News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5056 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE APRIL 6, 2006

The ABAC on the Square enrollment in downtown Moultrie continues to grow. Applications are now being accepted for the summer term which begins on June 5.

ABAC ON THE SQUARE OFFERS VARIETY, GROWTH

TIFTON - Classes from Abraham Baldwin College have expanded at the ABAC on the Square location in downtown Moultrie to reach more students than ever before.

“We’re seeing more and more traditional age students as well as our non-traditional students,” ABAC on the Square Director Kay Powell said. 

ABAC began offering classes in Moultrie in 1987 under the direction of ABAC faculty member and Colquitt County native Merle Baker. She wanted the Moultrie campus to be a place where non-traditional college students could attend classes and earn a degree while continuing their day jobs. ABAC classes were offered at the Moultrie Library and at Moultrie Tech.

Baker was a longtime faculty member in the Division of Social Science at ABAC who became ABAC’s Director of Evening and Off Campus programs and also coordinated ABAC’s educational efforts in Moultrie.

She was a key figure in the ABAC Foundation fundraising drive to renovate the former J.C. Penney’s building at 31 East Central Ave., into an extension of ABAC’s Tifton campus. Southwest Georgia Bank donated the building to the ABAC Foundation, and state funding accounted for $299,000. Corporations, foundations, and individuals in Colquitt County contributed approximately $235,000 toward the project.

The grand opening for the first floor of the building was held on March 16, 1997. Thanks to $360,000 from state funding, the second floor renovation was completed, and a ribbon cutting was held on Oct. 17, 1999.

ABAC on the Square enrollment gradually climbed. Less than 100 students attended classes in the first academic year. Baker retired in 2000, and Powell, another ABAC faculty member who also lives in Colquitt County, became the Director of ABAC on the Square.

Powell said with each passing year the numbers grew, and the type of students changed. This growth was evident when the ABAC on the Square enrollment reached an all-time high of 411 last year.

“We are moving toward more of a full-service college,” Powell said. With the increase in interest from traditional students, ABAC on the Square is growing steadily.”

With a larger enrollment comes the need for more space, and ABAC on the Square is already planning ahead.

“The ABAC Foundation is working with us on another building in Moultrie to help further meet the needs of our students,” Powell said. “At this time we are not able to meet evening class demand and with the expansion we are hoping to help that situation.”

The college has also replaced the distance learning process, Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical Systems (GSAMS), with a video over internet protocol system for the Moultrie campus.

“This system is a big improvement over GSAMS in video, audio, and interaction between the main campus and ABAC on the Square,” Powell said.

ABAC on the Square offers an average of 52 classes per semester. Students can take core curriculum classes leading to a degree in almost all of the 40 college transfer majors offered by ABAC.   For students majoring in business, education or a cooperative degree with Moultrie Technical College, a full lineup of classes is available.

Orientation and registration for summer term at ABAC on the Square is on May 30 at 4 p.m. Classes for summer term begin on June 5. For those interested in the fall semester, two orientation/registrations are scheduled, one on July 18 at noon and the other on Aug. 15 at 4 p.m. The fall term begins on Aug. 21.

For more information on ABAC on the Square, interested persons can contact Powell at (229) 391-2000 or e-mail her at kpowell@abac.edu.   All classes available are listed on the ABAC web site at www.abac.edu.