UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015

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November 30, 2015 Vol. 43, No. 18 www.columns.uga.edu News Service University of Georgia 286 Oconee Street Suite 200 North Athens, GA 30602-1999 Periodicals Postage is PAID in Athens, Georgia 7 STUDENT PROFILE 4&5 UGA GUIDE UGA Holiday Concerts usher in season of music, festivities on campus SGA president brings small-town friendliness to student government The University of Georgia ® By Camie Williams [email protected] Nine UGA faculty members will hone their leadership skills and gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities confronting research universities as members of the inaugural class of the university’s Women’s Lead- ership Fellows Program. The cohort includes repre- sentatives from seven schools and colleges as well as the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. AsWomen’s Leadership Fellows, the faculty members will attend a monthly meeting where they will learn from senior administrators on campus as well as visiting speakers from academia, business and other fields. The program also will feature a concluding weekend retreat in June for more in-depth learning. “The inaugural class of Wom- en’s Leadership Fellows have already accomplished so much in their careers, and they are poised to make an even greater impact on the University of Georgia,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. The 2015-2016 Women’s Leadership Fellows are: • Valerie Babb, director of the Institute for African American Studies and Franklin Professor of English. Her research focuses on African-American literature and culture, trans-Atlantic stud- ies, and constructions of race and gender. Her honors include serv- ing as a scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, receiving the W. M. Keck Foundation Fellow- ship in American Studies and de- livering the Distinguished W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture at Humboldt University in Germany. • Marsha Davis, associate dean of outreach and engagement for the College of Public Health and professor of health promotion and behavior. She works with UGA faculty, public service and outreach units, state and district public health offices and com- munities throughout Georgia to improve the public’s health. Her research focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of community-based health promo- tion programs. Davis was UGA’s 2014 recipient of the Engaged Scholar Award. • Ellen Evans, director of the Cen- ter for Physical Activity and Health and professor of exercise science in the College of Education. Her By Chip Stewart [email protected] UGA recently honored The Coca-Cola Foundation for its legacy of supporting academics at the state’s flagship institution of higher education. In an on-field presentation before the Nov. 21 football game, Coca-Cola representatives—Kirk Glaze, director of community part- nerships; Gene Rackley, director of federal government relations; and Scott Williamson, vice president of public affairs and communications of Coca-Cola North America— were recognized by UGA officials for The Coca-Cola Foundation’s most recent gift of $1 million. The money will provide ad- ditional funding for the Coca- Cola First Generation Scholars Program. UGA President Jere W. Morehead, Vice President for De- velopment and Alumni Relations Kelly Kerner and Coca-Cola First- Generation Scholars Angel Hogg and Michael Williams joined the representatives from Coca-Cola to accept the gift on behalf of the university. “We are immensely grateful for the continued support of one of our state’s pre-eminent corporate partners,” Morehead said. “Coca- Cola’s generosity is providing vital support for deserving students from Georgia who are seeking to become the first in their families to earn a college degree.” The scholarship, which pro- vides $5,000 per year—in comple- ment to the HOPE Scholarship—is renewable for an additional three years for students who maintain a 2.8 GPA during their first year of enrollment and a 3.0 GPA in subsequent years. The First Generation Scholars Program is but one of many UGA initiatives supported by Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Foundation has funded scholarships for more than 100 students since the program’s inception at UGA. With this new award, 48 additional scholarships will be fully funded. The program at UGA is housed in the Office of the Vice President for Instruction. Scholarship recipi- ents are selected by the Office of Student Financial Aid and Office of Undergraduate Admissions from applicants who already have been accepted to UGA. Students do not apply for the awards. One goal of the scholarship By Sam Fahmy [email protected] Five finalists for the position of dean and director of UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will visit campus in De- cember to meet with members of the university community. A committee chaired by Sheila Allen, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, conducted a national search to identify the finalists. The committee was as- sisted by the UGA Search Group in Human Resources. Each finalist will make a public presentation in Masters Hall of the UGA Hotel and Conference Center. The finalists and the dates and times of their presentations are: • Kendall Lamkey, a professor and chair of the agronomy department at Iowa State University, Dec. 1 at 9:30 a.m. • Gary Pierzynski, university distinguished professor and head of the agronomy department at Kansas State University, Dec. 3 at 10:30 a.m. • Samuel Pardue, alumni distin- guished undergraduate professor of poultry science and associate dean and director of academic programs in the College of Agri- culture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University, Dec. 8 at 1:30 p.m. • David Gerrard, a professor and head of the animal and poultry sciences department at Virginia Tech, Dec. 10 at 9:30 a.m. • Michael Vayda, a professor of plant pathology and dean of the Dale Bumpers College of Agri- cultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas, Dec. 15 at 9:30 a.m. The CVs of the finalists and candidate feedback forms are avail- able at http://t.uga.edu/1WY . ‘Vital support’ The Coca-Cola Foundation’s most recent $1M gift expands First Generation Scholars Program Nine named to first class of Women’s Leadership Fellows ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Five finalists named for deanship of College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences See SCHOLARSHIP on page 8 See FELLOWS on page 8 Valerie Babb Susan Fagan Peggy Ozias-Akins Marsha Davis Jean Martin-Williams Marisa Pagnattaro Ellen Evans Laura Meadows Usha Rodrigues Attending an on-field presentation before the Nov. 21 football game were, from left, Kelly Kerner, UGA vice president for development and alumni relations, Coca-Cola First-Generation Scholars Angel Hogg and Michael Williams, UGA President Jere W. Morehead, and Coca-Cola representatives Kirk Glaze, director of community partnerships, Gene Rackley, director of federal government relations, and Scott Williamson, vice president of public affairs and communications. Dorothy Kozlowski

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Transcript of UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015

Page 1: UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015

November 30, 2015Vol. 43, No. 18 www.columns.uga.edu

News ServiceUniversity of Georgia286 Oconee StreetSuite 200 NorthAthens, GA 30602-1999

Periodicals Postage is PAID

in Athens,Georgia

7STUDENT PROFILE 4&5UGA GUIDE

UGA Holiday Concerts usher in season of music, festivities on campus

SGA president brings small-town friendliness to student government

The University of Georgia®

By Camie [email protected]

Nine UGA faculty members will hone their leadership skills and gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities confronting research universities as members of the inaugural class of the university’s Women’s Lead-ership Fellows Program.

The cohort includes repre-sentatives from seven schools and colleges as well as the Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

As Women’s Leadership Fellows, the faculty members will attend a monthly meeting where they will learn from senior administrators on campus as well as visiting speakers from academia, business and other fields. The program also will feature a concluding weekend retreat in June for more in-depth learning.

“The inaugural class of Wom-en’s Leadership Fellows have already accomplished so much in their careers, and they are poised to make an even greater impact on the University of Georgia,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

The 2015-2016 Women’s Leadership Fellows are:• Valerie Babb, director of the

Institute for African American Studies and Franklin Professor of English. Her research focuses on African-American literature and culture, trans-Atlantic stud-ies, and constructions of race and gender. Her honors include serv-ing as a scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, receiving the W. M. Keck Foundation Fellow-ship in American Studies and de-livering the Distinguished W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture at Humboldt University in Germany. • Marsha Davis, associate dean of outreach and engagement for the College of Public Health and professor of health promotion and behavior. She works with UGA faculty, public service and outreach units, state and district public health offices and com-munities throughout Georgia to improve the public’s health. Her research focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of community-based health promo-tion programs. Davis was UGA’s 2014 recipient of the Engaged Scholar Award. • Ellen Evans, director of the Cen-ter for Physical Activity and Health and professor of exercise science in the College of Education. Her

By Chip [email protected]

UGA recently honored The Coca-Cola Foundation for its legacy of supporting academics at the state’s flagship institution of higher education.

