C-PIES

Sciences Scholars Named University Center of Exemplary Mentoring Program Fellows

dgivens8 — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 17:04:41 +0000

Sciences Scholars Named University Center of Exemplary Mentoring Program Fellows dgivens8 Wed, 04/16/2025 - 13:04

Five Ph.D. scholars from the College of Sciences are the newest members of the Georgia Tech University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) Ph.D. Fellowship program, which now includes the College’s Center for Promoting Inclusion and Equity in the Sciences (C-PIES).

“This is the first year the College of Sciences has been involved with UCEM, and it will be very impactful for the professional development for these students,” says Lewis Wheaton, C-PIES director and professor in the School of Biological Sciences. “The process for selection was highly competitive and these students really demonstrate strong scientific ability, have compelling research, and are having a powerful impact in the college community and beyond.”

The new UCEM/C-PIES Fellows:

The Georgia Tech UCEM Ph.D. Fellowship program has the goal of increasing the number of outstanding engineering, science, and computing Ph.D. students from underserved populations. The program seeks to support students from backgrounds that include African American/Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander. The Georgia Tech UCEM Ph.D. Fellowship provides three years of support for students who have recently completed the Ph.D. Qualifying/Preliminary exam.

C-PIES at the College of Sciences works in collaboration with the College of Engineering and the College of Computing — through the Georgia Tech Underrepresented Minority (URM) Graduate Leadership Initiative — to support the Expand Access focus area of the Institute’s strategic plan for graduate student enrollment and retention.

Meet the College of Sciences UCEM Fellows

Sarah E. Gonzalez

“I was excited and relieved to find out I was a UCEM Fellow. As everyone knows, being a grad student isn’t the most financially stable position, so anything extra is a big help,” Gonzales says.

Gonzalez researches in the lab of Associate Professor Elisabetta Matsumoto, studying knitted fabrics and their mechanical behavior. “She is my biggest supporter at Georgia Tech. We have a very tight-knit and supportive research group.”

Danielle Grau

“I was shocked and elated when I received the email with the news, and excited about the opportunity to be a part of such a prestigious fellowship,” Grau says. “I am excited to see what opportunities and relationships it will forge in the future.”

Assistant Professor Alexander Robel is Grau’s thesis adviser. “I am extremely grateful and appreciative for all the support, guidance, and encouragement he has given me throughout my time at Georgia Tech. He's a phenomenal mentor and advisor, and I wouldn’t have had any success without him.”

Sierra A. Knavel

“I was enthusiastic to hear about receiving the award,” Knavel says, “and eager to join a community that wants to help each other succeed while at Georgia Tech.”

Knavel, whose research interests include low-dimensional topology, has Professor John Etnyre as an adviser. “He is the reason I can say I'm in the math Ph.D. program, and that I know I belong here.”

Tony Lemos

“When I applied to the UCEM fellowship, I had doubts that I was accomplished enough to be chosen for this fellowship,” Lemos says. “When I received the email announcing that I had been selected for this award, it was a great surprise, and I was immediately filled with immense gratitude. I am very thankful to be one of the students to receive this gift that will help me become the first in my family to obtain a doctoral degree.”

Lemos is a research assistant in the biophysics lab of Professor Harold Kim, who is his adviser. “He has been a great mentor who helped me get this far at Georgia Tech. He is a great role model that showed me what it means to be an effective scientist. He also challenged me to grow in areas I was uncomfortable with in the lab. I am thankful for his mentorship and unending support.”

Autumn Peterson

“I was super excited to hear that I was named a UCEM Ph.D. Fellow,” Peterson says. “Mentorship has always been important to me. I would not be in the position I am in now without mentors who have supported me throughout my academic career. I am looking forward to strengthening my mentorship skills and serving as a role model for aspiring scientists coming from underrepresented backgrounds like I do.”

