Congratulations to Ursula Thomas, who has a doctorate in education, on spearheading the launch of a new partnership between Perimeter College YMCA/Early Childhood Development Co., LLC Head Start and Early Head Start Program.
The Early Childhood Initiative, which started in August, reflects Thomas’s ongoing mission to support parenting students and to create meaningful pathways that combine academic preparation with community engagement.
Thomas is the associate department chair for Social Sciences and a professor of education at Perimeter.
Ursula Thomas, who has a doctorate in education, (center) receives the GSU Exceptional Service Award during the Celebrating Faculty Excellence ceremony in September. Also pictured (l to r) are Corrie Fountain, Ph.D., senior associate provost for GSU Faculty Affairs and Nicolle Parsons-Pollard, Ph.D., Georgia State’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs.
Her vision for the Early Childhood Initiative connects Perimeter’s education pathway students, who are also parents, with vital early childhood learning experiences while strengthening school readiness for children across Fulton County.
Perimeter students will assist with Brigance Assessment Testing at multiple Head Start and Early Head Start sites. Their work, which will wrap up at the end of October, will help identify developmental needs and inform instructional planning for young learners.
“This initiative advances student professional development while also uplifting parenting students and their families,” Thomas said. “Together, Perimeter College and the YMCA Head Start community are making a lasting difference in early childhood education and in the lives of Fulton County families.”
In addition to the Perimeter-Fulton County partnership, Thomas recently received Georgia State University’s Exceptional Service Award at the Celebrating Faculty Excellence event hosted by the Office of Faculty Affairs. The award recognizes faculty members for exceptional, sustained and impactful accomplishments in service.
Shout out to professor Barbara J. Hall, M.A., who received a U.S. Fulbright Scholar appointment to Uruguay as a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) specialist. The 12-week TEFL assignment, which started in August, is the 4th for Hall, an associate professor of English at Perimeter. Her project in Uruguay is titled “Ongoing TEFL Teacher Development in Assessment and High Impact Practices: Outreach and Access."
“Mostly, I will be doing workshops at regional TEFL conferences around the country and working in the provinces (outside of Montevideo) and at public schools (elementary to high school) in the English language programs,” she said.
Hall’s first Fulbright TEFL took place in Uruguay in 2008. Later, she received appointments to Costa Rica (2015) and Mexico (2022).
“Each one has been very different - different purposes, different needs by the different countries,” Hall said.
English is a required language for all public schools in Uruguay from grades 1-12.
‘High five’ to Barbara Robertson, M.A., and Joseph Bagley, Ph.D., for accompanying Perimeter students to the nation’s capital as part of the “Honors Signature Experience in Washington, D.C.: American History and Government Up Close” study away program.
Thirteen students participated in the week-long experiential learning opportunity that was coordinated by Robertson and Bagley as an extension of the three-week term class they taught in May.
Senator Ossoff hosts a Welcome to Washington Constituent Coffee in Washington, DC on May 21, 2025. (Official U.S. Senate photo by James Mertz)
While in Washington, the students visited historical monuments, memorials and the Supreme Court, where they attended a lecture on the historic courtroom. They also went to two Smithsonian museums, the Library of Congress and the Capitol where they met one-on-one with Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock—among many other activities.
At Perimeter, Robertson is an instructor of political science and Bagley is an associate professor of history. They are both Honors Program coordinators.
“On these trips, Professor Bagley and I have witnessed students change their pathways or careers and discover a love for public policy and that their own interests and strengths— whether in healthcare, education, sociology or other fields seemingly unrelated to government and policy are needed and utilized in public service,” Robertson said.
“Overall, the students come away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of government, public policy, history and their own role in shaping each of these and their community.”