To our colleagues and partners,

I have to start by thanking our faculty and staff, our community partners, and our representatives and senators for the continuous support for our students and our access mission at Georgia Highlands College. It takes many hands to provide a college experience that translates to real-world skills and workforce development for our region. At GHC, I’m happy we have the partners and programs that make our college a workforce solution for students across our footprint. This year, we are continuing to develop and expand our role as an opportunity college focused on programs tied to careers. 

Governor Kemp and our partners at the Capitol are working to address the rising need for more trained professionals to fill the ever-increasing healthcare careers across the state. As plans develop around a new medical school at the University of Georgia and a new dental school at Georgia Southern University, I want to ensure Georgia Highlands College joins the effort to establish an even greater pipeline of healthcare professionals for our region and the state.

There is no better place to earn a degree in nursing or dental hygiene than right here at GHC. Our dental hygienists and nursing graduates will join the next generation of dentists and doctors in this incredible initiative to meet the demand for these careers. 

Atrium Health Floyd: Current students and future students continue to benefit from the recent partnership between Georgia Highlands College and Atrium Health. In addition to the added scholarships, tuition assistance and financial assistance for learning materials provided to current students, Atrium Health Floyd is providing graduating high school seniors tuition assistance through the “Rise to Success” program. This program will pay students’ tuition, books and fees as they work toward an associate degree in a healthcare field offered through the Atrium Health Floyd School of Health Sciences at Georgia Highlands College. This partnership is making a real difference for our students, their families, and for our community. 

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT PASS RATE: Nothing exemplifies the quality of our graduates and the work of our faculty quite like a 100% pass rate within the first year on a national exam for licensure. Our nursing graduates had a 96.34% first time pass rate—with a full 100% passing within the first year—for the NCLEX-RN exam. Way to go to our students and way to go to our faculty! 

Low-cost dental treatments for our community: Our dental hygiene students provide high-quality and reduced cost preventative care to upwards of 1,000 patients each year. This includes dental cleanings for children and adults as well as X-rays and periodontal therapy and more. Students experience caring for a variety of patients including children, teens, adults and senior adults as they progress through the program. They also see patients with various oral health concerns, providing care to patients with good oral health as well as those experiencing periodontal diseases.

A new $450,000 endowed scholarship: It is with tremendous gratitude that I announce the new Kitty Carte Legacy Nursing Scholarship. This endowed scholarship established by Kitty’s daughter, Jana Lindsey, is a generous fund of $450,000 that will provide selected nursing students from the Associate of Science in Nursing and RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs with $1,500 each semester. In addition, this scholarship awards a stipend of $500 to recipients as well as annually funding $2,000 to the Friends of Future Nurses Fund.

National DAISY nursing award: I want to give a special shout-out to one of our nursing students, Marjorie Liciaga Rodriguez, who was the recipient of the DAISY Award, a national award from the DAISY Foundation. Her goals as a nurse include creating a positive impact on others while embracing her compassionate spirit and setting an example for her children.  

Enrollment on the Rise: We saw enrollment growth of 6.7% for fall 2023, and we are working on maintaining that trajectory into fall 2024. We have enrollment efforts in place to make that happen. Moreover, we are continuing to hone how we market who we are and what we do best at GHC. We thought about all the steps between starting at GHC and where that takes you. We narrowed those steps down to two simple statements. Step One: We help. Step Two: You Graduate. I am looking forward to expanding on this idea and incorporating it into everything we do. As I mentioned in my previous update, everyone at GHC leads with a “servant’s heart.” That’s our access mission. That’s who we are. That’s what we can do better than anyone else.

Paragon Award: I was honored to be chosen by our students for the national Paragon Award. I will receive the award during the PTK Catalyst 2024, the society’s annual convention in Orlando, Fla., this April. The award recognizes college presidents who have shown significant support for student success initiatives leading to stronger pathways to completion, transfer and employment. I have to admit that I am equally thankful to receive the award as I am to have partners across our community who make it possible for me to enable student success at GHC. What we do isn’t possible without the wide network of support we receive that directly benefits our students.

Thank A Teacher: Each semester, our students take time to submit "Thank A Teacher" awards to our faculty members who helped them in exceptional ways. These are displayed on our digital signage throughout all GHC sites, and they serve as a reminder that our students care about our efforts to help them succeed just as much we care about making sure they are successful.

Preview Days are Back: Our recruiting team has done an excellent job rallying all areas of our college to participate in preview days at GHC. We recently had a few hundred students join us to learn more about GHC, scholarships, our programs, and more. Hosting events like this for future students gives them the opportunity to find out what it’s like at GHC, what we offer, and how we can help them succeed. 

Events in 2024: We have several events to look forward to at GHC this year, including a ribbon cutting for the new ballfields in April, the Youth Fishing Rodeo in June, and the Highlands Scholarship Gala in October. 

The work we do at Georgia Highlands College has a cascading effect across generations. It’s not just the students we help today—it’s their family, their children, and the ones they care about. We create bridges to opportunity while enhancing our community. We build programs attached to careers that help our community continue to thrive. I have said this before, but I will say it again. All of this is made possible because of those who believe in our mission and those who choose to lead with “a servant’s heart.” Thank you for helping us be the opportunity college. Thank you for helping us make this statement true: “Step One: We Help. Step Two: You Graduate.” 

Please reach out to me anytime for ways we can continue to partner and improve. Our shared success makes a difference.

Sincerely, 

Mike

President Mike Hobbs

Georgia Highlands College