In an on-field presentation before the Nov. 21 football game, Coca-Cola representatives—Kirk Glaze, director of community part-nerships; Gene Rackley, director of federal government relations; and Scott Williamson, vice president of public affairs and communications of Coca-Cola North America—were recognized by UGA officials for The Coca-Cola Foundation’s most recent gift of $1 million.

The money will provide ad-ditional funding for the Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars

Program. UGA President Jere W. Morehead, Vice President for De-velopment and Alumni Relations Kelly Kerner and Coca-Cola First-Generation Scholars Angel Hogg and Michael Williams joined the representatives from Coca-Cola to accept the gift on behalf of the university.

“We are immensely grateful for the continued support of one of our state’s pre-eminent corporate partners,” Morehead said. “Coca-Cola’s generosity is providing vital support for deserving students from Georgia who are seeking to become the first in their families to earn a college degree.”

The scholarship, which pro-vides $5,000 per year—in comple-ment to the HOPE Scholarship—is renewable for an additional three years for students who maintain

a 2.8 GPA during their first year of enrollment and a 3.0 GPA in subsequent years.

The First Generation Scholars Program is but one of many UGA initiatives supported by Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Foundation has funded scholarships for more than 100 students since the program’s inception at UGA. With this new award, 48 additional scholarships will be fully funded.

The program at UGA is housed in the Office of the Vice President for Instruction. Scholarship recipi-ents are selected by the Office of Student Financial Aid and Office of Undergraduate Admissions from applicants who already have been accepted to UGA. Students do not apply for the awards.

One goal of the scholarship

By Sam [email protected]

Five finalists for the position of dean and director of UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will visit campus in De-cember to meet with members of the university community.

A committee chaired by Sheila Allen, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, conducted a national search to identify the finalists. The committee was as-sisted by the UGA Search Group in Human Resources.

Each finalist will make a public

presentation in Masters Hall of the UGA Hotel and Conference Center. The finalists and the dates and times of their presentations are:• Kendall Lamkey, a professor and chair of the agronomy department at Iowa State University, Dec. 1 at 9:30 a.m.• Gary Pierzynski, university distinguished professor and head of the agronomy department at Kansas State University, Dec. 3 at 10:30 a.m.• Samuel Pardue, alumni distin-guished undergraduate professor of poultry science and associate dean and director of academic

programs in the College of Agri-culture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University, Dec. 8 at 1:30 p.m.• David Gerrard, a professor and head of the animal and poultry sciences department at Virginia Tech, Dec. 10 at 9:30 a.m.• Michael Vayda, a professor of plant pathology and dean of the Dale Bumpers College of Agri-cultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas, Dec. 15 at 9:30 a.m.

The CVs of the finalists and candidate feedback forms are avail-able at http://t.uga.edu/1WY .

‘Vital support’The Coca-Cola Foundation’s most recent

$1M gift expands First Generation Scholars Program

Nine named to first class of Women’s Leadership Fellows

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Five finalists named for deanship of College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

See SCHOLARSHIP on page 8

See FELLOWS on page 8

Valerie Babb

Susan Fagan

Peggy Ozias-Akins

Marsha Davis

Jean Martin-Williams

Marisa Pagnattaro

Ellen Evans

Laura Meadows

Usha Rodrigues

Attending an on-field presentation before the Nov. 21 football game were, from left, Kelly Kerner, UGA vice president for development and alumni relations, Coca-Cola First-Generation Scholars Angel Hogg and Michael Williams, UGA President Jere W. Morehead, and Coca-Cola representatives Kirk Glaze, director of community partnerships, Gene Rackley, director of federal government relations, and Scott Williamson, vice president of public affairs and communications.

Dorothy Kozlowski

Page 2: UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015

By Sara [email protected]

UGA continues to work to meet the demand for increased wireless connec-tivity on campus, according to Timothy Chester, vice president for information technology.

In his annual State of Technology at UGA address Nov. 12, Chester said the university has increased its total band-width capacity 20-fold over the past four years, as well as doubled the number of wireless Internet access points, bringing the maximum number of possible con-nections to 75,000 across campus.

Internet usage at UGA also has in-creased rapidly over the past four years, rising from 1.36 gigabytes consumed in September 2011 to 5.1 gigabytes con-sumed in September 2015. The number of registered wireless devices on campus also continues to grow. In September 2011, only 6,000 wireless devices were registered on campus. This year, that number has grown to 53,296.

The increased demand for wireless presents some challenges, particularly in the residence halls, Chester said. Students living in the residence halls use about 50 percent of the university’s total bandwidth.

“Students have positive perceptions about technology at the university in all areas, except wireless networking,” he said of the annual survey results from students, faculty and staff on technology services at UGA.

Chester said the university’s central

IT department, Enterprise Information Technology Services, soon will launch a new survey for residents in University Housing to better gauge perceptions of the PAWS-Secure wireless network and find problem areas for technicians to address in residence halls.

The university is in the beginning stages of launching eduroam, an addi-tional secure roaming wireless network on campus that also would allow UGA students, faculty and staff traveling to other participating eduroam institutions to sign on to the wireless network on those campuses using their UGA MyID and password.

“Internet usage continues to grow exponentially, and Internet connectivity is one of those foundational things on campus that has to work well in order for everything else to work well,” Chester said. “One of the great things about the leadership team we have at the University of Georgia is that we have a president and a provost who understand that and have been supportive of the types of financial investments we need to make to stay ahead of this curve.”

Increasing Internet bandwidth also has an impact on the university’s mis-sion to support research. The university recently invested in expanded 1 gigabyte connections to its campuses in Griffin, Buckhead and Tifton, and there are plans to expand the bandwidth capacity at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.

The university also is working to bring more services to the UGA mo-bile app.

By Sydney Devine [email protected]

Mary Miller was filled with worry the day her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

As the Peabody Awards Collection archivist at the Richard B. Russell Build-ing Special Collections Libraries, Miller loves her job, which keeps her busy.

With her mother’s health in decline, however, Miller knew her life would only get more difficult to balance.

Miller’s mother, Mary “Buff” Miller—or Miss Buff, as she was known—led an interesting life. She earned her pilot’s license when she was young, and after graduating from the University of Mary-land embarked on a 56-year career as a chemical engineer.

At one time, Miss Buff was the only woman employed by Glenn L. Martin Co., an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company. She later worked for NASA developing rocket planes. And she once was honored by the National Association of Manufacturers as one of eight “women in key posts in the defense industries.”

An only child, Miller admired her mother and enjoyed the time they spent together. But when Miss Buff was diag-nosed with Alzheimer’s in 2004, Miller knew she would no longer be able to handle things by herself. She needed help.

“I started looking into resources in the community that would enable me to continue to take care of her at home,” Miller said. “ I really didn’t want to put her into some kind of permanent care facility.”

While searching, Miller came across the Athens Community Council on Aging, a nonprofit organization that works to maintain and enrich the lives of older individuals throughout Northeast Georgia. ACCA is one of the

organizations supported by UGA’s Cam-paign for Charities, which ends Dec. 14.

It’s home to programs like Meals on Wheels and the Center for Active Living that cater to the needs of older individuals.

One of its services is the Adult Day Health Program, located at the Bentley Center—just down the road from Miller’s job at the Russell Special Collections Building. The fee-based program offers day care for adults with a physical or mental disability.

“I didn’t need the Adult Day Health services at first, but as her dementia worsened, I did,” Miller said.

The program allows individuals who don’t need 24-hour institutional care but aren’t capable of independent living to come and essentially “spend the day” at the Bentley Center, Miller said.

