{"684965":{"#nid":"684965","#data":{"type":"news","title":"State of the College is \u2018Fantastic,\u0027 New Dean Says","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew Ivan Allen College Dean Amanda Murdie had a simple message in her first address to the IAC community: \u201cThe state of the College, our college, the Ivan Allen College, is fantastic, and it looks like it\u2019s just getting better.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMurdie offered that assessment at the end of a nearly 40-minute address in which she highlighted the many successes of the College and its faculty, staff, and students over the past year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m so happy with what I\u2019ve seen so far,\u201d Murdie said. \u201cI\u2019m so excited for the future of the college. And I really think we are at the heart of Georgia Tech\u0027s mission.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mediaspace.gatech.edu\/media\/Ivan+Allen+State+of+the+College+Fall+2025\/1_aat5p2ju?st=170\u0022\u003EView a video of the address\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the successes mentioned by Murdie are the all-time high level of degrees awarded, soaring interest in attending the College, Fall course enrollments that are higher than the Georgia Tech average and, of course, Murdie\u2019s own Ivan Alen Advantage initiative highlighting the high return on investment for liberal arts students at Georgia Tech when compared to their peers at other Georgia public research institutions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYour return on investment is better if you get your degree here at Tech than if you were to go to a comparable school anywhere else in the state,\u201d she said. \u201cThose students are getting a better return on investment, a better salary one year, five years, and 10 years out if they got their degree at Tech than if they went elsewhere, and this, I think, is really our Ivan Allen Advantage.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe also highlighted the School of Economics\u2019 ranking as the No. 1 public university in Georgia for economics students, expansion of the GTDC program, and expanded academic offerings through several new minors, including the Minor in Science, Communication, and Policy and the Minor in the Business of Sports and Entertainment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMurdie noted that the College\u2019s research output remains high and touted the success of the School of Public Policy and the School of Economics for reaching their Transforming Tomorrow fundraising goals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI am excited to be your cheerleader-in-chief for the next year, to share this message both on campus, across the state, and around the world,\u201d Murdie said.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe state of the College, our college, the Ivan Allen College, is fantastic, and it looks like it\u2019s just getting better,\u0022 Dean Amanda Murdie said at her first State of the College address.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u201cThe state of the College, our college, the Ivan Allen College, is fantastic and it looks like it\u2019s just getting better,\u0022 Dean Amanda Murdie said at her first State of the College address."}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2025-09-17 14:08:27","changed_gmt":"2025-09-17 14:52:40","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-09-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-09-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678039":{"id":"678039","type":"image","title":"Murdie-sotc.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThe state of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts is \u0022fantastic,\u0022 Dean Amanda Murdie said at her first annual address to the community.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1758118122","gmt_created":"2025-09-17 14:08:42","changed":"1758118122","gmt_changed":"2025-09-17 14:08:42","alt":"Dean Amanda Murdie speaks with an American flag and white Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts banner in the background.","file":{"fid":"262017","name":"Murdie-sotc.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/09\/17\/Murdie-sotc.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/09\/17\/Murdie-sotc.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":333585,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/09\/17\/Murdie-sotc.jpg?itok=lcU8paLN"}}},"media_ids":["678039"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMichael Pearson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}