Running

Head: M11 FINAL PAPER

Amanda D. Seals 1

Final Assessment:
Albany State University Promoting Change Associated with College Attendance

Amanda D. Seals
Georgia Southern University

M11 Final Paper

In 1903, Dr. Joseph Winthrop Holley founded the Albany Bible and Manual Training
Institute in Albany, Georgia to provide a religious and industrial education to African Americans
students in Southwest Georgia (cite). Fast forward over 112 years to what is now called Albany
State University (ASU), a historically black university (HBCU) that forwards the growth and
development of Southwest Georgia through teaching, learning, research, creative expression and
public service (cite). Even though ASU prides itself on being a HBCU, it also encourages
diversity through its multicultural students, faculty and staff. The current student body registers
just over 3,000 students in undergraduate, graduate and online programs.
In 2013, University System of Georgia (USG) Chancellor Hank Huckaby recommended a
president to take the helm of the institution and the Board of Regents approved the move to name
Dr. Art Dunning to lead the institution on an interim basis. During his tenure as interim
president, Dr. Dunning Since taking charge as interim president, Dunning created efficiencies in
his administration to cut costs. In addition, he has signing articulation agreements with Darton
State College that will allow associate degree students to seamlessly earn bachelors degrees at
ASU and with Albany Technical College (ATC). This will allow associate of applied science
graduates in certain programs at ATC to continue their studies at ASU and obtain a bachelor of
applied science in technology management degree (USG, November 2015).
ASU offers more than 30 undergraduate degree programs, including an engineering
transfer program, a dual degree in engineering with the Georgia Institute of Technology, and
seven advanced degrees (Albany State University at a Glance, 2014). On November 10, 2015,
the Board of Regents accepted yet another recommendation from Chancellor Huckaby regarding
ASU to consolidate the institution with neighboring USG institution Darton State College
(DSC). Also located in Albany, less than five miles from ASU, DSC offers associate degrees in

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eight different fields, limited bachelors degree programs as well as online degrees to
approximately 5,400 students. With public resources becoming tight and more pressure to keep
tuition increases to a minimum, the Board of Regents has been consolidating institutions in order
to create more robust programs throughout the state without compromising access to education.
The ASU/DSC consolidation will be the seventh set of colleges to be merged together since
October 2011 (Cite).
With the announcement of consolidation, a wide array of emotions will settle upon
Southwest Georgia for the faculty, staff and students of these two very different institutions.
With the consolidation, the BOR named Dr. Dunning as the permanent president of the new
institution that will keep the ASU moniker. The interim president of DSC has been named
president of another USG institution, which provides for yet another interim president at DSC to
guide the institution through the consolidation process. For the student affairs staff at both
institutions, the upcoming months will prove to be challenging to say the very least. Both
institutions have a breadth of student programs ranging from Greek life to athletics. For students
at both institutions, when they applied to college, they had selected a particular institution for its
many offerings and environment. Once the consolidation process is completed in 2017, these
students will become the population of the New U which will be quite different from the
original institution that attracted them to enroll.
For student affairs practitioners at both ASU and DSC, the seven vectors of student
development by Arthur Chickering will likely come into play in particular, vectors two
(managing emotions), four (developing mature interpersonal relationships), and five
(establishing identity) will come into consideration (Pascarella, 2005). In his original seven
vectors, these steps are inevitable in the wake of consolidation news.

