UGA Columns May 18, 2015

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May 18, 2015

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Forest operations professor named new Warnell dean

By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

Dorothy Kozlowski

Jennifer Frum, vice president for public service and outreach, sees the university’s public service mission as critical.

“We have a responsibility to take the vast knowledge we have here and apply it to the world around us,” she said.

‘Good return on investment’ Vice president for public service and outreach reflects on university’s impact on individuals and state

By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu

Jennifer Frum’s first job at UGA shares many similarities with the one that she has now.

She traveled a lot. She helped connect UGA professors and research to places where they could solve problems. She helped businesses create jobs and governments train leaders.

But a lot has changed in the two decades that she’s been here.

Frum has worked her way up from a research coordinator I in the Office of International Development to become UGA’s first female vice president for public service and outreach.

The mission is much the same, but the scale is much larger. She oversees eight units that have a combined economic impact of $344 million annually.

“I had a long leash to create new and interesting international

programs, which was rewarding,” Frum said of the early days in her career at UGA, where she brought experience from working in the office of Rep. Bob Wise. “From putting together faculty teams to navigating cross-cultural differences and negotiating bureaucratic processes—that early work taught me a lot about how to move a project from A to Z.” In her role as a research coordinator, Frum was tasked with helping professors on proposals develop programs and research outside of the U.S. It was exciting work developing relationships with businesses and other programs in Mexico, Eastern Europe and, later, East and West Africa. Frum got to travel and network, helping create Georgia’s international reputation even before the Summer Olympics in 1996 brought it to the forefront.

And the travel was a precursor to her current role, where she

travels through the communities of Georgia, working on issues of economic development, leadership training and solving challenges.

“My best days are the days I’m out interacting with the people we serve,” she said.

While earning her doctorate from the UGA Institute of Higher Education, Frum worked her way up the career ladder to become assistant director of the Office of International Public Service and Outreach before joining the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, one of the eight units that report to the vice president for pubic service and outreach. She served as director of the Vinson Institute before being named vice president for public service and outreach in 2012.

She sees the university’s public service mission as critical.

“We have a responsibility to take the vast knowledge we have here and apply it to the world See OUTREACH on page 12

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Finalists named for UGA-Griffin directorship

By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

Four finalists have been named for the position of assistant provost and campus director at UGA’s Griffin campus. They began visiting UGA-Griffin May 14 to meet with members of the university community.

A committee chaired by Russell Mumper, vice provost for academic affairs, conducted a national search to identify the finalists. The committee was assisted by the UGA Search Group in Human Resources.

UGA GUIDE

Each finalist has given or will give a presentation on their vision for the campus from 9:3010:30 a.m. in Room 104 of the UGA-Griffin Student Learning Center. The finalists and the dates of their presentations are: • Govind Kannan, a professor of animal science and dean of the College of Agriculture, Family Sciences and Technology at Fort Valley State University, May 14; • Rodney Ellis, chancellor of Central Louisiana Technical Community College, May 18; • S. Kristine Braman, a professor of entomology, director of UGA’s

Center for Urban Agriculture and interim assistant dean at UGAGriffin, May 21; and • Mickey Latour, a professor and dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, June 2.

The CVs of the finalists, along with their full campus visit itineraries and candidate feedback forms, are available online at http://t.uga.edu/1wC. The assistant provost and campus director of UGA-Griffin will oversee all research, extension and instructional programs at

See GRIFFIN on page 12

W. Dale Greene, a long-serving faculty member and administrator in UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, has been named its dean, effective June 1.

Greene, a professor of forest operations who joined the Warnell School in 1986, previously served as its associate dean for academic affairs and has been interim dean since January.

“I have known Dr. Greene throughout his nearly 30-year career at the University of Georgia,” said President Jere W. Morehead.

“Given his strong credentials as one of the institution’s top faculty members, I am confident that he has the background and understanding to lead the Warnell School into the future.”

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Over the course of his career, Greene has received all three teaching awards given by the Warnell School and has been honored by the GeorDale Greene gia Forestry Association for his service. His research focuses on enhancing the productivity and sustainability of the wood supply system, and he has been active in the Georgia Forestry Association, the Georgia Forestry Foundation and the international Council on Forest Engineering.

He has served on several committees in the Warnell School and on University Council while also engaging in outreach to industry and landowners.

See DEAN on page 12

FRANKLIN COLLEGE, CCRC

Noted researcher named UGA’s newest GRA Eminent Scholar

By Terry Marie Hastings thasting@uga.edu

One of the leading experts on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and metabolomics is joining the faculty at UGA as its newest Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

Arthur S. Edison, who is currently a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Florida, will join the faculty of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology, the department of genetics and the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center in August as the GRA Eminent Scholar in NMR Spectroscopy. He also will serve as director of the NMR facility housed at the CCRC, succeeding

James Prestegard, who has directed the facility and held the GRA Eminent Scholar position since 1998.

Edison is the third Arthur Edison GRA Eminent Scholar to join UGA this year. He brings the total number of GRA scholars at UGA to 17.

“Hiring three GRA Eminent Scholars in one year is remarkable and points to the University of Georgia’s expanding research enterprise,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “Dr. Edison’s expertise

See SCHOLAR on page 12

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH $1.55M grant to be used to track vaccination attitudes on Twitter

By Rebecca Ayer alea@uga.edu

A computational tool being developed to study vaccination attitudes and behaviors through social media could change the way researchers conduct public health surveillance.

Researchers from UGA, George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University are using the social media platform Twitter to study why people refuse vaccinations. The study is being funded by a five-year, $1.55 million grant from

the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

“This study is exciting because it is unlike any social media research done before,” said Karen Hilyard, an assistant professor of health promotion and behavior in the UGA College of Public Health and a co-principal investigator on the project. “We are developing a new methodology that will be faster and cheaper than current survey methods but just as reliable and rigorous. In

See GRANT on page 12

2 May 18, 2015 columns.uga.edu

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION

Around academe

Arizona State teams with edX to launch online freshman program

Arizona State University is joining with the nonprofit massive open online course provider edX to begin the Global Freshman Academy, which will be available worldwide.

The new online program will offer 12 courses—eight of which make up a freshman year. It promises full university credit without any admissions process required.

The upfront cost will be $45 per course, and classes offered include astronomy, algebra and human origins, which will be taught by Arizona State professors.

Knoxville College plans to stop teaching classes this fall

Knoxville College, a historically black college in Mechanicsville, Tennessee, announced to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission its plans to suspend fall classes.

An advisory committee recommended the commission suspend the college’s authorization to operate, so it will be unable to recruit, enroll or teach students.

The decision to suspend classes is likely associated with the school’s heavy debt, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

The college currently has 11 students enrolled, and the state is working to ensure that current students are aware of their options.

UGA’s Arch to undergo preservation

By Matt Chambers mattdc@uga.edu

The iconic UGA Arch will undergo a preservation process starting May 19 and continuing through the summer.

During the process, the Arch will receive a thorough cleaning as well as new primer, paint and wiring. Preservation repairs will be made, and a corrosion treatment will be applied. UGA’s Facilities Management Division will complete the work prior to the start of fall semester.

“The Arch is a very historic campus landmark, and it will be handled with the utmost care throughout this process,” said Brett Ganas, director of the grounds department. “These preservation efforts will last for decades and will ensure the Arch continues to be a longstanding part of UGA’s campus.”

The three pillars of the Arch will not be removed because they are embedded in the historic steps upon which the Arch stands. Scaffolding, fencing and other protective measures will be placed around the area as the top portion of the Arch

This artist rendering shows the location of a 6-foot path that will be created to the west of the Arch to allow for easier access to and from the Broad Street bus stop and the rest of North Campus.

is repaired. A banner will be displayed throughout the work.

The Arch was repainted five years ago but did not undergo a process as thorough as this project, which is similar in scope to recent efforts to preserve cast-iron lampposts and the North Campus fence.

Search underway for VP for marketing, communications

Michigan State to stop burning coal

Michigan State University is taking steps to stop the burning of coal by the end of 2016.

The decision is part of an effort to reduce emissions at its T.B. Simon Power Plant, as well as advance its Energy Transition Plan, which was implemented in 2012. The university plans to transition to natural gas as its sole fuel source, which provides a cleaner, more stable power supply for the future, according to an article in Michigan State Today.

The decision further helps Michigan State meet future energy needs in a more sustainable fashion.

John Kelly, UGA Sports Communications

Georgia Fund 2015

Why We Give

LEARN, PLAY, EXCEL—Thirty UGA student-athletes from 11 teams visited

Names: Anne and Steve Marcotte

D.H. Stanton Elementary School May 6 as part of the fifth annual “UGA Day—Learn, Play, Excel” initiative. Deputy Director of Athletics Carla Williams, women’s

Positions: Anne is a professor and head of the College of Education’s communication sciences and special education department. Steve is assistant director for building services in University Housing.

hard, setting goals and respecting others. The UGA student-athletes and staff also distributed UGA backpacks, T-shirts and posters to the schoolchildren.

At UGA: Anne has been on the UGA faculty for 19 years; Steve has been at the university for 15 years.

Beneficiary of their gift to the university: The BotheMarcotte Scholarship, which is for undergraduate students who have lived with craniofacial anomalies or who have benefited from speech-language pathology Steve and Anne services. In any year where Marcotte no such student is selected, the committee may choose to award the scholarship to a student with a demonstrated interest in craniofacial anomalies as a career path.

Why they contribute: “To honor the combination of our personal and professional experiences.

We both value education, in part because we have both seen how education can raise people from one kind of life to another; and we had both dealt with speech therapy from different angles.

“We also liked the fact that it is taking us a while to fully endow the fund; we were not in the position financially to just write a check to create an instant scholarship fund, so it’s an active statement every month that we believe in building toward what we trust will become a better future.”

To make your contribution to the Georgia Fund, please contact the Office of Annual Giving at 706-542-8119.

Source: College Factual

Janet Beckley

Also this summer, a 6-foot path will be created to the west of the Arch to allow for easier access to and from the Broad Street bus stop and the rest of North Campus. The path will go through the fencing in the area and will open before the start of fall semester.

basketball head coach Joni Crenshaw, volleyball player Gaby Smiley and football players Keith Marshall and Quincy Mauger talked about the importance of working

SCHOOL OF LAW Hashimoto named associate dean for clinical programs, experiential learning

By Lona Panter lonap@uga.edu

The UGA School of Law’s Erica J. Hashimoto has been named the school’s new associate dean for clinical programs and experiential learning.

