This year’s meeting has been affectionately termed “GCTA Lite” for two main reasons:

It’s “lite” on length: the conference is one day instead of two. 
It’s “lite” on cost: the conference fee is only $5 per attendee.

The 2009 Georgia College Testing Association meeting will be held on Friday, May 15, 2009, beginning with check-in and a continental breakfast from 8:30 am – 9:30 am and ending at approximately 3:30 pm.  A tasty lunch will be served from 12:45 pm – 1:30 pm.

Ray Olivier, Georgia Military College, will serve as the host.  Rather than meeting at his institution, we have opted for a “lite” atmosphere and will meet at the Homestead, one of the oldest and largest of the Federal homes in Milledgeville.  The home was used as the Executive Mansion in 1866 while the Old Governor’s mansion was being renovated and is now a private residence belonging to Ray and his wife, Joyce.  The home is such that it is large enough for our group to meet comfortably for both general and breakout sessions. A brief history of the home, directions to the Homestead, and parking information are included separately.

A list of area hotels and contact numbers has also been included for those whose budgets allow them to come the evening before the meeting.  No specific hotel is recommended over any other.

The meeting agenda is tentatively scheduled as follows:

8:30 am – 9:30 am                  Check-in and continental breakfast
9:35 am – 10:00 am                Welcome, announcements, and other business
10:10 am – 11:10 am              General Session: Lessons Learned/Avoiding Testing Mistakes
11:20 am – 12:35 pm              General Session: COMPASS and ACT Updates, Frank Potter
12:45 pm – 1:30 pm                Lunch, sponsored by ACT
1:45 pm – 2:45 pm                  Breakout sessions for USG, TCSG, and private school attendees
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm                  Closing session, election results, 2010 plans, and other business

DIRECTIONS TO THE MEETING SITE AND PARKING INFORMATION:

The GCTA meeting on Friday, May 15, will be held at the Homestead, 240 West Washington Street (southeast corner of Washington and Liberty Streets), in Milledgeville, Georgia.

Once in Milledgeville, locate the Georgia College and State University campus bordered by Clark Street (west), Montgomery Street (north), Wilkinson Street (east) and Hancock Street (south).

1. Take Clark Street going south past the Old Governor’s Mansion and through the light at the intersection of Clark and Greene Streets.
2. Go one block further on Clark Street and turn left on Washington Street.
3. Go one block east on Washington Street to the intersection of Washington and Liberty.
4. Turn right onto Liberty. You may park on either side of Liberty Street or in the parking lot of the First Baptist Church located at the east side of Liberty Street. The Homestead is the large frame home located next to the Church. Attendees may go around to the front of the home and enter for sign-in at the ground floor east entrance. The rear entrance to the home is handicapped accessible.

HISTORY OF THE HOME:
The Homestead, one of the oldest and largest of the Federal Homes in Milledgeville, was built in 1818 by Peter Jones Williams as the base for his family and center of his business enterprises (a grist mill, three local hotels and 300,000 acres of timbered land in South Georgia). Besides being a family residence the Homestead had the distinction of being rented by the state in 1866 for use as the Executive Mansion while the Old Governor’s mansion on Clark Street was being repaired and renovated. The design of the home reflects Mr. Williams’ Virginia boyhood and his Savannah adolescence; it has a Georgian room plan with a Palladian front and Virginia tidewater rear porch and sits on a raised English basement ground floor. The front yard is a formal boxwood arrangement of a circle within a square and front edged with cedars, a period 1820 planting design. The house is furnished with an assortment of period furnishings from the collections of the Williams, Ferguson, and Olivier families. The home is presently owned and maintained as a private residence by Ray and Joyce Olivier de Vezin.

AREA HOTELS/MOTELS (variable rates; government or AARP discounts often available); please note that no specific hotel is being recommended over any other: 

• Comfort Inn, 2592 N. Columbia, 478-453-8471
• Hampton Inn, 2461 N. Columbia, 478-451-0050
• Holiday Inn Express, 1839 N. Columbia, 478-454-9000
• Ramada Limited, 2627 N. Columbia, 478-452-3502
• Scottish Inn, 2474 N. Columbia, 478-453-9491

Ray Olivier
Conference Host
Georgia Military College
phone: 478-445-2717
email: rolivier@gmc.cc.ga.us