The Program

In these tight budgetary times, institutions cannot individually afford new program implementation of such international scale and impact. However, the current state of world affairs, mandates them to improve global understanding and awareness of current student populations. In response to this, United States Department of Education (USDE) has been procured to assist implementing a multi-year (2004-2007) project designed in response to the vision and strategic
plan of the University System of Georgia (USG).

The primary vehicle utilized will be via creation of a system-wide Certificate of African Studies. The USG Certificate of African Studies comprises specified interdisciplinary study of 18 credit hours leading to an official certificate and transcript notation of successful program completion.

The Consortium

The African Studies Certificate Project’s overarching goal is design and implementation of a system-wide certificate in African Studies for the State of Georgia. The project, completed in collaboration with the University System of Georgia’s Africa Council (a 20 institution consortium), is spearheaded by The University of Georgia (UGA), Columbus State University (CSU), and Georgia Southern University (GSU). This collaborative effort, combining institutional strengths and resources surrounding African studies and languages, will ultimately be available to all 190,000 undergraduate students attending USG institutions.

Program Beneficiaries

All 34 USG institutions will be invited to participate. Faculty at each institution will be given opportunities to compete for travel and faculty development awards. The objective of these awards include: enhanced knowledge of Africa and infusion of African course content. Four travel grants will be awarded yearly. One grant will be awarded to each of the following regions: East, West, Central, and South Africa. Recipients will be expected to develop curriculum plans infusing at least 25% African content into a current course excluding African content. In addition, recipients must develop and implement plans to positively affect student awareness and participation in the USG African Studies Certificate program. Institutions with limited African focus, yet a large population of students of African heritage will be targeted and encouraged to participate.

Program Governance

The program is spearheaded by a seven-member faculty committee drawn from USG-Africa Council member institutions. The Task Force formulates strategies designed to reach project objectives and goals, including conceptualization and design of faculty development workshops insuring successful program development and implementation.