Impact of AU’s Visiting Scholars Program
Latria Graham is a long-term visiting scholar teaching at AU for this spring semester. (photo courtesy of Carlos Nasisse)
By Micah Webb | Staff writer
The Faculty Inclusive Excellence Initiative was an initiative created to help increase representation where it’s needed here at Augusta University. The initiative helps diversify AU’s faculty so that students get the opportunity to learn and hear from people with different backgrounds.
Within the Faculty Inclusive Excellence Initiative is the Visiting Scholars Program.
The Visiting Scholars Program is consists of long term visiting scholars and short-term visiting scholars. The program brings in underrepresented faculty in different career areas to visit and talk to students so that they can hear from faculty with different perspectives and backgrounds.
Latria Graham, a long-term visiting scholar, was brought in to teach a creative writing nonfiction course. She will be at AU for the entire semester and plans to be a positive influence for students.
“I’m here for students in a way that other faculty that have certain duties can’t be. I want to be around for students who may not have had someone like this in their lives,” Graham said.
Graham believes that if the program continues to bring in people from different regions and class backgrounds, it can have an influence on the AU community.
“It can change the way students see themselves, it could change the way they relate to the world or it change the way they see the systems around them,” she said.
Michelle Johnson, coordinator over the Visiting Scholars Program, also believes that the program can have a tremendous impact on the AU community.
“It provides our students and faculty an opportunity to get outside perspectives from people they would not have an opportunity to hear from.”
Johnson sees a bright future in the Visiting Scholars Program and hopes that the program is able keep representing underrepresented faculty. Students are able to recommend to their professors people who they might believe are underrepresented in their career field to come visit the school. Johnson wants students to be involved in the program as well.
“Students can definitely be involved in the process and tell their faculty who they would like to see come visit the school. It needs to be someone who is underrepresented in their career field,” she said.
For more information on the Faculty Inclusive Excellence Initiative and Visiting Scholars Program, visit the button below .
Contact Micah Webb at mwebb1@augusta.edu.
This story is published in the Monday, Feb. 20, 2023 print edition of The Bell Ringer on page 3.