In this role, she will work to enhance and advance the school’s real-practice learning offerings.

“Clinical programs are one of the law school’s crown jewels and represent one of the many ways the law school can have an impact both in the state and beyond,” said Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge. “Professor Hashimoto is uniquely qualified to help strengthen these programs and to support the university’s broader goal of expanding experiential learning opportunities. A first-class scholar, gifted teacher and dedicated advocate, professor Hashimoto is a fantastic addition to the law school’s senior leadership team.”

Recently named a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, Hashimoto joined Georgia Law in the fall of 2004 and was named the holder of the Allen Post Professorship in 2014. In addition to teaching courses in criminal law, evidence and criminal procedure, she created and helps oversee the school’s Appellate Litigation Clinic.

While at UGA, Hashimoto has had her research discussed during oral

argument by a U.S. Supreme Court justice and cited by the court, and she has testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Her law school honors include receiving the John C. Erica Hashimoto O’Byrne Memorial Award for Significant Contributions Furthering Student-Faculty Relations, serving as a law school honorary graduation marshal and being selected twice for the C. Ronald Ellington Award for Excellence in Teaching, the law school’s highest teaching honor.

Prior to coming to Athens, she served four years as an assistant federal public defender in the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Washington, D.C., and served as a judicial clerk for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Hashimoto earned her bachelor’s degree with honors from Harvard University and her law degree magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center, where she served on the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

UGA President Jere W. Morehead has appointed a search committee to begin a national search to fill the position of vice president for marketing and communications.

Jennifer Frum, vice president for public service and outreach, will chair the search committee, which includes faculty, administrators, staff, students and alumni. Additional search committee members are: • Michelle Garfield Cook, associate provost for institutional diversity; • Charles Davis, dean of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication; • Juliett Dinkins, editor of Columns, UGA Public Affairs; • Kelly Kerner, vice president for development and alumni relations; • Stefanie Lindquist, dean of the School of Public and International Affairs; • Charlotte Mason, marketing department head and holder of the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Chair of Business Administration; • Marie Mize, vice chair of the Staff Council and circulation manager at the King Law Library; • Kathy Pharr, chief of staff to the president; • Mike Raeber, executive director of legal affairs; • Tom Reichert, head of the advertising and public relations department and the UGA Athletic Association Professor of Advertising, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication; • Susan Sherman, president of Susan Sherman Inc. and a member of the UGA Foundation Development and Public Affairs Committee; • Johnelle Simpson, president of the Student Government Association; • Brock Tessman, associate professor and chair-elect of the executive committee of the University Council; and • Alan Thomas, associate athletic director for external operations, UGA Athletic Association.

Tom Jackson, who has served as a senior administrator at UGA since 1988 and as vice president for public affairs since 2006, recently announced that he is accepting a new position as heritage communications executive with the University System of Georgia effective Aug. 1.

The vice president for marketing and communications will oversee four departments: news service, publications, broadcast/video/photography and the visitors center as well as WUGA-FM.

2015 COMMENCEMENT

columns.uga.edu May 18, 2015

Uncommon expectations

Senior Signature campaign raises record amount

Speakers encourage graduates to succeed by using lessons they learned at UGA

By Aaron Hale

aahale@uga.edu

Commencement speakers are known for offering affirming messages to graduates. Amy Robach, anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America and UGA’s spring Commencement speaker, encouraged graduates to make a habit of using the affirmative.

“You should say ‘yes’ as much as possible,” said Robach, who spoke May 8 at the undergraduate Commencement ceremony in Sanford Stadium. “Say ‘yes’ to the scary stuff. Say ‘yes’ to the seemingly menial stuff. You’ll be surprised how that one small, three-letter word will open doors, because opportunities are all around you.”

Approximately 4,488 undergraduates and 1,179 graduate students—a total of 5,667—met requirements to walk in the university’s spring Commencement ceremonies. The evening undergraduate ceremony included an additional 1,022 summer candidates who were invited to walk in the spring ceremony.

In her address, Robach, a 1995 alumna of UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, recalled the many times when saying “yes” helped her establish a successful career as a journalist and allowed her to tell important stories to the public. But perhaps the most important affirmative for Robach was when she reluctantly agreed to undergo a mammogram on live TV in 2013 to raise awareness about breast cancer screenings.

The mammogram found that Robach had two malignant tumors.

She successfully finished chemotherapy treatment one year ago.

“I can stand here and tell you I am a stronger and better person. I live with an even greater purpose. I live to enjoy life and to give back,” she said.

Other speakers at Commencement encouraged graduates to use lessons learned at UGA to succeed in their careers.

Hayes Hardy Patrick, a biology and psychology major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, delivered the student address at the undergraduate ceremony.

Patrick said that students in this graduating class are ready to face the next stage of their careers because UGA has prepared them so well for what’s ahead—even for challenges like a boring job or difficult co-workers.

“We are graduates of the University of Georgia,” Patrick said. “We strive to succeed in the real world with courage, we will treat those people we dislike with the same patience and kindness we showed our freshman roommates, and we will face those challenges with integrity.”

Gary Bertsch, university professor emeritus, delivered the Commencement address at the graduate ceremony, which was held at Stegeman Coliseum in the morning.

The founding director of UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security, Bertsch talked about the transformative power of higher education—including how it allowed him to go from milking cows as a boy at a dairy farm in Idaho to becoming a distinguished professor in foreign affairs.

Bertsch said UGA has made exceptional strides to become a leading public research university.

“The University of Georgia is a special community, a special university, that has benefited so much from thousands of people who have done so much good,” he said.

Bertsch encouraged degree candidates to be a part of building a better world.

“Put service before self,” he said. “Be good ambassadors for this university. I’m optimistic about the future. I’m optimistic about this university and about this country.”

UGA President Jere W. Morehead, who presided over both ceremonies, encouraged graduates to strive for excellence in the next stage of their lives.

“You are leaving this institution with great potential to shape the future of your communities, the future of this state, the future of this nation, and, indeed, the future of the world,” he said. “We now expect uncommon things from you, because you are a graduate of the University of Georgia.”

UGA’s Class of 2015 will enter the best job market for new college graduates since the Great Recession.

Nationally, employers plan to hire 8.3 percent more new college graduates in 2015 in the U.S. than they did the previous year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. There are signs on UGA’s campus that graduates are poised to benefit from a friendlier job market.

“Things are looking good,” said Scott Williams, executive director of the UGA Career Center. “The job market is better, and hiring is up.”

Graduates watch the fireworks at the end of undergraduate Commencement.

Peter Frey

Robert Newcomb

Natoya Haskins, an assistant professor in the department of counseling and human development services, left, and graduate Brandee Appling take part in graduate Commencement.

Robert Newcomb

Gary Bertsch, university professor emeritus, speaks at graduate Commencement.

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The UGA Student Alumni Association recently completed a record Senior Signature fundraising campaign, donating $90,516, the highest total in Senior Signature history.

The Senior Signature campaign gave graduating students the opportunity to donate to a school, college, department or scholarship on campus that significantly improved their collegiate experiences. Participating students’ names were included on the Class of 2015 Senior Signature plaque that was installed in UGA’s Tate Student Center Plaza prior to spring Commencement on May 8.

The concept for the campaign stems from a student-led fundraising effort that was launched in 1920. Of every $50 Senior Signature gift, $20 goes to the Georgia Fund, which supports UGA Alumni Association programming and critical areas such as scholarships, endowed professorships, graduate fellowships and international study. An estimated $36,000 of this year’s Senior Signature total was given to the Georgia Fund.

The Class of 2014 donated 1,264 gifts for a grand total of $63,000.

This year, both giving and total amount raised increased by 43 percent, with 1,807 graduating students participating.

“UGA’s Senior Signature program is a point of pride and the student gifts can go anywhere on campus,” said Meredith Gurley Johnson, UGA’s executive director of alumni relations.

“This year’s campaign saw donations for 63 different schools, colleges, departments, academic programs, scholarships and more. We could not be more proud of our students beginning their philanthropic legacy, which will build a culture of giving.”

Dodd School of Art graduates receive commemorative coin

By Alan Flurry

aflurry@uga.edu

Rick O’Quinn

Commencement speaker Amy Robach talks with UGA President Jere W. Morehead.

Graduates of the Lamar Dodd School of Art each received a commemorative medallion at a May 6 Commencement ceremony in Hugh Hodgson Hall. The medallion, a coin cast in white bronze, designed by assistant professor of jewelry and metals Mary Hallam Pearse and manufactured in the jewelry studios with the help of students, was an heirloom gift to graduates at every level.

Athens-based designer Donald Cope, who assisted in all aspects of the design, initially drew the coin in a 3-D software program. After being printed in wax at a high resolution, the coins were made in an ancient process called lost wax casting or cire perdue, in which a duplicate metal sculpture is cast from an original.

One side of the coin has an aerial view of the Lamar Dodd School of Art main building; the opposite side has a map of Athens, with the art school at the lower right.

More than 120 graduates received the coins at the Commencement ceremony.

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 UGA News Service. Periodicals postage is paid in Athens, Georgia. Postmaster: Andrew Davis Tucker Send off-campus address changes to Columns, Provost Pamela Whitten high-fives graduates as she exits with the platform party UGA News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 during the 2015 spring undergraduate Commencement ceremony at Sanford Stadium. North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.

4 May 18, 2015 columns.uga.edu

RESEARCH NEWS

Digest Terry College raises $2.5M from gala

The annual Terry College Alumni Awards and Gala, most recently held April 25 at the InterContinental Buckhead hotel in Atlanta, has raised more than $2.5 million in private donations during its nine-year run. This year’s net revenues are expected to be over $300,000.

Characterized by video tributes to alumni award recipients, dinner and silent auction, the gala has grown substantially from its beginnings as a small alumni golf tournament and award ceremony.

Focusing on the college’s mission of advancing economic development in Georgia, the event has become a popular black-tie affair attended by hundreds who support the college by bidding on silent auction items that range from jewelry to weekend getaways to works of art.

