University System News
AUDIO: Savannah Morning News
Difference Makers Podcast
Savannah State president Kimberly Ballard-Washington joins the latest episode of the Difference Makers podcast to discuss her decision to take on the permanent role at SSU after working as the interim president, what she hopes to accomplish while at the institution, enrollment at SSU and the future of HBCUs in general.
41 NBC
Fort Valley State University student selected as HBCU Scholar
By Lizbeth Gutierrez
The White House selected a Fort Valley State University student to be an HBCU Scholar. At only 19 years old, Taylor Dorsey will be one of fifteen students from Georgia named to this program. Dorsey is a junior majoring in political science and says she’s excited to learn so much in her new role. She will travel to Washington, D.C. in September for the HBCU Week national annual conference. That’s where she’ll learn more about entrepreneurship, innovation, personal and professional development.
Growing Georgia
ABAC Expects Over 4,000 Students on First Day of Classes
Staff Reports
Over 4,000 students are expected to strap on their backpacks and hike to class when Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College opens the 2021 fall semester on Aug. 10, marking the second straight fall term that ABAC has experienced an enrollment increase. For ABAC President David Bridges, it is a return to the way college life ought to be. “We want to make this fall semester as close to normal as we can,” Bridges, who approaches his record-setting 16th fall semester as the ABAC president, said. “With the pandemic, there was nothing normal about last year.
WTOC
Thousands of Georgia Southern students arriving on campuses this weekend
By Dal Cannady
Thousands of Georgia Southern students will arrive and move in on-campus housing this Friday and Saturday…University leaders say they’re trying to balance the personable, hands-on tradition of Move In Day with the concerns over COVID. “Operation Move-In” uses hundreds of volunteers to help students and parents get settled in their new home. University leaders say they’ve modified the process during COVID to eliminate long lines and large crowds of people. They say it’s a challenge with close to 5,000 residents in Statesboro and close to 1,000 in Savannah. But they’re taking steps to give arrivals their space.
WGAU
UGA expands transfer admissions program
By Tim Bryant
The University of Georgia has created a new transfer pathway program to fast-track a select group of wait-listed students for admission. UGA says the Transfer Pathway program gives students an opportunity to apply a semester earlier than the traditional transfer route, which often results in students applying for admission in the fall semester of their sophomore year.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Clayton State University clears student balances
By Eric Stirgus
Clayton State University is using federal funds to help several thousand students who fell behind on their account balances during the coronavirus pandemic. The university announced Wednesday it is using American Rescue Plan funds to help nearly 6,000 students resolve current account balances, allowing them to remain enrolled for the fall semester. About $6 million of the funds allocated to Clayton State is being used to assist with the costs for students with the most financial need during fall 2021, university officials said.
Americus Times Recorder
By Ken Gustafson
Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) utilized Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF III) to discharge over $110,000 in students’ overdue, unpaid balances and will distribute more than $3 million to enrolled students over the coming year. HEERF III was designed to remedy financial hardships created or made worse by the pandemic. GSW was able to clear the overdue, unpaid account balances of 82 students (those enrolled for the Spring 2020 through Spring 2021 semesters) totaling $110,667.15. Until their balances were paid, these students were unable to obtain official transcripts or complete progress toward their degrees.
Story also appeared on WRBL and WALB.
The Savannah Morning News
Georgia, the ‘No. 1 state to do business’ drives hard bargain in wooing economic development
By Adam Van Brimmer
A former boss of mine used to say “You don’t really want to know how the sausage is made.” When the wurst is economic development and you are a behind-the-business nerd like me, though, you want to know as much as you can about the process so you can measure the return on investment… As local economist Michael Toma of Georgia Southern University told Kenmore, “Georgia will deploy its incentives to compete with the incentives being offered by other states, but that Georgia does tend to be more conservative in its offering of said incentives.”
Savannah CEO
Savannah State University Names Megan Davidson Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs
Staff Reports
Megan Davidson joins Savannah State University (SSU) as its new vice president for Business and Financial Affairs. Davidson assumes responsibility for managing all areas of business and financial affairs including accounting, budget, payroll, human resources, campus police, information technology, plant operations, office of the bursar, and auxiliary services. “Mrs. Davidson has been a leader at several University System of Georgia institutions and served on various University System committees,” Kimberly Ballard-Washington, president at Savannah State University said. “Her tireless work ethic, centered on policy, is rooted in her passion for student success. We are elated to welcome her to the university.”
WJBF
Augusta University school leaders not requiring vaccines for faculty and staff
By: Ashley Jones
Augusta University President Dr. Brooks Keel is laying out guidelines for faculty and staff as students return to campus. It’s the first in-person town hall meeting that the University has held had since the pandemic started. Dr. Keel wants students and staff to know that while they don’t have to be vaccinated, they do need to be cautious.
Story also appeared in The Augusta Chronicle.
Athens Banner-Herald
Linnentown residents push for UGA to return the historically Black neighborhood property
By DJ Simmons
Hattie Thomas Whitehead waited nervously in February as Athens-Clarke County commissioners voted on the Linnentown resolution. The resolution represented the first step for the city in addressing the destruction of Linnentown, a Black neighborhood destroyed in the 1960s through urban renewal to establish new dorms for the University of Georgia.
Other News
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated August 4)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is keeping track of reported coronavirus deaths and cases across Georgia according to the Department of Public Health. See details in the map below. See the DPH’s guide to their data for more information about definitions.
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 18,797 | 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: 949,716 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most Fulton County schools to require masks when school opens
By Vanessa McCray
Masks will be required in nearly all schools within Fulton County when classes start Monday. The exception are schools located in Johns Creek, where COVID-19 case numbers were just low enough to fall under the district’s threshold for requiring masks.
The New York Times
School Is Back in Session in Atlanta. Teachers and Families Are Wary.
By Tariro Mzezewa
When the Atlanta Public Schools reopened on Thursday, students and teachers anticipated — finally — something like a return to normalcy. Schools, now open for in-person classes five days a week, greeted students with balloons. The kindergartners at Morningside Elementary wore brightly colored crowns to celebrate…The reopening comes amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases across the state. And while the district is requiring its staff and students to wear masks and to social distance, the rate of vaccinations among eligible students is just 18 percent, making disruptive outbreaks of illness a significant worry.
Georgia Health News
South Georgia hospitals feel strain as COVID cases skyrocket
By Andy Miller
To describe the current COVID surge, hospital leaders in South Georgia are using strong words, such as ‘‘scary,’’ ‘‘fear’’ and “overwhelmed.’’ The state’s COVID-19 map shows most of the hottest spots for the latest case surge are in the southern part of Georgia. And some hospital officials in the region say the impact is worse than the previous three COVID surges.
Higher Education News
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Quinnipiac Poll Finds Divided Opinions on Covid Vaccine Mandates at Universities
By Kate Bellows
A Quinnipiac University national poll of adults released on Thursday found that Americans are split on whether universities should require students to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. The poll found that 48 percent of respondents supported a vaccine requirement; 49 percent opposed one; and 3 answered that they didn’t know or “N/A.”
Inside Higher Education
Student Performance in Remote Learning, Explored (Imperfectly)
By Doug Lederman
The quest to figure out just how much the COVID-19 pandemic affected college-level learning is understandable, not least so that colleges and universities can address any potential setbacks students have suffered as many hope to return to more “normal” learning environments this fall…They find that when accounting for certain differences in student and instructor traits, students in face-to-face courses “perform better than their online counterparts with respect to their grades, the propensity to withdraw from the course, and the likelihood of receiving a passing grade.” The researchers say their findings hold steady both before and after the pandemic descended in spring 2020.