PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

“Students are the core of our mission, and they bring an energy to our campuses that we have missed over the past year and a half.”

Looking to the future

First, let me say how good it has been to have students fully back this fall for in-person classes and campus activities! Students are the core of our mission, and they bring an energy to our campuses that we have missed over the past year and a half. While we continue to take precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at UNG, we are optimistic that the threat of the virus will continue to recede. Throughout the pandemic, our faculty and staff have embodied our university values of excellence, integrity, engagement, service, and student-focus to support students and their success. Likewise, donors to the UNG Foundation have played a key role in student success, enabling the Foundation to award $3.2 million in scholarships to more than 4,000 students last year, including more than $450,000 in emergency student COVID relief. I am deeply grateful to you for your support of the university’s mission and our students. Despite the challenges of the past year, UNG and our students, faculty, staff, and alumni continued to excel. Once again, U.S. News and World Report ranked UNG as one of the South’s best universities this fall, and UNG is the top public university in Georgia on its “Best Value Schools” list. Our continued strong performance in national rankings is further affirmation of UNG’s emphasis on academic excellence and our dedication to student success. As a state-designated leadership institution, UNG prepares students to lead in a complex and diverse world — skills that are at a premium in today’s workforce. This issue of University of North Georgia Magazine is filled with inspiring stories of success and leadership by our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. To leverage our momentum, we have resumed the strategic planning process we began in 2019. The pandemic and the fast-pace of technological innovation are shaping new ways of learning, teaching and working, and our planning committee is examining trends, challenges and opportunities to ensure that we continue to be well prepared to serve students in the future. Finally, I am excited that the work on our upcoming sesquicentennial – our 150th year – is underway. Our celebration will begin in fall 2022 and continue through summer 2023. Be sure to watch for details on our plans to build upon UNG’s heritage of excellence and leadership for the future. It remains an exciting time for UNG, and I look forward to working with you to prepare the university for the next 150 years. Sincerely,

Bonita C. Jacobs, Ph.D. President