UGA News

Happy Founders Day, UGA!

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The UGA Charter was signed on January 27, 1785, establishing the university as the first state-chartered institute of public higher education in America. To celebrate this historic anniversary, the university presents the annual Founders Day Lecture, which celebrates the ideals upon which the UGA was founded: to teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.

The 2016 lecture, “So You Think You’re Smarter than a Robot: The Race between Human Learning and Deep Learning,” will be presented by Thomas C. Reeves, Ph.D., professor emeritus of learning, design and technology at UGA’s College of Education.

Brian Heredia, a member of the Class of 2018, will provide the student response. Brian is a UGA Honors student and serves as an ambassador for the College of Education.

The lecture will be streamed live at www.ctl.uga.edu at 1:30 p.m.

Wish UGA a Happy Birthday on social media using #HBDUGA!

Study shows UGA has a $4.4 billion economic impact on Georgia

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Georgia’s flagship university has a $4.4 billion annual economic impact on the state, according to a new study that analyzed how the three-part teaching, research and service mission of the University of Georgia contributes to the economy.

The study, conducted by UGA economist Jeffrey Dorfman, quantified variables such as the increase in earnings that graduates of the university’s schools and colleges receive, revenues from the licensing of university inventions, and the creation of business and jobs resulting from the university’s public service and outreach units.

“Nowhere is the bond between the state of Georgia and the University of Georgia more evident than in our far-reaching economic impact,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “The contributions of UGA faculty, staff, students and alumni are helping to ensure a strong economic future for our state.” Continue reading this story.

Written by Whitten: Year-End Gratitude

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ProvostPamelaWhittenTo celebrate the end of the year, the UGA Alumni Association is featuring a post from Written by Whitten, Provost Pamela Whitten’s blog. 

As we approach the end of 2015, the University of Georgia community has so much to be proud of—and so much to look forward to in 2016.

Our students set several new academic records that reflect their extraordinary talent and the outstanding instruction and mentorship they receive from our faculty. Our freshman retention rate, for example, climbed by a full percentage point to reach a record 95.2 percent, and our six-year graduation rate climbed to 85.3 percent.

Students in our Honors Program earned some of the world’s top academic awards—including the Marshall, Truman and Udall Scholarships—and our faculty members received some of the nation’s most competitive teaching awards. In one notable example, UGA was the only university in the nation with two recipients of the Beckman Award for teaching excellence—Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander in the Terry College of Business and Melisa “Misha” Cahnmann-Taylor in the College of Education.

Our research enterprise surged forward, as well, with a 7 percent increase in external funding in the past fiscal year. Some notable grants this year include $18.8 million for Athletic Association Professor Samantha Joye’s ongoing work to investigate the long-term effects of the BP oil spill; an $8.2 million project led by associate professor Ted Futris in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences to improve the lives of children and families in the child welfare system; and a $1.9 million grant to professor Richard Gordon to make UGA’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute a National Resource Center for Latin American Studies. The success of these faculty members and many others in garnering support for their research in an extremely competitive funding environment is an indication of the quality of their work and its impact on our nation and world. Our faculty members are truly leaders in their fields.

Our dedicated faculty and staff in our Public Service and Outreach units reached across the state to strengthen the economy and enhance quality of life. Our Small Business Development Center, one of eight PSO units, worked with more than 4,700 business owners and prospective entrepreneurs to help create more than 3,000 new jobs and launch more than 330 new businesses. Marine Extension recently opened the state’s first oyster hatchery to help revive a once-thriving coastal industry, and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government trained more than 22,000 elected officials and public employees.

And last but certainly not least, our alumni and other supporters helped us achieve a new fundraising record that will result in more scholarship support for students and more endowed chairs to help attract and retain the world’s top faculty.

The accomplishments noted above and the many others that are too numerous to be listed here are the result of the dedication of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and other supporters. As 2015 draws to a close and we prepare for 2016, I’d like to once again express my appreciation for the many people who make the University of Georgia one of the nation’s leading public universities.

