Athens, Ga. — The Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach has awarded 18 grants for the development of long-term, sustainable domestic and international outreach activities. Applications were solicited through two grant programs—the Scholarship of Engagement Grants for University Engagement and the International Development Education Awards.

Both grant programs provide seed money to academic faculty to incorporate outreach activities into their teaching and research and to public service faculty to initiate outreach activities that complement their current work.

The SEGUE program encourages innovative, sustainable outreach activities that apply faculty expertise to community needs. Outreach activities include service-learning and service-based instruction, community-based participatory research, applied research and policy analysis, technical assistance, and program development and delivery.

The funded SEGUE projects address issues related to strengthening the economic and social well-being of people living in Georgia and the Southeast and issues related to the changing demographic profile of Georgia and the Southeast, particularly the increasing Latino population. Many of the funded proposals include a service-learning component or other involvement of students, collaborations among academic and public service units, or partnerships with external organizations such as K–12 schools, non-profit organizations and state agencies.

The IDEAS program stimulates the internationalization of UGA and the state of Georgia by encouraging faculty and staff to initiate promising new public service and outreach-oriented international projects. Projects funded by the IDEAS grants prepare faculty, staff and students to compete in a global society and empower Georgia’s communities and businesses to prosper in a rapidly changing global society. Project locations for the IDEAS grants awarded this year include Peru, Haiti, Russia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Costa Rica and Ghana.

“These seed grants are important because they allow faculty to create a foundation to build on for grants and research down the road,” says Art Dunning, vice president for public service and outreach. “And they reward what we call the scholarship of engagement, which means that faculty apply their expertise to needs out in the community or the world and then integrate those experiences into their research and teaching.”

Award amounts for the two grant programs range from $3,000 to $5,000.

SEGUE grant recipients
• David Berle, horticulture—infusing service learning into horticulture 3450: residential landscape design
• Anna Boling, Carl Vinson Institute of Government—Latino law-based education program
• Don Bower, child and family development—family impact seminars for Georgia policymakers
• Christine Burgoyne, Georgia Center for Continuing Education—green industry Latino education and advancement opportunities
• Melissa Cahnmann, language education—Project Stellar (Support for Teachers of English Language Learners in Academic Requirements)
• Paige Carmichael, pathology—-attracting minority students to a career in veterinary medicine
• John Greenman, journalism—-engaging journalists in UGA’s Poverty Initiative
• Betty Hudson, Carl Vinson Institute of Government—understanding legitimation proceedings in Georgia courts
• Alexander Scherr, law—mobile owning: cultural and legal influences on manufactured housing landscapes

IDEAS grant recipients
• Robert Cooper, wildlife ecology—bird conservation in northern Peru
• Heather Edelblute, Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education—coffee: connecting our world
• Patricia Hunt-Hurst, textiles, merchandising and interiors—textile study in Ghana
• Daniel Markewitz and Larry Morris, forest resources—initiating a partnership among university, business and non-profit organizations to develop working forests in the Amazon
• Luke Naeher, environmental health science—ambient, personal, occupational, residential, industrial and commercial air pollution exposure assessment in Cusco, Peru
• Gwynn Powell, counseling and human development services—camp counselors in Russia: learn and serve by leading and living
• Ed Risler and Larry Nackerud, social work—Haitian community development service and research project
• Amy Ross, geography—international human rights, opportunities and outreach database
• Sara Schweitzer, forest resources, and James Reap, environmental design—-international service learning: natural and cultural resources conservation and tourism in Bulgaria

Photo caption: Amy Ross, shown here interviewing William Pace, convener of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, will use her grant to develop and promote internships for UGA students in international human rights. (Photo by Peter Frey)

This article was posted on Monday, November 1st, 2004 at 11:38 am and is filed under Grants, Engagement grants, Grant recipients.