University System News:
Gwinnett Daily Post
Reports of COVID-19 at UGA hit semester low
UGA News Service
Cases of COVID-19 reached an all-time low for the semester at the University of Georgia, with 47 cases reported for the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3. The latest figure, a 48% decrease from the previous week, shows an overall decline in cases reported on campus, mirroring similar recent trends in the local community and across the state. The University Health Center (UHC) posted the data as part of the weekly update on its website Wednesday morning. Of the 47 cases reported in DawgCheck, 33 were students, 11 were staff members and three were faculty. The positivity rate for UGA’s surveillance testing was low again this week, with 9 of 843 asymptomatic individuals testing positive for a rate of 1.068%. The UHC can test up to 800 individuals a day, and this service is offered free to the campus community.
See also:
Fox5 Atlanta
University of Georgia reports semester-low number of COVID-19 cases
Jagwire
Student Affairs to celebrate World Mental Health Day
Paige Fowler
World Mental Health Day is acknowledged globally on Oct. 10, and Augusta University is celebrating with several events for students the following day.
World Mental Health Day Tabling
This event, held from 10:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 11 in the lobby of the Health Sciences Building, is hosted by Student Wellness Programs.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Changes to federal student loan program will help thousands of Georgia borrowers
By Eric Stirgus
Several thousand Georgians serving in the military or working in public service jobs such as teachers, firefighters and nurses will soon get relief on their student loans. U.S. Department of Education officials announced Wednesday they are making several temporary changes to the federal government’s Public Service Forgiveness Loan (PSFL) program, which forgives the remaining student loan balance for borrowers in these types of jobs after they’ve made 10 years of payments. The program, though, has been rife with confusing regulations that in some cases prevented many participants from being able to apply payments to their debts. Just 2% of program participants have had their loans erased since the program’s inception in 2007, statistics show. …Experts say there are still too many technical rules that disqualify many applicants. Tim Renick, executive director of the National Institute for Student Success, housed at Georgia State University, said borrowers can be disqualified too easily from the program if they miss a few payments. Many borrowers, he noted, are starting their careers and struggling financially.
Patch
Finding Scholarship Dollars for College – FREE virtual event
Are you worried about paying for college? As the cost of college tuition continues to rise, many families are struggling to cover costs. There are a variety of scholarship resources available for students with abilities ranging from average to super achiever and everyone in between. Whatever the student’s circumstance or academic pace, there’s something for everyone. On October 12 from 7-8:30 p.m., come learn from the experts how to identify the scholarship opportunities just right for you. This is a FREE event but registration is required. This event will also be translated into Spanish. …This is a virtual-only event. Presented by Hal Wilkinson (GA Student Finance Commission), Amy Burke (Gwinnett Co. Public Schools), Karen Howell (Gwinnett Tech) and Elizabeth Umberger (Georgia Gwinnett College) and in partnership with Gwinnett County Public Schools Foundation.
McDuffie Progress
UGA’s FABricate finalists in line for $10,000 prize
By Leslie Matos CAES News
Are you a student with a big idea for a food- or agriculture-related business? Come to the FABricate information session at 6 p.m. Oct. 20 in room 150 of the Miller Learning Center to find out how you can get your idea developed. If you apply, you could win $10,000. Created by the University of Georgia’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, FABricate is an entrepreneurial pitch contest for students who have business ideas related to food, agriculture and sustainability. Launched in 2016, the program has grown to include undergraduate and graduate students from any college or department on campus and has led to the successful launch of several businesses.
Growing Georgia
ABAC Goes to Sunbelt Expo on October 19-21
From ABAC souvenirs to a basket of prizes every day, visitors to the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition at Spence Field near Moultrie on Oct. 19-21 have plenty of reasons to make a stop at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College building. Because of the pandemic, the Expo was not held last year. Director of Alumni Relations Lynda Fisher said she is ready to be back with ABAC at the Expo. …Director of Marketing and Communications Lindsey Carney said the college is constantly searching for unique avenues to connect with students and alumni.
NewsBreak
Bridging the health care gap in Athens-Clarke County
By Hayley Major
One doctor’s lesson to medical students: listen and learn from patients. Dr. Brett Magner is on a mission not only to break down health care barriers in Athens-Clarke County, but also to train future doctors through a people-centered approach to medicine. Magner, an assistant professor with the Augusta University /University of Georgia Medical Partnership, advises medical students to be approachable by being human.
Savannah Morning News
Sustainable ecotourism gets certified through University of Georgia program
Ben Goggins
It was a gray morning Aug. 23, the perfect atmosphere for a stealthy excursion to Dead Man Hammock. Two skiffs carrying biologists and tour guides departed the Skidaway Island docks in search of some elusive shorebirds. Waiting in the marshes west of Wassaw were the objects of their quest — the unmistakable American oystercatcher and the outrageously long-billed whimbrel. It was media day to publicize the Coastal Awareness and Responsible Ecotourism (CARE) program. The program was recently developed by UGA’s Marine Extension Service, Georgia Sea Grant, and Manomet Inc., and it provides a bona fide certification for ecotourism guides.
NewsBreak
Brown fat could protect the brain from dementia
By Knowridge
In a recent study published in Nature Communications, researchers found that beige fat can protect the brain from dementia. It can bring down the inflammation linked to the more common white fat. The researchers found that beige fat cells, which are typically intermingled with white fat cells in the subcutaneous fat present on “pear shaped” people, mediate subcutaneous fat’s brain protection. The study is from Augusta University. One author is Dr. Alexis M. Stranahan. Pear-shaped people have weight generally distributed more evenly. This is different from “apple shaped” people whose fat clustered around their middle and often around internal organs like the liver in the abdominal cavity.
The Augusta Chronicle
Abraham Kenmore
In academia, process is key. And the proposed process for firing professors working at a University System of Georgia school continues to change ahead of a Board of Regents’ vote on the subject next week. The Board has clarified the language around a proposal to make it easier to dismiss tenured faculty. Initially the proposal said that tenured faculty could be dismissed without cause. Now it says that tenured faculty who fail to improve after a negative post-tenure review can be dismissed by administrators — while tenured faculty could previously be dismissed only with the approval of a committee of peer faculty.
GPB
Faculty job security is new fight on Georgia campuses after months of mask dustups
By: Ross Williams
The battle over masks in Georgia’s college classrooms continues to simmer, and now another issue is pitting some of the state’s professors against the state’s appointed university system leadership. Next Tuesday and Wednesday, the Georgia Board of Regents is set to consider changes to professor tenure at the 26 public institutions the state manages. Supporters say the changes streamline the post-tenure review process for Georgia professors and codify when professors who do not meet expectations can face punishments. But critics like American Association of University Professors Georgia chapter president Matthew Boedy say the changes will gut academic freedom protections.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Oct. 6)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,234,672
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 23,077 | 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
Change Comes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Most of the reforms are temporary, but they’ll still help hundreds of thousands of borrowers chart a renewed path toward loan forgiveness.
By Alexis Gravely
A federal loan forgiveness program known for its ineffectiveness will undergo major reforms over the next year, the Department of Education announced Wednesday. The overhaul is intended to fulfill a “largely unmet” promise to wipe away the student debt of teachers, military service members and others working in the public sector. Most of the changes are temporary. But the department estimates that as a result of the reforms, 22,000 borrowers will have $1.74 billion in loans discharged immediately, and over half a million borrowers will see their progress toward loan forgiveness increase automatically. Only 2 percent of the applications processed have met the requirements for loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which is intended to provide student borrowers with a discharge of their loans in exchange for a decade of work at a government or not-for-profit employer.
Inside Higher Ed
Students Gather in Washington to Protest Sexual Assault
The Education Department refused to heed a petition by students and sexual assault survivors demanding an immediate rollback of the Title IX changes instituted by the Trump administration.
By Maria Carrasco
Students, sexual assault survivors and their advocates gathered outside the U.S. Department of Education Wednesday and delivered a petition with more than 50,000 signatures calling for an immediate rollback of Trump administration policies governing how colleges handle sexual misconduct on campus. The ED Act Now petition calls on Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights, Suzanne Goldberg to take three actions: to announce proposed changes to the Title IX rule by the end of October, to issue a nonenforcement directive on portions of former education secretary Betsy DeVos’s Title IX rule that narrow the scope of those protected by the law and to allow students to file complaints within 180 days from the most recent instance of discrimination instead of from the first instance.
Inside Higher Ed
More Than 75% of Colleges Don’t Require SAT or ACT
By Scott Jaschik
More than 1,775 U.S. colleges and universities — three-quarters of the four-year institutions in the United States — are either test optional or test blind this year, according to a list published by FairTest: the National Center for Fair and Open Testing. That’s an all-time high.