University System News:
Inside Higher Ed
As the pandemic sapped dormitory projects of their financial reserves, a contractor told the University System of Georgia it had a “win-win” financial proposal, according to newly available documents. The system said no, and soon, the contractor allegedly said it would not be cleaning enough to meet state public health recommendations.
By Lilah Burke
Months after the University System of Georgia engaged in a back-and-forth over a financial proposal with the company that operates some of its dormitories, the contractor said it wouldn’t be cleaning adequately to meet state health department guidelines for the pandemic, according to newly disclosed emails and notes from university staff members. The company cut its staffing, and university employees began noticing maintenance issues in company-operated dorms, the documents indicate. The documents, obtained by a faculty and staff union in Georgia through a public records request, provide a detailed look at the sometimes-tense relationships between universities and the companies they pay for services. As the pandemic sapped sources of revenue and drained bank accounts, Corvias, a privately owned Rhode Island-based company that contracts with universities to provide housing services, proposed a plan that would improve key financial indicators for its campus dorms. But the university system said no, and the company didn’t like its reasons.
AllOnGeorgia
GSU Announces Education Degree Scholarship honoring Bonds Family
Georgia Southern University announced yesterday a scholarship for students pursuing degrees in education. The Dr. Charles and Dr. Lella Bonds Scholarship was created in honor of two exceptional Georgia Southern University alumni and former members of the College of Education (COE).
Cision
Dentist Recognized By Georgia Senate As Woman Making History
Rainge Elected First Female African American President of Dental Association
In celebration of the first day of Women’s History Month, Dr. Louvenia A. Rainge was recognized by the Georgia Senate as the 152nd president of the Georgia Dental Association (GDA). Dr. Rainge, a general dentist from Augusta, is the GDA’s first female African American president. She is known throughout the state for her long-standing commitment to the dental profession, passion for service, and advocacy efforts in removing barriers to care for all Georgia citizens. …She is also an Honorable Fellow of the GDA and has been named alumnus of the year by both the Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University and Georgia Southern University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics.
Athens CEO
Georgia 4-H Celebrates Annual AmeriCorps Week
Cristina deRevere
From March 7 through March 13, Georgia 4-H joins thousands of 4-H Americans across the country to celebrate the valuable contributions of AmeriCorps members during AmeriCorps Week. AmeriCorps engages 270,000 Americans each year in sustained, results-driven service. AmeriCorps Week is a time to celebrate the impact of AmeriCorps programs and thank members for their service. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and Georgia 4-H leverage the support of two AmeriCorps programs – AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) and AmeriCorps State. Both programs strive to increase the capacity of Georgia 4-H and local 4-H programs.
FENews.co.uk
Suffrage Science award for Royal Academy of Engineering CEO
by Royal Academy of Engineering
The 2021 Engineering and Physical Sciences award winners are:
Professor Natalie Stingelin, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
News Break
Augusta University returning to face-to-face instruction fall 2021
Augusta University leaders are planning ways to get students and faculty back on their campuses. Face-to-face instruction is set to resume for the fall semester. “This fall doesn’t worry me nearly what’ve I’ve been through,” said Vice Provost for Instruction Dr. Zach Kelehear.
WRBL
by: Amanda Peralta
Three Troup County high schools have partnered with the University of Georgia to provide the high school agriculture students with an extension of their classes and tools. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on Pegasus Parkway where the new site will be housed on Feb. 9, 2021. Multiple agriculture students were in attendance along with the county commissioners to welcome the new site. The site will expand across 48 acres and will provide the students with a place where they can learn where their food comes from. The program is not mandatory and students who elect to participate must also be enrolled in general education classes. …The partnership with the University of Georgia allows for students and farmers of all ages to learn directly from the school of agriculture at UGA and is a tool that Commissioner Jones is hoping many farmers will continue to use.
ABC News Radio
Behold, “pandemic fog” — or maybe you already have it
If you’re finding yourself wondering what day it is — today’s Monday, FYI — or you forgot what your local watering hole smells like, you’re likely suffering from what some have labeled “pandemic fog.” The Atlantic writer Ellen Cushing looked into exactly why she was feeling so off, and according to experts she spoke with, the answer is COVID-19. Not the disease itself, but the everything that surrounds it: isolation, anxiety, boredom, the whole coronavirus potpourri. “Our brains are very good at learning different things and forgetting the things that are not a priority,” says Tina Franklin, a neuroscientist at Georgia Tech,” meaning we’re shelving things that aren’t important day-to-day nowadays but which used to be — like a colleague’s name, or a friend’s anniversary. In their place, we can likely spot six feet of distance from the next customer at CVS, remember not to leave the house without a mask, and to sing “Happy Birthday” twice when we’re washing our hands.