Peterson’s adviser is Associate Professor William Ratcliff, who is also Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences. ‘I want to thank him for his immense support throughout my academic journey. I would also like to thank Anthony Burnetti, a senior research scientist in the Ratcliff lab. Both Ratcliff and Burnetti are both extremely supportive, kind, and knowledgeable, and I am grateful to have them as mentors.”

Earlier this year, Peterson and Ratcliff were co-awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study.

“We are so proud of our UCEM/C-PIES Fellows," says Lea Marzo, C-PIES Program Operations Director. "The students selected for this fellowship are brilliant researchers and we are delighted that Georgia Tech’s Office of the President is making an investment in their success. We cannot wait to see what the future has in store for these fellows."

Subtitle

With goals to boost science, engineering, and computing Ph.D. researchers from underserved populations, UCEM grows in 2023 to include students from Schools of Biological Sciences, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics

Summary sentence

Summary

Dateline

Tue, 10/10/2023 - 12:00

renay.san@cos.gatech.edu

Contact

Writer: Renay San Miguel
Communications Officer II/Science Writer
College of Sciences
404-894-5209

Editor: Jess Hunt-Ralston

Keywords

College of Sciences

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

School of Biological Sciences

School of Mathematics

School of Physics

UCEM (University Center of Exemplary Mentoring) Ph.D. Fellowship

C-PIES

Center for Promoting Inclusion and Equity in the Sciences

Lewis Wheaton

Danielle Grau

Sierra Knavel

Tony Lemos

Autumn Peterson

Categories

Institute and Campus

Student and Faculty

Student Honors and Achievements

Mercury ID

670327

Source updated

Tue, 10/17/2023 - 17:49

Faculty Open the Classroom with C-PIES and HHMI Fellowship

admin — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 20:42:41 +0000

Faculty Open the Classroom with C-PIES and HHMI Fellowship admin Thu, 03/07/2024 - 15:42

Whether you’re fresh out of high school or going back to school later in life, your first college-level course can be intimidating. And while Georgia Tech offers numerous resources — drop-in tutoring, learning assistants, peer-led study groups — that provide extra support, they aren’t always accessible to everyone.

The Open Course Project aims to address that gap with self-guided, interactive support for math and statistics courses at Georgia Tech — and beyond.

“The Open Course Project was started in order to be an extra resource for students,” says Stephanie Reikes, a lecturer in the School of Mathematics and one of the project’s leaders. “Many students are entering college with gaps in their knowledge due to online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. I wanted to create a course for students to self-enroll and be able to work at their own pace with the material.”

Support from Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The project was born out of the Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellowship, established in May 2023 by the College’s Center for Promoting Inclusion and Equity in the Sciences (C-PIES). The annual fellowship, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, funds one project proposed by Georgia Tech faculty that promotes inclusive teaching.

Reikes was named a 2023-2024 C-PIES Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellow alongside colleagues Greg Mayer, academic professional in the School of Mathematics; and Bekki George, former academic professional in the School of Psychology for the trio's collaborative proposal for the Open Course Project. Hi Shin Shim, a graduate student in Psychology, has since joined the team to develop the statistics course.

“The original idea was to promote inclusive teaching in a unique way,” says Lea Marzo, program director for C-PIES. “We chose this group because their project really homes in on helping students from disadvantaged communities that maybe don’t have basic foundations in these courses.”

With its self-paced material available completely online, Marzo says the courses allow students of any background — and with any schedule — to “get those foundations.”

Opening up the classroom

Development of the Open Course Project began in the summer of 2023, with the first courses launching in the fall. During that time, Reikes, Mayer, and Shim established databases with recorded videos, supplemental notes, and practice problems for college algebra, multivariable calculus, and statistics.

“Students come to Georgia Tech and find that they need a refresher or that they’re struggling with these courses but can’t necessarily go to tutoring — maybe they’re remote, maybe they work full time, or maybe they’re just not comfortable with in-person tutoring,” Marzo explains. “This gives students another avenue to access this information.”

