December 3, 2025
Contact: Anisa Zvonkovic  | 706-542-4879  | More about Anisa
Message from Dean Zvonkovic 
This is our last update for fall semester 2025 and there will not be an update in January 2026. I want to start with expressing appreciation and gratitude to each our “FACS family” members for your hard work and accomplishments this year. We are doing a lot to build community, and what we do involves the hard work of many people. I’m grateful to each of you who engage in this work.  
On the subject of community, I want to recognize the work of Staff Council. Over the last several years, Staff Council has been a site of reactivation and rejuvenation for many of you. It has been my pleasure to support the work of Staff Council by sponsoring events and by convening opportunities to receive input on university issues. I also want to recognize the Faculty Learning Community that Interim Assistant Dean Melissa Landers-Potts has formed. It continues to be helpful to faculty as we face changes in policies and need to adapt our eLC courses, among other activities. We have also activated a Student Leadership Advisory Group, which met last month and will continue to meet. It helps to develop community among the leaders of our student groups and provides a vehicle for students to express ideas to the Dean’s Office. There are many other, smaller, communities within FACS and I urge you all to take notice of events and opportunities to participate.   
Turning to larger communities, I am gratified by the presence of FACS in the various health initiatives going on across campus and in the sustainability efforts, as well as FACS presence in university-wide strategic planning occurring this year. Our College Assembly focusing on health was highly engaging and successful (great thanks to Connie Rogers and Catie Floyd for planning and to Dean’s Office staff, Leonela Ramirez, Brandi Herrin, and Karli Cotton) for their work in executing the event. We will follow up with further activities related to teaching and health. I look forward to working with the newly appointed Dean of the School of Nursing, Carolyn Clevenger, and continuing to articulate FACS presence in interdisciplinary work related to health, including working with Public Service and Outreach and FACS Extension.  
On an even larger scope, I serve as Chair-Elect of the Board of Health and Human Sciences, a Board of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. I encourage you to read a recent publication we wrote about health and human sciences:  
Our upcoming spring meeting will be at the Spur campus of Colorado State University, located in Denver, March 24-26. Its focus is on innovation. I’ll send more information when it is available.  
Announcement of Ralston Executive Director 
This week we announced the hire of Orion Mowbray as Executive Director of the Ralston Institute for Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. I thank the search committee (Doug Crandall, Hamida Jinnah, Liz Wieling, and Jennifer McDowell) for their hard work, along with the UGA Search Group for their efforts. Here’s a link to the news release Cal Powell wrote: 
This last month saw official university approval of the name change of the Institute on Human Development and Disability to the Ralston Institute for Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. In this time of transition, I am grateful to the IHDD community for their adaptability and vision. More information about the Institute will be forthcoming. The work of IHDD continues, serving as a UCEDD, offering the Disability Studies Certificate, vocational training, direct service provider work, evaluation, and more. Remodeling of space in Rivers Crossing is complete, and, by the new year, the newly created offices will be ready for occupancy. 
University Council Elections 
Per the bylaws of the University Council, it is time to conduct elections for University Council membership as well as membership to the University Council standing committees for the upcoming 2026-27 academic year. Membership on the University Council and standing committees is for three years; this term begins July 1, 2026. 
The following positions are available for nominations and self-nominations: 
  • University Council Membership (1): For University Council membership, any member of the faculty is eligible for election. 
  • Executive Committee (1): Members must also be University Council members. Any member of the faculty is eligible for election. 
  • University Libraries Committee (1): Members do not have to be University Council Members. 
  • Faculty Post-Tenure Review Appeals Committee (1): Members shall be elected by tenured faculty and must be tenured, hold the rank of Professor, and cannot serve on other post-tenure review committees at the school, college, or university level. Members do not need to be members of University Council.  
  • University Promotion and Tenure Appeals Committee (1): Members are elected by tenured faculty only and must be tenured and hold the rank of Professor. Members of this committee cannot serve on other promotion and tenure committees at the school, college, or university levels while serving on this committee. 
  
Please nominate someone or self-nominate to facsdean@uga.edu by Monday, December 8. A formal vote will be distributed via Question Pro in early January. 
