History

A look at the institutional history of Macon State College.

• 1965 - October
  • The Board of Regents adopts a resolution approving the establishment of a two-year unit of the University System of Georgia in the Macon/Warner Robins area.
    
    
• 1966 - May
  • Bibb voters pass a $4.5 million bond referendum by 4 to 1 margin to provide initial funding for a public college in Macon. The University System of Georgia takes charge of project.
    
    
• 1968 - September
  • The 167-acre main campus opens on Eisenhower Parkway under President Jack K. Carlton. With 1,110 students, Macon Junior College has the largest charter enrollment of any new college in Georgia history.
  • Since junior colleges in Augusta, Columbus and Savannah were upgraded to senior status (1963-65), speculation begins almost immediately about expanding to a four-year institution.
    
    
• 1970 -
  • The Regents direct Macon Junior College to organize Robins Resident Center to serve civilian and military employees of Robins Air Force Base.
    
    
• 1972 - July
  • President Carlton resigns his post to accept the presidency of Western Carolina State University.
    
    
• 1972 - September
  • Dr. William W. Wright, dean of the college, is elected the second president of Macon Junior College by the Board of Regents.
    
    
• 1983 -
  • A statewide needs assessment by the University System identifies Macon/Warner Robins as one of three areas in Georgia that is underserved by public higher education.
    
    
• 1984 -
  • President Wright resigns to become dean of the school of business at Stetson University in Deland, Florida. Jack H. Ragland, controller, is appointed acting president.
    
    
• 1985 -
  • Dr. S. Aaron Hyatt is elected president of the College.
    
    
• 1987 –
  • The Board of Regents vote to delete “junior” from the name of all two-year institutions, and Macon Junior College officially becomes Macon College.
    
    
• 1989 -
  • President Hyatt submits official request to the Chancellor of University System asking for consideration of senior status.
    
    
• 1990 -
  • Student and alumni groups submit names of 25,000 Middle Georgians on petitions for senior status.
  • State legislature approves $25,000 for study related to change of status for Macon College. Macon Representative Denmark Groover appears before the Board of Regents to plead Macon College case.
    
    
• 1991 -
  • Chancellor Propst puts all requests for expansion on hold for one year as budget cuts imposed throughout University System.
  • College opens Warner Robins Campus in Advanced Technology Park.
    
    
• 1992 -
  • Dr. Raymond Dawson of University System of North Carolina conducts review of Macon College request as consultant to the Board of Regents. Dawson meets with Macon College students, alumni, faculty and administrators, state legislators, elected officials, community representatives and officials from area public and private colleges.
    
    
• 1993 - February
  • Dawson recommends a change of status for Macon College, followed by a withdrawal from Macon of  Georgia College and Fort Valley State College undergraduate programs.
  • Chancellor Propst submits the Dawson Report to the Board of Regents where it is remanded to the Planning and Oversight Committee for further study.
    
    
• 1993 - September
  • The College celebrates its Silver Anniversary. Groundbreaking takes place for 65,000- square-foot arts and academic buildings.
    
    
• 1994 - July
  • Stephen R. Portch takes office as Chancellor of the University System. Governor Zell Miller appoints Macon businessman Charlie Jones to an at-large seat on the Board of Regents - the first Maconite to serve on the Board since 1966.
    
    
• 1995 - January
  • New Classroom Building completed under Gov. Miller's Georgia Rebound Program.
    
    
• 1995 - February
  • Chancellor Portch recommends to the Board of Regents that the Macon/Warner Robins and Atlanta metro areas be singled out for a special assessment based on demographics and educational needs. A Blue Ribbon panel composed of national higher education leaders is named to review results of a System-wide mission study.
    
    
• 1995 - March
  • Presidents of four University System institutions in the Macon region meet with Chancellor Portch to form the Central Georgia Planning Council.
  • The College’s newest Academic Building -- housing the divisions of Social Sciences and Humanities and featuring a foreign language lab, theatre, art studio and rehearsal hall -- is dedicated and the first Endowment Campaign attracts more than $1 million during opening drive.
    
    
• 1995 - July
  • Mission Review for Macon College conducted at Georgia Tech under the supervision of a Blue Ribbon committee of external consultants. Georgia State University's Applied Research Center conducts focus sessions with business, government and education leaders in Middle Georgia to establish needs for future.
    
    
• 1996 - July
  • Board of Regents approves a new mission for Macon College which includes the introduction of the Bachelor of Science degree in selected majors.
    
    
• 1996 - October
  • The first three baccalaureate programs are approved by the Regents. They include the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Health Services Administration and Health Information Management.
    
