Through Georgia College’s liberal arts mission, students are taught a variety of marketable skills for today’s workforce. They learn to think critically about problems, work in diverse teams, face ambiguity and uncertainty with boldness and communicate effectively.

These skills—valuable in any career—can be transferred across any number of jobs and are useful for life in general.

At Georgia College, those skills provided through a liberal arts education serve as a foundation. On top of that is built the specialized workforce training for students through their major. 

“We have intentionally realigned our academic affairs strategy to not only maintain our commitment to the liberal arts mission, but to also identify ways that these efforts can focus on career preparation, workforce development, and as a public university, further economic development,” said Dr. Costas Spirou, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

“A liberal arts and sciences education should not be viewed as separate from career success.  I would argue that the two are not only intrinsically connected—the former can and should inform the latter,” he said. “We must be willing to adjust to meet the workforce needs of the state and our rapidly moving world. That’s something we consistently ask ourselves—what are the needs of our students and how can we respond to meet those?”

And those needs are ever-changing. New jobs are created constantly with the development of new technologies. Georgia College is committed to staying flexible and dynamic—evolving courses and degree offerings to stay in line with the workforce needs.

For instance, there’s a severe shortage of nurses in Georgia due to a rapidly aging population and the retirement of long-time nurses. The pandemic compounded these challenges.

In response, Georgia College added a third nursing cohort to address the shortage of healthcare workers in the state.

“We now have three nursing cohorts for our nationally-recognized undergraduate programs,” Spirou said. “At a time when healthcare workers, especially nurses, are highly needed but in short supply, we knew this would be valuable.  As a result, we increased the number of nursing majors this year from 112 to 152.”

U.S. News and World Report publishes a yearly 100 Best Jobs report. The 2022 report lists nurses among the top 12 jobs along with data scientists and financial managers—two other new programs soon to be available at Georgia College.

“Following a year of preparation, we will be offering this fall two new degrees—a data science major and a finance major,” Spirou said. “Both are in high demand in the job market, and our students have shown a strong interest in these areas.”

The new Bachelor of Science in Data Science exemplifies the cross-discipline partnerships a liberal arts education does best. It’s a collaboration between the College of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences, bringing together a well-rounded experience for students who plan to go into this field.

Technology has been a major focus in the College of Business for some time, but that focus will soon be reflected in the business college’s new name: the J. Whitney Bunting College of Business ‘and Technology.’

“This provides an opportunity to differentiate us in the market,” said Dr. Micheal Stratton, dean. “It codifies an already existing prevalence of technology throughout our curriculum, embraces technology as integrative to the learning experience and makes explicit our commitment to business education that encompasses not only humanistic and quantitative capabilities but also technical competencies and skills necessary for 21st-century leaders and citizens.”

In the 21st century, technology is not only important in business but in our daily lives. Children today have technology at their fingertips from a young age. That makes it important for education students to also stay at the forefront of technological integration in the classroom.

Last fall, the College of Education (COE) launched a dynamic Maker Space. It places multiple new technologies into the hands of teacher candidates, helping them to educate future students.

From virtual reality sets to 3D printers to drones and robotics, Dean Dr. Joseph Peters said he hopes students take their experience in the new Maker Space to the schools where they teach.

“Our Maker Space is a little more on the high-end side because our students are graduating to a 30 to 40-year career,” said Peters. “Schools will start to use more technology in the future, and we want our students to be ahead of the curve on what's going to be next.”

According to Spirou, “our next step with the Maker Space is to expand its impact by launching a Center for Innovation this fall.”

Keeping students ahead of the curve is key for Georgia College. At the same time, current challenges in our region and state need immediate attention. One example is water and water quality.

The port of Savannah has a huge economic impact on the state. However, the dredging necessary for the expansion of the port has impacted water quality. Almost daily, there is news of quality issues regarding drinking water. Recently, the Catoosa River in northwest Georgia was named a top endangered river in the United States.

To help address these and other issues, the College of Arts and Sciences has created an Aquatic Sciences Center (ASC). The goal is to ensure students are prepared and can take advantage of faculty knowledge and expertise in this field. About one-third of the 28 faculty in Georgia College’s Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences are linked in some way to water-related topics.

The ASC has a statewide mission to serve communities and be a leader in issues related to water quality across the state.

“Any sort of center of research or excellence, such as the Aquatic Sciences Center, is unusual for a school our size,” said Dr. Indiren Pillay, chair. “But the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences has a significant footprint on campus—in terms of the number of faculty and the number of students we cater to.”

“So, the center is a natural conclusion,” he said. “It’ll elevate the visibility of the work we’re already doing and provide administrative support that will enable faculty to spend more time training and mentoring students in water-related research.”

A new concentration for biology majors—marine sciences—has also been added to the curriculum.

These are just a few of the new opportunities available at Georgia College. Yet, they show a glimpse into the heart of the university and how its liberal arts mission drives success.

“Although basic ideas of a liberal arts education began hundreds of years ago, Georgia College intentionally reimagines what that looks like for us, and how we can use our liberal arts foundation to better meet the needs of students,” Spirou said.

“That’s an ongoing process and one that we take great care with,” he added. “We are committed to being responsive to the economic and workforce needs of the state, as well the needs of our students. In the process, we strategically reimagine the academic mission and the role of liberal arts and sciences in higher education and our society.” 

Much has changed since the university was founded in 1889, and indeed, much will change in the future.

Dealing with change is just one of the essential skills taught through the liberal arts. With liberal arts as the foundation, Georgia College will continue to forge ahead, embracing new trends, new technologies, every opportunity and any challenge that lies ahead.