The University of Georgia has received a national Award of Excellence in the Innovation category from the University Economic Development Association (UEDA) for its work connecting academic faculty to rural communities.
The Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty began in 2021 to enhance collaboration between academic faculty and UGA public service faculty and units.
Rural Engagement Workshop participant Devin Lavender, assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, and Sam Perren, Rural Engagement workshop coordinator and Archway Partnership faculty member.
Launched by the Office of Academic Affairs and Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, with support from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Public Health and School of Social Work, the workshop is designed to encourage faculty to find challenging issues they can help address in rural Georgia. Now about to start its fifth year, the program also encourages collaboration between faculty in UGA schools and colleges with faculty in Public Service and Outreach and UGA Cooperative Extension already working throughout rural Georgia.
“The Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty at the University of Georgia plays a key role in developing collaboration critical for supporting economic prosperity for rural communities across the state,” said Jack Hu, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “We are honored that that Rural Engagement Workshop won an UEDA Innovation Award of Excellence, and we will continue to develop new ways to connect UGA resources to communities and improve life for Georgians.”
The program, which is facilitated by faculty from the Archway Partnership, Institute of Government, Fanning Institute for Leadership Development and UGA Extension, provides a strong introduction to rural engagement for academic faculty by providing the background, information, skills and knowledge needed to be successful. The overall goal of the workshop series is to help strengthen partnerships with communities across Georgia through increased, collaborative and focused research and scholarship.
“The University of Georgia is at the forefront of serving rural Georgia by connecting research to community-identified challenges,” said Jennifer Frum, vice president for public service and outreach. “We appreciate that UEDA selected the Rural Engagement Workshop for the Innovation Award, and we look forward to building more connections across campus and across our state.”
Through a series of six sessions, participants gain greater understanding of Georgia’s rural demographics and trends, obtain key information on developing sustained relationships with communities and enhance their ability to engage in rural research in the state.
UGA Provost S. Jack Hu speaks to Rural Engagement Workshop alumni. (Shannah Montgomery/PSO)
The workshop series culminates in a competitive seed grant opportunity, where participants collaborate on rural research proposals with PSO and Extension faculty. Each year, the program accepts up to 20 academic faculty, and participants are required to apply for a competitive seed grant of up to $10,000 at the end of the program. Grant projects must be rooted in locally identified needs and must include collaboration with a PSO unit and/or Extension.
The workshop has so far included 63 faculty members from across UGA colleges and schools and has provided 34 seed grants totaling more than $260,000. Alumni from the first few cohorts of the Rural Engagement Workshop have already generated more than $12.5 million in subsequent funding. Projects have included everything from the CARE Center — an Alzheimer’s and related dementias program in the College of Public Health — to forestry carbon workshops from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources to income tax assistance from the Terry College of Business, and more.
UEDA brings its members — higher education institutions, private sector businesses and economic development organizations — together to facilitate economic growth and expand economic opportunity in their communities. UEDA Awards of Excellence winners represent the top university-based economic development initiatives in the country, as judged by their peers.
The award is the fourth for UGA since 2017, following last year’s win for the PROPEL program at the UGA Institute of Government, the 2018 win by the Archway Partnership for its work on health care in rural Georgia and the 2017 award earned by Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant for its work in helping mitigate the impacts of sea level rise along the coast.
Nominations for the next cohort are now being accepted through Nov. 4 and must be submitted by an academic dean.