Vol. 32, No. 8 - NOVEMBER 1996 
q Managing Change: New Planning Process Promotes Proactive System q Two University System faculty honored in national "Professor of the Year" program q On Campus 
r Eastern European visit builds economic bridges between USG, other institutions r Resumes go on-line at clayton State q New Waycross College president addresses Board 
Managing Change: New Planning Process Promotes Proactive System 
Georgia's growing population and the evolving needs of business have long range implications for the University System's enrollment, academic programming and capital resource needs. 
In response, the Board has initiated a trend-setting comprehensive planning process that will make the System much more proactive, both in adapting to change and meeting needs into the beginning of the 21st century. 
This yearlong planning process builds upon the priorities set forth in the Board's Strategic Plan and focus on the overall goal of continuing to provide both access and excellence to Georgians, whether they are students, citizens, business owners or in state and local government. 
Board Chair Thomas Allgood told the Board that the purpose of comprehensive planning is to "meet the needs of the state by maximizing the full potential of existing resources." 
Over the next months, the board will assess population trends and workforce and facilities needs. The final outcome will be the development of an academic planning model and optimal enrollment figures for consideration by the Board. 
"To achieve our desired level of excellence and to provide quality services, the driving forces of finances and academics must be mastered," said Chancellor Stephen Portch. "Comprehensive planning will make this possible." 
The planning process can be broken down into two main areas; "analyzing the present" and "thinking about the future," Senior Vice Chancellor James Muyskens explained to the Board at their October meeting. 
In the Board's ongoing analysis of the present, they have heard reports on Georgia demographics, System enrollment dynamics, the costs of providing academic programs to students at each institution, the optimal size range for institutions and the role of distance learning in delivering academic programs. 
All of these factors have been integrated into a set of planning assumptions that deal with the future. One assumption that has been made is that the System will experience growth and change. And it is the System's reaction to this growth and change that will be critical. "We want to manage change, not be managed by it," Chancellor Stephen Portch said. "If we have explosive growth, we will not be able to maintain quality." 
Analyzing the present - planning assumptions 
Muyskens outlined some general assumptions as a beginning framework for the Board's discussion. He said the Board should "define in the broadest terms what the University System expects the future to hold within the framework of the vision, mission and principles of our strategic plan. The assumptions reflect general constraints and opportunities based on an analysis of what we know about the future; what we do not know; what we can change; and what we cannot change." 
Some of these planning assumptions are: 
q The population of Georgia will continue to grow at a rate greater than that of the U.S. q Enrollment demand for the System will increase. q Competition for state resources will continue and increase. q Distance learning technologies will be used increasingly to deliver instruction and services. q Technology-based educational delivery will increase student flexibility and choice, increase competition among the 
providers, and within five years lead to the beginnings of new structures for delivery. q Changing workforce needs will vary the demand for academic and professional preparation for students of all ages. q Economic development will play an increasingly important role in higher educational programming, delivery and service 
in the System. 
Analyzing the present - planning principles 
Another part of the planning process is the Board's establishment of planning principles, whose purpose, Muyskens said, is to "provide direction to the decision-making process by establishing the linkage between the planning assumptions made and System priorities." 
Some planning principles are: 
q An optimal size range, based on current and projected resources and enrollment demand, should be identified for each institution. 
q The System should promote enrollment growth at those institutions that are below optimal size, have unused or underutilized capacity, and can ensure quality programs. 
q New programs should be identified for the System based upon state need and other factors. q The modernization or renovation of existing facilities or the construction of new facilities should occur according to 
planning priorities based on academic program needs, enrollment needs, and consideration of cost-effectiveness. 
Thinking about the future 
As the Board moves from finalizing assumptions to analyzing implications for the future, Muyskens said a number of questions will develop. He previewed some of these possible questions. 
q How will social and economic changes in Georgia affect the System's instruction, research and public service? q How do we simultaneously maintain excellence and increase access? q How is planning affected by existing commitments to institutional locations and missions? q How should space availability influence the establishment of new academic programs? q How can we balance enrollment demand with facilities and program availability? 
Next steps 
Following the October presentation of Georgia demographic trends, System enrollment dynamics and projections, the current distance learning infrastructure and costs per student in relation to campus size, the Board instructed the Chancellor to begin developing principles for setting enrollment targets. 
