Dave Williams, Capitol Beat

ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia Board of Regents will vote next week on a proposal to consolidate Georgia Southern University and East Georgia State College.

The university system launched a wave of consolidations back in 2011 under the late Chancellor Hank Huckaby that initially involved eight consolidations and later led to five more. The goal was to reduce administrative costs while maintaining high standards for teaching and research.

“When we began our consolidation initiative, the system hadn’t changed much and needed to do things differently to better serve our students and the state,” system Chancellor Sonny Perdue said Tuesday. “The dollars saved through consolidation have always been reinvested directly in our campuses – fueling the hiring of strong faculty, expanding student support services, and driving measurable improvements in retention and graduation rates. … Our commitment in making this recommendation is no different.”

Both Georgia Southern and East Georgia State College are four-year institutions. Georgia Southern is located in Statesboro, and East Georgia State College is in nearby Swainsboro.

If the regents approve the consolidation, it would then need approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. An implementation team with representatives from both schools would work out the details.

Georgia Southern was previously involved in a consolidation with the former Armstrong State University in Savannah in 2017.

The proposed consolidation would reduce the number of public colleges and universities in the system to 25.