Periodicals Postage is PAID in Athens, Georgia
Marketing & Communications University of Georgia 286 Oconee Street Suite 200 North Athens, GA 30602-1999
Engineering faculty member leads study about lung injuries in elderly patients RESEARCH NEWS
3
Thursday Scholarship Series concert to showcase wind chamber music Vol. 45, No. 13
October 23, 2017
www.columns.uga.edu
UGA GUIDE
4&5
UGA president visits Sunbelt Agricultural Expo in Moultrie
By Clint Thompson cbthomps@uga.edu
Andrew Davis Tucker
From left: Patient Jeanette Bell talks with pharmacy students Jordan Whitehead and Kelsey Eberlin, along with clinical associate professor Catherine Bourg Rebitch, in one of the clinic rooms at Mercy Health Center.
‘Two-way street’
Students learning, patients improving through UGA’s partnership with Mercy Health Center By Kellyn Amodeo
kwamodeo@uga.edu
Mallory Walters, a University of Georgia senior majoring in biology with the goal of becoming a physician’s assistant, has volunteered for several health-related causes. One that holds a special place in her heart is Mercy Health Center, a faith-based primary care clinic that provides free health care to uninsured patients in AthensClarke County and surrounding communities. “As a medical assistant, I worked hands on with the patients who let me be a part of their story,” Walters said. “Each week I heard the hardships of lack of access to health care due to socioeconomic status. While this was hard, I also felt hope and pride watching the providers in this community volunteer their time to
fight this disparity.” Walters is just one of hundreds of UGA students and faculty members who have placed a priority on providing community support by volunteering at the center. Mercy began in 2001 as a oncea-week clinic at a local church. Today, the clinic has a staff of 16 and more than 800 volunteers, offering 14 specialties and serving almost 4,000 patients per year. Some of that growth is thanks to the clinic’s relationship with UGA. Students and doctors in the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, as well as students and faculty in other schools and colleges, use Mercy for experiential learning opportunities, a relationship that proves beneficial for both patients and students. “We are unbelievably blessed to have UGA,” said Tracy Thompson,
executive director of the center. “I feel like it’s a two-way street— students are learning and patients are improving.” Dr. Catherine Bourg Rebitch, a clinical associate professor in the College of Pharmacy, serves as a pharmacist at Mercy and uses the clinic as a practice site for her students. “For students in a health care profession, nothing substitutes hands-on learning in a real patient care environment,” she said. “Our patient population at Mercy is extremely complex, and we focus on a whole-person care model. We recognize that people needing health care have spiritual and emotional needs as well.” In addition to medical disciplines, students and faculty from several schools and colleges at UGA See MERCY on page 8
COMMIT TO GEORGIA CAMPAIGN
$1 million gift will enable university to transform historic barn on Griffin campus into Dundee Café
Agricultural leaders from across Georgia had an opportunity to discuss the future of the state’s largest industry with UGA President Jere W. Morehead Oct. 17 during the Sunbelt Agricultural Expo in Moultrie. “I look forward to the Sunbelt Expo every year,” Morehead said. “Speaking with agricultural leaders from across the state always serves as a constant reminder of the critical role the University of Georgia plays in supporting our state’s most important industry.” Morehead, who has attended
Four named to SEC Academic Leadership Development Program By Kristina Griffith
kristina.griffith17@uga.edu
Four University of Georgia faculty members will hone their leadership skills as the university’s 2017-2018 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program Fellows. Phaedra Corso, Spencer Johnston, Maritza Soto Keen and David Okech began the fellowship this fall. Created by the Southeastern Conference in 2008, the fellowship program seeks to identify, develop, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond. Throughout the year, the participants will engage with senior administrators at UGA based on their areas of interest and attend two SEC-wide workshops that will
kathk1@uga.edu
A historic structure at the heart of the University of Georgia Griffin campus will undergo a $1 million renovation thanks to a gift from the Dundee Community Association. The nearly 100-year-old facility, which once housed mules that pulled plows and other farm equipment, will be repurposed into a cafe that will connect students and the surrounding community with the history of Griffin and Spalding County. The nearly 3,900-squarefoot Dundee Café at the Mule Barn
In schools across the country, students are taught to read paragraphs and then answer questions about the text. But a new grant for a University of Georgia researcher may show different—and ultimately better—ways to test students’ reading comprehension. While past research on testtaking strategies has focused solely on college and high school students, a new $1.4 million grant awarded by the Institute of Education Sciences will examine the extent to which reading
See GIFT on page 8
See LEADERSHIP on page 8
Researcher to explore test-taking behavior, reading comprehension By Kathryn Kao
gratitude to the Dundee Community Association for this generous gift,” said UGA President Jere W.
include training, mentoring and the opportunity to network with their counterparts from other SEC institutions. The fall SEC ALPD workshop will be held Oct. 23-25 at Louisiana State University, and the spring workshop will be held Feb. 21-23 at Auburn University. “One of the biggest strengths of the SEC ALDP is that it gives the fellows an opportunity to compare how UGA and other SEC institutions approach the goals and challenges that they have in common,” said Sarah Covert, associate provost for faculty affairs and UGA’s SEC ALDP liaison. “The varied interests and experiences of this year’s fellows will expose them all to a range of campus issues and expertise, while also
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
sfahmy@uga.edu
is scheduled to open in summer 2018 in the historic structure near the campus student learning center. “I want to express my deepest
See SUNBELT on page 8
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
By Sam Fahmy
The nearly 3,900 square-foot Dundee Café is scheduled to open in summer 2018 in the historic structure near the campus student learning center.
the expo every year since he became UGA president in 2013, visited the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences building, where he spoke with CAES ambassadors and met other key agricultural leaders from across the Southeast. He also delivered remarks at a “listening session” hosted by members of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture and encouraged policymakers to continue to look to UGA for information to make policy decisions on important agricultural matters. CAES educates about 2,000 students every year and has more than 11,000 alumni living
comprehension tests really measure the reading comprehension skills of younger students. Scott Ardoin, professor and head of the educational psychology department in the College of Education, will lead a four-year, four-part study to help educators better understand the testtaking behavior of third-, fifth- and eighth-grade students. By analyzing factors such as eye movement, reading achievement, working memory and motivation, his team will determine whether adjustments are needed to improve the effectiveness of reading See BEHAVIOR on page 8