NGCSU fall commencement and commissioning Dec. 19

DAHLONEGA—North Georgia College & State University will confer degrees on 182 undergraduate and 26 graduate students in the Memorial Hall gymnasium on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.
 

Three sisters from Dahlonega, Ga. are graduating this December; Lynn Hale, Leslie Donaho and Jennifer Morris.

Commencement exercises are a requirement for degree candidates at the university and NGCSU will present authentic diplomas to its graduates at the ceremony.

Speaking at commencement is Kathy Sisk, acting dean of the School of Arts & Letters and the 2001 Alumni Distinguished Professor.

North Georgia will also commission nine second lieutenants into the United States Army Dec. 19 at 4 p.m.

Ret. Col. Ben S. Malcom, president of Timber Specialties Inc., will speak at the commissioning ceremony.

Active duty officers from the Army ROTC program will swear the cadets into office and then the families will pin the lieutenant bars onto the newly commissioned officers. Five of the lieutenants are assigned to active duty service and four will serve in the Georgia Army National Guard.

Among the 182 undergraduates expected to graduate are three sisters. Tom and Ann Morris of Dahlonega will see three of their four children become college graduates on Dec. 19.

Jennifer Morris, the youngest, will receive a bachelor of science in biology, Leslie Donaho, a bachelor of business administration in finance and Lynn Hale, the oldest, a bachelor of science in psychology.

Commander of Georgia’s National Guard forces to visit NGCSU Dec. 17

DAHLONEGA—Major General David Poythress, the adjutant general of Georgia, will visit North Georgia College & State University Dec. 17.

Poythress is coming to North Georgia to discuss the establishment of an Army National Guard detachment here and the Georgia Military Scholarship, a state-supported military scholarship exclusive to the university.

National Guard units in Georgia and around the country are based at armories, locations where units have their own training area, and putting a unit at a public university will be a first in the state.

The Georgia Military Scholarship pays for the full cost of a cadet’s college education and 33 per year are currently available at NGCSU.

The adjutant general oversees the state’s Air and Army National Guard, which together is comprised of more than 11,000 troops. He reports to the governor on all matters concerning Georgia’s National Guard forces, which fall under Gov. Roy Barnes’ control.

'GEORGIA RESPONDS' PREPARES EMPLOYEES DISPLACED BY RECESSION FOR NEW CAREERS AS TEACHERS

DAHLONEGA—Colleges of education at 15 Georgia public universities are collaborating on a fast-track teacher training program which will offer professionals who’ve lost jobs in the economic downturn a new career as teachers in Georgia’s critically short-handed schools.

A Georgia Responds website is on-line with information on the program and links to the participating institutions at www.gcsu.edu/georgiaresponds

Education deans representing the University System campuses statewide met in the Capitol in Atlanta on Dec. 11 to announce plans for “Georgia Responds: Creating Teaching Opportunities.”

The program creates a bridge between two statewide needs – the severe shortage of qualified teachers to fill thousands of vacancies in Georgia classrooms and the swelling pool of unemployed professionals displaced by the down-sized job market in other sectors. “Georgia Responds” is similar to the state’s Alternative Teacher Certification Program, which offers college graduates with significant work experience in another field the opportunity to prepare for a teaching career.

Georgia public schools hired 12,000 teachers this year, but the state’s universities graduated only 3,500, with a projected need for 18,500 more teachers by 2009.

“In our current recession, many Georgia companies and industries are forced to dismiss employees and curtail customer services, which furthers unstable economic conditions,” said Bob Michael, dean of education at North Georgia College and State University. “Many of these displaced employees have college degrees and work experience which would provide an excellent foundation for teaching. This program would build upon those strengths with a solid but accelerated preparation in teaching skills and competencies leading to certification.”

The offer also extends to former teachers and others whose certificates have lapsed or expired.

Michael said the program is founded on “an unwavering commitment to quality” while allowing a fast and flexible format for the course work and intensive supervised classroom practice necessary for certification. Georgia Responds will carry the full Board of Regents’ Educator Preparation Guarantee and will operate with cross-university transfer and flexibility and extensive collaboration among the University System colleges of education in offering course work in the various teaching certification areas.

The program opens in January for individuals with lapsed teaching certificates and no later than Summer 2002 for applicants with a bachelor’s or higher degree seeking first-time certification. Participants will be eligible for full employment under an intern certificate in August 2002, and those who complete the program can obtain a renewable teaching certificate from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

All of the participating colleges of education are in the state’s University System: Albany State University, Armstrong-Atlantic University, Augusta State University, Clayton College & State University, Columbus State University, Fort Valley State University, Georgia College & State University, Georgia Southern University, Georgia Southwestern State University, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, North Georgia College & State University, State University of West Georgia, University of Georgia, and Valdosta State University.

