To the editor: So much can change in a year.
Piedmont University ended 2021 with a healthy surplus. Still, in the last year, we’ve seen graduate student enrollment decline significantly. This was largely the result of COVID-induced school closures. When the schools closed, we were forced to shift on-site graduate education programs offered at school districts throughout the state to an online model.
The abrupt transition, combined with the immense stress educators experienced during the pandemic, took a toll on our graduate enrollment. Unfortunately, this coincided with volatility in the stock market that has adversely affected our investment income.
In response, our Board of Trustees instructed Piedmont’s administration to take cost-savings measures, which The Northeast Georgian covered in the Nov. 16 edition. The Northeast Georgian also included a quote from our president, James F. Mellichamp, about the “many reasons to be excited for the future of Piedmont.” It’s on this point that I’d like to elaborate.
This coming January, our College of Education will begin rolling out a dynamic new hybrid graduate initiative in Forsyth County. It will combine all of the best ingredients from our highly successful cohort programs with online components that are attractive to adult learners.
Forsyth County is the first district to offer the Piedmont program, but it’s far from the last. We expect additional counties to sign on in the coming months. These programs are why Piedmont has long been known throughout the state as the “leader in teacher education,” as one of our alumni who works as a principal in White County recently described us.
We’re also making significant enhancements to our online options, preparing to add a master’s degree in speech-language pathology, and making strides to better support – and therefore retain – existing students.
Piedmont is currently celebrating its 125th anniversary. Our history books are filled with challenges, yet in every instance, we came together as an institution. We proved our grit, we overcame, and we became better in the process.
I have no doubt that a year from now, we will look back on this rough patch and realize that not only was it temporary, it was also yet another chance to prove our resiliency. We will look back and realize how far we have come.
It is going to be a very exciting 2023 at Piedmont University. Go Lions!
Craig Rogers
Vice President for University Advancement