It’s ideal for individuals, like Miller, who are full-time caregivers to a family member because it lets them run errands or spend time at work worry-free.

“It’s a complete package,” Miller said. “When I would drop her off, I wouldn’t have to worry about her again until I picked her up.”

The program provides nurses, physi-cal therapists and people trained to work with dementia patients. And it provides meals for those spending the day.

Miller has been involved in ACCA for seven years now and continues to show the program the support that they showed her, even after her mother’s passing last year at age 97.

“She was the most important person in the world to me so anything they did for her, they also did for me,” she said. “I give back some to them because they extended my mother’s life by giving her such excellent care.”

2 Nov. 30, 2015 columns.uga.edu

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Albany State, Darton College will consolidate to form 1 institution

Albany State University and Darton State College will consolidate to form one institu-tion. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved a proposal from Chancellor Hank Huckaby to consolidate the two institutions to increase education attain-ment levels and transform how the University System impacts Southwest Georgia. The re-gents action on Nov. 10 marks the fourth round of consolidation within the University System.

The new institution will be named Albany State University, and the regents named Albany State Interim President Art Dunning as the permanent president of the new institution. Dunning is a former vice president for public service and outreach at UGA.

Department of Education report: Most freshman apply to only one college

Two-thirds of freshmen who complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid ap-plication designate only one school to send their financial aid application information, indicating that they were only applying for admission to one school, according to a the U.S. Department of Education, which called the data “troubling.”

“By focusing on only one school, students run the risk of being turned down for admis-sion or losing out on better financial aid and educational opportunities from another school, with ramifications that can last a lifetime,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

New

s to

Use

Avoid raking, move leaves with mowerDealing with fallen leaves can be a burden.

To avoid raking leaves, a lawn mower can be used instead.

It’s not necessary that the mower have a bag attachment. However, if you plan on making a compost pile with the leaves, a bag attachment makes it easier to gather the leaves, rather than raking them up by hand.

Operate the mower so that the leaves are being discharged toward the center of the lawn. Ideally, by the end, there will be one windrow, or row of cut leaves, in the middle of the lawn. Don’t try to mulch when the leaves are wet. Even a new blade will not pick up wet leaves that are matted to the ground.

As the leaves are cut, the volume will be reduced with each pass made, but one or more windrows will be blown to the center. If neces-sary, raise the lawn mower’s deck as high as it will go to run over the windrow. Keep running over the windrow and blowing the leaves back to the center over and over, until most pieces are reduced to dime-size or smaller. Once all of the pieces are this small, use the mower to spread them back out over a larger area.

With rainfall, the newly mulched leaves will melt away in just a few days and provide valuable nutrients and organic matter back to the soil.Source: College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

By Christopher [email protected]

Stephen Reichert spent much of his career in New York City. But now the Macon native and chairman of the board of the State Botanical Garden wants to see his hometown thrive, and he’s found a willing partner in UGA.

Reichert, along with his brother, Macon-Bibb County Mayor Robert Reichert, watched as native plants raised at the State Botanical Garden, a unit of the UGA Office of Public Service and Outreach, were planted in a garden by the gates of Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon.

“We want the botanical garden to thrive,” Stephen Reichert said. “We want to create collaborative partnerships with other cities around the state as well as Macon so the State Botanical Garden becomes truly the botanical garden for the entire state, and this is a wonderful way to get that going.”

More than 350 plants were brought to the Rose Hill site while nearly 1,300 were planned for a wetlands area at the Dr. William G. Lee Camellia Gardens. The plants, grown since March at the Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies at the botanical garden in Athens, are valued at about $3,000. A third of that cost was covered by a gift from Stephen Reichert, and Macon-Bibb County paid the balance.

Macon is the first Georgia city to partner with the garden to cultivate and install native plants on its public property.

Botanical garden, Macon partner to install native plants

Chester: Internet, wireless usage continue to grow rapidly at UGA

ENTERPRISE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

UGA CAMPAIGN FOR CHARITIES

‘A complete package’: ACCA provides care, support for older individuals

Mary Miller, Peabody Awards Collection archivist at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries, standing, relied on Athens Community Council on Aging’s Adult Day Health Program to help care for her mother, Mary “Buff” Miller.

Janet BeckleySource: 2014 UGA Factbook

ON THE WEBhttps://campaign.uga.edu

University of Georgia

Home for the holidays

1. Georgia 28,520 2. North Carolina 486 3. Florida 470 4. South Carolina 400 5. Texas 379 6. Virginia 293 7. Tennessee 280 8. Maryland 227 9. California 207 10. New York 183

Many students will be heading home for winter break soon. Here are the top 10 states of origin for UGA students:

PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH

Page 3: UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015

By Sydney [email protected]

In a recent study funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, UGA researchers found produce that contained bacteria would contaminate other produce items through the contin-ued use of knives or graters. The bacteria would latch on to the utensils commonly found in consumers’ homes and spread to the next food item.

Unfortunately, many consumers are unaware that utensils and other surfaces at home can contribute to the spread of bacteria, said the study’s lead author Marilyn Erickson, an associate profes-sor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ food science and technology department.

“Just knowing that utensils may lead to cross-contamination is important,” Erickson said. “With that knowledge, consumers are then more likely to make sure they wash them in between uses.”

Erickson has been researching pro-duce for the past 10 years. Her past work mainly has focused on the fate of bacteria on produce when it’s introduced to plants in the field during farming.

In 2013, she co-authored a study that looked at the transfer of norovirus and hepatitis A between produce and common kitchen utensils. The study determined that cutting and grating increased the number of contaminated produce items when that utensil first had been used to process a contaminated item.

This study, published in Food Micro-biology, is similar in that it considers the influence that knives and graters have on the transfer of pathogenic bacteria to and from produce items. She urges consumers to realize that these germs can spread in their kitchens as well.

Researchers have known that poor hygiene and improper food preparation practices in a consumer’s home can lead to foodborne illnesses, but considering what practices in the kitchen are more

likely to lead to contamination has not been examined extensively.

In her recent study, Erickson contami-nated many types of fruits and vegetables in her lab—adding certain pathogens that often can be found on these foods, such as salmonella and E. coli.

Using a knife, Erickson would cut into tomatoes, cantaloupe and other types of produce to see how easily the bacteria could spread when the knife continuously was used without being cleaned. Because they “were looking at what would be the worst-case scenario,” she said, Erickson and study co-authors did not wash between cutting these dif-ferent produce items.

Researchers also grated produce, like carrots, to see how easily the pathogens spread to graters. They found that both knives and graters can cause additional cross-contamination in the kitchen and that the pathogens were spread from produce to produce if they hadn’t washed the utensils.

Groundbreaking ceremony to be held Dec. 1 for Center for Molecular Medicine

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. for the Center for Molecular Medicine, which will be adjacent to the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. The program is open to the public.

The center’s mission is to better understand the molecular and cellular basis of human disease and then to use this information for the development of new therapies, cures and diagnostics.

Sustainable agriculture documentary ‘Raising Resistance’ to be shown Dec. 4

The Georgia Workshop on Culture, Power and History will screen the documentary Rais-ing Resistance Dec. 4 at 3 p.m. in Room 207 of the Miller Learning Center. The screening, part of a film series sponsored by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute and the sociology department, is open free to the public.

The film series is part of the collaborative proj-ect by the Georgia Workshop on Culture, History and Power through the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the Latin American Sustainable Agriculture initiative. The project seeks to engage some of the most pressing questions of the ability to derive sustainable agriculture production from Latin America while also ensuring the congruent development of local communities.

