Students stake their claim in desert march

	NGCSU participants with their medals – (front, center) Sarah Day with gold medal; (middle row, l to r) Heavyweight ROTC team silver medal winners – John Burkhart, Patrick Thompson, Chris Sims, Richard Lee and Chris Odom; (back row, l to r) Lightweight coed team bronze medal winners – Jodi Kokoska, Matthew White, Paul Johnson, John Ubriaco and Catherine Herrera.

DAHLONEGA – Fifteen military students on the North Georgia College & State University ROTC Ranger Challenge team spent March 21 in the New Mexico desert, competing in a 26.2-mile road march.

The 15th Annual Bataan Memorial Death March, at the White Sands Missile Range, attracted about 3,000 participants. The marathon commemorates the military’s heroic service in defending the Philippine Islands during World War II and is sponsored by the White Sands Missile Range, the New Mexico Army National Guard and the New Mexico State University Army ROTC Department. 

Ten of the NGCSU students and their advisor, Sgt. First Class Paul Johnson, placed in the event, including sophomore Sarah Day who won first place for the “lightweight military female” category. Day, a non-commissioned officer in the National Guard, traversed the desert course in a little more than 5 ½ hours, finishing almost 30 minutes ahead of her closest competitor.

The other NGCSU participants were divided into three teams of five, one “lightweight coed” team and two “heavyweight ROTC” teams.

“We ended up running a lot of the time because we didn’t have rucksacks to carry,” said Catherine Herrera, 19, the youngest of the competitors.

She and her teammates on the coed team finished in six hours “flat,” placing third in their category. The group members crossed the finish line together as a team.

Herrera said they trained for the competition with Army rucksacks on their backs, so she was prepared to compete in any of the 17 team categories, excluding the all-male competitions.    

One of the heavyweight teams, with members carrying about 40 lbs. on their backs, finished the 26 miles together in six hours and 40 minutes, placing second in their category and 25 minutes behind first place.

Johnson said the NGCSU Ranger Challenge unit plans to send more teams to the annual competition. This was the first time Ranger Challenge attended the event and he plans to build up more teams and improve on this year’s success.

To train for the marathon, the military students kept in peek physical condition, road-marching in groups as early as February. They increased the distances they marched each weekend leading up to the desert marathon, putting in several hundred hours of practice.

NGCSU professor wins Teaching Excellence Award

	Brian Corrigan teaching a literature class outdoors at North Georgia.

DAHLONEGA – Dr. Brian J. Corrigan, a professor of English at North Georgia College & State University, is a recipient of the 2004 Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

Corrigan was selected for the statewide award from nominated faculty members representing 15 regional and state universities.

NGCSU Vice President for Academic Affairs Phil Buckhiester, who has known Corrigan since the English professor joined the North Georgia faculty in 1990, said, “Dr. Corrigan is known across the campus for bringing enthusiasm, professionalism, dedication and expertise to his classes.”

Buckhiester said Corrigan earns outstanding scores on student evaluations.

“These scores are, in part, because students sense that Brian truly cares, not just about his subject matter, but about them and their intellectual and personal growth,” the vice president explained.

“Dr. Corrigan has met and exceeded every standard for teaching excellence during his 14 years of service as a faculty member in the Department of Language and Literature,” said Dr. Linda Stallworth Williams, the department head.

According to Board of Regents’ criteria, the award goes to nominees – with only one nominee allowed per institution – who “have a record of superlative teaching at their campus, including a strong commitment to fostering the academic success of students through classroom instruction and through interaction with students outside of the classroom.”

Corrigan, who teaches Renaissance literature, writing and composition, Irish and Celtic Myths, world drama, modern drama, and Shakespeare, among other subjects, is also a novelist, playwright and poet. In addition, he and his wife, Damaris, are animal lovers and have two cats, three dogs, and four horses. He is a horse trainer, rides dressage, was once a nationally ranked fencer, and has acted and directed professionally. 

He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and holds J.D., M.A., and Ph. D. degrees from Tulane University.

Of the 34 institutions in the USG, one teaching award is given annually to one faculty member from the two-year colleges, one from the research universities and one from the combined regional and state universities. Others winning the 2004 Regents’ Teaching Excellence Awards are Dr. Tonya Strickland, associate professor of English and reading at Waycross College, and Conrad Fink, professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Georgia.

Foster leaving Public Services position at NGCSU

DAHLONEGA – Kimberly R. Foster, director of the Division of Public Services at North Georgia College & State University since July 2000, is leaving the university at the end of the spring semester to take on the full-time job of wife and mother.

