August 27, 2026
Message from Dean Zvonkovic on the Market-Based Adjustments
The University was approved to provide market-based salary adjustments for both staff and faculty to support recruitment and retention, address market alignment and salary compression, and respond to documented retention needs. Faculty and staff who will be receiving an adjustment were notified earlier this week. No notifications will be issued to those who did not receive an adjustment. The purpose of this message is to explain the framework and process we use to determine these salary adjustments. 
This market-based salary adjustment was intended to address differences between an employee’s current salary and relevant market conditions. It is not a merit increase or across-the-board salary increase. Eligibility for an adjustment was based on established criteria below. Once eligibility was confirmed, performance did not influence whether an employee received an adjustment or the amount of the adjustment. To be eligible, an employee must meet all of the following requirements provided by University HR:
  • Hold a regular, fully benefits-eligible position with at least 30 standard hours as of August 1, 2025 through September 1, 2026
  • Have been in their current role for at least six months or more
  • Have a completed performance evaluation for the most recent evaluation cycle
    • Staff must have an average performance rating of 3 or higher
    • Faculty must have an overall performance rating of 3 or higher
  • Have no active investigation, pending performance or disciplinary issue, or performance improvement plan
Meeting these requirements established eligibility but did not determine that an adjustment would be made. 
Parameters provided for salary adjustments included:
  • Individual adjustment: 2%-6%
  • Expected unit/institutional average: 3%-3.5%
  • Available funding pool: Up to 2.5%
  • Maximum participation: Up to 75% of faculty and 75% of staff
  • Across-the-board increases: Not permitted
The faculty and staff funding pools were separate. Funds or participation percentages could not be shifted between populations.
For staff, University Human Resources (UHR) provided the College with their analysis of market adjustments based on positions across campus and market data. The analysis involved looking at the midpoint for the BCAT and the number of years of service in the role. Unit heads provided initial input and recommendations in June. We (Jenny Dutton Goss and I) then did an additional internal analysis of staff salaries in the College and made increased adjustments to HR’s initial recommendations using College-level data and input from supervisors.
For faculty, no analysis was done by UHR. I solicited recommendations in June from unit heads who were prepared for this exercise with the eligibility criteria. The unit heads submitted their recommendations and rationale for each employee to Jenny Dutton Goss and me. We took these recommendations and compared across units to ensure that the same compression criteria were used. We compared across track, rank, and years in rank to ensure that all tracks and ranks were recommended based on the criteria and the proportion of employees in the tracks and ranks within the College. 
All recommendations from the College were submitted to UHR for validation and subsequent approval by the University System of Georgia. UHR approved all of our recommendations and then added another 0.25% to each faculty and 0.35% to each employee who was recommended for a raise. The average increase per employee is 3.4%
I understand how important compensation is to our faculty and staff. Salary decisions have a very real personal impact. Within the University’s requirements, we in FACS are committed to working through this process with care, fairness, and consistency. Please feel free to follow up with your supervisor or myself.
ANNUAL REPORT 
For FY2026, the College has developed a short, readable annual report. We are proud of the work faculty, staff, and students have done this past year. We are delighted to share this report as a flipbook. Many thanks to the Assistant and Associate Deans for their work condensing the hundreds of pages of accomplishments and to Cal Powell and Brandi Herrin for the final product. Please take a look here.
Dawson Hall Copier
Reminder to all who use the copier in Dawson Hall:
  • Refill paper, particularly when you print a lot
  • Remove colored paper, card stock, etc. after you are done printing
  • Do not replace toner until the machine tells you to change it. Low toner will still let the machine print. Replacing it early causes the copier to malfunction
  • If there are ever issues with the printer, tell someone in the Dean’s Office, Suite 224, Dawson Hall
  • When using a USB, make sure to safely eject the USB and not just pull it out of the copier
Teaching Faculty Learning Community
The FLC is led by Assistant Dean Melissa Landers-Potts. There will be programming all year long. We kick things off this semester by hosting a peer teaching evaluation pair work session. Come with your mentor/mentee and gain important skills that will help both of your portfolios! 

Facilities Project Update: HVAC Unit Cleaning

Beginning next week, contractors from Atlas Environmental will begin a scheduled HVAC maintenance project, starting with units located on the first floor. This work is part of an ongoing effort to support building operations and maintain efficient HVAC performance. 

As the project progresses, Facilities Management will provide updates every two weeks outlining the areas and HVAC units scheduled for cleaning during the upcoming phase of work.
Building occupants may notice contractor activity in affected areas while maintenance is being performed. Every effort will be made to minimize disruptions to normal operations.