End of the Year Reflection

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Meredith GurleyPlease read the following note from Meredith Gurley Johnson (BSFCS ’00), executive director of the UGA Alumni Association:

The year is coming to a close and I am enjoying taking a look back at the previous 12 months – what a year it has been!

The successes we have enjoyed would not be possible without the continued support of our generous donors, loyal alumni, friends, parents, UGA faculty and students. The UGA Alumni Association’s priority is to serve our university by fostering strong relationships between our nearly 300,000 alumni and the university’s exceptional students.

I am personally thankful and proud of the Alumni Association’s staff, board members and volunteers for all that they have accomplished in 2015. Together, we created an updated strategic plan and are proposing new events and activities that will connect alumni to UGA in meaningful ways.

While there is plenty of which we should be proud, we are eagerly looking forward to 2016 and all the “new” that the New Year will bring. We will be launching an updated chapter structure, accompanied by new regional events and programs that will further connect alumni to students and the university. We will also be unveiling a new website and other digital communications resources for alumni and friends.

The work we do influences the lives of young people and that motivates us to accelerate our strategic plan to further engage alumni in the coming years.

Again, I thank those individuals who have helped us achieve so much thus far, and I invite anyone who is passionate about UGA to contact the Alumni Association to find out how they can play a role in what we do.

Happy holidays from the UGA Alumni Association – Go Dawgs!

UGA receives $1.49 million grant for HIV, TB research training in Uganda

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Every year, 50,000 people die in East Africa from tuberculosis. Worldwide, 1.5 million people die from the disease. And when HIV infection is added to the mix, TB becomes even more deadly. The University of Georgia is fighting against these numbers with a new $1.49 million grant from the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health.

UGA is partnering with Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, to train Ugandan scientists in new and emerging methods increasingly important in understanding the complex transmission dynamics of HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.

According to the World Health Organization, TB infections now rival HIV/AIDS as a leading cause of death from infectious diseases. Persons co-infected with TB and HIV are estimated to be 27-32 times more likely to develop active TB disease than persons without HIV.

“Infectious diseases do not respect human political borders,” said Dr. Christopher Whalen, the grant’s principal investigator and the Ernest Corn Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the UGA College of Public Health. “What is in Africa today could be in the U.S. tomorrow. Remember the concern about Ebola? It is better to contain infectious diseases at their source. To do this, you must build capacity in areas where the disease is most serious.”

UGA will use the five-year grant to enhance computational and molecular epidemiology training in tuberculosis and HIV in Uganda. To achieve this goal, the program will train two predoctoral students in molecular and computational epidemiology, offer non-degree technical training in computational epidemiology and bioinformatics, and support a variety of additional research and training activities in Uganda.

Training will be integrated into ongoing research projects Whalen is leading to investigate how social interactions that make up daily life in Uganda contribute to TB transmission in the context of a mature HIV epidemic.

Bioinformatics and computational epidemiology are currently not available in Uganda. “Disease transmission is difficult to study because it involves a community,” Whalen said. “Since it is not possible to study everyone in a community, we use the molecular and computational approaches to infer patterns of transmission within the community.”

Continue reading this story.

True and loyal be.

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Alma Mater, thee we’ll honor,

True and loyal be,

Ever crowned with praise and glory,

Georgia, hail to thee.

So goes the chorus of the University of Georgia Alma Mater. Words we proudly sing before football games and commencement ceremonies. Do we ever stop to reflect on their meaning?

Today is #GivingTuesday, a national day of philanthropy. Many spent Friday filling shopping bags with gifts, shopping local on Saturday, and scouring the internet for deals yesterday. Today is the first day of December and a symbolic beginning to the season of giving. Let us not forget the individuals and organizations that depend on our generosity to thrive.

UGA can sometimes be forgotten as a nonprofit worthy of that generosity. Tuition and state dollars do not fully fund the research, service and teaching that takes at the university; private giving closes the gap. Those donations fund scholarships for students who cannot afford to attend UGA (even with the HOPE Scholarship), incredible facilities to house endless hours of studying and teaching, events to promote networking and career exploration, and much more!

