The following faculty members have been recognized with Mary Frances Early College of Education Faculty Awards. These awards will be presented at the College’s 2023 Fall Meeting. Please join us in congratulating the recipients, nominees, nominators, and the Mary Frances Early College of Education Awards Committee.
- Aderhold Distinguished Professor Award: Roger B. Hill, professor, MSSE
- Ocie T. Dekle Excellence in Teaching Award: Kadir Bahar, assistant professor, EPSY
- Carl Glickman Faculty Fellow Award: Usree Bhattacharya, associate professor, LLE
- Arthur M. Horne Faculty Award for Community Engagement and Research: Sally J. Zepeda, professor, LEAP
- Jenny Penney Oliver Faculty Diversity Award: Collette Chapman-Hilliard, associate professor, CHDS
- Faculty Senate D. Keith Osborn Award for Teaching Excellence at the Assistant Level: Maureen Flint, assistant professor, LEAP
- Faculty Senate D. Keith Osborn Award for Teaching Excellence at the Associate Level: Caleb Han, associate professor, LEAP
- Donald O. Schneider Mentoring Award: Jami Royal Berry, clinical associate professor, LEAP
- Russell H. Yeany Jr. Research Award: Joel Ringdahl, professor, CSSE
- Date: Thursday, May 11
- Time: 2:30 p.m.
- Location: Classic Center
The Mary Frances Early College of Education’s Spring 2023 Convocation will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 11 at the Classic Center. Faculty are invited to participate in the ceremony by walking in with the students and sitting on the stage. Students consistently tell us that they want faculty who taught them to attend convocation, so they can introduce faculty to their families and celebrate with faculty.
Please register by Sunday, April 16. Full regalia is required for this event and can be rented from the University Bookstore at no cost. If you have any questions, please contact Scarlett Cown.
- Date: Thursday, March 30
- Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
- Location: Aderhold Hall Room 206; Zoom
Faculty are invited to join a conversation about changes to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission’s Educator Preparation Program Standards. Proposed standards are slated for implementation in fall 2023.
One key change to the current standards is the replacement of a widely-accepted framework for what all teachers across all content and grade levels should know and be able to do to be effective in today’s learning contexts (InTASC Standards) with a Georgia-specific framework called the Teacher Assessment on Performance Standards (TAPS). A second significant change is replacement of language about diversity, equity, and inclusion with language about working effectively with all students and their families.
Faculty are encouraged to attend so that the College can best represent the perspectives of our faculty on these proposed changes. Participants are encouraged to attend in person. A Zoom link is provided for those who cannot attend in person.
- Submission deadline: Friday, March 24
The Communications Office designed a new T-shirt for the Mary Frances Early College of Education!
If you wish to procure a free T-shirt, please fill out the Google form.
The Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy welcomes Monica Johnson as our new office manager.
Johnson is from Athens and is a graduate of Valdosta State University. She comes with a wealth of experience in office management and administrative support, and most recently worked at the Terry College of Business. She began her new position on March 13. Please join us in welcoming her to the department and the Mary Frances Early College of Education.
- Application deadline: Friday, April 7
Faculty are invited to submit proposals for the 2023-24 academic year to work with the Clarke County School District/Mary Frances Early College of Education Professional Development School Partnership.
Guidance for proposals can be found in the call for proposals document. Notification of projects approved for 2023-24 will be made by Friday, April 28.
- Nomination deadline: Monday, April 10
The University of Georgia’s SEC Academic Leadership Development Program (ALDP) Fellowship allows faculty to gain valuable knowledge and experience in academic leadership. To be eligible, a nominee must be a tenured faculty member or have a standing appointment as service or administrative faculty.
The program is part of a broader initiative involving the academic initiative of the Southeastern Conference, known as the Academic Leadership Development Program. The mission of the SEC ALDP is “to identify, develop, prepare, and advance faculty and early career administrators from within the Southeastern Conference universities.”
The goal of UGA’s ALDP is to expose faculty interested in administration to the challenges and rewards of such institutional service and to prepare them for potential leadership positions in the academy. Among UGA’s various leadership development opportunities for faculty, this program is the most externally focused, offering an in-depth look at the operations of other SEC schools.
Up to four outstanding individuals are selected each academic year to serve as UGA ALDP Fellows. During the fellowship year, they gather at monthly intervals to meet with senior campus leaders and participate in leadership development activities tailored to the interests of the cohort. In addition, Fellows attend two SEC ALDP workshops hosted by different SEC schools in October and in February.
Selection process
Individuals interested in participating in the SEC ADLP program should consult with the appropriate senior administrator in their school, college, or unit regarding nominations. This is an advanced leadership program, and most successful candidates have had some administrative experience at the department-head level or above.
