Georgia Southern Holds Fall Convocation
Georgia Southern President Brooks Keel, Ph.D., delivered his annual State of the University address to faculty and staff on Wednesday morning at the Nessmith-Lane Conference Center during the annual Fall Convocation.
Georgia Southern President Brooks Keel, Ph.D., delivers the annual State of the University address during the 2013 Fall Convocation.
With the theme of “Success in Motion,” Dr. Keel stressed that Georgia Southern is a university on the move, and now is not the time to stand still. He pointed out the dozens of accomplishments and honors achieved by the University in the last year which include construction of Dining Commons, a new Biological Sciences Building, being ranked as one of the top 10 most popular universities in the country by U.S. News and World Report for the third year in a row and establishing a new institute for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and research.
“As we get ready for students to return to campus and start classes on Monday, I can’t think of a better time for us to look at where we’ve been and where we are going,” explained Keel. “Our faculty are prepared, our staff are supportive and our students have never been more qualified. A lot of exciting opportunities are ahead this year at Georgia Southern.”
Dr. Keel told the faculty and staff that for the first time since 2008, Georgia Southern is not expecting any cuts to next year’s University’s budget. He sees that as a positive sign that economic conditions are beginning to turn around for the state. “As this institution makes the transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Sun Belt Conference, we are going to use athletics to market the accomplished academics and research being done by the faculty and staff at Georgia Southern and let others know about our success.”
Also during the Convocation, Keel and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jean Bartels, Ph.D., presented the Faculty Awards for Excellence. The winners were:
2013-14 Award for Excellence in Contributions in Service
Yasar Bodur, Ph.D., College of Education
Julie Maudlin, Ed.D., College of Education
2013-14 Award for Excellence in Contributions to Instruction
Scott Beck, Ph.D., College of Education
Lisa Yocco, College of Science and Mathematics
2013-14 Award for Excellence in Contributions to Research/Creative Scholarly Activity
John Luque, Ph.D., Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health
K. Bryant Smalley, Ph.D., College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers 125 degree programs serving more than 20,500 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered approach to education. Visit: www.georgiasouthern.edu.
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