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Faculty Extend Vinson Institute Teaching to UGA Classrooms

UGA graduate and undergraduate students have been studying under several of the Vinson Institute's faculty this semester in courses ranging from municipal law to environmental policy to community planning. While the Institute's faculty are generally found delivering classroom professional development for government leaders and practitioners, the for-credit UGA classes give them the chance to reach the state's future leaders as well. The courses also expose students to a wide range of perspectives as they learn from instructors who work closely with state and local governments throughout Georgia.

Ted Baggett, head of the Institute's local government services unit, is teaching a graduate-level class in the Department of Public Administration and Policy called Municipal Law. He describes his course content as "what every future city and county manager should know about local government law." Students learn about the overall legal context in which local government officials and employees operate and principles for how to navigate within it.

Theresa Wright, who manages the Institute's Survey Research and Evaluation unit, is also teaching a graduate course. Offered through the UGA Institute for Higher Education, she teaches Strategy and Management in Higher Education. Students learn how universities and other institutions of higher education develop and implement strategies for organization, diversification, expansion, and management.

Rob McDowell and Jason Evans of the Institute's Environmental Policy Program are both involved in on-campus instruction. Students in McDowell's Environmental Policy course through the ecology department are learning about federal, state, and local environmental regulations and their impacts. Evans is one of several faculty contributing to the Interdisciplinary Environmental Law Practicum through the UGA Law School, which explores the law as it relates to water and biodiversity issues.

Finally, Chrissy Marlowe of the local government training team has developed a freshman seminar for UGA's First Year Odyssey program that introduces students to concepts of community planning. The class is learning about local government's role in planning and zoning and what benefits and challenges are associated with it. The class has taken walking tours of Athens to explore the real effects of community planning and will attend an Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission meeting to witness the process in action.

Teaching for-credit classes is just one way the Vinson Institute reaches out to UGA students. Each semester, the Institute hosts undergraduate interns through its Vinson Fellows Program. The Institute also involves a number of graduate assistants in its work with state and local governments and cosponsors UGA's nationally recognized Master of Public Administration program.