Augusta University continues to grow, says Brooks Keel in annual address
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Augusta University is growing in all directions, from enrollment to research to buildings.
That was the message of Brooks Keel, president of the university, during Wednesday's annual State of the University talk. AU's strategic plan, focused on innovation, engagement and diversity, equity and inclusion, aims to have 16,000 students by 2030 and to expand research funding and community engagement.
"It really has been an incredible year for a lot of reasons, a lot of good reasons," Keel said. "... I'm incredibly excited about what our future looks like and I hope you are, too."
Enrollment and investment continues to grow
Since 2015, Augusta University has grown enrollment by 17.8%, bucking a trend across University System of Georgia schools of declining student populations. This past year, AU saw the second highest year-over-year growth of any USG institution except for Georgia Tech.
"We have had a 2.3% increase year over year in enrollment and that folks is truly phenomenal," Keel said. "It's ... so much about the work that you do, but it speaks even louder about the reputation of this institution."
Increasing the number of students will help the University expand its amenities, things like new dorms and dining facilities that would not be cost effective with the current student body, Keel said.
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AU is also expanding its collaborations. They are offering college courses in Columbia County schools, signed an agreement with Augusta Technical college to let those graduating with an associates degree to transfer smoothly to AU, and is working with Fort Gordon to offer online-only graduate degrees that will give credit for service member's cyber training.
The University is focused, too, on fundraising to expand needs-based scholarships. Since 2020, they have added $11.9 million for such scholarships.
"We have so many students that, in their final year of school here, have to drop out because they're several hundred dollars — not several thousand, several hundred dollars short — of paying their tuition," Keel said. "We can't let that happen."
Budget cuts: State proposes $105 million to update Medical College of Georgia's electronic records
The legislative session brought good and bad for Augusta University, Keel said. The University received $105 million in funding for a much-needed new electronic records system for AU Health and the Medical College of Georgia, but also took its share of a University System of Georgia-wide cut of $66 million dollars.
"This is without question the most interesting session that I've been associated with," Keel said.
AU was hit with roughly $10 million in reduced funding from the state, although an increase in enrollment brought $8.9 million in additional revenue, balancing all but $1.4 million of the cut.
New parking deck, animation program and more
There are physical expansions, too, to the AU campus. Keel said that in August, they anticipate getting USG Board of Regents approval to build a new parking deck at the Health Sciences Campus. AU also added a new data center that will likely open in Augusta and, unlike the current data center, will be unthreatened by heavy rain. Keel also said the University hopes to replace the aging Sanders research building.
The university also renovated the Greenblatt library and opened a literacy center at The HUB downtown.
The university will also be bringing a significant investment to create several animation programs, including hiring 21 new faculty, including joint-appointments in the existing cyber and medical illustration programs. AU will also create new standalone degrees in feature films and TV, marketing, interactive design and technical animation, joining an existing program in digital storytelling.
The program will help Augusta grow in its role in film, Keel said after the talk, but it will do more than that.
"The animation program of marrying art and technology really gets you into other things, gets you into artificial intelligence," he said. "It gets you into how do you use animation techniques to do teaching? How can you train medical students without having a cadaver, for example, and really effective ways? How can you train physicians to do procedures virtually?"
Highlights of the past year
Among the multiple achievements of the past year, Keel highlighted several new faculty hires, majors, and investments in the physical infrastructure of the university.
MCG is opening a new, four-year medical school in Savannah at the Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern, expanding the total number of physicians trained each year by 40.
AU was also able to secure several million dollars in Congressional funding, including $1 million for a new MCG center for telehealth, $2 million to grow the southwest clinical campus for MCG, and $3.8 million for public safety and Medical Center equipment.
More: 'All boats are going to rise': Upgraded GSU medical campus will help keep docs in Savannah
New programs
Master of Health Science in Speech Language Pathology (first class starting fall of 2025)
Bachelor of science in Biomedical Systems Engineering (first class starting fall 2023)
Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience (first class starting fall 2023)
Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management (first class starting in fall 2023)
Online degrees
Masters of Public Health
Masters of Science Information Security Management
Masters of Education with a Major in Instruction
A total of 25 programs are planned over the next five years.
New Hires
Ryan Erlacher, Director of Athletics
Teresa M. Waters, inaugural dean of the School of Public Health
Investment in FY 2023
$21.5 million in academics — athletics support, an animation lab, library subscriptions, etc.
$4 million in research — building repairs, equipment, furniture, etc.
$9.2 million in institutional needs — vehicles, WiFi, facilities, etc.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta University thriving as enrollment, facilities grow - president
