The annual Poster Showcase is the culminating experience for students in the community health course to display their service-learning efforts during the fall semester. Students are required to serve in a community organization whereby they learn experientially how to identify community health needs and develop strategies for addressing those needs through mutual learning, critical thinking about the root causes of the health needs and sustainable solutions. Students also learn how to interact with community members from diverse backgrounds.

A significant aspect of the service-learning experience is for students to learn how to work collaboratively with community partner(s), address health and social issues and apply concepts learned in class to real-world challenges.

This year, students were selected to perform their service learning from a list of over 20 community partner organizations working in fields such as human services, elderly care, fitness, nutrition, and after-school programs. Through the service-learning experience, the public health program at Georgia College gave back to the community and impacted the lives of individuals served by our community partners.

This fall, the Poster Showcase took place in the Peabody Auditorium on December 2. It attracted many Baldwin County community members, Georgia College faculty, staff and students who were eager to observe what students had achieved in their semester-long endeavors.

A panel of three judges consisting of Drs. Scott Butler, Sarah Myers, and Sayo Fakayode visited each of the 16 posters on display. They listened to students provide an oral presentation of their work and its impact on the community. At the end of the event, two posters received awards for the first and second-best posters. The first place went to Jasmine Armstrong, Emily Czarick, Justin Harned and Sarah London, who performed their service learning at the Center for Health and Social Issues. The second place went to Sara Bloodworth and Anna Smith, who performed their service learning at the Life Enrichment Center.

Below are photos showcasing the Poster Showcase.

Dunk for Diabetes was an event aimed to raise money for type one diabetes (T1D) research, which involved two main organizations; The Center for Health and Social Issues and the fraternity of Pi Kappa Alpha. We partnered with Pi Kappa Alpha because the philanthropic aspect of their fraternity is partnered with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Over the course of three days, we advocated for this event by tabling on campus and having multiple individuals advertise the flyers made for the event on social media. During tabling, we were able to hand out blue ribbons to help raise awareness for T1D and talk to students about diabetic education on campus. As an incentive for students to donate to type one diabetes research, we had raffle tickets for sale for a chance to win a Yeti cooler and tumbler.

As a result, we raised $1,200 for type one diabetes research by accepting donations through Venmo and cash and selling raffle tickets. At the event, we had multiple infographics with key information about type one diabetes printed out and we gave an educational forum about type one diabetes within the first 15 minutes of the event.

Overall, this event was proven a success, as It was measured by a check-in sheet and by the amount of money we raised for the cause.

Below are pictures from the event.

ODED 4520 Experiential Education students led two presentations for CTL titled “Creating Community in the Classroom.”

Here is a quote from Jim Berger, CTL Director, about the presentation.

“Yesterday’s program was engaging and strongly demonstrative of the programs we strive to put on here at the CTL. It was clear that they were being successful because the participants began talking more and engaging with each other. As I watched, I could see the sense of community build in a group that did not know each other at the start.”

Recently, students in public health attended the University of Georgia's Public Health Conference with Dr. Damian Francis, a professor of public health. The students also had the pleasure of meeting with Montrece McNeil Ransom, Director of the National Public Health Institute.

Madison Christian takes some time to fill us in on part of her journey in Public Health.

I completed my internship in public health at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Jesup, Georgia. Focusing on administrative and non-clinical areas, I rotated to various departments, such as hospital and nursing administration, information systems, oncology services, surgical services, infection control and prevention, education, and human resources. Being able to assist in different areas allowed me to learn how departments interact and work together to ensure the facility is running efficiently.

I worked on many projects throughout the departments, including updating policies and procedures, creating electronic assessment forms, promoting interoperability, supporting patients through financial navigation, reporting immunization data, and processing new hires. However, my focus this past semester was creating an organizational system for documents relating to the Joint Commission's standards. The Joint Commission is an organization that evaluates and accredits health facilities based on compliance with quality standards. Compliance with standards means that a facility actively promotes the safest and highest quality of care. I assembled compliance binders to keep documents organized by chapter and individual standards, which has improved accessibility for hospital employees and Joint Commission surveyors.

After graduating in December 2022 with my Bachelor's of public health and a minor in management, I will work with the Director of Physical Therapy to implement a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at Wayne Memorial Hospital. This internship was the most beneficial experience of my undergraduate career. I believe rotating to multiple departments allowed me to see the "in and out" of how a hospital is run and how all the departments are connected.

I have learned many new skills in data analysis and generating reports, policy and procedure, infection control, quality risk management, onboarding and financial navigation. I could directly apply the concepts I had learned in my classes to the projects I took on. I enjoyed networking with all the professionals I worked with and believe I am now much more prepared to enter the workforce as a public health professional.

Pictured below: Madison Christian

The photo is of her with her Joint Commission Compliance Binders internship project.

