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Campus Review
September 19, 2012
Page 2
College of Arts and Sciences Recognizes Film Professor for Teaching Excellence
Dr. Virginia Bonner Wins Fourth Annual
Gene Hatfield Teacher of the Year Award
Public Colleges Finalize Plans
To Help More Georgians Earn Degrees
Complete College Georgia (CCG) – Gov.
Nathan Deal’s initiative to increase the
numbers of Georgians earning a degree –
reached another milestone Sept. 10 with
the release of a report with specific plans
by institutions in both the University
System of Georgia (USG) and Technical
College System of Georgia (TCSG).
The campus plans detail exactly how the
ambitious goal of adding an additional
250,000 postsecondary graduates to the
state’s rolls by 2020 is going to be met. As
institutions begin to implement the plans,
higher education officials point out that
they will receive continued assistance to
improve the plans and will be held
accountable for progress.
Clayton State University is phasing in a
variety of information technology tools to
monitor individual student progress.
Through predictive analytics looking
across a student’s educational career, the
institution will be able to more effectively
and efficiently intervene and aid at-risk
students, especially in the important first-
year of study.
Clayton State’s efforts to serve first-year
students, notably the First Year Advising
and Retention Center -- recently featured
in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and on
WXIA-TV -- have already proven a suc-
cess. As a result of Clayton State’s reten-
tion efforts, among other factors, enroll-
ment is currently at an all-time, though
still unofficial, high of 7,145, an increase
of 4.1 percent from the fall 2011 semester.
“The principal aims of Complete College
Georgia are not new to us at Clayton
State; we have been working on Complete
Clayton State for quite some time,” says
Clayton State University Vice President
for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr.
Micheal Crafton. “However, this
statewide effort of which we are proud
and excited to be a part will enhance the
motivation and enlarge the network of
those of us in the University System of
Georgia working on the key theaters in
this effort: recruitment, retentions,
changes in remediation, changes in the
delivery of instruction. This energy and
activity will, then, stimulate new ideas,
pedagogical innovations and applications
that should benefit everyone, both on the
various campuses and those in business
and government working on economic
development.”
“The (campus) plans are a signal of the
immense effort to date, a renewed and
strengthened focus on access and gradua-
tion, and a commitment to continue and
expand the work over the coming years,”
said Lynne Weisenbach, the USG’s vice
chancellor for Educational Access and
Success, who is leading the CCG efforts
in the University System. “Increasing
Georgia’s college completion rate is not
something that can be changed overnight
The College of Arts and Sciences at
Clayton
State
University recent-
ly awarded Dr.
Virginia Bonner
the Gene Hatfield
Teacher of the Year
Award for the 2011
to 2012 academic
year. Bonner is an
associate professor
of film and media
studies in the
College of Arts and Sciences, where
she teaches courses in film, women’s
studies and art history.
The Gene Hatfield Teacher of the Year
Award recognizes the accomplish-
ments of outstanding faculty members
the art of teaching and the science of
learning,” she says.
Bonner connects her own teaching
experiences with many of the charac-
teristics that the Teacher of the Year
Award recognizes.
“It’s important to keep the material
we’re teaching fresh, and to listen to
the students, recognizing that we’re
learning from them, while they’re
learning from us. Having a sense of
humor helps, and we also have to keep
our focus on teaching, even as we
strive to keep up with scholarship and
service responsibilities,” she notes.
within the College of Arts and Sciences.
Now in its fourth year, the annual award is
presented to a teacher who displays enthu-
siasm, creativity, compassion, authority,
authenticity, patience, persistence, or
humor in their teaching and interactions
with students. The Arts & Sciences
Teacher of the Year award is made possi-
ble by, and is named after, Dr. Eugene
Hatfield, long-time (1976–2008) history
professor at Clayton State.
Selected by a committee of professors
within the College of Arts and Sciences,
Bonner considers her teaching philosophy
key to what motivates her in the class-
room.
“I have a real passion for the material that
I teach, and I’m extremely dedicated to
Degrees, cont’d., p. 7
Bonner, cont’d., p. 7
Bonner