The project encompasses a speaker series and a film series, where the films reflect upon the overall topics presented by the speakers. The documentary will follow a presentation by Pablo Lapegna, an assistant professor of sociology and Latin Ameri-can and Caribbean Studies and organizer of the event, on the influence of genetically modified crops. Winner of 15 international film awards, the documentary analyzes the actors and issues associ-ated with genetically modified crops in Paraguay, specifically soy, agribusiness, small farmers and associated implications. After the screening, there will be a question-and-answer session with Raising Resistance director David Bernet via Skype from Germany.

Chambliss Fellows program raises more than $350,000 for student scholarships

Students at UGA will have the opportunity to intern as Chambliss Fellows in Washington, D.C., thanks to scholarship funds raised during the in-augural Chambliss Leadership Forum dinner held Nov. 10 in Atlanta.

Founded in 2014, the Chambliss Leadership Forum includes the annual fundraising dinner, the Chambliss Fellows Program and a campus lecture series. Chambliss Fellows, five UGA students com-petitively selected each semester, will be provided with financial and academic assistance to live and work in the nation’s capital.

A number of students and policymakers joined the celebration of former Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and his wife, Julianne, both of whom are UGA alumni and have been public servants since Chambliss was elected to office in 1994.

“The Chambliss Leadership Forum provides a unique opportunity for our students to learn from Sen. Chambliss and to witness policymaking in the nation’s capital,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “It offers an unparalleled learning experience for those who are interested in careers in government and politics, and we are deeply appreciative of Sen. and Mrs. Chambliss—and of our donors—for establishing the program at the University of Georgia.”

The event, which raised more than $350,000 to help endow the fellows program, included a panel discussion with Chambliss, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and former Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. The discussion included questions from the audience on issues ranging from entitlement reform to national security.

Digest

PERIODICALS POSTAGE STATEMENTColumns (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: Send off-campus address changes to Columns, UGA News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.

RESEARCH NEWS

Brood behaviorBy James E. [email protected]

A team of researchers that includes UGA scientists has identified many of the genetic changes that take place in burying beetles as they assume the role of parent.

Their findings, published recently in the journal Nature Communications, may provide clues about the fundamental genetics of parenthood in insects and other animals.

Burying beetles are the undertakers of the animal kingdom. True to their name, these winged insects scavenge the wilderness in search of small animal carcasses, which they bury under the soil to save as a food source while they care for their offspring.

This is unusual behavior; most in-sects do not care for their young. But burying beetles take an extraordinarily active role. They prepare food, protect the brood from invaders and even feed their begging offspring much in the same way that a bird feeds its hatchlings.

“Parenting is a complex trait, but it’s particularly complex in burying beetles,” said the study’s co-author Allen Moore, a Distinguished Re-search Professor of Genetics in UGA’s

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “Sometimes the male or female may care for the brood as a single parent, and sometimes they appear to work as a couple. By examining changes in genes associated with parenting, we got a clearer picture of what’s really happening.”

Scientists have long presumed that burying beetles were one of the few in-sect species to co-parent their offspring, but the research team’s genetic tests cast serious doubt on that assumption, Moore said. The fundamental idea was that males and females that stayed together did so because they were compatible; they made up for individual weaknesses by joining forces.

“If that were true, you’d expect two parents to be better than one, but we didn’t see that at all,” Moore said. “Offspring raised by a single parent fared just as well as those that appeared to be raised by two parents.”

The researchers allowed 269 pairs of male and female beetles to co-mingle in a closed environment complete with food sources, and they observed their behavior as they raised their offspring. About 50 percent of the time, males would abandon the nest after mating, leaving the female to care for the brood

alone. Females, on the other hand, only abandoned the nest 5 percent of the time.

Regardless of its sex, when a single parent cared for the young, the research-ers found that beetles expressed specific genes that control parenting behaviors. But when beetles appeared to act as a couple, the story was different.

“If you just observe a pair of beetles, they may look like they’re working as a team,” Moore said. “But our genetic analyses showed that males really weren’t doing much of anything. They did not express the genes necessary to care for offspring, so the females were actually doing most of the work.”

Males and females may work to-gether to bury a carcass and prepare the nest. But once their eggs hatch, the du-ties of care generally fall to one parent, and that’s usually a female, Moore said.

While these discoveries will help scientists better understand the social dynamics of burying beetles, Moore and his colleagues hope that similar genetic approaches could be used to study the behavior of other animals.

“We know now which genes are turned on and off while these beetles raise their young,” Moore said. “Next, we want to see if those same genes influ-ence social interactions in other species.”

Burying beetles provide clues about genetic foundations of parenthood

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCESStudy: Kitchen utensils can spread bacteria between foods

3 columns.uga.edu Nov. 30, 2015

Allen Moore, a Distinguished Research Professor of Genetics in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, co-authored a study that found genetic changes take place in burying beetles as they assume the role of parent.

File photo

Page 4: UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015

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4&5columns.uga.edu Nov. 30, 2015

The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified. Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.

For a complete listing of events at the University

of Georgia, check the Master Calendar on the Web (calendar.uga.edu/ ).

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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/.

TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNSPost 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 ([email protected]), but materials can be mailed to Columns, News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

EXHIBITIONSInfiltro: In-Vitro. Through Nov. 30. Gilbert Hall. [email protected]

Roads, Rivers and Red Clay: Ceramics by Ron Meyers. Through Dec. 18. Circle Gallery.

Set Off for Georgia… Through Dec. 23. Hargrett Library Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-542-8079, [email protected]

Unbeaten, Untied, Undisputed: Georgia’s 1980 National Championship Season. Through Dec. 23. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079, [email protected]

Before the March King: 19th-Century American Bands. Through Jan. 3. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, [email protected]

In Time We Shall Know Ourselves: Photographs by Raymond Smith. Through Jan. 3. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, [email protected].

Samurai: The Way of the Warrior. Through Jan. 3. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, [email protected]

Georgia’s Girlhood Embroidery: Crowned with Glory and Immortality. Through Feb. 28. Georgia Museum of Art. [email protected]

Seeing Georgia: Changing Visions of Tourism in the Modern South. Through July 30. Special collections libraries. 706-542-5788, [email protected]

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1CAES DEAN FINALIST PRESENTATIONKendall Lamkey, a professor and chair of the agronomy department at Iowa State University, will present. 9:30 a.m. Masters Hall, UGA Hotel and

Conference Center. (See story, page 1).

HOLIDAY BOOK SALEThrough Dec. 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Georgia Mu-seum of Art. 706-542-4662, [email protected]

LUNCHTIME TIME MACHINE“Why Did a Conservative Housewife, an Accountant and the 1964 Republican Presidential Nominee Go Green?” 12:30 p.m. 221 LeConte Hall. 706-583-8180, [email protected]

GROUNDBREAKINGA ceremony for the Center for Molecular Medicine, which will be adjacent to the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. 2 p.m. (See Digest, page 3).

MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Oakland. $15. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum. 706-542-1231.

FILMThe Germanic and Slavic studies department brings the award-winning German film Phoenix to Athens. $9.75; $7.50 for students. 7:15 p.m. Cine, 134 W. Hancock Ave. [email protected]

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2HOLIDAY POTTERY SALEThrough Dec. 3. 9:30 a.m. Lamar Dodd School of Art, 270 River Road. Sponsored by the UGA Ceramic Student Association. (See Bulletin Board, page 8).

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION“Vaccinations and Public Health.” Experts from the College of Public Health and Athens Regional will ad-dress the role vaccinations have played in improving public health. 5:30 p.m. George Hall, Health Sciences Campus. [email protected]

WOMEN’S BASKETBALLvs. Mercer. $5. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3CAES DEAN FINALIST PRESENTATIONGary Pierzynski, university distinguished professor and head of the agronomy department at Kansas State University, will present. 10:30 a.m. Masters Hall, UGA Hotel and Conference Center. (See story, page 1).

