Dear Jaguar Nation,
As I reflect on my final year leading Augusta University, I often think of what Creating a Legacy Like No Other has come to mean as we have embarked on this bold new path over the last couple of years.
As the fastest growing public research university in Georgia, it means celebrating historic moments, such as surpassing the 10,000-student mark in 2023 with our largest-ever freshman class.
As we continue our upward trajectory in discovery, it means achieving a 9.3% increase in research and development expenditures over the past year and producing more stellar doctoral graduates in the years ahead.
And as one of the largest employers and community leaders in and around Augusta, it means planting seeds of inspiration among our students, faculty, staff and members of the community through partnerships such as the recently opened Junior Achievement Discovery Center.
It’s also about the individual moments that serve as windows into the vibrant life of our university community:
I am filled with immense pride for what we’ve accomplished since we launched our strategic plan in 2022, and I have a great sense of optimism for Augusta University’s future.
In this report, you will find updates on our progress toward our three aspirational imperatives: 16,000 students by 2030, a Top 60 NIH ranking by 2030 with an implicit aspiration to achieve R1 Carnegie Classification and a Carnegie Community Engagement Classification by 2026. You also will find success stories of some of the individuals and teams among our university community who have helped lead the way.
I offer my gratitude to the countless students, faculty, staff, alumni, and corporate, community and government partners who have left their mark on Augusta University. It is thanks to every one of you that AU is truly Like No Other.
Go Jags!
Augusta University provides an experience like no other… a world-class academic and social community that is inclusive and diverse and positions students for opportunity and success. Our vision is to be a top-tier university that is a destination of choice for education, health care, discovery, creativity and innovation. We are proud to be a dynamic, comprehensive research university. We strive to implement our mission, vision and core values in every aspect of our university. We have three aspirational imperatives guiding our work as we move into the next phase of our strategic plan. Our progress toward achieving these imperatives will indicate the effectiveness of our strategic actions.
To provide clarity, transparency and accountability for AU’s strategic alignment efforts, a governance structure was established to illustrate the roles and responsibilities at multiple levels.
The President’s Executive Cabinet serves as the Strategic Planning Council and oversees three primary areas:
The Senior Vice President for Research oversees:
The University Finance Committee is integral to all aspects of the Strategic Planning Governance.
Working through the existing Planning Unit governing process, each Unit-Level Planning Council is a decision-making team of key stakeholders who provide, review, and monitor its strategic alignment process and plan.
2022-2023
2022-2023
2022-2023
2022-2023
2022-2023
Fall 2023
Augusta University Athletics ranked 8th nationally in the NCAA’s DII Helper Helper Service Challenge in recognition of student-athletes’ volunteer efforts across Augusta’s River Region.
Augusta University officially eclipsed the 10,000-student mark in fall 2023, as the university continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. The milestone brings AU one step closer to achieving its aspirational imperative of enrolling 16,000 students by 2030.
AU will receive a $1 million grant from the inaugural NSF Engines Development Awards in the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program. The project aims to bridge the cybersecurity skills gap while simultaneously elevating the socio-economic status of Augusta’s River Region.
A $6 million initiative called Project Smart Growth, established in September 2023, will support the immediate addition of 43 new faculty across the university, 24 new full-time staff, two temporary positions and 42 new student-worker positions, as well as the necessary infrastructure to support those individuals.
Approximately 15,000 local middle school students each year will learn valuable life skills, such as financial literacy and career readiness, in an entertaining and interactive environment in the 30,000-square-foot Junior Achievement Discovery Center, which opened in Evans in January 2024.
Augusta University has secured a $7.5 million grant through its designation as a Specialized Center of Research Excellence on Sex Differences by the NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health. The project's Career Enhancement Core will provide pilot grants to three research projects each year for early-stage investigators.
Laura Williamson, PhD, director of the Center for Bioethics and Health Policy, developed a new mentorship program with Lucy Craft Laney High School. With the help of student mentors from organizations such as the Black Student Nurses Society, high schoolers can learn about potential collegiate and career paths.
The College of Education and Human Development teamed up with the Professional Association of Georgia Educators to host a Future Georgia Educators Day. More than 200 high school students from Richmond, Columbia and Burke counties came to Augusta University to learn more about the profession.
Two research teams from Augusta University received three grants totaling almost $5 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) to continue projects addressing the opioid epidemic gripping rural areas of Georgia.
With the help of JagPulse, a community engagement platform launched in 2023, students, faculty and staff at AU are connecting to nonprofits across Augusta’s River Region. The new online platform allows AU to collect data and report on the engagement taking place in the community each year.
166 students are enrolled in three graduate-level programs: the Master of Science in Information Security Management, Master of Education in Instruction and Master of Public Health. Augusta University and Augusta University Online have also expanded a partnership with the U.S. Army Center of Excellence (CCoE).
