Updates from S. Jack Hu, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.

University of Georgia
Advancing Excellence: Updates from S. Jack Hu, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

January 31, 2024

In this new year and new semester, we continue to strengthen the hands-on learning, innovative research and community outreach that make the University of Georgia one of the nation’s great public universities.

 

This semester’s Signature Lecture Series offers a chance for our campus community to learn from the expertise and perspectives of distinguished scholars, researchers and leaders. These visiting speakers include two Nobel Prize-winning scientists, an acclaimed poet and Pulitzer Prize finalist and the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. All Signature Lectures are free and open to the public, and students are encouraged to attend. I invite you to join me in welcoming these esteemed thought leaders to our campus.

 

We will host the second annual Active Learning Summit on February 15 and 16 in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel’s Mahler Hall. This will be an exciting opportunity to hear about the state of active learning at UGA and to celebrate the faculty, staff and students who are leading this initiative.

 

Instructor development, a key part of active learning, has been a longtime focus at UGA. In 1999, the University of Georgia Teaching Academy was established as a forum to discuss, celebrate and promote teaching excellence. This semester marks a time of transition for the Academy with the retirement of Josef Broder, one of the Academy’s charter members and executive committee chair since its founding. His years of dedicated service have been instrumental in the Academy’s success. I look forward to working with the new leadership of the Academy, K. Paige Carmichael and Mark Huber, to build upon this impressive foundation. The call for applications for the Teaching Academy’s flagship teaching mentoring program for early career faculty, the Teaching Academy Early Career Fellows program, will go out on March 4, 2024.

 

Throughout this semester, may we each remain committed in our mission to advance excellence in our teaching, research and service.

 

Sincerely,

S. Jack Hu

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

 

 
Environmental portrait of UGA assistant professor Carla Schwan standing in front of a wall of food photos

TEACHING

Assistant professor shares experiences to teach food safety

Carla Schwan, assistant professor and UGA Extension food safety specialist in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, was 12 years old when she was treated for a serious bacterial infection called Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. As a food safety specialist, she handles inquiries from both the media and the public on all issues related to food safety. Schwan often recounts her childhood experience when discussing the importance of proper food safety techniques.

Two boys cross a bridge in Kambia, Sierra Leone, carrying an array of items for sale. In the country’s Eastern Province, 33% of children under 18 have experienced some form of child trafficking.

RESEARCH

It takes a village: CenHTRO works to slow

human trafficking

The University of Georgia’s Center on Human Trafficking Research & Outreach has been working with the Sierra Leone government, affected communities and local organizations to ensure that child trafficking victims receive the care they need and to prevent future trafficking across the country. To date, CenHTRO’s programs in Sierra Leone tripled the number of survivors identified and served.

At a recent event hosted by City of Refuge, 10 fellows packed 1,200 bags for students who are dealing with food insecurity. Photo by Wes Mayer depicts fellows packing and tying bags.

SERVICE

University of Georgia program addresses food insecurity in Athens

The UGA Office of Service-Learning (OSL) has established longstanding partnerships with community organizations to help address food insecurity in Athens. In 2023, OSL launched the AmeriCorps Community Food Fellows program with 20 part-time fellows who devote 900 hours of service to local organizations over the course of a year. Seventeen of the fellows are full-time UGA students.

 

RESOURCES 

Image: 4k portrait of a white English bulldog sitting at a desk in a professor’s office, with a glass award on the desk, wearing a graduation tam, a tie, and glasses.” prompt, Bing Image Creator, 16 Jan. 2024, https://www.bing.com/images/create/.

Innovation in AI Teaching Award

This award, presented by the Office of Instruction, recognizes University of Georgia faculty members whose exceptional contributions to the integration of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning have had a profound impact on a course, a program, the university or the larger academic community. Nominations may be submitted via online form by February 23, 2024.

Image: Park Hall cupola in the background with reeds and bare winter tree branches in the foreground.

Service-Learning Fellows Program

This year-long program provides an opportunity for faculty participants to learn best practices in service-learning and community engagement, and to integrate service-learning into their teaching, research and public service work while becoming recognized campus leaders in service-learning pedagogy and community engagement. Applications for the 2024-25 program are due by March 29, 2024.

Image: Overhead drone shot of the UGA campus at sunrise

State-of-the-Art Conference Grants

These grants provide UGA faculty the opportunity to organize a unique conference on the UGA campus that facilitates new interaction between national and international scholars and UGA faculty and students. Priority will be given to conferences with an international component, particularly those with the promise of international collaborations. The proposal deadline for the 2024-2025 academic year is April 1, 2024.

Image: A student walks across the lawn in front of the Main Library on North Campus during a foggy, overcast day.

CTL Lilly Teaching Fellows Program

This program provides opportunities for early career faculty to further develop skills associated with effective teaching and further develop their ability to appropriately balance teaching with their research and service roles. Up to 10 University of Georgia faculty members are selected each spring to begin participation in the two-year program the following fall. The deadline for the 2024-2026 cohort will be announced early this spring.

Banner that says ''We Know Georgia'' overlayed on photo of two men in a boat fishing off Georgia's coast
University of Georgia Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

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