Around Campus

Partnerships

Dr. Jeff Allbritten, center, signs articulation agreements with Central Georgia and Middle Georgia tech colleges to allow seamless transfers of IT students from the tech colleges to Macon State. Middle Georgia's president, Dr. Ivan Allen, is on the left. On the right is Dr. Michael Moye, Central Georgia's president. The signing ceremony took place on Nov. 30, 2011, at Middle Georgia Tech.

 

Welcome

Larry Walker, left, of the Board of Regents is shown with Dr. Jeff Allbritten at a September 2011 reception for the new Macon State president in Houston County.

Grand Opening

Dr. Jeff Allbritten, Macon State's new president, is interviewed by The Telegraph on September 12, 2011, at the grand opening of the Warner Robins Campus fitness center.

Executive Lecture Series

Joe Evans, center, chairman and CEO of State Bank and Trust Company, is shown with Dr. David A. Bell, left, Macon State's president, and Dr. Varkey Titus, dean of the School of Business. Evans, described by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as "the white knight" of the banking crisis, recently was the guest speaker at the School of Business's Executive Lecture series. (Photo by Danny Gilleland.)

Chamber of Commerce Award

Macon State President Dr. David A. Bell, center, received the Citizen of the Year Award during the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner on January 21, 2011. It is the highest award given each year by the chamber and honors an individual who has made a significant difference in the community. Chris Sheridan Jr., left, presented the award to Bell. His wife, Lynn Bell, is on the right. (Photo by Maryann Bates.)

Customer Service Awards

Dr. David A. Bell, Macon State president, is the 2010 recipient of the University System of Georgia chancellor’s Outstanding Customer Service Leadership award.  It is the highest award given to University System presidents for their outstanding efforts in process improvement and customer service. In addition, Macon State's Excellence in Customer Service program earned the 2010 Gold award for Institution of the Year at the chancellor's annual Customer Service Awards program held in September 2010. The Gold award is the highest in the category.  

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson Visits

From a window in the Professional Sciences & Conference Center, Macon State President David A. Bell points out the college's new residence halls to Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.. Isakson hosted a small business summit on campus in August 2010. Photo by Maryann Bates.

Moving In

Kelly Hardwick, a sophomore majoring in early childhood education, moves into her suite as one of Macon State's first residential students. On August 1, the college officially took over management of College Station, the new student residence halls on Ivey Drive directly across from the Macon campus. Move-in day was held on August 14. See more move-in day photos on the Macon State College Facebook page.

College Station Residence Halls

Promoting Residence Life

A banner on the Macon State sign adjacent to I-475 helps spread the word about the college's new Residence Life program. Photo by Shannon Archibald

State Education Superintendent Visits

Georgia Superintendent of Education Kathy Cox, second from left, visited Macon State College in late April 2010 to talk to members of a joint task force. The task force includes representatives of the Georgia Department of Education and University System of Georgia institutions that are using "Class Keys" as part of their pre-service educational programs. In the photo with Cox are Macon State representatives, left to right, Dr. Jeff Stewart, Dr. Martha Venn, Dr. Pamela Bedwell, and Dr. Ann Levett.

Grinding Stumps

William Miner, an employee of Montpelier Tree Service of Forsyth, operates the remote controls for a stump grinder, which has been chewing up hundreds of stumps on the Macon campus. The stumps were from trees that were knocked down in the Mother's Day tornado in May of 2008. Miner said the company will grind more than 1,300 stumps before the job is done, expected by March 12. The stumps he was grinding in this photo, taken March 9, were in the southwest corner of the campus near the intersection of Ivey Drive and Eisenhower Parkway.

Making a Run

Macon State public service major Elizabeth Vane, center, placed first in the 55-59 age category at the recent Atlanta Marathon. Vane ran the 26.2 miles in four hours, 13 minutes, which she said qualifies her to run in the Boston Marathon, something she plans to do in 2011. Vane took up running in 2000 and ran her first marathon in 2007. In January, Vane plans to run the marathon sponsored by the Museum of Aviation. Vane runs seven days a week, including a 12-mile run each Sunday. "I'm hooked," she said. (File photo source: Macon Tracks.)

