Adcox wins award for summer program
Article By: Clark Leonard
Dr. Gary Adcox, director of campus success and strategic retention initiatives at the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Oconee Campus, has won the 2023 Dr. George Giacumakis Innovation Award for his leadership of an on-campus summer program for middle school students. The National Association of Branch Campus Administrators honored Adcox with the recognition.
The Nighthawks Student Opportunities for Accelerated Readiness (SOAR) program targets economically disadvantaged and English as a second language youth who are likely prospective first-generation college students. SOAR was designed to bridge the education gap and "summer educational slide" for rising sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students during a three-week camp-like summer program intended for students who would benefit from participating in a summer enrichment and engagement program.
"This past year, 62 middle school students from Athens-Clarke and Oglethorpe counties enrolled in the second year of the program," Adcox said. "We are proud to say that all grade levels saw significant improvements in their pre-and post-test scores."
Student participation in the program has grown each year since the program’s 2019 inception. Currently, there are 77 middle schoolers signed up to participate in this summer's Nighthawks SOAR program.
Fall graduates look to future with optimism
UNG awarded roughly 985 degrees and certificates to students this fall, and it honored more than 650 of those graduates in a pair of Dec. 7 commencement ceremonies.
Luncheon honors scholarship recipients
Five nontraditional female students at UNG each earned a $2,000 scholarship from the Women of UNG on Dec. 5 at the Women's Holiday Scholarship Luncheon.
Special ed lab aids future educators
During the fall semester, future educators from UNG took part in a special education lab in which they worked with a software tool that helped them assess students, craft education plans and receive immediate feedback.
Grads prepare for their next steps
UNG will award almost 1,000 degrees and certificates this fall, and more than 600 graduates are scheduled to take part in the Dec. 7 commencement ceremonies.