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The University of Georgia has received national recognition for its many efforts to provide personal as well as professional renewal opportunities. The University is committed to the position that human resources are the most valuable of all commodities and that the nurturing of these resources is of extreme importance.
The Colloquium for New Faculty is designed for incoming faculty members at the University of Georgia. Its goals are to familiarize new faculty with the University and its varying support services, and to provide a smooth transition to the University and to Athens. In addition, the new faculty reconvene in the spring with the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost to share feedback and reactions on the new faculty experience at UGA. The Colloquium is sponsored by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and is coordinated by the Center for Teaching and Learning.
The Peer Consultation Team is an innovative program designed to provide individual, confidential consultations on issues of teaching and learning for faculty members. Outstanding university faculty serve as peer consultants to provide feedback and advice about the scholarship of teaching for faculty members at any career stage. A peer consultant assesses a requesting faculty member's goals and objectives for the consultation process, and then gathers and assesses data (such as student ratings, course materials, classroom observations, student interviews, videotapes of classes, teaching portfolios, and classroom assessment data). As a result of this process, the requesting faculty member develops an action plan to enhance teaching and learning in his/her courses. For more information, contact the Center for Teaching and Learning.
The Project Promote portal web site is designed to offer a mentoring community for new faculty. The website connects faculty to many resources, but the anchor resource of the site is the Question & Answer Center, where early career faculty can post questions and a select group of senior faculty respond to these questions. Early career faculty are given the option to choose, when posting a question, whether to reveal their identity or other parts of their user profile. Senior faculty, on the other hand, are always identified when they post responses. In addition to the Question & Answer Center, Project Promote features other resources and tools. Chief among these is a set of resource menus that have been carefully assembled with UGA faculty in mind, especially those who are new to the university. The four main sections of the menus are: 1) faculty-specific UGA resources; 2) general UGA resources; 3) student assistance resources; and 4) resources external to the university.
WebCT (Web Course Tools) is a Web-based course management system that can be used to create entire on-line courses or to provide supplementary Web materials for existing courses. WebCT is available without charge to all UGA instructors, and it is supported jointly by Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS) and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Each semester WebCT and related workshops are provided for faculty, teaching assistants, and staff. For more information about workshops, other faculty resources and the WebCT listserv, see the WebCT Homepage.
Though the University of Georgia does not have a formal sabbatical leave program, faculty are eligible to apply for leaves of absence with pay, leaves of absence without pay, and for assigned research. Leaves and assigned research are designed to provide faculty with an opportunity to pursue their scholarship on a full-time basis for a designated period of time. They are managed through the colleges and department in which the appointment is held; the Franklin College has a program of Competitive Faculty Development Assignments. Interested faculty are invited to talk to their respective department heads about the conditions under which applications for leaves or assigned research may be made.
The Ramsey Student Center for Physical Activities and the Rec Sports Complex comprise one of the finest sets of campus recreational facilities in the country. The Ramsey Student Center is a 420,000 square foot facility which contains five gymnasia, three pools, a track, a climbing wall, a strength training and conditioning room, racquetball and squash courts, locker rooms, classrooms, and laboratories. Membership for faculty and staff and dependents is available for a fee. The Rec Sports Complex and the Oconee Forest Park's amenities include 37 acres of fields, 40 acres of woods and trails, and Lake Herrick, which features fishing docks and a beach. Available seasonally in the middle of campus is Legion Pool, a 50 yard outdoor pool of varying depths for recreational swimming. The Department of Recreational Sports offers a wide variety of programs in which faculty and staff are welcome to participate. These include intramurals, fitness and instructional programs, outdoor recreation trips, and club sports. For detailed information call the Department of Recreational Sports at 706-542-5060.
The UGA Fitness Center (706-542-4230) offers programs both to evaluate and to enhance the current level of health and fitness. The Center uses the latest scientific techniques and medically approved and supervised evaluation procedures. The following programs are offered through the Center: Fitness Evaluation Program; Adult Fitness Exercise Program; Cardiac Rehabilitation Exercise Program; and Senior Adult Exercise Program. For more information visit http://www.coe.uga.edu/exs/fitness/programs.html
Under the sponsorship of the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, the Georgia Center for Continuing Education (706-542-2056) offers programs of continuing education both on and off campus. The Center provides facilities for conferences, short courses, workshops and institutes, including hotel and dining accommodations. The Georgia Center houses television studios and its communication services include television and film production, media utilization, media library, photography, and engineering.