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North Georgia College & State University has received approval from the Board of Regents to proceed with plans to build two new residence halls, a new parking deck to accommodate expected residential growth, and a new dining hall. "Beginning this summer, our campus will be busy with construction projects for the next few years," President David Potter said. "While it will be temporarily disruptive, we look forward to seeing this physical progress on our campus to further enhance the academic environment and student life at North Georgia." The construction projects, totaling approximately $80
million, will be funded through tax-exempt municipal bonds that will be retired
with student fees. Construction on the residence halls and the parking deck will
begin this summer and will open in time for fall 2010 occupancy.
Once new residence hall space is available in 2010, the
university will construct a new dining hall in place of Sanford Hall, which
currently serves as a dormitory. The new facility will include seating for
950, a 250-seat banquet area, and an outdoor plaza area that overlooks the
university's drill field.
Members of North Georgia's incoming freshman class won't experience a complete culture shock when they start classes in the fall thanks to the INTRO Program taking place this summer. Each of the four INTRO sessions provides a three-day preview of university life and gives traditional freshmen a sampling of recreational activities, programs, traditions and social life on campus. They also receive an overview of facilities and services at North Georgia.
Students are divided into several groups with each group led by student INTRO leaders. Some activities are geared specifically toward certain student populations, such as military or commuter students, but group members spend a majority of their time together learning, problem solving, and getting to know one another. Wesley Thomas, director of the student center and activities, said the INTRO leaders are the heart and soul of the program. "Without them, it would be impossible to truly orient new students to our campus. The leaders serve as tour guides, mentors, registration assistants, camp counselors, dance partners, resident assistants, role models, and most importantly as friends to the new students." More than 800 new students will experience INTRO by the end of the summer and be acclimated to their new home over the next four years. "I definitely feel more integrated into the school," Phillip Busino, a freshman from Gwinnett County, said. "I realize this is the calm before the storm," he said, referring to the impending FROG Week orientation in August. "I feel like I'm getting good information and a head start." During the three-day sessions, student life staff members develop a balance between co-curricular activities and getting students prepped for their educational development. "I'm glad I got to meet my [academic] adviser," Elyse Weaver, of Cumming, said. "It was comforting to be around people with the same majors." A trip to Pine Valley, the college's recreational and training area, is one of the most popular parts of INTRO. Students spend the afternoon rappelling, tubing, going down a zipline and playing recreational sports. The activities are designed to give the students a chance to experience team building, competition, and recreation. "I liked all the activities and being involved," Ginger Pence, of Layfette, said. "Through INTRO, it also hit home that I'm about to be on my own." The remaining INTRO sessions will start June 28, July 12 and Aug. 9. A second INTRO designed for non-traditional students will take place July 15.
With ninety-degree temperatures marking this first week of summer, the university is placing a new emphasis on how to cut electricity costs and become more energy efficient on campus. Plant Operations, which is responsible for supporting and maintaining facilities, and Information & Instructional Technology are leading campuswide efforts to better manage power consumption and reinforce how individual contributions can collectively save money and help the environment. Since May, the university has operated on a four-day summer work week to cut energy costs. Todd Bermann, director of plant operations, said the campus's newer buildings have the technology to program thermostats to regulate temperature control and help lower costs over the three-day weekends. But buildings with older thermostats have to be manually adjusted. "Replacing antiquated HVAC controls with digital programmable HVAC controls in our buildings would provide the best method for us to automatically adjust temperatures based on occupancy and avoid certain energy costs," Bermann said. Also, all main campus buildings are on one master electric meter, he said. "Sub-metering our buildings will give us the best trend information in the future for energy analysis." A completed engineer's study and a proposal to sub-meter the main campus buildings have been developed. Bermann hopes the $100,000 in funding can be identified to get the sub-meters installed. Bermann has asked that employees identify what they can do to avoid costs in their own offices. During and at the end of the workday, maintenance and custodial team members turn off lighting in hallways that have adequate day-lighting, switch off lights in unoccupied spaces and power down some equipment that is left on. IIT has tackled the energy challenge by using the very tools that are the university's largest consumers of electricity — computers. A majority of student computers in labs are powered down automatically at 11 p.m. by a computer-operated "kill switch" programmed into the machines. Bryson Payne, chief information officer, will solicit input from the campus community this summer on implementing a similar idea for faculty and staff computers. But Payne stressed that no automated policy can take the place of personal responsibility. "We can save more money by people turning off their computers at night than if we do it for them." Payne is also depending on his staff to maximize use of the campus's servers by creating more "virtual servers," which allow combining several computer network services onto one physical server. Fewer physical servers being used means less energy consumption, he said. Also, the university can expand computer services without buying more servers, but rather using those that have been freed up. For employees working at their computers, Payne doesn't expect such a large-scale approach to save energy. "It's as simple as turning off your monitor when you're not using it. That little bit goes a long way."