Money raised from the gala goes toward the support of faculty, staff, students and facilities of the Terry College of Business and has contributed to the Building Terry campaign.

Andrew Davis Tucker

Joshua Berning, an assistant professor of agricultural and applied economics in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, authored a study which found that patients advised to lose weight by their physicians dropped more pounds on average than those who didn’t receive a recommendation.

Pound of flesh

SREL receives grant to offer world’s first undergraduate program in radioecology

UGA’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory recently received a three-year National Science Foundation grant to establish the only program in the world to offer training in radioecology at the undergraduate level. The program will serve as a foundation for students pursuing careers in nuclear accident response or nuclear energy production.

The 10-week summer program will provide 10 students a year with unprecedented access to SREL laboratories, where they will study the transport, fate and effects of radioactive elements in the environment and on wildlife—areas crucial to the nation’s ability to address emerging issues of nuclear energy production, national security and nuclear contaminants.

Some of the students will analyze tissue samples of feral hogs and game birds in the lab to measure levels of radiation over time. Other students will use animal handling and live-trapping techniques to capture alligators for measurement and blood samples. Oral and poster presentations will give all students the opportunity to develop communication skills and present their research.

Enrichment activities will be a significant part of the program. Students will gain knowledge of the history of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site and tour the historical and research areas of the SRS, including nuclear facilities.

The grant will provide a weekly stipend, housing and a food allowance. The summer program dates for 2015 are May 18 to July 31.

UGA awarded grant to study Georgia’s community revitalization needs

An increased understanding of the housing and neighborhood revitalization issues facing Georgia’s rural and small-town communities will help researchers at UGA address needs in these communities.

Led by the College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ Kim Skobba, an assistant professor of financial planning, housing and consumer economics, UGA is using a five-year, $474,998 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct the research. The research team will be assessing housing and neighborhood challenges and collecting community-level social capital data for 353 small and nonmetropolitan municipalities in Georgia.

This Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grant was awarded through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which supports projects that sustain and enhance agriculture and related activities in rural areas and protect the environment, enhance quality of life and alleviate poverty.

Researchers will use communities selected from the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing as well as small, rural communities that are not a part of GICH to compare needs and issues. These comparison communities will help researchers see whether capacity building programs enhance social capital and support.

Overall, the researchers aim to provide technical assistance, increased public awareness and policy solutions through the integration of research, education and extension activities.

Physician recommendations result in greater weight loss, UGA research finds

By Molly Berg

mberg14@uga.edu

Patients advised to lose weight by their physicians dropped more pounds on average than those who didn’t receive a recommendation, according to new research from UGA published in the journal Economics & Human Biology.

Using a national data set from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, study author Joshua Berning found that physician advice was associated with a reported 10-pound loss for women and a 12-pound loss for men over a one-year period, after controlling the data for numerous covariates. The diet and exercise habits of participants also were associated with weight loss.

“The data set also measures the number of people who were advised to lose weight, regardless of whether or not they wanted to hear it,” said Berning, an assistant professor of agricultural and applied economics in the College of Agricultural and Environmental

Sciences. “That measure, of whether they were recommended to lose weight, makes this data unique.”

The data also shows that physician advice may have different effects on weight gain and weight loss.

“People often gain weight as they age,” Berning said. “The recommendation of weight loss mitigated weight gain more than it facilitated weight loss.”

The impact direct communication can have on obesity is powerful, he said, and the solution sounds easy enough.

The problem Berning found is that many “physicians often don’t take the time to consult patients about being overweight. They need to take the opportunity to interact with their patients.

Through an open dialogue, patients can find solutions to their health issues, especially in terms of obesity.”

Berning explained that the success of a physician recommendation comes from getting a tailored opinion.

Physicians are able to put a person’s health into context by looking at fac-

tors beyond just weight or body mass index. Health care providers can assess multiple components—such as the diet, exercise and medical history—to determine if a patient is at risk for obesity.

“If I talk to a physician, he or she can tell me about my current health and my health trajectory,” Berning said. “Oftentimes we have a sense of complacency with our own health. A good physician can help us understand what kind of health trajectory we are on and how we can improve it.”

Because of the personalized medical advice, physician visits have a distinct advantage over other weight-loss methods, like commercial weight-loss programs.

“Since commercial weight-loss programs are for profit, they can be prohibitively expensive,” Berning said.

“Health care provider advice is more affordable and achievable for a wider population. Doctors can identify obesity problems earlier on and build longterm relationships with their patients.”

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Study: Bimanual exam doesn’t accurately screen for ovarian cancer

By Sydney Devine srdevine@uga.edu

The most commonly performed ovarian cancer screening test—the bimanual exam—is unlikely to benefit healthy women, according to a study led

by UGA researchers.

UGA’s Mark Ebell, a family physician and professor of epidemiology in the College of Public Health, and other researchers published a study recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine looking at how well the physical examination can detect ovarian cancer in otherwise healthy patients.

Specifically, the study examined the accuracy of the bimanual pelvic exam to determine if it’s accurate enough to identify ovarian cancer. The exam is typically part of a routine pelvic exam and allows doctors to potentially detect abnormalities occurring in a woman’s cervix.

The study found the exam, much like other screening tests, is not an accurate examination for screening ovarian cancer in healthy women.

“We found that it only detected about half of the cancers that were there,” Ebell

said. “And when the bimanual exam was abnormal, only about 2 percent of the time was a cancer detected in these women.”

Based on the findings, “we think that for most healthy women, their time can be better spent discussing other health issues rather than spending time doing an annual bimanual exam looking for ovarian cancer,” he said.

Although the bimanual exam was found to be inaccurate in these specific studies, Ebell said that this type of exam is still important as part of a physical exam when women are having specific symptoms that could point to possible ovarian cancer. However, in healthy patients who have no symptoms and are in for a routine checkup, the exam doesn’t seem to be helpful.

“The bimanual exam is less accurate than blood tests or ultrasounds for detecting ovarian cancer, and even those tests have not been shown to prevent death due to ovarian cancer when used as a screening test,” Ebell said.

These results are particularly relevant, since recent guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and

others only recommend a Pap test to screen for cervical cancer every three to five years for average risk women. Thus, the question of whether women still need an annual bimanual exam has become an important one.

“I’m interested in understanding how we can help physicians and patients make the best use of their time together to make decisions that reflect the best evidence, not to just do things because we’ve always done them,” Ebell said.

Ebell continues to research whether symptoms can help detect ovarian cancer, or at least identify women at increased risk who may benefit from further testing.

“Ovarian cancer is a devastating condition, and it can affect women in the prime of their life,” Ebell said. “There continues to be research to try to find a better test for ovarian cancer, and it’s really important that we keep working on that.”

The study co-authors are Marybeth Culp, a data manager for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Krista Lastinger, a Master of Public Health graduate from UGA; and Tara Dasigi, a research analyst at the Public Health Informatics Institute.

REGENERATIVE BIOSCIENCE CENTER

columns.uga.edu May 18, 2015

5

24 undergraduate Fellows present research at inaugural symposium

Economics, international affairs major named Truman Scholar

By Charlene Betourney

sfahmy@uga.edu

cbetourney@uga.edu

Nationally recognized scientists, researchers, faculty and students gathered at UGA April 22 for the inaugural undergraduate symposium hosted by the Regenerative Bioscience Center.

The event provided research undergraduates the opportunity to present their work to the scientific university community.

“I am so incredibly glad to have had the opportunity to attend and present in the first symposium,” said Kayla Hargrove, a student in the lab of faculty member Franklin West. “Coming together with peers is an integral part of the research experience.”

To date over 50 students have enrolled as RBC Fellows. At the symposium, 24 selected students presented their work in either a poster or oral presentation.

Topics presented this year included research on traumatic brain injuries, cognitive testing in animal models and 3-D modeling.

Jarrod Call, a skeletal muscle physiologist, opened the symposium.

In his remarks, Call spoke about three research values: the importance of advancing science or intellectual imagination, allowing scientists to imagine the world in its true beauty and that science creates individuals who are not afraid to doubt or to ask tough questions.

“Don’t stop doubting, don’t ever stop being curious—be brave enough to explore the unknown, and courageous

CHARTER LECTURE Speaker details Washington’s role at 1787 convention

Robert Newcomb

Keira Hall and Steven Stice, director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center, look at her research on display during the RBC’s inaugural undergraduate symposium.

enough to fail,” Call said. “It is often through doubt, curiosity and failure that in life—and in science—that we make the true discoveries.”

As the founding developer and leader of the undergraduate program, West understands what students took away from the overall learning experience.

“What these students have learned will not only make them better scientists, but better people—lifelong learners who question and strive to better understand the world around them,” said West, an assistant professor of animal and dairy science in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

One of the benefits of being an RBC Fellow is the opportunity to interact with more than 30 faculty members in the areas of veterinary medicine, toxicology, neuroscience and cancer research.

Hannah Mason, a research student for Lohitash Karumbaiah, said she appreciates the diversity of the RBC research labs, “which span many different departments.

“Being an RBC Undergraduate Fellow grants us the unique opportunity to interact directly, through the symposium, collaboration and other means, with a more diverse faculty and students from all over campus,” Mason said.

UGA RETIREES ASSOCIATION

By Sam Fahmy

UGA Honors student Kathleen Wilson was one of 58 students nationwide to be named a 2015 Truman Scholar.

She is UGA’s fifth recipient of the scholarship in the past five years.

Truman Scholars receive a $30,000 scholarship toward graduate school and the opportunity to participate in professional development programming to help prepare them for careers in public service leadership.

Wilson is a native of Beaumont, Texas, an Honors student and a recipient of UGA’s premier undergraduate scholarship, the Foundation Fellowship.

Kathleen Wilson She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Terry College of Business and a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs. After graduation in 2016, she aims to pursue master’s degrees in public policy and Middle Eastern studies.

“Once again, we find a UGA student competing successfully for one of the nation’s most prestigious academic scholarships,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “Five Truman Scholars in five years is yet another sign of this institution’s rising academic stature. Kathleen is an outstanding student with a deep passion for service, and the university community is very proud of her.”

Wilson has studied in Washington, D.C., through UGA’s Washington Semester Program, has studied Arabic in Morocco and has been engaged in outreach to young people in Athens-Clarke County. During the course of her undergraduate career, she has been involved in a number of organizations and activities that reflect her commitment to promoting gender equality.

