Georgia Southern University–Armstrong Campus
Georgia Southern University–Armstrong Campus, formerly Armstrong State University, is one of three campuses of Georgia Southern University, a public university in the U.S. state of Georgia. Occupying a area on the residential southside of Savannah, Georgia, the school became one of three campuses of Georgia Southern University in 2018. The university's flagship campus is in Statesboro, west of Savannah. The Armstrong campus is located approximately from downtown Savannah and from Tybee Island. Armstrong offers undergraduate and graduate degrees; it has a total student enrollment of approximately 5,000 students.
History
The Armstrong campus was founded as Armstrong Junior College in 1935 by Mayor Thomas Gamble. Gamble pursued the issue during the height of the Great Depression to benefit Savannah's youth and the community, as well as aid in stimulating the local economy. The college was originally located in the historic Armstrong House adjacent to Forsyth Park in downtown Savannah. The mansion was given to the city as a gift from the family of George F. Armstrong, a local businessman involved in the shipping industry. The college eventually grew to encompass six buildings in the Forsyth and Monterey Square areas of Savannah.In 1959, Armstrong College of Savannah became part of the University System of Georgia as a community college, and in 1964 the Board of Regents conferred four-year status on Armstrong State College. Donald Livingston and the Mills B. Lane Foundation provided the college with 250 acres of land on the southwest side of Savannah. Eight buildings were constructed on the property and the college moved from the Armstrong House downtown to the suburban location in January 1966.
The school played NCAA Division I athletics briefly, from 1983 to 1987, as part of the Big South Conference. The school later dropped athletics.
Over the years the college expanded, adding new buildings and expanding academic programs. In 1993, the college began extensive landscaping work that transformed the campus into an arboretum. Armstrong State College gained state university status in 1996 and duly changed its name to Armstrong Atlantic State University. The following year the university opened the Liberty Center in Hinesville. The university celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2010, inaugurating Dr. Linda M. Bleicken as its seventh president.
In 2014 the school officially changed its name to Armstrong State University, to help minimize confusion regarding the school's location, make the name easier to say, and create a stronger brand for the school. The name change became effective on July 1, 2014.
Armstrong celebrated its 80th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the university's move to the Southside during the 2015–16 academic year.
Presently, the campus is no longer an independent institution with a separate accreditation.
Consolidation with Georgia Southern University
On January 11, 2017, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, on recommendation by Chancellor Steve Wrigley, voted to consolidate Armstrong State with Georgia Southern University. The merger, without any student-faculty input from the two schools, was to take place as part of a long-term goal of the Board of Regents to consolidate smaller, regional colleges and universities with larger, more well-known institutions.Under the consolidation plan, Armstrong State would inherit Georgia Southern's name, leadership, academics, and athletics, and the merged institution would become the fourth-largest public university in the state: the "New Georgia Southern University". Consolidation, which took a full year to implement, was officially proclaimed by the Board of Regents on January 17, 2018.
Campus
The Armstrong campus is located in a suburban setting near the Savannah Mall, with direct access to downtown Savannah via Abercorn Expressway. The landscaped campus includes subtropical ferns and flowers, southern magnolias, oak trees draped with Spanish moss, and a wide variety of native plants scattered throughout the arboretum-style grounds.Lane Library is the main academic and research library on the Armstrong campus. Lane Library's collection comprises more than 200,000 books and printed materials as well as 18,000 audiovisual works. The university recently invested $5 million in a renovation and expansion of the facility.
The Science Center complex is a two-building complex connected by an enclosed glass walkway. The Science Center is home to many of the College of Science and Technology programs, including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Physical Science, and Psychology. It includes classroom and lecture space, faculty offices, and labs. The facility opened in 2001 as the largest single increase in instructional space on campus since the campus opened.
A, $24 million Student Union opened in 2010. It is the university's first green building, built with rapidly renewable and recycled materials and featuring a high-efficiency chilled water cooling system. The Union houses a 300-seat food court, 200-seat movie theatre, ballroom, bookstore, coffeehouse, convenience store, and expansive porches and lounges. Next to the Student Union is the Memorial College Center. Commonly known as the MCC, it houses Student Affairs and Student Activities offices.
Armstrong's athletic facilities are located in the southeast area of campus. The Student Recreation and Aquatic Center is a athletic facility that includes a fitness center, and two basketball courts. The facility is home to the ROTC program and was formerly home to the Armstrong Pirate volleyball team. The Alumni Arena is located adjacent to the Rec Center and includes an indoor running track, weight room, coaches offices, classroom space, and a 4,000-seat arena home to the men's and women's basketball teams. Since consolidation with Georgia Southern, the campus has not maintained a separate athletics program, with the future of these athletic facilities uncertain. Near the end of the 2017–2018 academic year, there were talks of renovating the campus's current athletic facilities to allow for the university's tennis and soccer teams to practice and play at the Armstrong Campus, in addition to creating new recreational and general purpose fields. Such a proposal, if approved, could take up to a decade to complete, with the entire project having a low-end cost of $40 million to upgrade the campus's current athletic facilities, including infrastructure needs as mandated by division standards.
More than 1,400 students live on campus within three residential communities located in the southwest portion of the campus. Windward Commons is Armstrong's suite-style freshmen residential community which opened in 2010 and is home to nearly 600 students. It features private and semi-private suites, music practice rooms, multipurpose classrooms, lounges/social areas, laundry facilities, courtyards with outdoor sitting space and barbecue areas, and two classrooms. Compass Point and University Crossings are apartment-style residence halls intended for upperclassmen and graduate students.
On April 24, 2013, Armstrong completed renovations to the Memorial College Center, opening the Learning Commons. The space was developed as an extension to the Lane Library. Features include PC and Mac computers, three multi-touch tables, and group study rooms.