“Fight BAC” Creator Named Hill Fellow
Judy A. Harrison, a foods and nutrition professor and Extension foods specialist, has been named a Walter Barnard Hill Distinguished Fellow, the University of Georgia’s highest award in public service and outreach.
Harrison’s efforts to educate Georgians and people across the United States about food safety and preservation have included the development of the Smart Kids Fight BAC!® series, a collection of animated food-safety videos and computer games for children that also includes a rhyming storybook about food safety, a Bac-lopedia and a Bac-tionary. The series was one of only two programs recognized nationally in late 2007 by the Partnership for Food Safety. Harrison and her colleagues at Mississippi State University and North Carolina State University have received nearly $1 million in grant funding for food safety education for children.
Harrison also has helped create food-safety educational materials for produce industry workers and first responders to food and agricultural emergencies.
Also recognized at the annual Public Service and Outreach Conference in February was Gail Hanula, a nutrition educator who helps design and implement programs that promote healthy lifestyles, provide foods and nutrition education to youth, and offer health education for families. Hanula was one of five UGA public service and outreach faculty to receive a Walter B. Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in University Public Service and Outreach.
100 Legacies Campaign Surpasses Goal
The two-year 100 Legacies in the Making campaign surpassed its goal for planned gifts. The campaign closed March 31 with 106 individuals having committed in their wills to make a financial gift to the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Although the total value of the gifts isn’t known, the total amount committed exceeds $3.5 million, according to FACS Dean Laura Jolly.
Those making gifts ranged in age from 25 to 96 and included alumni, friends, current and retired faculty and staff.
The campaign was the first of its kind conducted at UGA. It was led by Katrina Bowers, FACS director of development, and Janet Jones Kendall, development officer.
The campaign has been recognized at the regional level with an Award of Excellence from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education District III.
GAFCS Developing Centennial Exhibit
In recognition of the centennial of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, which will be celebrated from July 2008-June 2009, the Georgia Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Centennial Celebration Committee is coordinating plans to recognize early home economists and celebrate the history of the profession.
The committee is seeking items for a display, including photographs, clothing and uniforms that represent home economics and FACS careers, books, publications, and small equipment items illustrating the period from the 1880s to the 1930s. The display will be developed by a museum studies course taught by José Blanco, assistant professor of textiles, merchandising and interiors.
Anyone who would like to donate items commemorating the history of home economics and family and consumer sciences should contact Darby Sewell (BSFCS ’00, Family and Consumer Sciences Education; MEd ’01, Family and Consumer Sciences Education) at 229-985-4917 or dsewell@abac.edu.
As a part of the celebration, senior consumer journalism major Ali Spizman (Above) and Connie Rash (Assistant Director, Student Services) compiled 80 years of the history of the Student Association of Family and Consumer Sciences into a single scrapbook, which will be used as part of a presentation at the annual GAFCS meeting.
Among the items already in the FACS Historic Costume Collection are dresses that belonged to the college’s first dean, Mary Creswell. The chair can be seen in Creswell’s portrait in Dawson Hall.
Family Financial Planning
Nearly 75 undergraduate family financial planning students helped low- and moderate-income families prepare and file their taxes this year as a part of the IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
The students spent 20 hours in training to become certified to participate in the program, according to Lance Palmer, assistant professor of housing and consumer economics. The FFP program sponsored six VITA sites in Athens and students also helped at two additional sites.
Although the VITA program is coordinated through a community coalition, a grant from the Georgia Federal Credit Union and the UGA Alumni Association, along with a donation from former HACE faculty, provided funding for computers and other equipment for the FFP students’ participation, Palmer said.
The students spent more than 1,400 hours helping families with their tax forms. Tom Cochran, former assistant vice president for student affairs, also volunteered his time working with and supervising the students as well.
Palmer and his colleagues, Joseph Goetz and Nathan Harness, both of whom are HACE assistant professors, are conducting research in conjunction with this project by documenting what clients know about the retirement savers tax credit. The professors also plan to examine whether students’ participation in service learning increases their involvement in professional pro-bono activities after graduation.