Together we

Teaching and Public Impact Research

Meet regional economic needs through public impact research by expanding programs and partnerships

Increase faculty expertise and department productivity by endowing faculty positions within defined growth areas

Increase research capacity by acquiring high-tech equipment

Improving Lives Through Faculty-Led Research

Meeting regional social and economic needs.

The faculty-led research happening today in our classrooms and labs in fields like holistic wellness, logistics, supply chain innovation, and coastal resilience and sustainability will undoubtedly impact lives in our region. We must push to expand programs and partnerships, and invest in infrastructure such as technical equipment, so the practical outcomes of our research and the experiences we provide our students are relevant and impactful.

Getting graduates career ready.

Georgia Southern is a “high research institution” as ranked by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing it in the top six percent of all institutions. With this strength in research, all Georgia Southern graduates who participate in faculty-led research will be ready to confront the challenges facing our world in their specific field of interest. Furthermore, our Honors College and Graduate College students can experience rigorous coursework, and high-impact, hands-on research alongside faculty.

Gaining international experience.

Our learning facility in Wexford Town in coastal southeastern Ireland provides unparalleled research opportunities. Each year brings a fresh research project as we develop deeper connections between our two regions. We examine a wide range of historical documents to construct the story of mid-nineteenth-century trade between the county of Wexford and the city of Savannah, plus the emigration of thousands of Wexford natives to Savannah during 1849-1856. Supporting program expansion helps grow collaborative opportunities for internships and new research projects with companies, universities, and non-governmental organizations and makes the participating students more competitive in the education and jobs marketplaces.

Finding the best educators anywhere right here in South Georgia.

We are recruiting for specific expertise and developing graduate degree opportunities within defined growth areas to meet community needs and align with public impact research. Support for endowed positions will help Georgia Southern increase our academic profile, attract and support highly trained faculty to work with us, enhance departmental productivity, and challenge our students. Areas of particular focus for these endowed positions are:

Health Professions and Public Health
Engineering
Business
STEM
Behavioral and Social Sciences
The Honors College
The Graduate College
Wexford Ireland Learning Center

Helping Fight COVID-19 in Georgia’s Confinement Facilities

“COVID-19 disease has been particularly troublesome in confinement facilities, where physical separation is impossible, many different people are forced to be together, germs can easily be spread from person to person in the air or on numerous common surfaces. Managers of these facilities have done an admirable job – we are going to help them be even more effective.“
Jessica Schwind, Ph.D.

Jessica Schwind, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology in our Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, is the newly named director of the Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics. The Institute was established in partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health to better fight COVID-19 in the state’s confinement facilities.

Advanced Processing Research Network launched

Father and son, Billy Crider, Jr. and Bill Crider, III (‘96) have seen their business grow through automation technology and along with it, the need for talented engineers to program and maintain that technology. They donated $1 million to provide the foundation for graduate and undergraduate scholarships, faculty support, state-of-the-art equipment, and process automation software for a new research network.

Water is Life

Devising solutions for water issues is critical along our coastline where saltwater intrusion impacts freshwater, water treatment facilities are aging, and our population is growing. Georgia Southern University’s Institute for Water and Health seeks solutions for water challenges with ecological, sociological, and public health consequences and conducts research to inform coastal water resources planning. Among community engagement and other multidisciplinary research programs with the Colleges of Engineering, Education, and Social and Material Sciences, the institute is investing in four exciting public-private projects:

Opening a high-tech water quality laboratory adjacent to our Armstrong campus in 2024, the only one of its kind in the Coastal region
Using anaerobic digestion techniques to treat industrial wastewater with food waste from university campuses
Partnering with regional wastewater operations to bring new treatment methods, collect data, and monitor water quality
Creating a water quality dashboard for the public focused on the Floridian Aquifer, one of world’s largest natural freshwater aquifers, which is under threat from over-extraction, sea level rise, and an increasing risk of saltwater intrusion

Soldier Athlete Human Performance

Since Georgia Southern introduced a program to prevent and reduce injuries in soldiers, there has been a significant decrease in the number of injuries to soldiers who are enrolled. Decreased injuries means increased readiness. Utilizing a train-the-trainer model, select active-duty soldiers learn fitness education skills from Doctor of Physical Therapy students and then take their new skills back to their units. Participants receive Georgia Southern credit hours and a Tactical Athlete Certificate.

Georgia Southern has earned a 2022-2023 Top Ten Military Friendly® distinction by Viqtory, publishers of Military Spouse, GI Jobs, and Military Friendly magazines. Being named a Military Friendly School is nothing new for Georgia Southern, having earned this distinction for 10 years.