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About Georgia Southern

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About the University

On Dec. 1, 1906, delegates from Statesboro traveled to the DeSoto Hotel in Savannah and offered the winning bid to create the First District Agricultural School to be located in Statesboro. Just 29 years later and only a few blocks away on Bull Street in Savannah, Armstrong Junior College was established at the historic Armstrong House.

Both institutions were created to serve their communities, make them more attractive to businesses, and offer better career prospects to their residents. Ever since their creation, both schools excelled in their mission and continued to invest in southeast Georgia, and expand the opportunities of their graduates.Today, as one University, Georgia Southern is the state’s largest and most comprehensive center of higher education south of Atlanta. With 138 degree programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels, Georgia Southern has been designated a public Carnegie Doctoral/R2 institution and serves 26,054 students from all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico as well as 102 nations. With three vibrant campuses — the Statesboro Campus, the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hinesville — Georgia Southern offers an attractive campus environment that encourages learning, discovery and personal growth. Georgia Southern’s nationally accredited academic programs prepare diverse scholars for leadership and service as world citizens. A unit of the University System of Georgia, the University boasts 200-plus student organizations, outstanding Division I athletics, and state-of-the art residence halls and campus facilities.

Since 1906, the University’s hallmark has been a culture of engagement that bridges theory with practice, extends the learning environment beyond the classroom, and promotes student growth and life success. Central to the University’s mission is the faculty’s dedication to excellence in teaching and the development of a fertile learning environment exemplified by a free exchange of ideas, high academic expectations, and individual responsibility for academic achievement. Faculty, staff, and students embrace core values expressed through integrity, civility, kindness, collaboration, and a commitment to lifelong learning, wellness, and social responsibility.

Our History

On Dec. 1, 1906, a delegation of Statesboro representatives traveled to the DeSoto Hilton in Savannah, where they won the bid to establish a school of higher education in Statesboro.

When First District Agricultural & Mechanical School’s inaugural academic year began in 1908, few could have foreseen a major American university growing out of four faculty members and 15 students in just a little more than one lifetime.

Now in its second century of service, Georgia Southern has nearly 26,000 students, more than 2,000 faculty and staff, 138 programs of study at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels, and three vibrant campuses in Statesboro, Savannah and Hinesville.

Statesboro Campus

The Statesboro Campus was founded in 1906 as a school for teaching modern agricultural production techniques and homemaking skills to rural school children. The First District A&M School began within two decades to shift its emphasis to meet the growing need for teachers within the state. Its name and mission were changed in 1924 to Georgia Normal School as a training ground for educators, though it continued to accept “preparatory” or high school students. Five years later in 1929, full-fledged senior college status was granted as South Georgia Teachers College.

Ensuing decades saw additional name and mission changes: to Georgia Teachers College in 1939 and Georgia Southern College in 1959. Continued program and physical expansion, including one seven-year stretch, 1984-91 in which enrollment doubled from just over 6,000 to more than 12,000 students, led to a final transformation in 1990 – to Georgia Southern University.

Armstrong Campus and Liberty Campus

In 1935, Savannah Mayor Thomas Gamble founded the Armstrong Campus — then known as Armstrong Junior College — in order to help stimulate Savannah’s economy and advance opportunities for local youth who could not afford to attend college away from home. The school began with 175 students, and was located in the historic Armstrong House on Bull Street at the northern end of Forsyth Park. In 1966, after receiving four-year status and a 250-acre donation from The Mills B. Lane Foundation and Donald Livingston, Armstrong State College moved to its current location on Abercorn Extension in Savannah’s southside.

Throughout the next 30 years of growth, Armstrong added graduate programs in business and education, and became a Regional Health Professions Education Center. The institution’s growth culminated in 1996 with university status and a new name: Armstrong Atlantic State University. Just two years later, Armstrong collaborated with Georgia Southern and other USG institutions to create the Liberty Center in Hinesville in order to offer degree programs to the active duty and veteran military and their families in the area. Liberty County is the home of Fort Stewart, the largest military base east of the Mississippi.

Georgia Southern University Now

In 2018, Armstrong State University and Georgia Southern University consolidated, creating a an institution that retained the Georgia Southern University name comprised of nine colleges on three campuses: the Statesboro Campus, the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hinesville.

Just as in the days of First District A&M and Armstrong Junior College, Georgia Southern University eagerly pursues new avenues to meet the challenges of a changing world.

