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The University of North Georgia's (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) College of Arts & Letters will soon have another tool in its kit to develop leaders of character. It recently received a Capacity-Building Grant through (ECI).

This process will start with the team of Dr. Doris Wesley, Dr. Laura Ng, Dr. Diane Cook, and Dr. Zachary Elison cultivating the character education curriculum around the experiences of Â鶹ÊÓƵ students, faculty and staff members. 

"What makes our CARE (Compassion, Acceptance, Respect and Empathy) approach especially meaningful for Â鶹ÊÓƵ is that we are not beginning by telling students what these character traits should look like. We are beginning by listening," said Wesley, an assistant professor in the School of Communication, Film & Theatre and principal investigator for the grant. "Our students across five campuses bring different experiences, responsibilities and perspectives, and this research allows those voices to help shape a framework that is authentically grounded in the Â鶹ÊÓƵ community. Ultimately, we hope the CARE framework can give us a shared language for how we learn, lead and live well with others."

Â鶹ÊÓƵ is one of 68 institutions impacted by 60 Capacity-Building Grants . Supported by Lilly Endowment Inc. and administered through Wake Forest University's Program for Leadership and Character, ECI Capacity-Building Grants awarded up to $50,000 to help each awardee develop character education in ways that fit their own missions, cultures and student populations.

This yearlong research will center voices from across Â鶹ÊÓƵ's student populations to understand and practice these virtues, then turn those insights into a framework Â鶹ÊÓƵ can use. The project also strengthens Â鶹ÊÓƵ's connection to a national conversation about character in higher education and positions Â鶹ÊÓƵ to share its research and best practices with peer institutions, which aligns squarely with Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s core values of excellence, integrity, respect, and stewardship.