Clayton State – Fayette: After 1 year, looking back, ahead

One year ago, Clayton State University opened its new satellite location at 1200 Commerce Drive in Peachtree City. As County Commission Chairman Jack Smith said, it was a “dream come true” for many people who had worked through the years to bring higher educational opportunities to the county.

It is hard to grasp all that has happened in just one year’s time. Shortly after our dedication, the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia approved five degree programs for the Fayette County location: B.S. degrees in Psychology and Integrative Studies, a B.A.S. degree in Administrative Management, an RN to BSN program, and a Masters of Business Administration degree program. This was a significant accomplishment because it marked the first time that a student could complete an entire degree program locally.

The response we have received from the community has been incredible. We started in the fall of 2007 with about 70 students and a course enrollment total of 152. This semester, just one year later, we have over 300 students who are taking at least one course here and a total course enrollment of 580. Having a nearly 400 percent growth rate in one year is remarkable by any standard.

The demographic breakdown of students who take all of their courses at the Fayette site reveals a diverse student body. About one-fourth of our students are high school dual-enrollment students who take college courses that also meet high school requirements. Just over one-third of our students are traditional college age students who are taking advantage of having a university close to home. The remaining 40 percent of our students are non-traditional students who are completing a college degree.

Geographically, three-quarters of our students reside in Fayette County. Among the Fayette County residents, about 60 percent live in Peachtree City and the others are evenly divided across the county.

Because most of our non-traditional students are employed, our typical student takes two courses per semester. We will be graduating our first students from our degree completion program at our fall commencement ceremony on the main campus in December.

Anniversaries are as much about planning for the future as they are about remembering the past. Our success over the past 12 months provides us with a strong foundation for expanding our programs in the coming year.

In January, we will be offering our first courses in the RN to BSN degree program. Through a combination of online courses and courses that meet just one night per week, nurses who have completed RN programs will be able to complete their BSN degrees in a convenient format.

This coming semester we will also be offering courses towards a criminal justice degree for the first time. These courses are scheduled to meet every other Saturday, which marks our first undergraduate weekend course offerings. If students like this weekend format, then we will be launching more weekend programs in the future.

This looks to be a significant year for our dual-enrollment program. We are now recruiting high school students who want to be enrolled in college full-time their junior and/or senior years. When these students graduate high school, they will have already completed all of their college general education courses and will begin as second semester sophomores. Of course, there will still be the option for students to just take one or two college courses per semester if they prefer.

Beginning next year, students will be able to complete the science portion of the general education curriculum with a new astronomy course sequence. This will fulfill our goal of offering the entire University System of Georgia core curriculum at our Fayette site.

In March, I will be leading CSU-Fayette’s first study abroad trip with a spring break excursion to Italy. Participating students will earn three hours of upper division college credit while touring the highlights of Rome, Tuscany, Florence, Pisa, and Venice.

Our degree completion program now offers an Aviation Administration concentration as a part of the Bachelor of Applied Science and Integrative Studies degree programs. Bryan Labrecque, the former president of ASA airlines, has been instrumental in designing this program and teaching many of the courses.

Finally, the Fayette MBA program will be graduating their first cohort of students this coming year. One new feature for the next cohort is that the GMAT exam will be waived for students who have significant managerial experience. This change was made for the Fayette program because it draws successful working professionals who have demonstrated leadership skills in the field.

This coming year will also see the expansion of Clayton State’s Continuing Education program. We have formed a partnership with Fayette Senior Services to offer a wide variety of non-credit courses at their new facility in Fayetteville.

It has been my desire that CSU-Fayette be a vibrant member of the local community in more than just the classroom. That is why I am so pleased that we will be able to work with “Encore! Fayette.”

This will be among the first lifelong learning programs to be presented by the University. Encore! Fayette is designed to provide active, community-spirited older adults with the opportunity to learn more about their community, the important issues it faces, and determine how they can become productively involved in making a difference. We also are the host site for the Westpark Toastmasters Club.

The question I am asked most frequently is how we will accommodate students if we continue to grow at this pace. The first answer to that question is that we are good stewards of our current resources.

For example, although we offer a full range of traditional classroom courses, we also offer many online and hybrid courses that do not require the same classroom space. We also are extending courses to later in the evening and adding weekend courses to our schedule.

This coming semester, we are more than doubling our number of daytime courses. Not only do daytime classes work well for traditional-age students, they also allow those with young children to take courses while their children are at school.

Ultimately, there will come a time when we will need to move to a larger facility. Not only will this allow us to accommodate more students, it will also allow us to develop the science and technology labs that are needed. Expanding Clayton State’s offerings in these critical fields will enhance the long-term economic development of Fayette County.

During these difficult economic times, funding for a new facility will be a challenge. It will be difficult to finance such an endeavor on tuition revenue alone or to secure enough funding from any one state or local government agency.

However, there are many people who are committed to the development of CSU-Fayette. Through a collaborative effort, we will be able to continue to grow and help meet the educational demands for this region. Perhaps there will even be an individual or business that will help us reach the next level as a long-lasting gift to the people of Fayette County.

We have enjoyed tremendous support throughout this first year. Some support us because they are looking for higher education opportunities for themselves or their children, and others because they recognize that a university is instrumental to the long-term economic development of the region.

For whatever the reason, we appreciate the many people, businesses, high schools, and government agencies that have stood behind us and made this endeavor so successful.

For additional information on any of these programs, please visit http://fayette.clayton.edu.

[Dr. Kevin Demmitt is assistant vice president for academic outreach at Clayton State University — Fayette. He lives in Peachtree City.]