August 1, 2006

Dear Colleagues:

This Faculty Handbook is a compendium of university-wide policies and procedures. In many instances, these policies and procedures are the UWG efforts to enact policies and procedures that have been put in place by the University System Board of Regents. In other instances, they reflect the collective judgments about prudent practices of faculty and staff that help to enhance our efforts of teaching and learning, research and creative activities, and service to the University, our communities and our professions.

 The faculty and staff at the University of West Georgia make it possible for us to advance our institutional theme Educational Excellence in a Personal Environment. In a wide variety of ways, faculty give life to this perspective – in their caring for the success of students, in their willingness to bring great levels of intellectual excitement to their own work, and through collaborative efforts, to share that same level of excitement to learning to students. From the senior levels of administration and faculty, there is a commitment to teaching of undergraduate students – president, vice presidents, deans, and department chairs alike. And that commitment comes from a belief that as an institution, each of us can contribute in our own ways to make student learning our personal concern.

 Over the last several years, the number of faculty-directed student projects has grown. This growth has come from honors students who have long contributed to our unrivaled success at the National Collegiate Honors Council – most student papers accepted in six of the last eight years. Growth has come from campus celebrations of research and creative activities on Research Day and at Big Night, involving more and more students and faculty each year.

 Over the years, these and other activities have been called the Magic of West Georgia. And it is you who make that magic possible.

 
With best wishes,