Spring 2002

Volume 5 Number 2
A publication of Macon State College

A Great Day for Houston County

Georgia Lawmakers Grant $5 Million for MSC's Expanded Warner Robins Center

By Sheron Smith

This is an artist's drawing of what the Warner Robins Center addition, to be built adjacent to the modernized Thomas School, might look like. Design plans for the new WRC are still being finalized.

The stage is set for Macon State College to dramatically improve degree opportunities for the Houston County area and expand educational services for Robins Air Force Base.

Thanks to state Rep. Larry Walker of Perry and other members of the Central Georgia legislative delegation, a $5 million appropriation will be used in conjunction with property purchased by the city of Warner Robins to establish a permanent MSC campus on Watson Boulevard.

Included in the state's fiscal 2003 supplemental budget, the funding will be used to modernize the historic Thomas School and build an additional facility of some 25,000-square-feet to house a full-service, high-tech Macon State campus just a half-mile from the main gate of Robins AFB. This action by the Georgia General Assembly followed an earlier decision by Mayor Donald Walker and the Warner Robins City Council to invest $762,000 in the site and donate it to University System of Georgia's Board of Regents for the project. The Robins Federal Credit Union, adjacent to the Thomas School, donated additional property for WRC parking.

Rep. Walker said during the legislative session that funding for the WRC was "a top priority." He noted that Warner Robins is the largest city in Georgia without a permanent college campus.

Rehabilitation of Thomas School and construction of a 24,250-square-foot addition are tentatively set to begin later this year. The 22,400-square-foot original school building will house classrooms, science and technology labs and some faculty offices. The new addition, to be located adjacent to the original building, will contain classrooms, administrative and faculty offices, a 100-seat multimedia auditorium, a conference room and a student lounge/study area. Both the original building and the addition will be fully wired for technology.

The new Warner Robins Center will have a much greater capacity than the current WRC, located in leased space in the Advanced Technology Park off Houston Lake Road. Almost 1,200 students are attending classes there now using just eight classrooms. Macon State President David A. Bell envisions the new WRC as a full-service facility where students can work on their bachelor's degrees and receive all the usual support services, including advising, career counseling and extra-curricular enrichment, without ever setting a foot on the Macon campus.

"This is an enormous opportunity and responsibility for Macon State to expand access to higher education for a community that has long supported us and eagerly embraces higher education opportunities," Bell said. "There are thousands of people whose jobs depend on the Base, directly or indirectly, and they need to be able to constantly upgrade their professional skills and advance their knowledge in areas that are critical to the Air Force mission. We've had a long association with the Base, and this expansion will allow us to take that relationship to a new level."

Macon State's presence in Houston County dates back more than three decades, beginning with the Robins Resident Center, a program of the University System of Georgia that was established at the Base at the request of Maj.Gen. A.J. Beck, ALC commander. The current Warner Robins Center opened in 1991.

Today, Houston County residents make up more than 26 percent of Macon State's current enrollment, while military personnel and out-of-state students, virtually all of whom are connected to Robins Air Force Base, make up another 14 percent.

Expanding the WRC has been one of Bell's top priorities since he became Macon State's president in 1997. Houston is one of Georgia's fastest growing counties and has the most technologically sophisticated workforce outside of Atlanta, thanks to the presence of the Base and associated defense contractors.

Bell said Macon State will provide degree programs and other services at the new WRC that best support the Base, the single most important element of Central Georgia's economy. The college is already offering a bachelor of science in information technology at the current location; the new facility will allow Macon State to boost the number and variety of academic programs in Houston County.

Macon State has also partnered with the Nola Brantley Library - next door to the Thomas School - to expand services to WRC students. The general plan is for Macon State to provide books, periodicals and computers that support the college's programs for WRC students to use at the public library. Through the partnership, the Warner Robins library will have access to Macon State's online periodicals and other databases. The arrangement also means that WRC students will have weekend access to library services without traveling to the Macon campus.

Editor's note: The next issue of MSC Today will take an in-depth look at Macon State's plans for the new Warner Robins Center.