UGA Columns Jan. 29, 2018

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Associate professor uses science of light to improve communication technologies RESEARCH NEWS

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The Second City takes Ramsey Concert Hall stage for Feb. 2, 3 shows Vol. 45, No. 22

January 29, 2018

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UGA GUIDE

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2018 STATE of the UNIVERSITY

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UGA President Jere W. Morehead announced a number of new initiatives during his 2018 State of the University Address.

UGA brings schools, employers together to bolster development

By Christopher James chtjames@uga.edu

Peter Frey

In 2014, fire destroyed a large section of downtown Clarkesville. UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government helped rebuild the area.

Through the fire

With help from UGA’s Vinson Institute, Clarkesville experiences a renaissance

By Eric Rangus

Eric.Rangus@uga.edu

In small towns, news travels fast.

The calls started going out from Clarkesville Fire Chief Jerry Palmer at 11:30 p.m. on March 5, 2014. “Downtown’s on fire!”

Town leaders began showing up a few minutes later to find the east side of Clarkesville’s historic town square engulfed in flames. Firefighters battled the blaze all night.

Mayor Terry Greene stayed with them. City Councilwoman Barrie Aycock, who had been elected just months earlier, quickly realized there was little she could do and went home, where she prayed the

fire would be contained. Mary Beth Horton, director of Clarkesville Main Street, the town’s downtown development association, showed up in her pajamas. She was still wearing them when day broke.

City Manager Barbara Kesler arrived just as the sun was rising on Thursday.

“The smell was horrid,” Kesler recalled. “Just awful.”

The devastation was profound.

The fire began in a restaurant just off the strip and quickly jumped to the neighboring structures.

Four buildings, some more than 100 years old, were destroyed.

The damage would have been worse if not for the heroic efforts

of Habersham County firefighters as well as a firewall that protected the buildings on the north side of the strip. Seven businesses, including three restaurants, were gone.

A gaping wound gouged into the middle of a charming, thriving north Georgia town.

Officially, the cause of the fire remains undetermined.

That was never the case for the 1,800 residents of Clarkesville, which is about an hour north of Athens. They’re quite determined.

“It didn’t all burn to the ground,” said Aycock, who was elected mayor after Greene’s death in December 2015. “We knew we

See CLARKESVILLE on page 7

TERRY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

UGA experts predict another good year for state’s economy; growth to outpace nation

By Matt Weeks

mweeks@uga.edu

Georgia’s economy will match its performance last year, propelled by a pipeline of economic development projects, solid population growth and a housing recovery, according to the economic forecast from the Terry College of Business.

“At this late stage of the economic expansion, the outlook for Georgia is surprisingly good,” said Terry College Dean Benjamin C. Ayers at UGA’s 35th annual Georgia Economic Outlook. “The main

factors that contributed to growth over the last few years will continue to do so in 2018.”

Georgia’s growth rate will outpace the national average in 2018, he said. The state’s employment will rise by 2 percent, nearly twice the 1.1 percent gain expected for the nation, and the personal incomes of Georgians will grow by 5.8 percent, higher than the national average of 5.5 percent.

Ayers delivered the forecast, prepared by the college’s Selig Center for Economic Growth, to an audience of business leaders,

government officials and chamber delegates Jan. 24 at the Classic Center in downtown Athens.

The complete Georgia Economic Outlook forecast is available for purchase online at terry.uga. edu/selig.

“We believe Georgia will be one of the most successful states when it comes to landing economic development projects. Our state will have available workers, and our workforce development programs rank as the best in the nation,” Ayers said. “Another factor that will pay See ECONOMY on page 8

This is part of a series of stories about UGA and economic development in rural Georgia.

Tim Olson is months away from high school graduation and already has job prospects in his local community.

That’s a win for the 17-year-old Hart College and Career Academy student, as well as for companies that have chosen to move into rural northeast Georgia. UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government

is helping many communities plan their academies, bringing local employers to the table with school officials and local technical colleges to identify workforce needs and programs that can prepare students to meet those needs.

During his senior year, Olson learned how to operate industrial lathes and mills in a course taught

by Athens Technical College instructors. Since the HCCA opened last fall, students also have had the opportunity to learn other technical skills including television

See DEVELOPMENT on page 8

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Grant aims to increase Georgia’s behavioral health workforce

By Kristen Morales kmorales@uga.edu

Students studying counseling and psychology at the University of Georgia easily overcome one challenge of the program: Learning to provide integrated medicine, the new “gold standard” in care.

Another hurdle is harder to overcome: The financial burden students must assume during their final year, when they complete their required internship. This on-site training, usually at a local clinic or medical provider, is crucial but often unpaid.

But thanks to a new four-year, $1.9 million grant from a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, many

students completing this training will receive a stipend to support themselves during their internship year. This grant, which will help train students to deliver counseling, health psychology and integrated behavioral health services, is now available to students entering the UGA College of Education’s master’s programs in community counseling and school counseling, as well as the doctoral program in counseling psychology.

Ultimately, the grant offers a chance for more students to receive training in integrated behavioral health fields and contribute to a growing workforce need across Georgia and the country.

“Right now, students who See GRANT on page 8

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Third annual ‘Big Read’ event turns focus to Lunar New Year

By Kristen Morales kmorales@uga.edu

Athens is one of the first cities in the country to experience a selection from the National Endowment for the Arts’ newly revamped “Big Read” book list, thanks to a new grant awarded to the University of Georgia.

The community-wide reading celebration, which kicks off in February to coincide with the Lunar New Year, focuses on To Live, a novel by Chinese author Yu Hua. The book is one of 28 titles that

make up the updated list of NEA Big Read books. For its 10th year, organizers selected a completely new slate of books to represent contemporary authors and books written since the founding of the NEA 50 years ago.

Athens is one of three cities in Georgia to host NEA Big Read events this year—other cities are Atlanta and Brunswick—but it is the only one among 32 locations across the country to read To Live.

The selection of the novel was made by Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor,

See READ on page 8

2 Jan. 29, 2018 columns.uga.edu

Around academe

Study finds that students cheat less in mastery-focused courses

According to a recent study, students are more likely to cheat in classes that employ traditional assessments like grades, tests and memorizing facts versus classes that focus on the mastery of a subject, or true understanding of the material. The study, “Academic Cheating in Disliked Classes,” was conducted among college students at two large research universities.

Students were asked to think about their least favorite classes and answer questions about their attitudes toward cheating. They also were asked whether they seek sensation and adventure, exhibit impulsive behaviors and whether or not they practice any cheating-type behaviors.

“When instructors emphasize mastery in disliked courses, college students are less likely to believe that cheating is acceptable, whereas when instructors emphasize tests and grades, students are more likely to justify cheating,” the study said.

The study also found that students who seek sensation may be more likely to give in to the temptation of cheating in highly disliked courses.

News to Use

W-2s ready for 2017 tax return prep

The Payroll Department has W-2 forms ready for UGA employees if they are needed for filing purposes with 2017 income tax returns.

For employees who receive payroll checks, W-2s will be distributed in the same manner as their payroll checks (i.e. picked up or mailed).

Departments will be responsible for distributing the W-2s to their active and inactive employees.

The Payroll Department will mail W-2s to employees shown as terminated in the payroll system.

W-2s are time sensitive and should be distributed immediately. Any W-2 that cannot be quickly distributed to an employee should be mailed by the Jan. 29 deadline. Each department must use its own account number and mailing slip.

Employees who previously elected to receive their W-2 in electronic form will not receive a paper copy from UGA for the 2017 tax year. Instead, these employees will receive an email with instructions for printing a copy of their W-2 from the UGA Self-Service website (employee.uga.edu). Be aware that the email does not provide a clickable link so employees can be certain that they are going to the actual UGA Self-Service website and are not clicking on a “fake” or “phishing” link.

Employees with questions should contact the Payroll Department at 706-542-3431 or payroll@uga.edu.

Source: UGA Payroll Department

GLOBAL DAWGS More than 3,000 UGA students participated in education abroad during the 2015-2016 academic year.* The top countries in which UGA students studied are:

COUNTRY STUDENTS United Kingdom 448 Italy 437 France 264 Australia 240 Spain 217 Costa Rica 207 New Zealand 171 Austria 144 Argentina 133 Germany 103 All other countries combined 1,034

TOTAL 3,398 *The most current year for which data is available.

Source: 2016 UGA Fact Book

2018 FOUNDERS WEEK EVENTS

Speaker: Scientists must do better job of communicating their findings

By Leigh Beeson lbeeson@uga.edu

J. Marshall Shepherd knows how to communicate science to the public.

The Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences and director of UGA’s Atmospheric Sciences Program gets in a lot of practice as a cohost on The Weather Channel’s talk show Weather Geeks and regular contributor to Forbes.

But it’s something he had to learn after earning his master’s degree and doctorate in physical meteorology.

“The way we actually train scholars, and the way I learned, is very different than how we should communicate in a public forum,” Shepherd told listeners Jan. 22 at the Founders Day Lecture, the first of the university’s designated Spring 2018 Signature Lectures.

In their theses, students are taught to explain their reasoning and processes prior to conveying their conclusion.

But when it comes to speaking to the public, researchers need to get to the point quickly, and they need to do so in a way that makes the information relevant to the lives of their audience.

“I have this thing I call the aunt and uncle test,” Shepherd said. “As a scientist, I try to think about if I’m conveying some information outside my scholarly circle, is my uncle going to understand in a way that is meaningful to him? Don’t throw around terms and jargon that are meaningful to the (research) community when you’re talking to a broader set of people.”

Studies have shown that the

Wingate Downs

As part of Founders Week, UGA President Jere W. Morehead, center, presented the 2018 President’s Medal to Del Dunn, a former vice president, and alumna Mary Frances Early.

American public trusts science information more when it is communicated by scientists, Shepherd explained, and most people do “believe in science.”

Some just don’t believe in some of its findings, something that Shepherd attributes to a lack of effective communication on the part of the scientific community and a lack of scientific literacy among the general population.

This combination is one of three major challenges scientists face when communicating their findings to the public.

The second is that researchers have to know their audiences.

The information shared with congressional leaders in Washington, D.C., has to differ from the arguments made in a down-home restaurant because the level of audience understanding of the topic differs.

The third challenge is possibly the most difficult: Researchers have

to overcome people’s perceptions and beliefs. Overcoming perception bias was one of the key difficulties faced by meteorologists during Hurricane Harvey.

“You (could) see it sitting over Houston just producing all kinds of rainfall for days, five days of rain,” said Shepherd, pointing to a satellite image.

“Our weather forecast models saw that potential one week out.”

Shepherd himself wrote an article in Forbes that warned of the storm’s “one-two punch” of hitting land with Category 4 winds and then dumping massive amounts of rain. Because of previous floods, people didn’t comprehend how catastrophic the flooding would actually be.