    
• 1996 - November
  • Regents act on name change for Macon College. It will become Macon State College following the approval of the College’s principal accrediting agency of a "substantive change" in the institution's mission.
    
    
• 1997 - April
  • President Hyatt announces his resignation effective August 1.  Dr. Hyatt will assume the duties of General Secretary Rotary International.
    
    
• 1997 - June
  • At its semi-annual meeting (23-25), the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) approves the introduction of a baccalaureate program at Macon College.
  • Phase I of a $10.9 million Nursing/Health Sciences & Lab Complex ranks #20 on the Board of Regents’ Major Capital Priorities List.
    
    
• 1997 - July 1
  • A Convocation is held on the main campus to recognize the change of mission and the adoption of a new name - MACON STATE COLLEGE.  Following the ceremony, groundbreaking is conducted for the $8.7 million Student Services Center.
    
    
• 1997 - August 1
  • Interim President David A. Bell is introduced to Macon State community by Chancellor Stephen Portch.
    
    
• 1997 -
  • The Peyton Anderson Foundation presents the College with a $1 million grant to be matched by other sources to fund two academic chairs in Information Technology. These are the College's first endowed positions.
    
    
• 1998 - January 13
  • The Board of Regents unanimously approves the permanent appointment of David Bell as President of Macon State College.
  • Gov. Miller presents his FY 99 budget to the Georgia General Assembly. It contains a $1 million commitment to Macon State College from the Georgia Eminent Scholars Endowment Trust Fund to match the Peyton Anderson gift.
    
    
• 1998 - March 11
  • Board of Regents approves reorganization of Macon State College administration and establishes a new academic unit - the School of Information Technology
    
    
• 1998 - May 7
  • The new Macon State College Foundation holds its first meeting. Waddell Barnes, M.D., is elected president of the Foundation by its new board of trustees.
    
    
• 1998 - September
  • Board of Regents approves new baccalaureate program leading to the Bachelor of Science in Business & Information Technology.   Dr. David Adams is named to the first Peyton Anderson Chair in Information Technology.
    
    
• 1998 - October
  • The College's Warner Robins teaching site in the Advanced Technology Park is designated a permanent off-campus center by the Regents.
    
    
• 1998 - October 23
  • Dr. David A. Bell is inaugurated as the fifth president of Macon State College.
    
    
• 1998 - December
  • The Regents authorize the creation of the Institute for Information Management to be associated with the School of Information Technology. The institute will serve as a vehicle for economic development and outreach .
• 1999 - February
  • The Educational Technology Center is established on the Macon campus. The center is allied with the School of Information Technology and trains public school teachers and staff in the effective use of educational technologies.
    
    
• 1999 - March
  • The College's fifth baccalaureate degree program is approved by the Board of Regents. Housed in the Division of Humanities, the Bachelor of Science in Communications & Information Technology places special emphasis on communicating through the new media.
    
    
• 1999 - May
  • The first baccalaureate graduates of Macon State College are awarded the bachelor of science degree in ceremonies at the Macon City Auditorium.
    
    
• 1999 - June
  • Governor Roy Barnes appoints Macon businessman and civic leader Connie Cater to the Eighth District seat on the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
  • The Board of Regents approves Phase II of the Professional Sciences and Conference Center - a $20 million structure to house the Division of Business and Economics, the School of Information Technology and University System meeting facilities. Phase I moves up to #7 on the Regents’ Major Capital Priorities List.
  • Gov. Roy Barnes announces a two-year ICAPP grant of $500,000 to create and staff a corporate training environment focused on building Central Georgia's information technology  workforce. The first client is ComputerLogic of Macon.
    
    
• 1999 - September
  • The Macon State College Educational Technology Center is dedicated by Gov. Barnes in a refurbished facility formerly known as the Lecture Complex.
    
    
• 1999 - October
  • Regents gather on the MSC campus to hold their October board meeting which features an economic development briefing on Central Georgia conducted by leaders in business, health, manufacturing and military affairs.
    
    
• 1999 - November
  • President Bell delivers the College's Master Plan to the Board of Regents defining how the campus will be developed to complement the academic mission.
    
    
• 1999 - December
  • The Foundation successfully completes a campaign to match state funds for a third Eminent Scholar. An endowment of $500,000 is reserved.
    
    
• 2000 - January
  • Michael E. Staman, former vice chancellor and chief information officer for the University System, joins the MSC faculty to hold a Peyton Anderson Endowed Chair in Information Technology.
    