CICR EMINENT SCHOLAR LECTURE“Conservation Stewardship: Shaping Pathways of Large-scale Change in Social-ecological Systems,” F. Stuart “Terry” Chapin III, professor emeritus, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Noon. Chapel. 706-542-0458, [email protected]

TEEN STUDIO: SPIRIT OF THE SAMURAILocal artist and educator Kristen Bach will lead a special tour of the exhibition Samurai: The Way of the Warrior, and then teens will create their own samurai-inspired works of art. RSVP to [email protected] or call 706-542-8863. 5:30 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, [email protected]

LECTURE“What Makes the Samurai Special? A Brief Introduc-tion to Their History and Culture,” Masaki Mori, an associate professor and assistant director of the Japanese Program at UGA. Mori will outline the samurais’ rise, fall and culture. 5:30 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, [email protected]

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Kennesaw State. $5. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

SAMURAI FILM SERIES SCREENINGAkira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. In Japanese with English subtitles. Introduction by Masaki Mori, an associate professor and assistant director of the Japanese Program at UGA. 7 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, [email protected]

SECOND THURSDAY CONCERT SERIESThe UGA Symphony Orchestra and combined choirs will perform during this seasonal Athens tradition. $18; $5 with a UGACard. 7:30 p.m. Also Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4752, [email protected] (See story, above left).

FILMElf. $3 for nonstudents. 8 p.m. Tate Student Center Theatre.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4SWIMMING AND DIVINGGeorgia Fall Invitational. Through Dec. 6. Ramsey Student Center.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENINGRaising Resistance. 3 p.m. 207 Miller Learning Center. Part of the Georgia Workshop on Culture, Power and History. (See Digest, page 3).

FILMThe Man from U.N.C.L.E. $3 for nonstudents. 6 p.m. Also Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. and Dec. 5-6 at 6 and 9 p.m. Tate Student Center Theatre.

MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Kansas State. $15. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum. 706-542-1231.

UGA HOCKEY vs. College of Charleston. Bring a new, stuffed animal for Teddy Bear Toss Night; all toys will be donated to St. Mary’s Hospital Pediatrics Unit. Tickets can be purchased at the Tate Student Center ticket office, online or at the Classic Center box office. $10; $2 for students. 7:30 p.m. Classic Center, 300 N. Thomas St. 706-207-8819, [email protected]

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5FAMILY DAY: EMBROIDERED HOLIDAY ORNAMENTSSee examples of intricate needlework in the exhibi-tion Georgia’s Girlhood Embroidery: “Crowned with Glory and Immortality,” then stitch up an embroi-dered holiday ornament. The Meridian Women’s Choir will perform in the lobby. 10 a.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, [email protected]

MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP LAUNCH AND BOOK SIGNING12:30 p.m. 285 special collections libraries. 678-595-2978, [email protected]

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6REINDEER RUN TACKY HOLIDAY 5KSupports the Future Health Promoter’s Club’s Oasis tutoring. Participants are highly encouraged to wear tacky holiday attire. $10; $25 with a T-shirt. 8:30 a.m. Stegeman Coliseum. 770-241-3548, [email protected].

STATE BOTANICAL GARDEN HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE1:30 p.m. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6014, [email protected]’S BASKETBALL vs. Seton Hall. $5. 2 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

UGA HOCKEY vs. Johnson and Wales. Tickets can be purchased can be purchased at the Tate Student Center, online or at the Classic Center box office. $10; $2 for students. 7 p.m. Classic Center, 300 N. Thomas St. 706-207-8819, [email protected]

MONDAY, DECEMBER 7HANUKKAHJewish religious observance.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8CAES DEAN FINALIST PRESENTATIONSamuel Pardue, alumni distinguished undergradu-ate professor of poultry science and associate dean and director of academic programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University, will present. 1:30 p.m. Masters Hall, UGA Hotel and Conference Center. (See story, page 1).

HOLIDAY CONCERT“Comfort and Joy” with pianist Jim Brickman, the Georgia Children’s Chorus and guest artists. 8 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. $25-$50. 706-542-4400. (See story above).

COMING UPFRIDAY CLASS SCHEDULE IN EFFECT, FALL SEMESTER CLASSES ENDDec. 8.

READING DAYDec. 9

FALL SEMESTER FINAL EXAMSDec. 10-16.

CAES DEAN FINALIST PRESENTATIONDec. 10. David Gerrard, a professor and head of the animal and poultry sciences department at Virginia Tech, will present. 9:30 a.m. Masters Hall, UGA Hotel and Conference Center. (See story, page 1).

CAES DEAN FINALIST PRESENTATIONDec. 15. Michael Vayda, a professor of plant pathol-ogy and dean of the Dale Bumpers College of Agri-cultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas, will present. 9:30 a.m. Masters Hall, UGA Hotel and Conference Center. (See story, page 1).

By Clarke [email protected]

An Athens holiday tradition continues with the UGA Holiday Concerts, held this year at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 3-4 in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall at the Performing Arts Center.

The UGA Symphony Orchestra, directed by Mark Cedel, and the combined choirs of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music will perform John Rutter’s “Gloria,” the first suite of Robert Shaw’s “Many Moods of Christmas,” excerpts from Bach’s “Magnificat” and other seasonal favorites.

The UGA British Brass Band also will join the action, performing several holiday classics and playing famous yuletide songs in a sing-along section of the performance, with concert-goers providing the vocals.

Tickets are $18 each or $5 with a UGA student ID and are available at the Performing Arts Center box office, by calling 706-542-4400 or by visiting pac.uga.edu.

Conducting duties will rotate between several School of Music faculty and one graduate student: Dan Bara and J.D. Burnett, the di-rector and associate director of choral activities, respectively; Claudine Gamache, a doctoral conducting student; and Phil Smith, a professor of trumpet.

The UGA Holiday Concerts are presented as the last of 2015’s Second Thursday Scholarship Series events. The series returns in 2016 with performances from two groups with School of Music faculty members, Mod(ular) Ensemble and Revien Trio, on Feb. 18.

The Second Thursday Scholarship Series began in 1980 and continues the tradition of “Music Appreciation Programs” started by Hugh Hodgson in the 1930s.

Proceeds from contributions and ticket sales to these concerts are among the primary means through which School of Music scholarship funds are raised each year.

By Rebecca [email protected]

Two large-scale works by American sculptor Alice Aycock are on display in the Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden at the Georgia Museum of Art.

“Waltzing Matilda” and “Twin Vortexes” originally were part of Park Avenue Paper Chase, Aycock’s outdoor exhibition on Park Avenue in Man-hattan. Inspired by the wind and the frenetic energy of city life, these two sculptures will remain on display at UGA until September.

Annelies Mondi, the museum’s deputy director who organized the ex-hibition, said these sculptures “allude to other topics often found in Aycock’s work, such as magic and fantasy in contrast with science and engineering. Her seemingly whimsical works belie the intricate planning and skill neces-sary to create these pieces. References to nature and industry intermingle as viewers walk around each sculpture sensing the whirling, organic shapes

made from aluminum and fiberglass.”Born in Pennsylvania, Aycock

trained as a sculptor with Robert Mor-ris at Hunter College in New York. She often has focused on creating public art installations, from her early land art in the 1970s to these current complex ob-jects made of fiberglass and aluminum. She has work in the collections of the

Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum and the National Gallery as well as on view in cities across the U.S.

The Willson Sculpture Garden is devoted to the work of women sculptors and features rotating exhibitions.

In addition to being popular In-stagram subjects, the sculptures are

the basis for the studio project Athens-Clarke County fifth-graders are completing this year when they tour the museum. The tours are part of Experience UGA, a partnership between the Clarke County School District and the university that aims to bring each Clarke County student to campus every year. The fifth-graders learn about the process through which Aycock created the sculpture, watch a film about her work, tour the exhibi-tion in the garden and then make their own small sculptures out of paper to take home.