“How do you deal with that?” he asked.

It’s a question that researchers like Shepherd continue to try to answer.

SCHOOL OF LAW

INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

By Claire Taylor

By Sharron Hannon

Edward D. Kleinbard, the holder of the Packard Trustee Chair in Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and Fellow at The Century Foundation, is set to deliver the University of Georgia School of Law’s 115th Sibley Lecture “What’s a Government Good For?: Fiscal Policy in an Age of Inequality.” This event will take place Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. in the Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom of Hirsch Hall. It is open free to the public.

Kleinbard, whose scholarship focuses on the taxation of capital income, international tax issues and the political economy of taxation, was one of four individuals honored as a 2016 International Tax Person of the Year by the nonpartisan policy organization Tax Analysts.

He is the author of We Are Better Than This: How Government Edward Kleinbard Should Spend Our Money and, in 2017, Kleinbard co-authored the leading law school introductory income tax casebook. He has testified before Congress on tax policy matters and has written opinion pieces for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Financial Times and other media outlets.

Kleinbard joined the faculty of the University of Southern California in 2009. Previously, he served as chief of staff of the U.S. Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation. Kleinbard was also a partner in the New York office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton for more than 20 years.

He received his law degree from Yale Law School and his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brown University.

The Sibley Lecture Series, established in 1964 by the Charles Loridans Foundation of Atlanta in tribute to the late John A. Sibley, is designed to attract outstanding legal scholars of national prominence to the School of Law. Sibley was a 1911 graduate of the law school.

This presentation is also part of the University of Georgia Signature Lecture Series notable lecture list.

Michelle Asha Cooper, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington, D.C., will deliver the 29th annual McBee Lecture at the University of Georgia. Cooper will discuss “A New Hope for a Better Tomorrow: Tackling Postsecondary Challenges Today” at 10 a.m. on Feb. 12 in the UGA Chapel.

Her talk is part of the university’s Signature Lecture Series, which features speakers noted for their broad, multidisciplinary appeal and compelling bodies of work.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

A reception will immediately follow the lecture in the Peabody Board Room of the Administration Building.

In 2008, Cooper became the second president of IHEP, a nonpartisan global Michelle Asha research and policy center. She is a wellCooper respected practitioner, researcher and policy advocate helping to reaffirm the organization’s role of ensuring equal educational opportunities for students.

Considered a “thought leader” in higher education, she is a contributor to media outlets such as C-SPAN, FOX News and NPR as well as The Chronicle of Higher Education, Huffington Post, The Hill, Inside Higher Ed, USA Today and the Washington Post. She is well-versed in higher education access and success with special emphasis on equitable reform of higher education, college affordability and financial-aid policy, institutional accountability, diversity and equity.

“Michelle Cooper is a nationally recognized authority on the status of postsecondary education,” said Libby Morris, director of UGA’s Institute of Higher Education. ”We are pleased that she will deliver the 2018 McBee Lecture honoring one of our state’s most outstanding citizens, Dr. Louise McBee.” McBee held leadership positions for more than 25 years at the University of Georgia before serving for more than a decade as a champion for higher education in the Georgia General Assembly.

The annual McBee Lecture was launched in 1989 under the auspices of the Institute of Higher Education to bring to campus a distinguished leader in higher education to deliver a public talk. A video archive of lectures from the past several years can be found on the institute’s website (http://ihe.uga.edu/ about/archives-mcbee-lectures/).

Renowned tax scholar to give Sibley Lecture lawprstu@uga.edu

Higher Education ‘thought leader’ to give McBee Lecture shannon@uga.edu

RESEARCH NEWS

columns.uga.edu Jan. 29, 2018

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Digest UGA president named to Georgia Trend’s 2018 most influential list

For the fifth consecutive year, UGA President Jere W. Morehead has been named to Georgia Trend magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential Georgians.

In its write-up of Morehead for 2018, the magazine noted his dedication to increasing diversity and his efforts to expand scholarship support for students with financial need. “He led UGA to its highest spot, No. 16, in U.S. News and World Report’s 2017 rankings of the best U.S. public universities,” the magazine said.

Andrew Davis Tucker

Mable Fok, associate professor of engineering, is committed to improving communication technologies.

Operation optics

Associate professor uses science of light to make communication technologies better

By Leigh Beeson lbeeson@uga.edu

You can’t see it. You can’t feel it. But you use it every day—on your phone, your laptop, your tablet.

It’s the radio frequency spectrum, and it’s what makes communicating without being in the same room possible. There’s a problem, though: The spectrum is running out of available frequencies, and we can’t create more.

UGA associate professor of engineering Mable Fok wants to be sure we’re making the most out of what we have, so she’s using light to identify and harness unused holes in the spectrum.

Fok is the recipient of several National Science Foundation awards.

Her area of expertise is photonics, the science of using light to perform similar functions as electronics but with much better performance. In Fok’s case, that means using light in place of traditional electronics to enable a variety of

communications. Her most recent NSF grant is for her work to create hardware that could use light to analyze the radio frequency spectrum, seek out spaces on the spectrum that aren’t being used and direct devices to those holes in the spectrum.

“Fundamentally, this spectrum is all we have,” she said. “With optics, with light, we have lots of possibilities. We can identify available frequencies on the spectrum in a very fast and dynamic manner. That’s very important because those opportunities can come and go in one-thousandth of a second or even faster.”

Space on the spectrum is eaten up by virtually all consumer electronics, but it’s also used by medical devices that need to communicate information in hospitals and for national security and military communication purposes. Using the spectrum more efficiently would mean being able to support more devices on the spectrum. “In the battlefield, let’s say, soldiers will be able to gather more

useful information wirelessly to keep them safe and be able to talk to each other freely,” Fok explained. “They won’t be competing with each other or anyone else for signal space.”

The ultimate goal is to integrate the technology onto a chip that can be inserted into the communication device, where it would determine the frequency it should be using and switch the device to that level.

Using light to improve communication technologies is just one of Fok’s many photonics projects, and she believes the applications for light are essentially limitless.

“I think my research will bring a better future, in terms of technology, in terms of health and national safety,” Fok said.

Editor’s note: This story is part of the Great Commitments series, which focuses on cutting-edge research happening on UGA campuses. Read more about UGA’s commitment to research that changes lives at greatcommitments.uga.edu.

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

UGA researchers find new genes that influence how blood pressure is regulated within the body

By Lauren Baggett lbaggett@uga.edu

Researchers at the University of Georgia have identified several new genes that influence how the body regulates blood pressure. This may help scientists develop novel blood pressure treatments or even allow them to tailor prevention strategies for individuals based on their genes.

Using a technique known as geneenvironment interaction analysis, the researchers used potassium, an environmental marker, to pinpoint previously unknown areas within the human genome associated with blood pressure.

Dietary potassium is well known for its ability to reduce blood pressure in clinical trials. The study tested different points of the human genome to see where the genetic sequence interacted with potassium and blood pressure.

In other words, the point of interaction acted as the “X” to mark the spot on the genetic sequence where genes regulate blood pressure. This study is

the first to use external factors to find new genes associated with blood pressure regulation.

“One of the major drawbacks of previous genetic studies of hypertension is that these studies did not explore the interactions between genes and environmental factors,” said Changwei Li, an assistant professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at UGA’s College of Public Health and lead author on the study. “For example, some genes’ effect on blood pressure only manifests under certain environments.”

Li and his team gathered potassium and blood pressure measurements from 1,876 Chinese participants from the Genetic Epidemiology Network of Salt Sensitivity study, or GenSalt, and performed statistical tests to find points of interaction.

The analysis yielded two loci—one of which had never been identified—and six individual genes, all significantly associated with the regulation of blood pressure in the body.

By dialing in on the specific genetic

mechanisms that control how disease is expressed in the body, researchers can develop new therapies to treat complex, multi-factor diseases like high blood pressure. This approach also may contribute to the growing field of precision or personalized medicine.

“Findings from our study help to identify individuals who are particularly sensitive to dietary potassium as a way to reduce blood pressure, based on their genomic profiles,” said Li. “Subsequently, we could provide personalized suggestions to prevent disease based on their genotypes.”

This study, said Li, offers robust evidence that gene-environment interaction analysis is useful for identifying novel genes and revealing the mechanisms underlying blood pressure regulation or other body systems.

The gene-potassium interactions identified were limited to Chinese participants. Future exploration for these loci and genes in a different population, said Li, will show whether they have the same effect across ethnicities.

Terry College launches new master’s degree in business analytics

A new graduate program from the University of Georgia Terry College of Business will prepare students for high-demand jobs in today’s data-centric economy.

The Master of Science in Business Analytics combines courses on big data and strategic decision-making with project management and leadership development. The result is a complementary focus that teaches hard and soft skills that are very attractive to data-driven businesses, said Terry College Dean Benjamin C. Ayers “Our goal has always been to prepare the next generation of business leaders by providing a market-ready curriculum and equipping our students with a skill set that is highly competitive in the job market,” Ayers said. “The M.S. in Business Analytics is a perfect example of our commitment to deliver the best quality education for our students and positively contribute to the economic growth of our state and nation.”

The 10-month program helps students develop expertise in the collection, storage, analysis and interpretation of data, in addition to becoming fluent in the predominant programming languages of the field, such as SQL, R and Python.

Graduates of the MSBA Program will be ready for jobs in business analytics, statistical modeling and data science, helping to fill the growing demand for workers who can interpret big data in a business context.

The MSBA degree will become part of the university’s Double Dawgs Program, which allows students to earn both an undergraduate and a graduate degree in five years or less.

The first class of MSBA students will enroll in the fall semester of 2018.

UGA grad student named Cross Scholar Rishi Masalia, a doctoral candidate in the plant biology department of UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been named one of seven K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders for 2018 by the American Association of Colleges and Universities for his commitment to teaching and learning, as well as his involvement in science outreach in the Athens community.

Masalia is the fifth UGA student to win the award.

A biologist and bioinformatician by training, his area of expertise is candidate gene identification through genetic mapping and RNA expression techniques using cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) as a model. Hailing from the Arizona desert, Masalia chose to focus his research efforts on understanding the genetic mechanisms governing crop-water relations, specifically identifying candidate genes conveying an increase in drought resistance while minimizing growth or yield penalties.

He serves an ambassador with the American Society of Plant Biologists and is a co-founder of the Athens Science Cafe, the Athens Science Observer, UGA SPEAR and Science Athens. He is a member of the UGA Plant Center.