The online courses are completely self-guided, allowing students to build foundations in these areas from anywhere at their own pace. Enrollment in these courses also provides automatically graded assessments with hundreds of exercises that offer instant feedback to students.

More than 500 Georgia Tech students have enrolled in the courses since the project's launch. To make the materials even more accessible, the team also opened the courses to the general public at no cost.

Publicly available courses currently include college algebra and multivariable calculus, with a statistics course projected to come online sometime this summer.

Because of this, Marzo points out, “any school can use it — and you're essentially getting top level education for free.”

Summary sentence

More than 500 Georgia Tech students are taking advantage of self-guided, online math and statistics courses to provide free extra support for students who may need it — on campus and beyond.

Summary

More than 500 Georgia Tech students have taken advantage of the self-guided, online math and statistics courses designed by faculty and students from the School of Mathematics and the School of Psychology. Also open to the public, the courses were created to provide free extra support for students who may need it — at Georgia Tech and beyond.

Dateline

Thu, 03/07/2024 - 12:00

jess.hunt@cos.gatech.edu

Contact

Writer: Audra Davidson
Communications Officer II
College of Sciences

Contact: Jess Hunt-Ralston
Director of Communications
College of Sciences

Keywords

cos-community

cos-students

C-PIES

academic outreach

tutoring

News room topics

Campus and Community

Categories

Community

Education

Mercury ID

673389

Source updated

Thu, 03/07/2024 - 15:41

Graduate Student and Advisor Pair Awarded HHMI Gilliam Fellowship

dgivens8 — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 15:40:12 +0000

Graduate Student and Advisor Pair Awarded HHMI Gilliam Fellowship dgivens8 Mon, 10/23/2023 - 11:40

For the second consecutive year, a Georgia Tech student and their advisor have been awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study. Autumn Peterson, a Ph.D. student in biology, will receive $53,000 per year for up to three years for dissertation research. Peterson’s advisor, William Ratcliff, will participate in activities that address challenges to diversity and inclusion at the graduate level.

“Receiving the HHMI Gilliam award will allow me to conduct innovative research while building leadership and mentorship skills–all attributes that are necessary to become a better scientist,” said Peterson. “Ultimately, this will help me prepare for a career in academia as a professor.”

HHMI awards student-advisor pairs based on the student’s potential for scientific leadership and the advisor’s commitment to a culture of inclusion in academia.

“Through my academic journey at Virginia Tech, University of Kansas, and Georgia Tech, I have had wonderful mentors and colleagues, but I have had few Black faculty role models,” said Peterson. “It wasn’t until I worked with Brian Atkinson, an African American professor at the University of Kansas, that I even considered becoming a professor. That research experience put me on a path that led directly to Tech and underscored my commitment to outreach broadening participation in science. I am looking forward to being a part of the HHMI community and fostering leadership and mentorship skills that will help me succeed in my career in academia so I can be a role model for future generations of students.”

The program awards grants to dissertation advisors and encourages the grantee institution and the advisor to facilitate institutional changes to create environments that advance diversity and inclusion.

“As an advisor, I’m delighted to see Autumn’s work and leadership recognized this way,” said Ratcliff, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences and co-director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences at Georgia Tech. “This fellowship is also a huge opportunity for us to do cool science, become better scientists and mentors, and work to improve diversity and inclusion at Georgia Tech. I cannot wait to get to know the broader community of Gilliam Fellows and mentors.”

As part of the Gilliam Award, the advisor will also complete a year-long culturally responsive mentorship skills development course.

“This fellowship provides key resources and professional opportunities that I think can make me a better advisor and can support our work on behalf of trainees from underrepresented groups at Georgia Tech more broadly,” said Ratcliff.

Fellows are required to participate in the Gilliam Annual Meeting, Gilliam Leadership Training course, and one HHMI Science Meeting per year in the second and third years of the fellowship award where there will be Gilliam-specific discussion sessions.

