AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Paine College has announced it is suspending benefits for its employees.

The college issued a statement on Wednesday surrounding the changes in health and medical benefits.

“Due to rising costs of maintaining health benefits for employees, the college decided to pursue a more cost-effective provider,” said Paine College in a statement.

The college says they were unable to reach a viable agreement with its recent provider which resulted in cancellation of coverage.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused our employees,” said President Dr. Cheryl Evans Jones. “We are currently negotiating with insurance carriers in search of a lower-cost provider. It is our intent to resolve this matter expeditiously and restore affordable health and medical benefits for our employees.”

The college says vision and dental coverage remain active.

“We are committed to the well-being of our employees and keeping the lines of communication open as we navigate through this process,” said Jones. “I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our employees for their dedication and cooperation during this time.”

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Students again will have to take standardized tests like the ACT or SAT for admission to Augusta University starting in the fall of 2026.

The Georgia Board of Regents on Tuesday voted to again start requiring the tests at AU, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University and Kennesaw State University.

Test requirements had already been restored for the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia College and State University, the system’s three most selective schools.

An increasing number of colleges nationwide are restoring testing requirements – many of which were dropped during the COVID pandemic – including elite schools such as Harvard, Yale and MIT, as well as public institutions including the University of Tennessee system.

Tests have never been required at many of Georgia’s nine state colleges, intended to be the least selective of the state’s four tiers of schools. But they had long been required for admission to the state’s 17 public universities until the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

HAPPENING TODAY:

• Augusta University President Brooks Keel will give his final State of the University address at 2 p.m. He’s retiring this summer.

With testing services unable to guarantee the exams would be available, the system suspended testing requirements, instead admitting students based only on high school grades. Students who submit optional tests may be admitted with lower grades.

Under the new policy, other schools can require a test score starting fall 2026, but are not mandated to require one.

Chancellor Sonny Perdue has long said he believes tests plus high school grades are a better predictor of college success than grades alone.

“The standardized testing will be a great instrument for us to determine the strengths and weaknesses of every student coming in,” Perdue told regents Tuesday at a meeting in Atlanta.

Regents had previously discussed imposing testing requirements in the fall of 2025, but leaders of some of the affected universities say another year will give them more time to adjust.

The system had moved to reimpose testing requirements in fall 2022, but found that applications fell, and that many students didn’t finish their applications for lack of a test score. That year, University System of Georgia officials blamed the test requirement, before it was dropped, for causing a shortfall in applications.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta commissioners took another step toward auditing the Parks and Recreation Department, following the departure of former director Maurice McDowell.

On Tuesday, a committee approved the audit. Now, it’s up to the full commission to decide next week.

They’re trying to clean the slate, following a controversial departure.

“What we want to make sure we’re doing is adding in processes that will make our city more transparent,” said Commissioner Jordan Johnson.

Right now, they’ve narrowed the field down to 16 candidates to fill the Parks and Rec head position. While they look to the future of that position, they’re also looking to make sure there are no lingering issues from the past.

Some areas they are interested in exploring in the audit include Riverwalk expenditures, park expenditures, hotel stays with locations by employees, an IT search if any documents were deleted, community center dollars and more.

The auditing firm they selected, UHY, would charge a little more than $70,000 to explore this and more, within 90 days of commissioners’ approval.

Commissioners also tossed around the idea of tacking on audits for other issues they came across, like a new furniture request for a little more than $150,000 for the new Henry Brigham Center.

Commissioner Catherine Smith-McKnight said: “Ya’ll ain’t gonna wanna hear this, but it is beginning to smell fishier than a fish market.”

Commissioner Brandon Garrett responded: “I’m not even sure where to pick up on this one. Well, you know, apparently they stink.”

In every instance, commissioners brought up the need for more audits and oversight.

But a $300,000 to $400,000 full government operational audit failed to pass months ago.

“Again, more accountability has got to be put in place in this government that is just not there currently,” said Commissioner Sean Frantom.

Also at Commission…

• SPLOST 9 work session scheduled is scheduled for June 20. Infrastructure and Facilities Work and FY25 Budget Retreat is scheduled for June 26.
• Three Flock Cameras will be placed at the three entrances to Goshen Plantation for one year, with a total cost of $10,500.
• Commissioners approved 17 Dodge police chargers and a Dodge Durango for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office for $840,749.26.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.