    
• 2000 - March
  • President Bell announces the introduction of the first MSC Bachelor of Science degree at the Warner Robins Center. The B.S. in Information Technology will begin Summer Semester.
    
    
• 2000 - October
  • The $8.75 million Student Life Center is opened bringing all student services under one roof while providing a new home for the Division of Business and Economics.
  • Macon State College is chosen by GLOBE - Global Learning Online for Business and Education - to offer the bachelor of science in information technology. This is the University System's first online bachelor's degree in IT.
    
    
• 2000 - November
  • President Bell founds the Central Georgia Technology Alliance as the mid-state affiliate of the Technology Association of Georgia. He is elected chair of the charter board of  'TAG Central' and is named to the executive committee of Atlanta-based TAG.
    
    
• 2000 - December
  • With Cox Communications, the College forms Cox@MaconState, a partnership that gives MSC students a direct broadband connection to online courses at MSC and access to educational resources throughout the University System of Georgia.
    
    
• 2001 - January
  • Enrollment at Macon State's Warner Robins Center exceeds 1,000 students for the first time in its 10-year history.
    
    
• 2001 – March
  • The Regents approve a new baccalaureate program leading to the Bachelor of Science in Public Service with a major in human services, which will be housed in the Division of Social Sciences.
    
    
• 2002 - March
  • Construction begins on the College’s first three-story building. Phase 1 of a 175,000-square-foot, $36.2 million professional studies complex will house nursing and allied health, the natural sciences and mathematics, business, information technology and a conference center. Phase I, designed by John Portman & Associates, is a $16.2 million project that will house the College’s nursing and other professional health sciences programs, as well as new labs and classrooms for the division of natural sciences and math.
    
    
• 2002 - April
  • The Georgia General Assembly approved a $5 million appropriation to be used in conjunction with property donated by the city of Warner Robins to establish a permanent Macon State College campus on Watson Boulevard, just a half mile from the main gate at Robins AFB. Renovation of the historic Thomas Elementary School and construction of a 25,000-square-foot addition will begin in summer 2002, with plans for the new Warner Robins Campus to open in fall 2003.
  • The Regents approve a new baccalaureate program leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing, housed in the Division of Nursing and Health Sciences. Known as an “RN-BSN completion" degree, the program will be specifically geared toward registered nurses with associate degrees who want to complete a four-year bachelor of science degree.
    
    
• 2002 - August 
  • Following a national search, the College filled its third $1 million endowed chair from the Macon State College Foundation. Dr. Wayne Cecil, who holds a doctorate in business administration from the University of Kentucky, joined the Division of Business and Economics as the Georgia Eminent Scholar Chair in Accounting. In addition to his extensive academic credentials, Dr. Cecil, a CPA, brings to Macon State 10 years of professional experience with two of the four largest accounting firms in the world.
    
    
• 2002 - October 24
  • The campus of Macon State College served as the 10th site for the University System of Georgia’s “Knowledge Is Power Tour.” The 12-stop tour, sponsored by the ICAPP, provided the state’s business leaders with a chance to meet the system’s new chancellor, Thomas C. Meredith.
    
    
• 2002 - December
  • Fifteen Robins Air Force Base employees, all of whom have bachelor’s degree in engineering, receive their certificates in information technology from Macon State through the University System’s ICAPP. The RAFB engineers finished the fast-track IT program in six months. This was Macon State’s third ICAPP partnership.
    
    
• 2003 - March
  • The Board of Regents, at the request of President Bell, names the Macon State College Botanical Gardens after Dr. Waddell Barnes, chair of the MSC Foundation Board of Trustees and the driving force behind the development of the gardens. Along with this honor, the Macon State College Foundation is establishing an endowment in Dr. Barnes' name to support further enhancement and maintenance of the Botanical Gardens and to develop a related educational program.
    
    
• 2003 - May
  • The number of Macon State baccalaureate graduates continues to climb each year. In Spring 2003, 194 Macon State graduates (or nearly 34 percent of the total of 579 graduates) receive their baccalaureate degrees.
    
    
• 2003 - June 27
  • State and local dignitaries are among the 500 people attending a dedication ceremony and open house for Macon State College’s Warner Robins Campus. Speakers include Rep. Larry Walker of Perry, Rep. Larry O’Neal of Warner Robins, Mayor Donald Walker of Warner Robins and Regent Mansfield Jennings Jr. of Hawkinsville. Guests tour the renovated Thomas Hall and the new two-story Academic Services Building, which were completed earlier in the month.
    
