University System News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia colleges at the top of the class in U.S. News rankings
By Eric Stirgus
Several Georgia colleges and universities are enjoying national acclaim in closely-watched academic rankings. U.S. News & World Report on Monday released the 37th edition of its annual rankings of the nation’s top colleges and universities. A few Georgia schools were ranked first, or highly, in several categories… Georgia Tech was the tenth-ranked national public university. The University of Georgia ranked 16th… Georgia State and Georgia Tech ranked second and fourth, respectively, as the most innovative national universities.

 

Gwinnett Daily Post
Fortune ranks Georgia MBA program among the top 15 public business schools
By J. Merritt Melancon
The Full-Time MBA Program at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business has been named one of the top 15 public MBA programs in the nation, according to a new ranking by Fortune magazine. This is the first year Fortune has published a ranking of full-time MBA programs. Terry’s MBA program came in ranked 14th among public MBA programs in the United States, and 32nd overall in the Fortune ranking. “Our commitment at the Terry College of Business is to set students up for success,” said Dean Benjamin C. Ayers. “That aligns with Fortune’s rankings methodology, which focuses on the most important outcomes for MBA graduates, including job placement opportunities, post-MBA salaries and a track record of graduates moving up to C-suite positions.”

 

MorningAgClips
UGA Researcher Wayne Hanna establishes endowment
Staff Reports
For nearly 50 years, turfgrass researcher Wayne Hanna pursued his professional goals at the University of Georgia, first with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and then as a full professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES). Hanna is known for his work in the UGA Turfgrass Breeding Program, through which he produced popular turfgrasses such as TifSport, TifEagle, TifGrand, TifBlair and, more recently, TifTuf. Hanna’s grasses are used around the world, including at premier entertainment and sporting venues. Now he and his wife, Barbara Hanna, have made a gift to establish the CAES Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center (GMREC) Endowment to inspire and support others as they learn about and pursue agricultural and environmental research.

 

Tifton CEO
ABAC Students Thank Scholarship Donors at ‘Milk and Cookies’ Event

Staff Reports

Students from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College recently gathered in the Alumni House on campus to write thank-you notes to scholarship donors.   ABAC Alumni Director Lynda Fisher said 200 students wrote personal notes to say how much they appreciated the donors’ support of their education. “This event is a special opportunity to connect those who support our scholarships with the students who receive them,” said Jodie Snow, COO of the ABAC Foundation. “It shows the students that someone else chooses to invest in their education, and it shows the donors that they are making a real difference in the lives of ABAC students.”

Insider Advantage

The 9/11 Attack: Remembering horror & heroism

By Greg Trevor
I’d trade all my tomorrows for one single yesterday – Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, “Me and Bobby McGee”
This haunting lyric, made famous by the legendary Janis Joplin, has been stuck in my brain as the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches. As a survivor of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, I often wonder how it would feel to experience a single day without the trauma – and the guilt – of living through September 11. I know that’s not possible. I expect to suffer from the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor guilt for the rest of my life. I also know that, no matter how painful, I have an obligation to serve as a living witness to the horror and heroism of 9/11. Here in Athens, Georgia, where our family has lived for nearly five years, most of our friends and colleagues have never met another World Trade Center survivor. That includes a whole generation of young men and women who were not even born 20 years ago.

Associated Press
Faculty push not moving Georgia colleges on masks, vaccines
By Jeff Amy

Protests from faculty members are still rising in Georgia’s public universities, although leaders of Georgia’s university system are not backing down from their position that schools can’t require masks or vaccines. Acting Chancellor Teresa MacCartney made clear Thursday that those policies aren’t going to change, saying the system will follow the lead of Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican lawmakers who control the university system’s purse strings. “We are fulfilling our institutional missions to deliver higher education and services for students in a way that is best for them,” MacCartney said. “Those expectations have been made clear since before the semester started. It should be no surprise. There are consequences for those not following through and doing their jobs.’’

