Positive Social Change

The classification submission highlighted examples ranging from expanding access to health care to growing community economic development. The Clarke Middle Health Center offers an innovative service-learning and practicum clinic site for medical, law and social work students working collectively to close gaps in health care for school district students, families and staff. Another example is the UGA Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, in which student volunteers in financial planning, accounting and social work provide income tax assistance and financial education and resources to adults in low-income and rural communities.

Professor Hee Yun Lee, who joined the UGA School of Social Work faculty as the Thomas P. Holland Distinguished Professor and Director of the Institute for Nonprofit Organizations at the UGA School of Social Work on August 1, 2025, has been appointed to serve as its next Associate Dean for Research.

Three new faculty members of the UGA School of Social Work will serve as an interdisciplinary bridge to the UGA School of Medicine. Professor Hee Yun Lee will hold a joint appointment with the School of Medicine’s Department of Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences and Associate Professors Karen Johnson and Sharon Parker have been granted courtesy appointments in the School of Medicine’s Department of Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences.