University System News:

 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

First lady Jill Biden visits Georgia program to tout summer learning

By Cassidy Alexander

First lady Jill Biden visited a summer program for children on Thursday to highlight how federal aid is helping students make up for pandemic losses. She met with rising second graders working on their language arts and math skills, and some taking swim lessons at the University of Georgia’s Athens campus. Students from Barnett Shoals Elementary School participate in the Horizons program for the summer.

WJCL

Incoming Georgia Southern students giving back to the community

By Dave Williams

Even though there are still almost three weeks before the start of classes at Georgia Southern University, that’s not stopping some incoming freshmen from getting a head start. Not only are they getting a head start on their college career, but they’re helping the community in the process. That’s just one of the incoming Georgia Southern freshmen giving up one of the final weeks of their summer vacation to help their soon-to-be community. 

 

Savannah Morning News 

Local students get hands-on STEM experience with annual Girls Code Games summer camp

By Olivia Carter

Campers designed and developed a playable game relevant to marine research under the guidance of Sage Batchelor and Catherine Edwards as part of the first day of the annual Girls Code Games at the UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.

WGAU

UNG announces plans for August commencement
By Clark Leonard 

University of North Georgia Foundation Trustee Dr. Jeff Payne will serve as the keynote speaker for UNG’s summer commencement ceremony scheduled for 5 p.m. Aug. 5. The UNG Foundation provides philanthropic support for student scholarships and university priorities. More than 400 graduates will participate in commencement at the Convocation Center on UNG’s Dahlonega Campus.

 

Albany Herald

Five ABAC faculty projects receive enrichment funding

Five different faculty projects at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will receive funding for the 2022-23 academic year through the Gail Dillard Faculty Enrichment Fund. Dillard, now retired, is the former vice president for academic affairs at ABAC.

 
AccessWDUN

Smart, Georgia agree to contract extension

Kirby Smart is now the highest-paid college football coach at a public university. The University of Georgia Athletic Association and Kirby Smart have agreed to a contract extension through the 2031 season. Under the new agreement, Smart’s annual base salary and supplemental compensation for the upcoming 2022 campaign will be $10,250,000 with annual increases, culminating at $12,250,000 for the 2031 season.  

 

WRBL
Columbus State University faces budget cuts due to enrollment drop

By Chuck Williams

Columbus State University has a new interim president on campus. Dr. John Fuchko has been on the job for less than three weeks, but he already faces some stiff financial challenges as enrollment takes a downward turn.

 

The Georgia Virtue

Statesboro councilman votes on $343K contract awarded to his own employer

By Jessica Szilagyi

A recent award of an almost $350,000 contract to a research division at Georgia Southern University raises concerns over the lack of disclosure of possible or perceived conflicts of interest. 

 

Other News:

 

Associated Press

White House tries to make Biden’s COVID a ‘teachable moment’

By Will Weissert and Chris Megerian 

For more than a year, President Joe Biden’s ability to avoid the coronavirus seemed to defy the odds. When he finally did test positive, the White House was ready. It set out to turn the diagnosis into a “teachable moment” and dispel any notion of a crisis. “The president does what every other person in America does every day, which is he takes reasonable precautions against COVID but does his job,” White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told MSNBC late in the afternoon on Thursday.

 

MSN

New COVID variants fuel a rise in cases for Augusta area

By Hallie Turner

COVID infections are on the rise in at least 40 states, including Georgia, with the highly transmissible BA.5 variant dominating the surge. Richmond County ranks number 32 out of 161 counties for the highest rate of COVID cases. “We’re seeing that even fully vaccinated and boosted people are also getting COVID,” says Chief Medical Officer Dr. Phillip Coule for Augusta University Medical Center. In the past two weeks, COVID cases in Columbia and Richmond counties have jumped significantly.

 

Savannah Morning News 

With BA.5 now dominant COVID variant in Georgia, Chatham sees cases, hospitalizations rise

By Zach Dennis

As BA.5 becomes the dominant COVID-19 variant in Georgia, it may also be the reason why Chatham County has seen a rise in cases and hospitalizations over the past few weeks. On July 20, the Coastal Health District reported 1,004 positive COVID cases in Chatham County over the past two weeks. The 7-day rolling average for Chatham is sitting at 77.9 positive cases with the total gradually moving up since an all-time low amount of 6.6 positive cases per seven days in early April.

 

Higher Education News:

 

Inside Higher Ed

Survey: More than half of higher ed workers plan to leave

By Josh Moody 

Many higher education employees are headed for the exits, according to a new survey from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, which found that more than half of respondents said they were likely to look for other employment within the next 12 months. According to the survey, released yesterday, 57.2 percent of respondents were somewhat likely (22.3 percent), likely (12.5 percent) or very likely (22.4 percent) to seek work elsewhere within the next year. That number jumped 14 percent since last year, when 43 percent reported that they planned to leave their jobs within the next 12 months.

 

Higher Ed Dive

Colleges are being hit by the Great Resignation. What can they do?

By Rick Seltzer 

Call it the Great Resignation or the great realignment, reshuffle, reevaluation or something else. Tight labor markets and worker turnover are worrying college leaders.That was clear this week at the National Association of College and University Business Officers’ annual meeting, where many conversations and session after session touched on attracting and keeping employees to ensure smooth operations and bolster colleges’ bottom lines. 

 

The Chronicle of Higher Education

These professors were thinking about quitting. So they turned to social media.

By Wyatt Myskow

For three and a half years, David Schwartz has taught geography at Northampton Community College, in Pennsylvania. That hadn’t been the plan, but it was the job that opened up to him after he earned his master’s degree. Teaching during the pandemic left him unsure of whether his students were learning, until he got notes from them at the end of the semester. And when classes returned in person, the stresses of the work didn’t go away.

 

Inside Higher Ed

What will Biden do on loans?

By Meghan Brink

The uncertainty has experts worried about borrowers being unprepared for repayment to begin. A source says loan servicers have been told by the Education Department not to send statements to borrowers about the deadline.

 

Higher Ed Dive

Education Department delays regulatory plan on income-driven repayment

By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf 

The U.S. Department of Education has pushed back the release of its regulatory proposal that will govern a category of student loans known as income-driven repayment plans, in which borrowers pay back their debt based on how much they earn.

 

NPR

200,000 student borrowers who say they were ripped off may get their loans erased

By Cory Turner

A fight over when and how the U.S. Department of Education can cancel some federal student loans will soon play out in a federal courthouse on Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco. On Aug. 4, a federal judge will decide whether to preliminarily approve a settlement that would erase the debts of 200,000 borrowers who say they were defrauded by their colleges. The lawsuit, Sweet v. Cardona, centers on a federal rule, known as borrower defense, that allows borrowers to ask the department to erase their student debts if a school has lied to them – about their job prospects, their credits’ transferability or their likely salary after graduation.

 

The Chronicle of Higher Education

An overseas ed-tech firm wants to buy 2U. What could that mean for colleges?

By Taylor Swaak