The growing demand for online learning has brought online bachelor’s degrees in business, nursing, and information technology. Master’s programs are offered online in nursing, business, accounting, economics, computer science, coaching, kinesiology, and a broad choice of education fields. A doctoral program in nursing is also available.

Athletic Excellence

Georgia Southern’s athletics programs have a long and storied history, rich with tradition born of success. The University has not only produced conference and national champions, but has parlayed private support into significantly enhanced facilities — crucial to the recruitment and retention of top athletes.

Intercollegiate athletic success — including six FCS (I-AA) National Championships in football — has had a powerfully positive effect on the University’s public persona and pride of faculty, staff and students. All sports compete at the NCAA’s highest level with football, formerly FCS, joining the FBS ranks in fall 2014.

A Regional Powerhouse

Georgia Southern is now the state’s largest and most comprehensive university south of Atlanta and is classified as a Doctoral/Research University by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Emphasis on serving returning veterans has earned the University a “military-friendly” designation for the sixth year in a row by Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs, STEM Jobs and Military Spouse magazines. Kiplinger has named Georgia Southern a “Top 100 Best Value,” and Forbes magazine named the University among America’s Best Midsize Employers for 2018.

It is an exciting time to be a part of Eagle Nation! We are forging our institution on the foundation of two dynamic, historic schools of higher learning. We are focused on student success. We are focused on hands-on learning. We are focused on close connections with faculty and students, and we are here because we want to make an impact on our communities, our region and our state.

Vision, Mission and Values

Vision Statement

People. Purpose. Action: Growing ourselves to grow others.

Mission Statement

At Georgia Southern University, our learner-centered culture prepares us to think, lead, teach, and serve. We value collaboration, academic excellence, discovery and innovation, integrity, openness and inclusion, and sustainability. We promote talent and economic development to enhance quality of life through scholarly pursuits, cultural enrichment, student life, and community engagement across distinctive campuses. Our success is measured by the global impact of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Values

Collaboration

Georgia Southern University embraces shared governance, teamwork, and a cooperative spirit that shapes our engagement with students, faculty, staff and communities.

Academic Excellence

Georgia Southern University academically challenges students, providing them with the knowledge, experiences, and support they need to develop into productive and responsible citizens.

Discovery and Innovation

Georgia Southern University promotes environments and technologies that encourage and facilitate creative, problem-solving collaborations among students, faculty, staff, and community partners.

Integrity

Georgia Southern University creates a caring, respectful environment that is deeply committed to ethical decision-making in the spirit of collegiality.

Openness and Inclusion

Georgia Southern University values the diversity of all people, communities, and disciplines with an unwavering commitment to equity and inclusion.

Sustainability

Georgia Southern University is a conscientious steward of resources and supports the well-being of students, faculty, staff, and communities.

Academics

Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering & Computing

VISION

The Paulson College of Engineering and Computing will be a recognized leader in student-centric experiential learning, applied research in engineering and computing, and service to our communities.

MISSION

The Paulson College of Engineering and Computing mission is to ensure student success by preparing them for lifelong learning, advance the engineering and computing disciplines, and support regional economic development. This will be accomplished by promoting excellence in faculty scholarship and teaching, fostering experiential learning, and partnering with regional stakeholders.

College of Arts and Humanities

The College of Arts and Humanities (CAH), the College of the Creative Mind, is a pillar of the academic foundation of Georgia Southern University, playing a central role in every student’s core of knowledge. Our primary goal is to shape a dedication to investigation and creativity within arts and humanities through dynamic educational offerings. This commitment involves all members of the college in a fundamental concern for excellence, innovation, and the pursuit of knowledge.

CAH encourages students to address the analytical, historical, cultural, and the philosophical foundations of their disciplines. We prepare students to be vital members of their professional communities. Likewise, we promote participation in civic and public life and remain committed to preparing each of our students to be responsible global citizens.

CAH has a solid reputation as a national contributor to furthering arts and humanities. The support of alumni and friends continues to help us as we maintain Georgia Southern’s commitment to academic distinction. It gives us great delight to welcome new students to our innovative and exciting programs.

College of Behavioral and Social Sciences

VISION

CBSS aims to become a recognized leader in creating safe, strong, and healthy communities through education, research and creative scholarship, and community engagement. CBSS strives for real-world impacts in enhancing cultural understanding and belonging; promoting social, behavioral, and emotional health; and fostering vibrant social, civic, and political institutions.

