Initiatives

In fall 2004, Provost Arnett Mace created a Task Force on General Education and Student Learning to examine the  undergraduate experience at UGA and make recommendations for changes and improvements.  The task force worked throughout the academic year and solicited input from faculty and students. The final report was submitted to the provost in August 2005.

• Report of the Task Force on General Education and Student Learning

In 2006, another task force was appointed to examine graduate education at UGA. Additionally, a task force is examining five-year enrollment targets for both undergraduate and graduate students.

With the support of the Provost’s Office, several institutional initiatives involving interdisciplinary instructional and research programs have been initiated over the past few years:

• In June 2001, the Board of Regents approved the creation of the School of Public and International Affairs, the first new school at UGA in more than 30 years.
  
  
• The development of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute contributed significantly to UGA’s successful effort to gain federal and state support for the new Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences. An outgrowth of the BHSI is the creation of UGA's new College of Public Health.
  
  
• The Faculty of Engineering, organized in 2001, links faculty engaged in engineering related activities at UGA.
  
  
• On July 1, 2007, UGA opened the Odum School of Ecology, the nation’s first stand-alone academic school devoted specifically to that field. Named for Eugene Odum, the late pioneering UGA professor known as the “father of modern ecology,” the school is the university’s 16th academic school/college and will further cement UGA’s reputation as a world-class center for research and teaching on ecological principles and processes.
  

In recent years, UGA has also offered degree programs in locations beyond Athens. UGA currently has extended campuses in Gwinnett (Lawrenceville), Griffin and Tifton, while the Terry College of Business offers programs in Atlanta's Buckhead area.