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At a time when the nation is facing growing tensions between different races and
religions, in order to acclimate the two student populations together, student affairs practitioners
will have their work cut out for them. How College Affects Students investigates how institutions
dealt with racial identity development between students at HBCUs and predominantly white
institutions (Pascarella, 2005). The USG is making history by consolidating a HBCU with a
non-HBCU institution while maintaining the HBCU mission and building upon the mission to
serve an increasingly diverse student population and community and maintaining the access
mission and offering workforce related associate degrees from DSC (Sutlive, 2015). The
structural diversity of the new institution will have a proportional mix of students of different
racial-ethic origins and will have a lasting impact on the college for years to follow. As
Pascarella and Terenzini state, Historically Black Colleges and Universities provide socialpsychological climate that is conductive for adjustment and comfort (p. 296). Student affairs
practitioners will need to monitor students to make certain that acclimation into the New U still
nurtures this climate of comfort. In addition, there will be a need to foster the student
populations of both institutions so as to facilitate a strong new identity as the morphing of the
new institution occurs.
Not only will the change of racial composition impact the institution, so will one of the
newest programs in higher education to acclimate students transitioning from secondary
education to post secondary education the freshman experience. According to the DSC student
affairs website, the college offers a First Year Experience program that specifically meets the
needs for new students that are considered true freshmen. The program consists of one course
(DART 1000) and the Cavalier Early Alert, which is a monitoring system that tracks first year
students as they take their initial coursework and assist students if they find that they are having

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difficulty with their classes. While DSC publicizes this resource heavily on its website and
student catalog, ASU does not. As the institutions consolidate and strive to maintain the access
mission of DSC, student affairs practitioners from both DSC and ASU will need to combine
resources in order to provide this tool which has proven helpful in retaining first year students
and setting them on a steady path to completion.
At a time where public postsecondary institutions in south Georgia are losing enrollment
to their sister institutions north of Atlanta, the consolidation of ASU and DSC by the Board of
Regents seeks to preserve sacred resources while creating an institution that will appeal to a new
generation of prospective students. Student affairs professionals will have to create a new
marketing campaign in order to appeal to students and to keep them in Southwest Georgia. By
highlighting sociopolitical values, civic and community engagement and educational values, the
new institution should be able to achieve its goal.
By offering programs in allied health, business and engineering, students will be exposed
to majors that lead to careers that offer a level of comfort in todays society and that also make
an impact in the community. With these majors also come opportunities for students, faculty and
staff to band together in order to give back to the community in which the institution is housed.
Through volunteer and service learning experiences, students are given the skills that help shape
them as a well-rounded citizen. In addition, it allows for peer and faculty interaction during the
activities. Currently both DSC and ASU have strong ties to the community as well as robust
student engagement programs. As the institution is consolidated, there will be an emphasis on
how to keep these activities intact and to merge duplicative organizations into one.
In 2017, a consolidated university will emerge. With it, there will be many opportunities
for the administration to implement policies and procedures that embrace the latest trends in

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student affairs work. From strengthening online programs to committing to diversity to fostering
programs that embrace an international community, the new Albany State University has an
opportunity to do all of this and more. As the USG continues to strengthen its programs in
counseling centers, disability centers, veteran services, student housing, public safety, study
abroad and international opportunities, ASU will also have the opportunity to use the saved
resources from the consolidation to reinvest in programs that serve the student population.
Perhaps when Ernest Pascarella and Patrick Terenzini author volume 3 of How College Affects
Students, there will be an entire chapter devoted to Georgia and how its consolidation of colleges
and universities have challenged administrators to implement theories associated with change in
student climate.

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References
Albany State University at a Glance. (2014). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from
http://www.asurams.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ASU-at-a-Glance.pdf
Darton State College First Year Experience. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from
http://www.darton.edu/programs/fye/
Pascarella, E., & Terenzini, P. (2005). How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of
Research (2nd ed., Vol. 2). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Millsaps, J. (2011, November 8). Regents Approve Principles for Consolidation of Institutions.
Retrieved December 1, 2015, from
http://www.usg.edu/news/release/regents_approve_principles_for_consolidation_of_instit
utions
Roberts, S. (2015, December 4). Albany State University-Darton State College Consolidation
Implementation Committee Appointed. Retrieved December 4, 2015, from
http://www.usg.edu/news/release/albany_state_university_darton_state_college_consolid
ation_implementat
Sutlive, C. (2015, November 10). Albany State University and Darton State College to
Consolidate to Serve Southwest Georgia. Retrieved December 1, 2015, from
http://www.usg.edu/news/release/albany_state_university_and_darton_state_college_to_c
onsolidate_to_serve_so