For more information contact Dr. Robert Michael at 706-864-1998.

NGCSU Symphonic Band fall concert Dec. 3 and 4

DAHLONEGA—The North Georgia College & State University Symphonic Band will perform its fall concert Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 12:30 pm in the Hoag Student Center Auditorium. The free event is open to the public.

The band is collecting a canned food “admission donation” to the concerts. All proceeds will be forwarded to the Dahlonega food pantry.

A portion of the concert will have a winter theme which will include Clare Grundman’s “Quiet Christmas” and Carleton Colby’s “The Toy Shop” with guest narrator, NGCSU President Nathaniel Hansford. The program will conclude with Leroy Anderson’s seasonal favorite “Sleigh Ride.”

“This year’s program has a rather eclectic flavor with a wide variety of music to be presented,” said Kirk Weller, director of the Symphonic Band.

The band will be joined by the recently formed NGCSU Percussion Ensemble which will open the program.

The band will open its program with selections including Henry Fillmore’s traditional concert march “The Klaxon,” Ralph Vaughan Williams’ band classic “Linden Lea” along with more contemporary band works by Yariv Nachman and Framk Ticheli.

For more information call NGCSU’s Department of Fine Arts at 706-864-1423.

NGCSU hosts local Hispanic students photography exhibit

DAHLONEGA—“Autorretratos Y Familia,” Self Portraits and Family, is a photography exhibition by local Hispanic high school students on display at North Georgia College & State University Dec. 4 through Jan. 3. The exhibition is in the Shott Auditorium in the Nix building on campus and is free and open to the public.

The Lumpkin County High School students participating in the exhibit are Fabiola Aguirre, Corinna Contreras, Nydia Garza, Eder Gonzalez, Victor Gonzalez, Julia Martinez and Yuriana Vazquez.

North Georgia professor of art, Hank Margeson, taught the students basic photography and led group discussions, examining the visual perspective of their pictures and the personal connection the pictures had to the photographer.

The exhibition and photography class is one of several projects at NGCSU funded through the Board of Regents Hispanic Task Force Pilot Initiative, an outreach program to the Hispanic community. NGCSU is one of four University System of Georgia institutions that received the one-year grant.

“This money has helped NGCSU to collaborate with the local schools by providing after-school programs for some of the Hispanic students,” said Carmen Mas, director of Academic Support Programs at NGCSU. It has also allowed the university to become more visible within the Hispanic community in Lumpkin County.”

The students were provided cameras to take pictures of various aspects of their daily activities. The culmination of their work is the exhibition.

“I think these students coming to our campus to participate in the programs brings to life the idea that attending the university is a reachable goal,” Mas said.

Cannon gift supports NGCSU Chemistry program

DAHLONEGA—Thanks to a generous gift from William N. Cannon, a 1948 North Georgia alumnus, the North Georgia College & State University Department of Chemistry is a giant step closer to its goal of accreditation by the American Chemical Society.

Cannon’s generous gift, given through the NGCSU Foundation, makes it possible for the department to purchase periodicals and abstracts for library holdings so the department can meet ACS standards. The library resources also will enhance teaching and learning opportunities for students and research information for faculty.

Accreditation by the society, which has accredited only 616 higher education programs nationally, has been a goal of the chemistry department since at least 1948, when William Cannon graduated from North Georgia College. In the past several years, the department has achieved considerable progress in meeting the ACS’s challenging requirements.

The chemistry department, through the William N. Cannon Chemistry Fund, established in 1998, and other contributions through the Foundation, has been able to purchase needed software, instruments and equipment. The department also has been able to meet faculty requirements for accreditation. The final obstacle to getting accredited had been insufficient library holdings.
“Mr. Cannon’s gift has removed that last barrier to accreditation,” said Professor Tom Richardson, chemistry department head.

“I appreciate the opportunity to do this for the chemistry department and hope that this gift will enable Dr. Richardson and the department to obtain accreditation by the American Chemical Society,” said Cannon, a retired chemist.

"The Chemistry Department has devoted a great deal of effort and planning to achieve the ACS accreditation goal. We approached this donor with the hope of matching his interests with a targeted institutional need," explained Diana Martin, executive director of the NGCSU Foundation. 
“Mr. Cannon’s gift is a superb example of the way our NGCSU donors support faculty and students and build the margin of excellence required for academic achievement."

This page last modified on: Friday, 05 November 2004 15:43:24 -0500 by University Relations    

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