Georgia Highlands College

Established in 1968 and opened in 1970 as Floyd Junior College , [ 7 ] the school was originally named for Floyd County , of which Rome is the county seat , which was in turn named after John Floyd . It was later shortened to just Floyd College in 1987. In April 2005, the Georgia Board of Regents voted to change the school's name, and on August 1, 2005, the institution officially became Georgia Highlands College to reflect the regional nature of the population it serves. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] The college has expanded its service area by opening new instructional sites in 1994, 2005, 2009, and 2010.

Georgia Highlands College currently offers Associate degrees , and eight Bachelor degrees, including Bachelor of Science degrees, and Bachelor of Business Administration degrees. [ 10 ] The college provides over twenty Associate pathways and Bachelor programs entirely online. [ 11 ] In 2020, the college completed an academic reorganization from Divisions to Schools within the college. [ 12 ] Georgia Highlands College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. [ 13 ] GHC's Associate of Science in Nursing degree and its Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). The Dental Hygiene program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation and the Associate of Science in Nursing is approved by the Georgia Board of Nursing . [ 14 ] Faculty In 2016, GHC's full-time faculty was 57% female and 87% white. [ 15 ] 73.2% of the GHC faculty was full-time and ranked Assistant, Associate, or full Professor, while 26.8% had the rank of Instructor. As of Fall 2016, 51% of the full-time faculty had tenure , 22% were on track for tenure, and 26.8% were not on the tenure track. All full-time faculty had a master's degree as required by SACS , and 30% additionally had a terminal degree such as a doctorate [ 15 ] The full-time faculty to student ratio at GHC is 21:1. [ 3 ]

Georgia Highlands Cartersville campus Georgia Highlands College offers courses and services at the original campus and at five additional instructional sites. Floyd Campus GHC was founded as Floyd Junior College in 1970 in Rome, Georgia . The campus includes Bishop Observatory, a library, the Lakeview Auditorium building, the McCorkle and Walraven academic buildings, a tennis court, and fields for soccer, softball, and baseball. This site includes Paris Lake and has access to a 20-acre tract behind the campus that has been set aside as a protected natural wetland ecosystem, which includes a 1,200-foot boardwalk and two observation platforms. [ 16 ] In 2015, the Floyd campus began housing a new Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC), offering training for law enforcement officers. [ 17 ]

GHC began offering classes in a small space in downtown Cartersville, Georgia in the 1980s. The current Cartersville location was opened in 2005. The site includes a 55,000-square-foot student center designed with a mountain lodge feel that matches the original classroom building and has a two-story stone fireplace in the open-air student lounge as its centerpiece. Along with the campus bookstore, the center houses a small café, a game room, a weight and cardio room, two volleyball/basketball courts, and a suspended indoor running track. [ 18 ] In 2017, the University System of Georgia approved $17.7 million in funds to construct a new STEAM building at the Cartersville site. [ 19 ] [ 20 ] The building, which features new classrooms and lab rooms, opened to students in Spring 2019. [ 21 ]