Board of Regents approves ABAC, Bainbridge State consolidation

TIFTON — The University System of Georgia Board of Regents on Tuesday approved the prospectus for the merger of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Bainbridge State College. When the new year starts, Bainbridge State students will become ABAC students.

The prospectus was approved Dec. 5 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

“I want to thank Stuart Rayfield for the job she did as interim president at Bainbridge during this entire process,” ABAC President David Bridges, who will be president of the new consolidated institution, said. “She has been a terrific partner for ABAC, and I wish her well.”

Rayfield, interim president at Bainbridge since June 1, 2016, will have a changed role on Jan. 1. University System Chancellor Steve Wrigley has named her interim president at Gordon State College.

“We are especially grateful for the dedication, persistence and hard work by ABAC, BSC and USG personnel over the past 12 months,” Rayfield said. “It was that hard work that will make it possible to better serve students in the months and years ahead.”

Wrigley agreed.

“Creating the new Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will allow us to better serve students, broaden and redesign academic programs and reinvest savings into academics to improve student success,” he said. “We will continue to work toward ensuring the success of our students, faculty and staff in partnership with our local communities.”

Bridges said he is ready to move forward with the new ABAC, which will have campuses about 90 miles apart in Tifton and Bainbridge.

“We plan to offer students at our instructional site in Bainbridge the best collegiate educational opportunity they have ever had,” Bridges said. “We offer only one product, but it is a very valuable product. We offer the opportunity for a life-changing educational experience to every student who walks on our campus.

“The value of the ABAC experience is absolutely priceless.”

ABAC enrolled 3,394 students from 24 countries, 18 states, and 155 Georgia counties for the 2017 fall semester. ABAC had the highest full-time enrollment at 72.8 percent among the 10 state colleges. BSC enrolled 1,746 students for the 2017 fall term.

“We’ll begin a series of soft starts in Bainbridge in January,” Bridges said. “Our two business offices will become the ABAC business office. Our two student records systems will become the ABAC student records system. Bainbridge students will enroll for the spring as they usually do.”

Bridges said Dr. Michael Kirkland, a Bainbridge State alumnus and a faculty member at the institution, will serve as executive director of the ABAC instructional site in Bainbridge, as well as for sites in Donalsonville and Blakely.

By the time the 2018 fall semester begins on Aug. 15, ABAC plans to offer classes leading to a bachelor’s degree in business and possibly the bachelor’s degree in nursing at the Bainbridge instructional site. ABAC will also offer classes leading to the associate of arts, associate of science, and associate of nursing degrees in Bainbridge.

“Under the existing plan, Southern Regional Technical College will assume responsibility in July for the technical programs now taught in Bainbridge,” Bridges said. “Students enrolled in those programs will be ABAC students in January, but then will become SRTC students when the changeover occurs.”

Students in Bainbridge, Donalsonville and Blakely who are completing degree requirements during the spring term will have an opportunity to participate in the final Bainbridge State College commencement ceremony in May. All future graduates enrolled in ABAC classes will have the opportunity to participate in ABAC commencement ceremonies, which are conducted in May and December each year.

The Regents approved Wrigley’s recommendation to consolidate BSC with ABAC on Jan. 11. Since that time, an implementation team with representatives from both colleges has worked to iron out the details of the consolidation.

At the meeting Tuesday, the Regents also approved the prospectus for the Armstrong State University consolidation with Georgia Southern University.

With the completion of the two consolidations, the number of USG institutions is 26, a reduction from the 35 USG institutions that existed in 2011 before the consolidation initiative.