NGCSU student research benefits state tourism

DAHLONEGA – Cultural arts in the north Georgia area will gain new exposure through a regional marketing effort being developed by the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, thanks in part to the research of 33 North Georgia College & State University education majors.

MARKETING APPALACHIA: NGCSU students pore over their research of the Georgia Appalachian region with assistant professor of Teacher Education Alice Sampson (second from left), who facilitated the project.

Alice Sampson’s social studies methods class investigated and gathered information on more than 350 artists and historical sites found in more than 30 counties in the Georgia Appalachian region for the project.

Plans are for a historical and cultural heritage trail through north Georgia traveling along the Appalachian Foothills Parkway, designated by the Georgia Department of Transportation, connecting Dalton in northwest Georgia and Lavonia in the northeast.

“This effort by North Georgia students to gather the information on cultural and historical resources has helped lay the project’s foundation,” said Cheryl Smith, the regional tourism representative for the GDITT.

The research being gathered will be used to develop a Web site and other marketing tools for the trail.

“It will allow tourists to locate artisans, studios, craft galleries, gardens, parks and places of historical interest,” Sampson said.

Future classes will build upon the students’ research, which also will be utilized by the university’s Georgia Appalachian Development Center, which helps small businesses, community-development groups and tourism associations market their organizations.

The GADC will use the material to develop a Web site for the Georgia Mountain Cultural Alliance, a group of businesses and agencies dedicated to promoting the heritage and culture of the Appalachian Mountain region through networking, education and marketing design.

North Georgia to award honorary doctorate to Tom Murphy

DAHLONEGA – For only the third time in its history, North Georgia College & State University will award an honorary degree. Also for the third time, the honorary doctorate will go to an alumnus of North Georgia. At the May 10 ceremony, the degree recipient will be Thomas Bailey Murphy, class of 1943.

Murphy, the Speaker of the House in the Georgia General Assembly for 29 years, longer than any other Speaker in the state’s history, will receive an honorary doctorate of political science during North Georgia’s commencement ceremonies at 1 and 4 p.m. on May 10, when he also will be the graduation speaker. Both ceremonies will take place in the Memorial Hall Gymnasium on campus. More than 440 students will receive their undergraduate or graduate degrees.

"We are indeed proud that Speaker Tom Murphy is a graduate of North Georgia and that the Board of Regents accepted our recommendation that he be awarded an honorary doctoral degree,” said NGCSU President Nathaniel Hansford. “Speaker Murphy has been an outstanding leader in Georgia government for over three decades and he led with wisdom and sound judgment." 

Murphy now practices law in Bremen, Ga., his hometown. The former House Speaker received his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1949, following his service in the Navy in the south Pacific during World War II. A widower, Murphy has three daughters, one son, five grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

The first honorary doctorate from North Georgia was awarded in 1999 to Eugene Patterson, NG class of 1942, the Pulitzer Prize-winning executive editor of the Atlanta Journal & Constitution in the 1960s, who went on to serve as managing editor of the Washington Post, editor of the St. Petersburg Times and the Congressional Quarterly.

In 2001, North Georgia bestowed an honorary doctorate on Olin King, NG class of 1953, the retired chairman and CEO of SCI Systems Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., who serves on the University of Alabama System's Board of Trustees.

Cliff Adams, North Georgia’s ‘visionary leader’

DAHLONEGA – L. Clifford Adams, Jr., chairman of the board of the North Georgia College & State University Foundation, died April 4 at his home in Elberton, Ga., after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.

Adams, 70, was considered one of the most influential leaders in shaping the future of the university. The Great Room in the Student Center on campus is named in his honor.

“Cliff was a visionary leader who guided the NGCSU Foundation through several important decisions such as purchasing some 220 additional acres of land for future campus development and the construction of a 314-bed private residence project,” said Nathaniel Hansford, NGCSU president. “He was a great adviser to me. He continued to be available for advice and conference calls on university matters until the final few weeks. This university will greatly miss him.”

