Committee approves four consolidation recommendations, including - WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports

The Armstrong State University/Georgia Southern University Consolidation Implementation Committee approved four recommendations Friday that were submitted by various Operational Working Groups.

The approved recommendations included the following:

• Naming of Campuses in Savannah and Hinesville: The Georgia Southern University campus located in Savannah will be formally named the Armstrong Campus; the Georgia Southern campus located in Hinesville will be formally named the Liberty Campus.
• Naming of Current Buildings: All named structures currently existing on the Armstrong campus will retain their historic names.
• Transfer Status for Student-Athletes: Student athletes will be immediately issued open transfer status by Armstrong’s athletic administration, with the exception of softball, whose playing season is currently in progress. When softball season has concluded, the participating student-athletes will immediately be issued an open transfer status by Armstrong’s athletic administration. This will ensure that student-athletes do not lose any eligibility.
• Athletics Scholarships: All athletics-related scholarships for affected student-athletes will be honored, provided students are making satisfactory academic progress. This plan will allow student-athletes who are affected by the consolidation to continue their education without bearing an additional financial burden.

At least one student is thankful they kept Armstrong in the new name.

"I never wanted to go to Georgia Southern. I don't want to graduate from Georgia Southern but it's going to happen regardless and might as well keep some Armstrong for us,” said an Armstrong student, Sara Kuehn.

The future of Armstrong's athletic teams is up in the air. One basketball player says the merger forces him to transfer again after just transferring into Armstrong.

"Personally, I'm not really all for it because I'll have to transfer now and it's affecting our situation a lot because they haven't told us a lot. So we're just taking it day-by-day,” said K.J. James.

The decision to consolidate the universities was made in January by the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents. It's expected to go into effect in fall of 2018.

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