Athens, Ga. – A new Washington Semester Program has been created by the University of Georgia as a unit within the Office of the Vice President for Instruction, and a search is under way for a director for the program. Applications for the position are being taken through June 1, with the expectation that a director will be hired this summer.
“We hope to enroll up to 20 undergraduate students each fall and spring semester, starting in spring 2008,” said Jere Morehead, vice president for instruction. “This program will position UGA to be competitive with other institutions that offer similar opportunities.”
UGA students enrolled in the program will be housed in Washington, D.C. and will be employed as interns in various congressional, executive, private and non-profit offices in the nation’s capital.
“This new program will continue the university’s focus on building the undergraduate learning environment in the spirit of the recommendations made by the Task Force on General Education and Student Learning,” said Arnett C. Mace Jr., senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.
The program director will be responsible for the placement of all students and the supervision of six hours of internship credit for each student. The director also will make arrangements for a UGA faculty member to teach courses to enrolled students each semester and will supervise a graduate student who will reside with the students in Washington.
“The development and implementation of this innovative program will require a visionary person who possesses a high level of energy,” said Morehead. “Besides recruiting and overseeing students in the program, the director will need to maintain good working relationships with the university’s director of federal relations and deans of the various colleges with students in the program.”
J. Griffin Doyle, UGA’s director of federal relations, said the Washington Semester Program “should provide a wonderful learning experience and also open doors for students interested in pursuing careers in Washington after graduation.”
Additional information about the director search is online at http://www.hr.uga.edu/wash_sem_pgm_dir.pdf.
