A group of 30 University of Georgia faculty members spent four days getting to know each other and the state they will now call home as they traveled across Georgia on the 2024 UGA New Faculty Tour.

Faculty members were introduced to the state’s economic, geographic, social and cultural diversity and learned what sets UGA apart from other public universities when it comes to community engagement.

Faculty gained a better understanding of how UGA is working to make Georgia a better place to live by creating jobs, developing leaders and addressing critical needs in the state through UGA Public Service and Outreach (PSO) and UGA Extension.

“Every day, the University of Georgia’s expertise and knowledge are translated into thousands of uses that benefit Georgians — work that adds millions of dollars each year to the state’s economy,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “On this tour, faculty feel the immense pride the people of Georgia have in their flagship university and recognize the strong bond that exists between UGA and citizens of this state.”

UGA’s land-grant and sea-grant mission is focused on providing critical research and technical service to support Georgia. Because faculty members play key roles in that mission, understanding the state’s dynamics helps them seek out and engage in research that can benefit the state and its citizens.

“As the state’s land-grant and sea-grant institution, the University of Georgia is committed to improving the quality of life for the people of Georgia. The New Faculty Tour launches opportunities for faculty to engage with communities and to seek out collaborations and partnerships that will benefit Georgians,” said Jennifer Frum, vice president for public service and outreach.

George Mois, a first-year assistant professor in the College of Public Health’s Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, was impressed by UGA’s level of community engagement.

“As a new faculty member, seeing how the University of Georgia is putting its resources to work across Georgia is both inspiring and gratifying,” said Mois, who grew up in Gwinnett County and earned his doctorate from UGA in 2021. “There really is a strong connection between the university and the state.”

The tour left Athens on Aug. 5, stopping in nine cities and passing through 28 counties before returning.

The tour made stops in the Archway Partnership™ community of Covington (Newton County) as well as Macon on the first day. In Covington, faculty learned how UGA is leveraging the award-winning community engagement model of the Archway Partnership, a unit of PSO. Through Archway, Covington-Newton County is working with UGA faculty, staff and students to address their community’s most pressing challenges.

Participants also saw how UGA is helping communities as they plan for and address growth and environmental issues. In Columbus, they learned how the Carl Vinson Institute of Government is utilizing the River Valley Community Compatible Development Plan to help create vibrant downtowns, invest in infrastructure and promote outdoor activities in the rural communities surrounding Columbus and Fort Moore.

In Gainesville, faculty heard how the city utilized the Institute of Government’s Renaissance Strategic Visioning Plan to land hundreds of millions of private investment dollars for downtown and community development.

“What impressed me the most was learning about the reach that UGA has across the state,” said Luan Oliveira, an assistant professor and precision agriculture Extension specialist in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “There are so many ways that UGA is making an impact.”

Additional stops on the trip included the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site and Georgia Experience Center in Atlanta, Yonah Mountain Vineyards in Cleveland, and Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawsonville. The tour had to pivot from its original path due to Hurricane Debby.

The New Faculty Tour is coordinated by the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach and the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development. The tour is made possible by major support from the Office of the President, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. Additional sponsors include a multitude of other UGA units and supporters of the university.

This is the 38th UGA New Faculty Tour since it began in 1977. Nearly 1,600 UGA faculty members have participated in the tour since its inception.