“Kathleen has combined her tremendous intellect with a selfless dedication to advancing the important cause of gender equity here on campus and around the world,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “I know that she will make the most of the opportunities that being a Truman Scholar provides, just as she’s made the most of her UGA experience.”

HONORS PROGRAM Third-year UGA ecology major receives Udall Scholarship

By Aaron Hale

aahale@uga.edu

By Camie Williams

George Washington’s legacy as a general during the American Revolution and as America’s first president has long been established. At the Charter Lecture April 23 in the Chapel, former UGA professor Edward J. Larson contended that Washington also should be remembered as a force behind America’s new direction that took shape at the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

“He was profoundly involved and almost a lynchpin of the nationalist movement,” Larson said.

Larson, University Professor of History and Darling Professor of Law at Pepperdine University, wrote the book The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789. In it, he recounts the period between Washington’s generalship during the American Revolution and his presidency after the Constitutional Convention.

During the Charter Lecture, Larson detailed Washington’s participation in shaping a new government after the failure of the Articles of Confederation, America’s first governing document. Larson challenged traditional views that the Founding Father was apolitical and silent about reform.

During the crafting of the Constitution, Larson said, “Washington had been there throughout—just as he had during the first American Revolution—making him truly the father of this country.”

The Charter Lecture, part of UGA’s Signature Lecture Series, was named to honor the high ideals expressed by UGA’s founders in the 1785 charter.

UGA Honors student Torre Lavelle has been named a 2015 Udall Foundation Scholar. The scholarships of up to $5,000 are awarded to outstanding sophomores and juniors pursuing careers focused on environmental or Native American public policy.

Lavelle is one of 50 Udall Scholars nationwide chosen from 464 nominees.

She is the eighth UGA student to be awarded the scholarship in the past five years.

“The University of Georgia community is excited for Torre,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “She is a bright student with a strong commitment to environmental stewardship. I cannot Torre Lavelle think of a more deserving student for this highly selective national award.”

Lavelle is a recipient of UGA’s Foundation Fellowship who is majoring in ecology and also pursuing an honors interdisciplinary studies degree in political ecology and environmental economics. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in environmental management as well as a Juris Doctor to fulfill her aspiration of becoming a conservation policymaker.

“I think what is remarkable about Torre is that she manages to do it all,” said David S. Williams, associate provost and director of the Honors Program. “Torre acts within her local communities through her service activities and also contributes on a broad national and even international scale through her policy work.”

Lavelle’s studies have been augmented by experiences in the laboratory through UGA’s Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities as well as in the field in Fiji through UGA’s Center for Integrative Conservation Research. She studied in England through the UGA at Oxford program and interned with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

Lavelle served as the editor for civic policy for the Journal for Undergraduate Research Opportunities at UGA, presented a white paper on energy efficiency standards at the White House and served as a panelist for a federal congressional delegation.

camiew@uga.edu

Robert Newcomb

Michael Floyd, center, and David Harvey congratulate each other on their retirement during a reception April 30.

Recent retirees honored at reception

By Sharron Hannon shannon@uga.edu

Close to 40 UGA employees who retired since May of last year were honored at a reception hosted by UGA President Jere W. Morehead, Provost Pamela Whitten and the UGA Retirees Association April 30 in Mahler Hall of the Georgia Center.

The retirees—most with at least two decades of service to the university—were thanked by the president for their “dayafter-day, year-after-year” contributions.

The two longest-serving employees in attendance were Glenn Ames, a professor of agricultural and applied economics, and Michael Floyd, associate vice president for auxiliary services, who each put in more than 40 years at the university.

“Remember that your service to UGA was important and made a difference,” Morehead told the group before presenting certificates of recognition to each retiree.

University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby—himself a UGA retiree—was the keynote speaker at the event. Huckaby, who came to Athens

to head up the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, went on to become senior vice president for finance and administration. After stepping down from that role, he represented House District 13 in the Georgia General Assembly before being tapped by Gov. Nathan Deal and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia to serve as chancellor in 2011. Since then he has initiated changes in the university system, including the ongoing consolidation of institutions, which he said was a necessary move that was done to cut administrative costs and “refocus on the academic side.”

Huckaby urged the retirees to stay connected to the university.

“Higher education is going to need support like never before,” he said.

The UGA Retirees Association includes former faculty, staff and administrators, who become members on their formal retirement from the university.

UGARA is governed by an elected council whose members serve staggered three-year terms, plus ex officio representatives from the Office of the President, Human Resources, University Council, Staff Council and the Alumni Association.

6 May 18, 2015 columns.uga.edu

columns.uga.edu May 18, 2015

Andrew Davis Tucker

Anquilla Deleveaux, a CURO student and senior genetics major, works on culturing plates with strains of salmonella in a microbiology lab.

Paul Efland

Genesis Castro, left, and Charles Orgbon III were recipients of Embracing Diversity scholarships.

7

Natalia Moore, left, and Lydia Stearns work together on building a robot in their “Creative Activities for Teachers” class.

2014 - 2015 Year in Review

‘Upward trajectory’

By Aaron Hale

aahale@uga.edu

Dorothy Kozlowski

UGA welcomed its newest class of alumni on May 8. Approximately 4,488 undergraduates and 1,179 graduate students—a total of 5,667—met requirements to walk in the university’s spring Commencement ceremonies.

Andrew Davis Tucker

Dorothy Kozlowski

Incoming freshman Molly Vinesett, left, carries her belongings along with 4-year-old Emily James and freshman Kaitlyn James on the first day of fall semester move-in during Hunker Down with Housing.

Georgia Regents University/UGA Medical Partnership Class of 2015 students grab the letters that tell them where they will be spending their residencies. The letters were opened as part of Match Day.

The 2014-2015 academic year was another highly successful one for UGA—which celebrated its 230th anniversary.

“We’re continuing to position ourselves as one of the very best public research institutions in the nation,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “Our upward trajectory is made possible by the efforts of outstanding faculty, staff, students, alumni and supporters, and I am confident that our best days still lie ahead.”

For another year, the most academically qualified class of students arrived at UGA in the fall. In addition, the university’s six-year graduation rate reached a record high at roughly 85 percent. The overall graduation rate among student-athletes reached a record high at 84 percent, and nine sports teams achieved a rate of 90 percent or above.

Some of UGA’s outstanding students were recognized with national scholarships and fellowships, including three Goldwater Scholarships, one Truman Scholarship, one Udall Scholarship and a James Madison Graduate Fellowship. By this spring, the university was poised to bring in another superior class of freshmen with the largest pool of applicants

UGA has ever received.

UGA introduced new initiatives to advance the university’s research mission. The president and Provost Pamela Whitten announced a new hiring initiative in the fall to recruit extraordinary research faculty. Three Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholars also were recruited to join the faculty. These individuals will help to advance the university’s growing commercialization efforts, which placed 28 new products in the market last year alone. A campus-wide initiative was started to streamline the way that grants for research and other sponsored projects are managed to enhance productivity.

The provost launched three new programs to support existing leaders and broaden the pipeline of potential leaders through the New Administrators Training, Current Administrators Training and Future Leaders Workshops. To show his gratitude to more than 6,300 employees, the president decided to hold the university’s first Staff Appreciation Celebration.

The university established the Women’s Resource Initiative and the Women’s Leadership Initiative to raise awareness of the university’s services and to promote gender equality, respectively.

The university received the national INSIGHT into Diversity’s Higher Education

Excellence in Diversity Award for efforts and success in the area of diversity and inclusion.

The university also continued to advance its land-grant mission to promote prosperity in communities across Georgia and beyond through a range of public service and outreach programs. UGA now has an estimated annual economic impact of $4 billion on the state.

In the instructional arena, the Center for Teaching and Learning launched its new Fellows for Innovative Teaching, a faculty development program for instructors who teach challenging and high-demand courses. In the fall, the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities launched a research assistantship program that provides stipends to undergraduate students to conduct research in close partnership with faculty. Most recently, the University Council approved a proposal to establish an experiential learning requirement for all undergraduate majors. With the experiential learning component, UGA will become one of the largest public universities in the nation to provide each of its students with high-impact, experiential learning opportunities that enhance academic performance and better prepare them for graduate school or careers.

The year also was an important one for academic facilities as several important

building projects were completed or started.

Dedication ceremonies were held for Bolton Dining Commons, the Delta Hall residential learning facility in Washington, D.C., the new Veterinary Medical Center and a new home for the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.

In addition, work continued on the Science Learning Center and Correll Hall, Phase I of the Terry College’s Business Learning Community.

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the expansion and renovation of Baldwin Hall on North Campus and for the Food Technology Center on the Griffin campus.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal recommended and the General Assembly approved $43 million in state funds for Phase II of the Business Learning Community and $17 million to build a new facility for the Center for Molecular Medicine.

The governor, the General Assembly, Chancellor Hank Huckaby and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia also supported a salary pool to provide merit-based pay increases to faculty and staff in the upcoming year.

UGA also appears on track to break fundraising records—which last year topped $126 million—for the second consecutive year.

Final numbers will be known after June 30.

“The university now is poised to build an even brighter future,” Morehead said.

Andrew Davis Tucker

Jenna Jambeck, an assistant professor of environmental engineering in the UGA College of Engineering, led a study that found that between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2010 from people living within 50 kilometers of the coastline.

Andrew Davis Tucker

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, left, greets UGA President Jere W. Morehead after the second annual Dawgs at the Dome visit to the state Capitol in February. Student Government Association members met with UGA alumni and state government representatives during the visit.

Andrew Davis Tucker

Three-year-old loggerhead turtle Ossabaw was transported and released by assistant curator Lisa Olenderski, left, and curator Devin Dumont, both employees at the UGA Aquarium.

Jonathan Lee

Ingrid Mejia, a third-year psychology major, takes part in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by planting daffodil bulbs near the Chase Street on/off ramps.

Paul Efland

UGA College of Engineering Dean Donald Leo, students and faculty from the college inspect steam turbines and generators at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Burke County.

UGA administrators and guests cut the ribbon during the dedication ceremony for Delta Hall. The renovated building is the UGA in Washington residential facility in the Capitol Hill neighborhood on the east side of Stanton Park. The 20,000-square-foot facility provides living quarters, classroom and study space for UGA students and faculty who participate in UGA’s experiential learning programs in the nation’s capital.

