September 1, 2023 Dear Friends, As we enter the new academic year, we remain extraordinarily proud of the Institute’s multidisciplinary scholarly environment, pioneering outreach programs, and distinctively enriching professional networks. The vitality of the McBee Institute’s intellectual life is central to our continuing ability to attract graduate students, faculty colleagues, and collaborators in our research and service commitments. This past year faculty, students, and alumni conducted meetings and presented research across the country and internationally in Europe and Africa. Generous external support from private sources, foundations, and government agencies has allowed our faculty and students to investigate how best to expand students’ college access and completion, improve state and federal policy effectiveness, and facilitate successful institutional leadership and change. Even as they face some of the most difficult challenges in higher education, our students and graduates continue to secure solid employment and earn promotions along their career paths. The Georgia College Advising Corps continues to embed advisors in new school districts as it widens footprint across the state. For over a decade, the program has been a model for data-informed outreach to high-school students. In 2022, the GCAC leadership started an exciting program to offer more professional-development opportunities to the advisers and assist them as they transition after their two-year advising terms to graduate school or new careers. This spring the Governor’s Teaching Fellows program offered its first STEM-focused session with faculty from large, small, public, private, two-year, and four-year institutions throughout Georgia. This fall, program welcomes Dr. Naomi Norman as its new program director. A long-time UGa faculty member, Dr. Norman brings to the program her extensive experience in instructional research and development. Through all these successes and initiatives, we are encouraged to see our Institute community continue to deepen its ties with colleagues around the country and the world. Over the recent years, the network of McBee alumni and friends has spread remarkably, with notably expanded representation in Utah, Texas, and the metro Washington, D.C. area. As many of you know, the late Dr. Louise McBee set a standard as an effective champion of excellence and affordability in higher education, not only on campus but also in her work with community stakeholders and government leaders. She was our champion and our benefactor, and she remains our inspiration. So, once again this year, I invite you to embrace the “strength of McBee” wherever you are. Our graduates tell us that the special McBee spirit, cultivated by faculty, staff, and students, played a significant role in their Institute experience and in bonding them into our lifelong community. All of us in Meigs Hall are committed to maintaining what is so special about this place. We invite you to consider ways to be involved and supportive of our programs and events. Check our social media and news feeds to learn about the MIHE community’s activities and accomplishments, the events calendar to find ways to connect, and the gifts page to contribute to our work. Sincerely, Jim Hearn Professor and Interim director