Aycock will speak at the museum Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m. The lecture will be open free to the public.

UGA Holiday Concerts continue tradition with Bach, sing-along Georgia Museum of Art exhibits

sculptures by Alice Aycock By Bobby [email protected]

The UGA Performing Arts Center will present pianist Jim Brick-man Dec. 8 at 8 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall at the Perform-ing Arts Center. Brickman will perform “Comfort and Joy,” a special holiday concert featuring the Georgia Children’s Chorus along with guest artists Charlie Alan, Anne Cochran and Tracy Silverman.

Tickets for the concert are $25-$50 and are discounted for UGA students. Tickets can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400.

Brickman has revolutionized the sound of solo piano with his pop-style instrumentals and star-studded vocal collaborations. Since the release of his debut album, No Words, in 1994, his romantic piano sound has made him one of contemporary music’s best-selling solo artists, hailed as a “crowd pleaser” by the Boston Globe.

Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations, four Gold albums and 30 charted radio hits. He’s the winner of two Society of Euro-pean Stage Authors and Composers Songwriter of the Year Awards, a Canadian Country Music Award and a Dove Award presented by the Gospel Music Association.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Brickman began playing piano at age 5 and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where a scholarship has been established in his honor.

He has performed around the world and in over 125 cities across the U.S., including shows at Carnegie Hall and the White House. He hosts Your Weekend, a weekly radio show and has authored three best-sellers, Simple Things, Love Notes and his latest book, Soothe—How To Find Calm Amidst Everyday Chaos.

Pianist Jim Brickman to perform holiday concert in Hodgson Concert Hall Dec. 8

Page 5: UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015
Page 6: UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015

6 Nov. 30, 2015 columns.uga.edu

Kudos recognizes special contributions of staff, faculty and administrators in teaching, research and service. News items are limited to election into office of state, regional, national and international societies; major awards and prizes; and similarly notable accomplishments.

The Georgia chapter of the National Associa-tion of Social Workers honored two UGA School of

Social Work faculty members at its annual meeting on Oct. 22.

Maurice Daniels, a pro-fessor and dean of the school, and Alberta “Bert” Ellett, a professor of social work, both received Distinguished Social Work Practice Awards. Daniels also was presented with the 2015 David E. Levine Excel-lence in Education and Ethics Award.

The Distinguished Social Work Practice Award honors those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, service and contributions to social work. It is open to social work profes-sionals from all practice areas, including institutions of higher education.

The Levine Award is named for a respected, longtime UGA School of Social Work faculty member who died in 2011. Levine also served as chair of the NASW Georgia chapter’s Committee on Ethics. The award honors social workers who have promoted ethics and education, training and development as an integral part of social work education.

Daniels is founder and director of the Foot Sol-dier Project for Civil Rights Studies and Research and a co-founder of the Athens Area Habitat for Humanity. He played a key role in the establish-ment of the university’s Institute for African Ameri-can Studies, its minority services and programs department and the Office of Institutional Diversity.

Ellett is nationally known as a leader in pro-moting the continued professionalization of child welfare staffing. In 2003 she conducted the largest and most extensive survey ever done of turnover and retention of child welfare workers in Georgia.

Keith Herndon, a visiting professor of journal-ism at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, was named one of five Atlanta Mobility Stars at the Mobility LIVE! luncheon on Oct. 29.

Herndon was recognized for creating and leading Grady’s Mobile News Lab, which launched in fall 2014 and since has trained 42 student journalists.

The Atlanta Mobility Stars award is presented by the Mobile Atlanta Task Force, NewsON and the Metro Atlanta Chamber to recipients who have made “a substantial, quantifiable impact in the past year creating and advancing adoption or innovative use of mobile technology, and has helped grow At-lanta’s presence in the center of the mobile world.”

Lorilee R. Sandmann, professor emerita of lifelong education, administration and policy in the College of Education, was inducted into the Acad-emy of Community Engagement Scholarship.

Sandmann, who is editor of the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, was recognized for her research, publications, teaching and leader-ship. Her research, which consistently has been theory-driven, studies the relationship between the different perspectives and voices of engagement: faculty as scholars, students as future scholars, community partners as co-creators of knowledge and institutional leaders as influential advocates for community engagement.

Founded in 2014, ACES is a consortium of lead-ing community engagement scholars and practitio-ners who are recognized for advancing scholarship that serves the public good.

CAMPUS CLOSEUP

FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Maurice Daniels

Alberta Ellett By Molly [email protected]

Elizabeth Gaughf’s learning curve stretches nearly 700 miles.

That’s the distance she has traveled—from Macon to Athens to Nashville back to Athens—for her education. Along the way, she has earned two degrees and now is working on her third.

Growing up in Macon, Gaughf said she was very fortunate to attend Mount de Sales Academy, but outside of meeting with the school’s college counselor, she didn’t have much guidance about the college application process. She mostly navigated the process by herself.

“In many ways, I identified as a first-generation college student because neither of my parents had completed college while I was growing up,” said Gaughf, director of development and alumni relations for the College of Edu-cation. “My dad attended some college and my mom eventually completed her bachelor’s degree in communication. But she did it one class at a time over 20 years while juggling a career, mar-riage and raising two children.”

Though Gaughf had never set foot on UGA’s campus before enrolling, it was the only school to which she applied.

“For financial reasons, I needed to stay in state to utilize the HOPE Scholarship, and I wanted a well-rounded, liberal arts education so that choice was very simple,” she said. “I applied for early admission to UGA, was accepted and never looked back.”

Her service as an ambassador on the Arch Society, as a tour leader for the

UGA Visitors Center and as a study-abroad student in South Africa inspired Gaughf to pursue a career dedicated to advancing academia.

“I became dedicated to the pursuit of postsecondary education,” she said. “I’m also interested in the different ways of financing that education for students and for the university.”

After receiving her master’s degree in higher education administration at Vanderbilt University, she returned to UGA to both work and continue her education.

In her professional role, Gaughf is responsible for managing the develop-ment and alumni relations arm in the College of Education with specific focus on obtaining major gifts of at least $25,000 for the College of Education. Those financial gifts, which allow the college to focus on its priorities, are the result of relationships Gaughf builds with prospective donors.

“I listen to their desires and interests and simply connect them with opportu-nities to make their impact on the Col-lege of Education,” she said. “Working with donors isn’t so much a process as it occurs very naturally. I’m passionate about education, and so are they. We have a lot of common ground.

“Private philanthropy has become an ideal means of helping postsecondary education grow,” she also said. “With those gifts, we can offer more access and opportunities to faculty and students.”

When Gaughf isn’t in class or in the office, she enjoys spending time outdoors where she likely can be found going on a walk or run in Athens.

“Walking and running around allow me to see what’s going on and get exercise at the same time,” she said. “There are many beautiful, hidden neighborhoods in town that I love to explore.”

Gaughf’s hobbies also include play-ing softball and watching baseball games.

“I enjoy playing softball recreation-ally,” she said. “I also enjoy going to Major League Baseball parks. It’s my goal to go to all 30 MLB parks; I’ve seen eight of the stadiums so far.”

After completing her doctorate, Gaughf plans to continue advancing postsecondary education and remain in a collegiate environment.

Though handling a demanding schedule, Gaughf enjoys being able to do what she loves both at work and in the classroom.

“I’m not doing just a job, but working in tandem with the university’s mission,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to work on something I didn’t believe in. I see tremendous benefits for postsecondary education and it is my passion to increase access for students with financial need.”

