Call for nominations: 2025 Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty
- Deadline to express interest: Wednesday, Oct. 30
The Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach (OVPPSO) are pleased to announce the 2025 Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty, a program designed to build momentum for high-quality, community-engaged research in rural Georgia communities. The program is sponsored by the Provost’s Office and coordinated by OVPPSO, together with UGA Cooperative Extension, and in partnership with the College of Public Health and the School of Social Work.
The workshop will consist of six mandatory in-person sessions held on Fridays during the 2025 spring semester, one networking event with alumni, one visit to a rural community to learn from its leaders about effective ways to partner on academic projects and two optional proposal brainstorming sessions. The sessions will provide participants a greater understanding of Georgia’s rural demographics and trends, convey key information on developing sustained relationships with communities, and enhance the ability of faculty to engage in successful research focused on rural areas of the state.
Purpose
The purpose of this program is to strategically apply knowledge and research generated at UGA to empower communities and organizations across Georgia and improve quality of life. Through interactive sessions led by experienced scholars, academic faculty will recognize the benefits of collaborating with faculty in Public Service and Outreach (PSO) and Cooperative Extension to conduct successful community engaged scholarship in rural Georgia.
Eligibility
The workshop series is limited to 20 full-time academic faculty members. Participants in the workshop can come from any UGA college or school and must be nominated by their respective deans. Nominees may have expertise in a variety of research areas, including but not limited to natural resources and the environment, workforce development, public health, poverty, educational achievement, and quality of life.
If you wish to be nominated, please email coedean@uga.edu by Wednesday, Oct. 30 to ensure time for submitting nominations. After the nomination process, faculty will be sent a separate link to complete the program application. As part of the application process, nominees will be required to include a one-page proposal for a potential project relevant to rural Georgia. The proposal should include general ideas for collaboration with one or more PSO units and/or Cooperative Extension members.
Seed grant
The workshop is designed to help faculty participants develop and hone their collaborative research ideas into a seed grant proposal. At the end of the workshop, each participant is expected to be part of one or more seed grant proposal submissions. Through a competitive review process, the Provost’s Office will provide up to $70,000 to fund a maximum of 10 proposals, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.
For more information about the program, please visit the Rural Engagement Faculty Workshop webpage.