Athens, Ga. – Several new academic programs for the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus were approved by the University Council last week at its final meeting of the academic year. The proposals for the new programs will now be forwarded to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents for final approval.
The new programs include a major in general business offered by UGA’s Terry College of Business, and majors in microbiology and biology offered by UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. All three will be available at the Griffin campus in fall 2007, pending board of regents approval.
These are upper-division programs for transfer students or those seeking a second bachelor’s degree. Prospective transfer students need to have completed 60 transferable credit hours with a minimum 2.5 grade point average.
Two additional programs to be offered in fall 2008 – a major in urban forestry offered by UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and a major in special education offered by UGA’s College of Education – also were approved by the University Council.
“This is a significant step in the development of our Griffin campus,” said Arnett C. Mace Jr., UGA senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “By continuing to expand the number of academic programs available in Griffin, the University of Georgia is fulfilling its mission to serve the state.”
The Griffin campus, located 40 miles south of Atlanta, was founded in 1888 as an agricultural experiment station and today houses UGA faculty engaged in cutting-edge research in urban agriculture and food science and safety.
Degree programs were offered there for the first time in fall 2005, with two initial majors: environmental resource science and biological science, both offered by UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
In fall 2006, two more majors were added: agribusiness, also offered by CAES, and consumer economics, offered by UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
“The various majors offered in Griffin are all supported centrally by UGA’s Office of Academic Affairs,” noted Bob Boehmer, acting vice provost for academic affairs. “The standards for admission are the same as those at the main campus in Athens and the degree earned is a UGA degree.”
The first four students to earn degrees in Griffin graduated in 2006, with another six students set to graduate in May. A graduation ceremony was held on the Griffin campus April 27, but students also are invited to participate in the May 12 commencement ceremony in Athens.
In addition to the undergraduate programs in Griffin, the College of Education offers a graduate program in mathematics education for elementary teachers certified at grades PreK-5. The program admitted its first cohort of students in fall 2006.
A master’s degree program in agricultural leadership, offered by CAES, was approved at a University Council meeting earlier this year and is also awaiting board of regents approval for offering this fall.
Some 200 students can be accommodated in classrooms in existing buildings on the Griffin campus. A new Student Learning Center, financed by a special purpose local option sales tax approved by Spalding County voters in 2005, is planned for completion by the end of 2008.
For more information, call 770/412-4400 or see www.uga.edu/griffin/.
