Legislative update: a briefing for faculty and staff of the University System of Georgia, No. 2 (Jan. 27, 1997)

Legislative Update: January 21, 1997

http://WWW.PeachNet.EDU/BORWEB/legup/jan2797.html

GA
Usoa.Rif
PI
1.-4iq97/~

LEGISLATIVE UfJDATE
:Wd.~ ~taff 01 the University System of Georgia
JJ"I\\f"rJtt:l~:):f:
No.2 -- January 27, 1997

"Chancellor Portch and his band" deliver budget request
University System of Georgia Chancellor Stephen R. Portch broke with tradition in delivering the Fiscal Year 1998 budget presentation to the Joint Appropriations Committee last week, by inviting seven University System presidents to co-present the System's budget recommendations.
Each president personalized an aspect ofthe request from their institutional perspective, marking the first time that campus chief executives had been invited by a chancellor to participate in the presentation of the budget to the General Assembly.
"I cannot thank the General Assembly and the Governor enough for your support, as we work to provide Georgians with the best system of public higher education in the country," Portch told the legislative committee members.
"It's a system that we can proudly showcase and market, and we are doing so." Portch also told the committee that he would not put them in the position of being "the bad guys by bringing you an unrealistic budget request whose purpose is to make myself and the Board of Regents look good, when you have to make the hard, honest evaluation and say no."
In addition to co-presenting with the presidents, Portch also introduced Dr. Anne Hudson of Armstrong Atlantic State University, who was named 1996 Professor ofthe Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Hudson, a professor of mathematics, was named "best professor at a master's university or college in the United States" by the prestigious Washington-based education association. In his remarks to the Committee, Portch said that teaching is the critical core of what the University System represents, and that Hudson "is representative of what being the best is all about."
The presidents who joined the chancellor in the budget request included: Jacquelyn Belcher of DeKalb College; Wayne Clough of Georgia Institute of Technology; Michael Hanes of Georgia Southwestern State University; Nicholas Henry of Georgia Southern University; Beheruz Sethna of State University of West Georgia; Harold Wade ofAtlanta Metropolitan College; and Joe Ben Welch ofMiddle Georgia College.
The budget presentation included discussion of the University System's commitment to budget redirection, including $25 million in System-level redirection and $33 million in institutional redirection from Budget Unit "A". Other highlights of the chancellor's and the presidents' presentation include the recommendations for:
~69.1 million for year three of the Governor's commitment to average six percent merit salary Increases;
A $23.5 million increase in the base ofthe formula funding, $19.8 for enrollment growth and $3.7 million for operating expenses.

10f2

01/28/9721 :53:25

Legislative Update: January 21, 1997

http://WWW.PeachNet.EDU/BORWEB/legup/jan2797.html

$126.3 million in bonds for 21 University System projects and one pass-through project, renovations on the Old Capitol at Georgia Military College at a cost of $4.5 million;

$15 million in lottery funds for the Equipment, Technology and Construction Trust Fund; and

Additional MR&R funding in the amount of $1 0.3 million, which would bring the ~

MR&R total to $42.9 million.

/ ' ~'4~

~ nnnn .~ Other elements ofthe budget highlighted in the presentation were the three new

Special Funding Initiatives, including: $900,000 for Facilities Master Plans; $8 million ?'?;- ,U UUU, *-i\!

for instructional technology and training; and $1.95 million for Partners in Success,

o"':'r'Ull.(';\!'-

initiatives aimed at middle and secondary school students in the state.

.

[ Search I USG Home Page INews]
[Board of Regents I OlIT I USG Institutions IUSG Resources I State Information I Other Resources]
Last Updated: January 28, 1997 Leave a Comment

20f2

01/28/9721:53:25