College of Education’s advancement director champions higher education

FACTSElizabeth GaughfDirector of Development and Alumni RelationsCollege of EducationPh.D., Higher Education, UGA, in progressM.Ed., Higher Education Administration, Vanderbilt University, 2012B.S., Psychology, UGA, 2010At UGA: 1 year, 9 months

By Alan [email protected]

Daniel Bara, director of choral activi-ties and a professor in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, has been named the John D. Boyd UGA Foundation Professor in Choral Music.

Bara oversees seven choral ensembles, including the UGA Hodgson Singers and the University Chorus as well as the graduate choral conducting program. He also is the youth and student activi-ties chairman for the Southern Division chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.

“Dr. Bara is among the finest choral conductors in the country and, indeed,

in the world,” said Dale Monson, di-rector of the Hodg-son School. “He attracts top talent among aspiring young conductors and singers to UGA to study with him, and his concerts are absolutely brilliant,

among the highlights of our season.”Bara’s choirs have performed by

juried invitation for state, regional and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the Na-tional Association for Music Education and the Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses

National Seminar. In 2014, the UGA Hodgson Singers won the Grand Prix at the International Choral Competition Ave Verum in Baden, Austria.

“In just a few years, Dr. Bara has created a culture of excellence within the choral department by inspiring his students to perform at the highest possible level,” said Stephanie Bacastow, a third-year member and president of the Hodgson Singers. “His vast knowledge of repertoire and historical context along with his expressive conducting gesture foster a professional atmosphere in every rehearsal. Most importantly, he takes a personal interest in each student and never fails to be a constant source of encouragement and positivity.”

Elizabeth Gaughf, director of development and alumni relations for the College of Education, credits her service as an ambassador on the Arch Society, as a tour leader for the UGA Visitors Center and as a study-abroad student in South Africa with inspiring her to pursue a career dedicated to advancing academia.

Dorothy Kozlowski

Director of choral activities appointed Boyd Professor

Daniel Bara

Page 7: UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015

By Aaron [email protected]

When Johnelle Simpson strolls on North Campus between classes, it’s easy to see what made him a good candidate to become the 2015-2016 Student Government Association president and the 2015 Homecoming King at UGA.

The affable Simpson seems to be waving or nodding at someone he knows every five or 10 steps.

He credits his tendency for getting to know lots of people with growing up in the small, southwestern Georgia town of Donalsonville. He describes it as a place where everybody knows everyone else.

“I carry that with me,” Simpson said. “I feel like I should know all the people I’m walking next to on campus.”

As SGA president, Simpson has been working to make his charm and his leadership pay off for his classmates and for future UGA students.

Simpson first came to UGA in high school through the Terry College of Business’ weeklong summer program, Terry Academy. The program introduces high school students to business concepts and gives them a chance to explore campus.

Simpson liked UGA so much that it was the only institution he applied to.

“I put all my eggs in one basket,” Simpson said. “It’s funny. Now one of my majors is risk management and insurance, which teaches the opposite.”

Simpson’s second major is political science through the School of Public and International Affairs. That interest in politics also grew out of his upbringing in Donalsonville, where his mother was a city councilwoman and twice ran for mayor.

Simpson plans to go to law school after he graduates.With an appreciation for student governance, Simpson has

been a man of action since he came to campus. In his first year, he applied for a position in student government. He didn’t get in, so he ran for president of his freshman dorm, Creswell Hall, under the campaign slogan “Johnelle for Creswell.” That same year, Simpson received the Student of the Year Award from UGA’s Residence Hall Association and National Residence Hall Honorary.

He continued to play a role in student governance through-out his UGA career and ran unopposed in the SGA presidential race last spring. Simpson’s administration, which includes Vice President Houston Gaines, a junior political science and eco-nomics major from Athens, and Treasurer Darby Miller, a junior marketing major from Rogers, Arkansas, has built a platform on improving student services—particularly in regard to student safety—strengthening SGA’s relationship with local and state governments, helping promote inclusive postsecondary educa-tion and connecting students to existing resources.

One major achievement the administration already has real-ized is bringing a free, after-hours car service to the Athens campus this fall. To improve security for students, SGA partnered with GOTCHA Ride to provide students with a free and sustainable mode of on-campus transportation during evening hours. The service, which employs student drivers, now picks up and drops riders off at designated spots throughout campus and provides service from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. Riders are able to request a ride by using the GOTCHA Ride app available in the Apple and Android app stores.

Simpson also plans to continue to foster partnerships between student leaders and faculty and staff.

“They (faculty and staff) play a key role in student success,” he said. “It’s more than academics that create a finished product. No matter how much we do at SGA, we always benefit from faculty and staff assistance.”

STUDENT PROFILE 7 columns.uga.edu Nov. 30, 2015

Mr. CongenialitySGA president brings small-town friendliness

to student governance

CYBERSIGHTSWEEKLY READER

The New Georgia Encyclo-pedia, an online reference guide to Georgia history and culture, was the first state guide of its kind designed solely for the Internet. The guide, which is a compilation of articles, gets more than 1 million unique visitors per month.

The University of Georgia Press collects the material for the

New Georgia Encyclopedia, and scholars write most of the articles in the guide. The photos and entries are available free of charge.

As part of its effort to highlight 50 of its most successful projects, the National Endowment for the Humanities recognized The New Georgia Encyclopedia along with other endeavors.

Guide showcases state’s history, culturewww.georgiaencyclopedia.org

ABOUT COLUMNS

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

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.

Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or [email protected]

EditorJuliett Dinkins

Art DirectorJanet Beckley

Photo EditorDorothy Kozlowski

Senior ReporterAaron Hale

ReporterMatt Chambers

Copy EditorDavid Bill

The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and

affirmative action.

Globalization, demographic shifts, increase in student enroll-ments, rapid technological transfor-mation and market-driven environ-ments are altering the way higher education operates today.

Institutional Research and Plan-ning in Higher Education explores the impact of these changes on decision support and the nature of institutional research in higher education.

Karen Webber, an associate pro-fessor in UGA’s Institute for Higher Education, collaborated with her Australian co-editor, Angel Calde-ron, and a diverse set of contributors from around the world to explore institutional research and planning practices from a global perspective.

The book sheds light on the past, present and future of institutional research, along with implications for higher education in general.

Book looks at higher ed research changes

Institutional Research and Planning in Higher Education: Global Contexts and ThemesEdited by Karen L. Webber and Angel J. CalderonRoutledgeHardcover: $145

By Camie [email protected]

Ten UGA students and recent alumni have been awarded international travel-study grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for the 2015-2016 academic year.

Eight accepted the grants, which allow students, scholars and professionals an opportunity to pursue advanced research projects, graduate study and teaching assistantships in more than 160 countries worldwide.

“We are thrilled to see so many outstanding UGA students and alumni once again win Fulbright awards,” said Maria de Rocher, assistant director of the Honors Program and chair of the Fulbright selection committee at UGA. “Each recipient demonstrated a remarkable commitment to public service and to establishing long-lasting relationships of trust with communities in their host countries.”

Six of UGA’s Fulbright Scholars received English Teaching Assistantship grants, while two received public policy and research grants.

Aaron Sayama, who received his bachelor’s degree in international affairs in 2010 and his master’s degree in public administration and policy in 2013, is the recipient of the Hillary Rodham Clinton Fellowship. The Columbus native will serve in Timor-Leste as a special assistant in the Southeast Asian nation’s Ministry of Justice.

Emily Horton, who is pursuing a doctorate in anthropology and integrative conservation, re-ceived a research grant to Brazil. She will live and conduct research with island-based communities that practice small-scale fishing and are located in a marine extractive reserve.