These principles will be outlined at the November Board meeting. Board members also will hear an economic forecast by Georgia Tech's Donald Ratajczak, and a report on the System's benchmark business survey by Assistant Vice Chancellor Annie Hunt Burriss. 
Two University System faculty honored in national "Professor of the Year" program 
Dr. Anne L. Hudson is national honoree; Dr. David J. McGill is Georgia recipient 
Unlike college basketball's annual "final four," the final four individuals named in the annual "Professor of the Year" awards are all first-place winners. 
And with the recent October announcement of the 1996 national honorees, the University System's own Dr. Anne L. Hudson, professor of mathematics at Armstrong Atlantic State University, was named as the "best professor at a master's university or college in the United States." 
In addition to Dr. Hudson's selection to the national list, the annual awards also name a professor of the year for each state - and the Peach State 1996 recipient is Georgia Tech's Dr. David J. McGill, a professor in the School of Aerospace Engineering and the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. 
The awards for teaching excellence are a project of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). 
This is the 16th anniversary of the program, which salutes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country - those who excel as teachers and influence the lives and careers of their students. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious awards honoring professors. The four national winners each receive a $5,000 cash award from the Carnegie Foundation. 
Dr. Hudson and the other three winners - Dean A. Zollman, Kansas State University; Robert H. Kaplan, Reed College (Portland, Oregon); and Sally Foster Wallace, Parkland College (Champaign, Illinois) - were profiled in the October 11 edition of USA Today. 
Anne L. Hudson 
Dr. Hudson was the first woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics from Tulane University. Her commitment to teaching has become the hallmark of her career. She left a tenured position at Syracuse University to move back to her native south and become more involved in guiding students to, as she says, "understand the excitement and beauty along with the practicality of the [mathematics] discipline." 
This goal has led her to create new and exciting ways of learning math. The combination of her informal seminars and the organization of a popular lunch colloquium has proven inspirational. Whether the subjects are Random Number Generators, The Chaos Theory, or Why a Million Dollar Jackpot Isn't Really, Dr. Hudson involves all of those around her in the miracle of mathematical science. 
"Dr. Hudson has a natural talent for exciting her students about the material she teaches," said Christina Wohlert, a former student of Hudson's. "Dr. Hudson was always willing to spend as much time as necessary outside of class to assist students. She really teaches from the heart." 
In addition to teaching nearly all math courses at Armstrong Atlantic, Dr. Hudson also is the organizer of Georgia's statewide high school mathematics tournament, held annually at the university. 
In 1994, Dr. Hudson was the faculty director of the six-member high-school U.S. Mathematics Olympiad squad, which won that year's international competition in Hong Kong with perfect scores. 
Dr. Hudson has won awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics from the national (1993) and regional (1992) offices of the Mathematical Association of America. In 1987, the Armstrong Atlantic Alumni Association named her Outstanding Faculty Member. 
David J. McGill 
Dr. McGill, the 1996 Georgia Professor of the Year, is literally a teacher's teacher. He has devoted much of the last decade to helping young Georgia Tech faculty improve their teaching skills. McGill and other state winners were selected from nearly 585 faculty members nominated by 451 universities and colleges. 
"I've been in the business of teaching for 35 years - 30 of them at Georgia Tech," said Dr. McGill. "The award is, in part, a recognition of Georgia Tech's efforts and the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning's (CETL) efforts to improve the teaching and learning process at Tech. It is really an award for all the people at Tech who try to teach better." 
In addition to teaching at least one course per year in civil engineering and aerospace engineering, Dr. McGill is the full time director of CETL, which helps Georgia Tech faculty develop their teaching skills. 
"He doesn't use fancy words or movements, but Dr. McGill makes boring subjects into great lectures," said Katherine Lin, a 1994 electrical engineering graduate. "The students learn a lot of material, and they learn better with Dr. McGill. Because of that, his class is always the first to fill up every quarter." 
Eastern European visit builds economic bridges between USG, other institutions 
A number of University system faculty and staff participated in a unique higher education cooperative project, "Building Bridges Initiative," sponsored by six higher education associations and funded by USAID. 