Senior administrators may nominate a limited number of nominees; please visit the program page for more information or to submit a nomination.
- Submission deadline: Wednesday, March 29
To recognize high-achieving College of Education students, the Communications Office features “amazing student” profiles on the College’s website and social media channels. Note: students must be majoring in the College of Education to qualify.
We encourage faculty and staff members who work closely with students to submit a nomination using the Mary Frances Early College of Education Amazing Student nomination form. If the criteria are met, a communications team member will contact the student about how to submit the profile and will arrange for a photographer to take a photo of the student.
Nominees can be amazing students for a variety of reasons, but we want well-rounded students whose accomplishments extend beyond the classroom. There needs to be something—preferably multiple factors—that makes the nominee stand out. The nominator can provide details in the nomination form, but the primary criteria are:
- Outstanding academic credentials
- Scholarship (research and/or creative activity)
- Honors, awards, and scholarships
- Community service
- Leadership positions
- Significant participation in student organization(s)
- Overcame major obstacles to succeed in college
- Volunteer/service-learning work
- Other related factors will be considered, but they must relate directly to the student’s work or involvement at UGA
Nominate an amazing student today!
Unearthing Healing Through Anti-Racist, Decolonizing, and Community-Engaged Methods to (Re)imagine Inquiry as Restorative Practice
- PI: Giovanni Dazzo, assistant professor, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy
- Sponsor: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Amount: $100,000
Congratulations to Giovanni Dazzo on receiving an award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This project will support the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Supporting and Expanding the Field of Equitable Evaluation program by strengthening the adoption of equitable evaluation practices and principles among various actors in the evaluation field by promoting the acceleration of decolonized, community-based, anti-racist evaluation methods.
Our Input Matters: Black Mothers’ Agency in the Formation and Implementation of Anti-Racist School Policies in Multicultural Toronto
- PI: Tianna Dowie-Chin, assistant professor, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education
- Sponsor: Spencer Foundation Racial Equity Research Grants
- Amount: $71,588
Congratulations to Tianna Dowie-Chin on receiving an award from the Spencer Foundation Racial Equity Research Grant Program. This study seeks to explore the extent to which Black mothers have been included and involved in the development of education policies related to anti-blackness. The analytical arguments derived from the experiences of these mothers may offer insight into educational policy around anti-blackness, which could serve to inform various educational stakeholders.
- Dates: Wednesday, April 5-Friday, April 14
The UGA Office for Proposal Enhancement will hold virtual NSF CAREER info sessions in early April, which will be open to anyone interested in the CAREER program. We will schedule these sessions based on your availability. The purpose is to help faculty determine whether they’re ready to apply, and if not, to give them the information needed to plan a future proposal. We will provide an overview of the CAREER program, discuss key strategies for success in applying, and answer any questions.
Please register by Monday, March 27. Early-career faculty are also invited to contact the pre-award team in the Mary Frances Early College of Education to discuss the NSF CAREER program, proposal preparation and submission services, and all other external funding opportunities.
- Date: Saturday, April 15
- Time: 1 p.m.
- Location: Aderhold Hall
Join Dean Denise A. Spangler on Saturday, April 15, for our G-Day tailgate! The tailgate starts three hours prior to the game. Admission to the tailgate is complimentary, but you must register to attend.
Food, beverages, and dessert will be served! Please note that this event does not include a ticket to G-Day. Complimentary parking for the tailgate is available in the Aderhold Hall lot.
- Date: Friday, April 21
- Time: 5:30 p.m.
- Location: State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Terrace Room
Dean Denise A. Spangler cordially invites you to the 2023 Mary Frances Early College of Education Alumni Awards Ceremony on Friday, April 21. The reception will take place in the Terrace Room at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. Seven graduates will be recognized for their career achievements and community leadership.
Tickets are $40 and include a catered dinner, beverages, and dessert. Please register by Thursday, April 13. Business attire suggested.
2023 Alumni Awards
Practitioner Awards
- Early Career: Crystal L. Beach (Ph.D. ’17)
- Mid-Career: Deborah B. Altschul (Ph.D. ’99)
- Lifetime Achievement: Jason L. Branch (B.S.Ed. ’97; M.Ed. ’98)
Researcher Awards
- Early Career: Brittany N. Anderson (Ph.D. ’17)
- Mid-Career: Janice B. Fournillier (Ph.D. ’05)
- Lifetime Achievement: Clifford D. Conner (M.Ed. ’69)
Outstanding Service Award
- Xernona Jackson Thomas (A.B.J. ’91, M.S.W. ’92, Ed.D. ’17)
- Date: Wednesday, April 5
- Time: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
- Location: Aderhold Hall Room 228
Join the Office of Research and Graduate Education pre-award staff to:
- Learn about UGA and external grant funding opportunities
- Review how to use and personalize Pivot, a subscription database of more than 25,000 funding opportunities from numerous sponsors across all disciplines
- Discuss research resources and tips to increase your knowledge of acquiring research funding
Please RSVP to reserve your seat. If you have any questions, please contact Grace Burger.
