Retired faculty member recalls three outstanding COE projects in which he played role
By Robert Bowen
I would like to share with you three items related to the College of Education in which I played role. They are the program of Driver Education (expanded into the program of Safety Education), the master’s degree in Sports Management and the building of the University of Georgia Golf Course.
University Golf Course
E.B. Smith, chairman of the Division of Health, Physical Education and Recreation went to President Aderhold to recommend that the University build its own golf course. Aderhold had been Dean of the College of Education and Smith’s boss prior to becoming president. Aderhold was an ardent golfer and occasionally played with Smith.
Aderhold’s immediate concern was how to fund the project. He knew that funding would not be approved by the legislature but he set out to develop a plan. The first concern was where was there land for such a project. He located a site on land utilized by the School of Forestry and the College of Education. He worked out the transfer of land for golf course development with the two deans. He then arranged with a local developer to exchange some of this land with the developer to make the site appropriate. The developer acquired land which he could (and did) develop as a residential development.
Aderhold then went to Joe Williams, Director of Student Affairs, to enlist his financial support. Williams had been an assistant dean to Aderhold in the College of Education. Student Affairs funded all student activities (a golf program would be a student activity.) Williams endorsed the idea. Ultimately, the golf course was built without any funds appropriated by the Legislature.
The first step in building a golf course is to employ a golf course architect. Smith was a friend of Robert Trent Jones, the preeminent golf course architect at the time. He explained the idea to Jones and indicated the budget was quite tight. Jones accepted the job at a significantly reduced fee.
Much of the work preparing the course was carried out by the University Physical Plant staff. When the technical phase was reached, creating fairways, greens and such, outside companies were needed. However, the College of Agriculture assumed responsibilities in overseeing this phase of the project.
When work was completed in the spring of 1968, Aderhold, Smith and two of the leading amateur golfers in the state played the first nine holes. Today, the course is considered one of the finest college golf courses in the country.
Driver Education Program
Shortly, after World War II, the public school began to offer courses in Driver Education. In 1954, Smith decided to offer training in Driver Education to teachers in the public schools. He sent me to New York University, the leading school in the area of Driver and Safety Education. I participated in a program that prepared college professors to train teachers of Driver Education.
Beginning in the summer of 1955, Driver Education classes were offered to public school teachers. Over the next several years, about 50-60 Driver Education teachers were trained each year. In 1960, a professor of safety education, Walter Eaton, was employed and the program expanded to include training of those responsible for safety in industry, school systems and other areas.
Sports Management Program
In 1976, I began a graduate program in Sports Management at the master’s degree level. This was the first such graduate program in the Southeast. The curriculum combined course work in the Division of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. The College of Business and the School of Journalism. The purpose was to train individuals to assume leadership roles in directing school system athletic programs, college and professional sports programs, manage arenas and other facilities, conducting athletic events and other related activities.
The program was limited to 15 students at a time due to the narrow job market. To insure quality of the enrollees and the best opportunity for employment at a high level this limit has been maintained. Among the early graduates of the program, several are associated with the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Falcons. One is now Associate Athletics Director at North Carolina State University and another is Director of Athletics at the University of Georgia.
Robert Bowen, UGA professor emeritus of physical education, was a faculty member in the College of Education for 35 years from 1950-85.
Retired Faculty Stories Robert Bowen |
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