8 minute read
ALL SYSTEMS GO!
New academic programs move ahead
“Change brings opportunity.”
New undergraduate and graduate academic offerings, some familiar and some unfamiliar to campus, have been rolled out this past year to open additional opportunities for students entering the workforce or those deepening their skills in highdemand occupations.
The college included minors in aviation, computer science and neuroscience as well as a strength and conditioning concentration in exercise science. It also added a master’s degree in higher education and an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction.
“We believe these offerings will provide a pipeline between the college and employers in these industries,” says President Susanna Baxter. “This aligns with our strategic plan initiative to create programs needed by the local and regional workforce.”
Titled ‘Empowering the Present, Building the Future,’ the five-year strategic plan that was approved in 2022 features four key themes—with multiple goals under each—that aim to create transformational change for the institution.
Soaring to new heights
Since being introduced in fall 2023, the aviation program continues to make progress.
“Through the work of Bill Hodges ’72, H’14 and Rhett Yates ’99 and President Baxter, we were able to bring this to the college, and now students who did not originally have LaGrange on their radar are enrolling because they heard about our aviation program,” says Dr. John Head, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Experience.
Sophomore Isabel Rocker, who started in the program’s first year of existence, originally had plans to attend another institution but made the switch to LaGrange after it announced the aviation offering.
“LaGrange being a smaller institution allows me to have a more personalized experience that is helpful when going through flight training.” —Isabel Rocker ’27
“LaGrange being a smaller institution allows me to have a more personalized experience that is helpful when going through flight training,” she says.
Students receive instruction through a partnership with Paragon Flight Training, a flight academy based out of Fort Myers, Florida. The instructors provide them with the training needed for private pilot certification, instrument flight rating and commercial pilot licensing.
Rocker has achieved her instrument flight rating in the program and is now in the process of working on her commercial license. In addition, she is building hours as an instructor, an opportunity attained after reaching a certain amount of flight time.
“Earning an instructor rating allows me to work and gain more flight hours to meet the airline requirements,” she says. “To be hired, a minimum of 1,500 flight hours is needed.”
Emerging avenues in science
Students aiming to pursue careers related to technology, the mind or the body will have more options with the inclusion of computer science, neuroscience and a strength and conditioning concentration in exercise science.
In the growing field of technology, computer science remains one of the most in-demand disciplines.
Occupations in computer science and information technology are expected to increase by 13 percent through 2026, faster than the average for all other professions, and add about 557,100 new jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Dr. Brian Peterson, Vice President for Academic Affairs, says the computer science program was created in response to feedback from community and corporate partners about their need for graduates with this background.
“This is one of the programs that we have created with society’s workforce needs in mind,” Dr. Peterson says. “A degree at any level in computer science is in significant demand in Georgia, across the country, and around the world.”
In addition to the new computer science minor, there are also bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field that will go into effect pending approval from SACSCOC and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, respectively.
With the neuroscience minor, students can pursue careers in varied health-related fields, counseling and biomedical research.
Sophomore Caden Glover says he became interested in the minor during his freshman year.
“Ever since I was little, I have been fascinated by learning how the human mind works and its effects on the rest of the body,” he says. “My goal with pursuing this minor is to attend medical school after graduation. I want to become a neurologist and establish my own practice.”
“My goal with pursuing this minor is to attend medical school after graduation. I want to become a neurologist and establish my own practice.” —Caden Glover ’27
For those looking to pursue careers in sports and fitness, the college’s Exercise Science program has a new strength and conditioning concentration currently available.
A focus on “learning by doing” rather than simply observing sets the LaGrange program apart. Beyond lab classes, those in the program can contribute to the Sport Performance Enhancement Education and Development Center, which assesses student-athletes to enhance physical performance. There, Exercise Science students put what has been learned in the classroom into practice.
For the love of education
Alumni making up the teaching workforce of schools in Troup County and beyond now have the chance to progress even further in their graduate studies with the addition of the Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, the first doctorate for the college.
“This program serves multiple purposes for those who seek to pursue it,” says Dr. Gretta Milam, Education Chair and Director of Graduate Studies. “The versatility of the program allows those who wish to remain in the classroom as a teacher the opportunity to advance their certification and their level of pay while remaining where they are.
“Those who are seeking an opportunity to advance out of the classroom into other roles also benefit—not only from the certificate perspective, but now they will also have advanced practice and scholarship in a field that remains as a primary focus in education.”
Graduate students holding an Ed.S. degree outside of curriculum and instruction can complete a non-degree option to add the specialty to their certificate to be eligible to apply for the doctoral program.
For many students in the first cohort that will start this fall, it is a homecoming.
LaGrange College has been part of Doctoral student Sallie Kight’s ’03, MAT ’04, Ed.S.’12 life for over two decades.
“I have had the privilege of earning my bachelor's, master's and specialist's degrees at LC,” she says. “The quality of education and the supportive community have continually affirmed my belief that LaGrange College is unparalleled in its commitment to academic excellence.”
“I have had the privilege of earning my bachelor's, master's and specialist's degrees at LC. The quality of education and the supportive community have continually affirmed my belief that LaGrange College is unparalleled in its commitment to academic excellence.” — Doctoral student Sallie Kight ’03, MAT ’04, Ed.S.’12
Doctoral student Christopher Bolling MAT’12, Ed.S.’15, who is a classroom educator in Newnan, Georgia, says he is more than thrilled to come back to LaGrange for this program.
“I am appreciative of the hard work, dedication, passion, drive and expertise of the faculty and staff,” he says. “I know that this degree will equip me with the tools necessary to be a master educator and broaden my legacy and impact.”
Another recent addition to graduate degree offerings is the Master’s in Higher Education, which welcomed its first cohort this summer.
The program aims to reach graduate students seeking work on a smaller, faith-based campus.
“The program will help you understand how to take research and create solutions to institutional issues within colleges. It doesn't just teach you how to be an administrator; it teaches you how to passionately pursue academic and scholarly excellence.” —Master’s in Higher Education student Trip Floyd ’24
Cohorts who go through this program will be ready for a variety of roles in such areas as Housing, Student Life, Admissions, Career Services and Athletics.
Current graduate student Trip Floyd ’24, whose ultimate goal is to become a professor, says he was drawn toward this master’s degree because of the opportunity to get experience in higher education administration.
“This will assist me in bridging the gap between faculty and administration as an English professor,” he says. “The program will help you understand how to take research and create solutions to institutional issues within colleges. It doesn't just teach you how to be an administrator; it teaches you how to passionately pursue academic and scholarly excellence.”
An evolving campus
In building on its liberal arts core, the college intends to explore opportunities and look at what degrees and majors would be relevant in a constantly changing marketplace.
“It’s important for us to look outward and to see what the needs are from employers and try to meet those needs,” Dr. Head says. “We must continue to change and adapt.”
