Faculty

In 2016, GHC's full-time faculty was 57% female and 87% white.^[15] 73.2% of the GHC faculty was full-time and ranked Assistant, Associate, or full Professor, while 26.8% had the rank of Instructor. As of Fall 2016, 51% of the full-time faculty had tenure, 22% were on track for tenure, and 26.8% were not on the tenure track. All full-time faculty had a master's degree as required by SACS, and 30% additionally had a terminal degree such as a doctorate^[15] The full-time faculty to student ratio at GHC is 21:1.^[3]

Floyd Campus

GHC was founded as Floyd Junior College in 1970 in Rome, Georgia. The campus includes Bishop Observatory, a library, the Lakeview Auditorium building, the McCorkle and Walraven academic buildings, a tennis court, and fields for soccer, softball, and baseball. This site includes Paris Lake and has access to a 20-acre tract behind the campus that has been set aside as a protected natural wetland ecosystem, which includes a 1,200-foot boardwalk and two observation platforms.^[16] In 2015, the Floyd campus began housing a new Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC), offering training for law enforcement officers.^[17]

Cartersville Instructional Site

GHC began offering classes in a small space in downtown Cartersville, Georgia in the 1980s. The current Cartersville location was opened in 2005. The site includes a 55,000-square-foot student center designed with a mountain lodge feel that matches the original classroom building and has a two-story stone fireplace in the open-air student lounge as its centerpiece. Along with the campus bookstore, the center houses a small café, a game room, a weight and cardio room, two volleyball/basketball courts, and a suspended indoor running track.^[18]

In 2017, the University System of Georgia approved $17.7 million in funds to construct a new STEAM building at the Cartersville site.^[19][20] The building, which features new classrooms and lab rooms, opened to students in Spring 2019.^[21]

Heritage Hall Instructional Site

The James D. Maddox Heritage Hall Instructional Site, in downtown Rome, Georgia, has been in operation by GHC since 1994 and houses the college's Division of Health Sciences nursing and dental hygiene programs. Heritage Hall also houses the GHC Foundation and the Marketing and Communications office.^[22] The Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program is also housed at the site.^[23]

Marietta Instructional Site

The Marietta site opened in 2005. This location became GHC's third site, opening for classes on the campus of Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU) (now Kennesaw State University (KSU). In 2022, GHC relocated to 1090 Northchase Parkway, Suite 150 in Marietta. The site includes a lab, learning commons, and several classrooms.

Paulding Instructional Site

The Paulding location in Dallas was opened in 2009. Administrative offices, classrooms, and the library are located in the Bagby building and the Winn building in the Dallas Town Square.^[24] Kennesaw State University and GHC have several active partnership programs available at the Paulding site, including degrees in Psychology, Elementary & Early Childhood Education, and Integrative Studies.^[25]

In 2018, the University System of Georgia approved $4.1 million in funds to renovate the buildings at the Paulding site.^[26][27] The renovations will provide space for further course offerings, allowing more complete degrees at the Paulding site.^[28]

Demographics

The student body at Georgia Highlands College is relatively diverse. Over 60% of students are female, and 24% are non-traditional age students (24–65 years old). The median student age is 23.^[3] 69% of students are white/Caucasian, 17% are black/African American, and 8% are Hispanic/Latino.^[29] GHC has an active veteran cohort of students, and was ranked a “Top School for Veterans” by Military Advanced Education in 2012, and from 2014 to 2018.^[30]

Clubs and organizations

The largest club at the college, Brother 2 Brother (B2B), encourages excellence among minority male students. B2B began as part of the Georgia Highlands African-American & Minority Male Excellence program (GHAME) in 2008.^[31] GHC B2B won outstanding chapter of the year several times at the 300+ member national Student African American Brotherhood Conference.^[32] GHC's chapter of the national academic organization Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) was recognized as Regional Top Distinguished Chapter Overall in 2016, 2017, and 2018.^[33]

The Six Mile Post, GHC's student newspaper, consistently wins awards for student articles, artwork, editing, photography, and advertising at the Southern Regional Press Institute and the Georgia College Press Association.^[34] For four decades, the college has published Old Red Kimono, an annual book of student artwork, poetry, and short stories.^[35] Since 2010, students at GHC can compete in a public speaking competition funded in part by the Rome Area Council for the Arts.^[36]

GHC also offers students business focused clubs such as Business Leaders of Tomorrow and Logistics and Supply Chain Management Association. These business clubs focus on developing relationships between students and local industry leaders as well as developing workforce related skills. The club membership is mainly filled with bachelor level students, but are open to all GHC students on all campuses regardless of major.

Student clubs and GHC Student Support Services began offering food pantry services in partnership with the Atlanta Food Bank in 2017 to students that are food insecure.^[37] Since 2005, the college has hosted Foundation Summer Camp, a free service for boys that includes STEAM and athletic activities.^[38]

Since 1997, GHC has offered geology field credit for summer trips to Wyoming.^[39] GHC partners with KSU to offer semester abroad trips with credit courses in Montepulciano, Italy.^[40] GHC regularly offers biology credit trips to Costa Rica and culture/business credit trips to European countries.^[41]