JAYNE SMITH
Assistant Director for Distance Learning
Postgraduate Continuing Education and Outreach Department
College of Pharmacy
JOB DESCRIPTION: “My primary role is to provide administrative and technical support for the Nontraditional Doctor of Pharmacy Pathway Program, a distance-learning degree program for practicing Georgia pharmacists. Much of the instruction is online or via other distance-learning delivery methods, so our students are able to complete coursework while working and without the need to relocate to campus.
“I am also beginning to work with continuing education programs for distance-learning delivery and serve as chair of several college-wide faculty committees.
“I co-teach a course for our new nontraditional students each fall to help them be successful, self-directed and distance learners. I also have the opportunity to co-teach a course for our traditional students each spring that focuses on topics such as ethics and professionalism.”
YEARS IN CURRENT POSITION: Six.
MOST CHALLENGING PART OF MY JOB: “It’s challenging to work with so many people both onsite and offsite, each with different personalities and work styles. I try to remain flexible and do everything I can to accommodate the needs of our faculty and students.
“It’s also a challenge to maintain the integrity of a distance-learning degree program.”
OTHER UGA EXPERIENCE: “I have worked at UGA for the past 20 years. In 1983, I started as a student worker in the Office of Bicentennial Planning. After the bicentennial ended, I worked in the Office of the Vice President for Research.
“The month of my graduation, my father-in-law had an art exhibit at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and I began talking with one of their staff members at the opening reception. I was receiving my B.B.A. in management information systems the next week, and as it turned out, they were getting their first computer and needed help setting it up. I started in a temporary position, which turned into a permanent position, and after a year I became the manager of the garden’s Visitor Center. I worked at the garden for more than eight years. In February 1995, after completing my M.Ed., I was hired as learning services coordinator at the College of Pharmacy.”
OFF-THE-JOB INTERESTS: “Since I work full-time and am a part-time graduate student, there is not a lot of time for other interests, but I do enjoy traveling.
“My husband is an amateur triathlete and that gives us opportunities to travel for his races. In July, he competed in Ironman USA at Lake Placid, N.Y. We stayed for a week and had fun exploring and hiking in the Adirondacks and visiting the winter Olympic venues.”
THE PEOPLE I MOST ADMIRE: “My parents have always been active in the community. They are now in their mid-70s and still very active.
“When my dad retired, he volunteered and was later hired at Fort King George, a state park in Darien. My mother has taken many leadership roles through the years in various organizations such as the Woman’s Club of Brunswick.
“On campus, two people I admire, in fact consider mentors, are Ron Cervero and George Francisco for their integrity, intelligence and ability to encourage and inspire.”
THE ISSUE THAT CONCERNS ME MOST ABOUT TODAY’S WORLD: “I am concerned about the direction many of the young people in our community are taking. Children need positive role models in their lives who can encourage them to believe in themselves.
“That is one reason I’ve been involved with the Clarke County Mentor Program. I have worked with three different students over the last 11 years. My current mentee and I have been together since she was in the first grade.
“My husband is also a mentor and has worked with his mentee, Tony, since the third grade. Tony is now 22, and they still talk or see each other every week.
There is a long waiting list of students needing mentors-they’re always looking for more volunteers and it just takes a minimum of an hour a week of your time.”
