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BOR BUDGET ALLOCATION HELPS MGC IN COMPLETE COLLEGE GEORGIA INITIATIVE
Release Date:06/05/2012
(Cochran, GA) – How do you close an 18 percent gap between the numbers of Georgians who currently have some type of college degree and what the state’s workforce will need in 2020? That is the challenge facing Georgia and its colleges and universities, but a challenge being addressed through the state’s Complete College Georgia Initiative.
Ongoing work under this initiative by Georgia''s public colleges and universities to increase college completion rates will get a boost in the upcoming year with $72.5 million in new funds. Gov. Nathan Deal and the General Assembly fully funded the University System''s enrollment formula, and as a result, all 35 institutions will receive new funding to strengthen programs serving the system’s almost 320,000 students.
Middle Georgia College will use $481,211 in funding to address some key priorities that will support college completion efforts, including: a Prep Academy and an Aircraft Replacement Plan.
The Complete College Georgia Initiative is a joint effort between the USG and the Technical College System of Georgia to improve college completion by creating new varieties of collaboration among institutions responsible for higher education, increasing the number of college-ready students graduating from high school, and reevaluating the performance of completion-ready aspects of higher education.
One way the Complete College Georgia Plan will improve college completion is by developing alternative pathways for students who are not eligible for admission to college. MGC’s Prep Academy is a new initiative that will provide intensive instruction in math, English, and reading through a six-week summer residential program that is designed to assist those students to become eligible for admission to Middle Georgia College.
In the Prep Academy, students will “learn how to learn,” said Dr. Mary Lou Frank, Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs. “They will develop skills that will give them the tools that will allow them to be successful in subsequent courses. Thus, students will persist and graduate at a higher rate.”
The Aircraft Replacement Plan at the Georgia Aviation campus in Eastman will provide the funds necessary to replace older resources, such as airplanes and helicopters, so as not to cause hardship on the students’ flight schedules due to aircraft maintenance issues, said Adam Holloway, the Chief Flight Instructor on the Aviation campus. “This plan would develop a schedule for the periodic rotation of the older airframes with new ones so student training would not suffer.”
Since the plan will allow for more aircraft availability, and newer aircraft will need less maintenance than current older models, students will not experience unnecessary delays in their degree plans, allowing them to complete their degrees on schedule.
The Board of Regents funding for the Prep Academy and Aircraft Replacement Plan will provide the resources for MGC to be instrumental in the success of the Complete College Georgia initiative.
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