BestColleges placed Augusta University in the Top 10 of universities with the best return on investment in 2023, ranking No. 5 in the country. The industry resource based its rankings on the average cost of attendance, federal aid and grants awarded to students, and future expected earnings.
PhD student Kendra Bufkin began her PhD journey at AU in 2022. She chose the university’s Applied Health Sciences PhD program because of its emphasis on collaborative research between students and established scientists and scholars. Bufkin has found the faculty to be passionate about training students and helping them excel in their academic programs.
Guido Verbeck, PhD, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Science and Mathematics, was named to the 2023 Class of Fellows for the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Verbeck has also received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create devices for detecting other diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis.
Muthusamy Thangaraju, PhD, an associate professor at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was recently awarded an RO1 grant for $2,106,745 over five years to explore a cancer suppressor found in high-fiber diets.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree launched in the fall of 2022, and prepares students to be visual storytellers by developing diverse skill sets including a strong theoretical and technical understanding of filmmaking, theater performance, writing, directing and production through multiple forms of expressive media.
Nearly 1,500 AU employees donated a collective $376,148 to the 2023 IGIVE campaign in support of scholarships, research, athletic training equipment and study abroad opportunities.
In March 2024, more than 1,000 donors donated $1,366,374 during the fifth annual day of giving, Augusta Gives, the largest one-day fundraiser to benefit Augusta University.
The Hanes Family Scholarship Endowment will assist Dental College of Georgia students with funding for a quality education for decades to come.
The Ever Onward Award Fund in memory of College of Nursing Dean Emerita Lucy Marion, PhD, will cover the costs of white coats for all incoming Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, who face fees ranging from mandatory test-taking software to purchasing scrubs.
The fund, when realized and fully endowed, will provide aid to Hull College of Business students in perpetuity.
The Lillian P. & Victor Rattner Computer Science Scholarship Endowment, an estate gift from the late Victor Rattner (BS ‘86, MBA ‘94) will provide $2.4 million in funding for student scholarships in the School of Computer and Cyber Sciences.
The group will support the Immunology Center of Georgia's commitment to enhancing research on a national scale, including collaborative grant opportunities, faculty recruitment, evaluation of tenured faculty, mentorships for junior scientists, immunology-related training programs, seminar series and evaluation of core facilities.
Housed in the College of Education and Human Development, the new undergraduate degree covers topics such as communication, data analytics, economics, event planning, facility management, finance, governance, licensing, law, marketing, media, sales, sponsorship and other important components of the sports industry.
Offered by the School of Computer and Cyber Sciences in collaboration with the College of Science and Mathematics, the program aims to improve the understanding, management and integration of biomedicine systems and the ability to develop digital health care-oriented systems and technologies, along with guaranteed security and integrity.
Launched through the College of Science and Mathematics, this program was designed to be interdisciplinary, drawing from every major within the college. It is not strictly a pre-med degree, and students have the ability to work hands-on in laboratories run by CSM and MCG neuroscientists.
AU began partnering with Amazon in summer 2023 to give its hourly employees a chance to enroll in courses through the Amazon Career Choice program, which prepays tuition and reimburses book costs and fees up to an annual maximum with no lifetime limit. Thus far, roughly two dozen employees have enrolled.
Located in the Hub for Community Innovation in the heart of Augusta’s Harrisburg neighborhood, the Dr. Paulette P. Harris Literacy Center focuses on increasing literacy skills in adults and children across the community, while providing unique experiential learning opportunities for AU students.
The Medical College of Georgia cemented plans for a new four- year campus in Savannah in partnership with Georgia Southern University. The campus is expected to open in fall 2024 and will provide opportunities to expand community health initiatives in the area.
Peach State Health Plan and the Centene Foundation announced a $2.2 million funding commitment to AU to facilitate the expansion of AU’s MCG 3+ Primary Care Pathway Program targeting underserved rural areas and support the launch of a new loan forgiveness program for select health care providers.
Augusta University and Savannah River National Laboratory formalized their long-standing partnership and expanded upon their shared mission to address global security issues. The partnership's areas of focus include education and workforce development, collaborative research and technology development, and efforts to influence global security issues.
AU has entered into a partnership with Wellstar Health System to establish Wellstar MCG Health. The new partnership will enable more educational growth and community service opportunities as the Medical College of Georgia looks to establish a new regional clinical campus in Atlanta at Wellstar Kennestone.
Augusta University is expanding upon its partnership with Scotland by sending a group of students from the Medical College of Georgia on a study abroad trip in summer 2024. The students will study rural health care with the goal of becoming better prepared to serve as physician advocates in Georgia.
The labs are now open to researchers across the campus, and offer space for scientists, graduate and undergraduate students to collaborate and produce groundbreaking research.
More than 20 artists affiliated with AU shared their work during the spring at the Augusta Municipal Building. It's been part of a collaboration between the Greater Augusta Arts Council and Scott Thorp, chair of the Department of Art and Design.
