Moving forward together

As some of you may know, I am a runner. It’s a way for me to challenge myself and achieve personal goals. As I move about campus, I observe that many of you are runners, too. Whether running for fitness or sprinting to class, I can tell that you are moving forward with determination and purpose.

At Georgia Southern University, the fall semester brings new paths of exploration, and I encourage you to get involved in our wide range of student research, campus events and community engagement opportunities. We have an active student body, and a committed faculty who are focused on your success. In my first year as your president, I fell in love with this University and learned that this is a truly extraordinary place. We have a boundless potential, and I’m so excited to be on this journey with you.

We are continuing to build and invest in Georgia Southern University. A few examples of our recent growth include:

• Our new Military Science Building is an important and worthy home to our award-winning Eagle Battalion ROTC program.

• Our City Campus, located in downtown Statesboro, is now home to the Veteran’s Business Outreach Center, which provides area veterans with business help and expertise.

• The state-of-the-art R M Bogan Archaeological Repository is now part of the Central Warehouse Facility and is a place for our anthropology and archaeology students to learn real-world skills with our collection of artifacts.

• The construction of the Interdisciplinary Academic Building, which is expected to be completed by June 2018, is moving along at an impressive pace. This new facility will serve as a means to further student success and provide a home for our teacher-scholars — faculty who are active in cutting-edge research but also committed to serving our students in the classroom.

• A new four-story Center for Engineering Research, which will provide our engineering students with even more opportunities for experiential learning and hands-on research.

You are the best and brightest in Georgia and we have a responsibility to provide you with the most opportunities, options and resources available in our region. As we work toward becoming the new Georgia Southern University, contingent on approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, you will discover amazing new opportunities in the combined strengths of Georgia Southern University and Armstrong State University.

Our state also depends on the new Georgia Southern to serve as an intellectual catalyst and meet the unmet need for a college-educated workforce in the region. We aren’t alone in meeting these expectations; Georgia Southern and Armstrong State University share a common focus on supporting student success and meeting regional workforce development needs. In our coastal region, the top five jobs requiring an associate degree or higher, ranked by annual growth, include: registered nurses, general/operations managers, postsecondary teachers, accountants/auditors and aerospace engineers. As we work together, the new University will be in an even better position to expand our programs to meet market demand.

I cannot say it enough —the success of our students is our top priority in this consolidation process. As we expand student accessibility to higher education and continue to invest in our communities, which will now include Statesboro, Savannah and Hinesville, only then will we be successful.

The path we have been on is defined by every new step we take. We’ve been moving this consolidation process forward strategically, pacing ourselves in a manner that will protect our principles through every decision. While we have achieved a great number of things in the past 110 years, we aren’t set to slow down. We aren’t alone; collaboration between the two universities is the key to success. The final product will be a new and better Georgia Southern University, based on the traditions and legacies of two extraordinary institutions.

You are ready — ready to take on new challenges, to learn and to succeed! Making the new Georgia Southern the very best that it can be is our collective opportunity this year, and I hope you will join me in running passionately toward it.

Jaimie Hebert

President