UGA Columns September 29, 2014

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Researcher’s study finds that yellow filters in eye result in higher visibility RESEARCH NEWS

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The University of Georgia Campus becomes ‘Sic ’Em City’ for students, alumni during Homecoming Week

Vol. 42, No. 10

www.columns.uga.edu

September 29, 2014

kyletsch@uga.edu

Camie Williams

Michelle Dookwah, who is in her second year in UGA’s Integrated Life Sciences graduate program, says she found her “home” after exploring several labs investigating cancer. The Integrated Life Sciences program was redesigned and expanded this year. A video about the program is at http://ils.uga.edu/.

Lab trials

UGA reimagines graduate education with redesigned Integrated Life Sciences program camiew@uga.edu

UGA is giving graduate students entering in the life sciences one of the nation’s broadest range of research opportunities through its redesigned and expanded Integrated Life Sciences program. More than 50 students recently started their studies in the relaunched program, which allows them to gain hands-on experience in three labs before selecting a major professor and research focus. The students can choose those labs from among a slate of more than 200 faculty members and 14 participating doctoral programs in four different colleges. Nancy Manley, director of the program and a professor of genetics

in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, said that the remodeled ILS program expands upon the concept of umbrella programs, in which multiple departments partner in graduate recruitment. Students in the ILS program can rotate through labs in fields as disparate as entomology, biochemistry, infectious diseases and plant biology or explore interdisciplinary topics such as cancer, climate change, evolutionary biology or neurosciences. “Even though the idea of an umbrella program has been around a long time, ILS, as it is now incarnated, is a really new way of thinking about graduate education,” Manley said. “It’s really about breaking down those departmental lines and saying, ‘Look at the

science these people are doing.’ You may be interested in drug discovery, but you may be able to take your interest and apply it in a cellular biology lab.” With rotations in three laboratories during the first semester, the program gives students insights into the full range of research options in the life sciences at UGA, said Allen Moore, Distinguished Research Professor and head of the department of genetics. “The problem with graduate education in the U.S. is that we are stuck with a format that was invented in the 1950s when we had botany and zoology. That is not what modern scientists do,” Moore said. “What we really do is use techniques from all over the See PROGRAM on page 8

Academic Affairs

School of Social Work, Graduate School and grant support services set to move By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

Students, faculty and staff in the School of Social Work will be moving to a state-of-the-art facility, and the Graduate School will move to the heart of North Campus. In addition, pre- and post-contracts and grants support staff will be under the same roof for the first time. The moves, announced by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Pamela

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University’s coal-fired boiler will be replaced with electrode one By Kyle Tschepikow

By Camie Williams

UGA GUIDE

Whitten, aim to give students the best possible learning environment and create synergies that support the key institutional priorities of enhancing graduate education and the university’s research enterprise The School of Social Work will be moving to the Williams Street building that currently houses the Graduate School, and the Graduate School will be moving to Terrell Hall. The Office of Sponsored Programs and the Contracts and Grants Division will move to

Tucker Hall, the School of Social Work’s current home. “Our overarching goals are to provide the best possible learning environment for students while also managing our resources as efficiently and strategically as possible,” Whitten said. The riverfront building that will house the School of Social Work was constructed in 1857 as the Athens Cotton and Wool Factory and was purchased in See MOVE on page 8

The Facilities Management Division at UGA has developed a plan to replace the aging coal-fired boiler on campus with a more efficient electrode boiler that is powered by electricity. This proposal comes after the Facilities Management Division initiated a comprehensive examination to identify options to replace the university’s single coal-fired boiler, which is nearing 50 years in age. The private consulting firm Jacobs Engineering was contracted to lead the study. The firm delivered results from its investigation this summer, concluding an electrode boiler was the most economical solution for UGA. The electrode boiler is projected to save the university more than $19 million over a 30-year span compared with

continued use of the coal-fired boiler. “I am grateful to the many individuals at UGA who worked with Jacobs Engineering to find the optimal solution to replace our current boiler,” said Ryan Nesbit, vice president for finance and administration. “The proposed electrode boiler would generate savings that can be invested to enhance the university’s teaching, research and service activities. I am also pleased the proposal would reduce our overall energy consumption on campus.” Initially, Jacobs was exploring the possibility of a combined heat and power system but determined that no financial benefit to the university would result from adopting this solution. The electrode boiler is powered by electricity and generates steam in a more cost-efficient manner than the coal-fired boiler.

See BOILER on page 8

Board of Regents

First-Year Odyssey program, 2 professors receive awards By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu

Two UGA professors and the university’s First-Year Odyssey Seminar program have been honored by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia with awards that recognize teaching excellence. • William Finlay, Meigs Professor of Sociology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award; • Paula Lemons, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Franklin College, is the recipient of the Regents’ Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award; and

William Finlay

Paula Lemons

• The university’s First-Year Odyssey Seminar program has received the Regents’ Teaching Excellence Department/Program Award, giving UGA three of the seven statewide awards. “The University of Georgia is an elite public university with distinguished faculty who are

See AWARDS on page 6

Office of university architects

Steering committee to oversee creation of preservation plan By Melissa Gogo mgogo@uga.edu

UGA is creating a preservation master plan for all of its structures across the state. The plan will establish a set of guidelines and decision-making matrix to help in evaluating the importance of university buildings and whether they warrant preservation, restoration or rehabilitation. The planning process is being coordinated by the Office of University Architects with the

assistance of the College of Environment and Design’s Center for Community Design and Preservation and the college’s Master of Historic Preservation Program. A steering group appointed by UGA President Jere W. Morehead is providing oversight. Members of the steering group are Daniel Nadenicek, dean of the College of Environment and Design; Pat Allen, director of community relations, Office of Government Relations;

See PRESERVATION on page 8


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