University of North Georgia

Three members of the University of North Georgia's (UNG) chapter of Pi Kappa Phi raised more than $18,000 for The Ability Experience this summer. Started in 1977 by the fraternity, The Ability Experience operates by "empowering people with disabilities and reshaping the way society views disabilities." Through the effort, Mitchell Canupp, Collin Pucko and Landon Rozier took part in a 560-mile cycling journey across the state of New York, making stops at some of the organizations benefiting from the ride.

Students, faculty and staff of the University of North Georgia (UNG) provided a free program this summer that offered structured training for 95 youth athletes ranging in age from 7 to 12. Doctoral physical therapy students created workouts for the Balance Agility Quickness (BAQ) Academy, and three of them worked alongside UNG employees and former student-athletes to coach the students on Wednesdays and Sundays at Nighthawk Ridge.

Two previous attendees of Steps to College (S2C) at the University of North Georgia (UNG) gave back this summer to the program that helped shape them by serving as a teaching assistants. S2C ran from June 1-24 at UNG's Gainesville Campus. Brissa Salazar and Mario Angel Climaco were grateful for the chance to help students get high school credits and practice their English. But even more, their S2C roles helped them recall what it was like to be in their students' shoes.

Students, faculty and staff from the University of North Georgia (UNG) invested in the next generation of national leaders at the Youth in Government (YIG) Expo hosted Feb. 23-25 by the Georgia Center for Civic Engagement in St. Simons Island, Georgia. They assisted with the cybersecurity and national security academies within the expo. The academies each included hands-on learning activities such as escape rooms and dead-drop locations for exchanging secret information. It was all with an eye toward helping high school students gain an early taste of potential careers in government.

University of North Georgia (UNG) students and faculty member Dr. Linda Purvis hosted their ninth annual Poultry 101 event for middle and high school students Feb. 22 at UNG's Gainesville Campus.

Visual arts students at the University of North Georgia (UNG) have created art to promote the nonprofit Adult Children of Aging Parents (ACAP) at bus stops in Gainesville, Georgia. UNG's Institute for Healthy Aging and the nonprofit Legacy Link Inc. serve as sponsors for the Hall County chapter of ACAP, and this collaboration allowed the students to learn more about ACAP and figure out how to promote the way it serves caregivers.

Students in a biology class on the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Oconee Campus have created the Red, White and Blue Honor Garden as part of the pollinator garden on campus.

UNG students and faculty gave back to Hall County through volunteering at a Habitat for Humanity build this fall.

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) College of Education (COE) co-sponsored Future Georgia Educators (FGE) Day to identify, recruit, prepare, and retain the next generation of Georgia's teachers. Roughly 175 students from local high schools attended the Oct. 31 event, held at the Convocation Center at UNG's Dahlonega Campus.

Domini'que Allen, a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in human services delivery and administration, was awarded the inaugural Benny Bagwell Community Impact Award by the South Hall Rotary Club.

University of North Georgia (UNG) visual arts faculty and students aim to inspire kids at a Gainesville, Georgia, low-income housing complex to take an interest in art by involving them in it. Craig Wilson, associate professor of visual arts, and four of his students assisted the Gainesville Housing Authority and community volunteers in painting a mural this summer at Midtown Villages at Melrose.

More than two years ago, Dr. Tom Diggs dreamed of creating a small-scale herbarium on the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Gainesville Campus. Now, the plan has reached the halfway point thanks to the hard work of UNG students.

UNG student Catlin "Cat" Corrales' internal knowledge of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper led her to turn a class project into a real-world application for the nonprofit. During the fall 2020 semester, Corrales developed and designed a GIS app for CRK's Neighborhood Water Watch program.

University of North Georgia (UNG) students and faculty across departments continue to collaborate to maintain Mount Hope Cemetery and help the City of Dahlonega promote tourism at the historical cemetery through a map and brochure, as well as use it as a learning lab.

Honors Program students at the University of North Georgia (UNG) directed their creative talents to a local camp for their community outreach project in the fall.

UNG seniors Melanie Mitchell and Michelle Vatral signed on to work with the Gainesville Housing Authority (GHA) to organize, design and paint a 9-by-18-foot mural on a white concrete wall at the Melrose Apartments in Gainesville, Georgia.

While many of their peers headed off to beaches and other locales for fun and relaxation, 18 University of North Georgia (UNG) students traveled to Cloudland Canyon State Park in Trenton, Georgia, to spend the first few days of spring break building environmentally friendly walking trails.

Working in school buildings and one-room churches, a team of nursing faculty and students from the University of North Georgia (UNG) faced challenging conditions to provide healthcare services to impoverished sugarcane workers and their families in the Dominican Republic in May.