James May-June 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 49
Jere W. Morehead, a graduate of the University of Georgia’s School of Law, became President in
2013. Prior to that, he served UGA as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Vice
President for Instruction, and Director of the Honors Program.
Morehead is the immediate past chair of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Board of Directors and previously served as president of the Southeastern Conference.
He serves as a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development and co-chairs the University
Leadership Forum, a national initiative led by the Council on Competitiveness. He also 昀椀nds time
to do some teaching and is the Meigs Professor of Legal Studies at the Terry College of Business.
PK You’ve often said that “educating
Georgians is UGA’s 昀椀rst principle”
and there has been an expansion of
programs and degrees being offered
under your leadership. Can you elaborate on that?
JM I think the University of Georgia, as
a land-grant and sea-grant institution,
has a particularly important mission to
serve the people of Georgia. And we
do that in a variety of ways. Eighty-four
percent of our student body are in-state
students. Eighty percent of our freshman class are in-state students. I think
those two statistics say a lot about who
the University of Georgia serves.
It’s also important to note that the
University of Georgia is an institution
that can better be described as the
“University for Georgia” because we
have an obligation to effectively represent the entire state. Therefore, our
student body continues to come from
virtually every county in this state-either through freshman admissions
or transfer admissions. We’ve tried to
make sure that’s the case.
PK I think I read where 154 counties
out of 159 are represented.
JM That’s right, Phil. That’s a typical
number you’ll see at the University of
Georgia. When you consider our
student body alongside
our public service and
outreach efforts as a
land-grant institution,
we have a presence
everywhere in the
state: whether it’s
UGA offices, our employees across the
state, serving small
businesses, or serving the agricultural
industry, we are trying to do our part
for economic development and support of Georgia industries.
PK Well, how do you measure the
value of an institution like UGA?
JM It goes back to our principles of
instruction, research, and public service and outreach. You look at each of
those individually and collectively to
determine the value of an institution. If
you start with instruction, what you’ll
find over the course of my presidency
is that we’ve made it our motto not to
stand still, but to continue the development of new programs and initiatives
to set our instructional program apart
from other institutions.
For example, since the start of my
administration I’ve taught a freshman
seminar program every fall to send a
signal that teaching is important. If
the president can find time to teach
a seminar, it is a statement of the
importance of instruction at a large
public research university. And one
advantage of that engagement is that
I get new freshmen every fall who
tell me what’s good and bad about
our instructional programs. I learn so
much from getting to know some of
my students and understanding how
they process information.
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