Fall 2003

Volume 7 Number 1
A publication of Macon State College

A Grand Opening

Macon State's new Warner Robins Campus opens to rave reviews and a record enrollment

A steady stream of students seeks assistance in the Academic Services Building during the first day of classes at the Warner Robins Campus. Photo by Danny Gilleland

By Sheron Smith

The first students showed up before 8 a.m., checked for their classroom locations on a master schedule posted in the Academic Services Building, then ambled through hallways still smelling of fresh paint and new carpet. Some quickly discovered the student lounge in Thomas Hall, where they sipped sodas and thumbed through new textbooks while images from CNN flickered on the wall-mounted television.

It would be another week or so before the Office of Student Life threw a grand opening party, complete with music, games and food, but for the first day of classes at Macon State College’s new Warner Robins Campus, the newness of it all was celebration enough.

“This is really nice,” Master Sgt. Sonja Ramsey, a business administration major stationed at nearby Robins Air Force Base, said as she took a short break in the lobby of the Academic Services Building. “It’s so much more convenient.”

Faculty members were equally enthused.

“It’s a fabulous facility,” said Dr. Stephen Taylor, assistant professor of history. “Students obviously love it, and that makes for a good learning environment.”

A security guard directs traffic in one of the campus parking lots on opening day. Photo by Danny Gilleland

By any measure, opening day at the MSC Warner Robins Campus was a success. More than 1,500, a record Macon State enrollment in Houston County, had registered for classes, with a noticeable increase of recent high school graduates.

“Younger students want to attend a college that has a traditional campus look and feel,” said Mike Hale, the Warner Robins Campus’ executive director. “The fact that we made sure this campus would have that look and feel has clearly paid off with the influx of traditional students, although our so-called non-traditional students — the working adults who are raising families — seem to like it a lot, too.”

After the midsummer completion of the new Warner Robins Campus, Macon State moved out of the leased space off Houston Lake Road where the College had offered classes since 1991. Enrollment at that facility had grown rapidly in recent years and there was no room to accommodate the growing student demand.

Besides solving the space issues, Macon State wanted to provide a first-class college environment for the people of Houston County. With the Warner Robins Campus’ high-tech classrooms, multimedia lecture hall, academic resource center, full-service bookstore and enhanced student activities, that’s exactly what they got.

A banner welcomes Warner Robins Campus students at the main entrance. Photo by Danny Gilleland

“What we had before was a teaching location,” Hale said. “This is a college campus.”

The new campus is the product of a remarkable collaboration between Macon State, the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents and Houston County civic and business leaders.

Mayor Donald S. Walker and the Warner Robins City Council secured the property of the former Thomas School on Watson Boulevard and donated it to the Board of Regents for use as a college campus. State Rep. Larry Walker of Perry led the way in securing a $5 million appropriation from the General Assembly to renovate the Thomas School and add a new facility, the Academic Services Building. Neighboring Robins Federal Credit Union donated property for parking, while the Nola Brantley Memorial Library, another campus neighbor, offered its services as an academic resource for students.

The importance of the campus to Robins Air Force Base and Houston County was symbolized in the decision by Dr. Thomas C. Meredith, the University System of Georgia’s chancellor, to pay a visit early in the semester.

“It was an extremely proud moment,” said MSC President David A. Bell. “His visit gave me an opportunity to present the results of the amazing partnership between Macon State and the people of Houston County. We toured the classrooms and labs of Thomas Hall and the new Academic Services Building, and he clearly appreciated that we had achieved our collective goal — creating a community of learning with endless possibilities and promise.”

Judith Schmitt (far left), an English instructor, and Mike Hale (second from left), campus executive director, talk with two students after class on opening day. Photo by Danny Gilleland

Initially, the Warner Robins Campus is offering the University System’s core curriculum, the bachelor of science in information technology and courses leading to the bachelor of science in business. Down the road, there are plans to offer the “RN-to-BSN,” a baccalaureate program designed for Registered Nurses that Macon State is currently developing. Pending Georgia Board of Nursing approval, Macon State will launch the RN-to-BSN completion program next academic year.

Over time, the Warner Robins Campus will introduce other academic programs that meet the professional workforce needs of Robins Air Force Base and Houston County business and industry. The campus is also the home of the Institute for Information Management, the College’s business and technology outreach arm.

“The grand opening was great,” Hale said. “Where the Warner Robins Campus goes from here is going to be even better.”

Want to take classes at the Macon State College Warner Robins Campus? For information, call the campus at 929-6700 or visit http://www.maconstate.edu/wrc. Admissions assistance is available in the Academic Services Building from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fridays.