GHC president wants to upgrade Rome campus

Helping more students complete their degrees is also at the top of Donald Green’s priority list.

Upgrading the Georgia Highlands College facilities in Rome is a priority for GHC President Donald Green.

“Much of the Rome campus is still circa 1970s to 1980s and we feel that there is a real need to renovate,” he said. “We’re starting to do it a little at a time, but we are also asking an architectural firm to look at the entire campus, because if we can do something bigger we would like to pursue it.”

Green spoke to the Rome Kiwanis Club Monday about future plans for GHC — including the addition of two business-related bachelors degree programs, in healthcare management and logistics and supplychain management.

“We’re looking for other new ones and we would be interested in hearing from local industry about their needs,” he said.

Green said the most recent renovation on the Rome campus involved a biology lab, and improvements to GHC’s science and technology offerings are high on his list.

Another major focus is on how to encourage students to stay

there to earn their associate degrees. Statistically speaking, Green said, students who enter Georgia state universities with an associate degree have a higher chance of earning a bachelor’s than those who start out as freshmen.

One tool aimed at retention is the tutoring program, where Green said he directed an extra $100,000 this year.

“The average grade point average of a student who uses the tutoring labs is almost one full point higher than students who do not — so who’s the dummy?” Green asked rhetorically.

He’s also trying to cut costs for students, who pay an average of $7,400 to earn a two-year degree.

Green said convincing the faculty to use open-source textbooks, available free online, saved GHC students a combined $480,000 during the fall semester alone.

“For many higher education institutions, if you leave and you didn’t get a degree, you also leave with a bunch of debt,” he said. “The best thing we can do is to help students finish.”

GHC already offers bachelors degrees in nursing and dental hygiene.

Doug Walker / Rome News-Tribune GHC President Donald Green said Monday that the college was able to save students almost $500,000 during the 2015 fall semester by using opensource textbooks. The free electronic books are available for download without restrictive licenses. Green...