Successful Campaign

The Macon State College Foundation and the Faculty & Staff Volunteer Team hosted a campuswide celebration breakfast this fall to announce the results of the 2009-2010 fundraising campaign.

Dr. Martha Venn, vice president for academic affairs, recognized the efforts of this year’s campaign chairs and 70+ volunteer team, and thanked all faculty and staff for their contributions, especially in a difficult economic year. Following Venn, Albert Abrams, chair of the Leadership Phase of the campaign, reported that 100 percent of the college’s administrative council, deans, and associate deans participated, contributing $28,995, or 2 percent more than last year. For these successful results, Abrams credited his Leadership Team: Roger Dixon, Jeff Stewart, Linda Green, Nancy Stroud, Allison Kerr, Alex Koohang, Lynn McCraney, Pella Murphy, Varkey Titus, and Tim Vick.  

Faculty co-chair Charles Matson announced 68 percent participation campuswide from all Macon State faculty and staff, and a total of $53,366 raised. He thanked this year’s campaign solicitors for their hard work, and recognized their 12 team leaders: Nancy Bunker, Lisa Collins, Clyde Conine, Catherine Frost, Laura Gay, Nikki Graham, Teresa Kochera, Kim Pickens, Allen Richman, Marina Spears, Chris Tsavatewa, and Kylie Wunsch.

Staff co-chair Cristina Catlett presented certificates to each school, department or division with 80 percent or greater participation. Areas recognized for 100 percent participation were: Academic Affairs; ARC; Communications & Marketing; Development & Alumni Affairs; Educational Technology Training Center; Enrollment Services; External Affairs; Institutional Advancement; Office of the President; Robins Resident Center. Areas recognized for 80 percent participation or higher were: School of Education; Fiscal Affairs; Division of Learning Support; Student Affairs; T.R.A.C. Center for Student Engagement; and Department of Humanities.  

In the photo above:

Back Row: Leadership Campaign Chair Albert Abrams, External Affairs; Debra Matthews, Department of Humanities; Charles Matson, Campaign Co-Chair; Cristina Catlett, Campaign Co-Chair; Nancy Stroud, Fiscal Affairs; Tim Vick, The A.R.C.; Mike Hale, Robins Resident Center; Ed Gowan, Ed Tech Center.

Front Row: Pamela Bedwell, School of Education; Linda Green, Division of Learning Support; Beth Byers, Development & Alumni Affairs; Carey Wimberly, Institutional Advancement; Letitia Langley, Office of the President; Brenda Wilkinson, Enrollment Services; Lynn McCraney, Student Affairs; Martha Venn, Academic Affairs.                      

 

Top Scholars

More than 100 Macon State students received scholarships for the 2009-1010 academic year from the Macon State College Foundation. See who they are here.

Fueling Up For The Flight South?

This photo, taken the first week of September, shows a busy gaggle of geese along the southside of the campus lake. The Student Life Center is in the background. (Photo by Renee Pearman.)

The Warner Robins Campus Opens Oak Hall

Dr. David A. Bell, Macon State president, is interviewed by a local TV news station at the August 11 formal opening of Oak Hall on the Warner Robins Campus. The event was attended by business and civic leaders, including state Rep. Larry O'Neal and Warner Robins Mayor Donald Walker. Find out more about Oak Hall here. (Photo by Danny Gilleland.)

Move Over Twitter

Students in Kevin Floyd's advanced web programming course this summer developed their own social networking websites that mimic Twitter and Delicious. The goal was to use the skills they acquired in the class, and in previous IT courses, to develop a prototype for a real-world application that contains Web 2.0 features. Floyd, an assistant professor of IT, said his students used such popular web technologies as PHP: Hyptertext Preprocessor Pages (PHP), Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX), and the MySQL database management system.  He chose to focus on social networking services because of their rapidly growing popularity among individuals and businesses. Above is an example of an application Floyd's students came up with.

The Library Is ...

Librarian Felicia Haywood filled the empty space under the Library stairs with an admittedly low-tech opportunity for students to use Post-It notes, which are provided, to comment on how they like the Library. So far, responses include "totally groovy," "not your grandmother's library" and "great," but Haywood said constructive criticism is welcome, too. Although tucked away beneath the stairs, the display is not likely to go unnoticed by Library patrons: the first-floor restrooms are a few steps away.

