Vol. 37, No. 8, October 2000
q Regents Meet at South Georgia College q Georgia State Astronomers Reach for the Stars with Powerful Telescopes q GALILEO Celebrates First Five Years q On Campus
r Gainesville College Magazine a Winner r Savannah State Student Helps Plan Honda Challenge r Federal Grant Funds UGA Project Designed to 'Reinvent' Teacher Education r Fort Valley Foundation First to Offer SBA Loan Program r Augusta State University Dedicates New Science Building r Regional Engineering Program Moves to Larger Location q No More Counting the Days 'til Graduation q System's Library Administrative Staff Expands q Closer Scrutiny Slated for Academic Reviews
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Regents Meet at South Georgia College
Analysis Begins of Extensive Benchmarking Study Data
How well do University System of Georgia students perform on the Scholastic Achievement Test? How diverse are the student bodies of USG institutions with regard to race and gender? Are the System's part-time students being served adequately?
These topics were among the issues tackled in October as the Board of Regents began dissecting the volumes of information gathered in its comprehensive benchmarking process.
A key outcome of this initial analysis was the proposed creation of a new task force that will investigate ways to attract a diverse student population to Georgia's three historically black colleges. Several other items also were identified for further consideration by the board during its next phase of strategic planning.
The Board of Regents October meeting was held on the campus of South Georgia College in Douglas, Ga., the second of two board meetings held on a System campus this year. The board heard its first in-depth report regarding the benchmarking data during a meeting of the Regents' Strategic Planning Committee. That Committee will be responsible for tackling the voluminous data throughout the current academic year. The process is expected to culminate in July with policy recommendations and an action plan to achieve recommended goals. The benchmarking data was analyzed to determine which of the System's 34 institutions are "outlying" - falling "above" or "below" the normative range of peer institutions used to benchmark the System's performance.
The Georgia Institute of Technology can take a bow for being the only "outlying" institution in the University's System's "research sector," with regard to SAT performance, according to Dr. Daniel S. Papp, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. Tech students had a composite SAT score of 1,304, compared to such peer institutions as Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1,167) and the University of Florida (1,267).
In the regional/state university sector of USG institutions, the System's three historically black universities (Albany State, Fort Valley State and Savannah State universities) performed below their USG sector peers; however, when matched against other HBCUs in their identified benchmarking group, their performance was consistent with the normative range.
Two recommendations were formed as a result of the institutional SAT scores. Papp suggested that the Board re-visit the regional/state university sector data after full implementation of its Admission Policy Direction in 2001, and that System officials continue working with the three HBCUs on the progress being made with that sector's SAT scores. The benchmarking study indicates that The University of Georgia, with an African-American enrollment of 6.4 percent, performed within the normative range regarding race and ethnicity, while Georgia Tech (9.2 percent) and Georgia State University (30.9 percent) performed above the normative range. (The Medical College of Georgia, the USG's fourth research institution, was not counted in this data because of its very low enrollment of undergraduate students.)
However, the demographic composition of Georgia - being close to 30 percent African American - places that data in a different light, as the out-of-state peer institutions against which the above three institutions were benchmarked are located in communities with lower African-American populations.
In any case, Chancellor Stephen R. Portch said, "we cannot be satisfied with simply achieving the national average. We have to meet our own unique state needs."
The System's three HBCUs also were identified as "outlying" institutions in the regional/state university category for their African-American enrollment.
In announcing the creation of the task force that will study ways to diversify the student populations of these institutions, Portch said, "There is educational value in studying with people that are different than yourself."
The racial data also addressed the disproportionate enrollment of African-American males, which stands at 37.5 percent in the University System, compared to 45.1 percent Caucasian/non-Hispanic male enrollment. Papp recommended that the board include this issue and increased diversity among its future strategic-planning concerns.
Guests of Honor The Board of Regents and others who converged on Douglas, Ga., for the October board meeting, were well received by officials of South Georgia College and local civic leaders. Pictured are (left to right): Regents Connie Cater, Edgar L. Jenkins, Kenneth W. Cannestra, John Hunt, and Joe Frank Harris, Chancellor Stephen R. Portch, South Georgia College President Edward D. Jackson Jr., and Regents Hugh A. Carter Jr., Chairman Glenn S. White, Martin W. NeSmith, Donald M. Leeburn Jr., and Joel O. Wooten Jr.
