Certificates of Appreciation

Reminiscing about his days as a college student, Gerald Maa starts with a question: “What do I wish I had at that age?”

The award-winning writer and editor of The Georgia Review, UGA’s literary-cultural journal, would eventually figure it out. In fact, he’s helping current UGA students turn wishes like his into realities.

Co-created with Roland Végső, professor and department head of English, UGA’s Undergraduate Certificate in Publishing launched in 2025 after more than two years of planning and preparation.

“We see the publishing certificate as a valuable resource for professionalization,” says Maa, who co-directs the certificate program with Christine Lasek-White. As a sophomore in college, he realized he wanted to study English but wasn’t sure what came next.

“Publishing is a collective enterprise,” Maa says. “The hope is that students who go through the program will also attain a strong affinity, a group feel, with not only the program but also with their fellow students.”

The cover of a print magazine titled "25 Hours: Around the Clock in Athens, Georgia"

This past spring, to wrap that semester’s required Introduction to Publishing course, more than 25 students and faculty gathered on the second floor of The Globe to present 25 Hours: Around the Clock in Athens, a print project they wrote, photographed, edited, and produced themselves.

It was hands-on proof that certificates are a valued and growing part of the UGA student experience.

Certificates are like minors, although they are frequently interdisciplinary. For instance, the Certificate in Publishing is based in the Department of English, and partners include The Georgia Review, the Lamar Dodd School of Art, and The Georgia Press.

Many certificates focus on emerging disciplines or provide specific skill sets. No matter where a certificate program is based, it is open to all majors, although some may require prerequisites. The curriculum of each certificate program is a mix of required classes, usually between two and four, and electives drawn from a variety of departments.

Depending on their interests, students can tailor the electives they already need to take to meet the requirements for certain certificates. That way, they don’t have to take extra classes to reach their educational goals.

The university launched its first certificate program, medieval studies, in 1974. That program, along with more than 70 others, is still available to undergraduates. The most popular are New Media (Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication), Sustainability (Odum School of Ecology), and Entrepreneurship (Terry College of Business). In addition, UGA offers nearly 100 graduate certificates.

Five new undergraduate certificate programs will launch in the 2026-27 academic year.

New Undergraduate Certificates for 2026-27

One of the new certificates is Cultural Landscape Conservation, led by College of Environment and Design faculty members Cari Goetcheus MHP ’96 and Scott Nesbitt MFR ’00.

“People really like being in the buildings downtown. When people pick a restaurant, for example, they go for the food but also the ‘cool factor,’ the ambiance,” says Goetcheus, the Draper Chair in the College of Environment and Design. “But when we say ‘ambiance,’ what does that mean? That’s what we want students to understand.

“The lasting impact students have is better observation. This certificate helps students give more credit to places that they pass by every day that are historic and culturally significant but often overlooked.”

Undergraduate Certificate in Cultural Landscape Conservation

College of Environment and Design

15 hours

Collaborative programs: Landscape Architecture and Historic Preservation.

This new undergraduate certificate is a companion to a graduate certificate program that launched in 2012. Cultural landscapes merge a lot of seemingly disparate factors: the environment, hydrology, geology, and what is known as the “built world” among them. It all adds up to the skills necessary to conserve natural or constructed historic sites.

Undergraduate Certificate in Industrial Bioscience Skills

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Microbiology

12-15 Hours

Collaborative programs: Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Communications Studies, Computer Science, and English.

This certificate was born out of a need to train students for leadership in the rapidly advancing biotechnology industry. It includes coursework in biology and chemistry as well as data analysis, lab skills, and scientific communications.

Undergraduate Certificate in Land Design and Development

College of Environment and Design

15 Hours

Collaborative programs: College of Engineering, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, School of Law, Terry College of Business.

Real estate developers, often trained in finance and management, tend to view projects through the lens of cost efficiency and return on investment, while designers—particularly landscape architects and engineers—focus on regulatory approvals, aesthetics, and long-term building performance. This certificate aims to help students bridge the gap between them.

Undergraduate Certificate in Health Humanities: Health, Arts, and Society (HArtS)

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Anthropology

15-18 Hours

Collaborative programs: Elective options encompass more than a dozen Franklin College departments as well as the Hugh Hodgson School of Music.

With the launch of UGA’s schools of medicine and nursing, the HArtS certificate is well timed. Students are introduced to the human dimensions of health and healthcare. They’ll develop creativity and empathy, strengthen communication and interpersonal skills, and sharpen their ability to think critically about health, illness, and care in real-world settings.

Undergraduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence: Language, Minds, and Machines

Institute for Artificial Intelligence