Lean Transformation Program Produces More Graduates

Twenty Macon State students, all of whom are Robins Air Force Base or YKK employees, recently graduated from the College's Lean Professional/Transformation certificate program, which is designed to increase their knowledge of Lean workplace efficiency principles. The program is based at the Warner Robins Campus. In the back row of the photo, left to right, are retired Lt. Col. William C. Davis and Dr. Tony Patti, the program's two instructors; and graduates John Lynch, John Dunn, Jesse Clark, Kevin Rowe and Eddie Hixon. In the front row, left to right, are Dr. Varkey Titus, dean of Macon State's School of Business; and graduates Wilnis Louis, Cheryl Peace, Phyllis Link, Lori Shad, Barbara Burwell and Reginald Kiper. All the graduates pictured are RAFB employees. Not pictured are graduates and YKK employees Harold Crews, Rodney Fox, Wayne Hawthorne, Kenneth Hayes, Charles Kearney and Sangeeta Shastrula. (April 2008.)

Laura Fortson Named 2009 President's Scholar

Senior history major Laura D. Fortson of Macon has been named the 2009 President's Scholar, the highest academic award given at Macon State College. In addition to her excellent academic record, Fortson is active in student life, participating in or holding membership in the History Student Organization, Model United Nations, Macon State Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa and Phi Alpha Theta. Fortson, a 2005 graduate of Mary Persons High School, plans to enter the Medical College of Georgia's physician assistant program. In the photo above, Fortson, second from left, is shown with President David A. Bell, far left, and her parents, David and Marthalyn Fortson. (Photo by Bruce Radcliffe.)

See Fortson's MVP profile here.

 

Moving Trees

As easily as scooping ice cream from a container, a piece of equipment called a tree spade gently lifts a Saucer Magnolia from its spot on east campus between the Education Building and the Student Life Center on April 9. The tree, along with others in the same general area, will be relocated to a spot near Plant Operations. The tree relocation is taking place in anticipation of construction that will begin at some point on a new teacher education building. See more photos below.

Traveling Scholars

Dr. Amy Berke, director of Macon State's Honors Program, said her students have done outstanding work this year attending conferences and presenting papers. In this photo, Berke, standing on the right, is shown with some of the Honors Program students at the Southern Regional Honors Council Conference, held in St. Petersburg, Fla., in March. All of the students presented academic papers. They are, left to right, Elizabeth Burchfield, Heather McIntosh, Shannon Bayer (standing next to Berke), Lila Castellano, J. D. Money and Laura Garner.

The Fall Line Review

The staff of The Fall Line Review, a student literary art journal, held a release party for the 2009 edition on March 3. From left to right are Dr. Monica Young-Zook and Dr. Heather Braun, faculty advisors for the journal; Lashonda Slaughter, assistant editor; James Dumas, a member of the journal's review board; Natalie Warner, contributor; and Stephen Wilds, review board member.

Georgia Arbor Day

Gov. Sonny Perdue signs a proclamation declaring February 20, 2009 as Arbor Day in Georgia. The state Arbor Day ceremony was held on the Macon State campus. Shown left to right are Beryl Budd, Community Forester, Georgia Forestry Commission; Sen. Ross Tolleson, Chairman, Natural Resources and the Environment Committee; Lauren Bush, Legislative Affairs, Georgia Forestry Commission; Susan Reisch, Urban & Community Forestry Coordinator, Georgia Forestry Commission; Danny Bullington, President, Macon Rotary Club; Dr. Waddell Barnes, Macon State College; Dawn Willis, Macon Museum of Arts & Sciences; David Sims, Landscape Director, Macon State College; Carol Goswick, Macon Tree Commission; Robert Farris, Director, Georgia Forestry Commission; and Mary Lynne Beckley, Georgia Urban Forest Council. See a related article and photo here.