Positive College Metrics 
The College experienced a 5% increase in the number of students majoring in FACS this fall compared to last fall.  
The Office of Research has released a new Sponsored Project Activity Report, the NEW Sponsored Project Activity Report, that shows college-level proposal submissions are up within some departments. Awards are also up. It’s great to see the level of activity increase even in the challenging climate! 
College Level Awards, due Jan 30, 2025  
Nominations for the FACS Teaching, Research, Outreach/Extension, Community Builder (information forthcoming on FACS website), and Staff Awards are due Friday, January 30, 2026. The Bill and June Flatt Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, Staff Academic Advisor of the Year and Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Faculty Advisor Award nominations are due January 15, 2026. Self-nominations are welcome!   
Each unit should have an awards committee and chair who promote all awards and facilitate the entire process, from the initial nomination process to completion of the awards packet, along with obtaining letters of support and vitae/resume to the appropriate entity by the deadline.  Units are encouraged to retain copies of awards submissions to accumulate a bank of awards packets to aid others in successful awards submissions.   
Through a nomination process facilitated by the academic departments or units, including Extension districts, awards packets are reviewed by members of the Faculty Advisory Committee, Staff Council and additional stakeholders following the criteria listed for each award. Some awards, not all, are supported by an endowment. Those endowed funds allow for a cash award in addition to the award plaque. Non-endowed award recipients receive only the plaque. All awardees are recognized at the Spring College Assembly.   
Applications for summer Extension internships are now open! These internships will begin on May 11 and end on July 31. If you know any rising juniors, seniors or graduate students who are strong candidates to further the mission of Extension through summer internships, please encourage them to apply before applications close on Jan. 2. More information can be found at site.extension.uga.edu/internships/. 
Lilly Teaching Fellows 
Congratulations to faculty member Sha’Mira Covington, who was named a Lilly Teaching Fellow by the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning, and to Steve Kogan, a Senior Teaching Fellow. You can read more about the Lilly Teaching Fellow program here. 
3-Minute Research (3MR) Competition 
Please plan to participate with your students in the first College of Family and Consumer Sciences 3-Minute Research (3MR) Competition on Friday, March 20 from 3-5pm!  Each FACS unit will identify 2 finalists by early March and they will compete for prize money ($1,000 for 1st prize, $500 for 2nd prize and $250 for 3rd prize) during the college-wide competition. Funds of up to $150 are available for the unit-level finalist identification events.  Please consider attending the competition with or incentivizing your graduate or undergraduate students to attend!  It will be a great opportunity to have fun as a community and learn about the exciting research going on in the college, as well as introduce undergraduates to the ways in which research is relevant to everyday life. 
Spaces and Places: Renovation of House D Progress 
We are engaged in site and architectural studies for House D. We anticipate that the work will start midsemester in spring 2026. House C new occupants will be moving in early spring semester. We are thankful to you all for your flexibility as we improve all these office spaces.  
Hires 
We are right in the middle of the hiring season. Having positions provided by the Presidential Hiring Initiative is especially gratifying because it demonstrates recognition of the value of our work. I encourage you to attend seminars and meetings, even knowing how busy these upcoming weeks and the start of the semester can be. Please monitor your emails for these invitations. I look forward to new colleagues, especially having new positions that are sorely needed in FACS Extension.   
FACS Convocation 
We look forward to celebrating the fall class of 2025 at FACS Convocation on Thursday, December 11 at 10 a.m. at The Classic Center. We hope you make plans to attend. The event will be livestreamed on the FACS YouTube channel. To see a digital copy of the program, visit here. 
The UGA undergraduate and graduate ceremonies will be held on Friday, Dec. 12. For more information on those ceremonies, visit the UGA Commencement page. 
FACS in the News 
  
Upcoming events 
December 11 – Fall 2025 Convocation 
February 20, 2026 – FACS Alumni Awards, Athens Country Club, 11:30 a.m. 
March 20, 2026 – 3MR, 3-5 p.m., 110 Dawson Hall 
April 13 – FACS Spring College Assembly/Awards Ceremony 
Sincerely,  
Anisa M. Zvonkovic 
Dean and Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Family and Consumer Sciences 
Tags: college update • dean's update