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Dear Friends, progressing toward graduation. To that end, I
have asked the provost to build an actionable
Since we published our last magazine, Middle system for immediate impact on retention,
Georgia State University has been laser focused on progression, and graduation, utilizing our
growth. This has included physical growth, with experience and expertise in the faculty, in student
the opening of our new STEM facility in Warner life and in fiscal affairs.
Robins, programmatic growth with expansion of Our search for a new vice president of
pathways, and enrollment growth. Enrollment Management, who will help us build a
Following our State of the University address culture of leadership and strength in our
in January – where we celebrated and reflected on enrollment strategy, is ongoing. In the mean-
our fifth birthday as one institution – I issued a time, we are excited about new partnerships with
white paper (a report that provides proposals on industry, the military, government, and other
a given issue) about intentionality. By that I mean institutions of higher education – particularly in
knowing what we are going after and why it serves areas like aviation, business, information
our mission. technology, healthcare, education and behavioral
In January we welcomed our new provost, sciences – that will continue to add value to the
who has already worked with faculty and staff to economy and make Middle Georgia State a
outline an academic identity and strategy that will destination of choice for students in the region
form the foundation of our next strategic plan. and beyond.
That plan is under development by a diverse ad Thank you for all you do to support our
hoc committee comprised of students, faculty, efforts!
staff, alumni, and members of our surrounding
communities. Sincerely,
We have seen the effectiveness of intentional-
ity with our spring enrollment efforts. Thanks to Christopher Blake, Ph.D.
many working together across divisions under the President
leadership of the enrollment action team, Middle
Georgia State University closed the gap on a 4.8
percent decline in the fall to nearly flat in the
spring. I cannot overemphasize what an
accomplishment this is.
As we continue our efforts to draw students to
Middle Georgia State and help them succeed here,
many of us are working in new and different ways.
For instance, this spring, we hosted Saturday open
houses on our Macon, Cochran, and Eastman
campuses. These day-long events brought nearly
1,000 prospective students and their families to
our campuses and resulted in hundreds of new
students enrolling for summer and fall classes.
As we attract new students and continue to
make families aware of the tremendous value that
is Middle Georgia State University, we must also
ensure that the students already here are steadily

Spring 2018 MGA TODAY 3