New Technology in Dawson Classrooms

OTIS has worked with a vendor to refresh the AV system in four classrooms. Dawson 101 received a 98" interactive display.  Dawson 312, 306, 208 all received new, bright laser projectors and they are bright and beautiful. 

Extron control box buttons
  • System On / Off
    • Turns on Projector (or display)
    • Lowers projector screen (not in Dawson 101)
  • PC: The PC will be displayed on the projector (display)
  • Laptop: The laptop attached to the HDMI cable will be displayed on the projector (display)
    • NOTE: If you want to use the microphone for remote teaching, you must also connect the USB-A (old style USB) cable to your laptop
  • USB-C (or blank): The laptop attached to the USB-C cable will display – microphones are attached as well, no need to attach the USB-A cable
  • Volume knob: controls volume of the selected device
New installations always come with a few small issues, and this refresh is no exception. Here are issues OTIS has seen in these rooms:
  1. You cannot “extend” the PC display. Normally, you can set the podium PC to “mirror,” or “duplicate” the display so the same image on the podium shows on the projector/display for the class. It will only duplicate for now. This means you cannot use this function to blank the projector/display either. There is a workaround: use the projector remote and find the AV Mute button on the left side, near the Home button. This also means you can’t use PowerPoint notes with this setup. 
    NOTE: If you bring a laptop and switch to it, you CAN use Extend mode.
  2. In Dawson 312, the volume knob has a long lag time of about 5-6 seconds between rotating it and having a result.
  3. The ceiling and podium microphones aren’t working properly with the system yet.
OTIS is working with the vendor to resolve these issues.
Financial Well-being Workshop  
You are invited to this workshop that is being made available for USG employees as a part of the Financial Resilience and Education Center.  
  
Learn how to set goals that stick, track spending, improve credit, pay off debt strategically, avoid costly financial traps, and create a strong financial playbook for the future.   
Led by Ken Chrzanowski, Assistant Director for the Financial Resilience and Education Center  
Wednesday, September 2  
10-11 a.m.  
Via Microsoft Teams  
New resource for student videos
Do you want to create and share videos with your students? This is how to do that.
UGA has bundled Kaltura with eLC for this exact kind of use, and it's available to you right now. 
Here’s a direct link to a short intro video on how to use it:
International students at UGA
At your unit meetings, information on recent sweeping changes in international students in the U.S. was presented. Some of these changes take effect on September 15, which means that action to mitigate their effects should be taken very soon. Given how broad the impact of these changes is, we have arranged several sessions with Office of Global Engagement just for FACS. If you work with international students and/or will be helping to recruit international students, you should attend. There will be a later one for students. Big thanks to Donella Moore in TMI for arranging these! 
Lead@3
The Office of Academic and Community Engagement invites you to join us for Lead @ 3, a leadership speaker series designed to bring faculty and staff together to learn from meaningful leadership stories and experiences.
Each program features a guest speaker who shares three pieces of advice drawn from their professional and personal leadership journey. Through candid reflections and practical insights, speakers will explore what it means to lead at work, in the community, and at home.
Fall 2026 Speakers
Dr. Paula Lemons
Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
VKW Ballroom, Memorial Hall
Dr. Carolyn Clevenger
Founding Dean, University of Georgia Victoria Kay Ivester School of Nursing
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Special Collections Library
Dr. DeRetta Rhodes
Executive Vice President and Chief People & Culture Officer, Atlanta Braves
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
VKW Ballroom, Memorial Hall
ERP podcast now available! 
  • Monthly podcast hosted by Grace Victor, Change Impact & Engagement Lead for the USG Unified Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Program.
  • Features candid updates on the Unified ERP Program. 
  • Shares program progress, key decisions, and insights from guest speakers across the initiative. 
  • Helps end users and stakeholders better understand the program, address misconceptions, and prepare for go-live.  
  • Offers a behind-the-scenes perspective on the program’s journey and impact. 
  • Current and future episodes will be available on the podcast page. The September podcast will focus on “What is Workday HCM?” 
SIGN UP here to receive the podcast in your inbox!
Upcoming events
October 29 – Fall College Assembly, Dawson 116
November 2-7 – Beat Week
November 7 – GCDS Friends and Family Fall Festival
November 5-8 – UGA Family Weekend
December 10 – FACS Convocation
December 11 – UGA Graduation
Sincerely,
Anisa M. Zvonkovic
Dean and Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Family and Consumer Sciences
Tags: college update • dean's update