Johnson City Press
Georgia’s ag industry weathering storms — with UGA’s help
It’s been a rough three years for Georgia pecan farmers, whose cash crop has been battered by a hurricane, a fungal tree disease, and a global pandemic — all in relatively rapid succession. But many have tapped into the strength of connection with the University of Georgia. That’s what rescued alumni Rob Cohen and Eric Cohen when their Pecan Ridge Plantation in Bainbridge began to drown after Hurricane Michael destroyed 800 acres in late 2018. …The brothers have replanted some lost trees and say they hope to eventually return to business as usual. Meanwhile, they have scaled up related business endeavors with deep ties to the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension programs, including new fumigation techniques and crop consulting for cotton, peanuts and soybeans. Eric Cohen’s son is a freshman at UGA.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated March 9)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 15,647 | Deaths have been confirmed in every county. 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: 830,114 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Selective institutions are thriving in admissions this year, Common App shows. Not only are they getting more applicants over all, but also more from minority, first-gen and low-income groups.
By Scott Jaschik
The more selective colleges and universities have had a very good year in admissions, according to new data from the Common Application. Not only do they have more applicants, but they are enjoying substantial increases for minority, first-generation and low-income applicants as well. The figures come from the Common App’s new data, which are through March 1. It may seem late in the year to be releasing application totals, because many colleges no longer accept applications after Jan. 15 or Feb. 1 or Feb. 15. But 617 out of the 917 four-year members of the Common App are still accepting applications this year and many will go on doing so right up until students enroll. (All of the data only compare colleges that were Common App members last year and this year.) In overall numbers, the year-over-year decline in first-generation applicants reached -1 percent
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A New Group Promises to Protect Professors’ Free Speech
Faculty members should have less to fear from antsy administrators and Twitter mobs.
By Wesley Yang
When I spoke to the Princeton University legal scholar and political philosopher Robert P. George in August, he offered a vivid zoological metaphor to describe what happens when outrage mobs attack academics. When hunted by lions, herds of zebras “fly off in a million directions, and the targeted member is easily taken down and destroyed and eaten.” A herd of elephants, by contrast, will “circle around the vulnerable elephant.” …Today, that organization, the Academic Freedom Alliance, formally issued a manifesto declaring that “an attack on academic freedom anywhere is an attack on academic freedom everywhere,” and committing its nearly 200 members to providing aid and support in defense of “freedom of thought and expression in their work as researchers and writers or in their lives as citizens,” “freedom to design courses and conduct classes using reasonable pedagogical judgment,” and “freedom from ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths.” The alliance will intervene in academic controversy privately, by pressuring administrators, and publicly, by issuing statements citing the principles at stake in the outcomes of specific cases. Crucially, it will support those needing legal aid, either by arranging for pro bono legal representation or paying for it directly.
Inside Higher Ed
COVID-19: A Moment for Women in STEM?
National Academy of Sciences panel chronicles what COVID-19 has been like for female scientists and then urges institutions to take meaningful, equity-minded action on their findings.
By Colleen Flaherty
Colleges and universities had to react quickly to COVID-19, including with respect to the faculty. A year into the pandemic, it’s time to pause and assess the impact that it has had on professors — especially on women, who face disproportionately more caregiving work at home and corresponding blows to their productivity. Then it’s time to move forward more thoughtfully, guided by policies that center equity and intersectionality. This is the essential message of a massive new consensus report on COVID-19 and the careers of women in academic sciences, engineering and medicine from the National Academy of Sciences.
Inside Higher Ed
2 Charged With Helping International Students Trick Their Way Into Top Colleges
By Scott Jaschik
Yi Chen and Yixin Li have been charged by federal prosecutors with running businesses in Southern California that charged foreign students thousands of dollars for “guaranteed” admission to a college that would lead to the issuance of an F-1 student visa. Students used the service, prosecutors said, to gain admission to such places as New York University, Columbia University, Boston College and several University of California campuses. To secure admission, the companies prepared application packages that used bogus or altered transcripts, and they hired people to impersonate the prospective student to take standardized tests such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language.