The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) agreed at its August meeting to include $11.8 million in funding for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College as a part of the USG Capital Outlay Construction request to the General Assembly when legislators convene in 2021. 

ABAC President David Bridges said the agricultural facilities enhancement project includes funds for renovation to existing facilities, primarily the Chambliss Building, and new construction to support ABAC’s fast-growing agriculture and natural resource programs. 

“We have just announced a record enrollment in the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources,” Bridges said.  “ABAC is now the leading producer of workforce ready graduates for Georgia’s number one industry, agriculture.

“We’re supporting a portion of these students with aging buildings that were not designed for the scope or scale of programs today.  Some of our students go to classes in facilities designed for the ABAC enrollment in 1971 when the Chambliss Building was constructed.”

Nearly 4,000 students are enrolled at ABAC for the 2020 fall semester as compared to the 1971 fall quarter enrollment figure of 2,153 students.  A record 1,371 of this year’s students chose programs in the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, including an all-time high of 273 in the Natural Resources major.

“The facilities involved in this enhancement project are woefully undersized and unable to accommodate modern equipment,” Bridges said.  “Agriculture is a complex, high technology business that requires leaders with general knowledge and keen problem-solving skills.  Mastering these abilities requires hands-on learning.

“Courses in agricultural engineering, agricultural technology, and mechanization are critically important for students in Agricultural Technology and Systems Management and in Agricultural Education.  This upgrade will probably prolong the life of these facilities another 30 years.”

For the past two years ABAC has led the Southeast in the number of Agricultural Education graduates.  The number of graduates should climb in the future with the addition of courses equipping Agricultural Education graduates with the skills to teach pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students.  ABAC is the first college in the nation to offer those classes.

Bridges said Georgia legislators approved $1.1 million in planning money for the agricultural facilities enhancement project in the 2021 fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.