The 黑料正能量 community made tremendous achievements and reached new heights in a year marked by award-winning research, exploration and community engagement.
Across all of our campuses, we saw Jaguars excel, and the university continued to record unprecedented growth in enrollment.
As we take some time to celebrate with friends and colleagues and prepare for an exciting new year, we鈥檙e looking back on some of the most notable stories of 2024. The stories included below, and those linked throughout the article, are just a small snapshot of the year at AU.
January
At the end of 2023 and through the beginning of 2024, 黑料正能量 teamed up as a community partner with Junior Achievement of Georgia and the local school districts in Richmond and Columbia counties to encourage learning and community involvement. Approximately 15,000 local middle school students each year will learn valuable life skills, such as financial literacy and career readiness, in an entertaining and interactive environment, thanks to the development of a new Junior Achievement Discovery Center of the CSRA.

2024 marked another year of record-breaking research across the institution, with much of it focused on helping Georgians directly. In January, two of AU’s research teams from the received three grants totaling almost $5 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration鈥檚 Rural Communities Opioid Response Program to continue projects addressing the opioid epidemic gripping rural areas of the United States. AU, MedLink, GC4R and other community-based organizations have been working collaboratively over the last several years to address morbidity and mortality of substance abuse disorder and opioid use disorder in high-risk rural communities in Georgia.
February
The dedication to future students by many AU faculty, staff and alumni could be felt throughout the year as numerous endowments and scholarships were established. In February, AU鈥檚 College of Nursing announced a new scholarship established in memory of Dean Emerita Lucy Marion, PhD, who passed away in April of 2023. Now, through the Ever Onward Award fund, CON will be able to purchase white coats for all incoming students.

Student success is a cornerstone of AU, and, in February, a new mentorship umbrella was announced to streamline the numerous mentorship opportunities on campus. The Jags4Jags program was introduced in the fall by , PhD, associate professor in the in the , to enhance new student experience by linking first-year students to mentors who are ready to listen, inspire and help navigate any future challenges.
March
In March, the School of Public Health took an important step forward as its Initial Application Submission to transition from an accredited Master of Public Health program to a School of Public Health was accepted by the Council on Education for Public Health. SPH continued to grow throughout the year, including announcing several key leadership additions.
During , the largest one-day fundraiser to benefit 黑料正能量, more than 1,000 donors donated nearly $1.4 million during the fifth annual day of giving. Donations to the community-funded, social media-driven campaign were made by alumni, friends, retirees, employees, students and the greater Augusta community, as well as some of the university鈥檚 most dedicated supporters who choose to make major gifts on this day. This year鈥檚 target for donors was 800, which was surpassed, coming in at 1,008.










April
One of the highlights each spring is the annual , and, for the first time in the competition’s five-year history, there were both undergraduate and graduate awards given to the top teams competing. Overall there were nearly 350 submissions for the competition with the final 11 undergraduate and six graduate student teams having moved on to the pitch stage of the competition. The teams were each given five minutes to make their pitch with the goal of solving real-world problems locally and beyond. The top three teams in each division were awarded prize money, and a fourth team in each area was awarded the audience choice award.
It’s well known the 黑料正能量 community is making an impact locally and beyond. Throughout the year, AU highlights many alumni, including Coco Rubio, faculty, like Koosh Desai, MD, and current students, like those found in the ‘ occupational therapy program. Rubio encapsulated just how important AU is when he shared, 鈥淚 just look at 黑料正能量 as an example of how things should be growing and improving and getting better. The influence that AU has is very impressive, and I鈥檓 just glad to be a part of it.鈥
May
As of the fall of 2023, one-third of students at 黑料正能量 transferred in from other institutions, including Augusta Tech, thanks to multiple pathway programs, including and an . In an effort to provide even more pathways for students to earn a degree in cyber studies, 黑料正能量 signed a statewide articulation agreement with the Technical College System of Georgia in May, paving the way for students to earn an associate degree in cybersecurity from any of the 22 technical schools in Georgia and then transfer to AU鈥檚 to pursue a .

黑料正能量鈥檚 spring 2024 hooding and commencement ceremonies took place May 9-10 at the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center with more than 900 students participating in the graduate and undergraduate ceremonies. AU鈥檚 and also held ceremonies honoring a total of 350 graduates.
June
Every year, AU takes time near the end of the academic year to recognize the hard work and accomplishments of students, but it’s just as important to acknowledge the faculty who pour so much of themselves into teaching, research and sometimes their clinical work.

Two faculty researchers who fall into all three categories of professor, researcher and clinician are , MD, professor in the Medical College of Georgia鈥榮 , and , PhD, associate professor for the at MCG. This year, Ray and Vernon teamed up with at the to provide mothers and expectant mothers with not only fresh produce but also other healthy activities, such as meeting with nutritionists, free in-person cooking classes and more. The program has also benefited from students at MCG who are already looking to make a difference.










