This article is reprinted from the Summer 1997 issue of the Georgia Center Quarterly.

In March of 1984, UGA and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced the $8.4 million grant to The University of Georgia, part of which was for program initiatives at the Georgia Center. Pictured above at a 1984 ceremony marking the occasion, l. to r., are Arlon Elser, then a program director of the Kellogg Foundation and the two past directors and the current director of the Georgia Center: Hugh B. Masters (director, 1954-1968), Thomas W. Mahler (director, 1968-1983), and Edward G. Simpson, Jr. (1983-1998).

In 1984, The University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education received a second W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant (Kellogg awarded UGA a 1953 grant to establish the Georgia Center), which also involved the University's Department of Adult Education and Cooperative Extension Service, Fort Valley State College Cooperative Extension Program, and a series of UGA Faculty Interdisciplinary Task Forces. The grant was designed to establish a National Center for Leadership Development in Adult and Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, an umbrella concept to bridge the practice and theory of continuing education and lifelong learning. Programs begun with the 1984 grant continue today within the three University units. The Kellogg grant was matched by the State of Georgia to renovate and expand the Georgia Center complex to its present-day configuration.

Georgia Center Certifiable Curricula

The Georgia Center developed curricula for six designated areas--patient relations, basic gerontology, child caregiving, customer relations, marriage and family therapy, and meeting management.

Personal Adult Learning Laboratory

An individualized learning environment with computers, interactive educational software, and audiotapes and videotapes.

Continuing Professional Education

A series of coordinated efforts designed to create links among those in continuing professional education--included an invitational symposium, co-hosted by the Center and UGA's Department of Adult Education, the presentations of which were published as Visions for the Future of Continuing Professional Education.

Advanced Technology

Increased the satellite capabilities of the Georgia Center, and established WUGA-FM, The University of Georgia's National Public Radio affiliate operated by the Georgia Center.

UGA's Cooperative Extension Service and Fort Valley State College
(now Fort Valley State University)

The Community-Based Adult Education (CBAE) Program of the University and Fort Valley State provided statewide programs for community-based educators throughout Georgia. These focused on professional development, new educational technology, community and economic development, and public policy.

UGA's Department of Adult Education

Through the 1984 grant, the University's Department of Adult Education was able to expand its faculty, revise curricula, initiate a certificate program for adults who cannot leave their jobs, establish a materials center and computer resource room, develop an annual conference "series" on a future trend in the field of adult and continuing education, develop publications, and extend student recruitment efforts.

Faculty Interdisciplinary Task Forces

These task forces were made up of seven groups of University faculty, 57 members total, who investigated facets of life in Georgia--behavioral norms and social controls, communities, economy, governance, health and well-being, physical resources, and the "learning society." Dissemination of the findings was accomplished through New Georgia Visions, which involved an audiovisual presentation distributed throughout the state, and the teleconference "The Changing Nation: Strategies for Citizen Action," which was a statewide "town meeting."

A report published by the Georgia Center about the 1984 grant's programs, stated that ...

• The University of Georgia has renewed and expanded its land-grant capacity to serve people and address society's pressing problems.
• The University of Georgia has advanced the theory and practice of adult and continuing education and lifelong learning at state, regional, and national levels.
• The University of Georgia has expanded the pool of Georgia citizens, both inside and outside academia, who are willing and able to assume leadership positions.

  The task now is to use the momentum of the UGA-Kellogg partnership to forge an even brighter future for lifelong learners, wherever they may be and in whatever stage of personal or professional development they may find themselves.

To commemorate the completion of the new sections of its building and to renew the spirit of the continuing education programs begun through the grants, the Georgia Center held a "Rededication" in September of 1990. "Rededication Week '90" featured panel discussions, a national teleconference, a staff celebration, exhibits, a concert, and a special ceremony. In attendance were representatives of state and local government, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and The University of Georgia.