Adams graduated from North Georgia College in 1952 and earned his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1960. He served in the 11th Calvary and the 83rd Reconnaissance Battalion of the 3rd Armored Division stationed in Budëngen, Germany, and attained the rank of major.

Services for Mr. Adams took place in Elberton on April 6 and in Atlanta on April 8. Donations may be made in honor of Mr. Adams to the Georgia Division of the American Cancer Society, the First United Methodist Church in Elberton, the Elberton Little Theater and the NGCSU Foundation.

Area educators participate in NGCSU leadership training

DAHLONEGA – Education faculty and students at North Georgia College & State University are providing professional development activities and technical support for educators in the northeast Georgia area. University personnel started working this semester with area classroom teachers, central office staff, principals and superintendents through the NGCSU Society for School-based Leadership.

Pre-kindergarten through secondary education schools involved include several from Banks, Cherokee, Dawson, Forsyth, Fulton, Gilmer, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, Pickens, Rabun, Towns, Union and White counties. 

The society serves as a forum for the study and professional development of leadership in schools through a speaker series and professional development activities. This new program gives NGCSU faculty and students an opportunity to collaborate with education professionals outside of the university on ways to promote leadership through all levels in the area school systems.

The society sponsors a Distinguished Leaders Conversations series, which invites speakers to come to North Georgia to discuss their area of expertise in education. Small group discussions are part of the evening activities associated with each speaker.

Marsha Tate, director of staff development for DeKalb County Schools, is scheduled to speak in the Hoag Student Center at 5 p.m. on April 29.

“School-level leadership potentially resides in all constituents of the school,” said Robert Michael, dean of the NGCSU School of Education. “The school principal is crucial to the development and promulgation of a culture built upon the themes of the society, but school leadership is the responsibility of everyone associated with the school.”

Local middle and high school leadership and strategic planning teams have been developed to help educators establish support tools in their school systems. North Georgia faculty members are providing technical assistance to teachers conducting action research projects as members of the Teacher as Researcher Academy.  This academy is funded by SERVE, the Southeastern Regional Educational Laboratory, and includes a consortium consisting of NGCSU, Western Carolina University and Montevallo University. 

Other speakers this semester included Pedro Noguera, from Harvard University; George Thompson, president of the Center for Leadership in School Reform in Kentucky; and Ann Delehant, an educational consultant from New York. Another series of speakers is planned for the fall.

The program, which is funded from grants, contracts and private donations, is open to anyone who is interested in school leadership and development.

It is an “exceptional opportunity for our students to work with some of the most prominent and productive school leaders,” said Michael.

For more information about the program and speaker series, contact Michael at bmichael@ngcsu.edu or telephone 706-864-1998.

North Georgia nursing programs receive support from Wellstar and NEGMC

DAHLONEGA – With $133,000 in support from Wellstar Health System, headquartered in Marietta, Ga., and a $20,000 in-kind contribution from the Northeast Georgia Medical Center of Gainesville, Ga., nursing programs at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega, Ga. have been expanded for the summer and fall semesters.

Wellstar will fund one full-time and two part-time faculty positions plus the equipment needed to establish a Licensed Practical Nurse-Registered Nurse “bridge” program on the health system’s Kennestone campus, beginning this summer.

“This will enable us to enroll 25 students on the Marietta campus for the summer semester, who will then enter the second year of the Associate’s in Science Nursing Program in fall 2003,” said Dr. Jill Hayes, head of the Department of Nursing at NGCSU. “This partnership with two separate agencies has made it possible to add summer classes for new students and expand the number of students we are able to accept into the ASN program.”

Hayes said the NEGMC contribution will fund a part-time faculty member that will enable the ASN first-year program to enroll 20 additional students in fall 2003.

“Without this external funding, we would not have any LPN-RN bridge programs this summer and would only have been able to enroll 80 new first-year ASN students this fall instead of our usual 120, because of state budget constraints,” Hayes explained.

