schwarzmann, AU Computer and Cyber Sciences Dean.

The Tifton Gazette
Ag school shatters ABAC enrollment record
The School of Agriculture and Natural Resources shattered its previous enrollment record as fall semester classes kicked off at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Although the numbers are far from finalized, a total of 1,446 students were enrolled in the SANR on the second day of classes on Aug. 11, college officials said in a statement. That tops the previous record of 1,360 SANR students who were enrolled in the fall of 2020. 

Gwinnett Daily Post
UGA welcomes record-setting Class of 2025
By Sam Fahmy
Throughout the myriad challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the more than 5,800 incoming students who comprise the University of Georgia’s Class of 2025 have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to academic excellence, leadership and engagement. They bring record-setting academic credentials to the birthplace of public higher education in America, with an average high school GPA above 4.0 and an average of 10 courses in Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or dual-enrollment.

WGAU
UNG’s Jacobs delivers State of the University address
By Clark Leonard
In University of North Georgia President Bonita Jacobs’ State of the University speech on Aug. 16, she pointed to Olympic competitors in Tokyo helping each other as inspirational reminders of how serving each other is important, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Times-Georgian
The ’70s were a boom time for West Georgia College
By Dan Minish
When the enrollment at, what was then called West Georgia College, hit an all-time high of 6,114 students for the fall quarter in September 1971, it continued a trend of rocketing enrollment jumps that began in the late 1960s and continued for the next several years. A half-century later, the campus that was making headlines throughout the state because of its tremendous growth surge now has a student body that has doubled in size to more than 13,000 students for the fall semester 2021 that kicked off last week.

The Augusta Chronicle
Augusta University, Augusta Technical College linking up on cyber education
By Tom Corwin
Augusta University and Augusta Technical College now have a formal agreement for students in cybersecurity and information technology to transfer credits from one to the other. Officials said this is just the start of more such arrangements between them and could create a pipeline that extends back to elementary schools. The agreement was announced at the Georgia Cyber Center, where both AU and Augusta Tech have cyber programs. The new articulation agreement would allow students to transfer and “literally stay in the same building (but) move up a few floors,” said Dr. Jermaine Whirl, Augusta Tech’s president.

WABE
UrbanHeatATL is mapping Atlanta’s temperatures to help those in danger of the heat
By Molly Samuel
When Chloe Kiernicki leaves her house near Georgia Tech, she takes the temperature wherever she walks. She has what’s basically a very fancy thermometer that she clips onto her bag that records the temperature as she goes, noting when and where it’s hotter or cooler as she moves around her neighborhood. What she finds as she walks around would probably be familiar to many Atlantans in the summer: smaller streets with trees shading the sidewalk feel cooler than bigger streets with lots of lanes, surrounded by parking lots.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UGA food scientists get creative with Georgia commodities
By Ligaya Figueras
As farmers across the state swelter in the summer heat tending crops and livestock, food scientists inside a state-of-the-art 14,500-square-foot facility on the University of Georgia campus in Griffin are laboring over a different side of the agricultural equation: How can we get the biggest bang for the buck from Georgia’s food commodities? UGA’s Food Product Innovation and Commercialization Center is a one-stop shop for food businesses looking to launch a product. The FoodPIC, as it’s known, provides support for product feasibility, development, packaging, food safety, consumer acceptance (for example, crickets, even in powdered form, are a tricky food sell) and marketing.

WGAU
UGA, AU work to help with COVID vaccinations in Athens
As many communities across the nation struggle to combat the COVID-19 virus, the Athens Free Clinic — sponsored by the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership — has significantly closed the local vaccination gap. Faculty and students working for the mobile clinic began administering vaccines in partnership with the Department of Public Health in February 2021. … As of Aug. 17, the mobile clinic has administered 3,700 vaccine shots to local residents.

Albany Herald
UGA research: Contact tracing is a key to suppressing COVID-19
The emergence of the delta variant and continued vaccine hesitancy have caused many health and government officials to revisit the need for non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) like social distancing policies, mask wearing, contact tracing and isolating infected individuals to manage new COVID-19 surges. The one thing everyone wants to avoid is another lockdown, but what intervention measures work best without the need for strict social distancing? New research from the University of Georgia suggests that officials should prioritize contact tracing and quarantine.

Athens Banner-Herald
UGA QB JT Daniels now a brand ambassador for Athens-based chicken chain Zaxby’s
By Mark Weiszer
The chicken wars have hit college football. UGA quarterback JT Daniels has added to his growing portfolio of name, image and likeness deals by becoming a brand ambassador for Zaxby’s, which is headquartered in Athens. Daniels shot a promotional photo at the chain popular for its chicken fingers and sandwiches at a store on Atlanta Highway in Athens. … Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has a deal to hawk Bojangles chicken.