UGA’s recipients of English Teaching Assistant-ships are McKinley Alden, a Decatur native who recently received his degree in German and Slavic languages and linguistics and will serve in Bulgaria; Tiffany Chu, a Lilburn native who recently received joint bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and English education and will serve in South Korea; Maggie Johnston, a Chattanooga, Tennessee, native who received her bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2013 and will serve in South Korea; Pete McDon-ald, a Decatur native who received his bachelor’s degree in mass media arts in 2012 and will serve in Greece; Ashleigh Starnes, a Grayson native who received her bachelor’s degree in English and linguistics in 2014 and will serve in Turkey; and Adrienne Winzer, a Villa Rica native who recently received her bachelor’s degree in English and will serve in South Korea.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the larg-est U.S. international exchange program. The program awards about 1,900 grants each year in all fields of study.

HONORS PROGRAM

10 students, alumni are offered Fulbright travel-study grants

Johnelle Simpson, the 2015-2016 Student Government Association president, plans to continue to foster partnerships between student leaders and faculty and staff. “They (faculty and staff) play a key role in student success,” he said. “It’s more than academics that create a finished product. No matter how much we do at SGA, we always benefit from faculty and staff assistance.”

Dorothy Kozlowski

Page 8: UGA Columns Nov. 30, 2015

Nov. 30, 2015 columns.uga.edu8

FELLOWS from page 1

SCHOLARSHIP from page 1

Cook’s Holiday ticketsUGA Food Services will present its

Cook’s Holiday Dec. 17-18. The annual feast, which will include lunch and din-ner buffets, will be held for the first time in Bolton Dining Commons. The lunch buffet will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 17-18. The dinner buffet will be held Dec. 17 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Lunch tickets are $16.95 for adults and $8.50 for children age 6-12. A limited number of reservations will be accepted for 11 a.m.; these reservations also may be made online now. Dinner tickets are $19.95 for adults and $10 for children age 6-12. Children age 5 and younger will be admitted free.

Tickets for the dinner buffet, which are now on sale, are limited and should be purchased in advance because they may not be sold at the door.

Complimentary parking will be available in the Hull Street parking deck. For more information, call Cater-

ing Services at 706-583-0892 or visit http://t.uga.edu/1Xi .

Holiday pottery sale The UGA Ceramic Student Or-

ganization will hold its annual holiday pottery sale Dec. 2-3 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the first-floor lobby of the Lamar Dodd School of Art, 270 River Road.

Work on sale will include small, hand-built sculpture as well as func-tional pottery: teapots, mugs, plates, vases and bowls. All work was made by ceramic students or faculty. Prices will range from $8-$100.

Proceeds from the ceramic sale will support upcoming student educational field trips to ceramic conferences and to bring visiting artists to campus.

For additional information, contact Ted Saupe at [email protected] .

Library course reservesThe UGA Libraries is accepting

course reserve lists for spring semester, which begins Jan. 11. Course reserves are a free service provided by the UGA Libraries that assures timely access to course-related library resources, making them available to a large number of students, in support of the university’s teaching activities.

The course reserve deadline is Dec. 11. Lists received after this date will be processed as quickly as possible according to processing priorities.

Information on using course reserves including the full course reserve letter, guidelines, submission forms, processing priorities, deadlines and other important dates is at http://t.uga.edu/16h .

For more information, contact Ben Lawrence at 706-542-2081 or [email protected] or Brenda Robbins at [email protected] or 706-542-4535.

Research participants soughtThe communications studies

department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences is conducting

a study to learn more about family communication.

Researchers are seeking participants for the study, which aims to learn more about how adults and teens talk about challenging situations in their lives.

Those eligible to participate in the study must: be the parent of an adoles-cent child age 14-17; be part of a two-parent household; and currently live with their adolescent child full time and have lived with the child consistently for the past three years.

Benefits of taking part in the study include greater understanding of the ability as a parent to work through dif-ficult discussions.

Participation in the study will take approximately two hours. Both parents and the adolescent child are required to attend the session together. Participants each will receive $40 and a voucher for free parking on campus. For more information, contact Christin Huggins at cebates@uga or 706-201-8510.

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

Bulletin Board

research involves effective and sustainable physical activity/exercise interventions, with an emphasis on women’s health and aging. She is a recipient of the National Institutes of Health’s National Research Service Award and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and The Obesity Society. • Susan C. Fagan, assistant dean of the College of Pharmacy’s Augusta campus and Distinguished Research Professor. Her research focuses on therapeutic strategies for the treatment of stroke. Fagan’s contribu-tions to her field have been recognized by her appointment as faculty member to national clinical research training programs and grant review panels at the National Institutes of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Research Institute. • Jean Martin-Williams, director of the Lilly Fellows Program through the Center for Teaching and Learning and Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on horn performance and pedagogy. Her discography includes recordings with the Atlanta Symphony, the New York Chamber Symphony and the New York Pops. She served on the university committee that established the First-Year Odyssey Seminar Program. • Laura Meadows, director of the Carl Vin-son Institute of Government. Her career in public service has included work on issues such as planning, housing, infrastructure, community development and economic growth. Prior to joining the university, she served in various positions in state and federal government, including as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.• Peggy Ozias-Akins, director of the In-stitute for Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. At her lab at the Coastal Plain Research Station on UGA’s Tifton campus, her research focuses on female reproduction in grasses and mo-lecular breeding of peanuts. She was awarded a 2015 Creative Research Medal and the college’s 2015 D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor Award. • Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, associate dean

for research and graduate programs in the Terry College of Business and Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Legal Studies. Her research focuses on international trade, including the protection of trade secrets and ethical practices related to workers. Pagnattaro also has received the Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and is the former editor-in-chief of the American Business Law Journal. • Usha Rodrigues, associate dean for faculty development in the School of Law and M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law. Her research focuses on corporate law, securities regulation and business ethics. Rodrigues’ work has ap-peared in the Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, Fordham, Emory, Florida, Kentucky and Washington and Lee law reviews as well as online forums for Vanderbilt, UCLA, Texas and Harvard Business law reviews and in the peer-reviewed Journal of Corporate Finance.

“The university is pleased to welcome the members of the inaugural class of Women’s Leadership Fellows,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “This program is an important way to cultivate talent throughout UGA’s colleges and departments located across the state. It will offer valuable professional development and networking opportunities to the participants while strengthening the leadership capacity of the institution.”

The Women’s Leadership Fellows were chosen from nominations from deans and other senior administrators as well as from self-nominations. The program is admin-istered by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and coordinated by Meg Amstutz, associate provost for academic programs.

The Women’s Leadership Fellows Pro-gram is a part of the Women’s Leadership Initiative, which was launched in spring 2015 by the president and provost. In addition to creating new opportunities for leadership development, the initiative is addressing recruitment, retention and hiring as well as work-life balance.

program is to ensure that students have the academic, cultural and financial support throughout their undergraduate experience to earn a degree from UGA. Toward that end, the program connects the new honor-ees with other Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars as well as UGA faculty and staff. These mentors help the students adapt to college life in the first year by guiding their growth as individuals and as members of the UGA community.

“As a Georgia-based company, it is our pleasure to provide the University of Geor-gia with this grant for the Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship program,” said Lori Billingsley, vice president of community relations for Coca-Cola North America. “We have seen the transformative difference education makes in the lives of students who are the first in their families to attend col-lege and are proud to continue support for this program.”

ON THE WEBhttp://t.uga.edu/1Wk

Campus scenes

REMEMBERING THE FALLEN—Lisa Lacross, a graduate student in linguistics, lays a flower on the steps of the Chapel to commemorate the attacks in Paris.

Peter Frey

TRANSFER OF POWER—UGA President Jere W. Morehead places the ceremonial red leather collar with silver studs around UGA X before the Nov. 21 football game.

Dorothy Kozlowski