Page 3 - MGATODAY-Spring2019

Dear Friends, ity of the education and the experiences and the
opportunities we offer to our students, and those
As we complete our sixth academic year since opportunities continue to grow. With new degree
consolidation, we look back and realize that the programs in sport management, rehabilitation
past 12 months have been a period of incredible science, and political science, we’re continuing
change and remarkable growth for our institu- to find new ways to fulfill our mission of helping
tion. Since the spring of 2018, we’ve shown three develop the workforce in Middle Georgia.
semesters of increased enrollment, a new strategic This year, we were proud to be selected as one
plan – entitled “Elevating Middle Georgia” – has of only eight schools in the country to partici-
been developed and adopted, we’ve implemented pate in Delta Air Lines’ Propel Pilot Career Path
partnerships and programs that will benefit our Program, and eight of our student aviators have
students, and we’re offering a number of new already been selected to proceed directly into an
degree programs and organizational changes to accelerated path towards a career as a Delta pilot.
help support the University’s increasing student We have also joined with fellow institutions across
population. the state to partner with the U.S. Army’s Cyber
Middle Georgia State University is proud to Command to train current and future military
celebrate strong enrollment growth during 2018- personnel in cybersecurity and cyber defense.
19. For three semesters, our student population In the areas of research and community
has increased as a growing number of students in outreach, we have shown further growth –
our area, our state, and our region recognize the accepting this year the largest research grant
value of a degree from MGA. In fall 2018, we were ever awarded to the University for our School of
especially excited to be recognized for the second- Information Technology to pursue groundbreak-
largest enrollment increase in the University ing research in the study of metabolomics and a
System of Georgia, second only to Georgia Tech. Downtown Challenge grant to develop and install
As promising as those numbers are, how- free public WiFi service in downtown Macon.
ever, the success of an endeavor as complex as And our growth will continue as we move
higher education cannot be measured by a single forward – this year not only saw the publica-
number. Our success also hinges upon the qual- tion of our new strategic plan, but also saw the
announcement of a new residence hall coming
soon on the Macon Campus, and we continue to
work towards the funding and construction of a
new enrollment center to help assist students in
managing their education.
We are glad to share our stories with those in
both our MGA community and the community
at large as we continue to expand our offerings,
grow our student base, and explore new ways to
fulfill our roles as educators.
Sincerely,

Christopher Blake, Ph.D.
President

Spring 2019 MGA TODAY 3