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia professors to demonstrate for tougher COVID-19 guidelines

By Eric Stirgus

Faculty members and students from about 20 public colleges and universities in Georgia are scheduled Monday to begin a weeklong series of demonstrations demanding tougher COVID-19 safety measures, such as a mask mandate, in all campus buildings. The University System of Georgia has strongly encouraged, but not required, students, employees and visitors wear masks inside classrooms and other buildings. They’ve also recommended, but not ordered, students and employees get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Story also appeared on WTOC.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Opinion: An open letter to Ga. university system regents on COVID-19

I appreciate the fact that you, as members of the governing board of the University System of Georgia, have the very difficult job of making important decisions affecting tens of thousands of students, staff, and faculty. These decisions also impact Georgia’s economic viability. Our colleges and universities are thriving institutions and are a major reason companies, not-for-profits and other organizations “keep Georgia on their mind” and continue to locate here from all over the globe. …However, the Board Of Regents’ current policy of refusing to make masks and vaccinations mandatory is contrary to previous wise decisions that have increased our state’s viability.

USA TODAY

‘Mask it or casket:’ Georgia college faculty, frustrated by lack of COVID-19 mandates, take a stand

By Lindsay Schnell

Across the country, frustrated college faculty are reaching a breaking point, furious about being forced to teach in person on campuses where COVID regulations are non-existent or barely enforced. One professor walked out of class, quitting on the spot. More than 1,000 American colleges are requiring the vaccine, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. But that leaves hundreds that are not. In Georgia on Monday, at least 16 colleges spanning 19 campuses are planning week-long demonstrations in hopes of pressuring administrators to institute mask and/or vaccine mandates. Organizers are adamant that the protest is not a work stoppage; strikes are illegal in Georgia, and participants would be fired. Matthew Boedy, a rhetoric and composition professor at the University of North Georgia and president of the state’s American Association of University Professors (AAUP) chapter, said the ultimate goal is an immediate mask mandate at all state schools.

Other News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Sept. 10)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is keeping track of reported coronavirus deaths and cases across Georgia according to the Department of Public Health. See details in the map below. See the DPH’s guide to their data for more information about definitions.

CONFIRMED DEATHS: 20,581 | 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: 1,151,432

Law.com

Parents Sue Gwinnett County Public Schools Over Mask Mandate

By Everett Catts
A group of parents are battling the Gwinnett County Public Schools district over its COVID-19 pandemic-related mask mandate, claiming children have suffered physically and mentally because of it. In a lawsuit filed Aug. 26 in Gwinnett County Superior Court, Justin and Meghann Verrier, Margaret “Meg” Rudnick, and Holly Terei are challenging the mandate, which was announced a week before the 2021-22 academic year and a day after the CDC issued new, more conservative guidance regarding the use of face coverings following a rise in coronavirus cases nationwide due to the delta variant.

Higher Education News:

Inside Higher Education
‘U.S. News’ Makes Modest Tweak in Methodology
By Scott Jaschik
U.S. News & World Report is today releasing its rankings of colleges and universities — largely unchanged at the top. And the magazine is also releasing very modest changes in the methodology that favor colleges where most students submitted standardized test scores — even though the magazine said in June 2020: “U.S. News believes now is the right time to end the use of standardized tests in admissions decisions as a requirement for inclusion in the rankings.” Others that rank colleges have also faced a challenge of doing rankings amid a pandemic. Forbes changed its methodology such that a state university was the winner, for the first time ever. And The Princeton Review abandoned (temporarily) rankings based on surveys of students.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Panel Examines Biden’s College Completion Fund Proposal
By Hayley Zhao
For years, activists, educators and legislators have been focusing on opening the doors of higher education institutions to students from underserved communities. But few resources have been allocated to helping students complete their degrees. This year, the Biden administration proposed the $62 billion College Completion Fund in its American Families plan. Activists hope by pushing the passage of this bill, more Americans can live a better life and achieve their dreams through education. “Our focus on entry and opening those doors has not been met by a focus on making sure that once people enroll, they actually complete their degrees and they graduate and they’re able to go on to their career dreams that brought them to the colleges and universities in the first place,” said Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro at Friday’s virtual panel hosted by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP). “And that’s why I’m excited about the College Completion Fund.”

Inside Higher Ed

The Future of the Academic Conference

By Colleen Flaherty
Like colleges and universities, scholarly associations had been looking forward to something resembling a normal academic year. That meant scheduling in-person annual conferences again, after more than year of virtual programs. The Delta variant has of course frustrated those plans and led some organizations to transition to virtual meetings once more.