Dr. Paula Davis-Olwell, an instructor in the Global Health Institute and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, is one of nine UGA faculty members selected for a 2017-18 UGA Service-Learning Fellowship.

This year-long program provides an opportunity for faculty members from a broad range of disciplines to integrate academic service-learning into their professional practice. Fellows meet regularly throughout the academic year and receive an award of up to $2,500 to develop a proposed service-learning project.

Academic service-learning, one way for students to fulfill UGA’s new experiential learning graduation requirement, integrates organized service activities that meet community-identified needs into academic courses as a way to enhance understanding of academic content, teach civic responsibility and provide benefit to the community.

“Each year, faculty come up with new and innovative ways to link their scholarship to some of our most pressing community needs,” said Shannon Wilder, director of the Office of Service-Learning. “It’s exciting to see the types of experiential learning opportunities they are creating for students in their service-learning courses that gives them hands-on experience that is invaluable.”

Davis-Olwell will engage students in a global health service-learning project in collaboration with Jubilee Partners and other community organizations addressing refugee resettlement. Her proposed project will focus on the health and nutrition needs of refugees and their families.

Past Service-Learning Fellows from the College of Public Health include health promotion and behavior faculty members Dr. Jessica Muilenburg (2007-08) and Dr. Katie Hein (2015-16).

Posted October 9, 2017.

Additional coverage at Columns.