Statistics on the enrollment of part-time students in the System indicate that this special population is not being served adequately. Papp recommended further evaluation of "how well USG institutions meet the needs of these and other non-traditional students," and whether existing services reflect "best practices."
Part-time students also figured in a discussion of USG appropriations and tuition revenues per "full-time equivalent" (FTE) student. Noting that part-timers require more resources than full-time students, William R. Bowes, interim vice chancellor for fiscal affairs at the Board of Regents, recommended analyzing the relationship between an institution's part-time-student enrollment and funding per FTE student.
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Georgia State Astronomers Reach for the Stars with Powerful Telescopes
In the arid hills of Mt. Wilson, Calif., large white domes pop out of the surface like metal and concrete mushrooms. These domes house a series of powerful telescopes and optical imaging equipment that soon will give researchers a frontrow seat to the universe. Nestled in the San Gabriel Mountains, the array of six telescopes that comprise Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA)is the only one of its kind operated by a U.S. university. It also is one of the world's most powerful optical stellar instruments, more powerful than the Hubble Telescope.
Just how powerful is it? Through its lenses, you could have watched astronaut Alan Shepard play golf on the moon. Georgia State scientists, however, will use the array to look way beyond Earth's orbiting rock and into the farthest reaches of space.
CHARA Director Dr. Hal McAlister and his team of scientists at Mt. Wilson were
GSU Astronomer Dr. Hal McAlister
joined by government leaders and Georgia State University officials on Oct. 4 for a
dedication ceremony marking more than 10 years of planning and four years of construction. Area alumni, Georgia
State President Carl V. Patton, GSU's College of Arts and Sciences Dean Ahmed Abdelal, and members of the Board
of Regents, including former Georgia Gov. Joe Frank Harris, gathered at the center for a demonstration of the
powerful telescopes. Television monitors beamed back images of stars millions of miles away, rendered with a
resolution 100 times sharper than ground-based traditional telescopes.
The array itself consists of six one-meter aperture telescopes (with an eventual goal of up to eight) in a Y-shaped configuration contained within a 400-meter diameter circle. With its powerful imaging capability, the CHARA array will enable McAlister and his team of scientists to see spots on distant stars, witness the birth of stars, observe stars closely orbiting each other, search for planets around other stars and even determine more accurately the size of the universe.
McAlister joined the Georgia State faculty in 1977 and soon after began formulating his plans to create the CHARA array. More than two decades later, McAlister says he is thrilled to see the vision come to fruition. The CHARA research facility was built specifically to study stars and their basic attributes: mass, diameter and temperature, he says.
The CHARA telescopes can zoom in on a tiny portion of a star, resolving detail 200 times finer than the Hubble Space Telescope - the equivalent of being able to spot a nickel from a distance of 10,000 miles.
"The ultimate goal," McAlister says, "is to understand how the sun generates its energy. The sun is ultimately the source of life on earth, and this research will allow us to understand our sun more fully." Recognizing the importance of this facility, Georgia State provided $5.8 million to complement a $5.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation, completing the $13.8 million project. Additional funding was provided by the W. M. Keck Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and by Jack Kelly, former president of the Georgia State University Alumni Association.
The CHARA Array was first tested with two of the telescopes in place in November 1999. When that proved successful, McAlister's team worked to "crank up" two more in July and worked through August and September to bring the final two telescopes into place. The scientists must ensure that the telescopes are meticulously aligned and balanced, a particular challenge given the mountainous terrain overlooking Los Angeles.
McAlister points out that because of the exceptionally stable air flowing in over the mountain from the Pacific Ocean, Mt. Wilson has one of the best vantage points for astronomical study in North America, as well as great historical significance. It also houses the Mount Wilson Observatory, which houses the 100-inch telescope Edwin Hubble used to discover the expanding universe.
"Logistically, it would be easier to have all of GSU's scientists in the same state, but the West Coast simply has twice the number of clear viewing nights as the East Coast. When you are going to invest this much time and money, you want to use it as much as possible," McAlister says.