PERIODICALS POSTAGE STATEMENT Columns (USPS 020-024) is published weekly during the academic year and

biweekly during the summer for the faculty and staff of the University of Georgia by the Division of Marketing & Communications. Periodicals postage is paid in Athens, Georgia. Postmaster: Send off-campus address changes to Columns, UGA Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.

For a complete listing of events at the University of Georgia, check the Master Calendar on the web (calendar.uga.edu/­).

The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified.

Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.

UGAGUIDE

EXHIBITIONS

Figure Settings: Sculpture by Jean Wilkins Westmacott. Through Feb. 22. Circle Gallery, Jackson Street Building. 706-542-8292.

Artful Instruments: Georgia Gunsmiths and Their Craft.

Through Feb. 25. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu.

Clinton Hill. Through March 18. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu. (See story, center.)

Opera in Print: Fin-de-Siecle Posters from the Blum Collection. Through April 22. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu.

Wrestling Temptation: The Quest to Control Alcohol in Georgia.

Through Sept. 21. Special collections libraries. 706-542-7123. jhebbard@uga.edu.

MONDAY, JAN. 29 CLASS “Fundamentals of Photography.” Participants can receive camera selection advice from the instructor at the first session.

Concerto Competition winners and UGA Symphony Orchestra will perform Feb. 1

$219. Mondays at 6:30 p.m. through March 19. Georgia Center.

706-542-3537. questions@georgiacenter.uga.edu.

TUESDAY, JAN. 30 TUESDAY TOUR AT TWO Guided tour of the exhibit galleries of the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library and the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. Meet in the rotunda on the second floor of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. 2 p.m. 706-542-8079. jclevela@uga.edu.

ECOLOGY SEMINAR “An Integrative Approach to the Study of Sexually Selected Weapons,” Erin McCullough, University of Western Australia.

3:30 p.m. Auditorium, Ecology building. A reception will follow at 4:30 p.m. in the Ecology building lobby. 706-542-7247. bethgav@uga.edu.

READING The University of Georgia Creative Writing Program presents writer John Keene for a reading. Keene is the author of the novel Annotations (New Directions, 1995), the poetry collection Seismosis (1913 Press, 2006), a collaboration with artist Christopher Stackhouse, and the short fiction collection Counternarratives (New Directions, 2015). Keene chairs the African American and African studies department and is professor of English and African American studies at Rutgers UniversityNewark. He also teaches in the Rutgers-Newark MFA in Creative Writing Program. 7 p.m. M. Smith Griffith Auditorium, Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-2659. cwp@uga.edu.

SWING DANCE NIGHT Learn new dance steps or watch dancers and musicians from seating beside the dance floor. Choose between an East Coast Swing or Lindy Hop lesson from 7-8 p.m. After the lesson, everyone is welcome for an open dance from 8-10 p.m. to the sounds of Big Band Athens, part of the Classic City Band. No previous dance experience or partner needed to attend. $6, general admission; $4, students. 7 p.m. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6014. connicot@uga.edu.

columns.uga.edu Jan. 29, 2018

4&5

Second City comedy troupe returns for three shows

By Bobby Tyler btyler@uga.edu

The Second City is returning to the UGA Performing Arts Center by popular demand. The comedy improv troupe will perform three shows in Ramsey Concert Hall, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

The Second City has been amusing audiences around the world for more than 50 years with a hilarious combination of sketches, songs and improvisation.

Whether it’s ripped from the morning headlines or a classic gem from its archives, the Second City provides comic entertainment that The New York Times calls “legendary.”

Based in Chicago, the Second City has launched the careers of countless comedy stars including Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Jason Sudeikis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Bill Murray. The Second City’s last Athens appearance was in 2016 when the company performed three sold-out shows.

Tickets for the Second City are $44 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga. edu or by calling 706-542-4400. UGA students can purchase tickets for $6 with a valid UGA ID, limit one ticket per student.

The Performing Arts Center is at 230 River Road on the UGA main campus in Athens.

The Second City brings its brand of comedy to Ramsey Concert Hall for three shows Feb. 2 and 3.

MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Florida. $15. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 31

Concerto Competition winners rehearse prior to their Feb. 1 Thursday Scholarship Series concert.

By Camille Hayes ceh822@uga.edu

For the next installment of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s Thursday Scholarship Series, six of the music school’s most talented students will perform solos with the UGA Symphony Orchestra Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Hodgson Hall.

These soloists are all winners of the annual Concerto Competition, a longstanding tradition of the Hodgson School in which music students from all areas can compete. Students must choose and learn a concerto, then perform it for a panel of faculty judges. This year the Concerto Competition returns as part of the Thursday Scholarship Series.

“What makes [the program] a challenge is you never know what the winning selections are going to be,” said Mark Cedel, director of the Symphony Orchestra and one of the conductors of the Concerto Competition Program. “It can make for some very challenging programming.”

Two of the pieces will be conducted by conducting assistant Jean Gomez.

The winners of the Concerto Competition are Sahada Buckley, violin; Megan Elks, saxophone; Mateus Falkemback, clarinet; Alexandre Tchaykov, piano; Laura Cotney, voice; and Elena Lyalina, piano.

Buckley, who is studying violin performance and music theory, will perform her violin solo during Edouard Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra, Op. 21.

A recipient of UGA’s Kenneth Fischer Scholarship and Outstanding Sophomore Award, Elks will perform her solo in Henri Tomasi’s Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra.

Falkemback, a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will play his solo during Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A Major, K. 622.

Bela Bartok will play his solo during Piano Concerto No. 2.

Vier letze Lieder (Four Last Songs) by Richard Strauss features Cotney, who has performed in many opera performances throughout the country.

The final piece of the evening will feature Lyalina in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, op. 21.

Tickets for the event are $20 for adults and $6 for students and can be found online at pac.uga.edu. For more information, visit music.uga. edu. For more information about concerts and other events at the School of Music, subscribe to the weekly email list. Those unable to make it to the concert can watch the live stream at music.uga.edu/streaming.

TOUR AT TWO Join Shawnya Harris, the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art, for a special tour of works by African-American artists in the permanent collection. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

FULL MOON HIKE: BLUE MOON Pre-registration required. $5 per person or $15 per family.

7 p.m. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-583-0894. bwboone@uga.edu.

THURSDAY, FEB. 1 HENRY D. GREEN SYMPOSIUM OF THE DECORATIVE ARTS Through Feb. 3. The Henry D. Green Symposium of the Decorative Arts is held every other year, and this year’s theme is “Belonging: Georgia and Region in the National Fabric.” The symposium commences with “‘You Must Not Get Your Furniture Here ... Get What You Want from N. York in the Spring’: Duncan Phyfe, Honore Lannuier and the Allure of New York Furniture in the American South,” the keynote speech by Peter M. Kenny, co-president, Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 1. Sponsored by Georgia Humanities. Schedule is subject to change. All events take place at the Classic Center in downtown Athens, unless otherwise specified. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/green2018-online. $300, full symposium package; $200, museum professionals; $100, lecture only; free, student registration. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

90 CARLTON: WINTER The Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art present this reception featuring the winter exhibitions in conjunction with the Henry D. Green Symposium of the Decorative Arts. Enjoy light refreshments, gallery activities, door prizes and “Ask the Experts” from 7-8 p.m. RSVP to gmoarsvp@uga.edu or call 706-542-4199.

Register at http://bit.ly/90c-winter2018. Open free to the public.

5:30 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

UGASO CONCERTO COMPETITION CONCERT The University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition winners perform select movements from their winning performances in this prestigious concert. Part of the Thursday Scholarship Series. $20; $6 for students and children.

7:30 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center.

706-542-4752. (See story, left.)

FRIDAY, FEB. 2 ECOLOGY GRADUATE STUDENT SYMPOSIUM Through Feb. 3. The Graduate Student Symposium is an annual two-day forum for the exchange of new ideas in ecology among students and faculty in the Odum School of Ecology. Graduate students present scientific talks and undergraduates participate in poster presentations. This year’s plenary speaker is David Walters, a research ecologist at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center. 8 a.m. Auditorium, ecology building. 706-542-7247. bethgav@uga.edu.

FRIENDS FIRST FRIDAY: UGA BEE LAB Learn from Keith Delaplane, director of the UGA Bee Lab, as he discusses the health of honey bees, their impact on the environment and what people can do to protect them as pollinators.

Includes a full breakfast. $12. 9 a.m. Visitor Center, Gardenside Room, State Botanical Garden.

LECTURE “Ready Player Two: Women Gamers and Designed Identity,”

Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by Marketing & Communications. Notices are published here as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available at calendar.uga.edu/.

Exhibition examines how commanding officer became contemporary artist in paint, paper

By Marquan Norris

marqnorris@uga.edu

Many have dreamed of far-flung adventures or pursuing a career as an artist, but few actually do it.

Clinton Hill managed to do both as well as serving as a commanding officer in the U.S. Navy and helping to build the art scene in New York’s SoHo. Now the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia is presenting an exhibition of his work from throughout his career. The museum’s director, William U. Eiland, is its curator and the author of its accompanying exhibition catalog.

Born in Payette, Idaho, and raised on a ranch near several American Indian settlements, Hill grew to appreciate nature and vast spaces. He also learned to admire Native American culture, his first exposure to any culture outside of his own. He craved exploration and a greater understanding of the world, which led him to travel abroad in the hope of furthering his arts education.

When Hill’s family moved to La Grande, Oregon, he began working with watercolor and eventually found his vocation as an artist. When World War II broke out, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and soon became a commanding officer of a minesweeper stationed in the Pacific. The military gave Hill a sense of confidence and the drive to pursue art as a career.

After the war, Hill studied art at the University of Oregon on the GI Bill before moving to New York at an exciting time for abstraction. New York was becoming the capital of the art world, and abstraction—which Hill would pursue for the rest of his life—was the movement of the day.

Hill continued to travel, studying in Paris, France, in 1951 at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, then in Florence, Italy, at the Istituto d’Arte Statale.

When he returned to New York, Hill had a series of high-profile solo shows and established himself more firmly in the art scene. The famed abstract expressionist Mark Rothko even helped name one of Hill’s most significant works, “Ladders and Windows.”

Hill pushed his work beyond paint, using wood, paper and vinyl as well as other materials. Paper was especially recurrent, and he crafted subtle, complex, layered works from paper pulp and torn pieces of paper in the 1960s. Minimalist, with evocative colors, they look forward to the abstract yet imagistic art of the 1980s. Hill never stopped exploring different cultures and incorporating what he learned Shira Chess, entertainment & media studies. Part of the Women’s Studies Friday Speaker Series. 12:20 p.m. 214 Miller Learning Center.

PHILOSOPHY COLLOQUIUM “Ryle-ing the Irreal: Sensory Imaging as Knowing about Sensing,” Robert Hopkins, New York University. Supported in part by the Willson Center for Humanities. Reception will follow lecture.

