To our colleagues and partners,

It's hard to believe we are wrapping up another year at Georgia Highlands College. In a recent letter to faculty and staff at the college, I talked about the things I am most thankful for at GHC. And without a doubt, one of the highest on my list is the hard work of our faculty and staff this year. What I love most about the people who work at GHC is that we put students first in everything we do. Always! The work we do together as faculty and staff is incredible. We outperform colleges twice our size and our students reap the rewards. As a state college with an access mission, that’s what it’s all about. Our mission is everything. 

Because of the work of our faculty and staff this year in putting our students first, we have a lot to be thankful for. Our enrollment is on the rise again. We have plans in place to sustain it. Our students are benefiting from our hard work. Our faculty provide a course experience second to none. Our graduates are finding success after completing because of the work we do. The investments currently being made by our community partners in GHC continue to provide us with new and exciting opportunities for our students and our college.  

In my final update for 2023, I want to highlight our year at GHC. Thank you for taking time to read this update and the others this year – but more importantly, I appreciate your continued support for our students, our access mission, and everything we do at Georgia Highlands College.

GHC was recently invited to the Capitol to talk about who we are and what we do. Our mission was at the forefront of that discussion. Please take a moment to watch this video we shared during that meeting that shows our mission in action through the history of the college and the students we work with. As you read through this update, keep in mind the phrase "leading with a servant's heart," because I think you'll see it displayed in all our updates below.

Investiture: Thank you to the nearly 400 people who attended the ceremony in September and the many more who viewed via livestream, as well as our faculty who attended and showed support for the college and for my future as president at GHC. You can view the recorded video or pictures online at highlands.edu. I also want to thank our assistant art professor Chelsea Carver who drew this live while I gave my address and shared it with me soon after.

Teacher of the Year: Congratulations to our assistant professor of biology Ejiroghene Ogaga for being named the "Teacher of the Year" for Georgia Highlands College at the annual Cobb Chamber of Commerce Give our Schools a Hand program celebration breakfast. She was nominated for going above and beyond for her students including using early intervention techniques to help students reach their goals in classes where they may find the subject matter difficult to comprehend or have not learned proper study skills. Beyond her office hours, Ogaga offers supplemental instructional sessions to assist students with challenging topics in the course and bi-weekly check-ins to discuss and evaluate their progress. When she accepted the award, she said, "My students are the reason I am still working at GHC. Knowing that I am making a positive long-lasting impact in the lives of my students and seeing them graduate and transition into their desired career paths gives me immense joy.”

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.

Hall of Fame Faculty: Dr. Steve Stuglin was named a recipient of the 2023 USG Felton Jenkins, Jr. Hall of Fame Faculty Award. Dr. Stuglin is deeply committed to the academic and personal success of our students. The selection committee praised his innovative teaching methods and dedication to student growth and development as a few of the many reasons he was chosen for this prestigious award. Dr. Stuglin was officially recognized by the Chancellor and the Regents at the annual Board of Regents’ Scholarship Gala on September 8, 2023, at the Atlanta History Center.

Our faculty work extremely hard to make sure our students are successful at GHC, graduate with their degree, and find the next steps toward their chosen career or continued study beyond GHC. Here are few more reasons to give them a big hand this year:

Prioritizing Our Students & Mission: Our staff work alongside our faculty to make sure students receive the best services possible as they work toward degree completion with us. By putting our students and mission first, that means also finding ways to make accessing the college admissions process faster and easier for our students. There are a lot of ways our staff continue to make this happen, but here are a few to applaud our staff for this year:

I am thankful for the overwhelming continued support from our Foundation Board of Trustees and our community partners this year. Our continued collaborations are making a real difference in the lives of our students and their families. 

Business Mixer for Students: Recently, our students had the opportunity to get comfortable networking while also exploring career opportunities that are available across a wide variety of businesses in our region. Dr. Lance Barry, Foundation Board Trustee, helped with the event and was pivotal in bringing in over 40 businesses to take part.

"Ready to Start" Scholarship: Our Foundation Board helping to establish the “Ready to Start” Scholarship has been incredible this year. This fund continues to help students remain on course to graduate at GHC, and for many of these scholarship recipients, this money is the difference between finishing their last semester and dropping out of college. 

Atrium Health Floyd: We owe a special thanks to the investment made by Atrium Health Floyd in our students at Georgia Highlands College. Now, a student can attend GHC's nursing program and have their costs covered, then have a position waiting on them as soon as they graduate. All thanks to this special partnership between Atrium Health Floyd and Georgia Highland College. 

As we prepare for another year at Georgia Highlands College, we are remaining proactive in our approach to enrollment and retention. It is important for us to show what we provide and how we can help those in our community graduate from college and start a career. Our access mission pushes us to find new ways to meet future students where they are in life, show them the path forward, and adjust our processes to remove any obstacles to success.

The SEED Plan: We have created a multi-department group spearheading a proactive plan to maintain and increase enrollment moving forward. This group includes key areas like recruiting, marketing, admissions, financial aid, and advancement. This group has completed a Comprehensive Marketing, Recruitment, and Admissions Plan for Spring, Summer, Fall 2024. The plan includes a cohesive strategy for each student type that will reach first-time freshmen, traditional and non-traditional, transfer students (students who have not completed a degree), transient students, students from Alabama, dual enrollment students, and online and returning students. The plan is called the SEED plan or the “Strategic Enrollment & Engagement Directive.” Additionally, we will be incorporating the work being done in our Academic Retention and Resources office to keep all our students on track to graduate with us! 

Prioritize Efficiency in Admissions: The SEED plan will also work on ways to “Prioritize Efficiency in Admissions” that will examine how long it takes students to go from application to registration—and how long it takes a student to sign up for the next semester... and ultimately remove barriers and makes our admission and registration process more efficient for our students. 

Adjusting Our Strategies in Real-Time: GHC’s IT team has created a new interactive enrollment dashboard that reflects real-time information, data, and statistics that can be accessed by anyone at the college and will allow us to keep up with our enrollment efforts in real-time. 

As you can see in this update, we have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to look forward to. 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.” I am proud to serve alongside you to continue making a difference for the students in our region and for the legacy of our college.

Georgia Highlands College thanks you for supporting our students and our mission. We wish you happy holidays as you close out the year with us. I look forward to talking more with you soon about our successes and all the ways we will continue to solidify GHC as the OPPORTUNITY COLLEGE for everyone.  

Sincerely,
Mike

President Mike Hobbs
Georgia Highlands College