Paul Efland

Bolton Dining Commons set a record as it served 9,500 people on Aug. 18, the first day of fall classes. Bolton Dining Commons is the largest meal plan facility on the UGA campus and can seat up to 1,000 people.

J.P. Bond

As part of the UGA Dance Marathon, more than 1,000 participants filled the Tate Student Center Grand Hall to dance, play on inflatable obstacle courses, sing “Glory, Glory” and raise a recordsetting $683,251.15 to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

8 May 18, 2015 columns.uga.edu

Tim Foutz, a professor in the College of Engineering, received the 2015 Outstanding Teaching Award from the Southeastern Section of the American Society for Engineering Education.

Presented annually, the award recognizes exceptional contributions to engineering or engineering technology education through outstanding classroom performance. Given to one person each year, the award was presented to Foutz April 13 at the society’s Southeastern Section annual conference in Gainesville, Florida.

Mary Ann Johnson, the Bill and June Flatt Professor in Foods and Nutrition in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences, is vice presidentelect of the American Society for Nutrition.

Johnson’s four-year term, which begins June 1, includes serving as vice president-elect, vice president, president and past president.

In addition to her role as professor, Johnson also serves as the foods and nutrition department’s graduate coordinator, as an adjunct professor in kinesiology and on the faculty of UGA’s gerontology department.

Juanita Johnson-Bailey, director of the Institute for Women’s Studies at UGA, is the 2015 recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award, an honor given by the American Association of University Women for outstanding contributions to equality and education for women and girls.

Juanita Johnson-Bailey will receive Johnson-Bailey the award, which includes a $5,000 honorarium, in June at the AAUW national convention in San Diego. Established in 1989, the Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award is given for a range of activities including classroom teaching, educational and research contributions, and legal and legislative work in equity for women and girls.

Johnson-Bailey is a Meigs Professor in the College of Education’s lifelong education, administration and policy department and the Institute for Women’s Studies, a unit of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

The Association County Commissioners of Georgia honored two Carl Vinson Institute of Government faculty members with 2015 Leadership Development Advocate of the Year Awards for facilitating an extensive redesign of ACCG’s government training curriculum.

Senior Public Service Associate Sherri Lawless and Public Service Associate Phillip Boyle were recognized at ACCG’s 2015 annual conference held April 17–20 at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center.

Boyle and Lawless were honored for their work with ACCG staff and county commissioners from throughout Georgia in an ongoing program to redesign the curriculum for 78 courses in ACCG’s Lifelong Learning Academy. The academy offers a variety of professional development courses to help commissioners enhance and maintain proficiency in key leadership skills.

Joel Lee, the John A. Drew Professor of Health Administration at the College of Public Health, is the 2015 recipient of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health/Pfizer Award for Teaching Excellence.

The award recognizes a graduate public health faculty member who is outstanding in teaching and mentoring students toward distinction in public health research, teaching and practice.

A national panel of public health scholars selected Lee for the honor, which was presented during the association’s annual meeting in Arlington, Virginia. The ASPPH represents public health schools and programs accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.

CAMPUS CLOSEUP

Robert Newcomb

Benjamin Gray, a nutrition education coordinator at the University Health Center, teaches cooking classes, counsels students on health and wellness and mentors the Peer Nutrition Educators group.

All in good taste: Nutrition education coordinator encourages wellness

By Molly Berg

mberg14@uga.edu

When Benjamin Gray was growing up, he wanted to pursue a career in food so bad he could taste it.

“I was really lucky to have a mom who cooked every day,” Gray said. “I was often around kitchens, though I realized I had different tastes than my mom. So I began adding flavors—admittedly, mostly barbecue sauces—to change the dishes to reflect my own tastes.”

A native of Arizona, Gray planned to attend culinary school at Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island to further his cooking skills.

“I initially wanted to own a restaurant,” Gray said.“During culinary school, I realized the restaurant industry wasn’t for me. That led me to nutrition.”

After earning his associate’s degree at Johnson & Wales, Gray decided to become a dietitian instead.

Gray returned home and got his bachelor’s degree in nutritional sciences from the University of Arizona. He then applied to internships across the U.S., a requirement for those who want to become registered dietitians.

“I had lived in the Northeast and Southwest already,” he said. “Because I wanted to go someplace new—in either the Northwest or Southeast—I applied to programs in both areas.”

As fate would have it, Gray was matched with UGA. He packed up for the trip south and moved to Athens in 2009 to start the combined master’s degree and dietetic internship the university offers in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

After completing the program, Gray got a job at the University Health Center as a nutrition education coordinator. It’s a versatile position that allows him to teach cooking classes, counsel students on health and wellness and mentor the Peer Nutrition Educators group.

Alongside Katherine Ingerson, a registered and licensed dietitian for UGA Food Services, Gray runs the Peer Nutrition Educators program, which gives students the chance to educate their peers about healthy eating habits.

“We train the students over the summer,” Gray said.“Then starting in the fall, the students give presentations around campus on nutrition. I get to work with a number of dietetics students at UGA.” Along with the peer nutrition work, Gray teaches students of all majors ways to improve their health and wellness. He estimates that he interacts with nearly 2,000 students each semester when he combines the cooking classes, oneon-one counseling sessions and class presentations.

“Being part of the University Health Center, our mandate is to serve students,” Gray said.“Frequently I have days leaving work where I think, ‘I just had a really awesome interaction with a student. I think they have a new perspective on health and nutrition.’ ” Outside of work, Gray spends time playing in or coaching Ultimate Frisbee tournaments around the country. Also an avid traveler, Gray spent time working in New Zealand in between his undergraduate and graduate degrees.

“I spent nine months, the majority of which were in Wellington, working a number of jobs,” he said.

FACTS

Benjamin Gray Nutrition Education Coordinator University Health Center M.S., Nutrition, UGA, 2011 B.S., Nutritional Sciences, University of Arizona, 2008 A.S., Culinary Arts, Johnson & Wales, 2005 At UGA: 3 years, 9 months

When students leave for summer break, Gray opens up his cooking classes to faculty and staff. This summer he’ll teach two classes, one on July 9 and the other on July 22, to interested employees.

“The two dishes I’m teaching— shrimp puttanesca and smoky mustard salmon—have been popular in the past,” he said. “People are often skittish about making seafood, though they enjoy eating it. Each class will work with a seafood recipe for participants to learn.”

Each class, which will be taught from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., is limited to 12 participants and costs $10. Sign up beginning July 2 at http://www.hr.uga. edu/training.

“Instead of telling people to eat healthy, I encourage them to eat to support health and wellness,” Gray said. “Health and wellness encompasses mental, spiritual and cultural factors. It’s important because you get to explore new cultures, textures and tastes.

“Supporting health and wellness allows you to be physically active and alert,” he added. “It lets you enjoy whatever experience you’re in.”

RETIREES April

Twenty-five UGA employees retired April 1. Retirees, their job classification, department and length of employment are: Steve G. Arnold, program specialist II, Lamar Dodd School of Art, 30 years; James B. Austin Jr., project superintendent, Facilities Management Division-construction department, 19 years, 7 months; Rebecca Gay Auxier, research professional II, Center for Applied Isotope Study, 32 years, 6 months; Amy Sue Blum, data management specialist II, assistant dean’s office, Griffin campus, 12 years, 2 months; Nancy Virginia Clark, senior accountant, Georgia Center: Business Administration, 10 years, 7 months; T. Dudley Cook, research technician III, crop and soil sciences, Tifton campus, 28 years, 2 months; Icelene L. Echols, building services worker II, Facilities Management Division-building

services, South Campus, 17 years; Joel H. Eizenstat, work management supervisor, residence hall facilities administration, 12 years, 6 months; Gary M. Gauthreaux, computer operations supervisor, EITS, 27 years, 6 months; Maria E. Gimenez, associate director, School of Law, 20 years, 8 months; Barbara Johnson, administrative associate I, Small Business Development Center, 11 years; Lula A. Kendricks, building services worker II, Facilities Management Division-building services, North Campus, 21 years, 1 month; Randy M. Lackey, architectural designer, Facilities Management Division-engineering department, 36 years, 6 months; Galena R. Lau, bindery operator III, Central Duplicating, 22 years, 4 months; Susan P. Lazo, administrative associate I, Student Financial Aid Office, 16 years, 8 months; David Lawrence Linvill, public service associate, UGA Extension-Southeast

District, 22 years, 9 months; Mollie McLott Martin, admissions specialist, Admissions Office, 16 years, 7 months; John S. Maynard, senior public service associate, Small Business Development Center, 16 years, 11 months; Keith M. Oelke, senior executive director, Office of Development, 19 years, 1 month; Cheryl B. Prichard, IT director, Georgia Center: Technical Support Services, 29 years, 9 months; Marie N. Roberts, senior budget analyst, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, 25 years, 8 months; Carl B. Seay, IT professional associate, EITS, 11 years, 5 months; Ronnie M. Smith, electrician, Facilities Management Division-Electrical Shop, 20 years, 2 months; Crystal June Williamson, administrative associate I, Admissions Office, 26 years, 7 months; and John K. Wunderlich, director, Office of the Vice President for Research, 29 years, 9 months. Source: Human Resources

PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH

Vinson faculty member to take part in mixed methods research program

By Roger Nielsen

OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

OIE names new director of international partnerships martina@uga.edu

Yvonne Mensa-Wilmot, a Carl Vinson Institute of Government faculty member, will be part of the inaugural National Institutes of Health-sponsored Mixed Methods Research Training Program.

practices in mixed methods research.

“This program is going to augment my skills and broaden my knowledge, and I want to share that with my colleagues and the network of people I meet through this program,” MensaWilmot said.

In the long term, she intends to apply a mixed methods approach to the research and evaluation projects she works on at the institute.

One of the program’s leaders, Charles Deutsch of Harvard University, has long investigated ways of helping academic institutions become effective partners with state and city governments, particularly in public health.

“The fact that Yvonne straddles the worlds of the state health system and the University of Georgia was a major attraction in selecting her. She

also proposed a mixed methods project addressing a significant problem we’ve not made much headway on in the four decades I’ve been in public health,” said Deutsch, director of the Harvard Medical School’s Population Health Research Program.

