Updates From The Dean - Issue 32

This has certainly been a tumultuous semester with the disruption caused by two hurricanes. From a class perspective, we are not scheduling any additional make-up days for instruction. All faculty are asked to use alternate methods of instruction as a means to catch up on lost instructional time. This can include posting videos, adding required reading assignments, or a variety of other instructional activities that are appropriate for your classes. Please post these alternative instructional activities in Folio. If audited, we will pull data from Folio to show how we as an institution made up the lost time to meet the required instructional time as outlined in USG and University policies. For my Organic Chemistry I class, I shifted the schedule to eliminate some exam review days and will post a couple of video lectures in Folio. This will allow me to get back on schedule by the end of semester.

COSM has selected Drs. Aaron Schrey and John Carroll as the Administrative Fellows for Research. Aaron and John will step in to assist with the research operation in Brent Feske’s absence from the Associate Dean of Research. Please join me in congratulating Aaron and John on these positions. I am looking forward to working with them in these roles as we continue to look for ways to support and grow our research enterprise.

As you likely saw, we received approval from the Board of Regents last week to begin to offer a Bachelor’s of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree in Fall, 2025. This program begins a process of building biomedical sciences as an area of emphasis for COSM. We are also searching for a director for the Center for Biomedical Research and Innovation as well as have a team that has started preparing a proposal to establish a PhD in Biomedical Sciences. These programs and centers allow COSM to establish collaborations with the Medical College of Georgia at Savannah (MCG) as well as the Dental College of Georgia at Savannah that is in the planning phase. Both of these programs are on the Armstrong campus.

We are working with MCG to establish a guaranteed admissions program for Georgia Southern students into the MCG program. As planned, new freshman students will be accepted into the guaranteed admissions program as they enter Georgia Southern. Upon completion of all the requirements, the students will enter medical school during the summer of the fourth year where this year will satisfy the requirements for the student’s first year of medical school as well as the senior year of study for their bachelor’s degree. This 3+3 B.S./M.D. program shortens the time for students to receive their M.D. by one year. Hopefully, the MOU for the program will be approved this fall allowing us to accept the first freshman students into the program for Fall 2025.

The Faculty Governance Committee and I have been working on some updates and revisions to COSM Manual and Bylaws. The current plan is to complete the revisions this fall and begin the process for broad discussions across the college about the changes in the spring semester. Assuming everything is ready, we will conduct a vote for approval of the updated documents in late spring semester. If you have any questions about the changes, please contact your departmental representative on the Faculty Governance committee or me directly.

Sincerely,

Mike