Learn more about the HHMI Gilliam Fellows program here.

Summary sentence

For the second consecutive year, a Georgia Tech student and their advisor have been awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study.

Summary

For the second consecutive year, a Georgia Tech student and their advisor have been awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study.

Dateline

Thu, 07/27/2023 - 12:00

Contact

Sara Franc
Communications Officer
Graduate and Postdoctoral Education

Associated importer

Keywords

graduate students

CMDI

cos-students

cos-community

cos-microbial

C-PIES

Categories

Institute and Campus

Student Honors and Achievements

Mercury ID

668620

Source updated

Tue, 10/17/2023 - 17:50

Tech Promise Scholarship Expands to Help More Georgia Students

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 16:56:19 +0000

Tech Promise Scholarship Expands to Help More Georgia Students admin Tue, 02/21/2023 - 11:56

The Georgia Institute of Technology is furthering its commitment to enrolling talented Georgia students from low-income families by expanding the G. Wayne Clough Georgia Tech Promise Program to include even more students with financial need.

Under the new program guidelines, Tech Promise will now assist qualified families whose annual estimated family income is $55,500 or less.

Thanks to this expansion, more Georgia students than ever before will be able to graduate debt-free from Georgia Tech.

“For more than 15 years, Tech Promise has helped some of Georgia’s brightest talent overcome financial constraints so they can pursue their dreams and create multigenerational change for their families and communities,” said President Ángel Cabrera. “We’re proud of this program and excited about its expansion, which will create untold opportunities for even more of our state’s best students.”

Tech Promise is the first program of its kind provided by a public university in Georgia. It offers the possibility of a debt-free degree to hundreds of talented and ambitious students who, without financial assistance, would likely not be able to achieve the dream of graduating from Georgia Tech.

“We are very pleased that the expanded Tech Promise program will allow us to serve more of our state’s outstanding students by removing financial barriers,” said Steve McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “We also know there is more work to be done here. Our Transforming Tomorrow fundraising campaign will give us incredible opportunities to continue expanding access to students from all backgrounds and walks of life.”

Since 2007, more than 1,000 students from 103 Georgia counties have benefited from Tech Promise. The program fills a gap in the financial aid support system by picking up where other scholarships and financial aid options leave off, covering a student’s full cost of attendance.

“From its inception, the Promise program has demonstrated Georgia Tech's commitment to removing the financial barrier to earning a bachelor's degree. Today, with this expansion of the Promise program, limited-income families can see that Tech's commitment to these talented Georgia students is stronger than ever,” said Paul Kohn, vice provost for Enrollment Management.

Rick Clark, associate vice provost of Enrollment Management, echoed Kohn’s sentiments about the Institute’s responsibility to Georgia:

“As a public university, our goal is to serve our state by expanding access to Georgia's most talented students by providing an affordable world-class education, regardless of economic background. Increasing our investment in Tech Promise is a reflection of that commitment,” Clark said.

Tech has a well-established tradition of providing access to financially disadvantaged students, beginning first with low tuition and fee charges, coupled with available scholarships, student loans, and the nation's largest voluntary co-op program. Because of these programs, Georgia Tech has opened the doors of opportunity for many students including first-generation college graduates.

Today's students, tomorrow's leaders.

You can help even more students benefit from programs such as Tech Promise. Philanthropic support for scholarships and fellowships makes it possible for Georgia Tech to recruit the brightest, most talented students from around our state and around the world. Support students today.

Summary sentence

Under new program guidelines, Tech Promise will now assist qualified families whose annual estimated family income is $55,500 or less.

Summary

Under new program guidelines, Tech Promise will now assist qualified families whose annual estimated family income is $55,500 or less.

