National Outreach Scholarship Conference

I am at the 10th annual National Outreach Scholarship Conference at University of Georgia. You food enthusiasts would have loved the opening reception at the football stadium at club level. The food and personal service were exemplary. The honor bar was not that bad either.

While at this Conference I have seen the countless ways that faculty in all disciplines connect their classrooms to national and international venues to enhance student learning and make the lives of others -- no little or great the need -- a little better, whether the project is little or big in scope, which in turn enriches the lives and learning of those who serve. This was evident in the more than 100 poster sessions that were available for viewing and discussing during the first day of the Conference.

The keynote by Dr. Gee, President of Ohio State University, wondered aloud what is going to take to recognize and reward the efforts of those who connect their classroom to touch the lives of others -- as compared to rewarding resarch on a singular topic in some obscure research journal that may benefit the community at large -- when it comes to merit pay and/or promotion & tenure. I could not agree more.

If interested in this conference for the future, which will be held next year at North Carolina State University, the URL is: www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/conferences/outreach_conference/index.phtml