During the yearlong program, Mensa-Wilmot will participate in a series of webinars about mixed methods research, and she will attend an intensive retreat this June in Baltimore.

“By participating in this innovative program, Yvonne will be better positioned to translate research into practical applications that will help health organizations across Georgia better serve their citizens, which remains a key component of the university’s outreach mission,” said Laura Meadows, director of the Institute of Government.

BLACK MALE LEADERSHIP SOCIETY DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS VP named Faculty Member of the Year

By Stan Jackson ugastan@uga.edu

Victor K. Wilson, vice president of student affairs, was honored as Faculty Member of the Year by the UGA Black Male Leadership Society at its inaugural awards ceremony April 25.

The Black Male Leadership Society is a cohort of student leaders who strive to establish and foster a sense of unity, strength and love among black men and uplift the community at large.

By selecting a Faculty Member Victor Wilson of the Year, BMLS members recognize an individual who has played an integral role in developing and progressing the society’s efforts within the campus community.

The organization’s president, Charles E. King Jr. said the society selected Wilson because of his unwavering commitment.

“Vice President Wilson has been a mentor, an adviser, a motivator, a voice, a speaker and so much more to our organization and each of our members,” King said.

Wilson, a 1982 and 1987 UGA graduate, said the award is especially meaningful in light of his own experiences as black male student.

“I faced hurdles and trials, but I overcame them with pride as a UGA student,” Wilson said. “I strongly appreciate the effort of these student leaders to enhance the student experience on our campus.”

9

By Martina Kloss

nielsen@uga.edu

Yvonne Mensa-Wilmot, a Carl Vinson Institute of Government faculty member, is collaborating with nationally recognized experts this year in the inaugural National Institutes of Health-sponsored Mixed Methods Research Training Program. The training program is designed to help scholars learn more about mixed methods approaches that combine quantitative and qualitative research to study complex public policy issues.

Mensa-Wilmot, an evaluation expert with the institute’s Survey Research and Evaluation unit, was selected from among more than 100 researchers to join the first group of 14 scholars accepted for the national training program.

The training program is a collaboration of Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It is funded by the NIH with the goal of developing scholars who blend quantitative and qualitative research methods to address problems and to encourage other researchers to employ mixed methods techniques.

Mensa-Wilmot proposed developing a mixed methods study to evaluate the effectiveness of a statewide initiative by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to combat underage drinking.

She said she applied to the training program because she found its stewardship component attractive. All program scholars are expected to serve as mixed methods research experts for fellow researchers in their university community and thus must stay current on best

columns.uga.edu May 18, 2015

Brian Watkins has been named the new director for the international partnerships unit at UGA’s Office of International Education. His appointment is effective June 5.

Watkins will be responsible for building UGA’s strategic relationships with universities and other institutions abroad. He will provide support to UGA deans and faculty in developing ways to advance international collaborative activities such as joint research projects, academic programs and student and faculty exchanges. The international partnerships unit works to strengthen Brian Watkins UGA’s connections with the Atlanta Consular Corps and other international groups across the state.

Watkins has served as director of international education at the West Coast University in Irvine, California.

He has experience developing partnerships to support study-abroad and faculty exchange programs in Panama, Belize, Costa Rica, Belgium, Germany, China, France, Moldova, Taiwan, South Africa, Spain, Vietnam, Japan and the United Kingdom. He also has negotiated partnerships with the International Red Cross, the Panamanian Ministry of Health and nongovernmental organizations in Central America and Asia. He has advanced joint and dual degree programs with academic partners in Panama, Germany and Vietnam.

“I am delighted that Brian Watkins will be joining the Office of International Education,” said Kavita Pandit, associate provost for international education. “His academic background and his extensive international experience will be invaluable as UGA advances an ambitious international engagement agenda.”

“The University of Georgia is an incredibly dynamic institution that has already made a tremendous global impact,” Watkins said. “There are great opportunities at the moment to build on this success through strategic partnerships that open up opportunities abroad while helping discharge the institutional mission at home. I look forward to joining the OIE team and working with all UGA stakeholders to identify and pursue these valuable relationships.”

Watkins holds a Juris Doctor from the College of William and Mary, and a Master of Philosophy degree in development studies from University of Oxford. Watkins also worked as an assistant attorney general for the Federal States of Micronesia and served as strategic adviser to the Indonesian Ministry of Finance.

CARL VINSON INSTITUTE OF GOVERNMENT

Marvin Nunnally, left, Mariah Domenech and Jon Hurst received the Leslie K. Bates Medal of Excellence April 25.

3 honored for multicultural efforts

By Don Reagin

dreagin@uga.edu

The Leslie K. Bates Medal of Excellence was presented to Jon Hurst, Mariah Domenech and Marvin J. Nunnally during the Multicultural Services and Programs Senior Leader Reception April 25 at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. The three were honored for their commitment to UGA’s multicultural community.

Hurst joined UGA’s staff in 2012.

He currently serves as director of the LGBT Resource Center. A selfprofessed political junkie and “theater nerd,” Hurst had experience in nonprofit management in HIV/AIDS education, outreach and prevention before coming to UGA. He also served as a campaign staffer for then-U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.

A champion of social justice education, Hurst has played an instrumental role in the development of the Ignite

Social Justice Retreat for students, and Prism, a dialogue group for LGBT students of color.

Domenech is a native of Snellville who will receive her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education in December. She has served as a student graphic designer in Multicultural Services and Programs for two years and has been hailed by co-workers and fellow students for her creativity and strong work ethic. She regularly has made the dean’s list and is a member of the UGA women’s club soccer team.

Nunnally is a Watkinsville native who received his bachelor’s degree in political science from UGA and his Juris Doctor from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. He serves the Athens area through involvement in civic, religious and professional organizations, including leadership positions with the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation, Athens Nurses Clinic, the Youth Academy and the Athens Masonic Association.

Mara Register

Chrissy Marlowe

Danny Bivins

UGA faculty members lead training courses at National Main Streets Conference Three Carl Vinson Institute of Government faculty members led training courses for more than 1,500 Main Street directors, planners, economic development professionals and public officials at the National Main Streets Conference held March 30 to April 2 in Atlanta.

Mara Register, local government program manager, led a course on using special tax districts to fund downtown development operations and capital projects.

Planning and zoning specialist Chrissy Marlowe drew a standing-room-only crowd

for her course on effective ways of collaborating with elected officials. Municipal development expert Danny Bivins led a presentation about the institute’s Renaissance Strategic Visioning and Planning downtown revitalization collaboration with the Georgia Municipal Association.

The conference was coordinated by the National Main Street Center, an affiliate of the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Vinson Institute is a public service and outreach unit at UGA.

—Roger Nielsen

10 May 18, 2015 columns.uga.edu UGArden teaches students, feeds families in need

By Maggie Dudacek dudacekm@uga.edu

UGArden, a 4-acre, student-run farm, is teaching students about sustainable food while growing produce to feed families in need.

Located on South Milledge Avenue, the farm started out as a garden in 2010 for students of all majors throughout the university to learn about sustainable food.

Initially financed by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ horticulture department, UGArden is a tool for instruction, sustainable practices, experimentation and service-learning.

And now land used for sheep and hog farming grows vegetables, fruits, shiitake mushrooms and herbs using organic practices.

“The primary reason UGArden exists is to teach students how to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs organically,” said CAES associate professor David Berle, director of UGArden. “Some come to learn how to garden, others to learn about composting or growing and making herbal teas. Some come just to get outside after being in a class or lab all day and some come to be part of the local food movement.”

More than 50 students visit the farm weekly, and excess food production is donated within the Athens community.

“Seventy-five percent of the produce grown at the UGArden is distributed to families in need in the community, either through the Campus Kitchen program, Clarke Middle School or through the weekly produce stand at the Athens Area Council on Aging,” Berle said.

In 2014 alone, UGA’s Campus Kitchen harvested 2,600 pounds of fresh produce from UGArden to make meals for grandparents raising grandchildren.

Students can volunteer at the garden though designated work events, typically centered on planting and harvesting.

Several courses are taught at UGArden including two freshman seminars and three upper level courses: Organic Agriculture Systems, Sustainable Community Food Production and a UGArden Internship.

The garden holds a weekly produce stand Thursdays from 4:30-6 p.m.

ABOUT COLUMNS Columns is available to the campus 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.

DISCOVER UGA: HELPING COMMUNITIES

Dawgs raising dogs

Hundreds of UGA students give back by raising future service dogs

By Kristen Morales kmorales@uga.edu

Vicki has learned to be patient during classes, but so far she’s gotten out of long exams. It’s OK to cut Vicki some slack though. She’s only 10 months old.

This fall, if her work on campus stays on track, she’ll go back to her home in New York to learn to be a full-fledged service dog.

Vicki is one of around 120 puppies—mainly Labradors and golden retrievers, but also some other breeds—that get formative training with students at UGA. Raised by an army of volunteers, many of whom sign up even if they can only watch a dog for a few hours or overnight, the dogs learn basic obedience and get exposed to an array of life situations. When they’re 16 to 18 months old, they begin full training with Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind in Smithtown, New York.

The inevitable departure is bittersweet for Vicki’s raiser, Jana Burchette, a third-year exercise and sport science major. Burchette said she was interested in the program her freshman year, and after doing more research on what was required, she felt inspired by the work the dogs would go on to do.

“Letting her go is going to be really hard; she’s like a child,” Burchette said. “But I want her to do something good for somebody.

I want her to be a guide dog.”

UGA is home to the largest group of puppy raisers for the Guide Dog Foundation. The organization mainly has families up and down the East Coast raising puppies, and another group of students at Georgia Southern University, but they pale in comparison to the nearly 250 UGA students who volunteer their time to be puppy raisers.

The program’s roots at UGA started nearly 10 years ago with just one student, said Deana Izzo, the Georgia field representative for the foundation. The idea took off.

Today, Izzo said, most of the puppy

Art Director Janet Beckley Photo Editor Robert Newcomb Senior Reporter Aaron Hale Reporter Matt Chambers

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

I

7 8 5

JANA BURCHETTE Third-year exercise and sport science major

raisers are students in veterinary science programs, but students from across all colleges take part.

Working with students also has introduced some protocols for puppy raising, both with the foundation and with UGA. The time frame for raising a puppy meshes well with the time a student spends on campus, and students know they will have a dog for a set period of time but not beyond graduation.

