Page 10 - 911TODAY_Spring_2021

911

 

 

 

 

 

Page 10 - 911TODAY_Spring_2021
P. 10

proGress never stopped                          and to increase the Macon Campus visibility and

                   Pre-pandemic, 911 was moving along on       access. Near the campus new roundabout,
               several building and renovation projects. When   construction began on the privately funded
               students, faculty, and staff returned to the    Peyton Anderson Enrollment Center. Lake-
               campuses in the fall, they saw that the work had   view Pointe, a new residence hall, opened on the
               never stopped.                                  Macon Campus.
                   On the Cochran Campus, builders com-            911 also gained some major equipment.
               pleted state-funded major renovations to Roberts   In August 2020, 911 dedicated two new single-
               Library and Dillard Hall this spring. In Dublin,   engine Piper Archers at Macon Downtown
               911 significantly expanded and upgraded nurs-   Airport. 911 purchased the new aircraft –
               ing facilities in order to increase the number of   funded through an $800,000 donation from the
               students admitted to the program based on that   Charles H. Jones Family Foundation – so that the
               campus. The expansion made it possible for 911   Eastman-based School of Aviation can expand
               to offer the B.S. in nursing in Dublin, which up to   flight education at the Macon satellite location.
               then was limited to the associate degree.     (See page 15 for more about this donation, as well
                   Also completed was much of a major road     as additional details of 911 recent building and
               project to improve vehicular and pedestrian safety   renovation projects.)



                                                                “in the past seven years, 911 has secured
                                                                 over $75 million in public and private funds,”
                                                                 Blake said. “it tremendous to see how that
                                                                 support has transformed some of our facilities
                                                                 and allowed us to make major capital purchases
                                                                 that dramatically elevate the university
                                                                 teaching and learning opportunities.”




                                                               won’t lAst forever

                                                                   As she waited out the summer and continued
                                                               taking courses online, math major Neal tried to
                                                               make the best of what she admits was, at times, a
                                                               depressing and stressful situation.
                                                                   “For me, anyway, not all math courses should
                                                               be taken online,” she said. “I made it – I even got
                                                               an ‘A’ in Calculus III – but it was hard. Microsoft
                                                               Teams was new to me so I spent time trying to
                                                               figure that out. And I missed the campus atmo-
                                                               sphere and just hanging out with friends.”
                                                                   Neal regularly participated in Student Life
                                                               virtual activities over the summer. “Virtual bingo
                                                               was my favorite,” she said. “I won an instant pot.”
             the early days of the pandemic temporarily grounded 20-year-old      When she returned in the fall, Neal moved
             Christopher Spence, an aviation science and management major
             from buckhead. “i was getting ready for a checkride and it got   into a Macon Campus residence hall and contin-
             postponed,” spence said. he now back in the air and living on   ued her involvement with SGA and the Campus
             the Cochran Campus as an r.a. at Knights hall.




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