MISSION

CBSS prepares students to be life-long learners, productive citizens, and effective leaders in a diverse and global social world and uses our research expertise to improve the lives of others. Emphasizing high-impact teaching and learning strategies, our programs apply diverse scientific methodologies to behavioral and social issues and work in teams to solve complex problems. By working with faculty and our community partners to make a positive impact on social life, CBSS produces graduates and supports communities ready to meet the challenges of today AND tomorrow.

Culture:

CBSS values the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge about culture, the impact of culture on individuals and groups, and differences between cultures. Culture is the lens through which individuals and groups experience, understand, and evaluate social life and interactions with others. CBSS is committed to educating and increasing the understanding of the historical developments of culture; the influence of culture on behaviors, attitudes, values, and beliefs; and the ways in which culture influences design, development, and interactions across a variety of contexts. People.

Belonging:

Differences between people define social life. CBSS values differences in all forms. CBSS is committed to building inclusive communities and organizations that affirm, value, and engage all identities. In CBSS, everybody belongs because of the differences that each individual brings to the classroom, research settings, and community-building processes within the college and across our communities. Purpose.

Science:

Applying a variety of scientific methods to the study of social issues is at the heart of every discipline in the college. CBSS values science as the framework for understanding human behavior, designing spaces and materials that function effectively, analyzing public policy, increasing public safety, understanding political engagement, managing public organizations, and supporting healthy families, among the hundreds of other ways science is used across CBSS to better our communities. Action.

Service:

The work of CBSS is done toward one goal—making a positive difference in the lives of others and in our communities. CBSS directly engages stakeholders across our communities to improve social conditions and quality-of-life. We value the application of our scientific expertise to serving our communities in a variety of roles, including mental health support, family education programs, high-quality child care and education, community-based research, and service on a variety of impactful community organizations. Growing Ourselves to Grow Others.

College of Education

MISSION

The mission of the College of Education is to prepare educators and other service professionals to be lifelong learners with scholarly based
knowledge, skills, and experiences to meet the needs of a diverse global community.

VISION

We envision a College of Education that continues to be a distinguished College of Education that prepares our undergraduate and graduate students in becoming exceptional professionals who can strengthen our dynamic and diverse society.

Georgia Southern University College of Education is the premier and primary educator of teachers in Southeast Georgia, and Eagle Educators are known throughout the state and nation for their achievements and dedication to the field of education.The College of Education offers students multiple program opportunities spanning all three Georgia Southern locations and online. Programs offered by the COE prepare future teachers, school psychologists, counselors, school library media specialists, instructional technologists, researchers and leaders through intensive field experiences, cutting-edge technology and research-based instruction. With more than 100 faculty members who are experts in the field, students learn in an environment exemplified by a free exchange of ideas, high academic expectations, and individual responsibility for academic achievement.

Program options include seven undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Education majors preparing students for initial teacher certification. At the graduate level, the College offers the Master of Arts in Teaching degree with six available concentrations, 12 master of education degrees, five education specialist degrees, and two doctoral degrees. The College also offers six certificate opportunities and nine graduate-level programs for educators seeking to add an endorsement to their certification.

The success of the College’s initial preparation and advanced degree programs is linked to its extensive partnerships with regional schools, educational and community agencies, and other units of Georgia Southern University. These collaborations provide vital experiences and benefits to all involved. Whether a K-12 school utilizing the expertise of a COE faculty member or a counseling or school psychology graduate student working with an experienced professional in the field, partnerships are a fundamental role of the College.

College of Science and Mathematics

MISSION

The College of Science and Mathematics strives for excellence and innovation in undergraduate and graduate research, teaching practice and service to our community. With an emphasis on high-impact teaching strategies, our highly-respected faculty foster learning in the classroom and beyond by promoting student engagement and offering cutting-edge research opportunities to students. Our degree programs prepare students to apply scientific discoveries that inform education, health, natural resource protection and economic development. By combining state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities with numerous regional, national and global collaborations, the College of Science and Mathematics is a leader in producing graduates to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

The College of Science and Mathematics (COSM) is one of the eight colleges that comprise Georgia Southern University. The College was created as the result of the consolidation of Georgia Southern’s College of Science and Mathematics and Armstrong’s College of Science and Technology.

