On the road again: UGA New Faculty Tour

Written by Timothy M. Chester, vice president for Information Technology.

Just finished my first day on the University of Georgia New Faculty Tour. This annual event takes approximately 40 new faculty members on a tour of Georgia to view first hand the impacts of teaching, research and service missions on the economy of the state of Georgia.

As the land-grant, flagship institution for Georgia, the university plays several important roles across the state. Our faculty members are key for each of these roles.

• Teaching - Everywhere we stop we will meet graduates of UGA. UGA is beloved all across the state and our graduates are in leadership positions across all sectors of the economy. They all tell us of the impact of their faculty on them as they earned their degrees at UGA. 
• Research - Across multiple sectors of the Georgia economy, from agriculture to advanced manufacturing to services, research by faculty and students at UGA drives innovation all across the state. 
• Service - This is key for land-grant institutions like UGA. At every stop on the tour, we meet the local county extension agents and others who work closely with community leaders, business owners and families to provide support and access to the vast UGA resources that are available to every citizen of the state.

This is my second year to go on the tour, and I'm grateful to Vice President Jennifer Frum and Associate Vice President Steve Dempsey for allowing me to tag along again this year. For me, it's the chance to spend more time building relationships with our new faculty who five, 10 or 15 years from now will be the senior academic leaders of the institution. And after spending a day with them so far, I would say the future is very bright.