Kudos: Cosner named president-elect of UCEA; UGA student veterans receive awards; College of Education students win 4'33" competition

Cosner named president-elect of the University Council for Educational Administration 

Shelby Cosner, the Morrill M. Hall Endowed Chair in Educational Administration in the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy, was named president-elect of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) at the 38th annual UCEA Convention held in Los Angeles, California in November. She will become the organization’s president in 2025.


UGA student veterans receive national leadership awards

G.I. Jobs Magazine recognized Chris King and Dan Triplett with 2024 Student Veteran Leadership Awards. The magazine recognizes student veterans who make a positive impact through serving their fellow veterans and schools. King and Triplett are two of 32 “future leaders of our communities and nation” honored this year.

While King graduated, Triplett is still a student at UGA and is heavily involved in the Student Veterans Resource Center and the Student Veterans of America. Triplett is pursuing a degree in social studies education with a minor in history. He is excited to start a career as a high school social studies teacher and hopes to carry those same leadership and mentoring skills he learned in the military and as a student veteran over to his role as a teacher.

Read the full story on the UGA Student Affairs website.


College of Education students win 4’33” competition

In homage to John Cage’s landmark composition of the same name, the 4 Minutes, 33 Seconds Contest highlights University of Georgia student research in the arts. The event offers an opportunity for students to win prizes and to share their creative inquiry with peers, faculty, administrators, and alumni throughout the University community. The competition is open to any graduate student or undergraduate student working on an advanced project, who is conducting research related to the literary, visual, or performing arts or artists.

The 4 Minutes, 33 Seconds Contest is part of UGA’s annual Spotlight on the Arts festival. The winners have all taken LLED: 8590E on arts-based research and studied from Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor’s new book, “The Creative Ethnographer’s Notebook.”

Grand prize winner: $433

  • Michael Gray, Ph.D. in TESOL and world language education; “Reimagining Literacy Through Manga: A Multimodal Approach to Language Learning;” Ruth Harman, advisor

Runners-up: $150 each

  • Elizabeth Debban, Ed.S. in art education; “Listening to Objects: New Materialism in the High School Art Classroom;” Christina Hanawalt, advisor
  • Jiayi Guo, Ph.D. in art education; “Rethinking Pests: A Contemporary Art Practice Connecting Art, Science, and the Natural World;” Mira Kallio-Tavin, advisor
  • Zihan “Sandra” Lin-Nanni, Ph.D. in language and literacy education; “An Asian Woman Educator’s Comedy Inquiry;” Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor, advisor

The 12 undergraduate and graduate student finalists selected for the 2024 contest represented a wide variety of degrees including theatre and performance studies, art education, TESOL and world language education, language and literacy education, integrative conservation, and art.

Jurors for the 2024 contest were: John P. Bray, associate professor and graduate coordinator of the Department of Theatre and Film Studies; Emily Koh, associate professor in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music; Lynn Sanders-Bustle, associate professor in the Lamar Dodd School of Art; and Ron Walcott, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School.

The contest was coordinated by Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor, Meigs Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education; Cicely Osborne, M.F.A. in dramatic media; and David Saltz, professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Theatre and Film Studies and executive director of the UGA Arts Collaborative, who also served as the master of ceremonies.

For a full list of presenters at the 2024 competition, please view the program. Student presenters received copies of the NEA Big Read feature books as part of a grant by the Athens-Clarke County Library. The feature books are “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi or “The Creative Ethnographer’s Notebook” by Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor and Kristina Jacobsen.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.