- Date: Tuesday, April 18-Thursday, April 20
- Time: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Location: Virtual
The Torrance Festival of Ideas is an international cultural festival where imaginative thinkers and professionals across fields of human enterprise present their visionary projects and innovative ideas to the general public. This virtual event spans three days and reaches a global community of creative, engaged participants. This year, the festival will also include an in-person event to conclude each day.
Registration for this free, hybrid event is now open. For more festival information or to register, please visit the UGA Calendar of Events.
- Date: Friday, March 24
- Time: 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Location: Virtual (register today)
- Keynote speaker: Adrianne Rochelle Pinkney, Ph.D.
Registration is now open for the 18th annual Mary Frances Early College of Education Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Conference. This year’s theme is “Strengthening our Community through (Rest)oration” and celebrates the holistic focus of wellness in education, with breakout sessions focusing on student well-being, holistic faculty and staff support, and wellness initiatives in K-12 and higher education.
Keynote speaker Adrianne Rochelle Pinkney (M.Ed. ’09) is the founder of B. Well: Live Consciously, an integrative wellness and life coaching company. Pinkney is a proud alumna of the Mary Frances Early College of Education, with a master’s degree in social science education and gender studies.
This event is open to UGA students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members. Registration is free, but please register by Wednesday, March 22 to receive access to the sessions.
- Date: Tuesday, March 28
- Time: Noon-1 p.m.
- Location: River’s Crossing Room 427; Zoom (passcode: 785817)
- Presenter: Jill Jinks, research fellow, UGA Generative Learning and Complexity Lab
Please join us on Tuesday, March 28 for a presentation titled “Roughness of Learning: A Variable Founded in Complexity Science” by Jill Jinks (M.Ed. ’18, Ph.D. ’22).
After earning a M.Ed. in instructional design from the University of Georgia in 2018, Jinks began her doctoral studies focusing on complexity science as applied to human learning. Her research is centered on measuring the roughness of learning variable as the entropy associated with learning. To study the roughness of learning variable, she collects data from game play in serious games where she can measure both the complexity in the game environment (as revealed in the game’s moves) and the player’s response to that complexity through informal and incidental learning efforts.
Jinks works as the CEO of an insurance holding company and as a director of a community bank. She holds an M.B.A. in finance from New York University, a M.S. in information systems from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in learning, leadership, and organization development from the University of Georgia.
- Date: Monday, March 27
- Time: Noon-1 p.m.
- Location: Meigs Hall Room 101; Zoom
- Presenter: Lisa Wolf-Wendel, associate dean for research and graduate studies and Roy A. Roberts University Distinguished Professor, School of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Kansas
Lisa Wolf-Wendel will discuss findings from her research on the current role and status of women in U.S. higher education in a presentation titled “Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girl Boss: How Women’s Roles in Academia Have Changed (or Not).”
Registration is required. Please contact Suzanne Graham for more information.
Join students in QUAL8035: Visual Inquiry for their speaker series, held on Wednesday evenings this semester.
Sounded methods
- Date: Wednesday, March 22 (today)
- Time: 5:15-6:15 p.m.
- Location: Zoom
- Speaker: Boni Wozolek, University of Pennsylvania-Abingdon
Poetry and visual writing
- Date: Wednesday, March 29
- Time: 5:15-6:15 p.m.
- Location: Zoom
- Speaker: Qiana Cutts, Mississippi State University
For Zoom link information, please contact Maureen Flint. More information about guest speakers and suggested readings can be found by viewing the speaker series document.
- Date: Friday, March 31
- Time: Noon-3 p.m.
- Location: Aderhold Hall Room 119 (register today)
In collaboration with the UGA Pride Center, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will host a Dawg Ally training session for the Mary Frances Early College of Education community. The Dawg Ally program is a three-hour training session for faculty, staff, and students who are interested in learning about gender and sexual identity, homophobia, heterosexism, and how to work toward being an ally for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Upon completion of the training, participants will be offered a Dawg Ally sticker. Space is limited, so register today!
Six funds in the College of Education were recently awarded with grants from UGA’s Parents Leadership Council (PLC) to help support student areas of high need.
This year, the Council received a record 137 grant applications with requests totaling over $1.6 million. PLC awarded more than $1.1 million to student-serving organizations, including the School Supply Closet, the College of Education Field Travel Awards, and more.
Read the full story on our website.