Living On Campus
Author: News Bureau
Posted: Wednesday, January 8, 2014 1:10 PM
Category:
Pressroom
Macon, GA
But Middle Georgia State had the degree she wanted – communications – and she looked forward to living on an attractive campus and making new friends. Plus, “the school is good about organizing activities for us,” Smith said as she moved into her room in Gateway Hall shortly before fall semester 2013 began. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Unlike its merger partner, the old Macon State, the former Middle Georgia College was a residential school from its inception in 1884. According to Brian Harrell, director of residence life, the first building constructed at the college after an academic facility was a residential hall.
Today, two-thirds of Middle Georgia State’s 1,200 residential students live in one of five halls nestled on the well-landscaped east end of the Cochran Campus.
Students also live on the Macon and Eastman campuses, each of which has one residential community. (About 300 students live in College Station in Macon, while some 120 live in Aviation Hall in Eastman.)
But as Middle Georgia State moves forward as a single institution, Cochran will play a key role as the primary residential campus.
The college is working hard to solidify that status. Until fairly recently, the former Middle Georgia College was one of just a few state University System institutions with a strong tradition of intercollegiate athletics (which helped with student recruitment) and on-campus living at the junior-college level.
Now, more University System schools that had been commuter-only have residence halls, and some have begun or expanded intercollegiate sports.
“We have more competition now,” Harrell said, “but I think what we continue to offer on the Cochran Campus will help us hold our own and even expand the number of residential students.”
Like many institutions, Middle Georgia State requires freshmen to live on campus, although there are some exceptions for students with permanent addresses in the college’s primary service area. But all freshmen are strongly encouraged to live on campus.
“The advantages of living on campus are well documented,” Harrell said. “Residential students tend to enjoy college more, make better grades and graduate on time.”
Middle Georgia State has renewed a push promoting Cochran as a “Freshman Friendly” campus with all the traditional college amenities – evening activities, meal plans, beautiful quads where students can toss Frisbees on crisp, autumn days. The effort includes strengthening learning communities and other elements to help first-year students succeed academically.
Cochran Campus-based athletics remains a strong draw, too, as many Middle Georgia State students seem to have embraced the consolidated institution’s new mascot, Knights, and the school colors of purple, black and silver/gray. Consolidation created the opportunity to re-establish a tradition of football in Cochran, where the former Middle Georgia College was renowned for a fine junior-college intercollegiate program that had to be dropped in 2001 due to financial considerations.
The new football squad is a club team, not an intercollegiate team, but its fall 2013 success – ranked first by the National Club Football Association – has helped establish an enthusiastic fan base. The football club’s players live in residential halls on the Cochran Campus, as do most athletes on the school’s intercollegiate teams.
“Home basketball games especially attract a big crowd and add to what Cochran has to offer as a residential campus,” Harrell said.
Most Cochran Campus residential students take part in the wide variety of activities the Office of Student Life hosts each semester. The Cochran Campus specializes in post-5 p.m. activities for residential students and brings in lots of shows from the college entertainment circuit. This semester featured a game show called Thinkfast, a “hypnopalooza” with hypnotist Rich Aimes and comedy juggling stunts by Team Rootberry, among other events.
“There’s plenty to do,” said junior Chazmine Stanley, an education major who lives in Warrior Hall and stays busy as a member of the dance team and powder puff football squad. “Everyone has a chance to be sociable here.”
Harrell said the Cochran Campus is especially appealing to the parents of prospective students who visit. “A quiet, small town is attractive to parents who worry that too many outside distractions will keep their children from focusing on their studies and making friends on campus.”
Know More: Learn more about Middle Georgia State’s Residence Life opportunities at https://www.mga.edu/residence-life/.
Photo: Students who live on the Cochran Campus include participants of the Georgia Academy of Aviation, Mathematics, Engineering and Science (GAMES). Students in GAMES work on their high school diplomas and MGSC associate’s degrees simultaneously. Photo by Maryann Bates.
This article, by Sheron Smith, originally appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Middle Georgia State Today magazine.