The system supplement: a monthly report of the Georgia Board of Regents, Vol. 32, no. 3 (Mar. 1996)

Vol. 32, No. 3 - MARCH 1996
r Full Speed Ahead r Globally Speaking r Gifted students get early start at Advanced Academy of Georgia r On Campus
s Professors tapped for NASA space project s Two University System students among USA Today's Top 20 s System grad schools top national rankings
Full Speed Ahead
Momentum continues with the approval of the FY '97 Budget
Thanks to the support of Governor Zell Miller and the Georgia General Assembly, the Board of Regents will be in a position to continue and enhance the momentum it built last year. In a tough budget year, which included a tax cut, redirection and reductions in many agencies, the University System was provided with the fiscal support to continue full speed ahead.
The Board of Regents FY '97 Budget was funded in all requested categories. Though in some instances funding was approved at a reduced level, the goals outlined in the Strategic Plan will continue with legislative support.
"Many of the innovative and vital initiatives which we launched last year will be built upon and expanded, as we strive to make comprehensive changes in Georgia's system of public colleges and universities," Chancellor Portch wrote in a memo to members of the General Assembly.
"You have made higher education a continuing priority in Georgia, providing this state's students and citizens access to an unprecedented level of services. For your commitment to educational excellence, I thank you."
Indeed, the news is good. An allocation of $64.9 million means System faculty and staff can look forward to an average 6 percent merit salary increase for the third year in a row. Additional formula funding in the amount of $18.9 million will allow the System to maintain quality while managing expanded capacity as enrollment continually increases.
The lawmakers' support of the Major Repair and Rehabilitation initiative, with an allocation of $6.3 million, will allow the Board of Regents to protect the state's investment in the University System's physical plant infrastructure-a tremendous asset composing 55 percent of the state's facilities.

But it is students who will benefit the most from the new budget. The funding of several special initiatives will ensure that more students will arrive in college prepared to succeed, thanks to the Pre-School- College (P-16) initiative; that graduate education will achieve new levels of excellence and that students will be taught by faculty who are trained to use the newest technology found in state-of-the art classrooms. (For a summary of all Special Initiatives funding, see chart below).
In the final days of the session, the Board's strategic planning and accountability efforts proved vital in generating support for the budget.
"Good job, Board of Regents!" read the headline for an editorial by Rep. Tracy Stallings in the Carroll Star News, who was impressed with the Regents' Accountability Report summarizing System accomplishments made possible by last year's funding. Rep. Stallings wrote: "We need to continue to be diligent in providing the resources and then to build a system of education in Georgia that's headed toward national preeminence . . ."
The Atlanta Journal lent its support to the Pre-School-College (P-16) initiative in an editorial which called it a program that shows real promise for ensuring that students attend college prepared.
"Yes, these are tight times for the state budget, but for less than it costs to build a mile of highway, lawmakers can fund a milestone in education improvement," the editorial read.
Chancellor Stephen R. Portch, who at the beginning of the legislative session promised members of the General Assembly that he would shave his head if the Board of Regents received all funding for its budget, was enthusiastically looking forward to the next year and his new coiffure. "It may be mohawk or flat-top time!" he announced in a memo to members of the Board of Regents.

Special Funding Initiatives

Initiative

FY '97 Budget Funding

Professional Developement $1,000,000

Distinguished Teachers

1,350,000

Graduate Education

3,887,370

Pre-School-College (P-16) 300,000

Facility Master Plans

450,000

Major Repair & Rehabilitation 6,300,000

Model classrooms

3,000,000

Central Office

180,000

Globally Speaking
Internationalizing Education Directive aims to open the world's doors for University System of Georgia students
Georgia's long-standing claim to international status received a big credibility boost with the 1996 Olympics. The games' legacy to the state will be increased international prominence for Georgia. But if Georgians are to claim this inheritance and realize its benefits, the state's public institutions and private businesses will have to do some work. For the University System of Georgia, that means implementing the Board's Policy Direction on Internationalizing Education.
"Georgia is coming of age in terms of international investment and business," said Georgia College President Edwin G. Speir, Jr., who serves as chairman of the Council for International Education. "The social and economic goals of the state are matched by the University System's emphasis on international education."
Speir notes that the initiative reflects the Board's strategic vision. "The Board's focus on international education as a real need has had a strong impact," Speir said. "We are seeing, system-wide, much more participation and interest."
Formed in 1995 and composed of individuals who represent University System institutions, business, government and other internationally-oriented agencies, the Council has worked quickly to assess what must be done system-wide to infuse a global perspective into campus life.
Two of the most critical areas the System must improve if international education is to be real steak on the menu and not just sizzle are the number of students and faculty who participate in study abroad and development programs.
In 1995, 1,205 students from all 34 campuses, or 0.5 percent of the total student population, participated in study abroad programs. The Council's goal is to have two percent of total System students participating in study abroad programs by the year 2000.
There are similar goals for faculty development. There were 78 faculty or 0.87 percent who participated in international faculty development programs in 1995. But by 1997, the Council wants a 2 percent participation rate.
It will take more than numbers on paper to realize these goals, and the Council has developed strategies relating to new study abroad goals, the infusion of an international perspective into the core curriculum, the establishment of "centers of excellence" in other countries, business partnerships and overall organizational structure.
The most striking of these strategies is a technology-based initiative now on-line. The Global Information Network brings system-wide international resources to the fingertips of any student or faculty member.
By typing in the Network's World Wide Web address: http://www.gsu.edu/~rgcjhp/cie.html, users can access information on the Council for International Education, an international faculty survey, faculty development opportunities, curriculum, the current calendar, study abroad programs, international students and institutions, business and System institutions. They also can connect to the GALILEO network.
Developed in tandem with new study abroad guidelines, the Network will open up opportunities for international study throughout the System. "We are by definition 'provincial' on our individual campuses," said Speir. "At the two- and four-years schools, there seldom exists the critical mass of students to run a study abroad program, it's just not cost-effective," he said.
The new guidelines will create opportunities by eliminating current rules that make it difficult, if not impossible, for students attending one institution to register for a study abroad program offered on another campus. And the Network lets everyone know what's available. "This infrastructure will have a real impact," said John Preston, executive director of the Council for International Education. "This enables system-wide participation."
But getting more students involved will take more than just increased communication and easier rules. Speir notes that student enthusiasm and awareness is directly related to the enthusiasm of faculty.
"Once we increase the number of faculty who are able to pursue professional development abroad, we then will see a larger core of committed individuals on the campus who will communicate the benefits of study abroad to students," Speir said.
To increase the number of students and faculty who study abroad, new partnerships must be developed with business, says Preston. Two of the Council's strategies work toward this goal: the Centers for Excellence and Business Partnerships.
The Centers for Excellence are developed with the Council's four geographic councils-Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asiawhich develop cost-effective faculty development and collaborative international research and service projects. "We create partnerships with other agencies that have similar agendas and with business," said Speir. So far, Centers for Excellence have been initiated in Argentina, England and China.
Business support is crucial to the study abroad program. The Council has identified a goal of developing five new international initiatives with Georgia businesses by 1998. Currently business representatives are identifying needs for graduates.
Closer to home, one of the most critical components of the international education initiative is infusing world studies into the curriculum. "The international education initiative will move ahead in tandem with semester conversion and curriculum review," Speir said.
Gifted students get early start at Advanced Academy of Georgia