The College offers undergraduate degree programs on both the Armstrong and Statesboro campuses and Master’s degree programs on the Statesboro campus through the Departments of

Biology
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Geology & Geography
Mathematical Sciences
Military Science
Physics & Astronomy

In addition, the College offers courses to meet the university’s general education requirements at the Liberty campus in Hinesville.

Across the three campuses, the College boasts state-of-the-art teaching and research labs, including those in support of geospatial technology, an aquatics lab, two microscopy suites, a mass spectrometry suite, and additional instrumentation necessary to support our faculty members’ diverse research interests and facilitate their numerous collaborations. Our Biological Sciences Building on the Statesboro campus was recognized as a Georgia Peach Green Building. Additionally, the College houses animal care spaces, greenhouses, herbaria, and an insectary where insects can be raised and studied. The College is also home to three large research collections (Herpetology, Entomology, and Botany). Our department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is accredited by the American Chemical Society to offer the ACS-certified degree in chemistry.

The Statesboro campus houses the Georgia Southern University Planetarium, a state-of-the-art digital system, and the James H. Oliver, Jr. Institute for Coastal Plain Science, which hosts the U.S. National Tick Collection from the Smithsonian Institute and operates a field laboratory, the Applied Coastal Research Laboratory, on Skidaway Island.

The Armstrong campus in Savannah houses the FORAM Sustainable Aquaponics Research Center (SARC), an innovative facility where faculty and students draw upon best practices to improve the sustainability and profitability of soilless farming. Both campuses have active offices of Undergraduate Research, which promote many forms of collaborative research between faculty and undergraduate students and encourage participation in grant competitions and research symposia.

The Army ROTC Eagle Battalion – housed in a new Military Science building in Statesboro and near the award-winning Military Resource Center on the Armstrong campus – is one of the largest non-military college Army ROTC programs in the southeast. Additionally, the Army ROTC Nursing program is among the largest in the nation.

The COSM Office of Academic Advising and the Pre-Health Professional Programs provides advising and coaching for all students. The office also provides additional guidance for students planning for careers as physician assistants, or in the fields of dentistry, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine. On the Armstrong campus, the advising and coaching services are housed in the Student Success Center and on the Statesboro Campus, they are housed on the lower-level of the Engineering Building.

College of Graduate Studies

Georgia Southern University is the state’s largest and most comprehensive center of higher education south of Atlanta. With 142 degree programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels, Georgia Southern has been designated a Carnegie Doctoral/Research university and serves nearly 26,000 students from all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico as well as 102 nations. With three vibrant campuses — the Armstrong Campus in Savannah, the Statesboro Campus and the Liberty Campus in Hinesville — Georgia Southern offers an attractive campus environment that encourages learning, discovery and personal growth. Georgia Southern’s nationally accredited academic programs prepare diverse scholars for leadership and service as world citizens. A unit of the University System of Georgia, the University boasts 200-plus student organizations, outstanding Division I athletics, and state-of-the art residence halls and campus facilities.

Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health

VISION

The JPHCOPH will be the nationally recognized leader in the empowerment of rural communities and underserved populations to address public health issues, eliminate health disparities and improve health outcomes.

MISSION

The mission of the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health (JPHCOPH) is to improve health, eliminate health disparities and health inequities of rural communities and underserved populations globally through excellence in teaching, public health workforce development, research, scholarship, professional service and community engagement.

VALUES

The Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health is endowed by Dr. Karl E. Peace as a tribute to his wife and an enduring celebration of her life characterized by ‘a zeal for excellence, consideration of others, intelligence and scholarship, honesty, kindness and humility.’ In honor of Dr. Hsu, the faculty, students and staff of the JPHCOPH commit to demonstrate these values in our behavior toward one another and to those that we serve.

In 2007 the JPHCOPH Students, Faculty and Staff worked together to clarify the following list of shared core values. These values serve to guide decision making for our workforce development, research, professional service and community engagement activities.

We will also use these values to help us in choosing the right path.

Excellence in research, service and instruction.
Passion for improving the health of rural communities and underserved populations.
Responsibility for promoting health equity and eliminating health disparities in rural communities and underserved populations.
Commitment to community involvement.
Collaboration for problem solving.
Commitment to developing as a “Learning Organization.”

