Office of Communications: Personnel
Amanda Swennes
Want to know when the next University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences publication will come out? It's all etched neatly on Amanda Swennes' dry erase board.
In June, Amanda joined the Office of Communications as its newest publications expert. Her job responsibilities include managing, editing and designing publications for the college's research, Extension and teaching faculty.
She's putting her talent for organization to immediate use as she works to speed up publication turnaround time. She's already finished several major publications – including the 164-page part one of "Native Plants for Georgia," which she's hoping to eventually transform into a polished for-sale publication.
"I'm really committed to making the publications office a valuable resource for the college," she said. "Coming in and seeing places I can contribute…I feel I can offer a fresh perspective on ways to serve our faculty."
Right now she's going through all the publications on the CAES Web site (www.caes.uga.edu/publications) and pulling those released before 2006. As part of a three-year update process, these older publications will then go to department heads and faculty for review.
"Even if the information is current, if someone downloaded a publication and saw a date from the late '90s, I think they'd be less likely to use it," she said of the older Extension publications. "I want our publications to be the best they can be. We should have the most up-to-date information for people to use."
Before starting with the Office of Communications, Amanda spread the UGA word by doing public relations for the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. Previous to that job, she earned her master's degree from UGA's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
She's taken a break from schoolwork, letting her husband Alton do the studying as a third-year vet student in the College of Veterinary Medicine. They live in Athens with their cat Liam, who used to be the neighborhood beggar, Amanda said.
"When he left a dead bird on our porch, we took it as a sign he wanted us to be his family, and he hasn't been out of the house since."
Amanda trains ponies and exercises horses in her free time, pulling from her undergraduate years on the Hollins University equestrian team. She also writes and makes jewelry, laughing as she warns everybody to "get your Christmas orders in now."