Excellence in Action

Partnerships create opportunities. Let’s dive into that.

First, let’s look globally. We not only have an international campus in Wexford, Ireland, but we are developing significant partnerships with the higher education system there, exchanging ideas and resources to create learning experiences that will launch our students onto a global job market with real international exposure. One of those relationships is with South East Technological University, which is the first technological university in proximity to our Wexford Campus. Because our institutions’ goals are so well aligned, we’ve established a partnership that puts students first and creates a learning environment of innovation, opportunity and growth.

Within our region, we have cultivated a relationship with alumni who are making a difference. One of those alumni is Dan Cathy, who graduated from Georgia Southern in 1975. You may know him from Chic-Fil-A, but did you also know that he is CEO of Trilith Studios in Fayette County, GA? This 700-acre site boasts a 400-acre backlot with 32 soundstages. This is the same place that Marvel’s Ant-Man was filmed in 2015. We are working on a path to send our students to Trilith to pursue several areas of filmmaking – from screenwriting to set construction and sustainability to costume design. There are so many areas that can be utilized for our students to gain valuable experiences, and I’m excited for this new opportunity.

Another relationship everyone in our area is excited about is with Hyundai. Our students currently make up a significant portion of the current workforce for the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) plant onI-16 in Bryan County, and we’ve had boots on the ground from day one. Glenn Gibney and the Office of Career and Professional Development team have been working hard to place many of our graduates being employed there, and it’s not just engineers and business majors they’re hiring. They’ve employed alumni from several of our colleges, including students graduating with degrees in chemistry, mathematics, human performance management and anthropology. The HMGMA partnership is growing stronger each day and it will promise better jobs for our students. This will impact the marketability of our graduates, which is the goal of higher education.

I’m also excited to announce that Dr. Michael Huggins, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, and Dr. Craig Harvey, dean of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing, have formed a team that seeks to work with partners in aviation to tackle sustainable fuels. The Sustainable Fuel Research Network assembles the intellectual and technical talents of our faculty researchers and university resources to better engage with corporate partners interested in finding implementable solutions in sustainable fuel technology. Through these partnerships in innovation, they seek to find a better way forward to develop more efficient and sustainable fuel sources.

As you see, partnerships create opportunities. These are the major examples of how we are working together to build a better future for our students, one relationship at a time. Look at the ways you can work not only within your college, but within our university to do the same.

Research Expenditures Soar

Georgia Southern University has reported a new record for its research activity, marking a new milestone in its growth as a nationally designated research university and the home for public impact, real-world research.



Student Scholarship Symposium

We currently have a total of 234 student presentations on both Statesboro and Armstrong campuses, with almost equal submissions in both oral and poster presentations. Dr. Monika Raj from Emory University is the keynote speaker.