ATLANTA — Middle Georgia State College’s elevation to a state university Wednesday could not have come on a better day for the school’s president, Christopher Blake.

It happened to be his 54th birthday.

By a unanimous vote, the state Board of Regents approved a change in name, mission and course offerings at Middle Georgia State, which will become Middle Georgia State University effective July 1.

The change will bring a master’s degree program to the college. Perhaps 20 students will make up the first class this fall, if all goes according to Blake’s plan.

“There were three things going on today,” he said. “One was the university name, one was the mission statement and then there’s this,” he said, pointing into a regents conference room in Atlanta where a committee had just approved details of the inaugural graduate program.

An information technology master’s program would offer students a choice between a cybersecurity track or a health informatics track. Students could also choose between online-only classes or a mix between online learning and face-to-face classes in Warner Robins.

“We’re going to establish a graduate office in Warner Robins because we think Houston County and Macon are close enough together that we can really connect to the industries down there and the professions down there. You’ve got the base, for example,” Blake said.

“This degree will touch a whole range of different professions,” such as aviation, law enforcement, criminal justice, technology, business and the military.

The school still needs the regents’ approval to open a proposed graduate nursing program, which would focus on gerontology and critical care nursing.

By fall 2016, Blake said the school hopes to also offer master’s degrees in some aspect of business and teaching.

Both of those degrees are still under development, though Blake said the MBA will focus on some niche, rather than offer a general business program. The teaching degree would target professionals in other fields who want to switch careers into education.

But the change in status is philosophical too.

“Universities are broader and more embedded in lifelong learning in the community,” Blake said. Part of the school’s new mission statement is to “enhance the region” through professional leadership, innovative partnerships and community engagement.

Having advanced degrees at a public college is a “big thing for Middle Georgia,” said regent and Perry attorney Larry Walker, a former majority leader of the Georgia House.

It “greatly enhances the viability of the college … and potential for growth,” he said.

The school had about 8,000 students as of fall 2014.

The process started more than two years ago with a resolution by Walker and then-board members Bob Hatcher of Macon and Mansfield Jennings of Hawkinsville. It said that if the 2013 consolidation of Macon State College and Middle Georgia College was successful, regents would support turning the resulting Middle Georgia State College into a university.

The school is also seeking formal graduate school approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, an accrediting body.

Macon Telegraph