On the issue of allowing pets in residence halls, it was decided that

Book looks at history of home economics

Editor Juliett Dinkins

The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

“Letting her go is going to be really hard ... But I want her to do something good for somebody.

I want her to be a guide dog.”

WEEKLY READER

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

Copy Editor David Bill

Jana Burchette, an exercise and sport science student in the UGA College of Education, walks with her Labrador puppy Vicki. Now 10 months old, Vicki is in the initial phase of training to be a service dog when she gets older.

Remaking Home Economics: Resourcefulness and Innovation in Changing Times Edited by Sharon Y. Nickols and Gwen Kay University of Georgia Press Paperback and eBook: $34.95

An interdisciplinary effort of scholars from history, women’s studies and family and consumer sciences,Remaking Home Economics covers the field’s history of opening career opportunities for women and responding to domestic and social issues.

Calls to “bring back home economics” miss the point that it never went away, said editors Sharon Y. Nickols, former dean of UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences and professor emerita, and Gwen Kay, associate professor of history at Oswego State University of New York. Home economics has been remaking itself, in study and practice, for more than a century. These essays take both current and historical perspectives on defining issues including home economics philosophy, social responsibility and public outreach; food and clothing; gender and race in career settings; and challenges to the field’s identity and continuity.

future guide dogs are allowed. And for long exams or plans to study abroad, “buddy” and “camper” students are available to watch the puppy in the interim. If a student needs some time to study without a puppy, there are dozens of students willing to step in and help.

To be in the foundation’s program, student volunteers—with and without dogs—must attend regular obedience sessions, where they go over basic training and address any issues. Students who volunteer to be campers also must be willing to host a puppy at least twice a month. Izzo said there is a general sense among the volunteers that you have to give help to get help.

“It’s not an easy program. If you were to apply, from application to the day you get your puppy, it’s going to take three months,” Izzo said. “We want to make sure that they are as prepared as we can make them for the commitment that they think they want to do.”

Madison Fellows, a first-year

animal health student from Hiram, is starting the training to get her first puppy. She’s already dreading the day the dog will leave, but she also says the experience will help her later in life.

“It’s a really good way to have a dog on campus, but it’s still a huge responsibility,” she said. “I’m going to be a vet, so it’s going to be good for me first to know how to not get too attached to an animal.”

Raising a puppy, Izzo added, also can give students a great sense of accomplishment.

“This is really the first thing they’re doing without mom and dad, and I think that makes much more of an impact,” she said. “And the way that the community rallies around people who raise puppies, even if you’re not a dog lover, it’s still impressive. They’re still going to stop and say, ‘That’s really cool.’ ”

ON THE WEB

Read more about how UGA impacts communities at discover.uga.edu.

CYBERSIGHTS

OEP module helps train faculty, staff http://www.prepare.uga.edu/EE/emerg-module Many campus departments are looking for a brief, interactive method to inform new and current faculty and staff about emergency notification methods, building emergency procedures and the availability of various emergency preparedness resources. The Office of Emergency Preparedness

has a new module that will provide a solution to that training need.

The module explores five scenarios: severe weather, evacuation, active shooter, medical emergency and chemical spill. It also includes video clips and graphics to help teach campus community members about emergency preparedness.

For a complete listing of events, 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

columns.uga.edu May 18, 2015

11

ADVISORIES

CARLTON STREET AT EAST CAMPUS ROAD Through May 22. Work by Georgia Power Co. to install a high voltage duct bank will require lane closures on Carlton Street at East Campus Road from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

WHITEHALL ROAD-MILLEDGE AVENUE INTERSECTION Through July 31. A contractor for Athens-Clarke County will realign Whitehall Road south of its intersection with South Milledge Avenue to improve sight lines and safety. Whitehall Road from South Milledge Avenue to the Oconee County line is closed. Motorists will be detoured through downtown Watkinsville via Loop 10, U.S. 441 and Ga. 15.

BAXTER, FINLEY STREETS Through Aug. 4. Portions of Baxter and Finley streets will be closed to through traffic at times during the extension of chilled water lines from the District Energy Plant on Newton Street to serve Russell and Brumby Halls.

The project is expected to cross Baxter Street, resulting in its closure at the Newton-Cloverhurst intersection through June 16. The project is planned to cross Finley Street, resulting in its closure between Baxter Street and Cloverhurst Avenue from approximately July 4-28.

THE UGA ARCH May 19 through Aug. 14. The iconic UGA Arch at the entrance to North Campus will undergo a preservation process and a new pathway will be created to the right (west) of the Arch for easier access.

Pedestrians will be able to walk around the worksite to the left (east) side of the Arch. (See story, page 2).

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER FINALIST PRESENTATION Michael S. Lucas, associate CIO for infrastructure and research computing at UGA, will present. 9:30 a.m. Tate Student Center Reception Hall.

TUESDAY, JUNE 2 MAY SESSION CLASSES END

The State Botanical Garden will host four performances during its Sunflower Concert Series.

Sunflower Concert Series returns to State Botanical Garden

By Connie Cottingham connicot@uga.edu

The State Botanical Garden will host four performances during its Sunflower Concert Series.

Held Tuesday evenings in June, July, August and September, these outdoor concerts in the Flower Garden offer an eclectic mix of music.

Tickets are $15, $5 for children ages 6-12. Admission to each concert includes beverages and light snacks. Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets and picnic dinners. Lawn chairs are allowed on one designated level of the terraced Flower Garden.

Visit www.botgarden.uga.edu or the Garden Gift Shop or call 706-542-9353 fFor information about the concert series or to purchase tickets.

EXHIBITIONS

MONDAY, MAY 18

Terra Verte. Through May 31. Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden, Georgia Museum of Art.

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER FINALIST PRESENTATION Robert P. Howard, chief information officer at Armstrong State University, will present. 9:30 a.m. Tate Student Center Reception Hall.

Jay Robinson: Quarks, Leptons and Peanuts. Through June 21. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

AiryLight: Visualizing the Invisible.

Through June 28. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

Circles. Through June 28. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

Lines of Inquiry: Renaissance and ­Baroque Drawings from the Ceseri Collection. Through Aug. 2. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, ­hazbrown@uga.edu.

Both Sides: Destruction and Pain in the Civil War. Through Aug. 7. Hargrett Gallery, special collections libraries.

706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

The Pennington Radio Collection.

Through December. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, special collections libraries.

706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

UGA-GRIFFIN DIRECTOR FINALIST PRESENTATION Rodney Ellis, chancellor of Central Louisiana Technical Community College, will give a presentation. 9:30 a.m.

104 UGA-Griffin Student Learning Center. (See story, page 1).

BOOK TALK English professor Barbara McCaskill will speak on “The Rise and Fall of William and Ellen Craft, Fugitives from Slavery in Georgia,” based on her recent book from the University of Georgia Press, Love, Liberation, and Escaping Slavery: William and Ellen Craft in Cultural Memory. 3 p.m. 285 special collections libraries. 706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

TUESDAY, MAY 19 MYSTERY NIGHT Participants will discover the latest must-have beach read by Susan Boyer of Greenville, South Carolina, who won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel and the Daphne du Maurier Award for

Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by Public Affairs.

Notices are published here as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available on the Web at calendar.uga.edu/.

The Sunflower Music Series is sponsored by Friends of the Garden, Northeast Sales Distributing Inc., Athens CocaCola, Musician’s Warehouse and Flagpole. The concerts and artists performing are: • June 2: Caroline Aiken with The Twangtown Paramours opening Aiken is an award-winning folk singer, whose new album, Broken Wings Heal, has just been released. Aiken has performed on NPR’s Mountain Stage and has toured with the Indigo Girls.

The Twangtown Paramours, who hail from Nashville, bring fine harmony singing and inventive musicianship to the stage.

•July 28: Grassland String Band with Claire Campbell The Grassland String Band will bring its take on bluegrass/ Americana music with special

guest Claire Campbell from the acclaimed band Hope For Agoldensummer.

• Aug. 25: Grogus Grogus returns for its annual celebration of Latin jazz, traditional Cuban and Caribbean styles and funk versions of jazz standards. The band is a past recipient of the Flagpole Athens Music Award in both the jazz and world music categories.

• Sept. 29: Arvin Scott with Marti Winkler Drummer/percussionist Scott, an Athens resident who is world renowned as a jazz musician, and his combo will deliver a jazz performance. Jazz singer Winkler will open the show.

In case of inclement weather, the concerts will be held inside the garden’s Visitor Center and Conservatory.

Excellence in Mystery/Suspense for her first novel Lowcountry Boil. $5. 6 p.m.

State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu.

a­ ssistant dean at UGA-Griffin, will give a presentation. 9:30 am. 104 UGA-Griffin Student Learning Center. (See story, page 1).

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20

LEGION POOL OPENS Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through July 31 and 3-7 p.m. Aug. 1-13. $3 for students; $4 for faculty/staff; $3 for children ages 3-15; $5 for guests and members of Friends of Campus Life. 706-542-7774, vcoop@uga.edu.

(See Bulletin Board, page 12).

HEARTSAVER CPR CLASS Participants can learn to save a life with Heartsaver CPR training (adult, child and infant). Certified by the American Heart Association. Class size is limited. $40. 1:30 p.m. Conference Room A, University Health Center.

706-542-8707, aambo@uhs.uga.edu.

THURSDAY, MAY 21 WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE FOR MAY SESSION MAY SESSION MIDTERM CPR CLASS Participants can learn to save a life with CPR training (adult, infant and AED). This class is limited to medical professionals and students in the medical field. Class size is limited. $50.

9 a.m. Conference Room A, University Health Center. 706-542-8707, ambo@uhs.uga.edu.

UGA-GRIFFIN DIRECTOR FINALIST PRESENTATION S. Kristine Braman, a professor of entomology, director of UGA’s Center for Urban Agriculture and interim

DOCUMENTARY SCREENING A screening of Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Harvey Hubbell V’s ­documentary Dislecksia: The Movie.

Sponsored by Learning Ally (formerly Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic).

4:30 p.m. Special collections libraries. scourt@LearningAlly.org, 706-549-1313.

MONDAY, MAY 25 MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY No classes; offices closed.

