University System News:
yahoo!finance
Fort Valley State University Erases Nearly $250,000 in Student Debt
Fort Valley State University (FVSU) President Dr. Paul Jones announced today that the institution will clear the outstanding account balances of more than 200 students. As part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) signed into federal law in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university will discharge student debt incurred for the Spring 2020 through Spring 2021 semesters. Students who were enrolled on or after March 13, 2020 are eligible for the debt cancellation totaling nearly $250,000. FVSU removed all financial holds on student accounts for any unpaid balances. Eligible student accounts are now clear and in good standing with a zero balance.
The Brunswick News
College events to help students prepare for fall semester
By Lauren McDonald
College of Coastal Georgia will host events next week intended to make enrolling at the college easier. The Coastal QuickStart events will be a one-stop, pop-up shop for students to register for the upcoming fall semester. The events will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Andrews Center on campus. Classes begin at the college, in Brunswick and at the Camden Center, on Aug. 16. The special event is for both new and current students.
Douglas Now
SGSC TO BEGIN A NEW ACADEMIC YEAR WITH FACULTY AND STAFF CONVOCATION
South Georgia State College will usher in a new academic year Monday, August 9, 2021, with Faculty and Staff Convocation. The opening ceremony welcomes new and returning employees to the college community and marks the official launch of the fall semester. Convocation activities will take place all week for faculty and staff. Events will include a time to recognize faculty tenure and promotion and to celebrate employees’ years of service to SGSC, including retiree recognitions. Several sessions will be held during the week to provide professional learning opportunities. This year’s keynote address will be presented by Mr. Alfred Barker, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Security Officer & Cybersecurity with the Board of Regents at the University System of Georgia.
WFXG
Augusta University president to host town hall on Aug. 5
By Jasmyn Cornell
Dr. Brooks A. Keel, president of Augusta University, will host a town hall to provide updated information for students, faculty, and staff regarding campus operations in the fall. The event is being held on Thursday, August 5, at 4 p.m. Guests can attend in person at the Auditoria Center on the Health Sciences Campus or watch the livestream.
Albany Herald
PHOTOS: Albany State University Nurse Pinning Ceremony – Summer 2021
Family and friends gathered at Albany State University on Thursday, July 29, 2021 for a pinning ceremony for new nurses.
yahoo!news
Run for the Nurses scheduled at ABAC on Oct. 30
The Run for the Nurses helps to fund the Lisa Purvis Allison Spirit of Nursing Scholarship at ABAC. [who passed away shortly after graduating from ABAC’s nursing school in 2009] …”The scholarship fund honors Lisa and provides financial assistance to ABAC nursing students who have the same drive and passion for nursing that Lisa had.” Ross said the scholarship is awarded to two qualified nursing students each year. Students utilize funds to pay for final semester costs, such as testing and licensure fees.
MSN
Richard Franza: ‘Orientation’ is the first step toward employee retention
We are in the middle of “orientation season” here at Augusta University. While classes for our new undergraduates begin Aug. 11, they can choose to attend one of nine virtual or 10 in-person orientation sessions offered for them and their families from July 7 to Aug. 2. While the orientation sessions cover such topics as how to achieve academic success, paying for college/financial aid and maintaining good health while going to college, students also spend time with representatives of the academic college of their major to acclimate them to their future studies. I provided incoming students with a presentation about the Hull College of Business and answered their questions. …We use orientation as a significant tool in retaining our students. If they start off their time at Hull knowing important information and excited about the journey ahead, they will more likely persevere and succeed, leading to retention, progression and graduation. As I reflected upon our Hull orientation, I came to the conclusion that businesses can use similar methods with new employees to increase the likelihood of retaining them.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Athens poised to revive mask mandate as UGA students prepare to return
By Greg Bluestein
The Athens-Clarke County Commission is likely to revive a partial mask mandate as thousands of University of Georgia students prepare to return to campus amid a surge in new coronavirus cases. The commission is set to vote Tuesday on a measure that would require mask usage indoors, though it allows private businesses to opt-out. Athens would become the third major city in Georgia to reinstitute the requirements, after Atlanta and Savannah adopted similar orders last week. It sets up a complicated town-and-gown clash over Covid-19 in the hometown of Gov. Brian Kemp. While Athens-Clarke is among the state’s most aggressive counties in adopting coronavirus restrictions, the university and state agencies have not imposed face covering requirements.