3:30 p.m. 115 Peabody Hall. 706-542-2823.

PERFORMANCE Second City comedy troupe. $44. Performances are Feb. 2 at

The Georgia Museum of Art’s exhibition of Clinton Hill’s work will be on display through March 18.

into his art. In 1956, he traveled to India on a Fulbright Fellowship, where he learned ancient methods of weaving and papermaking. When he returned home, he began to integrate different materials into his art.

From fiberglass to discarded construction debris, Hill was able to make structured works that reflected his skills as a sculptor and an abstract artist.

Eiland and the museum’s preparators designed an exhibition that would make connections among works from throughout Hill’s career. Paintings hang at unusual heights to suggest musical notes on a staff—music was another theme that recurred in Hill’s work—or to make the viewer connect visual elements in different works. Lightboxes on the floor show the layered nature of Hill’s works with paper, and jewelry he made from radio resistors is included alongside more traditional fine art.

“The exhibition of Clinton Hill’s works presents to our audiences an artist, relatively unknown in our region, who is in some ways emblematic of the various ‘isms’ of the mid-to-late 20th century,” said Eiland. “A colorist and formalist, he becomes in mid-career one of the pulp-paper pioneers, an artist who reimagined the very material of his art.

“Second, the installation itself is an homage to Hill’s marriage of plane and solid geometry,” he also said. “The arrangement of the works in the galleries delivers a series of visual puns arising from the artist’s abiding themes of music, harmonics and the movement of forms in space.”

On view through March 18, the Clinton Hill exhibition sponsored by the Clinton Hill/Allen Tran Foundation, the W. Newton Morris Charitable Foundation and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art.

WORKSHOP In “Natural Science Illustration Series,” OC Carlisle will present essential basic techniques of drawing, showing highlight and shadow to give form and texture to natural objects. Through independent graphite and colored pencil studies and class projects, students will acquire the skills to draw anything using these fundamental illustration skills. Participants will receive a supply list and assignment prior to the first class. Deadline for registration is Feb. 1. Limited to 10 participants. $260. 9 a.m.

Visitor Center, Classroom 2, State Botanical Garden. 706-5426158. ckeber@uga.edu.

WORKSHOP The Northeast Georgia Orchid Society leads this hand-on orchid repotting workshop, where attendees can bring up to two plants and containers and work with an expert to repot their plants. $15. 10 a.m. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden.

706-369-6091. sprescot@uga.edu.

SWIMMING AND DIVING vs Emory. 11 a.m. Gabrielsen Natatorium, Ramsey Student Center.

GYMNASTICS vs. Missouri. $10. 2 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Clemson. 4 p.m. Magill Tennis Complex.

SUNDAY, FEB. 4 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Ole Miss. $5. 2 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT TOUR Tour, led by docents, of highlights from the permanent collection. 3 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

MONDAY, FEB. 5 FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION Sonic Sea is an Emmy-winning documentary that uncovers the impact of human-produced ocean noise on whales, dolphins, porpoises and other marine life. Film discussion will be led by John Schacke, Odum School of Ecology, who heads the Georgia Dolphin Ecology Program and teaches the course “The Biology and Conservation of Marine Mammals.” Sponsored by Speak Out for Species, UGA Office of Sustainability and Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection as part of the Animal Voices Film Festival. 7 p.m. 148 Miller Learning Center.

706-224-3796. ecg@uga.edu.

COMING UP

SATURDAY, FEB. 3

TODDLER TUESDAY Feb. 6. Designed for children ages 18 months to 3 years, this free, 40-minute program will focus on the exhibition Crafting History: Textiles, Metals and Ceramics at the University of Georgia. Space is limited; email sagekincaid@uga.edu or call 706-542-0448 to reserve a spot. 10 a.m. Georgia Museum of Art.

CLASS In “Defense Systems of Native Plants,” Kevin “the Plant Man” Tarner, professional horticulturist, will help participants examine the physical, cellular and chemical strategies native plants use to resist the stresses of their environment. This class will feature a hands-on activity where participants will extract essential oils—an important type of plant defense—from leaves.

ECOLOGY SEMINAR Feb. 6. “Why Are Organisms (and their Offspring) Phenotypically Plastic to Environmental Change?,” Matthew Walsh, University of Texas at Arlington. A reception will follow at 4:30 p.m. in the ecology building lobby. 3:30 p.m. Auditorium, ecology building.

706-542-7247. bethgav@uga.edu.

8 p.m. and Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4400. (See story, above.)

TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date.

Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.

$50. 9 a.m. Visitor Center, Classroom 2, State Botanical Garden.

706-542-6158. ckeber@uga.edu.

Any additional information about the event may be sent directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga.edu), but materials can be mailed to Columns, Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES Jan. 31 (for Feb. 12 issue) Feb. 7 (for Feb. 19 issue) Feb. 14 (for Feb. 26 issue)

6 Jan. 29, 2018 columns.uga.edu

FACULTY PROFILE

RETIREES October Editor’s note: Phyllis McCannon, a research professional/ high containment with the College of Veterinary Medicine’s infectious diseases department, retired from UGA Oct. 1, 2017, with 33 years and 9 months of service.

January

Fifty UGA employees retired Jan. 1. Retirees, their job classification, department and years of service are: Valerie Babb, academic director, English, 17 years, 4 months; Sandra K. Behr, administrative associate II, dining services administration, 31 years, 9 months; Elizabeth A. Blum, business manager I, health promotion and behavior, 26 years; Mary Jane Cadwell, payroll specialist I, payroll, 11 years, 4 months; Priscilla B. Carter, academic advisor III, College of Public Health-Dean’s Office, 13 years, 4 months; Louis Anthony Castenell, professor, educational psychology, 18 years, 4 months; Michael J. Castengera, senior lecturer, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, 16 years, 4 months; Wanda Gail Clifton, laboratory technician III, Tifton Diagnostic Lab, 25 years, 3 months; Carol S. Connelly, administrative associate II, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, 9 years, 6 months; Barry Wayne Cook, IT associate director, VP Office for Research, 28 years, 5 months; Bonnie A. Dials, senior accountant, Northwest District-Cooperative Extension Service, 18 years, 5 months; Sue K. Dove, research professional I, horticulture research college, 29 years; Brenda T. Elrod, director of interiors, Facilities Planning, 29 years, 7 months; Robert T. Erwin, senior public service associate, Small Business Development Center, 12 years, 5 months; Jonathan Peter Fite, business manager III, Environmental Safety Division, 5 years, 9 months; Evelyn F. Folds, administrative associate I, Coastal Plain Station, 24 years, 3 months; Ronald L. Forehand, director, University Health Center, 16 years, 11 months; James W. Garner, application analyst specialist, UGA Libraries-general operations, 33 years, 10 months; Cora Gartrell, program specialist II, Division of Academic Enhancement, 14 years, 6 months; Carol P. Gillispie, phone directory assistant, Directory Assistance, 11 years, 2 months; Terry Marie Hastings, director of public relations, Office the Vice President for Research, 11 years, 5 months; Lynn Hatmaker, medical services coordinator, University Health Center, 11 years, 9 months; Brent Hoffman Hix, accountant, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, 31 years, 6 months; William C. Hurst, professor, food science and technology, 40 years, 5 months; Thomas H. Jackson Jr., heritage communications executive, Institute of Higher Education and University System of Georgia, 29 years, 5 months; Sallie A. Johnson, building services worker II, Facilities Management Division-Building Services, South Campus, 16 years, 2 months; Stan R. Jones, research station superintendent, Southwest Research and Education Center, 28 years, 8 months; Gerard Joseph Kowalski, executive director, housing administration, 11 years, 6 months; Ludlow A. Lawson, IT director, Athletic Association, 24 years, 2 months; Arthur H. Leed, associate general counsel, Office of Legal Affairs, 30 years, 10 months; Sherie L. Lynn, laboratory technician III, animal science research, 33 years, 7 months; J. Phillip Maxwell Sr., groundskeeper III, Facilities Management Division-grounds maintenance, 11 years, 3 months; Betty H. Mayweather, human resources specialist I, UGA Libraries-general operations, 39 years, 9 months; J. Vaun McArthur, senior research scientist, Odum School of Ecology, 32 years, 10 months; Mary Lou Mitchell, building services worker II, Facilities Management Division-Building Services, South Campus, 18 years, 9 months; Dorothy S. Osborn, county secretary, Southeast District-Cooperative Extension Service, 11 years, 9 months; Mary Nell Patman, administrative assistant II, housing administration, 25 years, 8 months; Gary R. Peiffer, public service assistant, Northwest District-Cooperative Extension Service, 18 years, 8 months; Bruce W. Pressley, sheet metal worker, Facilities Management Division-Operations & Maintenance-sheetmetal shop, 29 years, 9 months; David E. Radcliffe, professor, crop and soil sciences, 34 years, 6 months; Elizabeth J. Reitz, professor, anthropology, 38 years, 3 months; Linda M. Sims, accounting technician, Facilities Management Division-Services Department, automotive center, 35 years, 2 months; Arthur A. Snow, professor, economics, 31 years, 3 months; Diane Stanford, graphics technician II, Bulldog Print + Design, 29 years, 8 months; Loretta Stovall, building services worker II, Facilities Management Division-Building Services, North Campus, 18 years, 5 months; Robert O’Neal Teskey, Distinguished Research Professor, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, 35 years, 5 months; Mark Edward Toomey, systems administrator principal, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, 29 years, 4 months; Legail Tudor, administrative manager II, biochemistry and molecular biology, 21 years, 3 months; Robert C. Waldorf, public service associate, Northeast District-Cooperative Extension Service, 17 years, 3 months; and Sarita B. Wilkes, administrative assistant II, student financial aid, 21 years, 2 months; Source: Human Resources

Dorothy Kozlowski

Eric Freeman’s research uses the basic concepts of fluid mechanics to create artificial cells similar in scale to organic cells.

Assistant professor’s research looks at ways to improve smart materials

By Mike Wooten

mwooten@uga.edu

Eric Freeman’s first homework assignment in microfluidics as a graduate student was to watch A Bug’s Life. Analyzing Pixar’s 1998 computer-animated comedy might not have been an unusual assignment for a film student or a computer science student, but Freeman was beginning work on a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

As it turns out, the assignment was more than an off-beat diversion and its lesson stuck.

“There are scenes in the movie where rain drops are falling like bombs and the ants get trapped in droplets of water and can’t escape,” said Freeman, an assistant professor in the University of Georgia College of Engineering.

“Those scenes illustrate the concept of surface tension and demonstrate how fluids behave very differently when you shrink down to an insect scale.”