GOALS

Instructional Goals

Provide five exceptional competency-based MPH degree programs in the core areas of public health that will ensure our graduates attain and demonstrate competencies that will contribute to the mission of JPHCOPH during their academic programs and throughout their careers.
Provide three exceptional competency-based DrPH programs (in the areas of Public Health Leadership, Biostatistics, and Community Health Behavior and Education) that graduate leaders of the public health workforce who contribute to the mission of JPHCOPH during their academic training and throughout their careers.
Provide a competency-based BSPH degree program that will ensure our graduates attain and demonstrate competencies that will contribute to the mission of the JPHCOPH during their academic programs and throughout their careers.
Ensure all of our graduates develop skills for lifelong learning critical thinking, collaboration and visionary public health leadership.
Expand our DrPH programs to include concentrations in Epidemiology, Environmental Health or perhaps a PhD program within five years.

Research Goal

Foster excellence in applied public health-related research that enhances the knowledge, processes, best practices and values to improve health in communities and eliminate health disparities and improve health of the rural and underserved populations of the state and region.

Service Goals

Facilitate public health-related community outreach, service learning, use of best practices, continuing education for workforce development and community service to improve health for all and eliminate health disparities and improve the health of rural and underserved populations of the state and region,.
Facilitate faculty and student involvement in national service activities and professional leadership roles to enhance public health.

Organizational Goal

Continually enhance our sustainable college of public health with an emphasis in ongoing assessment and quality improvement processes.

Parker College of Business

MISSION

The Parker College of Business seeks to produce career-ready professionals by offering a broad array of high quality undergraduate and select graduate programs within a learning environment characterized by inspired teaching, relevant research and meaningful service. We search for new knowledge, both theoretical and practical, and insightful learning opportunities for our students, guided by common values of continuous improvement, excellence, integrity, accountability, respect and sustainability.

Teaching

We endeavor to prepare career-ready professionals. This motivates our teaching. We equip students with the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and relevant tools for professional success. Our curriculum is driven by and evolves with informed theory and best practices. The learning environment we create within the classroom and beyond attracts students to the college and inspires them to learn. This rich learning environment creates demand for our graduates.

Research

Our desire to produce career-ready professionals motivates the growth of our intellectual capital through rigorous and meaningful inquiry. Our scholarship supports our distinctiveness and represents the source of our expertise in the classroom and in the academic and business communities. We value scholarship that informs theory, practice and teaching. Our inquiry is validated through a diverse portfolio of scholarly and professional activities.

Service

Service is a professional activity and is an important way by which we renew ourselves. We value service activities that leverage our position and expertise as teacher-scholars and researchers. Service provides benefits for our students, the professions they will enter, and the brand, the College or University. Since not all service activities are equal, we assess and recognize our service in terms of its overall impact.

Academic Offerings

Georgia Southern offers 119 degree programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level. The Parker College of Business offers 8 majors, 11 minors, 3 Master’s degrees, and a Ph.D.

Founded

Georgia Southern University was founded in 1906. The Parker College of Business began offering the BBA degree during 1965, the MBA degree during 1969, an online MBA program in 2001, the MAcc degree in 1997, an online MAcc in 2013, and the MSAE degree in 2007. A Ph.D. degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management was launched in 2010. The Parker College of Business has more than 20,000 alumni located throughout the world.

Waters College of Health Professions

MISSION

The mission of the Waters College of Health Professions is to prepare future health professionals through academic excellence and interdisciplinary collaboration while advancing knowledge through scholarship and serving culturally diverse communities.

VISION

The vision of the Waters College of Health Professions is to become the leader in the preparation of health professionals who are engaged in transformational thinking and evidence-based practices that impact the health and quality of life for individuals, families, and communities. We will accomplish this vision through a focus on: High academic expectations, individual responsibility for academic achievement, student-centered teaching and learning, impacting regional and global communities, interdisciplinary collaboration, innovative healthcare technology, experiential learning, community-engaged service and scholarship.

Undergraduate Research

Georgia Southern University is an emerging research institution that not only depends on the expertise of faculty researchers but also the dynamic ideas and creativity of its students. At GS, undergraduates pursue investigation, inquiry, and creative expression across the institution. Students are able to take advantage of individual research projects in their area of interest, execute research projects as part of their class curriculum or support research efforts of faculty members.

Undergraduate research focuses on conducting experiments, analyzing data, interpreting a text or a work of art within an historical and cultural context, making connections, exploring meaning, or uncovering contradictions. Doing independent research allows students to develop their own original ideas and present them to a wider audience; they become producers, not just consumers, of knowledge. There are countless opportunities in each college and department to be involved in the innovative research happening at Georgia Southern University.

Last updated: 5/26/2023