Because a larger percentage – 96 percent – of first-year students are progressing into the second year of the ASN program in the fall semester, thanks to special orientation sessions staged to better prepare new nursing students for the required academic, laboratory and field work, the larger number of students will require more faculty members. In previous years when approximately 25 percent of students would not advance to the second year of study, more faculty members would be available for new students. Without the outside funding for added faculty, fewer students would be allowed to enter the first-year program.

North Georgia faculty member wins top dissertation award

DAHLONEGA – Alice V. Sampson, assistant professor of Teacher Education at North Georgia College & State University has won the top national Rural Education Dissertation of the Year award for 2003. The Rural Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association will present her first-place award at the AERA annual meeting in Chicago on April 23.

Sampson’s study, “Exploring the Relationship Between a Small Rural School in Northeast Georgia and Its Community:  An Image-Based Study Using Participant-Produced Photographs,” was the dissertation for her doctoral degree from the University of Georgia in Athens. One of the reviewers said that Sampson’s research was “quintessentially rural in character, and the dissertation wrestles with profoundly rural interpretations of central issues in education and sociology.”

Sampson and her husband, Joel Cordle, live in Dahlonega.

Out of 18 dissertations submitted from across the nation for the awards competition, the awards committee selected three dissertations that, in its view, best responded to the call for work "in which the rurality of the research context is fully conceptualized in the dissertation's design and report of findings." 

The second place award went to Phillip E. Morgan, for his research, “A Comparative Study of Rural School District Cooperatives:  A Qualitative Study.” He received a doctoral degree from the Washington State University College of Education and is currently on the faculty in the Department of Teaching and Learning at WSU. 

Laura Payne-Bourcy received the third place award for her study, “Multiple Literacies on Main Street and in the Academy:  A Longitudinal Study of Two Working-Class, Rural Adolescents.”  She received a doctoral degree from Syracuse University and works in research and development in a cooperative with 18 rural schools in Watertown, N.Y.

Information about the Rural Education SIG and the annual meeting is at the Web site, http://tc.unl.edu/ruralsig/

National Shakespeare Players perform April 17 on campus

DAHLONEGA – The National Shakespeare Players will perform Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” on April 17 at 7 p.m. at North Georgia College & State University in the Memorial Hall gymnasium. The event is free and open to the public. The National Players, on their 54th annual tour, are the country’s longest-running classical touring company.

DAHLONEGA – The dedication of North Georgia College & State University’s John H. Owen Hall took place on April 5 during Parents-Alumni Weekend. More than 200 guests from the campus community and around the state attended the dedication honoring North Georgia’s longest-serving president.

NGCSU President Nathaniel Hansford (l) stands with Margaret Owen and her husband, NGCSU President Emeritus John H. Owen, at the unveiling of the plaque in their honor which was placed in the new residence hall.

NGCSU President Emeritus John H. Owen spoke during the ceremony.

“I appreciate the honor that’s being bestowed upon me this afternoon. It is a tremendous honor,” said the university’s 12th president just before unveiling the dedication plaque with his wife Margaret Owen. “It’s a beautiful building, this is a beautiful campus, a great university, and I am proud to say that I was associated with this great institution for 22 years.”

NGCSU Foundation Board Trustee and former Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation Thomas Moreland told the audience about Owen’s efforts to extend Georgia State Highway 400 to Dahlonega, which greatly increased access to the university.

The university’s first vice president for academic affairs, Hugh Shott II, told about the almost quarter-century of academic expansion that Owen achieved at North Georgia. Owen saw the pre-medical program, the dual-degree engineering program with Georgia Tech and the ROTC program receive statewide and national attention. More than a dozen new academic programs were brought to the university under his leadership including nursing, fine arts and computer science, plus two graduate programs – education and physical therapy.

Another lasting contribution Owen helped establish was the Georgia Military Scholarship which today allows 39 military students at NGCSU to pursue a commission as an officer in the Georgia Army National Guard. 

Owen also reinstated intercollegiate athletics on campus and the college became a member of the NAIA conference.

