College Update 8/13/25

Message from Dean Zvonkovic 

Welcome back to fall semester! This “special edition” of the College Update is to welcome you to a new school year. We will resume our regular features and schedule on September 1.  It’s always so inspiring to see new faces and returning faces, bringing noise and vitality to the floors of Dawson and Barrow halls. We are excited for all of the positive changes and growth going on in the college. We especially welcome new staff and faculty!  

Last spring, I launched monthly informal meetings about specific topics of interest to you. We included topics related to teaching and the current research landscape. Please let us know what topics may be of most interest to you as we plan our fall meetings. Our new Associate Dean for Research, Chuck Geier, and I are planning to have one on a topic related to research. Another topic could be the expansion of the Institute on Human Development and Disability to behavioral health and how our current faculty and staff can get involved.  

New Roles in the College 

Given the additional attention to Health Sciences at UGA (with the new UGA medical school and a new nursing school being planned as a possibility), we in FACS are working to position ourselves as central to the university’s success in health. Toward that goal, Connie Rogers has been appointed, in addition to her role as Department Head of Nutritional Sciences, to an additional administrative role as Senior Director of Health Initiatives. In this role, she will continue her work with the instructional preparation of pre-health students (serving on the Task Force for Preeminence in Health and Medicine at UGA), and she will help coordinate our interprofessional education efforts, as well as liaising across the university to coordinate FACS linkages in interdisciplinary work related to health in engagement and research. Dr. Rogers was also selected as an SEC Academic Leadership Development Fellow for 2025-26.  

I am pleased to announce Dr. Assaf Oshri, Human Development and Family Science, has been named the Samuel A. and Sharon Y. Nickols Professor. Sharon Nickols served as dean of the college from 1991-2006, a time of tremendous growth and accomplishments. She and her husband established the professorship to enhance the work of a faculty member through scholarly activity, writing and publishing and other activities that advance knowledge and practice. 

The new cohort of FACS Faculty Leadership Fellows and their projects are: 

I’m excited to see these foci on students and on curriculum: Dr. Pazdro’s project is relevant to service-learning and working with populations experiencing health challenges; Dr. McClure and Dr. Kozak’s project relates to internships and professional preparation and placement of our students both in business and in social service and other settings, and Dr. Fan's has a special focus on graduate students. Dr. Wieling and Dr. McIntosh’s project will enhance our course offerings in behavioral health and will interface with the Institute’s work with direct service providers in behavioral health and disability across the state. Please do not hesitate to reach out to these colleagues about their projects. 

New University Roles 

I am excited to announce that 2 of the 9 Service-Learning Faculty Fellows selected from the 2025-26 cohort are in FACS! Dr. Kristy Archuleta, Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics, and Dr. Rob Pazdro, Nutritional Sciences, will participate in this year-long program to develop new service-learning courses or integrate service-learning into existing courses or academic programs. They will receive a $2,500 faculty development award and mentoring from experienced Service-Learning Fellows, as well as individualized support from the Office of Service-Learning. 

Dr. Dee Warmath, Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics, was invited to serve as a member of the UGA School of Medicine Research Center’s Executive Advisory Committee. This five-year term will focus on strategic planning, programming, research proposals, and collaborations, as well as serve as an advisory group to the Center Director and liaison back to the college. Dr. Warmath was also selected as a Faculty Innovation Fellow, serving as a liaison between the college and the UGA Innovation District. Read more about Dr. Warmath on our website.   

Dr. Lauren Housley, Nutritional Sciences, and Dr. Noel Card, Human Development and Family Science, were appointed as a Generative AI & Teaching (GAIT) Faculty Fellows for 2025-26. Only 15 faculty were selected for this honor by the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning. 

Transitions in Research and New Opportunities 

The Georgia Clinical and Translational and Science Alliance (CTSA), https://georgiactsa.org/ is seeking proposals from faculty at Emory, Morehouse School of Medicine, UGA, and Georgia Tech for inclusion in its January 2026 NIH renewal. There are three types of funding opportunities for inclusion in the application: 

Submit Letters of Intent by September 2, 2025. For more information, https://georgiactsa.org/_includes/documents/sections/news/georgia-ctsa-rfa.pdf, or you may also reach out to Dr. Alison Berg, Dr. Courtney Brown, or Dr. Allisen Penn. 

  

Register for the Weekly CTSA E-Roundup newsletter by emailing GeorgiaCTSA@emory.edu.  

Legislation update 

As part of the federal reconciliation bill (H.R. 1) passed on July 3, 2025, the United States Congress eliminated all funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Program nationwide. 

