AS SEEN IN THE DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS: As Dr. Don Green prepares to take on a new role this summer, he can look back over a number of successes that have been achieved during his seven-year tenure as president of Georgia Highlands College.<\/p>\n
Green, who came to GHC in 2014, resigned in April after accepting an offer to become the president of Point Park University in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Dr. Dana Nichols, chief academic officer and provost, will take over as interim president after Green leaves in July.<\/p>\n
During a virtual \u201cdeskside\u201d interview with the media Tuesday, Green and Nichols discussed future goals for and past successes of the college, particularly how graduation has become a top priority during the past five years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cWe get really hyped, really amped about graduation,\u201d Green said. \u201cWe take commencement very serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2017, the college saw a 9% increase in the number of students who graduated, the outgoing president said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next year, we jumped up another 10% over that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe following year, we bumped up another 9% over that. Last year, we were up 14%, and the data isn\u2019t in yet exactly, but we know we\u2019re going to be over 14% again this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the just-completed academic year, close to 1,100 students graduated during three separate commencements, he added.<\/p>\n
Green said the college\u2019s focus has shifted since he took over as president.<\/p>\n
When he arrived at GHC, he and his team knew the college needed to increase enrollment and \u201cfocused heavily\u201d on recruitment the first two or three years, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we also realized that it was very important to us that students coming in the front door needed to walk out the back door with a diploma so after about three years, we got really serious with retention and graduation numbers,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As a result, the college saw \u201creally nice, consistent enrollment growth\u201d for first five years, according to Green.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then this thing called COVID hit, and it has certainly brought us challenges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But GHC decided it was a \u201cgreat time to double down on a variety of strategies\u201d like student engagement, recruiting, graduation and cost control, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like we\u2019re fully loaded, ready to go back after it, and we expect that the next year will still be a bit of a challenge, but after that, we feel like we\u2019re going to be ready to really just continue our trajectory up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Green also is proud of a number of other accomplishments his team has achieved since his arrival, like saving students money on instructional materials.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast time we looked at the numbers, when you use as the base five years ago, we were saving our students $2.8 million in textbook costs,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m very, very proud of that.”<\/p>\n
Nichols said the University System of Georgia\u2019s Affordable Learning Georgia program has made textbooks and other instructional materials more affordable because faculty members can create their own resources with grant assistance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cOur faculty really jumped in wholeheartedly, recognizing that our students needed really affordable but quality instructional materials,\u201d she said. \u201cThey created a number of materials that are now being used across the nation, and they brought in over half a million dollars in grants so that they could make those affordable for students. I\u2019m just really proud of our faculty for recognizing one of the barriers to student success and doing things to take those barriers down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding more two-year programs like film production, graphic design, sports management and entrepreneurship along with increasing the number of baccalaureate programs such as a customizable bachelor\u2019s degree in health sciences is another major accomplishment of the college.<\/p>\n
A new Bachelor of Science in building information modeling management has already been approved by USG and will go before the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in December, according to Nichols.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe anticipate that it will be approved there, and then we will stand it up in January, pending their approval,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re really excited about this one. I think it\u2019s going to be great for northwest Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green said GHC has one of only two BIMM bachelor degree programs in the nation; Purdue University, a \u201cvery high-quality engineering school,\u201d has the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see tremendous growth from the opportunity toward the future and tremendous opportunity with noncredit training development as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One highlight of the past year that has helped with rapidly developing new programs was reorganizing the college from divisions into schools.<\/p>\n
Nichols said the reorganization has brought about \u201ca lot of very positive things,\u201d including creating the new School of Business and Professional Studies and moving the standalone math division into the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really excited about this,\u201d she said. \u201cEach school has a separate dean and supporting division chairs to help us with our curriculum development and outreach to area employers.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the biggest source of pride for Green is the people he\u2019s worked with the past seven years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m most proud of our faculty and staff because these are people who will run through a brick wall to help a student,\u201d he said. \u201cI wish I could share with you the hundreds of stories of so many ways that our faculty and staff go above and beyond to help our students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking to the future, both Green and Nichols said \u201check, yeah, more to come\u201d in terms of new bachelor degree programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the more exciting ones is around data analytics and that kind of skill set in computers and data analysis but also data interpretation,\u201d Nichols said.<\/p>\n
The final question was one Green had been waiting for: Why Pittsburgh?<\/p>\n
Though he wasn\u2019t seeking a new position, Green said he was contacted by a recruiter and had some \u201cintriguing\u201d conversations about graduate and doctoral programs at Point Park.<\/p>\n
When he discussed the opportunity with his three 20-something kids, they told him Pittsburgh is a \u201creally cool city\u201d so he and his wife, Cathy, visited and liked what they saw.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for me to stretch and grow, but as I say that, I will always have a very, very warm spot in my heart for Georgia and especially for northwest Georgia,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n