Georgia State astronomy students and researchers soon will be able to take advantage of the array and view stars via the Internet, he says.
Edited for The System Supplement from an article in The Source, written by Randy Trammell and Beverly Cox Clark of Georgia State University.
GALILEO Celebrates First Five Years Gov. Roy Barnes (second from right) joined representatives of the University System and the Office of Public Library Services (OPLS) for GALILEO's fifth anniversary celebration, held on Sept. 21 at the James H. "Sloppy" Floyd Building in Atlanta. Also on the program were (left to right): Tom Ploeg, assistant vice chancellor and director of OPLS; Robert E. Fox Jr., chair of the GALILEO Steering Committee and director of library services at Clayton State College and University; Dr. Daniel S. Papp, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs with the University System; and Merryll L. Penson, associate university librarian for public services at UGA and chair of the 1994-95 Regents' Academic Committee on Libraries (Penson has since taken a position at the Regents Central Office - see story, below).
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Gainesville College Magazine a Winner
Gainesville College's student literary magazine, The Chestatee Review, won third place in the Southern Division of the Community College Humanities Association's 2000 Literary Magazine Competition.
Savannah State Student Helps Plan Honda Challenge
Savannah State University student Britton Edwards says he is eager to address the needs and interests of his peers as a member of the Program Advisory Committee for the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge 2001.
Edwards was the only one of hundreds of students who participated in this year's event selected to serve on the governing body of the 12-year-old academic competition between the nation's historically black colleges and universities. The 15-member advisory committee also includes college and university presidents, Honda representatives and tournament volunteers.
"I'll be there to give the committee the students' point of view on things," said Edwards, a sophomore biology major who took part with four other SSU students in the 2000 Honda Challenge. The tournament's 2001 national championships will be held in April at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.
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Federal Grant Funds UGA Project Designed to 'Reinvent' Teacher Education
The University of Georgia was one of eight institutions around the nation awarded grants this fall from the U.S. Department of Education to better train teachers for the challenges of today's classrooms. The grants were announced by Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. The five-year, $6.4 million grant to UGA will fund the Georgia Systemic Teacher Education Program (GSTEP), led by Dr. Michael Padilla, associate dean for educator partnerships in UGA's College of Education. GSTEP, which focuses on improving teacher quality, links UGA with Valdosta State University, Albany State University, seven two-year colleges, 11 school districts, two business partners - Charter Communications and CompassLearning - and state education agencies.
In addition to creating a support system for new teachers who graduate from the three System institutions, GSTEP will work to reduce the teacher shortage by using scholarships to recruit new teacher candidates, especially focusing on students from under-represented groups and those interested in teaching in high-need areas such as science, math and special education. The GSTEP scholarships will be funded by its business partners and by Georgia's HOPE scholarship program.
GSTEP is expected to generate more than $7 million per year in state and partner donations. Those funds, along with the federal grant, make this collaboration a projected $41 million venture over the five years of the grant.
The Department of Education awarded grants to projects that demonstrated the ability to meet several criteria. The projects are expected to:
r produce teachers with strong content knowledge in the subject they teach; r immerse student teachers in extensive clinical experiences so that they are well prepared for the challenges of
the classroom; r establish mentoring and other supportive activities for beginning teachers; r and integrate technology in the training program so beginning teachers can use technology effectively in the
classroom.
"It's what we have to do to go the next mile and really improve teacher education," said Padilla. "The quality of teaching is critical. It's more critical than class size. It's more critical than curriculum. If you want to improve student achievement, you have to have good teachers." Dr. Sally Hudson-Ross, a member of UGA's language education faculty and one of the project's creators, noted that: "One of the most important aspects of this undertaking is the cooperation of all the partners, specifically including arts and sciences faculty, education faculty, K-12 teachers and RESA (Regional Education Service Agencies) staff to address the specific needs of constituents. We're envisioning courses that will be taught by representatives of all those different constituencies, and I think that will be very healthy," Hudson-Ross added.
