Georgia Nursing College
Georgia Nursing College
Coordinates: 32°49′45″N 83°38′55″W / 32.82917°N 83.64861°W / 32.82917; -83.64861
Mercer University is an independent, private, coeducational university with a Baptist heritage located in the U.S. state of Georgia.
Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music, engineering, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, law, theology, and continuing and professional studies. Mercer enrolls approximately 8,000 students in its eleven colleges and schools. Students come from approximately 45 states and 65 countries, more than 80% are Georgia residents.
Mercer has major campuses in Macon, Atlanta, and Savannah, regional academic centers for working adult students in Henry County, Douglas County, and Eastman, teaching hospitals in Macon and Savannah, a university press and a performing arts center in Macon, and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia with a NCAA Division I athletic program.
History
Founding
Mercer University was founded in Penfield, Georgia as a boys' preparatory school under the leadership of Billington McCarthy Sanders, a professor who served as the first president, and Adiel Sherwood, a Baptist minister who previously founded a boys' manual labor school that served as a model. Initially named Mercer Institute, the school opened with 39 students on January 14, 1833. The school was named for Jesse Mercer, a prominent Baptist leader who provided a founding endowment and who served as the first chairman of the board of trustees. The Georgia General Assembly granted a university charter in December 1837. Mercer adopted its present name in 1838 and graduated its first university class, of three students, in 1841. Mercer was one of the few Southern colleges or universities and the only college or university in Georgia to remain open throughout the American Civil War. In 1866, Mercer awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, the only college or university to grant him an honorary degree.
Mercer moved to Macon, a center of transportation and commerce in Georgia, in 1871. The School of Law was established in 1873 and was named the Walter F. George School of Law in 1947 in honor of Mercer alumnus Walter F. George, class of 1901, who served as a United States Senator from Georgia and as President pro tempore of the United States Senate.
Expansion
Mercer expanded to Atlanta in 1959 when the university absorbed the independent Southern School of Pharmacy. The College of Liberal Arts, the Walter F. George School of Law, and the Southern School of Pharmacy comprised the university until 1972 when Mercer merged with Atlanta Baptist College, which became Mercer's Atlanta campus.
Atlanta Baptist College was founded in 1968 under the leadership of Dr. Monroe F. Swilley, a prominent Baptist educator. The college merged with Mercer in 1972 and became the College of Arts and Sciences, and in 1984 was named the Cecil B. Day College of Arts and Sciences. Mercer offered undergraduate liberal arts education in Atlanta until 1990 when the college closed. Faculty and students tried to prevent the closure, but were not successful. The mission of the Atlanta campus changed to graduate and professional education. The Southern School of Pharmacy moved in 1992 from its downtown location to the Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus.
Mercer grew substantially between 1982 and 2006 with the establishment of eight colleges and schools: the School of Medicine in 1982, the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics in 1984, the School of Engineering in 1985, the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology in 1994, the Tift College of Education in 1995, the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing in 2001, the College of Continuing and Professional Studies in 2003, and the Townsend School of Music in 2006.
Mercer opened the Savannah campus in 2008. The campus is the location of Mercer's second four-year medical school, which opened at the same time.
Advancing the Vision Campaign
Mercer successfully completed Phase III of the $350 million Advancing the Vision Campaign in December 2008. Phases I and II were completed with $208 million received or pledged. For Phase II, Mercer received one of the largest gifts in the history of higher education when it received a large tract of developed real estate in Atlanta. The property, given to Mercer and to LaGrange College jointly, was valued at $123 million. The campaign financed numerous projects including the construction and renovation of facilities and endowed scholarships for students. New facilities on the Macon campus include the University Center, a large multi-purpose facility that houses the university's athletics department, basketball arena, and student services, the Allan and Rosemary McCorkle Music Building that houses the Townsend School of Music, a new Science and Engineering Building, and the Greek Village with 18 fraternity and sorority houses. New facilities on the Atlanta campus include academic buildings for the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology, the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics, the Tift College of Education, and the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing as well as a large student housing complex.
