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 JUNE 26, 2008

ABAC PRESIDENT READY TO MOVE ABAC FORWARD IN THIRD YEAR

TIFTON—Coming off the historic second year of his presidency when Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College celebrated its 100^th birthday and was named one of the top 10 community colleges in the nation, Dr. David Bridges believes there’s more history to be made in ABAC’s second century of service.

“It has been a wonderful birthday year, and we’re still celebrating,” Bridges, the first ABAC alumnus (Class of 1978) ever to be named ABAC President, said.  “We have worked hard on our Second Century Plan, and we’re really on the move.”

Bridges assumed the ABAC president’s position on July 1, 2006.  Since then, his life has been a whirlwind of activity.

“The time has gone by really fast,” Bridges said.  “We have had a few bumps in the road but no major hurdles.”

Highlights of his second year at the helm include the Washington Monthly distinction ranking ABAC as the 10^th best community college in America, the ranking of the turfgrass program as the seventh best in North America by TurfNet Magazine, and the long-awaited offering of bachelor’s degrees on the campus in diversified agriculture and turfgrass and golf course management.

“We have done a lot for students this past year,” Bridges said.  “It has been really smooth sailing with our bachelor’s degrees.  Now we’re seeing high school students mark on their applications that these programs will be their majors.”

The college also opened the ABAC Lakeside complex on the north shore of Lake Baldwin, offering ultra modern housing for 489 students.  Another 835 beds are available at ABAC Place, where each student has a private room.

“When you look at Lake Baldwin, and you look at the way it was two years ago with weeds growing up around it, it’s amazing that it now has a beautiful shoreline with a $17 million complex with students everywhere,” Bridges said.  “It’s a functional part of the campus now.”

Bridges said the students also got a boost with the opening of the new green space on the south side of the campus which includes soccer, intramural, and practice fields.  But the biggest piece of news during the year might have been the announcement that ABAC will receive $6 million in funding from the state budget to begin the rehabilitation of the original three buildings on the front of campus.

“We finally got ABAC on the radar screen as far as doing something with the front of campus,” Bridges said.  “We had good support from our alumni, the legislature, the Chancellor, the System office, the Governor, and great support from our local delegation who championed the project from beginning to end.

“The Governor had it in his original budget, and now we have six million to get started.  Let’s face it.  The front of the campus is ABAC.  When you roll in across those railroad tracks and hit Moore Highway, you see the buildings Pratt Cassity called ‘the three wise men.’”

Tift, Lewis, and Herring halls were the three original buildings on the campus when classes began at the Second District A&M School on Feb. 20, 1908.  Cassity and a team of designers from the University of Georgia College of Environment and Design spent several days looking at new ideas for the front of the campus in March.

Bridges said when those ideas turn into a plan, ABAC will put the state funding to work. In the meantime, he has plenty of other projects to occupy his attention including a brand new partnership with Georgia Southwestern State University which will bring bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education and resource management to the ABAC campus.

“This new agreement with Southwestern should put us another step up the ladder,” Bridges said.  “It’s going to be big.  The combination of agriculture and forestry is still Georgia’s biggest business by far.  But the business has changed.  That’s where this resource management degree is going to come into play.

“The education degree fills a need.  We need more school teachers in Georgia. I believe it will be a real growth area.  These and other bachelor’s degree programs will make ABAC Georgia’s state college of choice.”

When classes begin for the fall semester on Aug. 18, Bridges wants to focus on two broad topics during his third year as the ABAC President.

“We should continue to bring good, committed students to ABAC, and we should reconnect with the community that has supported us for the past 100 years,” Bridges said.

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