Kimberly Foster

“Kim Foster has done an outstanding job with our continuing education programs and the Georgia Appalachian Development Center,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs Phil Buckhiester. “In her four years here, she has taken continuing education to a new level, delivering programs to meet a variety of professional needs throughout our service region. I greatly appreciate all she has done for North Georgia.”

“I've thoroughly enjoyed being a part of NGCSU and giving back to the institution where I received my undergraduate degree,” Foster said. “The challenges and opportunities have been rewarding and the support from administration, faculty, staff and the community has been tremendous.”

At NGCSU, she directs non-academic program development, as well as community outreach and economic development, while managing a budget of more than a half-million dollars. If outside groups want to utilize university facilities or other resources, Foster is the campus liaison.

For four years, Foster also directed the Georgia Appalachian Development Center at NGCSU, coordinating technology training aimed at small businesses and community-based organizations in a 16-county region. In the process, she conducted presentations on the program to a variety of groups.

“My staff, Brenda Ricketts and Jeanette Mann, are wonderful and have done an excellent job of implementing our departmental strategies over the years,” Foster said. “However, with a 12 month old at home, my husband and I strongly feel that my focus should be on our family.”

Foster earned her bachelor of business administration in accounting degree from North Georgia in 1985 and her MBA from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville in 1997.

She and her husband Clayton are the parents of one-year-old John Clayton and live in Flowery Branch, Ga. Her parents, Hugh and Marlene Roach, live in her hometown of Royston, Ga.

Congressman Norwood speaking May 8 at NGCSU Spring Commencement

DAHLONEGA – The North Georgia College & State University Spring Commencement will take place on May 8 in two ceremonies in the Memorial Hall Gym. More than 550 students will be conferred degrees. U.S. Congressman Charlie Norwood, 9th District Representative for Georgia, will speak at the ceremonies.

Degree candidates in the School of Arts & Letters and the School of Business & Government will be conferred their degrees starting at 1 p.m. Those in the School of Education and School of Natural & Health Sciences will be conferred degrees starting at 4:30 p.m.

The 20 military students commissioning as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army and Georgia Army National Guard will take the oath of office at 10 a.m. in the gym. Maj. Gen. R. Steven Whitcomb will be the commissioning speaker.

Tickets must be reserved for the two graduation ceremonies. Call 706-864-1602 or go to www.ngcsu.edu and click on "announcements" for more information.

Gessell receives NGCSU Distinguished Professor Award

DAHLONEGA – Donna Gessell received the Distinguished Professor Award on April 17 from the Alumni Association of North Georgia College & State University. NGCSU President Nathaniel Hansford presented the award at the April 17 Alumni Banquet during Parents-Alumni Weekend on campus.

Donna Gessell and NGCSU President Nathaniel Hansford

“Dr. Gessell's selection for this award is evidence that, while doing an outstanding job as an administrator, she has continued her focus on the three loves of her professional life: teaching, service and scholarship,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs Phil Buckhiester, in announcing the selection. “She channels her energy in a way that is productive, while always respecting the rights and dignity of others. 

“In all of her work, she combines a passion for what she does with a compassion for the people with whom she does it. I can think of no faculty member more deserving of the award than Donna Gessell.”

The award annually honors the faculty member who demonstrates a “total service” philosophy to NGCSU, with excellence in teaching, service to students, extracurricular participation at the university and in the community, research and scholarly publication.

Gessell came to North Georgia in 1995 as an assistant professor of English to teach 18th Century British Literature and classes on the English poet John Milton and to oversee the Writing Center as well as the writing Across the Curriculum initiative at NGCSU. Among her other responsibilities, she now teaches English Composition II and serves as the university’s director of Graduate Studies and External Programs. Gessell oversees North Georgia’s satellite campuses in Forsyth County and at the Gainesville College University Center. She has served on numerous university committees and chairs the Graduate Council. In Dahlonega, Gessell has volunteered with the Girl Scouts, Beta Phi’s annual Wildflower Festival of the Arts, and the Lumpkin County Literacy Coalition.

Her 1976 bachelor’s degree is from The Ohio State University. Gessell earned her master’s degree in 1989 and her doctorate in 1995 from Case Western Reserve University.

Gessell’s husband is golf pro John D. Segars. Her daughter, Amanda Frye, is a sophomore majoring in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and produces theater for the Shakespearean Ensemble there.

Campus drivers should plan to take different routes on Friday

DAHLONEGA – North Georgia College & State University campus traffic will be interrupted on Friday, April 23, thanks to120 professional cyclists representing 23 countries for the 2004 Dodge Tour de Georgia that will attract thousands of visitors to Dahlonega, which serves as “stage five” of seven “stages” during the April 20-25 event.