Georgia Baptist Convention
In November 2005, the Georgia Baptist Convention voted to end the affiliation between Mercer and the convention. Mercer was founded by Georgia Baptists, but had an independent board of trustees and was not directly controlled by the convention. The convention provided financial support used to fund scholarships for Baptist students and other special projects. The lack of convention control caused friction with Mercer exercising its independence to embrace the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The convention also saw Mercer as becoming secularized and not falling inline with its values. The relationship came to a head in 2005 when Mercer allowed a student gay-rights group to hold a Coming Out Day forum on campus. An article about the group, Mercer Triangle Symposium, and the Coming Out Day forum was published in the convention's newsletter, the Christian Index, two weeks before the convention's annual meeting. At the meeting, then university president Dr. R. Kirby Godsey asked the convention to continue its affiliation with Mercer. He explained the Mercer administration did not endorse homosexuality, but allowed students to discuss the topic. Despite the assurances, the convention voted to end the affiliation. In April 2006, Mercer's board of trustees approved changes to the university charter ending Mercer's relationship with the Georgia Baptist Convention.
Baptist affiliation
Mercer chose to retain its Baptist identity when its affiliation with the Georgia Baptist Convention ended in 2006 after 173 years. Mercer has ties to individual churches, provides scholarships to students through its Baptist Scholars Fund, and has the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology, which is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Mercer's decision to become an independent Baptist university contrasts with other universities that became secular after severing ties with their state conventions. Such universities include Furman University, Stetson University, the University of Richmond, and Wake Forest University.
President Godsey retires
Dr. R. Kirby Godsey retired on June 30, 2006 after 27 years as Mercer's president. During Godsey's tenure, Mercer established seven new colleges and schools, growing from four to eleven, expanded its annual budget to more than $175 million, and increased the endowment to almost $200 million with an additional $200+ million pledged in planned gifts. Both houses of the Georgia legislature honored his service and Mercer's historic Administration Building was named the R. Kirby Godsey Administration Building. United States Senator Saxby Chambliss also honored Godsey before the United States Senate. Godsey remains at Mercer as chancellor, professor, and special advisor to new president, William D. Underwood. Underwood, former interim president, Baylor University, was selected as Godsey's replacement in December 2005. Underwood took office on July 1, 2006.
New strategic plan
Mercer's board of trustees adopted a new 10-year strategic plan on April 18, 2008. The plan seeks to position Mercer among the most prestigious private universities in the Southeast along with Vanderbilt University, Duke University, Emory University, Wake Forest University, and Tulane University. Specific goals of the plan include increasing the student body from 7,300 to 8,500, enlarging the endowment to $1 billion, expanding the number of master's and doctoral programs, and constructing numerous new facilities including a medical education building in Savannah, a student
Medical College of Georgia
Welcome to the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing. We are the University System of Georgia's flagship nursing school, offering eight degree options: PhD in nursing, DNP ...
GEORGIA BOARD OF NURSING
D, Director Nursing Programs www. maconstate.edu X X WARNER ROBINS FULL AD RN/BSN Macon State College Division of Nursing 100 College Station Drive Macon, Georgia 31206-5145 (478) 471-2761 ...
GEORGIA BOARD OF NURSING
PARENT INSTITUTION ADMINISTRATION AD BSN RN/BSN ONLY MASTER'S DOCTORAL SATELLITE APPROVAL South Georgia College Division of Nursing 100 W. College Park Drive Douglas, Georgia 31533-5098 ...
Nursing - South Georgia College
Important Announcement; Application to the Division of Nursing; College Calendar ; Frequently Asked Questions ; General Education Requirements; Associate of Science in Nursing Degree
Georgia Nursing Schools, Colleges and Programs
Nursing Schools in State and other information for those seeking how to become a nurse.
Georgia Baptist College of Nursing Home
Georgia Baptist College of Nursing is offering a Research Conference "Perspectives and Reflections from the Gloaming of Life: Palliative Care and End-of-Life Challenges" Read ...
School of Nursing | College of Health Sciences ...
School of Nursing The College of Health Sciences offers an upper ... of qualified applicants is granted by the Georgia Board of Nursing. Contact Information School of Nursing College of ...
North Georgia College & State University Nursing ...
Request information on nursing programs from North Georgia College & State University and search our directory of 1,700+ nursing schools.
Georgia College Nursing Instructors: Schools and ...
About College Nursing Instructors in Georgia. . Schools for College Nursing Instructors in Georgia are listed in the column to the left. The Top Cities tab shows employment ...
Georgia Nursing College Programs
Nursing college diploma, certificate and degree programs in Georgia.
