Human Resources’ Young Dawgs Program has been selected as UGA’s 2012 nominee for the regional Outreach Scholarship W.K. Kellogg Foundation Engagement Award for the Southeast.
Sponsored by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the National Outreach Scholarship Conference, the award recognizes programs that demonstrate how colleges and universities have redesigned their learning, discovery and engagement functions to become more involved in their communities.
Created in 2009, Young Dawgs is a rigorous high school internship program that prepares juniors and seniors for post-secondary education and future careers in their areas of interest. Through a competitive application process, students are selected to participate in either the Academic School Year Young Dawgs Program or the Summer Science Young Dawgs Program.
Since it began, more than 190 UGA faculty and staff have hosted more than 450 high school students. The students have logged more than 50,000 volunteer internship hours in various departments on campus and throughout Athens.
During the 2010-2011 school year, 55 percent of the Young Dawgs students were placed in science, technology, engineering and math areas.
The regional awards will be presented at the National Outreach Scholarship Conference Sept. 30-Oct. 3 at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The national winner will be announced at the APLU 125th annual meeting Nov. 11-13 in Denver.