Local volunteers and law enforcement agencies, including campus police, will help block off key roads and streets leading to the university on that day to control traffic. Students should plan to allow extra time to drive onto campus, park their vehicles and get to class on Friday.

Main Street from the Gold Museum in the middle of town to College Circle in front of Price Memorial will be closed to all traffic from 5 a.m. on April 23 until 5 or 6 p.m. that day.

In addition, Main Street will be closed from College Circle all the way to the Morrison-Moore Parkway from 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. EXCEPT for students, faculty and staff. Students should plan to show their ID card or a parking decal to reach the parking lots at the Health & Natural Sciences Building and behind the Woodward Infirmary. Students and employees may also enter the main campus via Main Street.

Church Street will be closed from College Circle to Main Street. The one-way on South Church Street will be reversed from College Circle to Maple Street, so that traffic will flow from north to south that day. Anyone exiting from College Circle or from Church Street must take Maple Street to Chestatee Street.

Also, NGCSU is hosting both the GACC baseball and softball tournaments from Wednesday through Saturday this week, bringing 16 teams to campus. So, those tournament visitors may additionally affect traffic on campus.

With the racers expected to arrive in Dahlonega around 2:30 to 3 p.m. on Friday, other routes to campus will be affected, especially from noon throughout the afternoon. Morrison-Moore Parkway and Chestatee Street in front of the main gate to campus will be closed to all traffic 10 minutes before the expected arrival time of the cyclists.

Students and employees planning to travel from Suches, Woody’s Gap, Neel’s Gap, Vogel State Park or points between those locations and Dahlonega on Friday, should be aware that roads will be closed beginning around noon for approximately two and one-half hours while the cyclists complete the loop. Also, traffic from Dalton to Ellijay to Suches will be affected that day.

The cyclists will race 139.4 miles on Friday, climbing a total of 18,953 feet before completing the day’s competition on Main Street in front of El Maguey restaurant near the old campus gate in front of Price Memorial Hall.

Billed as Georgia’s Race to Defeat Cancer, the Tour de Georgia benefits the Georgia Cancer Coalition.

A complete map of Stage Five of the race may be viewed as a PDF document at this site: www.tourdegeorgia.com/the_race/pdfs/Stg5_Dalt_Dahl.pdf

On Friday, the racers begin in Dalton, Ga., and cycle to Ellijay, then take back roads to Suches, down Highway 60 through Woody’s Gap to the intersection of Route 19 and Route 60, continuing down Highway 19 turning north at the intersection at Route 129 through Neel’s Gap, to Vogel State Park, then Highway 180 back to Suches, then south on Highway 60 to Dahlonega, continuing on Morrison-Moore Parkway to Chestatee Street and North to the Gold Museum, making a left on West Main Street to the finish line next to the campus.

The next day, Stage Six departs from Athens and heads to Hiawassee/Young Harris, a 128-mile stage. After two “King of the Mountain” climbs on Saturday, one on the seven-mile assault up the legendary Hogpen Gap, a mountaintop finish on Brasstown Bald Mountain takes competitors to the highest spot in Georgia at 4,783 feet.

On Sunday, Stage Seven begins in the foothills of the Appalachians in Dawsonville. The race continues south, finishing with a blistering four-mile circuit Grand Finale on the streets of Alpharetta.

In all, the racers will cycle more than 641 miles of Georgia roads and mountains during six days through 11 cities.

The Web site, www.tourdegeorgia.org, contains complete information about Tour de Georgia, the longest and highest-ranked stage race in America, with $100,000 in cash and prizes.

North Georgia senior at the White House

Emily Lancaster

DAHLONEGA – Emily Lancaster, a senior at North Georgia College & State University, is spending the spring semester at the White House in Washington, D.C.

The art marketing major with an emphasis in photography, has an internship in the White House Photo Office, where she is responsible for editing and releasing photographs of President George W. Bush to news agencies and publications. Lancanster also posts pictures on the White House Web site and assists with photo sessions of President and Mrs. Bush and guests at receptions.

Recently, photographs that Lancaster took of hand-painted Easter eggs from all 50 states were posted on the Internet: www.whitehouse.gov/easter/2004/eggsbystate/index.html

At North Georgia, Lancaster won numerous awards for her photography, including the President’s Choice Award. In addition, her photographs were among those exhibited in the atrium of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

A native of Gainesville, she is the daughter of Joey and Lynn Lancaster.

GOVERNOR AT NGCSU: Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue congratulates more than 500 cadets for their achievements in education and in their military training on April 18 at a 2 p.m. ceremony. The Corps of Cadets of North Georgia College & State University, the Military College of Georgia, presented a military review for a crowd of more than 2,000 during Parents-Alumni Weekend in Dahlonega. Airport.

