A sizeable crowd from the local community joined UGA President Michael F. Adams as well as other UGA faculty, staff and students from UGA’s Griffin Campus for an Aug. 26 dedication ceremony to mark the official opening of the new student learning center.
Adams called the building a “statement about quality”-both the quality of education that UGA delivers and the quality of the commitment by the local community that led to its construction.
The 33,000-square-foot student learning center was funded in large part through a $10 million special purpose local option sales tax overwhelmingly approved by Spalding County voters in November 2005.
Dick Morrow, mayor of Griffin, and Edward Goss Jr., chairman of the Spalding County Board of Commissioners, credited local officials, SPLOST co-chairs Cheryl Matlock and David Lamb, and Gerald Arkin, assistant provost at the Griffin Campus, for their leadership in securing support from the community.
State representatives David Knight and John Yates, also present for the occasion, were thanked for their support, along with members of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
Trent Tate, a senior in environmental resource science at the Griffin Campus who started classes last fall, said at the ceremony that students are excited to finally have classes in the building after watching construction for more than a year.
UGA “went the extra mile to make it extra nice,” Tate said. “This will have a heavy impact on the environment for learning.”
A ceremonial ribbon-cutting was held following the speeches, then the audience moved into the building for a reception in the lobby and tours of the two-story learning center.
Student ambassadors showed off the facility, which includes tiered classrooms-one of which can accommodate up to 132 students-as well as classrooms where seating can be configured in different ways. The building also includes a computer lab and study and meeting rooms of various sizes. A brick courtyard behind the building features benches and a fountain where students and others can relax between classes.
“We worked with the architect to make sure this was an optimal learning environment,” said Jan Hathcote, associate dean in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, one of five UGA schools and colleges that provides degree programs at the Griffin Campus. “Fortunately, we have the Miller Learning Center and the new facilities at the Gwinnett Campus to serve as models.”
UGA has been offering bachelor’s degree-completion programs at the Griffin Campus since fall 2005. Approximately 200 students are enrolled at the campus this fall.
“The opening of the student learning center represents a real milestone for the Griffin Campus,” said Bob Boehmer, associate provost for institutional effectiveness and extended campus educational programs. “It is rewarding to see the local community, UGA students, faculty and staff in this new learning center. Their enthusiasm for this learning environment will help our academic programs continue to grow over the coming years.”