In his lab at UGA’s Riverbend Research Center, Freeman uses these basic concepts of fluid mechanics to create artificial cells similar in scale to organic cells. He is one of only a handful of scientists in the U.S. conducting such research. His work could help biologists and others advance our understanding of natural processes.

“We take droplets that are anywhere from 10 to 1000 microns in diameter and we dissolve lipids in them to create an oil and water mixture—a little like a glorified salad dressing,” said Freeman.

“These lipids coat the droplets and we can manipulate them so they fuse into joined droplet chains with a lipid

membrane between them, governing the exchange of fluid and charge between the adjacent droplets through embedded channels and pores.”

The artificial membranes approximate the membrane surrounding a living cell, allowing Freeman and a team of undergraduate and graduate researchers to study transport phenomena and how cells respond to changes in the environment.

“The advantages of this bottom-up approach to synthetic biology are you know exactly what’s in the droplets and you can modify their contents with a fine degree of precision,” Freeman said. “This approach allows you to map what’s going on at the membrane interface by interpreting the results using mathematical models.”

Freeman also hopes his research can lead to advances in biologically-inspired smart materials inspired by cellular mechanics. He and his team have worked on bio-batteries, mechanosensors and energy harvesters.

“We’re constantly exploring ways to improve their durability and their reliability,” he said. “We also want to understand how we can exploit cellular phenomena to create an actual engineering material.”

Freeman joined the College of Engineering faculty in 2014 after working as a post-doctoral researcher at Virginia Tech. He was attracted to UGA because of its interdisciplinary approach to research and its long-standing strength in the biological sciences.

“Since I’m not strictly a biologist, I found during my time in graduate school and as a post-doc that I needed

FACTS Eric Freeman

Assistant Professor College of Engineering Post-doctoral Research, Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2012-2014 Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 2012 M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 2009 B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Geneva College, 2006 At UGA: Four years

complimentary expertise to work through some of the challenges I encountered in my research,” he said. “I knew UGA would be a good fit for the work I do.”

Freeman’s collaborators on campus include researchers in microbiology and chemistry.

His work in the lab has directly led to the creation of a graduate-level course Freeman teaches in microfluidic transport phenomena. He also teaches senior-level courses in biomechanics and finite element analysis.

Freeman believes serving as a mentor to his students is one of his most important roles.

“Since we’re an interdisciplinary college, I teach mechanical engineering students as well as biological engineering students,” said Freeman. “It’s much easier to tailor the conversation to an individual student as opposed to reach them in a lecture hall so I try to make myself as available as possible.”

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Bailey named assistant dean for academic affairs

By Merritt Melancon jmerritt@uga.edu

For three decades, Doug Bailey, University of Georgia horticulture professor and department head, helped to shape the careers of future horticulturists.

Now, he is using that experience to help guide the academic and professional careers of students across UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

On Jan. 1, Bailey became the college’s assistant dean for academic affairs. As part of his new role, Bailey will lead academic program development, student recruitment and retention. He’ll also develop learning assessment programs

for the college.

“The college is pleased to have a faculty member with Dr. Bailey’s experience and commitment to students join our academic affairs team,” said Josef Doug Bailey Broder, CAES associate dean for academic affairs.

Bailey has served as head of the CAES horticulture department since 1999, when he came to Athens from North Carolina State University’s horticulture department.

Prior to receiving his master’s and

doctoral degrees in horticulture at Purdue University, Bailey received his bachelor’s degree in horticulture from UGA in 1980.

Before turning his attention towards administration, Bailey conducted research focused on greenhouse production of ornamental plants and floriculture.

“This is a wonderful opportunity,” Bailey said. “Our college has excellent academic programs and the faculty and staff involved with teaching are outstanding.”

Bailey will continue to serve as head of the horticulture department until a new permanent department head is named.

CLARKESVILLE from page 1

columns.uga.edu Jan. 29, 2018

7

Peter Frey

Most of the work in the Clarkesville Strategic Plan focused on rebuilding Turning the Clarkesville Strategic Plan into projects fell to City Manager Barbara Kesler, Mayor Barrie Aycock, Clarkesville the town square. At its center is a plaza named for Terry Greene, the town’s Main Street’s Mary Beth Horton and UGA’s Danny Bivins. mayor who died in December 2015.

Peter Frey

couldn’t rebuild it all at once, but the fire was perhaps, in some ways, a blessing in disguise.”

‘A breath of fresh air’

In 2011, UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, the Georgia Municipal Association and the Georgia Cities Foundation formed the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership. Its mission is to help Georgia cities of all sizes and in all regions of the state focus on the importance of downtown development.

Downtown development is crucial anywhere, but in the hundreds of small- to medium-size towns that dot the state, it’s particularly vital. Aesthetically, downtowns are the brand of a community. They also are economic engines for the state. They fuel public pride and employ dozens, if not hundreds or thousands. The Institute of Government, a UGA public service and outreach unit, is an ideal partner.

For 90 years, it has supported Georgia government. The institute’s portfolio ranges from state-mandated training for government officials to local and regional economic development, strategic planning and much more.

In 2013, the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership created the Renaissance Strategic Visioning & Planning, or RSVP, program to assist cities in creating a vision and work program for their downtown areas.

Since then the RSVP program has assisted with downtown revitalization projects in 40 Georgia communities. Post-fire Clarkesville was an ideal client.

The day after the fire, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs set up an office in Clarkesville ready to help.

Clarkesville leaders, through the RSVP program, soon reached out to UGA and the Institute of Government. That brought Danny Bivins to town.

Bivins, a senior public service associate,

has worked for the University of Georgia since 2002 and is considered a master of downtown development and design.

Clarkesville is one of more than half a dozen Georgia towns he’s partnered with through RSVP. When he got to Clarkesville, he didn’t waste any time.

“I remember when Danny came to the first town hall meeting,” Aycock said. “He was a breath of fresh air. It’s amazing having someone from outside telling you how great your town is, especially after what the fire did to it.”

‘Everyone wanted to be involved’

Over a two-month period, Bivins led 14 focus groups. One was made up of local real estate agents, another of church leaders.

One was a group of high school students, and so forth. Surveys were placed in local newspapers and on websites. Every time customers went to the bank downtown or the flower shop, store owners and staff would ask them to fill out a survey.

“The community knows the issues and the challenges,” Bivins said. “They also know the solutions. You just have to ask them.

One thing we do really well is listen. Other consultants might come in with great ideas and great package, but when they leave, nothing happens. That’s because the plan wasn’t the community’s ideas.”

“Danny’s energy was contagious,” Horton said. “When he would lead those meetings, he would capture things and encourage people to share ideas in ways I couldn’t do myself. He came from outside with some out-of-the-box thinking, and people loved it. Had it not been for Danny, we wouldn’t have had all this feedback.”

In February 2015, Bivins presented the institute’s 87-page Clarkesville Strategic Plan to a standing room-only crowd. He and his team, using input and recommendations from more than 800 Clarkesville

WEEKLY READER

respondents, produced in five months what would normally take a year to complete.

The strategic plan offered a variety of options not only for rebuilding the square but also encompassing the whole of downtown Clarkesville. The plan is equal parts practical and ambitious.

It featured artistic renderings of the new downtown strip (some including buildings as high as three stories with apartments at the top), ideas for infill construction and even a 20-year plan for a new courthouse square. All of the art was put together by students and fellows in the UGA College of Environment and Design, under the direction of Kaitlin Messich, creative design specialist, and Clark Stancil, landscape and urban designer, both at the Institute of Government.

The plan was met with near universal approval. Of course, like any multilayered project, not every idea on paper sees the light of brick and mortar. It was up to Horton to figure out how to make the good stuff happen.

“I took all these short-term projects and turned them into my work plan items for the year,” Horton said. “The board and I recruited many new volunteers from the community. Everyone wanted to be involved.”

For more than a year, it seemed like every week Horton crossed a project off her list. Obsolete two-hour parking signs were removed and parking spaces restriped. A downtown beautification program included more attractive streetscaping, murals on previously blank building walls and art displayed in what had been empty windows.

A viewing platform was built overlooking the nearby Soquee River, which flows just 100 yards from the square. A public restroom in Pitts Park was cleaned up and repainted.

The linchpin to the work, of course, was the square. After trying to work with

owners of the damaged properties to no avail, the city of Clarkesville simply bought the whole area. That gave town leaders creative control over what was built. With Bivins coming to town at regular intervals to consult and offer further ideas for moving forward, ground finally broke on the square on April 6, 2016.

‘Can be a blueprint’

One year to the day of the groundbreaking, Aycock, Kesler and Horton helped cut a green ribbon officially dedicating the renewed East Clarkesville Square. Including building purchases, the entire project cost $3 million, and 40 percent of that figure was raised from grants. The lamp-lined space doesn’t appear in any of the Institute of Government’s renderings; it’s a product of the Clarkesville team’s creativity and ingenuity. The remaining walls wouldn’t accommodate an additional building, so Clarkesville improvised and opened the whole thing up. It was an inspired choice, rooted in the confidence sown by the institute’s philosophy: The community has the solutions.

The ribbon cutting was merely one step in a process that is in a constant state of progress. The streetscape keeps improving.

Recommended plans for downtown lodging and a community event space continue to move forward. The square now hosts a weekly farmers market, the previously underused Habersham Community Theatre has a full marquee, and art and music events are commonplace.

Bivins doesn’t spend much time in Clarkesville now, but the institute’s strategic plan is always within arm’s reach.

“Clarkesville can be a blueprint for our work. I think it’s great we’ve had so much success,” he said. “Plans don’t have to sit on shelves. You can implement them and get the community involved as well.”

CYBERSIGHTS

ABOUT COLUMNS

Book recounts era of 1920s singalongs

Everybody Sing! Community Singing in the American Picture Palace

By Esther M. Morgan-Ellis University of Georgia Press Hardcover: $49.95

During the 1920s, a visit to the movie theater almost always included a singalong. Patrons joined together to render old favorites and recent hits, usually accompanied by the strains of a mighty Wurlitzer organ. The organist was responsible for choosing the repertoire and presentation style that would appeal to patrons, so each theater offered a unique experience. When sound technology drove both musicians and participatory culture out of the theater in the early 1930s, the practice faded.

Esther M. Morgan-Ellis, an assistant professor of music history and world music at the University of North Georgia, has penned a book that celebrates the picture palace singalongs of this bygone era.

Published by the University of Georgia Press, Everybody Sing! Community Singing in the American Picture Palace is the first dedicated account of community singing in the picture palace.

The book presents the origins of theater singalongs in the prewar community singing movement and assesses the aftermath of sound technology.

Columns is available to the community by ­subscription for an annual fee of $20 (second-class delivery) or $40 (first-class delivery). Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining this publication in an alternate format.

Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or columns@uga.edu

Editor Juliett Dinkins

UGA Today introduces updated website

news.uga.edu

UGA Today has revamped its website, adopting a more modern design and integrating other university publications into the layout including Columns, the UGA community’s weekly newspaper, and Georgia Magazine, the university’s quarterly magazine.

Produced by the Division of Marketing & Communications, the new website features sections

such as “Campus News,” “Arts” and “Georgia Impact,” which gives a full overview of the university’s news.

Additionally, the website also has links to stories from other UGA news sources, such as the Athletic Association.

University Twitter feeds, email newsletters and events all can be found on the side.

Communications Coordinator Krista Richmond Art Director Jackie Baxter Roberts Photo Editor Dorothy Kozlowski Writers Kellyn Amodeo Leigh Beeson The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia.

8 Jan. 29, 2018 columns.uga.edu ECONOMY

DEVELOPMENT

from page 1

off in 2018 and beyond is the state’s emphasis on targeted workforce training. The state of Georgia is building highly specialized workforce training centers designed to increase the supply of skilled workers, which, in turn will attract businesses in targeted industries.”

Georgia’s unemployment rate will fall below 5 percent, slightly higher than the U.S. jobless rate of 4.1 percent, and every metro area in the state will add jobs, Ayers said.

“The fastest job growth will occur in construction, followed by professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, and wholesale trade,” he said. “Positive, but slow job growth will occur in utilities, information and government.”

Larger shipments in Georgia’s ports and its increasingly important role as a logistics and distributions center, will help the state realize a 3.2 percent GDP increase, a notch above the national average of 2.5 percent, Ayers said.

“Transportation and logistics will gain from the continuing recovery of construction because construction is one of the most transportation-intensive sectors of the economy,” he said. “Georgia’s manufacturing activity will upshift in 2018, providing yet another tailwind to transportation and logistics firms.”

Aided in part by the migration of about 109,000 people to the state, Georgia’s population will grow by 1.5 percent in 2018, outpacing the nation’s 0.7 percent growth.

Georgia’s housing market will also be a force for economic vitality, with singlefamily home starts rising by 16 percent and single-family home prices up 4 percent, on average, over last year, Ayers said.

However, not all the news is positive.

“Even though we expect economic

growth for Georgia, the economy is operating in either the late-middle or late stage of the current economic expansion,” Ayers said. “That alone does not mean a recession is imminent. Still, we believe that excesses are developing in both the financial markets and the labor markets, which make the overall economy increasingly vulnerable to the unexpected shock or policy mistake.”

Those risks include interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, a slowdown in multifamily home purchases, uncertainty over healthcare, global effects from Chinese financial turmoil and geopolitical tensions.

Ayers was joined on stage by Dennis Lockhart, former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, who delivered the national forecast.

Jeffrey M. Humphreys, author of the Economic Outlook report and director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth, said he expects solid economic growth for the nation as a whole.

“In 2018, consumer spending, gross private domestic investment and industrial production will contribute to U.S. GDP growth. In addition, government spending will be a positive factor in terms of GDP growth,” he said. “The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance will switch from stimulating to essentially neutral.”

In addition, Humphreys expects small businesses across the nation to expand, thanks to increased business and government spending, a hike in exports and the addition of many projects to repair and rebuild properties damaged by recent hurricanes.

The Georgia Economic Outlook series is the largest outreach program hosted by the Terry College of Business. For 35 years, it has been the premier forecasting event in the state of Georgia.

Bulletin Board Staff resources fair

The inaugural UGA Staff Resources Fair will be held March 14 from 2-6 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Tate Student Center. Open to all UGA faculty and staff, the fair is an opportunity to connect staff members to the array of resources and opportunities within the university community.

More information will be available closer to the event. Note that intersession parking will be in effect during this time.

For more information, contact worklifebalance@uga.edu.

Cybersights correction

Because of an editing error, the Cybersights in the Jan. 16 Columns about the UGA Costa Rica Research Campus contained the wrong URL for the Office of International Education.

UGA students, faculty and staff who want to learn more about UGA academic programming related to the UGA Costa Rica Research Campus should visit the OIE website at costarica.uga.edu.

Free yoga classes

Following on the heels of a successful biweekly event focused on mindfulness meditation, the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia is expanding its programming to add yoga in the galleries.

This monthly program will take place Feb. 15 and March 16 at 6 p.m., with more dates to be added later.

Led by instructors from Five Points Yoga, the program is free and open to both beginner and experienced yogis. Space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served

basis, with tickets available at the front desk starting at 5:15 p.m. The museum will provide yoga mats.

WIP course proposals

The Franklin College Writing Intensive Program is accepting proposals until March 10 from Arts and Sciences faculty in all disciplines for innovative courses that encourage writing.

The WIP aims to enhance undergraduate education by emphasizing the importance of writing in the disciplines by offering “writingintensive” courses throughout the college—from classics to chemistry, from music to microbiology.

Faculty who teach WIP courses are supported by a Writing Intensive Program teaching assistant, who is specially trained in writing-in-thedisciplines pedagogy. Visit www.wip. uga.edu for proposal forms and guidelines as well as information about the program. Direct questions to Lindsey Harding, WIP director, at lharding@ uga.edu.

Student employee recognition

The UGA Career Center is accepting online nominations until Feb. 6 for the Student Employee of the Year Award.

The top 100 student employees will be invited, along with their nominating faculty/staff member, to an awards luncheon April 11 at the Tate Student Center. One student will be honored as the UGA Student Employee of the Year.

To nominate a student employee, visit http://career.uga.edu/hireuga/seoty.

Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.

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production, nursing, cosmetology and 3-D print design.

Students are able to learn these skills while finishing their academic high school curriculum.

The majority of the jobs currently available in Hart County require less than a twoyear degree. About half of Hart County’s residents commute to another county for work. Preparing students for careers that will keep them in their local communities is the goal of the college and career academies, 40 of which have been created throughout Georgia since 2008.

“We want to quit exporting young people to more urban areas by providing great career opportunities right here,” said Dwayne Dye, the Hart County Industrial Building Authority’s director of economic development. “These opportunities are with multinational companies. The career academy is key to getting the young people turned out who can go to work for these companies and stay right here.”

With the institute’s help, Hart County hosted listening sessions in the community to draft a vision for the new academy. Local manufacturers like Fabritex, a Hartwellbased tube, sheet metal and plate fabrication company, participated in those sessions.

Fabritex President Lee Adams, who is on the HCCA board, said those sessions highlighted many of the needs of local employers. Those ranged from a lack of qualified welders to a need for employees with better developed soft skills.

The information helped determine what skills to teach at the academy, Adams said.

“If you’re trying to drive a ship and don’t know which direction to go, you’re just going to go in circles,” Adams said. “UGA helped

us ask the right questions. The feedback we got from the listening sessions was amazing.”

Phillip Brown, CEO of Hart College and Career Academy and a veteran high school administrator, said the assistance from UGA is invaluable to a smaller county like Hart, which has 26,000 residents.

“In a small town, you may not have the skillset to facilitate something like that,” Brown said. “Working with UGA and having experts at your disposal makes a big difference.”

Currently, about 40 Hart County High School students are enrolled in work-based learning, a program where high school students work for companies like Fabritex while they’re still in school. Soon, the HCCA will host training programs for adults in another effort to bolster the workforce.

“I preach that the schools are a tool for economic development,” said Hart County High School Principal Kevin Gaines. “Our goal is to graduate students to move on, but we want to step back and look at the whole picture. We don’t want to be in a box. We want to look at our community and see how we can play a role in making it better.”

Enthusiastic students are evidence of that. In Greg Gaines’ TV production class, students broadcast about 150 events a year.

Senior Kevin Garcia has only been taking Gaines’ classes for a year, but he’s already learned the skills to put together promotional videos for small businesses.

“I feel like I know how to get a marketing career started now,” Garcia said. “I wouldn’t know I could do something with film without these classes. You get to learn what’s possible.”

For an expanded version of this story, visit news.uga.edu.

READ

GRANT

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a professor of language and literacy education in UGA’s College of Education. She said not only did she pick the book because of its captivating story but also its international perspective.

“When I first picked it up I couldn’t put it down—this tale of grief, loss and strength—and it was also refreshing to read something that was Chinese, with the global society we now live in,” she said. “We do so much according to the lunar calendar, and reading this novel really woke me up to that.”

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2018 is the “year of the dog” and begins Feb. 16.

In Athens, celebration of the new year and To Live kick off Feb. 10 with a pair of events—a dragon-making workshop at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and a lunar new year-themed Family Day at the Georgia Museum of Art. The NEA Big Read events continue into March, exploring language learning, how food reflects Asian culture and a visit by award-winning children’s literature illustrator Grace Lin. For a full list of events, visit coe.uga.edu/bigread.

Cahnmann-Taylor added that the celebration is also a way for Athens residents to connect with the many Asian students living in the area. UGA is home to nearly 1,000 Chinese-born students alone, making it one of the most popular American institutions among Chinese students, according to .

In addition to events at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, the Georgia Museum of Art and the Athens-Clarke County Library, other events introduce the Athens community to Asian culture through experiences such as a fashion show of UGA student work at Clarke Central High School, a play on the Korean experience and a visit by the awardwinning children’s illustrator Grace Lin. Reading To Live is one way the community can learn about the Asian experience, Cahnmann-Taylor said. But then, while each event relates to the book individually, it also offers an additional perspective.

“With all of these events, we look at how we can experience literature through our senses,” she added.

Events associated with the NEA Big Read event, “To Live in Athens,” begin Feb. 10 and continue through March. For full details, visit coe.uga.edu/bigread.

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complete their master’s or doctoral training in our psychology and counseling programs are not financially supported during their practicum or internship,” said Bernadette Heckman, associate professor of counseling psychology and principal investigator of the grant. “This grant allows us to support our students as they receive their training.”

The stipend ranges from $10,000 for a master’s-level student to $28,000 for a student in the doctoral program. It allows students to focus on their training rather than take on a second job, she said.

This grant is similar to a $1.3 million grant Heckman received four years ago to train school counselors. This new funding, which includes faculty members Georgia Calhoun and Jolie Daigle as co-principal investigators, enables the team to expand training across more graduate programs and include community health care settings and K-12 schools throughout 13 counties in Northeast Georgia.

Thanks to the funding, master’s and doctoral students will face fewer financial barriers as they continue their education.

“This external funding will financially support both master’s and doctoral students which is a helpful tool for recruitment,” said Daigle. “The leading-edge integrated and behavioral health training they receive helps them best serve youth and adults in school, community and medical settings.”