One of the more unique aspects was the cooperation of public and private post-secondary institutions in the venture, which over the period of October 11 - 20 traveled to and met with academic leaders of colleges and universities in Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the Ukraine. 
The U.S. visitors were hosted by the Association of the Carpathian Region Universities (ACRU), an integrated network of universities in this region. The ACRU has as one of its goals promotion of development opportunities. 
Those who made the trip were invited to discuss the role of higher education in community and economic development. While this is a role that is well developed in the United States, it has received little attention in eastern Europe. 
"There exists no tradition of connecting higher education and economic development in the eastern bloc of the old Soviet regime," said Annie Hunt Burriss, assistant vice chancellor of Development and Economic Services for the University System. 
"This was an opportunity to extend our expertise with the public service concept to a region with emerging free market conditions. The Carpathian region offers us some extraordinary trade and development opportunities," Burriss said. 
Participating from the System were President Jerry Ashcroft, East Georgia College; Dr. James Saville, Darton College; President Foster Watkins, Gainesville College; President Ed Speir and Dr. Mark Pelton, Georgia College & State University; President Nicholas Henry and Dr. Zia Hashmi, Georgia Southern University; President Betty Siegel and Dr. Barbara Calhoun, Kennesaw State University; Dr. Bill Miller and Dr. Stewart Odend'hal, the University of Georgia; and Burriss. 
Resumes go on-line at Clayton State 
Don't tell a group of students at Clayton State College that their resume has to be typed on a boring sheet of paper. 
Eight students in one of Dr. Bob Siegmann's computer information classes are ahead of the curve when it comes to knocking on the doors of the 21st Century world of work. 
As the culmination of their work in the Information Systems Policy course, the students were required to design unique multimedia resumes using text, sound, image and video - all "burned" (in the technical jargon) on a CD-ROM. 
In order to create the special resumes, students needed to learn to use new hardware and software. They then used these new technical skills in combination with creativity to make up their resume. 
One student recorded a video clip of her former boss, who provided an on-camera recommendation of her abilities and performance. 
It is too early to report whether any of the students have landed a position based on the resumes they created. 
But the innovative use of technology and teaching have attracted some national attention. "Syllabus," a national magazine on the uses of technology in education, recently published an article by Siegmann on the class. 
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC 
SPECIAL SCHOLARSHIPS: Savannah history has been made in the form of a $1.3 million gift to Armstrong Atlantic State University from the estate of alumna Eleanor Boyd. As specified by Boyd, the gift will be used for scholarships, including graduate students and those who have had their education delayed or interrupted by family or work obligations. 
UGA 
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: The University of Georgia's Business Outreach Services office was honored last month as International Trade Center of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. 
GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE UNIV. 
AD AWARDS: Georgia College and State University's office of Institutional Relations was repeatedly recognized at the 11th Annual 1996 Admissions Advertising Awards, garnering recognition in newspaper, newspaper and magazine advertising. 
New Waycross College president addresses Board 
Dr. Barbara P. Losty, who became only the second president of Waycross College in June, addressed the Board of Regents at its October meeting. 
"I want to thank the Board of Regents for entrusting me with the position of president," Losty said. "I feel as if I've been preparing for this position for over 20 years." 
Dr. Losty comes to the University System of Georgia from Thomas Edison State College, in Trenton, New Jersey, where she served as associate dean of human service degrees. There, she was responsible for oversight of bachelor's and associate degree programs for 800 adult learners. 
Prior to joining Thomas Edison, Losty served as head of the University of Wisconsin Center-Sheboygan from 1985 to 1991. Previously, she held several posts at Shephens College in Columbia, Missouri, moving from assistant professor of psychology to associate dean of the faculty. 
As president of Waycross College, Losty succeeds Dr. James Dye, who served as founding president of the institution from 1975 until his retirement in 1995. 
Losty joked that despite the college's small size and a name that places it at the bottom of every alphabetical list of System institutions, she is grateful for the Regents' continued support of the college. 
"You have recognized that diversity of institutional size and mission expands choices for the citizens of Georgia," Losty told the Regents. "We deeply appreciate that." 
Losty earned her doctorate in child and developmental psychology from the University of Connecticut. 
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