ATHENS, Ga. (Aug 15, 2005) – When South Forsyth High School students go back to school, they will be able to join a new online learning community with students in Costa Rica, thanks to a 2004 seed grant from UGA’s Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach.

Heather Edelblute, a project manager in UGA’s College of Education, and Viviana Ziller, a Spanish teacher at South Forsyth High School, created the online community where students will share culture and learn about the global economy through projects about coffee, Edelblute said.

“[The grant] also allowed me to further develop relationships with CATIE (Tropical Research Center & Higher Education Center in Turrialba, Costa Rica) and to infuse a coffee program focused on agriculture and the global economy into our study abroad for teachers,” she said.

Edelblute received one of 18 mini-grants awarded last year to support domestic or international outreach activities.

For the second year, OVPSSO will provide seed funding to encourage inclusion of outreach activities in teaching and research. Faculty and staff are invited to submit proposals for domestic or international outreach activities, especially ones that involve multidisciplinary collaborations and service-learning, by September 15.

The 2004 awards ranged from $3,000 to $5,000 for one year. Recipients came from a range of disciplines including horticulture, journalism, child and family development, social work, law, education, veterinary medicine, wildlife ecology, textiles, geography, and environmental health.

The domestic grant program – called SEGUE or Scholarship of Engagement for University Engagement – supports activities in Georgia and the Southeast.

Last year’s projects helped educate Latinos about laws that affect them, encouraged minority students to pursue veterinary medicine as a career, initiated a program for bilingual teachers, and informed policymakers about the impact of certain decisions on families, for example.

A second program supports outreach in developing nations. Successful 2004 IDEAS proposals – International Development Education Awards – supported efforts to encourage bird conservation in Peru’s Western Amazon Basin, a textile workshop in Ghana, assessment of air pollution in Cuzco, Peru, training for camp counselors in Russia, creation of a database to match UGA students with internships in the field of human rights, and development of conservation and tourism in Bulgaria, among others.

The deadline for both programs is September 15, 2005. For more information, a list of projects supported in 2004, and to apply online, go to outreach.uga.edu.

This article was posted on Monday, August 15th, 2005 at 11:43 am and is filed under Grants.