At the reception following the ceremony, guests had the opportunity to visit the residential suites, talking with students living there and glimpsing life in Owen Hall. On the ground floor, two permanent cases with memorabilia from Owen’s tenure at the university are displayed as a testament to his place in North Georgia’s history.

Owen Hall, funded through the NGCSU Foundation, is the first privatized residence hall on campus. The 314-bedroom building, which overlooks the main campus, is located on Alumni Drive off the Morrison-Moore Parkway.

Bluegrass band performs at NGCSU on April 8

DAHLONEGA – The nationally acclaimed group Chris Jones and the Night Drivers will bring the rich earthy tones of traditional bluegrass music to North Georgia College & State University in the Hoag Student Center Auditorium on April 8 at 7:30 p.m.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Nix Living Heritage Fine Arts Series at North Georgia.

The group’s music takes the simplicity of bluegrass and flavors it with the story-telling nature of country and the soulful spirit of southern gospel. From sorrowful ballads to lively tunes, each of their songs reflects the joys, trials and tribulations of the working class. Their music is inspired by early masters of bluegrass, like Flatt & Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers.

Jones’ rustic baritone overlays and vividly contrasts with the dynamic harmonies of his band mates. In addition to lead vocals, Jones is a songwriter and guitarist. His hard-driving band, the Night Drivers, consists of Kristin Scott Benson on the banjo, Mickey Harris on the upright bass, Casey Driessen on the fiddle and Brad Meinerding with backup vocals.

For more information, contact the NGCSU Fine Arts Department at 706-864-1423.

North Georgia Jazz holds concert on April 3-4

DAHLONEGA – "It don’t mean a thing…if it ain’t got that swing!" Duke Ellington’s popular theme will resound at the North Georgia College & State University Hoag Student Center Auditorium on April 3 at 12:30 p.m. and April 4 at 7:30 p.m. as "North Georgia Jazz" hits the stage with a program of big band swing.

Under the direction of Joe Chapman, this standard 15-piece jazz ensemble from North Georgia will perform a variety of classic tunes made popular by such jazz greats as Ellington and Glenn Miller, along with contemporary swing music, including Brain Setzer’s “Rock This Town.” The concert also includes Latin selections, sporting titles like “Puffy Taco” and “Hot Sauce,” and a patriotic tribute featuring “America the Beautiful.”

The ensemble recently completed it’s first a successful spring break tour to the Georgia coast. For more information, contact the NGCSU Fine Arts Department at 706-864-1423.

NGCSU forum on female leadership April 3

DAHLONEGA – Margaret D. Stetz, the Women's Studies head at the University of Delaware is the April 3 speaker for the North Georgia College & State University forum on “Female Leadership across the curriculum.”

Stetz will speak on “Women studies and women leadership” from 5 to 7 p.m. in the university Dining Hall on campus along with two North Georgia fine arts faculty members. The event and following reception is free and open to the public. 

The forum examines the connection between “servant leadership” and the “woman's style” of leadership. It explores the knowledge base, means and methods of female leadership, characteristics of female leaders, their career progress, priorities and purposes.

For more information contact the B. J. Robinson at 706-864-1964 or brobinson@ngcsu.edu.

DAHLONEGA – The John H. Owen Residence Hall, North Georgia College & State University’s newest resident student dwelling, will be dedicated to the former North Georgia president of 22 years on April 5 at 2 p.m. during the university’s Parents-Alumni Weekend. During the dedication ceremony, a plaque with the likenesses of Dr. John H. Owen and his wife Margaret Owen will be unveiled in the residence hall’s community room.

Owen Hall is located on Alumni Drive off of Morrison-Moore Parkway, Highways 9 and 52. The building project, undertaken by the NGCSU Foundation, was completed and opened to students fall semester 2002. Ground was broken on the building November 2001, less than a year earlier. The campus community watched last spring and summer as the building steadily changed the North Georgia skyline forever. The four-story structure houses 314 students and is the largest building on campus, encompassing 118,453 square feet.

