The annual University of North Georgia Community Engagement Fair was held on Wednesday Aug. 28, at the Gainesville campus.

This event serves as a chance for students and staff to connect with community organizations for opportunities related to volunteering, service-learning, work-based learning, academic projects and other forms of partnership. Maxine Douglas, Director of Academic Engagement, invites members of the campus community, including faculty, staff, and students, to attend at least one CEF each year.

“This is an opportunity to explore various academic and community engagement options and connect with community partners and organizations for academic purposes.” – Maxine Douglas, Director of Academic Engagement

Community Organizations, each with at least one or two representatives, were set up all across room 3110AB located in the Martha T. Nesbitt building.

The long list of organizations to participate included Relay For Life, Hall County DFCS, Georgia Mountain Food Bank, Heart of Hospice, National Alliance on Mental Illness and Boy With a Ball among others.

“Our community partners are excited to engage with members of the UNG community to pursue common goals. The most impactful learning occurs beyond the classroom. This is an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to form connections that will profoundly influence our educational objectives in the long term.” – Esther Morgan-Ellis, Assistant Director of Academic Engagement

Former UNG student Maria Lao was there representing Boy With a Ball as its Love Your City Director. She was eager to talk about the opportunity the CEF had given her in the past.

“I started at UNG in 2017 only knowing how to speak Portuguese being from Brazil,” she said. “My first semester I came to this same CEF in the same exact room, and I got to meet the people from Boy With a Ball who I am now working for full time. The opportunity it gave me changed my life forever as through them I have been able to learn English and grow a lot as a person.”

Students in attendance appreciated the information presented. Rachel Tanner, a freshman Biology major at UNG said, “I got a lot of helpful information today that I could not hear anywhere else. The student leadership program was one of the stands that really stuck out to me. They do a lot of cool things including a marine biology trip coming up in March that I found super interesting, because it lines up with what I want to do. Everyone there was so friendly and easy to talk to.”

To top it all off, four different staff speakers participated as part of the CEF Connection Showcase. Those speakers included Rana Gautam with Human Services & Sociology, Shelley Aikman with Psychology, Johannes Oosthuizen with Criminal Justice and Brian Kline, Associate Director of Communications.

UNG has been working to have all campuses get the chance to have a CEF. Make sure to check UNG Connect Events to know when they are at each campus next.