PSO Professional Development Opportunities: Discover the Academies and Programs

PSO is committed to offering professional development opportunities to faculty and staff in several areas. In this workshop, discover, explore, and learn more about the PSO academies and programs: Facilitation Academy, Faculty Scholarship Academy, Grant Writing Boot Camp, Vivian H. Fisher Leadership Academy, 4th Friday Evaluation Workshops, and PSO in Action. Each of these programs enhances PSO’s culture, creates opportunities to advance professional development and university priorities, and builds a professional network. Participants leave with a matrix highlighting the opportunities and next session dates.

Target Audience: Early-career PSO faculty and staff.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify each professional development opportunity and at least one expected outcome from each opportunity.
  • Identify a PSO colleague with knowledge or experience with each opportunity.

Moderator:

Paul Brooks, associate vice president, Public Service and Outreach
Paul works to connect UGA’s schools and colleges with PSO’s extensive network of expertise in leadership, government, business, service, and nonprofits to enrich UGA’s education and research missions. He promotes UGA’s capacity to address societal and workforce needs locally and globally through technical assistance, service-learning, continuing education, and applied research. He also oversees several PSO programs, such as Faculty Promotion, Faculty Fellowship, and Graduate Student Assistantship.

Presenters:

Matt Bishop, director, J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development
Matt guides the institute’s strategic direction and programmatic operations to fulfill its mission to strengthen communities, organizations, and individuals through leadership development. With an extensive background in leadership, community economic development, community visioning, strategic planning, and group facilitation processes, he leads the institute’s efforts to design and deliver leadership programs that focus on community, nonprofit and youth audiences.
David Meyers, senior public service associate, J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development
David works in youth leadership development with a focus on supporting young people who have experienced foster care or homelessness and the families and institutions that serve them. He has developed a range of projects, including Embark Georgia, a statewide network to connect Georgia campuses in support of foster and homeless youth; the Embark Precollegiate Summer Program, a summer leadership and college readiness program for youth in foster care; and established the partnership with the Georgia Division of Family and Children’s Services to deliver the Education and Training Voucher program. Additionally, he is an experienced facilitator and is an adjunct faculty member in the UGA School of Social Work.
Maritza Soto Keen, associate director and senior public service associate, J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development
Maritza focuses on facilitation and training for institutes of higher education, communities, and nonprofits on leadership development, nonprofit governance, diversity, equity and inclusion, strategic planning and organizational capacity building for long-term sustainability. She served on the UGA Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Liaison Group and serves as co-chair of the PSO Diversity Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee.
Dan Lasseter, public service associate, Carl Vinson Institute of Government
Dan oversees executive searches for high-level leadership positions in public sector organizations by screening and vetting potential candidates and providing on-site consultation during the candidate interview process. In addition, he provides 360-degree leadership assessments for high-level management positions in governmental and nonprofit organizations. He is closely involved with employment testing for public safety agencies, which includes job analysis, job knowledge test development, and assessment center design and administration. Additionally, he manages the certification program for the Georgia Local Government Personnel Association. Dan is active in the American Society for Public Administration and serves on the society’s national council, representing the southeastern United States, and serves on the board of directors of the Southeastern Conference for Public Administration.
Kirsten Cochran, grants development specialist, Public Service and Outreach
Kirsten joined PSO in January 2022. She works with faculty and staff in the eight PSO units to assist in finding, developing, and submitting grant proposals. She previously worked in higher education in southwest Georgia before moving to the Athens area with experience in professional development, strategic planning, and federal and private grant-funded programs.
Katy Smith, water quality program coordinator, Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant
In her role as water quality program coordinator, Katy works with diverse state, academic, and community partners to promote healthy water resources through collaborative research and outreach, field-based education and service-learning, curriculum development and classroom education, and advisory services and technical assistance. Katy grew up in Atlanta and now lives on the Georgia coast with her husband and two sons. She received her bachelor’s degree in ecology from UGA in 1997 and joined Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant in 1999.
Brian Simmons, public service faculty, Carl Vinson Institute of Government
Brian joined the Institute of Government’s Survey Research and Evaluation Unit in 2013, where he develops and implements appropriate research methodology for evaluation and survey projects. Brian works closely with clients to develop instruments and to identify the appropriate methodology required to answer clients’ questions. He believes in continuous learning, having over 175 hours of training in evaluation methods and certification as a Qualtrics Research Core Expert.
Rosanna Cruz-Bibb, Hart County Archway professional, Archway Partnership
Rosanna serves as the Archway professional in Hart County though she has served the UGA Archway Partnership in various roles since 2012. She connects higher education and other resources to address community-identified needs and challenges. Her experience in public relations, nonprofit, and local government work has helped her specialize in community-based, relationship-building initiatives in the communities she has served during her tenure with the Archway Partnership.
Gwen Moss, associate vice president, Public Service and Outreach
Gwen advises the vice president for Public Service and Outreach on personnel and financial matters, including the analysis of public service financial trends, policy and procedure compliance, funding and other support requests from PSO units and UGA schools and colleges. She also serves as part of the vice president’s management team to help guide the overall direction of the vice president’s office and PSO; administers the fiscal budget development process for PSO; and serves as the liaison between the office of the vice president and UGA business offices as it relates to matters of personnel and fiscal affairs, which includes interpreting university policies, procedures, and directives from the Board of Regents and senior UGA administrators for PSO financial and human resource management.
Allison Clower, program coordinator, Small Business Development Center
Allison joined the UGA SBDC in December 2020 as the program coordinator for the Athens office. As a military spouse, she has moved many times nationally and internationally. She has held a variety of marketing, event planning, and fundraising positions in multiple industries. Allison has an entrepreneurial spirit and has owned two businesses. In addition to overseeing continuing education program planning, development, and execution, she enjoys networking and meeting small-business owners.