Athens, Ga. (September 5, 2007) – A new campus-wide award will honor tenured faculty whose scholarship has made significant contributions toward identifying or addressing issues of public concern. Art Dunning, vice president for public service and outreach, announced the creation of the Scholarship of Engagement Award, which will provide the honoree with a $5,000 faculty development grant to support outreach projects.

“Over the last seven years, we have worked to connect the outreach mission more closely with the teaching and research missions on campus,” Dunning said. “We’ve done this in several ways: providing seed grants, encouraging collaborations with other campus units and enhancing communication efforts. This new award is a next step in building a seamless interweaving of outreach, research, and teaching on our campus.”

Research in the late ’90s showed that Americans had less interest and knowledge about participating in civic affairs than in the past. In response, the higher education community nationwide has been re-examining its responsibility to society and is reinvigorating the civic mission through what is called the “Scholarship of Engagement.”

Engaged scholarship addresses public problems, benefits communities and provides opportunities for students to be involved in public issues in academically rigorous ways. At “engaged institutions,” faculty and students are expected to be involved in teaching, research and service in an integrated way. There are many examples of this at UGA.

Mary Ann Johnson, a family and consumer sciences professor, studies the foods and nutrients that help delay or prevent age-related diseases. She found that vitamin D and calcium deficiencies are common in older adults through her work with Georgians in the Meals on Wheels program. Her research led her team to develop nutrition education programs to address the vitamin D problem.

Rick Tarleton, UGA Distinguished Research Professor of Cellular Biology, studies the blood-borne parasite that causes Chagas disease, which afflicts 18 million people in Central and South America. Partnering with researchers and physicians in Argentina gives him access to blood samples for his research. In return, he is helping physicians to identify effective treatments. And while his students and post docs spend most of their time in the lab working on projects that may lead to new treatments or a vaccine, some have the opportunity to do hands-on work in a clinic and hospital in Buenos Aires.

“Working in the clinics instills a more realistic view that we are not just working on questions of scientific interest,” Tarleton said. “Seeing people with the disease gives buy-in and commitment.”

The new Scholarship of Engagement Award will recognize significant contributions by tenured associate or full professors who advance civic engagement through scholarship and service-learning opportunities for students.

Nominations are invited from a nominee’s department head or dean. Guidelines for preparing a nominee’s dossier are available at outreach.uga.edu/publications/soe-award-guidelines. Nominations are due by October 15, 2007. Up to one Scholarship of Engagement Award, which is funded by the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, will be presented on February 14, 2008, at the Annual Public Service and Outreach Meeting and Awards Luncheon.

For more information, contact Trish Kalivoda, associate vice president for public service and outreach, at 706-542-6125 or .

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This article was posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Awards, News.