Page 16 - Laker Connection Fall 2009

1999 & 2000:
Moving Into a New Century
By Michael F. Vollmer with John Shiffert
Swan Lake in the fall
budget recommendation to the Geor- gia State Legislature for the 2000/2001 fiscal year that placed what was then called the University Learning Center at the head of the USG budget class.
When the Legisla- ture passed the budget bill in March 2000, Clayton State was on its way to the July 2001 groundbreak- ing for what would
way towards what would become the doubling of Clayton State’s baccalaureate programs.
One of those future programs would be a history major, a degree that became a virtual necessity fol- lowing the establish- ment of the Georgia and Southeastern Na- tional Archives adja- cent to campus. These two major additions to the community were coming closer to reality during the 1999-2000 period, in conjunction with the work of then- Secretary of State Cathy Cox, and Clay- ton County legislators Terrell Starr, Jimmy Benefield, Greg Hecht and Gail Buckner. The NARA project moved forward in a parallel fashion, with the support of U.S. Senator Max Cleland and U.S. Representative
Mac Collins.
As I stated in my final Campus Re-
view President’s Message, “Clayton State Will Prosper in the Next Few Years.” I’m glad to be able to say I was correct in that assessment.
The State of Georgia’s most versatile public servant, Michael F. Vollmer came to Clayton State as executive-in-residence for the In- formation Technology Project and stayed to become Interim Vice President for Fiscal Af- fairs and, from July 1999 to June 2000, In- terim President.
Just as the calendar
turned over a new page
from 1999 to 2000, so too
did Clayton State move
forward at the same time.
Going from the 1900s to the 2000s was not the only new development in that year, as the University took steps on several major fronts, including infra- structure, programs and our relation- ship with the surrounding community. Included in the notable developments from that era that typified where Clayton State was going was the first-ever Fall Commencement Ceremony in Decem- ber 1999, an event brought about by Clayton State’s continuing growth. On a lighter note, we even gave the cam- pus’ signature physical feature, the 12- acre lake, an official name -- Swan Lake -- in March 2000.
Although Swan Lake had been a part of the Clayton State campus since the then-Clayton Junior College opened 30 years before, infrastructure additions, both on- and off-campus, highlighted this period. With the official opening of the first student-dedicated off-campus housing, Clayton Place, in August 1999, Clayton State was mov- ing towards the future. This move was thanks in part to Governor Roy Barnes’
Mike Vollmer
become as much a signature feature of
the campus as Swan
Lake, the James M.
Baker University Cen-
ter. And, shortly after
the Legislature ap-
proved the funding for
the Baker Center, an-
other new building opened on campus,
the Music Education Building.
Early rendering of what is now
the James M. Baker University Center.
12
THE LAKER CONNECTION
New programs that would affect the long-term development of the Uni- versity were happening elsewhere as well. In July 1999, we opened the Roswell Center to house the offices of the Fulton County Lifelong Learning Center. Even more importantly, and presaging the University’s rapid aca- demic growth of the first decade of the 21st Century, the Board of Regents, in May 2000, approved what was origi- nally the Bachelor of Science in Ap- plied Biology. Now one of Clayton State’s most popular undergraduate programs, the B.S. in Biology led the
Music Building