Registration opens for Carter conference
Registration will be available beginning Nov. 1 for the conference, “The Carter Presidency: Lessons for the 21st Century.”

The conference will be held Jan. 19–21 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.

UGA will mark the 30th anniversary of President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration by hosting a major gathering of Carter administration officials, journalists, academics and other public officials to assess the lessons of the Carter presidency and discuss issues such as energy policy, the Middle East, Islamic fundamentalism, environmental concerns, human rights and mental health. More than a retrospective, the symposium will illuminate issues of national and international importance.

The event will feature a town hall meeting with the former president and his wife and a banquet dinner.

Registration before Dec. 1 is $299; after that date it is $399. More information about the conference is available online (www.uga.edu/carterconference/headliners.html).

Brian Williams, Emmy and Peabody award-winning anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, will serve as the chief moderator on Jan. 20. Other prominent participants will be announced in the coming weeks.

Biodiesel workshop comes to campus
From the economics of biodiesel to producing it drip by drip at UGA’s biorefinery, the Southeastern Biodiesel Workshop will cover all aspects of biodiesel in an upcoming three-day workshop.

Those attending the workshop Nov. 27-29 will receive training from industry professionals and academic experts. They’ll learn how biodiesel is made in a hands-on production lab and interact with experts and industry representatives.

“The Southeastern Biodiesel Workshop is an intensive, detailed workshop covering the basics of biodiesel production and use and the issues related to both,” said Ryan Adolphson, director of the UGA biomass energy facilities. The workshop provides information on the biodiesel industry in a practical manner suitable for anyone from “experienced biodiesel producers and users to the novice just entering the industry.”

Early registration, which must be received by Nov. 1, is $195 for the workshop and $150 for the biodiesel lab. After that date, the cost is $225 for the workshop and $175 for the lab. The workshop is sponsored by the UGA Center for Biorefining and Carbon Cycling. More information is available online (www.southeastbiodiesel.org).

Record fall enrollment projected
Fall semester enrollment at UGA is expected to be the highest in university history, with preliminary figures showing a total of 33,959 students taking classes at the main Athens campus and at UGA centers in Gwinnett County, Griffin and Tifton.

The total, up 0.9 percent (299 students) from last fall, includes 25,234 undergraduates, 6,918 graduate students and 1,604 students in the professional schools of law, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. Another 203 students are enrolled in independent study.

The undergraduate and graduate totals are the second highest ever, behind only 2003 when 25,415 undergraduates and 6,922 graduate students were enrolled.

University Registrar Rebecca Macon said the totals are preliminary, but final figures to be released later by the University System of Georgia are not expected to vary significantly.

Of the total enrollment, 32,812 students are taking classes at the Athens campus, a 1.4 percent increase from last year but still within the two percent variance of UGA’s on-campus enrollment target of 32,500 set by the University System Board of Regents.