University System News:
WJCL
Southern Routes : Kappa Alpha fraternity helps injured veteran
All-terrain Track chair presented Saturday in Statesboro
Frank Sulkowski
The Kappa Alpha chapters at Georgia Southern University, Jacksonville State University and the University of West Georgia jointly presented Retired Master Sergeant Army Veteran Karen Dery with an all-terrain track chair Saturday in Statesboro. Since 2016, The Independence Fund and Kappa Alpha Chapters have partnered together through Operation K.A.R.E. to give wounded Veterans back a piece of their independence.
Patch
University Of Georgia: Awards Recognize Excellence In Teaching And Research
The two new awards are among several internal honors available to faculty The University of Georgia has established two new award programs to recognize exemplary teaching and research: The University of Georgia Award for Excellence in Teaching honors outstanding instruction by teaching faculty members in non-tenurable positions, while the Team Impact Award recognizes crosscutting teams for their critical research contributions.
USTA
Kamaruzzaman Played in Davis Cup Group III
Recognition for his tennis skill is nothing new for Middle Georgia State University (MGA) junior Naufal Kamaruzzaman. Between ages 10 and 16, he was ranked as the No. 1 junior tennis player four times in his home country of Malaysia. Since then, he’s racked up an impressive win-loss record of 9-4 (singles) and 10-3 (doubles) as a collegiate player and has been selected by the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) as an SSAC All-Conference player and SSAC Scholar Athlete. In September, Kamaruzzaman continued to put up impressive performances on the court, this time representing Malaysia in the 2021 Davis Cup Group III. …While the team’s subsequent defeat by Vietnam ended their Davis Cup run for the year, Kamaruzzaman remains positive about his experience. “It was an honor to play for my country and bring the name of Middle Georgia State University to the Davis Cup. I am very grateful that I could perform well in Jordan and contribute a point for my country.” Back on the Macon, Ga., campus, Kamaruzzaman is looking forward to next season with his teammates. Coming off of last year’s SSAC Conference Championship victory, the Kamaruzzaman and the MGA Knights anticipate another winning year.
Morning AgClips
UGA receives federal grant to study turfgrass water conservation using artificial intelligence
UGA, Rutgers team up for study on lawn irrigation
When it comes to taking care of a lawn — whether at home or on a golf course — proper watering makes the difference between a beautiful landscape and a muddy mess. Knowing when and where to water turfgrass can be a tricky process, but thanks to a group of researchers at the University of Georgia and Rutgers University, lawn irrigation could soon be much easier to handle. Along with its collaborators, UGA recently received a five-year, $4 million Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to study the application of artificial intelligence for water usage in turfgrass management. Called “Mobile Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence – Guided Precision Management Program for Turfgrass Water Conservation,” the study will include researchers from three UGA campuses — Gerald Henry in Athens, David Jespersen and Clint Waltz on the UGA Griffin campus, and Brian Schwartz and Jing Zhang on the UGA Tifton campus — as well as groups from Rutgers and University of California, Riverside.
Growing Georgia
ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture Gallery Opens American Relief Posters of WWII Exhibit Oct. 21
Colorful posters and memorabilia from World War II come together for a dynamic new exhibit beginning Oct. 21 at the Gallery at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Georgia Museum of Agriculture. Museum Curator Polly Huff said “Work, Fight, Give: American Relief Posters of WWII” offers visitors a wide-ranging collection of original relief posters and memorabilia that provide an exciting new window on understanding a watershed event in our nation’s history.
Patch
The collective cultural memory of the Gullah Geechee people, descendants of enslaved West Africans who inhabited the barrier islands of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and northern Florida, has survived through oral histories and distinctive arts, music, dance, foodways and language. However, few within the Gullah Geechee community today, which is estimated to be a population of 1 million, can speak the African Creole language or tell the stories of their ancestors who are credited with influencing southern and American culture. In response, Georgia Southern University has established the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Center to aid in the preservation of this fluctuating culture, honor the myriad contributions made by Gullah Geechee people and provide educational resources for faculty, students and the surrounding community.
WGAU Radio
UGA reports latest campus COVID data
Slight uptick from a week ago
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia reports a slight increase in positive tests for coronavirus, up from 77 in the week that ended on September 19 to 91 for the week that ended this past Sunday. 67 were UGA students, 19 were staff members, and five were University faculty. The University’s positive test rate for the past week stands at 1.6 percent.
The Red & Black
UGA University Council passes resolutions supporting COVID-19 mandates
Jake Drukman
The University of Georgia’s University Council passed two resolutions supporting the implementation of COVID-19 mandates on campus during a meeting Wednesday afternoon. Though the resolutions themselves are not policy, they demonstrate the council’s desire to see more safety measures put in place. The council is made up of over 200 members from across the university community, from deans to student representatives. The first resolution, brought to the council from the committee on facilities, urges UGA President Jere Morehead to support mandating faculty, staff and students to get vaccinated and wear masks inside university facilities. It passed by a 117-19 margin, with 29 abstaining.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Sept. 29)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,219,318
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 22,354 | 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.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Health experts urge the public to take flu shot to head off ‘twindemic’
By Helena Oliviero
Doctors warn that this flu season could be particularly severe, renewing fears of a potential “twindemic” in which the spread of that virus and COVID-19 collide. The last flu season was extremely subdued as concerns about COVID-19 prompted people to isolate, wash their hands frequently, avoid crowds and wear masks. There were no flu-related deaths in Georgia and only a few dozen flu-related hospitalizations in metro Atlanta, according to the state Department of Public Health. Here’s what to know about flu season this year But this flu season in Georgia and across the United States could be entirely different.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Putting Career Readiness at Higher Ed’s Core: The Key Podcast
By Doug Lederman
This week’s episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, searches for a middle ground in the binary debate over how (and how much) colleges and universities should emphasize their students’ career success. The guests in this week’s episode, Wake Forest University’s Andy Chan and Christine Cruzvergara of Handshake, endorse the view that colleges and universities should be collecting and sharing data about how well they are preparing students for success in the workplace, given that that’s the primary reason many students go to college. But the set of common metrics they propose colleges use to measure their own performance is broad, and it includes such data as how much institutions expose students to experiential learning in college to graduates’ satisfaction with their jobs once they leave.
Inside Higher Ed
Opening Courtroom Doors to Survivors of Sexual Assault
A bill introduced by two Democratic representatives would make it easier for institutions to be held liable for sexual misconduct that occurs on their campuses.
By Alexis Gravely
Representatives in the House are looking at new ways to hold colleges and universities accountable for Title IX misconduct under legislation introduced Tuesday that would establish stricter conduct standards for sexual harassment and assault. Institutions should be held liable for “cultures” of sexual misconduct on their campuses, according to Representative Debbie Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, who introduced the Title IX Take Responsibility Act alongside Representative Jahana Hayes, a Democrat from Connecticut. The legislation comes as two universities in Dingell’s district, the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, face ongoing allegations about their handling of sexual assaults and incidents of harassment on their campuses.
Inside Higher Ed
AAUP Will Investigate UNC System Governance and Climate
By Colleen Flaherty
The American Association of University Professors on Wednesday announced plans to investigate the University of North Carolina system for alleged violations of principles of academic governance and for “persistent structural racism.” Among the issues a special committee will explore is the initial tenure denial of journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones by the Chapel Hill campus’s Board of Trustees, which came to light earlier this year. The AAUP special committee will also consider what the association described as the “influence of the gerrymandered state legislature on the systemwide board of governors and campus boards of trustees,” and how the “use of political pressure has obstructed meaningful faculty participation in the UNC system.”