Other News

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Aug. 17)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is keeping track of reported coronavirus deaths and cases across Georgia according to the Department of Public Health. See the DPH’s guide to their data for more information about definitions.
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 19,044 | 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: 1,000,872

Associated Press
US health officials call for booster shots against COVID-19
By Mike Stobbe and Matthew Perrone
U.S. health officials Wednesday announced plans to dispense COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and evidence that the vaccines’ effectiveness is falling. The plan, as outlined by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other top authorities, calls for an extra dose eight months after people get their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. The doses could begin the week of Sept. 20. Health officials said people who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also probably need extra shots. 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia hits 1 million COVID-19 cases since pandemic’s beginning
By J. Scott Trubey
The state of Georgia on Tuesday surpassed 1 million confirmed coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic. The somber milestone undercounts the true toll of the disease because of testing gaps and other factors and comes amid a vicious fourth wave that threatens to surpass the previous three. Georgia’s hospital network is swamped, facing its highest count of COVID-19 patients since early February, and many are resorting to emergency measures to cope. Deaths also are climbing. Despite readily available vaccines, Georgia remains one of the least vaccinated states, with less than half the overall population fully vaccinated.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In some COVID-stricken Georgia schools, virtual learning is the new norm
By Susan Hogan
In metro Atlanta, in-person classes continue across districts, except for a small number of classes and schools. But outside of Atlanta, multiple school districts — at least 15 — temporarily shut down or pivoted to virtual learning within days of opening classrooms. In some cases, football games and other extracurricular activities are being canceled or postponed. Some districts say the high number of coronavirus cases and individuals in quarantine created staffing shortages. 

Marietta Daily Journal
Cobb County to require masks in public facilities beginning Friday
By Thomas Hartwell
Masks will be required in all Cobb County facilities, beginning Friday, County Manager Jackie McMorris said in a Tuesday meeting with members of the Cobb Legislative Delegation. The mandate will be enforced on anyone who enters public facilities, including contractors, vendors, employees and visitors who can’t physically distance, McMorris said.

Higher Education News

Florida Trend
Florida universities to assume ‘normal, pre-pandemic operations’ when fall semesters begin
By John Haughey
More than 300,000 full-time students and 60,000 faculty and staff are returning to Florida’s 12 public universities for fall semester over the next week as “normal, pre-pandemic operations” resume with in-person classes and campus events proceeding without mask mandates or vaccine requirements. The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the 12 public universities, has issued guidance that “strongly recommends” students, facility and staff be fully vaccinated and wear masks indoors regardless of vaccine status and encourages campus officials to administer regular COVID testing, but will comply with a newly adopted state law that prohibits mask mandates.

Inside Higher Ed
In-person welcome weeks return
By Maria Carrasco
As colleges and universities prepare for the new academic year, they’re also planning for a return to in-person welcome weeks for new and returning students. After a year of mostly virtual welcome weeks due to the pandemic, student affairs administrators have been busy organizing and arranging for in-person events. But even as they prepare for students to come to campuses, institutions across the country are also revising or restoring their vaccination and masking requirements and ramping up vaccination drives as infection rates of the much more easily transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus continue to climb.

The Conversation
When the NCAA permitted colleges to pay stipends to student-athletes, the colleges also raised their estimated expenses
By Willis A. Jones
When colleges with big-time sports programs began to offer living expense stipends to their student-athletes back in 2015, the schools also increased their estimated living expenses for all students, I found in new research. Living expenses are costs beyond tuition and fees, such as housing, transportation, entertainment and miscellaneous purchases. By increasing living expense estimates, universities could pay student-athletes larger stipends and perhaps gain an advantage on the recruiting trail.

Inside Higher Ed
Refusing to proceed as normal
By Colleen Flaherty
A tenured professor at the University of Alabama at Huntsville resigned this week over the institution’s COVID-19 mitigation policies — or, in his view, the lack thereof. “Some faculty, staff and administrators are looking the other way, holding their tongues, holding their noses, or holding their breath in fear as they prepare to convene or attend in-person gatherings on campus,” Jeremy Fischer, the professor, wrote in his resignation letter.

The Chronicle of Higher Education
Clemson, U. of South Carolina require masks after state Supreme Court ruling
By Kate Hidalgo Bellows
South Carolina’s two largest universities announced mask requirements Tuesday evening, following a ruling from the South Carolina Supreme Court that the University of South Carolina and other public colleges could order face coverings on their campuses after all. The flagship institution, which announced a mask requirement in late July and then retracted it after the Republican state attorney general issued an opinion stating that the legislature had intended to prohibit public colleges from requiring masks, announced Tuesday evening that it was reissuing the indoor mask mandate as a result of the court ruling.

Inside Higher Ed
Making the tough call
By Susan H. Greenberg 
Ellen Junn, president of California State University, Stanislaus, has been tracking COVID-19 in her county with mounting dread. “Every morning, I have a pitter-patter in my heart when I open the data to look at caseloads and deaths,” she said. “I have never seen such a rapid rise.” Since Aug. 1, the test positivity rate in Stanislaus County has climbed from 8 percent to nearly 13 percent. On Aug. 16, 740 new COVID cases were reported in the county, which has a population of roughly 550,000. And on the campus of Stanislaus State, part of the California State University system, nine positive cases prompted contact tracing to 88 people who then had to be monitored.