Dateline

Tue, 02/21/2023 - 12:00

Contact

Becky Tankersley

Enrollment Management

Meet the Scholars

Tech Promise touches the lives of hundreds of Georgia students each year, helping them achieve the dream of a Georgia Tech education without the burden of debt. Read more about the students who have been directly assisted by this unique program.

Marquetta and Marteisha Griffin, Mechanical Engineering and Biology

As first-generation college students from rural Georgia, twin sisters Marquetta and Marteisha Griffin anticipated having to take out student loans to fund education costs not covered by scholarships. That is, until they received news that they qualified for the G. Wayne Clough Georgia Tech Promise Program … Read their story.

Nicole Schuster – B.S. Business Administration, 2020

During her senior year of high school, Nicole Schuster decided to join the Yellow Jacket family after attending a shadow day with the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

“Something about Georgia Tech felt like home,” she said.

After the initial excitement wore off, though, she became increasingly concerned about her family’s ability to pay for college:

“I knew I would have to figure out the money somehow.” Read her story.

Jordan Pope, Business Administration

From an early age, Jordan Pope knew he wanted to go to college, and Georgia Tech was always at the top of his list. So, he focused on doing well in school.

“I was determined that, if I worked hard, I would go to a good college and have the opportunity to do something big,” he said. Read his story.

Location

Atlanta, GA

Associated importer

Keywords

cos-community

C-PIES

News room topics

Campus and Community

Categories

Institute and Campus

Mercury ID

665985

Source updated

Tue, 02/21/2023 - 11:12

Georgia Tech represented at inaugural White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 22:25:44 +0000

Georgia Tech represented at inaugural White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence admin Wed, 12/14/2022 - 17:25

The White House Office of Science and Technology hosted a summit on Monday to launch a national slate of initiatives to build a more equitable, diversified, and inclusive science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) workforce and bolster the nation’s global competitiveness in these fields.

Lizanne DeStefano, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing, was among the more than 100 invited guests from U.S. government agencies, businesses, education, civic, nonprofit, community-based, and philanthropic organizations to attend the inaugural White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence.

“I was most excited to see how so many of the initiatives of Georgia Tech’s strategic plan are aligned with this federal commitment,” said DeStefano, also a professor of psychology in the College of Sciences. “Our plans to reach out to first-generation college students and their families, support K-12 STEMM teachers at all levels, create engaging STEMM enrichment activities for all Georgia students, and strengthen STEMM pathways are key to improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in STEMM.”

DeStefano, whose research interests include the evaluation and sustainability of innovative STEM educational programs and multi-site initiatives, had previously served as co-chair of the National Science Foundation’s STEM Education Advisory Committee. The group was charged with providing oversight and input for the National STEM Education Strategic Plan, involving 19 federal agencies that support STEM education at various levels.

“Since a portion of the plan addressed diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM, this Summit was especially relevant to our work,” she said. “Returning to Washington, D.C. for this momentous occasion in making STEMM education equity and access a national priority was an honor. The state of Georgia is well-positioned to make a real change in this arena with its rich ecosystem of universities and colleges, industry, and community organizations.”

The one-day event included remarks from various government officials in support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to eliminate systematic barriers to entry in STEMM followed by a series of panel discussions with representatives from the public and private sectors who work in this space.

The summit concluded with a call to join the STEMM Opportunity Alliance (SOA), a new landmark organization led by the American Association for the Advancement of Science with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The SOA is responsible for coordinating current and future national efforts with over 90 partners from industry, government, education, research, foundations, and organizations already committed to achieving shared goals for equity in STEMM by 2050.

The five action areas that will be addressed by the SOA are:

Ensure every person has opportunity to participate in STEMM,
Invest in the STEMM teacher pipeline,
Close the funding gap and invest in community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and community-based organizations,

Dismantle bias and discriminatory practices throughout the STEMM ecosystem, and
Close the STEMM information gap with best practices in evaluation, shared indicators of progress and meaningful disaggregation of data.

