USG e-clips for October 27, 2021

University System News:

WRDW

AU chief speaks at Capitol Hill for bill to drop med-school debt

By Staff

Augusta University’s president spoke Tuesday at a hearing on Capitol Hill for a bill pushing for improvement in health care. At a hearing called “Caring for America: Legislation to support patients, caregivers and providers,” Dr. Brooks Keel addressed the need for more health care workers with the shortages healthcare facilities face. He says with a new program created to help eliminate debt in medical schools he hopes this can help with the shortages. Medical students must agree to set up a practice post-residency in a rural or underserved part of Georgia for each year they would like tuition waived. “The accelerated 3-year MD curriculum, coupled with a tuition-free medical education and an in-state primary care residency experience, MCG will dramatically enhance our contribution to Georgia’s physician workforce and significantly impact the health and economic prosperity of all Georgians, especially those living in our rural and underserved areas,” said Keel.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

UGA to spend $8.5 million on campus security improvements

By Eric Stirgus

The University of Georgia said Tuesday it will spend an additional $8.5 million over the next three years on additional safety measures on campus and for students when they go to downtown Athens. The announcement comes amid a recent rash of crime near the Athens campus. UGA said it will hire 10 campus officers and civilian support staff. The university will place more lights and cameras in highly traveled pedestrian areas, as well as in and around residence halls. It will contribute $250,000 to the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government for lighting and/or security camera improvements in the downtown business district and poorly lit pathways to and from campus. UGA will also spend up to $1 million a year on transportation options that include a nightly rideshare program for students.

Marietta Daily Journal

Kennesaw State dean explores how behavior drives design

How architects use human behavior to design buildings, parks and more will be the focus of Kennesaw State University’s next Research with Relevance – Deans’ Showcase featuring Andrew Payne, dean of the College of Architecture and Construction Management. The Office of Research is hosting the hybrid event on Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. in the Design II Building auditorium, room 112 on the Marietta Campus. Guests who prefer to attend virtually can participate in the live video stream on KSUTV.

yahoo!finance

A Great Environment, and a Great Team for Keysight

Our Partnership with Georgia Tech

By Jay Alexander, CTO at Keysight Technologies

Keysight has long been engaged with leading colleges and universities around the world. We value staying connected to the latest research, supporting researchers and students with electronic measurement solutions, and providing employment opportunities for the next generation of innovators. We offer a broad array of education solutions that includes courseware for teaching labs, and earlier this week we announced a new remote access lab solution for online learning. The software for this solution is cloud-based and it integrates with popular lab management systems such as Moodle, Blackboard, and Canvas. Ongoing pandemic or not, hybrid learning using this type of technology is here to stay. One of the schools we’re proud to partner with is Georgia Tech. Among other distinctions, they’re one of the world’s top producers of electrical engineering and computer science talent. And as you would expect for such an institution, they are developing and promoting some impressive leaders within their own organization.

The Red & Black

OPINION: UGA should offer an intro business class for all students

Christa Bugg

My introduction to business course was hands down the best and most valuable course I have taken throughout my college career. I took it during my freshman year at the University of North Georgia, and let me tell you — the class changed my life. It went far beyond the surface level of what one may think is taught in an introductory business course. I learned how to build my resume and portfolio, how to be a successful interviewee and how to “double” my interviews as a time to ask future employers about the company environment and their experiences. All of those tips and more have allowed me to secure several internships and job opportunities during the two and a half years since taking the course. Because of these invaluable skills that can assist students regardless of major choice, every college student should take an introduction to business class. The problem is, such a class doesn’t exist at the University of Georgia.

USA TODAY

Fact check: Supply chain delays not related to COVID-19 vaccine mandates

Daniel Funke

… The reasons for the current supply chain problems in the U.S. predate the Biden administration’s recent COVID-19 vaccine requirements. There’s no evidence local or state mandates have contributed to delays, either. …The reason for supply chain snags across the country has to do with the economic effects of COVID-19. During the height of the pandemic, consumer spending dropped by record numbers. As more Americans got vaccinated and ventured outside their homes, spending ticked back up. Now, retail sales continue to rise. The result: an overwhelmed supply chain. …”Over the last 20-30 years, the global logistics and manufacturing industries – much of the manufacturing off-shore in low wage countries – have been well-tuned to keep costs down, resulting in a very lean, efficient, and low-cost system,” Chip White, a professor and transportation and logistics expert at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said in an email. “However, lean systems don’t react well to disruptions, and COVID has provided major disruptions in supply, labor, and demand worldwide.”