Damian Francis – Health Sciences

Project Title: Creating a National Consensus on Centering Racial Health Equity in Evidence Syntheses to Address Racial Health Disparities

Sponsor: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation by way of Texas Christian University

Award Amount: $21,893

Congratulations to these December 2022 Graduates!

The nursing program at Georgia College & State University (GCSU) continues to reap high praise. Intelligent.com recently reported the university offers the 5th Best Online Nursing Degree Program in the nation for 2023.

Intelligent.com also ranked GCSU as 14th for Best Online Master’s in Nursing Programs and 20th for Best Online Nurse Practitioner Master’s Degree Programs nationwide.

In addition, it ranked GCSU as 21st in the nation for Best Online Master's in Educational Leadership Programs.

See the rest of this Front Page story here.

Georgia College Association of Nursing Students (GCANS) hosted a fantastic fundraiser, “Pie A Professor,” with GCMiracle. This fundraiser raised money for BKO Children’s Hospital and the organization GCANS. We couldn’t have done it without our professors Marshall Smith, Talecia Warren, Angela Queen, and Corey Claxton, who enjoyed some of the delicious pies we had to serve. They also had to get payback from the GCANS President, Clara White, who got pied at the end to close off the fundraiser. Thank you to the professors and students who helped in Pie A Professor. This event looks like it will be occurring again in the near future. Who knows who the next professors getting pied will be?

Follow GCANS on Instagram: @gcsu_gcans

The first Lettie Pate Whitehead Scholars attended a team building and leadership exercise with Dr. Liz Speelman at the Outdoor Center on Saturday, November 5. The Lettie Pate Whitehead Scholarship is a full, four-year scholarship for nursing students at Georgia College.

For Millie and Marshall Smith, Georgia College & State University (GCSU) is a family affair.

Marshall, his father, his grandmother and Millie’s grandmother all attended and graduated from GCSU. But the Smiths don’t stop there; they bleed blue and green. And they left a gift in their estate for GCSU in 2012.

Most people don’t think about their wills until later in life, but Millie and Marshall joined the Corinthian Society in their early 30s. At the University of Georgia, Millie said she felt like she was just part of the masses, which is one of the reasons why the Smiths decided to choose GCSU for whom to leave their legacy gifts.

“GCSU offers a very personalized experience and makes it feel as though you are a person rather than just a number. It makes it a very special place. We wanted to give back to the university that gave so much to us; it felt like a personal investment,” Millie, 40, said.

"The Corinthian Society is a group of donors who have chosen to include language in their estate plan that commits to future support of GCSU through a bequest, beneficiary designation or other planned gift," said Emily Lim Boewadt, Senior Development Officer-College of Health Sciences and John H. Lounsbury College of Education. The Corinthian Society currently has close to 100 members.

The couple, which now lives in Bonaire, Georgia met when they were both attending Middle Georgia College in Cochran, Georgia. After leaving that college, Millie went on to the University of Georgia and Marshall went on to have a stint in minor-league baseball within the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. It was during this time the couple married. After playing within the Pirates organization for several years, Marshall enrolled at GCSU and applied for entry into the GCSU School of Nursing. He received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing in May 2008.

After graduating, Marshall hit the ground running and began working in the medical-surgical unit of a hospital, helping to save people’s lives every day. After transferring to a cardiovascular intensive care unit and establishing several years of bedside nursing experience, Marshall was then offered a part-time job as a clinical instructor at Middle Georgia State University, working directly with nursing students within a skilled nursing unit. Smith said initially he only ever anticipated himself working within a hospital; however, he fell in love with nursing education.

After discovering his love for teaching nursing students and training new nurses in 2013, Marshall decided to try his hand at teaching full-time as a nursing faculty member at Middle Georgia State University. However, he quickly realized that there was no place like GCSU, and he came back home to his alma mater in August 2015.

“The individualism and personal investment from the faculty and staff made GCSU feel like a family rather than just another university on the list,” he said.

“It was interesting that many of the professors I had while I was in school became my colleagues and, eventually, my friends. The small-town feel of Milledgeville and the college immerses you in the community,” Marshall, 41, said.

Recognizing that he wanted GCSU to be a permanent fixture in his life, Marshall returned to GCSU in 2015 to complete his Master of Science in Nursing, then obtained his Doctorate in Nursing Practice in May 2020. He is now a tenure-tracked assistant professor of nursing and currently teaches medical-surgical nursing within the undergraduate nursing program. He also enjoys working in the clinical setting with undergraduate and graduate-level nursing programs.

In their free time, the couple enjoys traveling, sports, hunting, fishing and anything that can get them outside. The Smiths also have an 8-year-old daughter with who they devote most of their time. The two said they hope that their daughter will learn valuable lessons from their legacy gift to GCSU.

Millie said, “We want to set a model for her to give something back to something that gave so much to you. We want to leave something lasting because without GCSU, our lives would look so much different. We’re grateful for everything that the university has given to us.”

Pictured below: The Marshall Family

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