— Joëlle Walls, CEISMC Communications

Summary sentence

Summit launches national initiative to expand access and opportunities in STEM and medicine fields.

Summary

Summit launches national initiative to expand access and opportunities in STEM and medicine fields.

Dateline

Wed, 12/14/2022 - 12:00

Contact

Joëlle Walls

CEISMC Communications

Location

Atlanta, GA

Associated importer

Keywords

cos-community

C-PIES

diversity in STEM

CEISMC

K-12 education

STEM teachers

Economic Development and Policy

federal relations

News room topics

Campus and Community

Categories

Institute and Campus

Alumni

Economic Development and Policy

Institute Leadership

Mercury ID

663865

Source updated

Wed, 12/14/2022 - 14:40

Working Groups Established to Explore Lifetime Learning Unit

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 16:45:56 +0000

Working Groups Established to Explore Lifetime Learning Unit admin Mon, 10/17/2022 - 12:45

The Georgia Institute of Technology is announcing its intention to launch a new academic unit dedicated to lifetime learning. The new unit will bring together three entities whose work underpins its mission and vision: Georgia Tech Professional Education (GTPE), the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), and the Center for 21st Century Universities (C21U).

This launch means opportunities for new and expanded research, curricula, students, and professional support for educators at every stage “from K to gray.”

Establishing a new academic unit is a long process, and Tech is at the very beginning. Dean Nelson Baker and Dean Charles Isbell are leading the effort, which currently has three working groups:

Academic vision, research, faculty governance, and strategic planning
Business model and operations
Change management and communications

The Institute has engaged an external consultant, Accenture, to survey the existing state of the lifetime learning market and to provide guidance on possible benchmarks against peers and competitors inside and outside of higher education, market opportunities, and best practices of lifetime education ventures.

In the coming weeks, the working groups will ask members of the Georgia Tech community to contribute their knowledge and creative energy to the process. A series of listening sessions will be offered to members of CEISMC, C21U, and GTPE to provide input starting later this month. More information and a sign-up form will be provided to faculty and staff in those units in the next week. If you are outside of these units and wish to participate in the process, please fill out this web form and you will be contacted for events in the spring. The working groups will integrate insights from the community, the consultants, and from earlier working groups into a detailed proposal for the Board of Regents and the University System of Georgia. That proposal will be submitted in early spring next year.

The idea of a lifetime learning unit has been in development for some time. Georgia Tech’s Commission on Creating the Next in Education and its subsequent report led to the formation of an Institute Strategic Plan working group called “GTPE Next,” also chaired by Deans Baker and Isbell. That group made the recommendation to form the new unit.

The members of the lifetime learning working groups are as follows:

Academic Vision, Research, Faculty Governance & Strategic Planning

Co-chaired by: Charles Isbell, Dean, College of Computing and Jonathan Clarke, Associate Professor of Finance, Scheller College of Business

Sonia Alvarez-Robinson, Executive Director of Strategic Consulting
Richard Barke, Associate Professor, Public Policy
Juana Cunningham, Senior Director of Strategic Consulting
Lizanne DeStefano, Executive Director, CEISMC and Professor, Psychology
Charles Domercant, Senior Research Engineer, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Ashok Goel, Professor, Interactive Computing
Stephen Harmon, Interim Executive Director, C21U, Associate Dean of Research, GTPE, and Professor, Industrial Design
Bradley Hastings, Executive Director of Development, Colleges of Computing and Engineering
David Joyner, Executive Director of Online Education & OMSCS, College of Computing
Greg King, Associate Vice President for Economic Development, Institute Relations
Julia Kubanek, Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research
J. Rhett Mayor, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Secretary of the Faculty
Mark Nolan, Associate Vice President of Corporate Engagement
Stephen Ruffin, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, GTPE
Rohan Sohani, Undergraduate Student Body President