This legislation has a profound impact on our work. Together, UGA FACS Extension agents, program assistants, the state SNAP-Ed team, and students built a program that has empowered individuals and families across the state to improve their health, prevent chronic disease, and make informed choices about food and physical activity.  

We have been in communication with our SNAP-Ed team and partners throughout the state and are working to navigate this transition thoughtfully. Please visit the SNAP-Ed information page for key information about the program closing. Future updates will be shared at https://foodtalk.org/. 

We are grateful to Dr. Jung Sun Lee for her leadership of the program for the last 12 years, and to our dedicated SNAP-Ed team members for their outstanding contributions. The work they have done will continue to positively impact Georgia communities in the years ahead. 

External funding 

As the external funding landscape remains uncertain, please continue to follow the guidelines issued by the UGA Office of Research. In line with recent communications, we remind researchers to: 1) promptly submit all required grant reports and deliverables, prioritizing sponsor deadlines; 2) share sponsor notices and communications received with SPA (email sponprog@uga.edu, with subject line “Federal Transition”); 3) keep up-to-date with all recent changes to relevant NIH Policies (https://research.uga.edu); and 4) if applicable, update changes in your citizenship status with University Human Resources.  

More information about sponsored projects can be obtained by reaching out to Jill Tincher or Cathy Cuppett in SPA (email above) and general questions can be directed to the Office of the Vice President for Research at vpr@uga.edu. Additional questions related to how these policies and guidelines affect FACS research can be directed to Associate Dean for Research, Dr. Chuck Geier. 

Instruction 

FACS received an OVPI Teaching Enhancement and Innovation grant to supply every Dawson Hall classroom with whiteboards, markers and erasers for student small group work to promote active teaching and learning. Here is a 2-minute video and a webpage with different ways to use whiteboards in higher education.  

For additional information on instruction and syllabi resources, please review the email from Interim Assistant Dean for Academic Programs, Dr. Melissa Landers-Potts, sent on August 4 with the subject Fall 2025 Instruction Memo.  

FACS is planning to offer a Teaching Faculty Learning Community (T-FLC) session on how to ensure our presentation and teaching content comply with ADA standards. More information to follow. 

Schwab funding 

The Charles Schwab Foundation has generously provided a gift to establish the UGA Financial Resilience and Education Training Center, expanding our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) space and enhancing financial literacy efforts across Georgia. This support will enable the creation of a high school personal finance training program and strengthen statewide educational outreach for schools and communities.  

This center will deepen and enrich service-learning and professional preparation among students, expand financial literacy education to high school teachers, students, and adults in the community and across the state. The Schwab funding also will help us host the Charles Schwab RIA Day at the University of Georgia annually. This event will build on the success of the Schwab RIA Day we held in March, and will connect students with Schwab professionals for learning and networking.     

Free news subscriptions 

UGA students, faculty, and staff can now enjoy free online subscriptions to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and The Chronicle of Higher Education through the UGA Libraries. Some of these sites require users to register for a free account using your UGA email address. Follow this link for instructions: https://guides.libs.uga.edu/newspapers/news-databases  

FERPA Updates/directory changes   

To ensure Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) compliance and meet privacy and safety best practices, the college must receive written and signed consent from individual students before it can post any student likeness such as a photo or any non-public/non-directory information on our directory.  

   

We now require undergraduate and graduate students to sign and return an electronic consent form in order for their information to be included in our online directory. The form and instructions can be found here: https://www.fcs.uga.edu/otis/add-reactivate-student-profile   

   

Please contact webmaster Jimmy Hansen (jphansen@uga.edu) or Cal Powell (jcpowell@uga.edu) if you have questions. More information on the new policy can be found on the Office of the Registrar page. 

Welcome 

We also want to welcome new faculty and staff to the college, as well as folks in new roles: 

There are a few other staff positions for which we are actively recruiting. September 1 is the projected start date for the HR Director and OTIS Director. I look forward to introducing these new staff to you in the next few months. 

We are excited to welcome the 2025-2026 FACS Ambassadors. These amazing students have been selected by the college to represent us this academic year. We had a large number of highly qualified and enthusiastic students who applied for Ambassadors this year, so the SSAC has established committees for them to focus their efforts. I’m so grateful to the SSAC for their excellent reputation as a great place to be an Ambassador! 

Please check the upcoming events page for FACS events. Don’t forget to add your event and send story ideas and photo requests to Cal Powell (jcpowell@uga.edu) 

Sincerely,   

Anisa M. Zvonkovic 

Dean and Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Family and Consumer Sciences