The goal of the College of Education’s counseling and psychology programs is to train students to work in an environment that provides both physical and behavioral health care. A key community partner in this program is the Athens-based Mercy Health Center, a nonprofit clinic serving uninsured patients in the area. At Mercy, patients meet with a physician and behavioral health provider during their primary care visit, and care encompasses both physical and mental health issues.

The grant also involves a research component, which evaluates the training received and follows counselors for two years after they receive their degree.

So far, using data collected from training school counselors, Heckman said the college’s model is working. She expects to see similar strong results going forward, as more students are able to earn degrees thanks to the stipend.

SPECIAL SECTION • JANUARY 29, 2018

2018 STATE of the UNIVERSITY Good afternoon and welcome. It is a privilege to be here with all of you today to report on the state of the University of Georgia. I am pleased to say, with certainty, that the state of this institution—the birthplace of public higher education in America—is strong, and the University is growing stronger every month and every year that we carry out our important work together.

I want to begin with perhaps my most important message this afternoon: to all of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends—thank you. Thank you for the important contributions you have made to this institution. You are the reason and the inspiration for our success. You are the heroes of the great story I am honored to tell today, and you will see throughout my remarks that our story is one of profound transformation—of expanding knowledge and pushing boundaries. It, too, is a story of deep impact—of changing lives and serving communities. Indeed, it is a story of unyielding commitment—to each other and to our noble mission.

It all begins with a vision, the vision we embraced last January, in this same setting, to elevate, even higher, the role of the University of Georgia as a force for good in our state, nation, and world.

This vision was fashioned around three strategic priorities: 1) to increase scholarship support for our students; 2) to further enhance our learning environment; and 3) to tackle the grand challenges of our time.

Over the past year, united and determined, we have moved these priorities forward, and the signs of progress are beginning to show. Celebrating this progress and outlining plans to continue it will be the focus of my remarks today. I will highlight some key accomplishments related to each of our three priorities and then discuss new ideas for building on our great momentum.

Before I continue, I want to take a moment to congratulate Head Coach Kirby Smart and his staff, our amazing studentathletes, as well as Athletic Director Greg McGarity on one of the greatest football seasons in our history. I stand with the entire Bulldog Nation in expressing my deep sense of pride in everything the team accomplished this year. Truly, it was a magical season.

Increasing Scholarship Support

I will now turn to our first priority, increasing scholarship support for our students. During my State of the University Address last year, I announced the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program, a major endowment initiative to create hundreds of new, need-based scholarships to support students from low-income backgrounds.

Our alumni and friends responded with great enthusiasm.

In just 12 months, they have established more than 200 need-based scholarships, a tremendous accomplishment, reflecting incredible generosity. These endowed scholarships will provide grants, every year, ad infinitum, to academically talented students with unmet financial need. Countless lives and countless futures will be forever changed by these scholarships.

It has been said that “from a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.” This age-old maxim captures the spirit of this program perfectly: From one gift, a generation of impact

Delivered by

President Jere W. Morehead January 24, 2018 The Chapel University of Georgia is born, and we are witnessing just the beginning. Our ultimate goal is over 400 of these new scholarships by the end of the capital campaign.

Let me pause to express my deep appreciation to every single donor who has stepped forward to create a Georgia Commitment Scholarship and to the UGA Foundation, which has matched their contributions, dollar for dollar.

Thank you for opening doors for our students, for making the impossible possible.

I continue to be humbled by the growing support of our alumni and friends, not only for this scholarship initiative but for the entire campaign. Last year, the first year of the public phase of the campaign, private giving skyrocketed. More than 68,000 donors contributed over $227 million, setting a new record in annual fundraising for the fourth consecutive year and nearly doubling the fundraising total over that period. This certainly is an impressive achievement.

Even more impressive, however, is the three-year rolling average, which rose to $185 million last year—60 percent higher than the average from four years ago. This is a

clear sign that the culture of giving is changing within the University of Georgia family as our vision for the future takes hold. I give my thanks to Vice President Kelly Kerner and his outstanding team for leading our fundraising efforts.

Although much work remains in the years ahead, we certainly are on track to reach—and very likely exceed—our campaign goal of raising $1.2 billion by 2020.

Through the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program, we are making great strides to ensure that students from low-income backgrounds have access to this University.

But, is there more we can do to help these students graduate?

I believe there is.

Each year, around 200 of our seniors, making steady progress toward earning degrees, struggle to stay in school because they cannot make ends meet. Some even withdraw.

The shortfall, in many cases, is less than a thousand dollars— and so close to the finish line. Low-income students who withdraw in these circumstances are at a high risk of never returning to graduate, of never realizing the full promise of higher education. Unfortunately, this is a national problem, but at the University of Georgia, we intend to do something about it.

Today, I am directing $250,000 in private funds to the Office of Student Financial Aid to establish a pilot program that will award small completion grants, up to $2,000, to these at-risk students facing financial hardships. The program will begin this semester, and it has the potential to be transformative. I sincerely hope that it is, as the University’s support network continues to expand to help keep all of our students on the path to graduation.

Enhancing the Learning Environment

Let us turn to the second priority, enhancing the learning environment for students. This fall, once again, we enrolled the most academically talented class of first-year students in our history. I am proud to say that in the five years I have delivered this address as President, I have made that statement five times.

This year’s class, which also is the largest to date, enrolled with an average GPA of 4.0 and an average ACT score of 30.

As impressive as these metrics may be, it is never enough simply to enroll great students. We must ensure that they learn, grow, and succeed at the very highest levels. That is our ultimate aim. That is what really matters. How is the University doing in this regard? Let us take a look at the data.

This year, our retention rate climbed to a record high of 96 percent. Our completion rates remain at record levels as well. Sixty-six percent of our students finish in four years, and 85 percent finish in six. Our career placement rate is at an all-time high, with 95 percent of our students employed or enrolled in graduate school six months after completion. Indeed, across the spectrum of undergraduate education, the key performance indicators are trending in the right direction.

Yet this University continues to demand even better results, to reach for new heights of excellence. This year, we launched the Double Dawgs Program to provide pathways for our ambitious students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years or less. More than 100 Double Dawg CONTINUED on page B

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pathways already have been established, with more to come.

We also launched another major hiring initiative—the seventh in five years—this one aimed squarely at the student experience as we hire more faculty and academic advisors in leading areas of growth.

We also completed several capital projects to enhance the learning environment, from Phase II of the Business Learning Community to Baldwin Hall to Clark Howell Hall—each made possible by significant state investment.

I remain deeply grateful to Governor Deal, the General Assembly, Chancellor Wrigley, and the Board of Regents for supporting our efforts to promote the highest levels of student learning and success at the University of Georgia.

These efforts, I might add, continue to be recognized on the national stage.

In the fall, U.S. News and World Report ranked this institution 16th on its list of best public national universities, our highest ranking ever. We also landed at 12 on Kiplinger’s list of best values among public colleges, reflecting our dedication to raising quality without sacrificing affordability.

Forbes placed the University at number 17 on its list of top colleges that dominate academically and athletically, and that was before our football team won the SEC Championship and the Rose Bowl and then played for the national title.

The University also received, for the fourth consecutive year, the INSIGHT Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award. Working together, with common purpose, we are making strides to become an even more connected and welcoming academic community for all of our faculty, staff, and students. Initiatives such as the Women’s Leadership Fellows Program, now in its third year, and the Women’s Staff Leadership Institute, launched a year ago, exemplify our steadfast commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Our work in this area, however, is far from complete.

More remains to be done. That is why, in the fall, I announced a grant program to spur the development of new initiatives geared toward the recruitment, retention, and success of underserved students. Interest in the program exceeded all expectations as numerous proposals were submitted to the review committee.

The initial funding for the program was $250,000, but given the strength of the proposals, it was increased to $300,000 to support the implementation of more than 20 promising projects. I would like to thank all of the colleges and units that submitted proposals, as well as the members of the review committee, led by Vice Provost Michelle Cook, for their leadership and service.

In the year ahead, as a campus community, let us continue to cultivate diversity and inclusion—remembering that these core values are essential to our future. Mary Frances Early, the first African-American graduate of the University and recent recipient of the 2018 President’s Medal, said it best in her Commencement address to our graduate students 10 years ago.

“Wherever your path leads,” she declared, “never lose sight of the humanity of others […] because education is not simply about achieving academically […]. Education also embraces the understanding and the acceptance of, and respect for, all people. Those qualities represent the conduit to peace in our world.” Her powerful words still ring true today, and they remind us not only of our individual responsibility but also of our collective potential as stewards of this great University.

When we look across all of these accomplishments— the performance measures, the academic initiatives, and facilities projects—it is clear that our priority to enhance the learning environment for students is moving forward with great force. So, where do we go from here?

That is the question I posed last February in my charge to the President’s Task Force on Student Learning and Success. The group, which was co-chaired by Vice Presidents Rahul Shrivastav and Victor Wilson, spent much of the last year developing a response. I want to thank publicly the members of the task force for their hard work and dedication to excellence in undergraduate education. Their final report is now available on the President’s Office website, and I encourage you to read it if you have not already.

The report provides a roadmap for how this institution, over the next three to five years, can strengthen the educational experiences of our students, inside and outside the classroom. There are several recommendations that we can—and must—move on immediately. I want to touch on a few of those today.

First, the task force recommended that the University place greater emphasis on writing in the curriculum. The arguments in favor of this recommendation are as numerous as they are compelling. Employers, for example, continue to cite writing as one of the most important competencies for their employees but an area where the average college graduate is underprepared. In one national study, only 27 percent of employers said that recent college graduates could write effectively.

Of course, the significance of this skill reaches beyond the workplace, into civic life. In the Information Age, engaged citizens must be able to write with precision and

Andrew Davis Tucker

New academic initiatives and support programs are promoting the highest levels of student learning and success at UGA.

Key UGA Accomplishments Created 200+ Georgia Commitment Scholarships Generated $227M in new gifts and pledges Increased total annual research expenditures to $458M Produced $5.7B annual economic impact on Georgia Announced hiring initiatives to promote student success and expand the research enterprise Opened Phase II of the Business Learning Community as well as the Center for Molecular Medicine Established Double Dawgs Program Launched CyberArch Program Won SEC Football Championship and Rose Bowl and played for the national title

clarity across an evolving range of platforms and audiences.

They must be able to adapt to emerging forms of information sharing, especially in the digital space.

We should ask ourselves: Is our curriculum sufficiently preparing our students to meet these challenges? Like the task force, I think we must strive to go further. So today I am asking Vice President Shrivastav to work with appropriate faculty committees to develop a proposal for strengthening the writing requirement. My hope is that the proposal can be approved through University Council and implemented no later than Fall 2019.