Business Model and Operations

Co-chaired by: Nelson Baker, Dean, Georgia Tech Professional Education and Daren Hubbard, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology

Mary Albertson, Director of Technology Licensing, Commercialization
Sonia Alvarez-Robinson, Executive Director of Strategic Consulting
Pam Buffington, Director of External and Faculty Engagement, C21U
Juana Cunningham, Senior Director of Strategic Consulting
Jeffrey Fischer, Director of Information Technology, GTPE
Brandi Foley-Rodgers, Senior Director of HR Strategy and Faculty Administration, Office of the Provost and Office of the EVPR
Kathleen Gosden, Associate General Counsel
Laura Hessler, Senior Director of HR Support, Administrative Service Center
Cindy Hope, Associate Vice President, Research Administration
Glenn Hopkins, Principal Research Engineer, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Emily Howell, Senior Director of Budget Reform
Gloria Kobus, Bursar
Cynthia Martin, Director of Institute Financial Support for Research
Patrice Miles, Assistant Dean of Business Operations, GTPE
Brandon Mitchell, Director of Finance, CEISMC
Reta Pikowsky, Associate Vice Provost and Registrar
Tanesha Steward, Director of Affiliated Organizations, Office of the General Counsel
Kellye Terrell, Senior Director, HR Business Partners, Georgia Tech Human Resources

Management and Communications

Co-chaired by: Renee Kopkowski, Vice President, Institute Communications and Jennifer Herazy, Associate Vice President for Strategy and Administration, Office of the Provost and Office of the Executive Vice President for Research

Brittany Aiello, Communications Program Manager, C21U
Sonia Alvarez-Robinson, Executive Director of Strategic Consulting
Susan Burns, Associate Chair for Finance and Administration, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ann Claycombe, Director of Communications, College of Computing
Juana Cunningham, Senior Director of Strategic Consulting
Michael Hagearty, Assistant Vice President of Campus News and Special Events, Institute Communications
Shannon Helton-Amos, Director of Marketing and Digital Strategy, GTPE
Susie Ivy, Director of Organizational, Academic and Research Communications, Institute Communications
Morgan McCombs, Director of State Relations, Institute Relations
Alex Orso, Associate Dean of Off-Campus and Special Initiatives, College of Computing
Rachael Pocklington, Program Director of Strategic Communications and Initiatives, Institute Communications
Laura Pusateri, Director of Employee Engagement and Well-Being, Georgia Tech Human Resources
Joëlle Walls, Communications Manager, CEISMC
Sara Warner, Senior Director of Communications, Student Engagement and Well-Being

Summary sentence

Establishing a new academic unit is a long process, and Tech is at the very beginning.

Summary

The Georgia Institute of Technology is announcing its intention to launch a new academic unit dedicated to lifetime learning. Establishing a new academic unit is a long process, and Tech is at the very beginning. Dean Nelson Baker and Dean Charles Isbell are leading the effort, which currently has three working groups.

Dateline

Fri, 10/14/2022 - 12:00

provostsoffice@gatech.edu

Contact

Susie Ivy, Director
Organizational, Academic and Research Communications

Keywords

lifetime learning

learning innovation

flexible learning

cos-community

C-PIES

News room topics

Campus and Community

Categories

Institute and Campus

Mercury ID

662210

Source updated

Mon, 10/17/2022 - 12:44

Student Engagement and Well-Being Launches Two New Student Wellness Centers

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 03:29:31 +0000

Student Engagement and Well-Being Launches Two New Student Wellness Centers admin Thu, 09/08/2022 - 23:29

The Division of Student Engagement and Well-Being has announced the opening of the Wellness Empowerment Center and the Center for Mental Health Care and Resources. Based on continued assessment of Georgia Tech’s student support programs, student feedback from the past year, and in alignment with the Cultivate Well-Being Action and Transformation Roadmap for students, these new centers will help improve and expand student wellness programming and mental health support for Yellow Jackets.

