Public input sought on new university name

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Georgia Health Sciences and Augusta State universities are seeking public input on six potential names for the new university that will be created when they consolidate next year. A committee with representatives from both institutions narrowed the list from more than 1,225 suggestions submitted by the community in April.

“The name of our institution, whatever it will be, should be representative of our past as well as focused on the future – our future students, graduates, faculty and staff, and the talented individuals we will recruit in the future to be a part of this new university,” said GHSU President Ricardo Azziz. “Our name will be our public face. It is our handshake. It is our first impression. If we aspire to be one of the nation’s great universities, we have to look like one, act like one and sound like one.”

The six potential names submitted by the committee are:

•           Augusta University

•           University of Augusta

•           Arsenal University

•           Augusta Arsenal University

•           Bartram University

•           Noble University

The public is invited to select their top three choices of the six names at asughsu.org/name by June 22. That input will be considered when the list of six is shortened to three and presented to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents in advance of their August meeting, at which time they will decide the name of the consolidated university.

The new university, which will be headed by Azziz, will initially be a $1.3 billion enterprise, with statewide, national and global reach. It will include nine colleges, nearly 10,000 students, more than 650 acres of campus and nearly 150 buildings, more than 1,000 full-time faculty and approximately 5,600 staff, an integrated health system and a growing athletics program that includes back-to-back NCAA Division I national championships.

GHSU Senior Vice President Susan Barcus provides context for the six names, and additional insight into the process, in a guest blog post at azziz.georgiahealth.edu.

For more information on the consolidation, visit asughsu.org. 

###