Middle Georgia State University


Middle Georgia State University is a public university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia, United States. It is part of the University System of Georgia and offers programs to students on five campuses in Middle Georgia and online. Middle Georgia State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees.
The institution, originally known as Middle Georgia State College, was founded in 2013 through the merger of Middle Georgia College and Macon State College. Through these legacy institutions, Middle Georgia State University traces its history to 1884. In 2015, the institution adopted its current name to reflect its elevation to state university status.

History

Middle Georgia State is a relatively new institution in name, though it has been in existence in several forms for most of 130 years.

1884–1919

The institution's beginnings date to the establishment of New Ebenezer College, which occupied the site of the current Cochran Campus. New Ebenezer was established in 1884 by the New Ebenezer Baptist Association, which was composed largely of Baptist churches in Pulaski, Dodge, Laurens, and Telfair counties of Middle Georgia. The first building on the campus was completed in 1886, and classes were first held in 1887 with approximately 100 students. However, the association discontinued its financial support for their namesake college in 1898, forcing the school to close its doors.
The college's building served as a high school for the city of Cochran until 1913, when the high school moved. No documentation exists regarding the facilities from 1913 to 1919, leading to the presumption that it was unoccupied during that time.

1919–1931

In 1919, the Georgia State College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts opened a branch dedicated to serving the needs of the 12th Congressional District in the building formerly used by New Ebenezer College. In 1927, the school's name was changed to Middle Georgia Agricultural and Mechanical Junior College, though it remained a branch of the state agricultural school. In 1929, the school's name was changed to Middle Georgia College and responsibility for its operation was given to a nine-person board of trustees.

1931–1965

Middle Georgia College was made an independent institution in 1931 when it was created as one of the original units of the newly created University System of Georgia. During World War II, Middle Georgia hosted the 50th College Training Detachment of the U.S. Army Air Force and graduated 17 classes of aviation students from March 1943 – July 1944.
In 1964, Dr. Louis C. Alderman Jr. became president and served 23 years, the longest term of any president of the college. Many new buildings as well as renovations of existing facilities marked his tenure in growing the college's reputation, academic excellence, campus beauty, and athletic programs. Middle Georgia College continued to operate as a separate unit of the University System until the end of 2012.

1965–1995

In 1968, Macon Junior College was established on the western side of Macon, Georgia. The two year institution began its first year with 1,100 students which was the largest enrollment to this point for a new University System of Georgia institution.
Middle Georgia College opened a Dublin Campus in 1984. In 1987, the Regents removed "Junior" from the Macon college's name, but Macon College remained a two-year school, and in 1991 it began offering classes in a building at an office park in Warner Robins.

1996–2011

In 1996, Macon College was renamed Macon State College. The first bachelor's degrees were awarded in May 1999. With support from the City of Warner Robins and funding from the General Assembly, the college constructed a new building and renovated another to establish a new campus in Warner Robins in 2003.
Middle Georgia College also was expanding. A new program was added in 2007, when the college assumed the programs and facilities that had been the Georgia Aviation Technical College at Heart of Georgia Regional Airport in Eastman. With that consolidation, Middle Georgia College had campuses in Cochran, Dublin and Eastman.
While Middle Georgia College had residence halls, Macon State College, for its first 40 years, was strictly a commuter college. However, units in an apartment building near the campus opened as student housing for the fall 2010 semester.
In 2010, Macon State also became the host of the International Cherry Blossom Festival's annual Tunes and Balloons event.

2011–present

From 2011 to 2015, the two institutions went through dramatic change, beginning in June 2011 when Dr. David Bell ended his 14-year presidency of Macon State. He was replaced in July 2011 by Jeff Allbritten.
Six months later, in January 2012, the Board of Regents set in motion the consolidation of Macon State College with Middle Georgia College. In May, the Regents decided on a name for the new institution—Middle Georgia State College—and also laid out a path for elevating the consolidated institution to university status after a review process. Allbritten left the presidency after only one year. In July 2012, he was replaced by Dr. John Black, who had retired as president emeritus of East Georgia State College. Black became interim president of Macon State, while Dr. Michael Stoy continued to serve as president of Middle Georgia College.
In the fall of 2012, students at the two colleges selected a new mascot to replace the "Blue Storm" and the "Warriors". More than 1,000 students on the campuses of the two legacy institutions voted to select Knights as the new mascot. Students also selected new school colors of purple, black and silver, and they voted among several choices on the design of the new mascot. The new mascot and color selections were at least partially influenced by the two institutions' previous identities. The Blue Storm was depicted as a horse in clouds, while the Warriors were fighting humans. Some students saw the "knight," an armor-wearing fighting soldier often depicted as riding a horse, as a combination of the two former mascots. Selection of the new colors was similarly influenced by the past. The Blue Storm colors were blue and gold; the Warrior colors were red and black. The combination of blue and red form purple, a regal color often worn by knights. Students also proposed many names for the new mascot; the name "Duke" was selected in another student vote.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the regional accrediting agency, gave its approval to the consolidation of the two colleges in December 2012.
The Board of Regents voted to make the consolidation official, effective immediately, on Jan. 8, 2013. Black was re-appointed as interim president of the new institution, Middle Georgia State College. His term ended in December 2013, and Dr. Christopher Blake assumed the presidency on January 2, 2014.
In March 2015, the Board of Regents approved the elevation of Middle Georgia State to state university status, which took place on July 1, 2015, thus becoming Middle Georgia State University. The university held its first homecoming activities in September 2015. In October, the university announced the expansion of its flight programs previously only offered at the Eastman Campus. The institution is leasing facilities from the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority to offer flight courses at the Macon Downtown Airport in east Bibb County.
In December 2015, SACSCOC accredited the university to offer master's degrees, starting in January 2016, and to admit and register students for its new online graduate programs, the Master of Science in Information Technology and the Master of Science in nursing. More recently the university introduced the Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Arts in Technical and Professional Writing, and Master of Science in Management. The university began offering its first doctorate in 2021, a Doctor of Science in Information Technology. A second Doctorate of Science, in Public Safety and Emergency Management, was added two years later.

Academic programs and organization

The university's academic programs are currently offered by 17 departments in six schools:
;The School of Arts and Letters
  • Department of English
  • Department of History and Political Science
  • Department of Media, Culture, and the Arts
;The School of Aviation
  • Department of Aviation Maintenance and Structural Technology
  • Department of Aviation Science and Management
;The School of Business
;The School of Computing
;The School of Education and Behavioral Sciences
  • Department of Psychology and Criminal Justice
  • Department of Teacher Education and Social Work
;The School of Health and Natural Sciences
  • Department of Natural Sciences
  • Department of Nursing
  • Department of Rehabilitation Science
  • Department of Respiratory Therapy
The university offers doctorate's, master's, bachelor's, and associate degrees, along with a limited number of certificates.
Several of the university's academic programs have earned accreditation from national agencies:
The university also operates the Georgia Academy, a two-year non-residential/commuter Dual Enrollment program that prepares high school students for the academic rigor of higher education - specializing in a STEM discipline. This program was previously a residential, two-year program based on the Cochran campus.