STAR Student

Mount de Sales Academy senior Maxine Anderson was named Bibb County’s STAR student at a February ceremony at Macon State College. Her social studies instructor, James Massey, whom Anderson attributes as instrumental to her academic success, was named Bibb County’s STAR teacher. Each year the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program honors a top senior from each high school in Georgia, as well as their most influential teacher. Students are nominated at the high school level when they have the highest score in one sitting on the Scholastic Assessment Test taken through the November test date of their senior year. Student nominees must also be in the top 10 percent or among top 10 students in their class. Anderson, the daughter of Annette and attorney Lars Anderson, scored 1,490 out of a possible 1,600 points in critical reading and math on the SAT. (Source: The Telegraph.)

Learning with iPods

Fourth-graders at Peach County's Hunt Elementary School show off the iPods they get to use as learning tools, thanks to a grant from the AT&T Foundation. The Foundation recently awarded a $21,907 grant to the Macon State College Foundation through a one-time, education-focused wireless technology competitive grant program. The Macon State Foundation used the grant funds to purchase 70 Apple iPod Touch devices for Hunt Elementary students to use. College faculty and education majors will partner with the school’s teachers to implement the iPods in the classroom to help improve reading and math skills, according to Dr. Laila Richman, assistant professor at the School of Education at Macon State.

Gift from Boeing

From Boeing-Macon, Reed Morren, left, site manager, and Al Stewart, right, community relations and government affairs specialist, present Macon State College President David A. Bell with a $10,000 check for the Macon State College Foundation.  The funds will be used for the School Development Program, a collaborative initiative of the Macon State School of Education and Yale University School of Medicine Child Study Center. The multi-year project works with teacher education candidates and veteran teachers in the public school system, using best practices and innovative methods to improve achievement levels for at-risk students in our community.

Citizen Soldiers

Some 1,200 members of the Wisconsin National Guard had breakfast early Sunday morning, January 11, in the Student Life Center cafeteria. The citizen soldiers were traveling by bus convoy to Florida and then to Texas for training. From there, they were headed to Iraq. The Guard contracted with Macon State and Aramark food service to provide the meals.

Getting Lean

Four students completed Macon State College’s Lean Transformation certificate program, which is 30 credit hours, while one completed the Lean Professional certificate, which is 15 credit hours, in December 2008. The Lean Transformation program, which is designed to help Robins Air Force Base employees and others increase their knowledge of Lean workplace efficiency principles, is based at Macon State’s Warner Robins Campus. The graduates are shown with one of their instructors, retired Lt. Col. William C. Davis (center), now with ARINC. The graduates are, left to right, Karen D. Willingham, Desiderio R. Maldonado, Tracey L. Vail, Kelli R. Branscom (Lean Professional certificate) and Marion Duane Reimers.

Faculty and Staff Donate Toys

The School of Nursing and Health Sciences coordinated a holiday toy drive among faculty and staff to donate to Kids Yule Love. Shown with some of the toys are Tina Carreker, left, and Dr. Rebecca Corvey.

Phi Beta Lambda Does Service Project

The Macon State chapter of Phi Beta Lambda, a club for business majors, worked with Habitat for Humanity one Saturday this fall to lay sod, plant grass seed and shrubs and mulch the yard for a needy family's new home. Shown left to right are Brittney Carter, Rebecca Griffis, Adriana Corona, Steven McGinty, April Vanderford, Micah Smith, Andrea Smith, Henry Harris.

Yoda and Darth Vader Invade the Library

Angelo Billingslea, a freshman business major, accepts a Library contest grand prize of a Darth Tater toy and a $25 Wal-Mart gift certificate from Darth Vader himself. (OK, so it's really Bonnie Parker, Macon State librarian, in costume.) For the contest, a life-sized Yoda moved around the Library during fall semester to highlight some of the different collections and services that the Library offers. Each week students were invited to enter the weekly drawing for a Darth Tater keychain. Students recorded the Library keyword or phrase onto their entry form. At the end of ten weeks one lucky winner was selected for the grand prize.

Over 200 entries were received over the course of the contest ranging from freshmen to seniors. Based on comments from students this seems to have been a well received and fun contest that made students aware of Library resources in a new and different way.

See the weekly winners of the contest on the Library’s blog: http://staffweb.maconstate.edu/library/blog/