The UGA Griffin campus has big plans in place for the upcoming academic year, including introducing one undergraduate degree completion program and one graduate program.
This fall, the campus will be adding an undergraduate interdisciplinary studies program-one discipline with a psychology concentration and one discipline focusing on sociology.
The psychology program will help those students looking at careers or further degrees in elder care services, adoption or child-care agencies, human resources or advertising and marketing. The sociology program will provide a foundation for programs such as social work, criminal justice and public administration.
“Since we are one of the disciplines within the new Interdisciplinary Studies undergraduate degree program, we are very excited about hiring a full-time faculty member,” said Adam Goodie, associate professor and undergraduate coordinator for the psychology department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
“These programs are the result of what the community really wanted and asked us to bring to the campus,” said Doris Christopher, assistant vice president for academic affairs and director of academic programs at UGA-Griffin.
A group of vice presidents of student affairs in the University System of Georgia wanted to provide access to a student affairs leadership program to their mid-level managers and directors on their campuses; therefore, a doctor of education degree in student affairs leadership within the College of Education is also among the new offerings this fall.
The program, with a cohort of approximately 15 students, has a goal to provide doctoral-level education for student affairs professionals around the state.
The three-year student affairs leadership program will be offered with a mix of face-to-face and distance learning.
“The blended format allows individuals to work on their own at their campus or from home, but it also allows them to connect with a faculty member and cohort members at some point during that session so they can address any unanswered questions,” said Candace Maddox, program coordinator for the student affairs leadership program.
The program has a unique feature that will allow for some of the tuition cost to be covered for those who work for USG institutions.
The first degree completion programs were introduced in 2005. There are now 10 undergraduate programs and four graduate programs, and Christopher expects more to be added in the future.
