President’s January message

Jan 9, 2023

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year and welcome back to our Spring semester 2023!  I hope everyone had time to rest, relax, and recharge during the break and, most importantly, enjoy time with family and friends. 

This semester and 2023 are going to bring incredible opportunities for us at Georgia Southern.  I am thrilled to share with you that Congress has passed, and the President has signed, the FY23 federal spending package that includes $5,680,000 to expand our Soldier Athlete Performance and Readiness program! This federal funding support will allow us to expand our training and certificate programs in partnership with the U.S. Army. Designed to reduce musculoskeletal injuries in soldiers and improve their physical and combat readiness, the program will deliver instruction via in-person workshops and online courses, with the addition of a new in-person support component for some online learning cohorts. Instruction will be delivered by university faculty with support from physical therapy graduate students and military physical therapists. Annalee Ashley, Dr. Nancy Henderson, Dr. Chris Curtis, Dr. George Fredrick, and Dean Whitney Nash have put in immense work on this funding request. Thank you all and congrats on this achievement.

As you look for ways to engage and support our students, you need to look no further than our men’s and women’s basketball teams.  Both have completed the second week of Sun Belt Conference play with winning records and are off to a great start of the season.  In addition, we will be celebrating the MLK weekend with presence at both the Savannah MLK parade (I’ll be walking with our students and the Georgia Southern float) and the parade in Statesboro (which Dr. Dominique Quarles will be attending) on Monday, January 16.  On Friday, January 13, we will have an MLK breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at the Nessmith-Lane Ballroom on the Statesboro Campus and lunch at 12:30 p.m. at the Armstrong Center Ballroom in Savannah.  Dr. Georj Lewis, now president at Atlanta Metropolitan State College, will be our guest speaker. We are excited to invite him back to Georgia Southern and be inspired by his words. To request tickets, please fill out this form. For accommodations or questions, contact Ms. Joyce Baldwin via email at jbaldwin@georgiasouthern.edu.

Finally, I wanted to remind you that the Georgia General Assembly legislative session begins this week. Over the next few months, I will spend more time in Atlanta, helping to advocate for Georgia Southern and University System of Georgia initiatives. I was there last week to present at our budget hearing and make requests for the upcoming fiscal year to the University System leadership team and Chancellor. Remember, this process is the next step in what we started in August by asking each division to assess and document their budget prioritization and needs. At Georgia Southern, we have a great story to tell of student success and impact to the region.

Here’s to a great spring semester!

Sincerely,
Kyle

Last updated: 1/10/2023