WFXG
MCG studies effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and immune system
By Eliza Kruczynski
A study at the Medical College of Georgia, SPARTA, has proven how important vaccinations are in preventing the spread of COVID-19. “What we’re doing is comparing the natural immunity versus vaccine induced immunity,” says Ravindra Kolhe, Vice Chairman of the Department of Pathology Medical College of Georgia. Is there a difference between the vaccines? How long do they last? Those are the questions they’re trying to figure out. “We’ve only known about this virus for the last year and a half, and our collective knowledge of this is not that much as what we know about cancer or the flu or something like that.” Kolhe says the biggest thing they’ve identified in their study so far is how natural immunity is extremely different for everyone who was infected by the virus.
Before It’s News
Study shows recall-associated outbreaks have more illnesses
Every year there are hundreds of foodborne disease outbreaks reported in the United States. However, relatively few are actually associated with food recalls. A study recently published in Epidemiology & Infection and online by Cambridge University Press compared 226 outbreaks associated with food recalls with those not associated with recalls during 2006–2016. The study, led by Qihua Qiu an assistant professor of Economics at Augusta University, found that recall-associated outbreaks had, on average, more illnesses per outbreak and higher proportions of hospitalizations and deaths than non-recall associated outbreaks. The findings suggest that improved outbreak vehicle identification and traceability of rarely recalled foods could lead to more recalls of these products, resulting in fewer illnesses and deaths.
Growing America
UGA research on milkweed breeding featured on the cover of HortScience
University of Georgia researchers created the first successful interspecific hybridization of milkweed (Asclepias sp.), landing them the cover of the July issue of the journal HortScience. The research, led by College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences doctoral candidate Mary Lewis and horticulture professor Matthew Chappell, focused on breeding a milkweed plant with commercially desirable traits that would support pollinators. The research team included late professor Paul Thomas, graduate research assistant Rebekah Maynard and Ball Horticultural Company senior plant breeder Ockert Greyvenstein.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated July 30)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 932,145
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 18,711 | 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
The Number of Colleges Continues to Shrink
More public and private two-year and four-year colleges closed or merged between 2019-20 and 2020-21 than was true for for-profit institutions, a change from recent trends.
By Doug Lederman
The days when releases of federal data on college enrollments were newsworthy have largely passed, ever since the National Student Clearinghouse began reporting much more up-to-date information and doing so on a quarterly basis. But the U.S. Education Department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System remains the best source of data on many other aspects of American higher education. And its most recent release of data shows that the higher education industry is continuing to shrink — and that the for-profit sector is no longer the only one constricting. The number of colleges and universities eligible to award federal financial aid fell to 6,063 in the just completed 2020-21 academic year, down from 6,145 in 2019-20 and 6,642 in 2017-18.
Inside Higher Ed
Best Safety Practices and Policy, According to Students
From free speech and campus security approaches to Title IX regulation and COVID-19 mitigation, here’s what students say would help them feel safe and secure.
By Melissa Ezarik
Policies at the federal, state and institution level aimed at protecting free speech, student safety and victims of assault are favored by students more than efforts to safeguard against COVID-19 on campuses. That’s according to the latest Student Voice survey from Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse and presented by Kaplan. The late-June survey of 2,035 current students from 113 colleges and universities sought student opinion on policies that impact (or would impact) students but are developed by legislators or higher ed leaders. Support for Free Speech …Safety and Security Preferences
Inside Higher Ed
The expansion will allow more people to participate in prison education programs while the department prepares for across-the-board Pell Grant access for incarcerated students.
By Alexis Gravely
The Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative will be expanded for the 2022-23 award year to allow another 69 colleges and universities to participate, paving the way for even more incarcerated individuals to gain access to higher education. A maximum of 200 two- and four-year colleges will be able to offer prison education programs with the support of the Pell Grant, up from the 131 institutions currently participating. The department is also planning to broaden the geographic scope of Second Chance Pell, with the goal of having programs in most or all 50 states. “The department is expanding educational availability to thousands more students,” said Reid Setzer, director of government affairs at the Education Trust. “It’s also building on the bipartisan consensus that the prior policy was wrong and needs to be corrected. I do view it as a significant victory, especially for those students.”
Inside Higher Ed
New report pushes for expanded federal role in regulating guns at higher education institutions, as many states have passed laws permitting campus carry.
By Elizabeth Redden
A report published last week by the left-leaning think tank the Center for American Progress argues the federal government should assume a bigger role in regulating guns on college campuses to counter state efforts to pass laws allowing for the carrying of guns on campuses. About 10 states have laws in place that compel public colleges to allow firearms on their campuses to varying degrees. Montana was the latest state to pass a law allowing for campus carry earlier this year. A court temporarily blocked the law from going into effect after the Montana Board of Regents filed suit arguing it infringes on the authority granted to the board under the Montana state constitution to set campus policies. Litigation is ongoing.