    
• 2003 - August
  • The Board of Regents approve President Bell’s request to name the College’s new 75,000-square-foot academic building in honor of Macon developer and community leader Charles H. Jones for his service to the region and contributions to higher education. The Charles H. Jones Building will be the College’s first three-story structure and the largest building on the Macon campus.
  • The Charles H. Jones Family Foundation is responsible for the largest single gift ever made to the College, a $1.5 million contribution to Macon State’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign that is currently underway.
  • More students are attending Macon State College this fall than at any other time in the institution’s 35-year history. Final registration for Fall 2003 totals 5,403 students at the College’s Macon, Warner Robins and Robins AFB campuses. Much of the increase was driven by Macon State’s new Warner Robins Campus, where enrollment is up more than 26 percent over last fall. Final registration at the new Warner Robins Campus for the regular semester totaled 1,504.
    
    
• 2003 – September
  • Due to the high demand and need for registered nurses in Central Georgia, Macon State College will begin accepting a new class of nursing students each spring in addition to the fall. Beginning spring semester 2004, the College will accept an additional class of 25 nursing students who will pursue their associate degrees as a cohort.
    
    
• 2003 – December
  • The Warner Robins City Council signs an agreement transferring 72 acres of land to Macon State College for any future expansion of its Warner Robins Campus. The city-owned land is adjacent to the Warner Robins Campus.
    
    
• 2004 – March
  • At its March 10 meeting, the Board of Regents formally accept the Warner Robins City Council’s gift of approximately 72 acres of city-owned land adjacent to the Warner Robins Campus. The City Council voted in December 2003 to sign an agreement transferring the land to the Regents for the future expansion of the Warner Robins Campus.
  • The Charles H. Jones Building is dedicated on March 25, with more than 400 in attendance, including University System Chancellor Thomas Meredith. The Jones Building, which features ultra-modern science labs and “smart” classrooms wired for technology, will be largely devoted to expanding, in both quantity and quality, the College’s degree programs in nursing, other health sciences, math and natural sciences. The first classes are scheduled in the new facility in Summer 2004.
    
    
• 2004 – August
  • The College records the highest enrollment in its 36-year history, with final registration for Fall 2004 totaling 5,733 students.
    
    
• 2005 – January 12
  • The Board of Regents approve a bachelor of science in early childhood education for Macon State College, part of the University System’s initiative to significantly increase the number and diversity of well-prepared teachers in the state’s public schools. Macon State has put development of the degree program on the fast track so the College can admit the charter class of students in Fall Semester 2005.
    
    
• 2005 - July
  • Dr. Martha L. Venn joins Macon State College as the first chair of the new Division of Education.
    
    
• 2005 – August
  • On Aug. 6, Macon State College has a pinning ceremony for the first students to graduate from the College’s new RN-BSN Completion Program. Of the 14 graduates, nine received their associate of science degree in nursing from Macon State.
  • The College records the highest enrollment in its 37-year history, with final registration for Fall 2005 totaling 6,149 students. Since Macon State began offering bachelor’s degrees in 1998, enrollment has increased 70 percent. The Warner Robins Campus also records its highest enrollment, 1,849, an increase of more than 52 percent since 1998.
  • In fall 2005, the College adds its eighth four-year degree: the bachelor of science in early childhood education. The charter class includes 67 students ready to begin upper-division coursework.
• Macon State College announces plans to introduce courses leading to the associate of science degree in nursing on its Warner Robins Campus in Spring 2006, a move that will significantly increase the number of Registered Nurses needed by area healthcare facilities. This was made possible through a partnership with Houston Healthcare.
• With the opening of fall semester 2005, Macon State College unveils the dramatic transformation of its 37-year-old Library building. The result of a $5 million renovation, funded by the state Legislature, the College’s newly renovated Library is now an ultra-modern facility loaded with technological resources.
  
  
• December – 2005
  
  • On Dec. 7, Warner Robins Mayor Donald Walker gives the deed to 72 acres adjacent to the Warner Robins Campus to the Macon State College Foundation for the expansion of the Campus. The property was acquired by the City of Warner Robins in a land swap with the U.S. Air Force, which previously used the land to provide privatized housing for Robins Air Force Base personnel.
    
    
• January -- 2006
  • Gov. Sonny Perdue appoints Robert “Bob” F. Hatcher Sr. of Macon, president and CEO of MidCountry Financial Corp., to serve on the University System’s Board of Regents. Prior to his appointment, Hatcher served on the Macon State College Foundation (1998-2006). Hatcher represents Georgia’s 8th Congressional District on the Board of Regents.
    
