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as part of their courses, don’t have involvement with
the Corps of Cadets or Reserve Officer Training Corps
(ROTC) programs. We take the leadership part of that
military heritage and infuse it in everything we do, but
it is not all that we do.”
Jobie Shields, Associate Vice President of Communications and Government Affairs, puts it this way: the
school’s mission is “grounded in a military heritage,”
but that heritage is turned into leadership lessons for
all students.
Differently Structured
GMC’s structure is as distinctive as its mission.
Unlike Georgia’s public universities or technical colleges,
Georgia Military College is a state authority, not a traditional state agency. It does receive some state funding—
but not at the level of the University System of Georgia
or the Technical College System of Georgia. That reality
shapes everything from budgeting to long-term planning.
That’s where McKenrick’s background— leading
complex organizations with a strong focus on budget
and resources— comes into play. That uniqueness also
means GMC must advocate for itself. “We spend a lot of
time going back and forth to Atlanta— to the Office of
Planning and Budget, to the House and Senate budget
teams, to key legislators, the governor and lieutenant
governor— to advocate for our budget.”
MEMBERS OF GMC'S CORPS OF CADETS MAKE THEIR WAY THROUGH CAMPUS.
Affordability and Access
At the junior college level, GMC serves about 11,000
students across its campuses and GMC Online. The
vast majority are Georgia residents, and many are the
first in their families to attend college.
“Eighty percent of our junior college students are
first-generation college students,” the general said. “They
come from low-income backgrounds. They could not
afford to attend college if they did not have financial aid,
and we pride ourselves on keeping tuition low so that it
is affordable for those students and their families.”
But like every institution, GMC is grappling with
rising costs— especially in healthcare and retirement
benefits for state-mandated programs.
“In the last three years, the state healthcare insurance costs have gone up 137 percent,” McKenrick said.
“The retirement plan costs have gone up 54 percent in
that same timeframe. That has caused us, as an organization, to have $6.2 million in unforecasted costs. We’ve
had to reorganize, seek efficiencies and reduce our
staff and faculty by 18 percent over the last three years
because of those additional costs.”
Listening first
McKenrick arrived as GMC’s 22nd president last
June and expects, like his predecessors, to serve for a
decade or more. The Board of Trustees, his governing
body, “expects me to develop a strategic plan and initiatives— our way forward as an institution,” he said. “I see
that as a process that begins with listening.”
Shortly after taking office, GMC launched a broad
survey to gather input from every corner of its community: students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, community
members and the Board of Trustees. “We asked what
they thought about how we’re doing today and what
we should be doing for the future— where they think we
can improve,” McKenrick said.
From there, the college assembled a team made up
of vice presidents from across the organization, ensuring
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