By Brad Haire
University of Georgia

South Georgia students now have a closer-to-home gateway to the
University of Georgia with the Jan. 31 opening of the new UGA
Tifton, Ga., outreach office.

The office, an extension of the UGA Office of Undergraduate
Admissions, will be housed in the Rural Development Center just
off Interstate-75. But it’s more than just an office with walls,
said UGA President Michael F. Adams.

“This is also a symbolic function of UGA’s commitment to
diversity, outreach and inclusion … to reconnect the
university to the state,” he said. “We are not the University of
Athens or Atlanta. We are the University of Georgia. We have a
statewide mission as the state’s true flagship university.”

The Tifton admissions office, “though small,” he said, is
another step in achieving that goal. The new office gives
students in south Georgia easier access to the university.

But south Georgia students don’t have to go all the way to
Athens, Ga., to get a four-year degree from UGA.

The Tifton campus now offers a four-year degree in agriculture
science, without having to go to Athens. The new Agriscience and
Environmental Systems major will be offered through the UGA
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

There are plans to expand the UGA educational opportunities on
the Tifton campus.

“For this campus to be all it can be, we must add academic
programs,” said David Bridges, assistant CAES dean and head of
the Tifton campus. “Teaching is our main mission and students
our most important resource.”

The first students to seek four-year UGA degrees in Tifton will
begin their classes in August.

Pedro Arroyo will head the Tifton admissions office. He’s been
hired to spread the word to south Georgia students in high
schools and two-year colleges on UGA educational
opportunities.

Arroyo will represent UGA at college fairs and assist counselors
and prospective students with the applications and scholarship
processes. He’ll coordinate alumni functions in the area, too.

“This (admissions office) will help us move forward in educating
Georgia all around,” said John Hunt, a University System of
Georgia regent and Tifton businessman.

The Tifton outreach office is the second off-campus recruiting
and admissions office UGA has established. The first opened in
DeKalb County last year.