News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-4781 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE January 8, 2008

CALENDAR YEAR 2007 A REMARKABLE ONE FOR ABAC

TIFTON - The calendar year 2007 was a memorable one for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College as the college recorded its all time record enrollment during the fall semester, kicked off its 100^th birthday celebration on March 31, gained accreditation for two brand new four-year degrees, and was picked as the 10^th best community college in the nation.

ABAC also opened the 489-bed ABAC Lakeside housing complex, the college’s first ever soccer field, the new ABAC Information Center, and the Cordell Commons student gathering area in the Carlton Center.

A new academic dean joined the administration, and the president’s office moved from Tift Hall for the first time ever.

Here are some of the highlights of 2007:

• Washington Monthly Magazine selected ABAC as one of the Top 10 Community Colleges in America. ABAC received high marks in student faculty interaction and academic challenge. ABAC was picked 10^th in the poll of the top 30 community colleges.
• Turfnet Magazine selected the two-year turfgrass program at ABAC as the seventh best program of its kind in the United States and Canada. The new four-year degree program in turfgrass and golf course management was selected as 26^th best among four-year programs in the same article.
• President David Bridges moved his office out of Tift Hall into Evans Hall on June 19 so that the rehabilitation process for the three original buildings on the front of the campus could begin. It marked the first time in the history of ABAC that the president’s office was not located in Tift Hall.

• Bridges announced on June 28 that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools had granted accreditation for two new Bachelor of Applied Science degrees for ABAC in Diversified Agriculture and Turfgrass and Golf Course Management. The two degrees mark the first four-year degree offerings by the college since it was titled the Georgia State College for Men from 1929-33.
• ABAC received $102,500 from the University System of Georgia ICAPP program for a bioenergy partnership.
• ABAC hosted its first iMovie Festival on Nov. 8 when students from the new learning communities put together iMovies in a campuswide competition.
• ABAC faculty member Darby Sewell was named National Outstanding Advisor of the Year by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.

• The record enrollment of 3,665 students during the fall term included students from 154 Georgia counties, 12 states, and nine countries.
• With the opening of the $17 million ABAC Lakeside complex, ABAC housed over 1,300 students for the fall semester, the most number of students living on campus in the history of the college. One hundred green and gold balloons fell from the ceiling of the Grand Lobby at ABAC Lakeside at the dedication ceremony for the new complex on Sept. 10.
• ABAC alumnus Thomas “Boo” Weekley won the Verizon Heritage PGA tournament on April 16, pocketing a check for $927,000. He attended ABAC from 1992-93.
• ABAC focused its first Customer Services Improvement Initiative from Governor Sonny Perdue on the career services area. Diane Kilgore, Director of the Public Service and Business Outreach Center, serves as the Customer Service Champion for ABAC.

• ABAC opened the celebration in honor of its 100^th birthday at Homecoming on March 31. The celebration will extend through Dec. 31, 2008.
• The first ever intercollegiate soccer field opened on the ABAC campus on Aug. 28 when the Fillies defeated Georgia Military College 3-0.
• ABAC alumnus George T. Smith was selected for the Regents Hall of Fame award. Smith (Class of 1940) is the only Georgian ever elected to all three branches of state government. He is a former Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House, and Supreme Court Justice. Smith was the guest speaker at the spring graduation ceremony on May 4.
• Concert Band Director Gene Wyles passed away on Jan. 31. After retiring from Worth County High School, he headed up the ABAC Concert Band for 16 years. Former Tift County High School band director Woody Leonard replaced Wyles at the start of the fall semester.
• The ABAC men’s basketball team won more games than any team in the history of the program with a record of 27-5. The team finished second in the NJCAA Region 17 tournament. Coach Todd Sheppard was named the GJCAA Coach of the Year. Sheppard was also selected for Georgia Trend Magazine’s prestigious “40 Under 40” and was the guest speaker at the fall graduation ceremony on Dec. 13.
• ABAC women’s tennis coach Alan Kramer was selected as the NJCAA national coach of the year for the second time. He was also selected for the honor in 1998.
• The ABAC women’s tennis team won its 14^th consecutive Georgia Junior College Athletic Association championship and wound up 11^th in the national tournament.
• ABAC women’s tennis player Monika Lalewicz won the national championship in the two-year college division at the ITA Super Bowl of Small College Tennis on Oct. 13.
• Director of Institutional Research Donna Miller received the Volunteer of the Year award from the City of Tifton.
• Agriculture and Forest Resources Division Chair Tim Marshall was selected for the Outstanding Specialist Award from the Extension Professionals Association of Florida.
• Dr. Caroline Helms retired as the Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs on June 30. Dr. Niles Reddick, a native of Valdosta, was selected as the new Academic Affairs VP.
• Jason Bland, a forestry major from Sylvania, was selected Mr. ABAC at the 17^th annual event.
• Ashley Brown, a nursing major from Omega, captured the title in the 39^th annual Ms. ABAC contest.
• The atrium in the Health Sciences Building was named for the late Pattie Garrett Clark on March 15. Clark was an ABAC alumnus and longtime faculty member in the nursing division.
• Amy Grant was the featured performer at the annual Dollars For ABAC Scholars fundraising event sponsored by the ABAC Foundation on June 15.
• The ABAC Information Center had its grand opening on Nov. 19. The Cordell Commons student gathering area in the Carlton Center had its grand opening on Nov. 27.
• Sodexho Custodial Supervisor Jack Larry passed away on Dec. 5 after being involved in an accident on campus. His funeral was held in Gressette Gym on Dec. 10.

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