Georgia is in the second year of a three-year Title II grant from the Department of Education supporting the state's P16 Initiative, a collaborative effort to raise expectations and ensure student success from pre-school through postsecondary education. The local grant obtained by UGA will augment the work of the P-16 Council, said Dr. Jan Kettlewell, assistant vice chancellor for Academic Affairs for the University System of Georgia and co-facilitator of the P-16 Initiative. "The fact that UGA, Valdosta State and Albany State have formed a partnership and will work in tandem with the statewide P-16 Council in improving teacher quality is unique," Kettlewell said. "This funding will allow us to share information and resources and collaborate in ways that other states have not yet been able to."
Valdosta State and Albany State serve very rural areas of the state, she added. "Their participation will be particularly valuable."
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Fort Valley Foundation First to Offer SBA Loan Program
This fall, Fort Valley State University became the first historically black college or university in the nation to participate in a loan program established to stimulate economic growth and provide opportunity for businesses in under-served, rural areas like those in Georgia's 8th Congressional District.
U.S. Rep. Saxby Chambliss (R.) announced Oct. 3 that the Fort Valley State University Foundation has been certified as a loan intermediary for the U.S. Small Business Administration's Pre-Qualification Loan Program.
"I commend SBA, the FVSU Foundation, their chairman, Calvin Smyre, and FVSU President Oscar Prater for working together on behalf of small businesses and community renewal," Chambliss said. "Rural areas like Georgia's 8th District greatly depend on programs and partnerships such as this for growth and development."
"We introduced this program in Georgia to improve access to capital for businesses owned by women, veterans, minorities and those located in rural communities," said Charles E. Anderson, Georgia's SBA district director. "Fort Valley State is the first historically black university I am aware of that has qualified to operate an SBA pre-qualification loan program."
This is not the first time FVSU has been a leader among the nation's historically black colleges and universities. Last year, the institution was the first to implement another loan program, distributing $1 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Intermediary Relending Program to 16 projects in Peach, Macon, Crisp and Dooly counties. The SBA program will guarantee loans ranging from $25,000 to $750,000. Loans in excess of $1 million also are available to small firms that are defense-dependent, involved in international trade or have a net worth of not more than $6 million.
Augusta State University Dedicates New Science Building
Augusta State University kicked off a year-long celebration of its 75th birthday with the dedication on Aug. 15 of its new $19.4 million science building. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, ASU President William A. Bloodworth Jr. unveiled a bronze plaque honoring the late Regent Thomas F. Allgood, a former state senator and ASU alumnus. Allgood had been scheduled to take part in the ceremony, but died in a plane crash 11 days before the event.
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Regional Engineering Program Moves to Larger Location
The University System's Georgia Tech Regional Engineering Program (GTREP), introduced in Statesboro and Savannah in 1999, has proven so successful the program now requires additional space in order to meet increasing demand.
During its October meeting, the Board of Regents approved a request by System officials and its own Facilities Committee to sign a lease for new office space to accommodate the growing GTREP program, which offers undergraduate degrees in computer engineering and civil engineering.
"GTREP is a robust program and the planning assumptions behind it have been validated by the success it has experienced," William K. Chatham, vice chancellor for facilities, informed the board. "The students are there, the demand is there and the success of the program has caused it to outgrow its current home at the Coastal Georgia Center in Savannah."
The GTREP program utilizes the engineering education faculty of Georgia Tech and other educational resources of Armstrong Atlantic State University, Georgia Southern University and Savannah State University. Through a combination of classroom and laboratory teaching, distance learning, and other technologies, GTREP offers Georgia Tech undergraduate degrees in computer engineering and civil engineering to program participants in Statesboro and Savannah.
Dr. Daniel S. Papp, senior vice chancellor for Academics and Fiscal Affairs, said the move to the leased space is a temporary one for GTREP. Plans are to move the program into a permanent facility to be built in the Savannah area by 2004. This $5 million facility is on the Regents Fiscal Year 2001 minor projects list. It will be constructed on land that will be donated by the Savannah Economic Development Authority.
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No More Counting the Days 'til Graduation
University System Chancellor Stephen R. Portch and Georgia Perimeter College President Jacquelyn M. Belcher have been asked to help the U.S. Department of Education devise ways to make the senior year of high school a more productive one for restless students.