NGCSU shows off best and brightest on Honors Day

DAHLONEGA – A diverse and accomplished group of students, faculty members and guest speakers will converge on the campus of North Georgia College & State University for the Annual Honors Day Academic Conference, in its ninth year. The April 13 event takes place throughout the entire campus, replacing all on-campus day classes.

“The Honors Day conference is a forum to showcase student excellence and achievement,” said Carl Cavalli, coordinator for the event and an assistant professor of political science.

Students from each academic department present papers or projects. The presentations take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Hoag and Shott auditoriums, the Newton Oakes Center, and the new Health & Natural Sciences Building, among other locations. Campus maps are available at the main entrance to campus on South Chestatee Street. An updated schedule is available online at www.ngcsu.edu in the announcements section. 

In addition to individual student presentations, honor societies and other academic and professional groups will stage related activities. The Department of Psychology & Sociology and the School of Natural & Health Sciences will stage poster sessions with information on their disciplines. The History Honor Society, Phi Alpha Theta, will stage a re-enactment of historical military encampments on the drill field all day and “Mountain Laurels,” the university’s literary magazine, will present select readings from this year's edition.

“In general, student presentations involve significant original research or thinking, often in the form of multimedia presentations,” said Cavalli. “Many Honors Day presentations go on to win praise at other academic conferences around the country.”

Presenters have the opportunity to publish their work in “Honores,” the NGCSU Journal of Undergraduate Research.

The day ends with the Great Debate at 3:30 p.m. when two teams will argue for different sides of a current social or cultural issue. This year's topic is the “2004 Presidential Election.”

Attendance is free and open to all. For more information, contact Cavalli at ccavalli@ngcsu.edu or 706-864-1872.

Gov. Sonny Perdue to speak at NGCSU April 18

Gov. Sonny Perdue

DAHLONEGA— Gov. Sonny Perdue will be the guest speaker at the North Georgia College & State University Military Awards Review on April 18 at 2 p.m. The event will take place on the drill field at the center of the North Georgia campus and is open to the public.

Several other special events are planned for Parents-Alumni Weekend, taking place April 16-18.

Retired Army Col. John Hutcheson, NG ’69, will speak at the 21st anniversary of the NGCSU Memorial dedication at 4 p.m. on April 17, also open to the public. Also scheduled is the 26th Annual Parents-Alumni golf tournament, the Distinguished Professor and Outstanding Student presentations and the Alumni Awards Banquet.

The School of Education will also be celebrating its 50th anniversary at 6:30 p.m. on April 16. Interested alumni may contact Robert Michael for more information at 706/864-1998.

 Open for the entire weekend are the annual Student Art Exhibit in the Hoag Student Center Gallery and the annual Department of Fine Arts Faculty Exhibit in the Nix Mountain Cultural Center.

For more information about Parents-Alumni Weekend, contact Alumni Affairs, 706/864-1547.

Workshops for nonprofit organizations offered by NGCSU

DAHLONEGA – Charitable and community organizations have an opportunity for specialized training for their members in fund raising, financial sustainability and building stronger boards.

Continuing Education at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega is offering workshops for nonprofit organizations beginning March 23 and continuing through early May. The workshops are designed for nonprofit board members, executive directors, financial officers and other key personnel to address areas of need.

Professional Fund Raising, the first workshop, will be taught March 23, 25, 30 and April 1 from 3 to 6 p.m. Illene Roggensack, a consultant specializing in nonprofit organizations will teach the elements of fundraising, ethical considerations, working with board members, volunteers and staff, and other components of successful fundraising.

Strategies for Financial Sustainability, offered April 13, 15, 20 and 22 from 5 to 8 p.m. will cover organizational missions and financial needs, assets, strategies to enhance revenue, endowment campaigns, long-term financial plans, and other issues. Participants will learn practical strategies to ensure the long-term financial health of their organization. Bob Thomas, the director of the Leadership Initiative at NGCSU and a consultant on financial sustainability, is the instructor.

Building Stronger Nonprofit Boards will be taught by Janice Ward, director of North Georgia Community Foundations North Georgia Nonprofit Network, on May 4, 6, 11 and 13, 2 to 5 p.m. Her workshop will cover how boards are developed, their legal governance roles, and how board members and staff can help the organization fulfill its mission.

All sessions will take place in the Stewart Center for Continuing Education, near the main gate of the NGCSU campus on Chestatee Street in Dahlonega, and registration is required. For more information, e-mail conted@ngcsu.edu or telephone 706-867-2814.

This page last modified on: Friday, 05 November 2004 16:34:58 -0500 by University Relations    

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