House Resolution 484 By: Representatives Park of the 107th, Hugley of the 141st, Miller of the 62nd, Cannon of the 58th, and Frye of the 122nd A RESOLUTION Recognizing and commending Georgia State University; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, Georgia State University, founded in 1913, is a premier urban research university focused on research, service, and advanced educational opportunities for more than 52,000 students; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University is an enterprising public research university in downtown Atlanta with satellite campuses in DeKalb, Fulton, and Newton counties; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University has been ranked the nation's number one public university for excellence in undergraduate teaching by U.S. News and World Report for five consecutive years; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University, a national leader in graduating students from widely diverse backgrounds, has been named among the top five "Most Innovative" universities in the country by U.S. News and World Report for a decade and counting; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University is recognized as a national leader in helping students reach their academic goals and, since 2003, has raised its six-year graduation rate by 74 percent; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University has received an $80 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the largest gift in university history, to embark on an ambitious campus transformation to integrate its downtown footprint and create vibrant, people-centered spaces for students and the city; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University continues its important role of producing new knowledge that transforms lives and communities thanks to a research portfolio that has invested more than $1.2 billion in research expenditures over the past six years; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University has broken ground on a new, nine-story, $100 million Research Tower on its Atlanta Campus that will expand its capacity for discovery and learning; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University's National Institute for Student Success (NISS) received a $2 million grant from the Ascendium Education Group that will enable the institute to provide its services to six Georgia colleges and universities, helping them identify and resolve institutional barriers to college completion; and WHEREAS, the United States Department of Education (DOE) has awarded the National Institute for Student Success (NISS) its first-ever Trailblazer Award, recognizing its success in increasing graduation rates through data-driven, evidence-based interventions and its impact on the field of student success nationally; and WHEREAS, more than 200 Georgia State University student-athletes achieved Sun Belt Conference academic honors for the 2023-24 academic year, including 130 student-athletes who earned a place on the Commissioner's List with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University's student-athletes collectively finished the year with a 3.39 grade point average, higher than the overall Sun Belt GPA; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University continues its important role in addressing critical quality-of-life issues through a highly active research community dedicated to uncovering new knowledge in cancer, heart disease, mental health, public health, and more, earning nearly $186 million in research funding in Fiscal Year 2024; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University has a $3.2 billion economic impact on metro Atlanta each year; and WHEREAS, Georgia State University has adopted a ten-year strategic plan focused on four initiatives: Student Success 2.0; Identity, Placemaking and Belonging; Innovating Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity; and Beyond College to Career; and WHEREAS, nearly two dozen initiatives have been launched under the BluePrint to 2033 strategic plan and are being implemented under each pillar. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body recognize and commend Georgia State University for its all-around success in 2024 and the pride and prestige it brought to the students, staff, and alumni of Georgia State University. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to make an appropriate copy of this resolution available for distribution to Georgia State University.