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

September 30, 2021

Thanks to the dedication of our faculty, staff, students, and academic leaders, the University continues to receive national recognition for its commitment to inclusive excellence.

Earlier this month, we learned that we have received the INSIGHT Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award for the eighth consecutive year. UGA was recognized for long-standing programs in areas such as student recruitment and success, as well as several new initiatives guided by our five-year Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Plan.

For the sixth year in a row, UGA has earned a top 20 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of America’s best public universities. Our number 16 ranking reflects our outstanding graduation and retention rates and factors such as our national reputation, number of small classes, and level of alumni support. 

As the semester progresses, I continue to meet with faculty in our schools and colleges. In addition to giving me an opportunity to introduce our new Vice President for Research, Dr. Karen Burg, these meetings allow me to hear first-hand the concerns and aspirations of faculty.

I held my first fall semester session of office hours for students earlier this week, and I look forward to meeting with more students in October. Student success is a high priority at UGA. Getting to know students as individuals is illuminating and inspiring, particularly when the vice provosts and I hear the individual stories and career aspirations of undergraduate and graduate students. Last spring I had the pleasure of mentoring a group of five engineering students for their capstone design project. All of them worked creatively and effectively as a team. Their final project presentation can be found here.

Our students, and the national recognitions highlighted above, exemplify the shared commitment to academic excellence that defines the University of Georgia. I thank all of you for continuing to work with colleagues within your units and across campus to advance the University’s vital missions of teaching, research, and service.

Sincerely,

S. Jack Hu

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

TEACHING

UGA earns No. 16 ranking among nation’s best public universities

For the sixth year in a row, the University of Georgia has earned a top 20 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of America’s best public universities. The university’s No. 16 ranking comes at a time when measures of student success and demand for a UGA education are at record levels.

RESEARCH

UGA to co-lead NSF center to study oceanic ecosystems

UGA, along with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will co-lead a new National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center that will pursue and promote a deeper understanding of the microbial worlds and chemical processes that swirl throughout the Earth’s oceanic ecosystems.

SERVICE

Rural hospital in Pulaski County now thriving 

In 2015, Pulaski County’s hospital faced bankruptcy. Then UGA stepped in. Without assistance from the university, Taylor Regional Hospital in Hawkinsville might have closed six years ago.

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