Athens Banner-Herald

UGA to require some employees to get COVID-19 vaccine, be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8

Stephanie Allen

The University of Georgia is going to require the COVID-19 vaccine for select university employees — including part-time workers and students — who work with the federal government. In an email Tuesday from UGA President Jere Morehead and other top UGA officials, the university announced that workers required to get vaccinated are those employed as part of a federal contract. The move comes in response to a federal executive order signed Sept. 9 by President Joe Biden requiring federal contractors to comply with COVID-19 guidance that in part requires the vaccine.

Georgia Recorder

Georgia’s top federal contracting universities opt for some vaccine mandates after all

By: Ross Williams

In an abrupt turn, at least two Georgia universities, the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, will comply with federal guidance mandating that COVID-19 vaccines will be required for all employees who work on or in connection with a federal contract or who work in a covered contractor workplace. Those on campus will also be required to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on masks while in covered contractor workplaces, which will likely include a large portion of campus. The mandates do not apply to students, except for those considered employees, such as teaching assistants and student workers.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia to challenge federal vaccine mandate in court this week

By Greg Bluestein

Georgia’s top Republican officials plan to file a lawsuit this week that challenges President Joe Biden’s mandate that requires federal contractors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus disease. Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr are set to file the lawsuit by Friday, according to two people with direct knowledge of the litigation who requested anonymity to discuss confidential proceedings. …Two dozen Republican-run states in September threatened legal action against Biden’s vaccine requirements. With limited exceptions, judges have upheld requirements that government workers, public-university students and contractors get shots so far. The governor has recently taken steps to boost the ranks of state-financed health care staffers and offer incentives to state employees who have been vaccinated. But despite pressure from public health experts to impose new restrictions, he’s warned that more aggressive action would backfire.

WJBF

AU men’s basketball coach Dip Metress suspended for NCAA violations, assistant coach fired

by: Brendan Robertson

The Augusta University men’s basketball team will start the season without head coach, Dip Metress on the sidelines while he serves the remainder of a six week unpaid suspension for NCAA violations. Metress is suspended for the first five games of the season for his role in a former Jaguars’ assistant coach taking an online test for a player in March of 2021. O’Neal Armstrong, the second-year assistant coach cited in the violations, was fired from AU on August 30, 2021. The player in question is no longer listed on the AU men’s basketball team roster. WJBF has chosen not to reveal his identity.

The Plug

Georgia’s New Tenure Process Draws Backlash And Critiques On Potential Impacts At HBCUs

The system that governs more than two dozen Georgia colleges and universities, including three historically black universities, is facing backlash and an investigation after it made changes to the tenure process that critics say undermine academic freedom in the state. In mid-October, the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia (USG) approved a new set of changes to the review process for tenured faculty. “It puts the whole idea of academic freedom into question,” Glinda Rawls, Chair of the Racial Equity and HBCU committees at the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), told The Plug.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Opinion: Georgia’s tenure review process is arduous, thorough and working

Get Schooled with Maureen Downey

UGA professor emeritus: Attack on tenure by Board of Regents will cripple faculty searches

In a guest column, Peter Smagorinsky, a University of Georgia Distinguished Research Professor of English Education, Emeritus, shares his concerns about the weakening of tenure by the Board of Regents. Smagorinsky spent 14 years teaching in K-12 schools and more than 30 years in university teacher education programs. In this guest column, he explains the path to tenure, a path he says is long, intense and not easily traveled. While this blog has featured several guest columns defending tenure, Smagorinsky goes deeper on what the process involves and how tenure is not handed out like an after-dinner mint.

Other News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Oct. 26)

An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state

CONFIRMED CASES: 1,260,262

CONFIRMED DEATHS: 24,509 | 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:

Inside Higher Ed

Tuition Increases Remain at a Historic Low

As tuition rises slowly, the amount of federal loans students and parents take on to finance higher education declines, the College Board’s annual report shows.

By Emma Whitford

College tuition increased at historically low rates for the second year in a row, a new report from the College Board shows. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, average college tuition actually decreased during the 2021-22 academic year as colleges scrambled to attract and retain students amid steep enrollment declines. Average tuition increased by 1.6 percent, to $10,740 for in-state students at public, four-year institutions, according to the report. At private, nonprofit four-year institutions, average tuition increased by 2.1 percent to $38,070. Average tuition at public two-year institutions rose by 1.3 percent to $3,800 for in-district students. These averages are not adjusted for inflation.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Biden’s Vaccine Order Is Broad. These Campuses Are Trying to Apply It Narrowly.

By Francie Diep

When the Biden administration issued an executive order saying federal contractors must be vaccinated against Covid-19, it was meant to apply widely. The order requires not only people directly paid by federal contracts, but also anyone who works to support them and anyone with whom they come into contact to get a Covid vaccine. It’s easy to imagine nearly every employee at a research university falling under such an umbrella. Nevertheless, some universities are trying to apply the rule as narrowly as possible, in deference to the opposition to vaccination that they say they know exists among their employees.