Past Initiatives

The Task Force on the Future of Teaching and Learning at UGA, charged by Provost S. Jack Hu and Vice President for Instruction Rahul Shrivastav, was composed of 27 faculty, staff and students from across the institution. Its members met to identify how lessons learned from a year and a half of teaching during the COVID pandemic could enhace learning environments.

The University of Georgia joined the Universities Studying Slavery Consortium to facilitate scholarly exchange and academic collaboration. The University’s participation in the consortium followed the November 2019 awarding of a grant to a 21-member UGA academic team to study the history of slavery at UGA from the institution’s founding in 1785 to the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Students at the University of Georgia now have more than 200 opportunities to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in five years or less through an innovative linked-degree program known as Double Dawgs.

In 2016, UGA became the nation’s largest public university to ensure that each of its students engages in hands-on experience – such as internships, study abroad, service-learning or research – that enhance learning and position them for success after graduation.

Input from faculty, deans and other administrators, as well as the use of multiple data analytics tools, has illuminated three broad signature research themes, also known as Great Commitments, at the University of Georgia:

Healthier People

A More Secure Future

Stronger Communities

UGA has undertaken a large-scale effort to streamline and enhance the way that grants for research and other sponsored projects are managed, with the ultimate goal of boosting faculty productivity. Changes introduced include improved coordination between pre- and post-award units, increased training and other customer service measures.

In 2014, UGA launched a series of new and expanded initiatives to enhance the academic experience of students and position them for success during their time at UGA and beyond. The three key priorities for student success are streamlining time to graduation; fostering readiness for employment, graduate, or professional school; and enhancing UGA’s ability to recruit world-class graduate students while expanding access to graduate programs.

A task force charged by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost began reviewing how the university allocates its academic space in 2013, seeking input from the campus community and looking for best practices from other institutions. The ultimate goal is to ensure that campus space is used as efficiently and strategically as possible to further the university’s teaching, research and service mission.

ConnectUGA is the project name designated for the implementation of Athena, UGA’s new integrated student information system. This multi-year, multi-million dollar university-wide project replaced multiple aging legacy systems and databases with a modern and sustainable technology platform. The new system, which includes the integration of new Banner software, supports and enhances student administrative functions such as admissions, registration, financial aid, student accounts, academic records and more.

The University of Georgia and 13 other Southeastern Conference institutions are part of the SECU Academic Initiative, which supports and promotes collaborative higher education programs and activities involving administrators, faculty and students. UGA’s Loch Johnson was named the inaugural SEC Professor of the Year in 2012, and UGA hosted the inaugural SEC Symposium in February 2013. In October 2013, UGA hosted the fall SEC Academic Leadership Development Program Conference.

Launched in 2012, the Office of Online Learning helps faculty develop additional online courses to enhance their teaching delivery. Online education expands the traditional classroom experience and allows flexibility for students who physically may not be able to attend a class on campus. The cohort-based format of the courses allows for a meaningful exchange of ideas not only between the students and the course professor, but also among classmates.

Dr. Libby Morris convened the UGA Arts Council in fall 2011 to explore ways to collaboratively promote the arts at UGA. The inaugural Spotlight on the Arts festival in 2012 attracted nearly 15,000 attendees, and has grown each year to encompass more than 60 events.

As part of the university’s accreditation process for 2010-2020, a plan was developed to offer First-Year Odyssey Seminars to incoming freshmen starting in fall 2011. The one-credit hour classes are limited to no more than 18 students who also are required to attend at least three campus events during the semester that highlight some aspect of the University’s mission. In 2014, the Board of the Regents of the University System of Georgia recognized the program with the Teaching Excellence Department/Program Award.

The inaugural class of 40 students began classes in 2010 at the medical campus in Athens, created as a partnership between the Augusta University and the University of Georgia. In 2012, the Medical Partnership moved to UGA’s 56-acre Health Sciences Campus along with the College of Public Health and other health-related programs.

A working group of faculty, staff, and students at UGA completed a report in October 2009 on the university’s efforts to promote sustainability. The 69-page document includes a catalog of more than 60 degree programs related to sustainability and more than 300 faculty members from academic departments across campus with research interests in relevant fields.

A task force appointed to examine the undergraduate experience at UGA and make recommendations for changes and improvements submitted a final report in August 2005. Various recommendations have since been put into effect.