Published Saturday, December 26, 2009

Newnan's Brewton-Parker program not impacted

By Winston Skinner

The Newnan Times-Herald

Brewton-Parker College is making significant cuts to spending -- and programs -- but the slicing is not expected to cause a reduction of the college's program in Newnan.

Brewton-Parker is a private, four-year college affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention. BPC's main campus is at Mt.Vernon-Ailey in south Georgia.

There has been a satellite Brewton-Parker program at Central Educational Center in Newnan since August 2005. The first class of graduates from the local program got their diplomas in August 2007.

Kelley Arnold, director of news and public information for the college and interim marketing director, could not be reached for comment. An outline of the cuts was, however, detailed in a front page article in The Christian Index on Dec. 17.

The Index is an official publication of the Georgia Baptist Convention. In the article, Joe Westbury, managing editor, for the Index detailed the following changes at Brewton-Parker:

* elimination of more than half the college's majors at the end of this past semester. The semester ended Dec. 19.

Brewton-Parker offered 39 degree programs at the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year. That number has been reduced to 18. The Index reported the change will affect only about 116 of BPC's 1,049 students.

Brewton-Parker has had a well known music program for years. The college is eliminating the bachelor of music degree, but will continue to offer a church music program.

Dr. David R. Smith, Brewton-Parker's president, was quoted in The Index as hoping some music programs might be restored "in better financial circumstances in the future."

* closing of most of the school's external campuses, including those in Hinesville and at Norman Park. "The Newnan location will be kept," Westbury wrote.

More coursework for students not at BPC's main campus is being offered online.

The college's trustees made the decisions about the cuts followed a study by a committee appointed by the trustee chairman, chair of the faculty assembly and Smith.

According to the Index, Brewton-Parker has been offering classes in Liberty county for about 20 years, opening the Hinesville campus in 1999. Enrollment there has plummeted from 350 to about 150.

The college is selling the Hinesville property.

Brewton-Parker came to Coweta County after several months of discussion and visits to the area by Smith and other college officials. BPC was the first private college to offer a significant satellite program in Newnan.

Mercer University, a school with Baptist roots but no longer affiliated with GBC, will be offering classes at Central Educational Center in the fall. The University of West Georgia and West Georgia Technical College are public institutions offering coursework locally.

Brewton-Parker reduced its combined tuition and fee rate for Coweta students to $217 per semester hour from $420 earlier this year. Freshmen were able to "lock in" the rate for four years of study.

In 2008, Brewton-Parker signed articulation agreements with three area state technical schools -- West Central Technical College, West Georgia Technical College and Griffin Technical College that will will allow students to transfer a wide range of credits from the technical programs to Brewton-Parker toward a bachelor's degree in technical management.

WCTC and WGTC have since merged.

There have been several showings of community support for BPC since the Coweta County program began. The first Starr Miller Memorial Scholarships were awarded to Brewton-Parker students in three areas of study -- education, business and ministry -- in 2007. The scholarships were named for Dr. Starr Miller, who twice served as president of Brewton-Parker and who spent his retirement years in Coweta County.

In September, the Coweta Community Foundation presented a series of grants to community organizations including $500 to go toward purchase of a laptop and LCD projector for Brewton-Parker's local program.

A number of Cowetans are graduates of Brewton-Parker. Smith recently visited with BPC alumni at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Among those attending the dinner were Suzanne Emeott McWhorter, who grew up in Newnan, and her husband, Ryan McWhorter.