Today, UGA reminds you to keep it in mind when making your end-of-year gifts – no matter their size. Because when it comes to our alma mater, we hail to thee.

MAKE YOUR GIFT BEFORE MIDNIGHT!

UGA honors The Coca-Cola Foundation for its support of academics

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UGA recently honored The Coca-Cola Foundation for its legacy of supporting academics at the state’s flagship institution of higher education.

In an on-field presentation before the Nov. 21 football game, Coca-Cola representatives-Kirk Glaze, director of community partnerships; Gene Rackley (BBA ’90), director of federal government relations; and Scott Williamson (MMC ’92), vice president of public affairs and communications of Coca-Cola North America-were recognized by UGA officials for The Coca-Cola Foundation’s most recent gift of $1 million.

The money will provide additional funding for the Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars Program. UGA President Jere W. Morehead (JD ’80), Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Kelly Kerner and Coca-Cola First-Generation Scholars Angel Hogg ’18 and Michael Williams ’18 joined the representatives from Coca-Cola to accept the gift on behalf of the university.

“We are immensely grateful for the continued support of one of our state’s pre-eminent corporate partners,” Morehead said. “Coca-Cola’s generosity is providing vital support for deserving students from Georgia who are seeking to become the first in their families to earn a college degree.” Continue reading.

UGA to launch inclusive, post-secondary education program in 2017

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Students with intellectual or developmental disabilities will soon be able to enjoy the full UGA experience with the launch of a new inclusive post-secondary education program, Destination Dawgs, beginning in spring 2017.

The program, housed within the College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ Institute on Human Development and Disability, aims to assist those students’ transition into adulthood by fully immersing them in UGA life.

Destination Dawgs, still in development, aspires to have students reside in on-campus housing, audit classes and be supported by peer mentors who will assist the students in courses and on campus to improve their independent living skills.

“The goal is for Destination Dawgs participants to come out of the program with a platform for getting a good job and for leading a good adult life,” said Carol Britton Laws, an assistant clinical professor and coordinator of UGA’s Disability Studies Certificate program within the institute. “The unemployment rate for people with disabilities nationally is about 75 percent, and we’re trying to help students build skills and gain experiences that are marketable.”

Laws envisions a five-semester model with a small cohort of five students enrolling in the program in spring 2017.

Because students won’t enter the program through the regular admissions process, they will receive a certificate of completion rather than a degree.

The emphasis on developing and expanding post-secondary education opportunities in the state can be traced back to the founding of the Georgia Inclusive Postsecondary Education Consortium in 2011, which seeks to create opportunities for students who historically have not had access to postsecondary educational opportunities. The consortium is partly funded by the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities.

“What’s changing is that the students we have here now are what we call the ADA generation,” she said. “They’re the first generation of Americans born after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, and due to that and other legislation, they grew up with peers with intellectual differences in their classrooms to a greater extent than any of us did.”

Acknowledging disability is really about understanding diversity, Laws said.

“Disability is just one characteristic that is possible in human beings, but it is often a characteristic that is used to discriminate against a person or to limit their opportunities,” Laws said. “FACS has created a plan to increase the diversity of students within the college, and this program will fit with that.”

Continue reading this story.

World Kindness Day

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This guest blog is written by Abby McHan ’17, strategic communications intern for the UGA Alumni Association. 

November 13 is World Kindness Day, a day that celebrates acts of kindness, no matter how large or small. This day is dedicated to encouraging others to make a small act of random kindness and pay it forward to others. Historically speaking, November 13 is the day that the World Kindness Movement was created at the Tokyo Conference in 1997. Like World Kindness Day, the movement was created in order to create global awareness for the necessity of kindness in our world.

The UGA Alumni Association is lucky to have an alumni base that understands the concept of giving back. Many graduates commit acts of kindness through their professional careers, from educating children to providing small businesses with the financial expertise necessary for growth. Recognition and thanks need be given to alumni who are involved with their alma mater and communities. However, kindness does not have to involve giving money. Here are some small acts of kindness you might work into your everyday life:

  • Show your friends how much you appreciate them by writing a letter or even sending a quick “hope you’re doing well” text message.
  • Pick up stray litter around your community.
  • Invite friends or family over for dinner.
  • Offer to carry something to the mail room for your coworker.
  • Give someone a shout-out on your social media accounts for a job well done.
  • Be kind to yourself and don’t be afraid to splurge a little. Let yourself eat that slice of cake!

