The top floor of Cumming City Hall soon will become home to a new
program for North Georgia College & State University.
The Dahlonega school's new masters of business administration
program, TeamMBA, is expected to begin at the downtown site in
August.
David Potter, North Georgia president, made the announcement
Tuesday night during a Cumming City Council meeting.
"We see this as a major opportunity for workplace development in
this community," he said.
Potter said the program will offer two evening classes a week,
with students likely able to earn their degrees in about two years.
Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt said city hall will be the school's
temporary location.
"The future home of the North Georgia Cumming campus will be just
a little bit northwest of Cumming on Pilgrim Mill Road at Pilgrim
Mill and (Ga.) 400," he said.
Gravitt touted the future site as convenient, noting that drivers
will be able to see the local campus from the highway.
The top floor of city hall is currently unfinished.
John Douglas, director of MBA marketing and development at North
Georgia, said the school plans to finish it in time for classes to
begin in August.
The arrangement is the latest chapter in the college's strong
relationship with Forsyth County, which is home to many NGCSU
students and alumni.
The MBA program, which the Georgia Board of Regents approved last
summer, is the third of a three-pronged effort to meet the need for
what the school found were the three most demanded careers in the
county, with the others being nursing and education.
NGCSU began offering classes in Forsyth County in 1997 and has
continued to expand coursework offered at various local sites,
including Lanier Technical College's Cumming campus and North
Forsyth High School.