    
• April – 2006
  
  • The Board of Regents authorize Macon State to offer a bachelor of science in mathematics and a bachelor of science in biology. With the addition of these two degrees, all of the College’s academic divisions now have bachelor’s programs to offer students.
    
    
• June -- 2006
  
  • Macon State College formally names the Warner Robins Campus auditorium in honor of former State Rep. Larry Walker of Perry and Warner Robins Mayor Donald Walker during a dedication ceremony.
    
• Macon State and the Monroe County school system announce a cooperative venture that gives aspiring teachers the chance to take most of the courses leading to the bachelor of science degree in early childhood education in Monroe County. Beginning in the fall, the College will offer education courses using classroom space at Banks Stephens Elementary School in Forsyth.
  
  
• July – 2006
  
  • The Middle Georgia Regional Educational Service Agency accepts President David Bell’s invitation to relocate its headquarters to Macon State’s main campus. RESA will move from Fort Valley to the newly renovated Education Building (formerly the Nursing Annex) in December 2006. The agency’s relocation makes the College unique in that it is only University System of Georgia institution that is headquarters to three entities vital to K-12 support: an academic Division of Education that is producing new teaching talent for Central Georgia schools; the Middle Georgia Educational Technology Training Center; and, now, RESA.
    
    
• September -- 2006
  
  • Macon State has unveiled a new sign on the east side of the campus, which runs parallel to Interstate 475. The sign is 60 feet tall and 50 feet wide, and is designed to increase the visibility of the Macon campus, much of which is hidden from view from adjacent highways because of the many rolling hills and wooded areas.
    
    
• October -- 2006
  
  • Enrollment at the College continues to climb, topping 6,200 this fall for the first time. Official enrollment for Fall 2006 is 6,243 students, the most in Macon State’s 38-year history.
    
    
• February – 2007
  
  • The Board of Regents authorizes Macon State to offer the bachelor of arts degree in English in fall 2007. The degree includes two tracks: the English education track will prepare students to teach English at the high-school level, and the traditional English track will prepare students interested in careers requiring a foundation in language and communications skills.
    
    
• March – 2007
  
  • The Board of Regents authorizes Macon State to begin offering the bachelor of arts degree in history in fall 2007. The history degree includes two tracks: the history education track, which will prepare students to teach history at the high-school level, and  the traditional history track aimed at students interested in careers in the arts, law, government and community service, historical interpretation and curator-ship, as well as graduate education.
    
    
• April – 2007
  
  • The Macon State College Foundation awards $20,000 Presidential Scholarships to five of Central Georgia’s highest-achieving high school seniors. The scholarships, given for the first time this year, represent the Foundation’s largest awards ever to students enrolling at Macon State.
    
    
• May – 2007
  
  • Macon State’s charter class of 45 early childhood education majors graduates on May 11. They are among 340 Macon State students set to be awarded their bachelor’s degrees; another 370 are candidates to receive associate’s degrees. This is the highest total of Macon State graduates of any given year in its history. To date, Macon State has graduated more than 1,600 students with four-year degrees since introducing baccalaureate programs 10 years ago.
    
• The Board of Regents includes two major building projects for Macon State College in the FY ’08 budget. Macon State receives $22 million in bond funding for a Professional Sciences Building on the Macon campus (construction completion expected in late 2008) and $5 million for a new academic building on the Warner Robins Campus (design and construction expected to be about 18 months).
  
  
• June –2007
  
  • The Board of Regents approves a bachelor of science in nursing. The new program, known as a “pre-licensure” bachelor of science in nursing, differs from Macon State’s current RN-BSN baccalaureate program in that it is structured more like other traditional four-year degrees and is designed for students not yet licensed as RNs. The College expects to launch the new degree in fall 2009.
    
    
• August – 2007
  
  • In the first major reorganization in its history, Macon State eliminates the academic organizational structure that called for divisions headed by chairs and implements one that creates schools headed by deans, with the changes effective immediately. The new structure consists of the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Education, School of Information Technology, School of Nursing & Health Sciences and the Division of Learning Support.
    
• Leaders in the new organizational structure are: Dr. Robert Kelly, dean, and Dr. Martin Slann and Dr. Eric Sun, associate deans, School of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Martha Venn, dean, School of Education; Dr. Alex Koohang, dean, School of Information Technology; Dr. Rebecca Corvey, dean, and Dr. Janet Andrews, associate dean, School of Nursing and Health Sciences; John Cole, J.D., interim dean, School of Business; Linda Green, interim chair, Department of Learning Support.
  
• Macon State College’s Division of Education receives accreditation and full approval from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission to prepare and recommend education majors for state certification.

Revised September 2007