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Fall 2005 Welcome from President Adams
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005
A letter from President AdamsDear University colleague:
Welcome to the start of another academic year. As we begin
the fall semester, I want to provide you an update about
some important upcoming activities and share some
information about areas of interest to the entire campus
community.
- The freshman class enrolling this fall is again the
strongest in UGA history. While we do not yet have the
final numbers, the projection is that the average SAT score
will be 1242, topping last year’s average of 1237, and the
average GPA will be 3.75, besting last year’s average of
3.72. Within the Honors Program, the SAT average is
projected to be 1440 and the GPA 4.07. Clearly, we are
pleased with this excellent academic profile.
- In addition, our diversity recruitment efforts
appear to be yielding results. Approximately 20 percent of
this class is non-Caucasian, compared to 15 percent last
year. We expect 350 African-American students to enroll, or
7.7 percent of the class, compared to 202 and 4.5 percent
last year. While we still have much to do in this area and
will continue our efforts, we have made important strides
toward our dual goals of increasing diversity and
maintaining high academic quality.
- One of the most important activities that took place
during the 2004-2005 academic year was the work of the Task
Force on General Education and Student Learning, co-chaired
by Vice President for Instruction Del Dunn and Vice Provost
for Academic Affairs Jere Morehead. The report has been
delivered to the Provost, who has shared copies with the
deans, department heads and members of University Council
for appropriate deliberation and action. You can read the
report in full at http://www.uga.edu/provost/Initiati.htm.
- UGA’s general education curriculum had not been
reviewed for more than 10 years, and during those years
significant changes took place in the way information is
gathered and delivered, in the way teaching could take place
and in the way students learn. If UGA is to prepare
students for success in the 21st century, the curriculum
must be responsive to those changes. I applaud the efforts
of the task force in giving us an excellent set of
recommendations to consider.
- In the area of research, we are pleased to welcome
Dr. David C. Lee as vice president for research. He will
succeed Dr. Gordhan Patel, who retired August 1 after nearly
38 years of service to UGA, including the past four as vice
president for research. (Dr. Patel will be honored with an
ice cream social on D.W. Brooks Mall from 3-5 p.m. on
September 21, and I hope you will be there to wish him
well.) Dr. Lee will join us on September 1 from the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he has been
a professor and chair of the biochemistry and biophysics
department and leader of the cancer cell biology department
at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is one
of the rising stars in America’s research community and the
right person to advance UGA’s research program. There is
more information on Dr. Lee’s background at
http://www.uga.edu/news/artman/publish/050726dlee.shtml.
- We look forward to the opening of the Coverdell
Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences in the spring of
2006. This $40 million facility – $10 million from the
federal government, $10 million from the state and $20
million through the UGA Real Estate Foundation and supported
by indirect cost recovery – will house the Biomedical and
Health Sciences Institute. One of the areas of greatest
growth in UGA’s research proficiency is biomedical and
health sciences, and this innovative facility will certainly
help move that program forward.
- Also this year, construction will begin on a new
home for the Lamar Dodd School of Art on East Campus. The
art program at UGA has far outgrown the available space in
the current facility on Jackson Street, and students and
faculty are housed in multiple locations on campus. This
new facility will provide much-needed space to consolidate
our art programs and will reflect the important role that
the arts play at a first-class university.
- UGA will host the fifth annual National Outreach
Scholarship Conference, entitled “Transformation through
Engagement,” October 2-4. Our co-sponsors are Ohio State
University, Pennsylvania State University and the University
of Wisconsin-Extension. We expect up to 400 participants in
the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. This is an
exciting opportunity for UGA to be at the forefront of an
important discussion in higher education, namely the role of
land-grant universities in 21st-century America. As the
incoming chair of the National Association of State
Universities and Land Grant Colleges, I am pleased that UGA
is playing a leading role in this effort.
- Finally, there are two dates that you may wish to
place on your calendar. On September 16 at 2 p.m. we will
dedicate the Hugh Hodgson School of Music in honor of the
individual who founded and nurtured UGA’s music program.
Also, University Council will hold its first meeting of the
year at 3:30 p.m. on September 22 in Room 300 of the Fine
Arts Building.It is satisfying to note that for the sixth year in a row,
the University of Georgia has been ranked among the top 20
public universities in America by U.S. News & World Report.
These rankings are certainly not the only measure of
success, but UGA’s consistent presence in the top 20 is
testimony to the extraordinary work of the faculty and
staff. This is especially significant given the budget
constraints of the past few years. The continuing
achievement of quality at this institution is a tribute to
the dedication of everyone who works here.Thank you for all that you do for the University of Georgia.
Sincerely,
Michael F. Adams
President
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