Update on Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, including AU Cares

Offers of support and outreach continue to come in and senior leadership is working to determine how we can best support the members of our Augusta University community. Below are current updates affecting our faculty, staff, students and AU community at large.

Facilities Services

Our Facilities Services team continues to assess the status of our buildings and grounds. Buildings on the Summerville Campus have been surveyed and are in good condition, although the campus overall still lacks power. Debris and tree removal operations are continuing. City officials gave AU the go-ahead to bring generators back online to provide water to buildings on the Health Sciences Campus, including hospital spaces.  

Information Technology

All critical IT systems remain running on backup power systems.

Student Safety and Security

Our Division of Enrollment & Student Affairs remains in contact with students and their families. The Dean of Students’ Office is offering updates and information regarding available resources, including the following:

• Need access to power and WIFI? On the Health Sciences Campus, the Greenblatt Library and Student Center are open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center will open the first floor of the Shaffer MacCartney building tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for charging of laptops and phones. 
• For counseling, students have been urged to call 833-910-3364, available 24/7, or visit the Jags Live Well website.
• If you have been working with Student Health Services and need assistance with medication management, please email studenthealth@augusta.edu.

For students living off campus, local emergency management resources are being provided through Richmond, Columbia and Aiken counties as follows: 

• Augusta, Georgia Fire/EMA
• Columbia County, GA EMA
• Aiken County Department of Emergency Management
• Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency

Classroom Instruction

Academic leadership is working with department chairs to help faculty address gaps in instruction in a way that puts the welfare of our students and our faculty at the forefront of our decisions. Also, rest assured that we are mindful of upcoming academic deadlines. Midterms will be delayed and the time for withdrawing without academic penalty and class registration will be postponed.

Counseling

Students have been urged to call 833-910-3364, available 24/7, or visit the Jags Live Well website. Faculty and staff can also access a number of mental health resources which includes coverage through employee health care plans and free options through USG. 

Caring for Our Fellow Team Members

Anyone who is classified as an essential operations employee who can safely reach campus should report for duty and communicate with their supervisor with any questions. 

If additional members of the AU community are able to safely report to campus, they can volunteer where needed by signing up here. 

When you sign up to volunteer, you’ll receive detailed information from the primary point of contact for your designated station. Please note that all AU and non-AU employees and students will be required to sign a waiver upon arrival for their volunteer shift.

AU Cares

If you are experiencing needs as a result of Hurricane Helene, we want to help you find the resources you need and, in some instances, may be able to connect you with others in our AU community who can provide assistance.

If you are able, please consider providing resources or volunteering to address the needs within our AU community. Some of these needs are on our own campuses, and others are being experienced by our colleagues.

To let us know about a need you have, to offer resources or to volunteer, go to AU Cares.

Together, we will recover and rebuild.

All updates around Hurricane Helene can be found here.