Use this day to take a step back and look around. No matter what, don’t be afraid to reach out and lend a hand to those who might need an extra boost of kindness around you.

Interview with Ted Barco, director of the Student Veterans Resource Center

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Screen Shot 2015-12-02 at 12.52.43 PMToday, the UGA Alumni Association is honored to recognize those Bulldogs who have served in the military. To highlight how UGA serves its student veteran population, Assistant Director of Communications Jamie Lewis (AB ’12, AB ’12) interviewed Ted Barco, the founding director of UGA’s Student Veterans Resource Center(SVRC).

Tell me about the history and mission of the SVRC. 

The SVRC was established in 2013 and is organized under the Office of the Dean of Students. Its mission is to serve as the go-to location for sensemaking, wayfinding and entry into an array of services provided by UGA and the surrounding community. We facilitate opportunities that enhance a student veteran’s ability to transition, perform, persist, graduate, and access a meaningful career path. The SVRC does this through a variety of methods and activities as shown in our operating model.

What are some barriers to success that veterans might encounter in school and how does the work of the SVRC assist in breaking down those barriers?

According to the Veterans Administration, only 48 percent of student veterans graduate from public universities and those that do take up to two years longer than traditional students. As non-traditional students, veterans face a myriad of obstacles to their success. Student veterans are:

  • More likely to be a first-generation college student
  • Less likely to participate in co-curricular activities
  • More likely to have responsibilities outside the classroom
  • Less likely to participate in experiential learning opportunities
  • More likely than not to run out of VA benefits before they graduate
  • More likely to perceive themselves to be more self-reliant than traditional students

The confluence of these factors creates a wickedly complex set of challenges to student veteran success that cannot be untangled by traditional stove-piped approaches.

How many student veterans do we have at UGA and what are the services they expect the SVRC to provide? 

Currently, we have more than 200 student veterans at UGA. The SVRC balances its role of being both a service provider and a facilitator of services. As a service provider, we offer specialized veterans orientation and activities, mentoring programs, work-study opportunities, awards, scholarships and more. As a facilitator of services, the SVRC offers connections to most services provided on campus and off, including admissions, financial aid, health care and career services.

UGA student veterans with President Jere W. Morehead (JD ’80)

How does private support help the SVRC?  

Financial support directly helps our student veterans succeed at UGA and beyond. About 65 percent of our student veterans are former enlisted service members who are using limited-duration VA educational benefits to pursue their degrees. About half support families while attending school, and a similar number work full- and part-time jobs. Many face the daunting challenge of exhausting their VA benefits before completing a degree, or managing an insufficient level of benefits that may not cover the cost of attending UGA. Others struggle to find a viable career path that includes financial aid, mentoring and job placement. Private support, which can also mean a donation of time, is able to bridge the gap created by these situations.

In response to these challenges, we are establishing a two-tier approach to private support. The first is financial. The SVRC offers many opportunities for naming rights of key SVRC spaces, establishment of scholarsips/programs and one-time awards, or contributions to support the SVRC’s emergency and/or operating funds. The second is experiential, which includes connecting students to meaningful summer internships and full-time career opportunities.

The SVRC recognizes every donor, regardless of the size of their gift, on a wall outside its facility. We can effectively leverage contributions ranging from $100 to $1,000,000 to assist in the success of our student veterans.

Finally, what are you most proud of about the SVRC and its students?

To their credit, our military-affiliated population competes on par with the general UGA population in terms of course load, GPA, completion rates and graduation rates.

In the last two years, UGA has been nationally recognized as Best for Vets, Military Friendly, and a Top Military College/University. This fall, for the first time, UGA gained national recognition as being in the top 15 percent of the nation’s student veterans programs.

To learn more about the SVRC, please visit its Facebook page. To support the SVRC, click here.