ABAC president: Merger with Bainbridge State creates access to more resources

TIFTON — David Bridges, who has been named by the Georgia Board of Regents to head up the new Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College that will have campuses in Tifton and Bainbridge when consolidation is completed, pledged Thursday that the college will work “for all our students.”

On Wednesday, the University System of Regents Board of Regents approved Chancellor Steve Wrigley’s plan to combined ABAC and Bainbridge State College. The regents also OK’d Wrigley’s plan to merge Georgia Southern University in Statesboro with Armstrong State University in Savannah into a new Georgia Southern.

The new Southwest Georgia college will retain the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College name and have campuses 85 miles apart in Tifton and Bainbridge. ABAC also has courses available at its ABAC on the Square satellite location on East Central Avenue in Moultrie.

“I believe this is a real vote of confidence in ABAC, and we will make it work for all our students, whether they are in Bainbridge or Tifton or points in between,” Bridges said Thursday. “This expands our base, makes us a larger institution and will give us access to more resources.”

Interim Bainbridge State President Stuart Rayfield pledged her cooperation to make the transition as smooth as possible.

“Enhanced opportunities for students will be the ultimate goal of this consolidation,” Rayfield said. “I look forward to working with everyone at ABAC to make this a very successful venture.”

Wrigley said the merger was an investment in the region, which is heavily agricultural.

“We are committed to serving South Georgia in public higher education and our partnership with the Tifton and Bainbridge communities,” Wrigley said in the announcement Friday. “This consolidation is a long-term investment of the University System in South Georgia.”

Campus and community listening sessions will be conducted in the coming months to seek input on ways to best design the new institution so that it can provide the best service for the region and the state. An implementation team comprising of representatives from both campuses will be charged with the responsibility of working out the details of the consolidation. A consolidation website will also be established to provide information and updates.

ABAC enrolled 3,475 students for the 2016 fall semester, and Bainbridge State enrolled 2,468 students. Under the proposed timeline, the new institution will submit a proposal for consolidation to the board of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges for approval in December. Once approved, the consolidated institution will be presented to the Board of Regents for approval.