November 3, 2021

SEC Faculty Travel Program Participants Announced for 2021-2022

Prof. Brandon Rotavera from the University of Georgia delivers a presentation at Texas A&M University in 2018.

By: SEC Staff
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

Birmingham, Ala. – More than 100 faculty from across the Southeastern Conference have been selected by their universities to participate in the SEC Faculty Travel Program for 2021-2022, the SEC announced on Wednesday.

This marks the 10-year anniversary of the program, which provides faculty with additional opportunities to conduct research, present lectures and deliver artistic performances with their Conference colleagues. It is designed to lessen the financial burden associated with travel, lodging and meals as funds from the SEC are distributed to faculty by their respective universities.

“The SEC Faculty Travel Program has always garnered significant interest from faculty, and we are encouraged by how our universities continue to identify a range of individuals to participate,” said Dr. Torie A Johnson, SEC Associate Commissioner for Academic Relations. “This program allows the Southeastern Conference to facilitate collaboration that stretches from the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines to include the arts and humanities.”

After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel and visitor restrictions in 2020, the SEC Provosts approved several temporary flexibility measures that were lifted at the start of this academic year, allowing for a more traditional program operation while still considering all necessary health and safety precautions.

Before being impacted by COVID-19, the SEC Faculty Travel Program had supported the efforts of more than 700 SEC faculty whose research collaborations ranged from robotic software to reading comprehension and Down Syndrome. One of the last travel endeavors pre-shutdown came in the humanities from the University of Kentucky’s Brass Quintet, which performed and taught in late 2019 at the University of Alabama, the University of Arkansas, the University of Georgia and LSU.

“It’s a tremendous experience for our students to be able to bring faculty from other institutions in the Southeastern Conference to collaborate, hold concerts, and lead master classes,” said Dr. Jon Whitaker, Associate Professor of Trombone at Alabama. “This a really great program. I’ve been awarded grants, and it’s great to be on the receiving end of having other faculty come to our institution.”

The SEC Faculty Travel Program is one of several SEC academic endeavors designed to support the teaching, research, service and economic development goals of the Conference’s 14 member universities. Additional faculty participants may be selected during the academic year.