Regents approve mission for consolidated university
A new mission has been adopted by the new university which is being created through the consolidation of Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University, after receiving approval from the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
The regents voted Jan. 10 to consolidate the universities and charged a 21-member Consolidation Working Group to oversee the process. The committee unanimously endorsed a draft of the mission after broad-based feedback from members of both universities before submitting it to the regents.
“It was important that the new mission reflect the true breadth and scope of the new comprehensive research university, which would include an aligned and integrated health system,” said GHSU President Ricardo Azziz, who will oversee the consolidated university. “Our focus will remain on educational quality, excellence and success, but it is important that our mission reflect the new reality – that we will be a completely new comprehensive university, competing with peers in the state and beyond, acting like the great American institution we will be, adapting and accepting change, responding rapidly and decisively, emphasizing the training and responsibility of our leaders and focused on growth and development.”
“This is a time of great change for our universities and this new mission statement, developed with input from faculty, staff, students and the community, will lay the foundation for what we expect to be as a consolidated institution,” added ASU President William A. Bloodworth Jr. “It will guide us in more effective planning for the consolidation by serving as a guidepost for what we stand for—and that is always excellence in all that we do.”
The mission will become effective after accreditation by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, expected next January, after which the Board of Regents will formally approve the consolidation.
The mission of the new university will be “to provide leadership and excellence in teaching, discovery, clinical care and service as a student-centered comprehensive research university and academic health center with a wide range of programs from learning assistance through postdoctoral studies.”
Next steps include submitting three proposed names for the new university to the Board of Regents by July 1. The board is expected to review those names at its August meeting.
