GSU's Alpharetta Academic Facility to open next fall

Georgia State University officials broke ground Friday (Oct. 30) on the new Alpharetta Academic Facility, a 45,000-square-foot classroom building set to open next fall that will expand the institution's urban footprint even further.

The state-of-the-art facility, which will be adjacent to GSU's existing Alpharetta Center at 3705 Brookside Parkway, will have 16 classrooms including three large tiered "conference center" type classrooms, a computer classroom and open computer lab for student use.

The center will serve thousands of students, mostly working professionals who are pursuing graduate level degrees in business and education.

"We look forward to continued growth and success in the days, weeks and months ahead," Georgia State University President Mark Becker said at Friday's groundbreaking ceremony.

Georgia State's J. Mack Robinson College of Business will continue to offer its Flexible MBA and Professional MBA programs at the new Alpharetta Center.

"This is a great opportunity to expand our already growing college and part of our broader plan to continue growing in every corner of metro Atlanta," Dean H. Fenwick Huss of the Robinson College of Business said.

The College of Education will also expand its graduate level courses in teacher education at the new facility and offer an undergraduate program in Early Childhood Education.

"This facility is key for us because of the extraordinary demand for our teaching and non-teaching programs," College of Education Dean Randy Kamphaus said. "Applications for our teacher education, communication sciences, counseling and virtually all of our 50 plus other programs are at record levels."

GSU, along with Georgia Perimeter College, has had a presence in Alpharetta for several years. This is the second building in what is envisioned as a three-building campus.

"This new facility will benefit the north Fulton community," said Yvonne Chrimes, director of the GSU Alpharetta and Brookhaven Centers. "Whenever there is a university presence, it helps the area's economic development. We're serving the needs of the individuals of north Georgia as the population grows."

Alpharetta Mayor Arthur Letchas and representatives from New South Construction and the Board of Regents joined Georgia State officials at the ground breaking. Lawmakers included Rep. Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek), Rep. Jan Jones (R-Alpharetta), Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta), Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth).

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