The task force also recommended making data literacy a core part of undergraduate education, and again the arguments are convincing. Once reserved for business and high-tech fields, the data revolution has expanded to all sectors of human endeavor. Consider for a moment that 90 percent of the world’s data was created in the last two years alone, a truly incredible phenomenon.

How we organize and interpret the massive data sets being assembled—how we use them to improve the human

condition—these will be defining issues of this century. Data literacy is no longer optional for success in our democracy and our economy; it is imperative. Once more, I am asking our faculty and academic leaders to develop a proposal to ensure that data literacy is a cornerstone of undergraduate education at the University of Georgia by Fall 2019.

The task force also focused on teaching and learning, pointing to a growing body of research on the effectiveness of active learning pedagogy. This instructional approach has been shown to deepen student understanding, foster higher levels of engagement, and improve academic performance.

The evidence is overwhelming, and it spans disciplines.

For these reasons, the task force developed plans to infuse active learning throughout more classrooms, and today I am announcing two initiatives to support this recommendation.

First, I am allocating $250,000 to launch an intensive summer institute to help faculty incorporate active learning strategies into their undergraduate courses. Applications will be made available later in the semester, and summer stipends will be provided to encourage strong participation.

THE 2018 STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY

Andrew Davis Tucker

To build on UGA’s booming research enterprise, President Jere W. Morehead announced a presidential task force to develop a longrange plan for an innovation district.

New Initiatives for 2018 A presidential task force to develop plans for an innovation district at UGA

Andrew Davis Tucker

Proposals will be developed to strengthen the writing requirement and emphasize data literacy in the curriculum.

A completion grants program to keep highly at-risk students on track to graduation A cohort-based mentorship program for rural students Proposals to strengthen the writing requirement and make data literacy a core part of undergraduate education An initiative to transform traditional classrooms into active learning spaces

Dorothy Kozlowski

President Morehead allocated $1 million to create more active learning spaces on campus.

Second, I am designating $1 million to transform select traditional classrooms into active learning spaces. Many traditional classrooms on campus, especially those with fixed chairs and tables, are not equipped to facilitate interaction and teamwork, hallmarks of active learning pedagogy.

This initiative will help to ensure that more of our faculty have access to instructional space tailored to this teaching method. Additional information will be distributed to the Deans in the first week of February to advance this important initiative.

Finally, I want to say a word about the task force recommendation to expand support for students from rural areas. This is a national issue concerning universities and colleges across America. You might not realize that many of our in-state students are from rural Georgia. Some of them come from low-income backgrounds and are the first in their families to attend college. They face unique challenges on campus, and they can benefit from targeted support.

Today I am accepting the task force recommendation to create the ALL Georgia Program, a cohort-based initiative

A summer institute to help faculty infuse active learning strategies into their courses

for students from rural areas of the state. This new program, coordinated by the Vice President for Instruction and the Vice President for Student Affairs, will combine financial and academic resources with mentorship and leadership opportunities to provide a tailored web of support.

I am allocating $300,000 in private funds over the next five years to launch this important program. It represents another step to ensure that each and every student at the University of Georgia—regardless of background—is set up to be successful in the classroom and in life after graduation.

Again, I want to share my thanks with the members of the task force for their outstanding work. Plans related to the other recommendations will be announced in the coming weeks. Stay tuned. When it comes to our learning environment, we will never be satisfied with maintaining the status quo.

Solving Grand Challenges

Now I would like to discuss the third and final priority, solving the grand challenges of our time. The challenges

columns.uga.edu Jan. 29, 2018

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before us are legion. They are complex. Some seem insurmountable, and they affect every person in this room.

Indeed, they affect every person on this planet.

One of my favorite quotes comes from the decorated British statesman Winston Churchill, who said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” That quote comes to mind when I think about the University’s role in addressing the many challenges we face as a society.

I believe the institution is bound by its history, by its mission, and—yes—by its greatness to be a leader on the world stage. I have found, time and time again, this same belief shared by our faculty, staff, and students. You might say it is part of our very nature, and it drives us into communities near and far to help tackle a range of major issues, such as cybersecurity, an area of increasing concern to our global community.

A recent report estimates that cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021. This year, the University established a new Institute for Cybersecurity and Privacy, in part, to leverage our broad expertise and research capabilities against this global threat. The institution also was named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research to recognize the strength of our faculty in this area.

In addition, we launched the CyberArch program to help businesses and communities across Georgia protect against the devastating economic effects of cyberattacks.

Hart County and Griffin/Spalding County will serve as pilot sites for this new initiative.

CyberArch is just one piece of a vast constellation of outreach initiatives supporting economic development across the state, and it should surprise no one that the latest report estimates the institution’s annual economic impact on Georgia at $5.7 billion. That level of impact has come to be expected from us, and it should be. We are a land- and sea-grant institution with a foothold in all 159 counties in Georgia, from our rural areas to our urban centers. Yet, at the same time, our reach and our commitment stretch beyond state lines, and cybersecurity is just one of many global challenges the University is helping to address.

Our faculty also are seeking cures and treatments for a range of life-threatening human diseases. They are working to ensure our food supply keeps pace with the world’s growing population. They are striving to protect our precious natural resources and searching for strategies to promote international peace and prosperity.

These are big problems that require big solutions, but our University is up to the challenge. That is why our research enterprise is booming. Over the past four years, total research expenditures, a key measure of productivity, have surged by a staggering 31 percent, up to an all-time high of $458 million. In addition, we jumped seven spots to number 54 among all U.S. universities in the latest research and development rankings from the National Science Foundation.

These are very positive signs. To continue this upward trajectory, the University launched a $2 million initiative under Provost Pam Whitten to provide additional startup funding to recruit more outstanding scientists and scholars to establish their research programs here.

We also dedicated several cutting-edge research facilities this year, including the Center for Molecular Medicine, the Food Technology Center, and the Turfgrass Research and Education facilities. Again, each of these capital projects was supported by the state, and the return on investment will be groundbreaking research to solve human health crises and advance the state’s vital agriculture industry.

The state also allocated funds for planning and design of a new facility to support the growing STEM-based research activity of our faculty. I now am making the case to our lawmakers to secure funding to begin construction this fall, and I am pleased that the Governor has included this project in his budget proposal to the General Assembly.

Of course, at the heart of each of these exciting capital projects—at the heart of our rising research productivity— is something more human, more personal. It is impact: impact on the lives of people here at home and around the world, impact on the planet that we all inhabit. Every research question and hypothesis, every sponsored project, they all represent opportunities for this University to make a difference.

With each year that passes, as the list of challenges multiplies over time, we are being asked to do even more. How do we remain relevant and responsive in the 21st century? That is a question that deserves our serious consideration. I believe the answer lies in the creative power of our faculty—their genius for innovation.

In November, I had the pleasure of serving on a national panel, sponsored by the Association of Public and Landgrant Universities, to discuss the future of technology transfer in higher education. A clear message emerged from that discussion. In order to overcome the range of challenges facing our society, the American public research CONTINUED on page D

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university must evolve its innovation ecosystem to find solutions; to develop new products and ways of doing; and to create the jobs, companies, and industries of the future.

The University of Georgia is perfectly positioned to accept this responsibility. That is why, in December, I established a new presidential task force to develop a long-term strategic vision for an innovation district. This task force is co-chaired by Vice President for Research David Lee and Vice President for Government Relations Griff Doyle and includes faculty, administrators, and community partners.

The group is pursuing questions such as: How can we build a cohesive culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that permeates all facets of our mission? How can we better connect our creative endeavors to the broader innovation landscape to maximize the University’s positive impact?

The answers to these questions will point the way for the University of Georgia to play an even greater role in solving the grand challenges of our time. Once again, we will not be satisfied with the status quo. I am excited about the great work that I know will come from this task force, and I look forward to receiving its report later in the year.

Closing

I want to close today with a quote from Dr. Louise McBee. Many of you may know her as a state representative who ably served in the Georgia General Assembly for more than a decade. Others may know her as a distinguished administrator of this institution who, from 1963 until her retirement in 1988, served in a variety of important roles.

Dr. McBee was the chief academic officer when I arrived as a new faculty member in 1986, and today a

lecture series and a professorship honor her legacy at the University of Georgia. During one of her many talks on campus, she declared, “Education—and the world—will change. They will be better, and we will help make them better. It’s a great time to be in the midst of the fray.”

This statement may be simple on its surface, but underneath, it is rich with meaning. It tells us of an interconnection between the fate of education and the fate of the world, and it does so with optimism, inviting us to play our part in creating a brighter future. I can think of no better statement to represent our work together over the past year.

One day at a time, hopeful, and focused on our vision for the future, we are making education better. We are making the world better, and we should take pride in our progress. If we rest on the accomplishments outlined today, however, we risk failing to meet the challenges that await us tomorrow.

Let us leave here with renewed commitment to our three strategic priorities: increasing scholarship support for students; enhancing the learning environment; and solving the grand challenges of our time. If we resolve never to let up, to continue charging forward at this thrilling pace, I am convinced that when the history books are written 100 years from now, the University of Georgia will be held up as a model for how the American land-grant university transformed in the 21st century to expand its impact on its home state, on the nation, and on the world.

While much hard work lies ahead, it is, as Dr. McBee said, “a great time to be in the midst of the fray.” It is a great time to be a part of the University of Georgia.

Thank you for being here today, and thank you for all that you are doing for our beloved University.

President’s Innovation District Task Force Formed to develop a strategic, long-term vision for an innovation district at the University of Georgia Dr. Karen J.L. Burg, Harbor Lights Chair in Small Animal Studies Dr. Michelle G. Cook, Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Strategic University Initiatives Mr. William W. Douglas III, Chairman of the UGA Foundation Board of Trustees Mr. J. Griffin Doyle (co-chair), Vice President for Government Relations Dr. Derek E. Eberhart, Director of Innovation Gateway Dr. Susanne Hollinger, Head of Patents, The Coca-Cola Company Mr. Kelly Kerner, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Mr. Davis P. Knox, Co-Founder and CFO of Fire & Flavor Dr. David C. Lee (co-chair), Vice President for Research Dr. Donald J. Leo, Dean of the College of Engineering Dr. Lisa K. Nolan, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine Mr. Robert H. Pinckney IV, Director of the Entrepreneurship Program

UGA faculty are working to ensure the global food supply keeps pace with the world’s growing population.

Andrew Davis Tucker

Dr. Rahul Shrivastav, Vice President for Instruction Dr. Steven Stice, D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor and Director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center Dr. W. Kyle Tschepikow, Assistant to the President

Innovation District Task Force Co-Chairs

Photo illustration by Janet Beckley

The UGA football team finished the season ranked 2nd in the nation after winning the SEC Championship and the Rose Bowl.

Griffin Doyle, Vice President for Government Relations

David Lee, Vice President for Research