U.S. Education Secretary Richard W. Riley appointed Portch and Belcher to the 30-member Commission on the Senior Year of High School, which held its first meeting in September. Belcher is serving as the group's vice chairwoman.
The panel hopes to strengthen high-school students' transition to college, vocational training or a career. Among the transition measures being explored are "middle college" - in which high-school students enroll in community colleges before graduating to get a jump on college - student internships or apprenticeships, community service, graduation projects and exit assessments.
As part of their charge from Secretary Riley, the group is planning a series of regional discussions featuring education experts.
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System's Library Administrative Staff Expands
The growth of library support services, customer services and web support at the Regents Central Office has led to expanded responsibilities for the administrative staff dedicated to overseeing those services.
Jayne Williams, formerly executive director of virtual library, customer and information services at the Board of Regents, has been promoted to assistant vice chancellor for library and customer information services to reflect the increased level of her responsibilities.
Taking over many of Williams' former library-related responsibilities is Merryll Penson, who was named executive director for library services in the Office of Information and Instructional Technology at the Central Office. Penson's responsibilities in her new post include overseeing several statewide electronic library systems, including GALILEO (Georgia Library Learning Online); GALILEO Interconnected Libraries (GIL), which eventually will unite all the book collections of the University System in one web-based, on-line catalog; and the interface between GALILEO and the Public Information Network for Electronic Services (PINES), an on-line catalog for the public libraries.
Prior to joining the University of Georgia in 1997 as associate university librarian for public services, Penson was director of library services at Columbus State University. She was a member of the Regents task force that oversaw the development of GALILEO, a model for electronic library systems around the country, and chair of the GIL steering committee.
These appointments were effective Oct. 1.
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Closer Scrutiny Slated for Academic Reviews
Academic program reviews are in the process of becoming routine procedure at all University System of Georgia institutions. At its October meeting, the Board of Regents approved a rigorous new policy that calls for the comprehensive evaluation of every academic program in the System on routine seven- and 10-year schedules. All undergraduate programs will be evaluated for their productivity, quality and viability every seven years; the System's graduate degree offerings will be evaluated at 10-year intervals.
"This policy ensures that the academic programs in place on the campuses are relevant to the needs of the people and the economy of Georgia, that they are high-quality programs and in adequate demand," said Dr. Daniel S. Papp, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. " Depending on its findings, a program review could lead to the expansion, reduction or termination of a program, Papp said, adding that reviews "will be a highly collaborative undertaking between the campus and the System office."
"Our ultimate goal is to improve the programs we review," said Marci Middleton, academic coordinator for program review in the Office of Academics and Facilities. "The more improvements we make, the better we serve the University System's students."
System officials say the policy is designed to enhance academic offerings. Program reviews will take into consideration everything from retention and graduation data to how a program contributes to the goals and mission of the institution. The rigorous, but vital, process may reveal operational efficiencies as well as better ways to market System programs.
Comprehensive program reviews already take place on most USG campuses; the board's new policy simply systematizes a process that previously was not covered by board policy.
Papp has instructed the chief academic officers at each USG college and university to submit a plan for conducting their first complete cycle of program reviews to the Regents Central Office by April 30, 2001, with reviews beginning in fall 2001. The faculty of each program under review then will conduct a self-study to define and measure expectations for the program. The first reports on these findings will be due in June 2002.
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BOARD OF REGENTS
Glenn S. White Lawrenceville CHAIR
Hilton Hatchett Howell, Jr. Atlanta VICE-CHAIR
Juanita Powell Baranco Lithonia
Hugh C. Carter, Jr. Atlanta
Connie Cater Macon
Joe Frank Harris Cartersville
John Hunt Tifton
Edgar L. Jenkins Jasper
Charles H. Jones Macon
Donald M. Leebern, Jr. Columbus
Elridge W. McMillan Atlanta
Martin W. NeSmith Claxton
J. Timothy Shelnut Augusta
Joel O. Wooten, Jr. Columbus
James D. Yancey Columbus
OFFICERS
Stephen R. Portch CHANCELLOR
Gail S. Weber SECRETARY TO THE BOARD
William R. Bowes TREASURER
The System Supplement
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Last Updated: December 14, 2000 | Leave a Comment 2000 University System of Georgia Board of Regents