Three students enrolled in the Advanced Academy of Georgia, a residential program at West Georgia College for gifted highschool juniors and seniors, shared information about the Academy at the February meeting of the Board of Regents. Pictured left to right are Stewart Jenkins, Seth Raskind, Jena Gaskill, West Georgia President Dr. Beheruz Sethna and Academy Director Dr. Diane Boothe. The Academy began last fall and allows selected students to begin college while still in high school. Currently, 21 students are enrolled in the two-year program which allows them to attend college classes, live in campus residence halls and attend special enrichment activities.
Professors tapped for NASA space project
In addition to national preeminence, the University System of Georgia soon may make its mark on the interplanetary level. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded a grant to three faculty members of Georgia Southwestern University's department of geology and physics to design and develop an instrument package. The package, part of a small robotic spacecraft, would be flown on a mission to Mars or to other solar system bodies as part of NASA's Discovery Program. The proposed design will allow operators on Earth to determine elements and minerals present on a planetary or asteroid surface by remote control. The small spacecraft would be able to scoop up material from a planet or asteroid and analyze the material with the instruments on board.

Professors Bill Anderson, Phil Manker and Dan Askren, the three Georgia Southwestern scientists, will begin developing the instrument package this summer. They have been awarded a $45,000 grant for the first year of their work, with a $65,000 award expected to follow the second year.

Two University System students among USA Today's Top 20
They're future doctors, journalists and activists and some of the country's best and brightest students. Of the 20 college students selected from 1,231 nominees across the country by USA Today to join the 1996 All-USA College Academic First Team, two are from the University System of Georgia.
q Ayodele Embry, 21, a senior at the Georgia Institute of Technology is majoring in electrical engineering. She is the immediate past president of the Tech chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and was named NSBE's 1994 National Member of the Year and the 1995 Distinguished Fellow. Embry also is a Truman Scholar and will receive up to $30,000 in scholarship support.
q Robert Sutherland, 21, a senior at the University of Georgia, is pursuing two degrees, a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in conservation ecology and sustainable development. As profiled in the January issue of The System Supplement, Sutherland will study at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in the fall.
Outstanding intellectual achievement and leadership roles in activities on or off campus were the most important criteria in selecting the students. All students in the 1996 All-USA College Academic First Team will receive a $2,500 scholarship.
System grad schools top national rankings
Students who wish to pursue their master's or doctorate degrees in the country's best graduate schools need look no further than the University System of Georgia. Several System institutions made their mark in the areas of law, business, journalism, education, engineering and computer science in U.S. News and World Report magazine's annual survey of the top graduate schools. Eight of the System's programs ranked in the top 10 in the country; four at Georgia Tech alone. The magazine rankings were as follows:

Georgia Institute of Technology

Industrial/Manufacturing 1st

Graphics: User Interaction 1st

Aerospace

5th

Engineering

9th

Computer Science

18th

Business School

31st

Georgia State University Part-time M.B.A. 10th

University of Georgia

Public Relations 4th

Advertising

5th

Education

10th

Radio/Television 12th

Print Journalism 17th

Law School

27th

Business School 36th

UGA
A SOUND AWARD: University of Georgia political science professor John Anthony Maltese was one of the winners at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards. Maltese was involved in the making of "The Heifetz Collection," which won in the "Best Historical Album" category.
KENNESAW STATE
PHYS(ICS) ED.: About 250 middle-school students gathered at Kennesaw State College March 2 to see laser beams, learn how meteorologists predict the weather and watch robots at work. It was all part of Futurescape, a program to interest today's students in becoming tomorrow's scientists.
WEST GEORGIA
GOVERNOR'S RECOGNITION: Lewis Larson, professor of anthropology, is one of six recipients of the Governor's Award in the Humanities for 1996. Thomas Crawford, adjunct professor of geology, has been appointed to serve on the river assessment team of Gov. Zell Miller's River Care 2000 Program.
OFFICE OF MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS 270 Washington Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30334
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Last Updated: January 27, 2000 | Leave a Comment 2000 University System of Georgia Board of Regents