Page 3 - MGA Today - Fall 2016
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Dear Friends, place for a plurality of voices to be heard. We have
welcomed a new director of diversity, equity and
In the previous issue of MGA Today, I spoke of the inclusion to head up initiatives that encourage our
growth that Middle Georgia State experienced during students, faculty, and staff to be engaged citizens and to
our first year as a University, and of plans for work towards greater unity in our communities.
continuing that growth. Now, in our second year
carrying the University banner, we can proudly say that Recognizing that personal growth happens against
we have achieved some big successes. Both the MGA the backdrop of a rapidly changing world, we continue
community and the Middle Georgia region are already to explore options for international study. We look
beginning to see the benefits of this progress: forward to welcoming our first group of Early Child-
Following spring’s enrollment increase, MGA saw hood Education majors from
steady enrollment rates for fall 2016, Northampton University in the UK to
exceeding our goals and defying the MGA in April, and expect to send our
national trend towards reduced first group of students to
enrollment. Moreover, this year’s Northampton next fall.
incoming class boasted MGA’s
highest-ever average Freshman Index These successes are evidence
score – a combination of GPA and of our “Greatness in the Making.”
SAT/ACT scores used in college Our continued growth, our expanded
admissions. offerings in and out of the classroom,
and the accomplishments and
As we strengthen our undergrad- achievements of our students, staff
uate admissions, our faculty and and faculty all serve to illustrate our
Office of Graduate Studies have not commitment to our shared values of
only launched two graduate Stewardship, Engagement, Adapt-
programs, but gained Board of ability and Learning.
Regents support for two more – a
Master of Arts in Teaching and a Yet, challenges remain for a
Master of Science in Management. University that operates on far less
Upon our accrediting body’s approval, these programs funding than our peers. In the face of these not-
will further improve our ability to meet the region’s insignificant challenges, we know that we must be
demands for educators and business leaders. creative. We must work smarter, not merely harder. And
we know that we can do it, because we are a community
In August, we opened the Georgia Veterans made up of innovative, dedicated individuals.
Education Career Transition Resource (VECTR) Center As our second year as Middle Georgia State
to house a first-of-its-kind-in-the-nation partnership University nears its midway point, we are committed to
between the state’s University and Technical College continually increasing the ways in which we will serve
Systems. This newest location for MGA offers onsite our region and beyond – not only by offering
coursework, career counseling, educational coaching exceptional education, but also by engaging with the
and workforce training to help Georgia’s military and businesses and the governments and, above all, the
veteran population transition into the civilian people who make up our communities.
workforce. As Helen Keller so aptly said, “Alone we can do so
little; together we can do so much.”
Our growth in aviation and aerospace continues,
with more than 20 students now enrolled in flight Christopher Blake, Ph.D.
courses at Macon Downtown Airport, and a strategic President
plan in place to broaden this expansion across the state.
With so much of the nation’s discourse focused on
issues of diversity, we continue to strive to provide a
Fall 2016 MGA TODAY 3