Small business entrepreneurs learned valuable skills and best practices in a new certificate program available through North Georgia's Mike Cottrell School of Business and the Center for the Future of North Georgia.
"Small business owners are the backbone of our local economies, and nurturing their success through access to education and resources is an important economic development tool for the area," Dean Max Burns said. The program was led by Ruben Boling, a North Georgia faculty member and NxLevel-certified instructor. The course included business skills training for small businesses, guidance in marketing, bookkeeping, financial projections, and negotiating with lenders. NxLevel is a national program that has been delivered to more than 120,000 entrepreneurs in 47 states. According to the company, existing business owners have reported average sales increases of 32 percent within one year of graduating from this program. The program combined practical, hands-on experiences and successful entrepreneurs as guest presenters to help businesses grow their bottom-line in today's challenging economic climate. Classes began in April and met weekly for eight weeks. "This course is designed for entrepreneurs at different stages in their development who have an existing business and need help growing it to the next level of success," Burns said. Ten business owners participated in this year's course, which was offered in partnership with several North Metro Atlanta partners, including the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, the Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce, and Northpoint Executive Suites.
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North Georgia created the Appalachian Center for Higher Education out of an awareness that many youth in the Appalachian area did not consider postsecondary education an option for their futures. Dr. Alice Sampson in teacher education wrote the original grant proposal to fund GACHE through the Appalachian Regional Commission. The center is now a vehicle to provide funding, training, programs, technical assistance, and resources to eligible Appalachian Georgia public high schools to encourage and assist at-risk students to continue their education beyond high school and increase the graduation and college-going rate in the Appalachian region. The Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education opened in January 2006 on North Georgia's campus and joined the nine-state Appalachian Higher Education Network, developed in 2000 by the Appalachian Regional Commission and designed to raise the levels of educational attainment in the region.
Cadets head
to camp
In 2008,
the North Georgia cadets who
participated in the camp outshined
cadets from all of the other senior
military colleges in nearly every
category. This summer, almost 80
cadets will participate in LDAC,
also known as "Warrior Forge."
Students
graduate from photography
certificate program
Heart Check
available at Student Health Services Payment for the "Heart Check" will function very much like the flu shot. Any faculty or staff member who wishes to participate will need to pay for the "Heart Check" at the business office beforehand and bring the receipt to Student Health Services. The business office is open 8-5 M-F. To gain accurate readings, you must fast for eight hours prior to your blood being drawn. Student Health Services is open Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. For more information, call ext. 1948.
Please
note, this service is still
available for students at no
additional charge.
New USG
instructional resource available
Serlis passes bar examination
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Back to The Digest University Relations | NGCSU Home
North Georgia College & State University, 82 College Circle, Dahlonega, Ga.,
30597 |
Recent
graduates of the North Georgia
Continuing Education Photography
Certificate Program are Miriam
Austin, Lou Cook, Denson Martin,
Lisa Siuta and Sandra Straw along
with their instructors, Trevor
Morris and Jennifer Julian. These
students completed more than 65
hours of training during the past
year. The culmination of their work
was a reception and portfolio show
on June 5. The show will remain in
the West Main gallery until June 30.