Jennifer Graff has worked at the University of North Georgia (UNG) since 2004. Her career began as an adjunct professor, and today she leads the Department of Visual Arts.
"For me, what's most important in leading this department is making sure everyone has a voice. We decide as a group where we want to go long term and short term. We vote on everything. We work on everything as a team," Graff said.
In 2013, Graff was selected for the Governor's Teaching Fellows Program, established in 1995 to provide Georgia's higher education faculty members with expanded opportunities for developing critical teaching skills using technology and other methods to challenge both students and faculty.
Graff is also currently on the advisory board of Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) Georgia. LEAP Georgia is a public advocacy and campus action initiative, emphasizing the importance of a liberal education for both individual students and a nation dependent on economic vitality and democratic values. She has chaired the group and spearheaded the effort to create LEAP into Action grants.
She worked with Dr. Tanya Bennett, professor of English, one summer, in a cross-curriculum learning community in which Bennett did multicultural literature and Graff taught art appreciation. Funding was provided through a UNG Presidential Innovation Incentive Award, which gives up to $5,000 to fund opportunities for collaborations between colleagues, with a focus on promoting innovative best practices in teaching, including student research, and civic engagement.
"We were in the actual school house on Daufuskie Island in which Pat Conroy taught," Graff said. "The student had read his book 'The Water is Wide.'"
Graff became a full-time art instructor in 2005. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and a Master of Fine Arts from the Lamar Dodd School of Arts at the University of Georgia. At UNG, Graff teaches ceramic classes and "everything to do with clay."
In a department where things are created, Graff gets to oversee as well as help with the development of the Visual Arts spaces.
“All of the Visual Arts faculty and staff have practical skills to build, fix and alter. They are graciously willing to lend these skills to our students and classroom spaces,” Graff said.
Graff emphasized a departmental initiative to foster intrinsic motivation in students by providing opportunities for them to show their work and be responsible for all aspects of exhibiting.
"We, as a department, lead our students in a way they can become more self-sufficient," Graff said. "We want to encourage our students to show their art internally at UNG, apply for external exhibitions, and create a community of peers around these activities. That way, they will be prepared for professional experiences as they leave the university and have a group with which to network."
