News from the University System of Georgia: region 12

NEWS

FROM

The University System of Georgia

Two USG Universities Rank Among Nation's Top 20 Public Institutions
Georgia has two institutions ranked among the top 20 public national universities in the United States in U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges 2003."
Georgia Tech is No. 9 on the coveted list, while the University of Georgia is No. 18.
The 2003 "Best Colleges" report, released in September 2002, and the magazine's 2003 edition of "Best Graduate Schools," released in April 2002, also contain a variety of other rankings.
The reports rank Georgia Tech: First among the nation's graduate and undergraduate schools
of industrial and systems engineering; Second among undergraduate programs in aerospace/aero-
nautical/ engineering; Third among undergraduate programs in civil engineering; Fourth among undergraduate programs in mechanical engi-
neering; and Fourth among graduate engineering programs overall.
The reports rank UGA: Among the top three public law schools in the South; Third among graduate programs in public
management/administration and public finance; Fourth among graduate programs in vocational/ technical
education; and Fourth in terms of "best value" among national public uni-
versities.
The reports rank Georgia State University: First among the nation's public universities with part-time
MBA programs and fifth overall; and Second among undergraduate business programs in insurance/
risk management.
The reports rank the Medical College of Georgia: Sixth among the nation's graduate programs in nursing anes-
thesia (a ranking held since 1998).
Facts About the USG Institutions Represented at This Luncheon:
I Armstrong Atlantic State University's Center for Regional Analysis produces a quarterly newsletter, The Coastal Empire Economic Monitor, for business and community leaders. This is one of the few university publications in the nation that forecasts regional economic conditions.
I Coastal Georgia Community College collaborates with Tifton's Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in offering an associate degree in environmental horticulture technology that includes an area of emphasis in golf and grounds maintenance.
I Georgia Southern University has a program in logistics and transportation that prepares graduates to work in the trucking, railroad, airline, steam shipping and other related industries.
I Savannah State University is one of eight University System of Georgia institutions taking part in Yamacraw, a statewide initiative positioning Georgia as a global leader in high-tech industries.

Did You Know?
N The Board of Regents is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. The original 11 regents developed a plan in 1932 that for the first time centralized governance of the state's higher education institutions.
N According to a recent economic-impact study coordinated by the Board of Regents' Office of Economic Development, the four University System institutions located in Georgia's Coastal Empire -- Georgia Southern, Armstrong Atlantic, and Savannah State universities and Coastal Georgia Community College -- generated a combined total of 8,700 jobs and infused nearly $684 million into the local economy during Fiscal Year 2001.
N Eligible students can take engineering courses at Georgia Southern, Armstrong Atlantic, or Savannah State universities to earn a bachelor's degree in civil, computer or electrical engineering from Georgia Tech through the Georgia Tech Regional Engineering Program.
N Georgia Southern University's new School of Information Technology (which will assume college status in July 2003) is the only free-standing IT school in the state. It is the launch point for a high-tech corridor between Statesboro and Savannah, bringing high-tech industries and investment to Southeast Georgia. The
Brunswick Center Providing Coastal Residents with Four-Year, Grad Degrees
The Brunswick Center -- operated by a consortium composed of Coastal Georgia Community College (CGCC), Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU) and Georgia Southern University (GSU) -- provides residents of 12 Southeast Georgia counties convenient access to baccalaureate and graduate degrees.
Armstrong Atlantic offers six undergraduate and three graduate degrees at the center, while Georgia Southern offers one undergraduate and three graduate degrees. In addition to office space on its campus, CGCC provides administrative support for these programs.
AASU and GSU have awarded a total of 832 baccalaureate degrees through the Brunswick Center during the 17 years it has been in existence.

NEWS

FROM

The University System of Georgia

GSU to Assist Rural Economy of SE Georgia
Georgia Southern University's new School of Economic Development will focus on improving the economy of Southeast Georgia, especially that of its rural communities.
The school's undergraduate degree in regional economic development is the only program of its kind in Georgia, and one of only a handful in the nation focusing on regional development. Degree candidates study business, public policy, health care, water resources, tourism, transportation and other issues.
Housed in the university's College of Business Administration, the new school also includes a number of the college's outreach centers and bureaus -- the Small Business Development Center, the Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development, the Center for Management Development, the Coastal Rivers Water Planning and Policy Center, and the Office of External Relations.
Assisting rural communities with economicdevelopment issues is a primary concern. "If you plotted them on a map, you'd see most certified economic development specialists in Georgia are concentrated in Atlanta and other metropolitan areas," said the school's director, Ben Thompson. "We hope to be able to assist economic developers in the rural communities and counties."

USG Resume Database Helping Employers to Recruit
FusionPoint Technology Solutions of Macon is one of the latest Georgia businesses to benefit from the University System of Georgia's online statewide database of college students and alumni seeking consideration as job candidates.
The consulting firm recently hired three Georgia Tech graduates located through GeorgiaHire.com, which provides cost-effective one-stop shopping for businesses in need of qualified job candidates. Students and alumni can post their resumes on the web site free of charge. It costs nothing for potential employers to search the database for job candidates and only a nominal fee to post job openings and company profiles.
More than 150,000 students and alumni have posted their resumes for review since February 2000, and more than 12,600 employers have searched the database during that period.

Did You Know?
N Georgia Southern University and Armstrong Atlantic State University are two of 15 universities in Georgia participating in a new fast-track teacher-training program called Georgia Responds, which offers unemployed professionals a new career in teaching and is helping to ease the shortage of qualified teachers in Georgia classrooms.
N Savannah State University's College of Business Administration operates the Savannah Entrepreneurial Center, which offers incubator space, provides customized training and technical assistance to individuals trying to start, maintain or expand small businesses.
N The critical shortage of nurses in Southeast Georgia led to the recent establishment of the Coastal Georgia Nursing Consortium by Armstrong Atlantic State University, Coastal Georgia Community College, Georgia Southern University, Ogeechee Technical College and Savannah Technical College. The consortium just staged a highly successful "Nursing as a Second Career Exposition" in Savannah to recruit nursing students, and plans a second one in Spring 2003.

Armstrong Atlantic Helping to Ease Local Shortage of Nurses, Medical Technologists
This past summer, Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU) received funding from the University System of Georgia's Intellectual Capital Partnership (ICAPP) Program for two projects that will increase the number of health professionals in the Coastal Empire.
These ICAPP Advantage projects will produce nursing and medical-technology graduates through accelerated curricula to ease a critical shortage in health-care professionals that is particularly pronounced in the Southeast.
AASU has partnered with two Savannah hospitals -- Memorial Health University Center (MHUMC) and St. Joseph's/Candler -- to deliver the bachelor's program in nursing and with MHUMC, Archbold Medical Center in Thomasville, and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany to deliver instruction in the bachelor of science in medical technology program via video and the Internet.