Athens State adds 18 degrees and 14 certificates, increases enrollment by 3.6%

Taylor Lane, The News Courier, Athens, Ala.
·5 min read

Feb. 25—During 2022, Athens State underwent a presidential transition, added 8 new degree programs and 14 certificates, increased enrollment by 3.6 percent, and hosted various notable events.

Degree programs added

8 new bachelor's and master's degree programs were added during 2022, along with a number of undergraduate and graduate certificate programs.

"Athens State continues to meet industry and workforce demands by partnering with local leaders and ensuring that our degrees and credentials fit their needs. We continuously examine the labor market, trends in the workforce, and find the best ways to serve our students and our community with our educational offerings," Interim President Dr. Catherine Wehlburg said.

The following offerings were added in 2022:

Bachelor's Degrees:

* Aerospace Systems Management (College of Business)

* Homeland & Corporate Security (College of Arts & Sciences)

* Public Health (College of Arts & Sciences)

Master's Degrees:

* Computer Science (College of Arts & Sciences)

* Cybersecurity (College of Arts & Sciences)

* Master of Accountancy (College of Business)

* Interdisciplinary Studies (College of Arts & Sciences)

* Acquisition & Contract Management (College of Business)

Undergraduate Certificate Programs:

Occupational Health & Safety

* Management (College of Business)

* Bioinformatics Research (College of Arts & Sciences)

* Pre-Health (College of Arts & Sciences)

* Professional & Technical Writing (College of Arts & Sciences)

* Forensic Accounting (College of Business)

* Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) — Adult Learners (College of Education)

* Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) — Young Learners (College of Education)

Graduate Certificate Programs:

* Global Logistics & Supply Chain Management (College of Business)

* Strategic Business Analytics (College of Business)

* Strategic Leadership (College of Business)

* Community College Teaching & Learning (College of Education)

* Online Teaching & Learning (College of Education)

* Training & Development (College of Education)

* Accountancy (College of Business)

"The University has both undergraduate and graduate programs that are relevant to the needs of our students which we offer in ways that combine excellence in education with a very affordable tuition rate," Wehlburg said.

With this, the university will continue to work to recruit prospective students to these programs.

"Our marketing and recruiting efforts will continue to promote our offerings and ensure that prospective students know that we can work with them to transfer in their existing college credit and that we can sometimes provide them academic credit for the prior work experiences," Wehlburg said.

For some students, financial accessibility plays a role in their college success.

"We offer several different types of scholarships to our students to support their successful pathway through to a degree. Our goals continue to focus on our students and their success," Wehlburg said.

"For 2023, we expect to grow programs in several areas including our master's degree offerings," Wehlburg said.

Enrollment and demographic changes Enrollment

There was a 3.6 percent increase in headcount between Fall of 2021 and Fall of 2022, which includes both undergraduate and graduate students.

Fall 2021: 2,794 students

Fall 2022: 2,895 students

"We are anticipating another year of growth in our enrollment over the next year," Wehlburg said.

Demographics

Fall 2021:

* Average Age — 30

* 69.1 percent Female

* 74.3 percent White

* 14.6 percent Black or

* African American

* 4.2 percent Hispanic or Latino

Data for 2022 is not yet available.

Athens Forever

Athens State University was proud to host a variety of successful events during the 2022 calendar year. The ATHENS FOREVER Bicentennial Campaign was a foundational theme for the year as the University continued celebrating 200 years as an institution of higher learning.

A few of the key events were:

* Fiddlers Concert Series, with six performance dates

* Black History Month Concert with Jonathan Blanchard "From History to Hip Hop"

* International Women's Day Luncheon

* Foundation Scholarship Reception & Alumni Awards Ceremony

* Homecoming (and our Bicentennial Celebration Week)

* Athens & Limestone County Alumni Mixer in Merchant's Alley

* Concert on the Square, Featuring Iron Horse and Collin Raye

* Homecoming Dinner Celebration

* Summer Commencement & Honoring the "50 Year Club"

* An Evening with Sean of the South

* Alumni Association Golf Tournament

* Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention

* Athens Chamber State of the State with Governor Kay Ivey, hosted by Athens State University

* Huntsville & Madison County Alumni Mixer at Stovehouse

At the end of 2022, former president Dr. Philip Way resigned from his position, and Wehlburg was selected to serve as interim president.

Wehlburg previously served as the provost and the vice president of academic affairs.

With the new appointment as interim president, Wehlburg will take a more active role in steering the university into the next phase of its future.

"Dr. Wehlburg's ongoing service at Athens State, along with her vast experience in higher education, makes her an excellent fit to continue the University momentum during this time of transition," Board of Trustees Chair Arthur Orr said. "We are confident Dr. Wehlburg's leadership will be valuable to the University and local community during this time and are excited for the future of the institution."

Wehlburg has been in higher education for more than 30 years. She served in several different roles prior to joining Athens State, including tenured full professor, department chair, associate dean, dean, and associate provost.

According to her, as the national social expectations toward higher education continue to change without higher education changing with it so much, the conversation around it has to also evolve.

"We have to start having some pretty serious conversations about what is higher ed's role in a democracy, and I think that sitting in a president seat gives me more access to those conversations than sitting in a provost seat," she said.

Wehlburg will act as interim president at Athens State until the university chooses a permanent president.

Conversations will happen between stakeholders between now and mid-summer or so, and the university will put out its official call for the next president in the fall "in the hopes that the permanent president would be in place mid-summer of '24," Wehlburg explained, based on the typical timeline.

"Athens State has reinvented itself many times in significant ways and I think that we have absolutely the capacity to define who and how we want to be," Wehlburg said. "I think that we've got to figure out how we define ourselves in this new environment."

The individual named as permanent president will carry on the defining work that Wehlburg leads over the next year.