University of North Georgia

Five 2021 University of North Georgia (UNG) graduates plus two 2019 alumnae will see their dreams come true this year. All seven were selected as finalists for the U.S. Fulbright Program for the 2021-22 academic year. The highly competitive and prestigious program enables graduates to pursue research activities, become English Teaching Assistants, or enroll in graduate school.

In ceremonies held May 5-7 by the University of North Georgia, 50 graduating cadets were awarded commissions as second lieutenants. These in-person ceremonies required masks to align with COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

The deans of each of UNG's colleges announced the names of those students who made their respective lists for spring 2021. Dean's List recognition is achieved by having at least a 3.5 grade point average, carrying 12 or more credit hours in one semester and having no grade lower than B.

University of North Georgia (UNG) President Bonita C. Jacobs recognized students who achieved a 4.0 GPA during the spring 2021 semester. Students enrolled in 12 or more credit hours in bachelor's degree programs who achieved a 4.0 grade point average were named to the President's Honor Roll. Students enrolled in associate degree or dual enrollment programs who met the same level of achievement were named to the President's List.

Two University of North Georgia (UNG) students have been chosen as Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) finalists: Bailey Pieplow and Zoe Rumbaugh. Three other UNG students, Roderick Selman, Daniel Shearer, and Maggie Simmons, were chosen as alternates.

The following people recently were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

For the first time in a decade, two University of North Georgia (UNG) students presented their research to the U.S. Congress in a virtual event on April 27-28.

Cadets from the University of North Georgia (UNG) generally spend the summer between their junior and senior years experiencing the grueling Advanced Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed that training to an academic-year-long effort known as Operation Agile Leader for seniors on campus. Operation Agile Leader was the Army-mandated replacement in 2020-21 for Advanced Camp, which cadets must complete to be commissioned in the military. Cadets are tested on areas that include rifle marksmanship, hand grenades, first aid, Army combat fitness, and land navigation.

Six UNG students won the Boren award in spring 2021. The Boren Scholarship and Fellowship provide up to $25,000 for students to intensively study language and culture abroad. Five students earned the scholarship while one received the fellowship.

The University of North Georgia (UNG) finished sixth out of 11 schools participating in the National Security Agency Cyber Exercise (NCX) held virtually April 8-10. After entering as an expo team in 2019, this was the first year UNG participated as a competition team. UNG faced off against the nation's five other senior military colleges, three service academies and two National Security Agency (NSA) units.

Four students won awards during the 26th Annual Research Conference on March 26, which was conducted virtually via Zoom. The awards were for best overall presentation and first place in oral presentation and poster presentation,

A long wait did not change the trajectory of the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Ranger Challenge program. Eighteen months after sweeping the top two spots at Spartan Ranger Challenge and two years since UNG last competed at the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition, UNG earned a third straight ROTC title. The school finished fourth overall out of 44 teams at Sandhurst, which was held April 16-17 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

UNG senior Jacey Sherman and her fiance, UNG alumnus Trevor Bowman, were accepted to the Teach Thailand Corps program. It recruits and places graduates of American colleges in schools in less-developed provinces to teach English and other subjects in Thailand. The pair will leave in May 2021.

Major General Ray Shields, the Adjutant General for the State of New York, announces the promotion of members of the New York Army National Guard in recognition of their capability for additional responsibility and leadership.

Brooklyn Herrera and Ashlee Pollard, both pursuing the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in higher education leadership and practice at the University of North Georgia (UNG), have each received a $1,000 Louise McBee Scholarship. They were the lone winners from 36 statewide applicants for the scholarship to support educational enrichment for women exhibiting leadership potential in a higher education field.

Six students teams at the University of North Georgia shared their innovations and received feedback as part of the 2021 innovateUNG Pitch Challenge. The March 16 event had teams in person at the Library Technology Center and judges and spectators participating through Zoom.

"Driven," holistic," "model," "servant," "action oriented," "champion of diversity," "dedicated," and "outstanding" are some of the words University of North Georgia (UNG) faculty and staff used to describe their nominees for the Female Student Leadership Award. The Women of UNG, a shared-interest group of the university's alumni association, selected 10 female student leaders out of 55 nominations for the recognition this year.

Elizabeth "Liza" Greenberg won the title of 2021 Miss Georgia Teen USA in February. She is a freshman at the University of North Georgia, where she is pursuing a degree in elementary and special education.

University of North Georgia (UNG) men's basketball player Zach Brown has been named as one of four additions to the NCAA Committee to Promote Cultural Diversity and Equity. Brown, a redshirt junior from Princeton, New Jersey, pursuing a degree in marketing with a concentration in digital marketing, joins the committee that reviews, endorses and makes recommendations regarding diversity and inclusion matters.

University of North Georgia sophomore Susana Sandoval was selected as a semifinalist for the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. More than 400 semifinalists were chosen from a pool of more than 1,500 applicants attending 398 community colleges in 44 states and the District of Columbia. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation provides students in their second year with up to $40,000 per year toward the completion of a bachelor's degree in one of the nation's elite four-year universities.

University of North Georgia junior Justin Bray, who is pursuing a degree in communication with a concentration in public relations, was selected by Campus Compact as UNG's Newman Civic Fellow. He is one of 212 students from 39 states, Washington, D.C., and Mexico in the 2021-22 academic cohort.

A team of almost 50 University of North Georgia (UNG) students finished fourth in scoring among the 59 colleges and universities that competed at the fall 2020 RNMKRS College Sales Skills Competition. The virtual event used artificial intelligence robots to help students practice their sales skills. Jessica Berliner, a senior from Gainesville, Georgia, pursuing a degree in management, finished No. 4 individually out of more than 2,100 competitors.

Even with changes to the National Security Agency (NSA) Codebreaker Challenge in 2020, including a vastly expanded scope of tasks from previous years, the University of North Georgia (UNG) emerged victorious for the second year in a row. UNG students, faculty and staff tallied 323,150 points, while second-place Georgia Tech finished with 74,010. Oregon State University, University of Cincinnati, and University of California, Santa Cruz rounded out the top five of the event that wrapped up Jan. 31. Eighty-nine UNG participants completed the first six tasks of the challenge, with no other school having more than seven players complete that many tasks. UNG also had 27 participants complete the seventh task, with the next-closest school having four competitors reach that point. UNG's team had 168 participants complete at least one task.

Hannah McSwain could have settled for a strong capstone project with Dr. Ahmad Ghafarian in fall 2020. That simply is not how she works. The senior from Ellijay, Georgia, pursuing a degree in computer science wanted to get more ideas to further her research on cloud-level network security. McSwain applied and was accepted to present her research at the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges' Southeastern Conference in January.

University of North Georgia (UNG) cadets have earned honors for their academic and military training accomplishments, some as Distinguished Military Graduates and some as Distinguished Military Students.

UNG students MacKensey Clark and Julia Raybon received scholarships from the Lois and Lucy Lampkin Foundation.

Record-setting is one word to describe the University of North Georgia's (UNG) efforts to secure students and alumni placement in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. This spring, UNG has 18 semifinalists for the prestigious, highly competitive fellowship program. It bests the previous high mark of 13 semifinalists from 2019.

Six UNG students were selected as Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) semifinalists with two being first-time applicants and the other four repeat applicants. The CLS program funds American undergraduate and graduate students to complete intensive language study abroad in the summer.

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.