TUESDAY, MAY 26 CONFERENCE The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases Conference. Through May 29. $200; $75 for students. Classic Center, 300 N. Thomas St. saltizer@uga.edu.

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.

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, News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

UGA-GRIFFIN DIRECTOR FINALIST PRESENTATION Mickey Latour, a professor and dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, will give a presentation. 9:30 a.m.

104 UGA-Griffin Student Learning Center. (See story, page 1).

SUNFLOWER MUSIC SERIES Caroline Aiken with The Twangtown Paramours. $15; $5 children ages 6-12, 7 p.m. Flower Garden lawn, State Botanical Garden. (See story, left).

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 MAY SESSION FINAL EXAMS

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 CLASSES BEGIN For Thru Term and Short Session I. DROP/ADD For Thru Term and Short Session I. Through June 8.

MONDAY, JUNE 8 MAY SESSION GRADES DEADLINE Due by 5 p.m.

SATURDAY, JUNE 13 EXHIBITION OPENING El Taller de Grafica Popular: Vida y Arte.

Through Sept. 13. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

EXHIBITION OPENING Art Hazelwood and Ronnie Goodman.

Through Sept. 13. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

SUNDAY, JUNE 14 SPOTLIGHT TOUR Led by docents. 3 p.m. Georgia ­Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

COMING UP SHORT SESSION I MIDTERM June 17.

WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE FOR SHORT SESSION I June 17.

EXTENDED SUMMER SESSION MIDTERM June 18.

WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE FOR EXTENDED SUMMER SESSION June 18.

NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES June 3 (for June 15 issue) June 17 (for June 29 issue) July 1 (for July 13 issue)

12 May 18, 2015 columns.uga.edu

OUTREACH from page 1

Food for thoughtful conversation

from page 1

will help move this institution to the forefront of an exciting new field—metabolomics— which holds answers to some of the world’s most complex challenges in human health.”

NMR spectroscopy is a powerful noninvasive technology used to study biological systems. UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center is home to one of the world’s most powerful NMR tools, an instrument that generates atomic-level pictures of biologically important proteins, nucleic acids and carbohydrates, as well as analysis of the complex mixtures that characterize metabolomics applications.

Metabolomics is the study of small molecules called metabolites found within cells and biological systems. Metabolites are produced or consumed in the chemical reactions that take place in the body to sustain life.

Edison’s research explores new

applications of NMR spectroscopy in the metabolomics area. His research so far has shed important light on the role of small metabolic products in communication among animals, and he has developed new approaches in metabolomics and systems biology as well as highly sensitive methods to analyze small amounts of material using NMR. “We are pleased to welcome Dr. Edison to the GRA Academy of Eminent Scholars,” said Michael Cassidy, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance. “Over the past 17 years, the University of Georgia and GRA have partnered to build an internationally renowned NMR facility. The facility has placed particular emphasis on the area of structural biology. Dr. Edison will continue not only to support this activity but also will lead it in an entirely new direction, NMR-based metabolomics.”

Bulletin Board Network service maintenance

The UGA telephone system on the Athens campus may experience potential disruptions during network service maintenance May 30 from midnight to 7 a.m.

During the maintenance window, UGA’s on-campus telephone service may not be available.

The UGA Police Department will still respond to all calls for service during this time. It is important to use a cell phone to contact police from campus by calling 911 in the event of an emergency instead of 706-542-2200.

Members of the campus community are reminded that 911 is always the appropriate number to call for an emergency on campus, and that in the event of a future interruption in landline phone service at UGA, cell phones should be used to contact police.

Additional information about the May 30 maintenance is available online at www.status.uga.edu.

Legion Pool summer season

Legion Pool at UGA will open May 21 for the summer season. Hours of operation are 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through July 31 and 3-7 p.m. Aug. 1-13.

Use of Legion Pool is limited to students with valid UGACards who pay activity fees on the Athens campus; faculty and staff with valid UGACards; guests of students, faculty and staff; and Friends of Campus Life members. All guests must be accompanied by the UGACard holder.

Admission is $3 for students, $4 for faculty and staff, $3 for children ages 3-15 (who must be accompanied by an adult) and $5 for guests and members of Friends of Campus Life.

Friends of Campus Life memberships are available for a minimum $40

As a woman in the male-dominated world of politics, she said, she credits much of her success to good advice from male and female mentors, but she added that she believes that women have to be themselves in their positions to be successful and not try to emulate men.

“Growing up, it never occurred to me I couldn’t do something because I was a girl,” she said, adding that she worked hard, followed good advice and had a little luck to help her get to the place where she is today.

“The most successful leaders are people who are willing to make hard decisions that are in the best interest of the organization, even though they might not be the most popular choices,” Frum said. “Sometimes you have to be a little fearless to make great things happen.”

GRIFFIN from page 1

DEAN from page 1

UGA-Griffin. This new position will be the senior administrator at UGA-Griffin. The assistant provost and campus director will report dually to the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost to support instructional missions and to the dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences to support the research and extension missions of the college. The assistant provost and campus director also will coordinate UGA-Griffin’s interaction and partnerships with community and business leaders.

The UGA-Griffin campus was established in 1888 as the Georgia Experiment Station.

It houses extension services as well as internationally recognized research programs.

In 2005, it launched academic programs to offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Undergraduate degree-completion programs as well as graduate degrees at UGAGriffin are offered through UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Education, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and Terry College of Business.

“Dr. Greene’s dedication to the students, faculty and alumni of the Warnell School is undeniable,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “His record of excellence in teaching, research and service speaks for itself, and his long-standing collaborations with partners in the private sector, government and other organizations make him ideally suited to lead one of the nation’s most celebrated schools of forestry and natural resources.”

Greene has helped develop some of the Warnell School’s most popular courses, including its off-campus forestry field practicum, where students gain hands-on experience with forest harvesting, processing and manufacturing operations. In addition, he has mentored nearly 45 graduate students who have gone on to careers in private industry, academia, nonprofit organizations and government agencies.

His research on methods to improve timber harvesting to reduce environmental impact, increase profit and produce higherquality products has been funded by nearly 50 grants from industry and agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

Greene is the author of 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and is the recipient of the Southeastern Society of American Foresters Research Award. He has twice served as national chair of the Council on Forest Engineering and also served as chair of its southern region. In addition to service as chair of the Warnell School’s curriculum committee and its teaching effectiveness committee, Greene has served on the facilities, faculty affairs and curriculum committees of University Council. He regularly collaborates with partners in the private sector and has served on the board of directors of the Georgia Forestry Association since 1992.

“I am delighted and humbled to have the opportunity to serve the Warnell School as dean,” Greene said. “We have a great history and even greater possibilities in the future with the strong faculty, students, staff and alumni in our programs.”

Peter Frey

UGA alumnus and Food Network star Alton Brown gave the keynote address earlier this month at “Food for Thought,” the second annual Return to the Arch Alumni Seminar. From left, Brown, Chantel Dunham, Margaret Wagner-Dahl and Doug Peterson discuss Peterson’s caviar cultivation research. The caviar was served at the May 1 reception before dinner.

SCHOLAR

around us,” she said, pointing out that through the eight units that report to her—the Archway Partnership, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, Georgia Center for Continuing Education, Marine Extension/Georgia Sea Grant, Office of Service-Learning, Small Business Development Center and State Botanical Garden of Georgia—UGA touches every county in the state. “I think anyone can say to the taxpayers of Georgia we are a good return on investment.”

She said she appreciates the attention UGA President Jere W. Morehead and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Pamela Whitten have placed on creating a pipeline for women leaders at the university.

donation at the Tate Student Center business office, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Membership dues help to support the student programs and services offered by the Tate Student Center.

Passes also will be sold at the pool concession window May 20 from 1-6 p.m.

Legion Pool is located on Lumpkin Street across from the Tate Student Center. It is administered by the Tate Student Center within UGA’s Division of Student Affairs.

Visit http://tate.uga.edu/legionpool or call 706-542-7774 for more information.

eLearning Commons changes

UGA’s online learning management system, eLearning Commons, will change its login process, effective the weekend of May 22-23.

Users will no longer see boxes to enter their username and password directly on the eLC website (elc.uga.edu).

Instead, they will be asked to click one of two links, depending on their login credentials, which will redirect them to separate login pages.

Users with UGA MyIDs will click a link on the eLC website that will redirect them to the Central Authentication Service, which is used by many of UGA’s online services as a unified and secure login process.

Once users enter their MyID and password into CAS, they will be redirected to their eLC home page.

If a user already is logged in to CAS with a MyID through another service, such as the MyUGA Portal, clicking on the eLC login link will send that user directly to their eLC home page.

Users without UGA MyIDs (users who are not UGA students, faculty or

staff) will click a link on the eLC website that will take them to an eLC login page, where they will enter their assigned username and password as usual.

By offering CAS authentication, MyID users will have a more efficient login experience for accessing eLC, both on the Web and through the official UGA mobile app.

Work to move eLC logins under CAS will begin May 22 at 10 p.m. and continue through May 23 at 7 a.m. eLC will be unavailable during this maintenance window.

New e-commerce safety zone

The UGA Police Department has created an “E-Commerce Safety Zone” as a service to the university community.

E-commerce, or the purchasing and trading of items and products through the Internet, has increased dramatically over the last few years. Unfortunately, some of these transactions throughout the country have turned into scams, robberies or worse.

The UGA Police Department has created a clearly marked, well-lit place in its parking lot at the Hodgson Oil Building on Oconee Street for people making transactions with others they’ve met on popular Internet sites such as eBay, Craigslist and more. This space also has video surveillance.

For additional information, call 706-542-2200.

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

GRANT

from page 1

the process, we will also gather critical information that can help improve public health.”

The research team will use algorithms to compare survey data with Twitter data analyses, measuring billions of tweets against the results of traditional surveys about how people make decisions about vaccines and why. The goal is to enable researchers to use social media as a reliable complement and alternative to more expensive, more time-consuming methods like surveys. Findings will be shared online, available to public health and social science researchers interested in developing and using similar tools to analyze social media data.

Hilyard and her collaborators already have analyzed millions of tweets to gather information on sentiment toward flu vaccinations.

The team identified tweets, geo-located the messages and compared their findings to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Their results show that states with a higher number of residents who received the flu shot had a higher number of vaccine-positive messages on Twitter.