When Luoluo Hong started at Georgia Tech in 2021 as the inaugural vice president for Student Engagement and Well-Being, efforts were well underway to augment student mental healthcare services.

“Pieces of the framework for mental health and emotional wellness support had been established in many ways. Georgia Tech’s Mental Health Task Force and the Institute’s A Path Forward – Together initiative addressed many of the needs and challenges of our campus community,” Hong said. “We now need to take the next step and adopt a holistic, more proactive approach to all eight dimensions of wellness in order to address the needs of our students today and into the future.”

Formerly known as Health Initiatives, the WE Center aims to educate, encourage, and equip students to prioritize their own health and wellness, as well as become active participants in healthy lifestyle choices. It will provide research-based programs and services that advocate for holistic wellness, with a special emphasis on addressing the unique needs of students with marginalized identities.

Using a comprehensive approach, the WE Center will focus its efforts on the eight dimensions of wellness: environmental, emotional, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social, and spiritual.

“We are expanding our efforts to ensure we are prioritizing prevention and focusing on the whole person and not only certain dimensions, as they all work together and are interdependent. It’s important for undergraduate and graduate students to have the resources and skills to be proactive instead of reactive,” said Joi Alexander, director of the Wellness Empowerment Center, which will engage and empower the Georgia Tech community to pursue optimal health and wellness and maximize their potential where they live, learn, work, and play.

The second center to launch this month, the Center for Mental Health Care and Resources, reorganizes the Center for Assessment, Referral, and Education (CARE) and the Counseling Center into one unit. It will proactively promote mental health and advance a culture of self-care and of shared community responsibility around crisis response and case management. And it will include a dotted reporting line from Stamps Psychiatry to ensure that student mental healthcare is purposefully coordinated and integrated. With this alignment, students will have greater and quicker access to more case managers, decreased wait times, and increased critical care through referrals and interventions. Students will continue to visit CARE as their primary point of access to campus mental health services.

“What we learned from student feedback and from the pandemic is that we need to focus on a proactive approach to mental health and wellness,” said John M. Stein, associate vice president for Student Engagement and Well-Being and Brandt-Fritz Dean of Students Chair. “Counseling and mental health support programs are still very important and will continue to be supported, but even more important is the preventive approach to wellness that these new centers highlight.”

The launch of these two new centers complements the dedication to campus culture change and improved well-being for our entire campus community that will be the new focus of the Division of Student Engagement and Well-Being and the Cultivate Well-Being Action and Transformation Roadmap.

Summary sentence

The Division of Student Engagement and Well-Being has announced the opening of the Wellness Empowerment Center and the Center for Mental Health Care and Resources.

Summary

The Division of Student Engagement and Well-Being has announced the opening of the Wellness Empowerment Center and the Center for Mental Health Care and Resources.

Dateline

Tue, 09/06/2022 - 12:00

Contact

Sara Warner
sara.warner@gatech.edu

Keywords

student well-being

mental health

wellness

cos-students

cos-community

C-PIES

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Campus and Community

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Institute and Campus

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660916

Source updated

Thu, 09/08/2022 - 21:59

C-PIES

Sciences Scholars Named University Center of Exemplary Mentoring Program Fellows

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Faculty Open the Classroom with C-PIES and HHMI Fellowship

Support from Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Opening up the classroom

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Graduate Student and Advisor Pair Awarded HHMI Gilliam Fellowship

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Tech Promise Scholarship Expands to Help More Georgia Students

Today's students, tomorrow's leaders.

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Meet the Scholars

Marquetta and Marteisha Griffin, Mechanical Engineering and Biology

Nicole Schuster – B.S. Business Administration, 2020

Jordan Pope, Business Administration

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Georgia Tech represented at inaugural White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence

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Working Groups Established to Explore Lifetime Learning Unit

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Student Engagement and Well-Being Launches Two New Student Wellness Centers

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