Several other special events are planned for Parents-Alumni Weekend. Retired Army Gen. William J. Livsey, NG ’52, will speak at the 20th anniversary of the NGCSU Memorial dedication. Livsey spoke at the 1983 dedication and the 10th anniversary ceremony. Also scheduled is the 25th Annual Parents-Alumni golf tournament, a wine-tasting event, the Distinguished Professor and Outstanding Student presentations, an Alumni Awards Banquet and Corps of Cadets Military Awards Review.

For more information about Parents-Alumni Weekend, see www.ngcsu.edu/discover/alumni/PAW03.pdf or contact Alumni Affairs at (706) 864-1547.

Georgia Power gives property to benefit North Georgia

Georgia Power representatives Tommy Hollingsworth, Northeast Region distribution manager (left), and Bryan Fletcher, North Region vice president (center), officially give the property deed to NGCSU President Nathaniel Hansford.

DAHLONEGA – Georgia Power Company officially gave the Board of Regents a gift of a strip of land, approximately .2555 acre, adjacent to the main entrance to the North Georgia College & State University campus on Chestatee Street.

The property was a former site of a Georgia Power substation for Dahlonega. The legal negotiations and preparations for the transfer of the property took place over the past two years. 

Several university administrators and representatives of Georgia Power gathered on March 6 in the Community Conference room of Price Memorial Hall where the deed was officially transferred to President Nathaniel Hansford, who accepted it on behalf of the Board of Regents for use by North Georgia.

“This generous gift from Georgia Power has an appraised value of almost $150,000,” Hansford told the group. “This property is a key to our future plans to re-work the front entrance to campus.”

Hansford said that Plant Operations will be moved to a new facility behind the Health & Natural Sciences Building, and the current building next to the entrance will be renovated to house Military Science.

“We want to eventually triple the size of Stewart Library,” Hansford explained, “and this gift of property will give us the opportunity to re-work the front entrance with the library facing in that direction.”

NGCSU education program receives University System award

DAHLONEGA – North Georgia’s Education Specialist Program in Teacher Leadership is one of two academic programs in the University System of Georgia to receive the 2003 Regents Awards for Excellence in Teaching. Six University System faculty members received individual awards of excellence. 

The Education Specialist degree program is the first one at the university that is a step beyond a master’s degree. The program is designed to develop leadership skills for classroom teachers and features close collaboration between the university and the public school community.

The curriculum is grounded in best practice and theoretical research and is anchored on three sets of standards: those of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium, and the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. Faculty members continue to mentor students after they have completed the program.

India Podsen, Toni Bellon, and Larry Berneking are the primary faculty in the Education Specialist degree program and will accept the award of excellence at the Board of Regents’ May meeting. The other academic program receiving the award is the Dental Hygiene Program at Floyd College.

“Academic excellence is highly valued in the University System,” said Dr. Daniel S. Papp, senior vice chancellor for academics and fiscal affairs with the Board of Regents. “Such recognition strengthens the commitment to student learning and achievement, and we are pleased to salute the USG faculty members and programs that serve as superb role models.”

North Georgia shows support for troops

DAHLONEGA – Thirty-seven military reservists enrolled at North Georgia College & State University have left school this semester to join their reserve units around Georgia.

The university hosted a service of support for the soldiers on Feb. 20, where more than 1,000 North Georgia students and employees and local citizens recognized those being deployed. Student government representatives tied yellow ribbons bearing the names of the departing cadets on a red oak tree to be planted on campus.

Maj. Michael McNally, the executive officer at the 5th Ranger Training Battalion north of Dahlonega, spoke to the audience in the university’s gymnasium.

“Soldiers away from home think about how their families are doing,” McNally said. “They know they have a responsibility to their families and hearing from loved ones helps relieve part of the burden the soldiers carry.”

Those being called up are primarily Georgia Army National Guard, Marine Corps Reserve, and U.S. Army Reserve soldiers that made commitments to serve as citizen-soldiers.

Many of the students who have left school are preparing for different missions such as homeland security and possibly deployment in or outside the United States.

This page last modified on: Friday, 05 November 2004 15:43:36 -0500 by University Relations    

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