Preamble

Whereas, the great purpose of higher education is the strongest obligation to form the youth, the rising hope of our land, to render the like capable and dedicated to glorious and essential service. Whereas, the faculty of the University of Georgia share a special commitment to the value and practicality of higher education and an obligation to promote a culture of inquiry, a passion for learning, a community of scholars and a contempt for ignorance, apathy and indifference. Whereas the University was founded on the vision of a land-grant institution with its roots in and commitment to serving all people of the state with the knowledge and skills that uplift the economic, cultural and spiritual well-being of the common citizen. Whereas the public's expectations and sensibilities of the University's commitment to teaching and learning are great and prudent. Whereas the teaching and learning mission of the University is the strength and only non-proprietary enterprise of the University.Whereas the University's tripartite mission in teaching, research and service enhances and enriches the learning environment and whereas faculty engaged in such activities have the fortune and obligation to share the fruits of their knowledge and activities in the glorious enterprise of teaching.

Therefore, we solemnly commit ourselves to establishing a University of Georgia Teaching Academy to celebrate and engage the larger University community to embrace the joy, passions and rewards of teaching and learning. The charter members of the University Teaching Academy duly enact and embrace this assembly of scholars and promote its just and necessary causes and ambitions on this twenty-seventh day of October in the year nineteen hundred ninety-nine.