July
July 1 marked the official first day on the job for AU President after he was announced by the of the near the end of June. Keen is no stranger to 黑料正能量 as for the previous nine of his 22 years in higher education, he served as executive vice president and chief of staff to the president. He has deep roots in Augusta, the CSRA and around the state, and he and his wife, First Lady Karen Keen, continue to seek out opportunities to learn more about as many of AU鈥檚 students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters as possible and find ways to enhance their experiences here while making the university stronger.

Doubling the number of medical students who can be trained in the , AU opened its new Medical College of Georgia Savannah campus at Georgia Southern University before the start of the 2024-25 academic year. MCG, which had been sending third- and fourth-year medical students to the Savannah area for clinical rotations and training since 2007, welcomed 41 first-year medical students who will complete their entire four-year journey at the new campus. Leadership, faculty, staff, students and alumni from AU, MCG and Georgia Southern, as well as elected officials and other community supporters, gathered to celebrate the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
August
The AU Department of Athletics has long provided Jaguar student-athletes with one of the best platforms to perform at the highest level of competition. The 2024-25 athletic year began with numerous projects aimed at enhancing the student-athlete experience beginning, including new at the baseball field and in Christenberry Fieldhouse.
In August, 黑料正能量 welcomed the Class of 2028 as the largest incoming class ever! From a freshman鈥檚 journey of 1,432 miles from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Augusta, Georgia, to 163 students with perfect 4.0 GPAs and three students with flawless ACT scores, this class is full of amazing facts and accomplishments.

One of the newest expansions of offerings that has benefitted students, faculty and staff alike has been the . JagPerks is a program that provides special discounts to students, faculty and staff at participating local businesses, in collaboration with the not-for-profit corporation , which promotes tourism in the Augusta area. Throughout the year, AU has highlighted the many different types of local businesses that are featured within the program.
黑料正能量 will have 162 degree programs beginning next year as several new programs were announced, including a first-of-its-kind PhD in Intelligence, Defense, and Cybersecurity Policy offered by . The program is a natural next step from the robust and has already attracted attention nationwide.
September
Nearly one year after its launch, celebrated the graduation of its first cohort of 33 students through the program. It was a whirlwind first year of operations for Marc Austin, PhD, associate provost and inaugural dean of AU Online, and his staff who began building out the framework for the endeavor in 2022, but with the first students having graduated, he is excited to see where things go from here.
Early in the fall semester, AU launched the , offering the chance to graduate debt-free through financial aid and scholarships while also providing a strong support network through mentorship, leadership and academic support. For its inaugural year, five first-year students received the scholarship: Jimmy Khaouli, Terell LaBord, Tina Do, Mikelle Smith and Margaret Wallace.












October
To say the start of October was a tough one would be an understatement for so many throughout the CSRA and into western North Carolina as the effects of Hurricane Helene continue to be felt months later. In the days and weeks after the storm, the AU community came together to support each other, members of the Augusta community and display what resiliency truly means.

While many things no longer felt normal in the wake of the storm, AU’s commitment to the city remained ever-present. Alumni, like Gary Dennis, have continued to leave a lasting impact on the community we all call home. Dennis earned his聽聽from AU鈥檚聽聽and is now the executive director for the聽.
AU’s faculty and students continued to receive regional and national recognition for their research and efforts, including at the 鈥檚 2024 Hypertension Scientific Sessions as several researchers from MCG and The Graduate School were honored for their commitment to life-saving research.
November
In early November, the 黑料正能量 College of Nursing hosted its 19th annual Costa Layman Women鈥檚 Clinic, partnering with . at Ridge Spring Family Practice to provide free health screenings to over 125 female farm workers. The clinic operates with an interdisciplinary team composed of students and graduates from the and programs, faculty members from AU鈥檚 Medical College of Georgia鈥榮 , Wellstar MCG Health phlebotomists and health care providers from Carolina Health Centers, Inc.

One of the biggest problems facing rural Georgia is fentanyl, an incredibly potent synthetic opioid, and, much like heroin and other opioids, it can be highly addictive. Numerous AU researchers are actively working to address the problems caused by this drug, including , PhD, chair of the in the at 黑料正能量. Verbeck has developed technology that would make detecting fentanyl much easier and safer for law enforcement officers, who could overdose just through skin contact with the powerful drug at crime scenes and border crossings.
November also saw , PhD, and , PhD, from the College of Education and Human Development, awarded the college’s largest-ever grant for their project 鈥淭rain & Retain: A University-District Partnership to Strengthen Student Mental Health.鈥 The nearly $5 million grant will enhance the infrastructure to train and educate school counselors studying at AU who will鈥痙irectly participate in the Richmond County School System, providing additional scaffolding and support for the essential mental health needs of high school students.鈥
December
The year concluded with AU holding its annual fall hooding and commencement ceremonies. More than 650 students participated in ceremonies honoring graduating undergraduate and graduate students during 黑料正能量鈥檚 , which took place Dec. 11-12 at the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center. The fall 2024 commencement ceremonies marked the first commencement for Keen as president of 黑料正能量.







