UWG News Archive

Leadership academy receives GA Power gift

March 7, 2003

CARROLLTON, GA - The Georgia Power Company has recently donated $20,000 to the University of West Georgia to support the work of the Leadership Academy, a program Georgia Power helped to establish only a few years ago with a gift of $60,000.

A program of the Department of Educational Leadership and Professional Studies in the UWG College of Education, the Leadership Academy helps facilitate the improvement of student achievement in the West Georgia Regional Educational Service Area (West Georgia RESA) and the Northwest Georgia Regional Educational Service Area (NW Georgia RESA), which together encompass about 200 schools and 23 K-12 school systems. Its initial work is focusing on helping beginning principals become more effective leaders as one way of encouraging school improvement and increasing opportunities for improvement in student achievement.

To optimize resources and facilitate an effective working relationship among the project’s stakeholders, the academy has enlisted the cooperation of collaborative partners that include the Georgia Power Company, the Georgia Department of Education’s Leadership Academy and the 23 school systems of the West Georgia and NW Georgia RESAs. An 11-member Advisory Committee of area superintendents, veteran and beginning principals, central office staff and University staff provides program guidance.

“Georgia Power has long supported public education in the state of Georgia,” said Anthony Campbell, area manager for Georgia Power Company. “We consider it a privilege to be asked by the University of West Georgia to donate funds to help establish and support the Leadership Academy. The future of Georgia depends on strong and effective public education, and the support that the Leadership Academy provides to our local school leaders is very important to meeting that objective goal.”

Georgia Power’s gift will be used to support the academy’s new Aspiring Leaders Program as well as to continue its other initiatives. Planned and implemented in conjunction with Paulding County Schools and the NW Georgia RESA, the Aspiring Leaders Program helps to develop a pool of qualified potential leadership candidates for a school system. Currently, Paulding County Schools is financing the participation of 20 of its teachers in the yearlong leadership development program. The Georgia Power gift will help to implement the program in other area school systems.

As part of its other initiatives, the Leadership Academy offers services to two cohorts of beginning principals in the West Georgia and NW Georgia RESAs. Those in their first and second year of principalship are invited to participate in ongoing professional development designed to help them better lead their schools to improved student achievement. In addition to a highly interactive program planned around topics they have previously identified as their toughest challenges, second-year principals are offered an “executive coach” to assist them in their professional growth.

The principals are also invited to attend a Summer Leadership Institute on the University campus. In summer 2002, 43 educational leaders and aspiring leaders attended the two Summer Leadership Institutes sponsored by the academy.

“The presentations are extremely valuable,” said academy participant David Hicks, a first-year principal at Carrollton Junior High School. “In addition, the time spent with other people in the field helps with the sharing of ideas and, just simply, creating connections with other schools. It is nice to know that every one of us deal with similar issues on a daily basis, and the ability to share these experiences helps in many ways.”

Pam Doig, a second-year principal at Cannon Street Elementary School in LaGrange, agreed that the monthly presentations and networking opportunities are primary benefits of the program and praised the academy’s executive director, Dr. Ronnie Williams, assistant professor of educational leadership, for his hands-on assistance to the participants.

“He had speakers who really let us know what our superintendents expect of us, and that was very beneficial to me,” said Doig, who earned her Master of Education degree in administration and supervision at West Georgia in 1996. “He has really helped with networking, with facilitating and with helping us make really solid contacts. He even visits the schools. That meant a lot to me that he would drive an hour or hour and a half to see what we were about. I can’t speak highly enough about the academy. I would recommend it to any new administrator.”

Williams stated, “The West Georgia Leadership Academy is meeting a vital need in the West Georgia area. Our efforts to support novice principals have been very successful with 24 beginning principals participating in our program in the first two years. Our most recent initiative to help school systems develop a larger quality pool of potential administrators is off to a great start with the launch of the Paulding County Aspiring Leaders Program. Future plans include formation of a Regional Assistant Principals’ Association and efforts to support a Teachers-as-Leaders initiative. The academy is thankful for the University’s support of this initiative and the wonderful cooperation we are receiving from area school systems and the two RESAs.”

For more information about the Leadership Academy, contact Williams at 770-838-3275 or rwilliam@westga.edu, or visit the academy’s interactive web site at http://coe.westga.edu/elps/LeadershipAcademy.

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