ABAC ENROLLMENT STRETCHES TO 3,411 STUDENTS

The enrollment at Abraham Baldwin College cracked another barrier today when ABAC President Mike Vollmer announced that the college had reached an all-time record headcount of 3,410 students.

“I expected the enrollment to be up, but this is incredible,” Vollmer said. “When you consider that two years ago during the fall of 2001 we had only 2,857 students. I give all the credit to a hardworking group of faculty and staff members who really believe in this institution.”

Director of Institutional Research Donna Miller said one surprising statistic about the students is that 58 percent of them are female. This could be the highest female enrollment during a fall term in the 95-year history of ABAC.

Vice President for Student and Enrollment Services Tom Call said he had an idea why the female enrollment was so high.

“When you look at the nursing numbers, you see a lot of females,” Call said. “Nursing is now our single largest major with 731 students. The Division of Agriculture and Forest Resources has 718 students.”

Vollmer credited the new innovative one day per week LPN/Paramedic Transition Track Nursing Program as one reason for the growth in that area.

“This program allows these students to attend nursing classes for one full day per week for three semesters and then be prepared to take the licensure exam to become Registered Nurses,” Vollmer said. “It is a terrific program, and Wanda Golden and her very dedicated faculty and staff members in nursing have really made it work.”

Miller said the 2003 fall semester student population hails from 146 Georgia counties, 16 other states, and 15 countries spread across the globe.

Almost 400 of the students are taking classes at ABAC on the Square in Moultrie. Director Kay Powell said that number is the largest ever at the Moultrie location of the college.

Vollmer pointed out that the ABAC students are not the only ones taking classes on the campus.

“We have over 200 students who are taking classes from the University of Georgia, Valdosta State, Albany State, Georgia Southwestern, and Macon State,” Vollmer said. “I expect these programs to grow even more in the future.”

UGA began offering a degree in Agriscience and Environmental Systems this semester and plans to add another degree in Ag Education at ABAC and the UGA Tifton campus during the spring semester, which begins on Jan. 12.

ABAC faculty member Paul Miller, who also coordinates the Georgia Southwestern program at ABAC, said an all-time high of 49 students are enrolled in accounting and management in the junior and senior level classes.

With over $40 million in construction projects now underway, ABAC is furiously trying to keep up with the increase in numbers. The $1.5 million Pedestrian Mall will open on Oct. 14 at 9 a.m. when Chancellor Thomas Meredith of the University System of Georgia plants a tree and cuts the ribbon. The $7.1 million Ag Sciences Building will open on Jan. 5, 2004, and 200 beds in the $32 million ABAC Place apartments project will be available in January for students in Chandler Hall. Renovation continues on Howard Auditorium, and Vollmer is making plans for a new $5 million Health Sciences Building to give nursing a new home.

“Our goal is to continue to move forward every day,” Vollmer said.

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