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Columns::September 24, 2001
Tackling ‘Terrorism in America’
Provost appoints interim dean of new school
Blue Key honors four for their contributions to state, university
President addresses minority enrollment at first University Council meeting
Professor studies ‘complex’ role that carbohydrates play in cancer
New director appointed to International Public Service and Outreach
Kudos
Campus News
Worthwhile IDEAS
Inaugural grant recipients report positive results
By Jennifer Freeman
jdeprima@uga.edu
Recipients of the inaugural group of International Development Education Awards grants submitted summary reports of their projects this past month to the Office of International Public Service and Outreach. In 2000, its first year, IDEAS awarded
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| Julie Moore of the College of Veterinary Medicine worked with researchers from the Trypanosome Research Institute in Kenya. Here they are checking a Masai farmer’s cattle for Trypansome disease. |
grants for 15 projects to scholars from eight UGA colleges and schools.
The IDEAS program provides up to $2,500 in seed money to develop projects that exemplify UGA’s commitment to international public service and outreach. IDEAS supports activities that foster international applied research initiatives, technical training programs, conference and seminar development, distance education programs, and student service learning. Project activities address important global development issues through collaborative programs. Ideally, projects funded by IDEAS will result in the submission of a proposal for external funding. Grant proposals are evaluated for originality, public service, long-term impact, interdisciplinary nature, and international scope.
“The IDEAS program is a great catalyst for faculty to develop their thoughts into viable international-oriented projects,” says Glenn Ames, director of International Public Service and Outreach. “These grants are the first step for longer-term international projects and activities. I hope that the program can be expanded in the future to include more grants.”
Grant recipients Jim Affolter, of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, and David Giannasi, of UGA’s Herbarium at the Institute of Natural Products Research, initiated a collaboration between the Garden and the Jardin Botanico Miguel J. Culaciati, its sister garden in Argentina. UGA staff helped Argentine herb producers improve crops of commercially important native species, especially aromatic and medicinal plants. This undertaking promises to improve international cooperation in the area of medicinal plant use and conservation as well as  benefit similar programs in Georgia.
In a similar effort to promote and improve conservation practices in foreign nations, Pratt Cassity, outreach director at the School of Environmental Design, led the first student service-learning program in West Africa. Located in Cape Coast, Ghana, the program included four weeks of study and travel followed by a hands-on learning experience. UGA graduate students in historic preservation and landscape architecture aided local officials with conservation planning through an active design studio. The projects, which could last for several summers, should help revive Cape Coast’s public areas and expand its tourism opportunities.
Through the program, UGA has established partnerships in the summer studio with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the University of Cape Coast, the Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust, and the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board. The local government units and the traditional tribal councils in Cape Coast also support the endeavor.
A development program is also under way in Croatia. Allen B. Moore, of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government’s Community and Regional Development Division and the Department of Adult Education, is involved in an effort to increase tourism development in Croatia. Discussions between UGA and the University of Zagreb in Croatia may lead to a partnership in which faculty and students from both institutions would engage in community-outreach activities. Such activities might include the restoration of traditional buildings in villages, a documentation of the oral history of the region and continuing medical education to better serve the citizens and attract visitors and small businesses to the area.
The management of waste was a major goal of several IDEAS projects. Thomas T. Adams, of UGA’s Engineering Outreach program, helped initiate a three-year collaborative program between UGA and the University of the West Indies to promote pollution prevention, byproduct recovery and minimization of solid wastes in Trinidad and Tobago. Landfill officials have already expressed interest in recycling plastics, having oils and sludge extracted from waste streams, keeping industrial wastes out of the landfill and setting up a composting area. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a continuous on-site technical assistance program for Trinidad and Tobago and to possibly extend it to the entire Caribbean basin.
College of Education faculty began designing a distance-learning program for the United Arab Emirates as part of an initiative to reform high school vocational-technical programs and corresponding teacher education programs in that country. Roger Hill, Robert Wicklein and John Schell, of the department of occupational studies, and Dorothy Harnish, of the Occupational Research Group, traveled to the United Arab Emirates to begin project development. The UAE Ministry of Education and Youth and the Higher Colleges of Technology demonstrated a clear commitment to partnership with UGA, and asked UGA faculty and students to assist with new teacher training, developing a curriculum and assessing the institution’s facilities and equipment.
The deadline for IDEAS grant proposals for 2001-2002 is Oct. 15, 2001. |
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